The FAAN Walk Was In A Word…FAANtastic!

Last Saturday started with thunderstorms and cool temperatures, but that didn’t stop a whole bunch of generous supporters from making the day a bright spot for food allergy awareness at the FAAN Walk for Food Allergies! Between the circus acts, the games, and the huge crowd (over 450 came out to walk and party!), we barely noticed the weather after a while, and were focused on celebrating the supporters that had all come together to help make the walk a success.  

As a member of the walk board, I was witness to how much work went into the walk. Each of the three other women on the board with me contributed incredible amounts of work, talent, and dedication to the walk, and those ladies made it happen. With the help of large donors, local donors, and each individual contribution made by family, friends, and community members, we far surpassed our fundraising goal of $25,000 with a final count of … drumroll please …

$52,648!!!!!!!

So, to each and every one of you out there who helped spread the word, made a contribution, or walked the walk with us, THANK YOU! There are millions of lives affected by food allergies and each one is important. These funds will help to raise awareness, continue research, and work towards a better life for everyone affected by a potentially deadly condition that thus far has no known cure.

For more info on food allergies, and the FAAN network that we raised funds for, click here. To see a News 5 segment about the walk, follow this link, and check out our walk page here too!

 

 

It’s almost here!

I would like to invite you to walk with us at Cincinnati’s first annual FAAN Walk for Food Allergies on April 28! I know. I haven’t written in a long time, but I swear it’s for a great reason. I’ve been really busy making some HUGE changes to Phro*Zen, which I will announce as soon as I have more details (The changes include a retail site. Prepare for overuse of exclamation points on that post!). For now, however, you can still find our pints at Essnecha, or send us a custom order (phrozenicecream@gmail.com).

But back to the walk. My last post was about the walk, so if you need a quick refresher, just scroll and read so I don’t bore you with repetetive details. This post is mostly just to remind everyone to sign up for a team fast because as hard as it is to believe, the walk is just about a month away! It’s going to be so much fun – you really don’t want to miss out. There will be free allergy-safe food samples, circus acts, a bounce house, and more! Plus, if you raise enough donations you get a t-shirt. Pretty cool, right?

So, how do you sign up? Follow this link to our walk site page, and click “create a team,” or “sign up as an individual.” Or if you would like to join team “Kai’s Good Karma” and walk to represent Phro*Zen, you are more than welcome to join! The process is pretty simple, but if you have any questions you can contact FAAN through the website, or post your question here. Then all you have to do is collect donations!

And whether you can be there with us at Friendship Park, or you sign up as a “digital walker,” I am so grateful for your support. You have shown Phro*Zen so much love, which is why it is able to continue growing in such exciting directions, and the community has wrapped its arms around the food allergy cause just as lovingly. As a friend of a family affected by food allergies it means the world to me to know that the cause is not just theirs, but ours, and together we can raise the awareness and education that’s necessary to save lives.

A really big little announcement!

I didn’t want to announce it too soon in case anything changed, but I can’t wait any longer to tell you all about….this really cool…..really big deal…..that Phro*Zen gets to be a part of….and you can be a part of too….do you want to know what it is? Are you sure? Do you really want to know?

It’s Cincinnati’s first FAAN Walk for Food Allergies!!!!!

 As made obvious by the excessive use of exclamation points above, I am pretty excited about the walk. It’s a great way to show support for members of your community affected by food allergies, plus it’s going to be a whole lot of fun. I hope you’ll consider creating a team and joining all of us on April 28, 2012 at Friendship Park for a beautiful walk by the river, as well as a few other fun things we’ve got planned. I’ll be keeping everyone up to date on what our board is working on here, but you can also follow @FAANwalkCinci on Twitter, “Like” the Facebook page, and check out the website for more info or to donate. If you have any questions that you’d like answered about the walk, feel free to email me at FAANwalkCinci@gmail.com. Love, Meg

 

Feast on this!

This holiday season snuck up on us pretty quickly, but we were ready with one of our favorite fall flavors. Pumpkin pie PhroZen hit freezers in October, and we’ve been stocking and restocking it since. The feedback has been great, and we couldn’t be more grateful for the support.

So, what better way to say thank you for supporting our local small business, than by supporting another small business?? We were lucky enough to come into contact with a small farmer in the area, who happened to have grown “fairytale” pumpkins this year. That got the wheels turning, and led to the limited batch of pumpkin pie flavor PhroZen that’s out now. We processed those pumpkins into our ice cream, and couldn’t be happier with the result. Working with local businesses is pretty sweet.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us this year – you’ve given us even more reasons to be thankful this year. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. Love.

A change of seasons and seasonings

It’s that beautiful time of the year when leaves are turning, the air is starting to chill, and holiday flavors are beginning to hit freezers here in Cincinnati. While we try not to play favorites with our flavors, the seasonal batches tend to disappear a little faster, and not just because they’re made in limited quantities. So what’s the new flavor that’s out right now? Chocolate lovers, raise your spoons…it’s Mexican hot cocoa!

If you’ve never tried a cup of Mexican hot chocolate, it’s not exactly a literal translation to what we are used to when we open up a packet of Swiss Miss. The recipes vary, but typically they include some really delicious spices. We started with our basic chocolate ice cream, added some cinnamon and chili powder, and ended up with a sweet, spicy, perfect fall chocolate flavor. You can find it right now at Picnic and Pantry in Northside.

We’re mad for matcha!

We’ve got a new custom flavor out at Essencha tea house in Oakley. Wanna guess what it might be? (see title of post for really obvious hint)

Well, if you guessed matcha, you’re right! If you guessed tofurkey, you just plain weren’t paying attention – but that flavor has been suggested. All guessing games aside, the matcha green tea flavor at Essencha is definitely worth a try. It’s rich, creamy, and has a wonderfully complex flavor, courtesy of the matcha tea that also gives it a unique kick of antioxidants.

What is matcha? The good folks at Essencha will be able to tell you much more about it than I can, but it is a powdered green tea, and the one used in the ice cream is called “Jade bliss.” There are all kinds of health benefits that can be gained from drinking (or in our case scooping) matcha, in part because the whole tea leaf is ground into the fine powder that then gets mixed with water – or ice cream – and enjoyed.

Go find out more about this delicious stuff at Essencha!
Essencha Tea House and Fine Teas 3212 Madison Road

Cirque du Yelp! shout outs

Last week, Abi and I tied on our aprons and took part in the delightful debauchery that was Cirque Du Yelp! Orchestrated by Yelp’s fearless leader, Alex Shebar (you’ll meet him in the video below), the party was a hit – and with jugglers, belly dancers, and balloon animals galore, it’s one that won’t quickly be forgotten. Check out the video and watch for us scooping up pumpkin Phro*Zen for all of the guests around 1:40 or so. And don’t forget to click here to review the event if you made it, or tell us what you think of Phro*Zen here!

Yelp me! I want to party!

Hey pals! How are you enjoying this fine fall weather? Well don’t blink, you know how long a midwestern fall lasts… wait. Is that snow i see? Okay maybe not yet.

We’re gearing up for an awesome event hosted by the fine folks at Yelp. The event is called, Cirque du Yelp, a carnival themed one-night event at The Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center in Covington, KY on October 1st from 8 to 10pm. You can RSVP by going to this WEBSITE. If you don’t already have a Yelp account you should sign up so you can get all kinds of fun information about your favorite local businesses and events. You can also review businesses and read other’s reviews, it’s a great tool for when you’re feeling adventurous and want to try a new restaurant.

The Pro*Zen girls will be handing out some tasty snack at Cirque du Yelp along with tons of other great local food and beverage vendors. You don’t want to miss this one, and it’s free!!

A woman is like a tea bag – you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water. – Eleanor Roosevelt

Abi

Food allergy post: August 2011

Well, the end of the month is here and so is this month’s food allergy post. We have some really REALLY exciting news about a food allergy event we’re working on, but we’ll save that for it’s very own post.

This post has a few tips for those families sending kids with food allergies back to school (it’s that time of year again already). Not having a little one myself, I asked a few friends what they were doing to prepare, and here are the best tips I got about that big backpack-toting day:

1) Plan ahead- If your child has food allergies, it is always, ALWAYS best to take preventative measures against a reaction. So, if possible, setup meetings with teachers, administrators, anyone that would be supervising your child at any point during the day. Obviously the nurse should also be directed as to how best to handle your child’s allergies.

2) Provide information- There are a whole lot of people that have no idea what or how severe allergies can be. And those people are adults. Children? Probably don’t have a clue. Ask your child’s teacher if they can perhaps take a little time to discuss respecting each other’s space, and differences, without alienating your child. There tend to be class rules set in lower grades, so it might be something that they can incorporate fairly easily.

3) Create a dialogue- Your child is going to school and taking on new responsibilities. It might help ease the transition if they have a set of questions to ask or a set answer if food is offered to them. Try practicing a conversation at home with them before they leave for school everyday.

4) Repeat, repeat, repeat- It’s not a bad idea to print out a list of dangerous triggers for teachers to remind them, as well as any “room parents” that plan parties, etc. which foods are dangerous. Reminders are important.

5) Make it fun- It’s hard to be different in school. Or, well, at all…ever. But you know what makes being different better? Having fun with it and embracing it. Take a look at some of the products on allergyapparel.com. They’ll help keep your child safe while they get to show their style.

So that’s a little bit of what I have learned. Well, that, and taking deep breaths and one step at a time. How about you moms out there? What helps you send your little one back safely? love, Meg

Have you seen us lately?

Our packaging got a bit of a facelift recently. We’re moving up in the world and now have fancy new labels for our Cookies n’ No Cream, Kai’s Good Karma, Enlightened Lemon Lavender, and Mint Meditation. All of these superstars are still vegan, gluten free, peanut and tree nut free!

A great way to see our new pints in action is to pick one up at Picnic and Pantry, Meals to Go, and Park + Vine. An even BETTER way to see them would be by coming out to Park + Vine this Friday for Final Friday in Downtown Cincinnati. You could grab an ice cream sandwich and chat with the fun and always fabulous Phro*Zen ladies! Mention the secret word “facelift” and your face will get a lift with a smile because you’ll receive $.50 off your ice cream sandwich.

 We look forward to seeing our Phro*Zen fans this Friday!