How I Became Accidentally Crunchy

Thanks for visiting AccidentallyCrunchy.com.

My name is Sarah, and, amongst other roles, I am mom to a wonderful little boy who I love more than anything. When he was just 4 months old we learned that he is allergic to dairy. Later, just after his first birthday, we discovered he also has an egg allergy. Over the coming months we added broccoli, cinnamon and walnuts to the list. I love learning new things about my son, but this was devastating for me at the time.

Equally devastating was when my nearly vegan little guy was marked as ‘failure to thrive’ in his 2 year well baby appointment as he had barely gained in weight and height. I met with dietitians and in parallel started researching more alternative foods and new and creative recipes to increase the variety in his meals despite the restrictions his diet required and the inevitably picky phases that we would endure.

Having spent the past few years on a sometimes frantic hunt for allergy-friendly recipes and alternatives, and having tossed my share of failed experiments, I wanted to start this blog as a go-to space for allergy-safe recipes.  I hope that by starting this blog I’ll be able to save other moms the long journey I’ve gone through to get to where I am, as well as offer support as I share our own story.

Why Accidentally Crunchy? I took a quiz on Facebook about a year ago ‘How Crunchy Are You?’, and to my surprise scored 9/10 (I apparently crunch like a diamond). Fine, yes, these quizzes are nonsense, but it made me reflect on who I have become since I became a mom. Having exclusively breastfed, embraced attachment parenting and Baby Wearing (I would never have survived without my Boba 4G Carrier which is good for 0-48 months), doing my best to follow Respectful Parenting (RIE), and with a cupboard stocked with yummy natural ingredients that you can read more about here,  I realized that while I may not have meant to, I really have turned the corner from high maintenance single girl to full-on crunchy mama. Something I now proudly embrace.

I’m not the type to post tons of photos of my family, but I will be posting tried and tested recipes that I have either created myself or adapted to make allergy-safe or just more healthful. I’ll also share my experiences from having a child with food allergies, along with useful allergy resources, and how I’ve embraced more natural and holistic approach to eating, parenting, and, well, life.

I hope you enjoy my blog and that you’ll reach out if you have any questions or comments. I’d love to hear from you!