Product Review - Annie's Homegrown Gluten-Free Bunnies

I made a quick run to a locally owned grocery store yesterday.  They carry a lot of items I can't find anywhere else (not just allergy-free, either).  I was scanning the shelf in the organic area and came across Annie's Homegrown Gluten-Free Bunnies hidden toward the bottom.  I was ecstatic when I read "Made in a peanut-free, tree-nut free facility."  Our daughter is elated.  I can't even count how many times she has asked for bunny or goldfish crackers.  Her question usually is "Can we find some without food allergies?"  So when I read the label to her she clapped excitedly.  Sometimes it's just fun to have fun treats (like everyone else).

Valentine's Day and Food Allergies

It's now been a couple years since our 3-year-old has been celebrating holidays with her food allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, milk and eggs.  Quite honestly, I don't really think too hard about what to do anymore.  I treat Valentine's Day very similar to Halloween,  Just insert hearts and cupids instead of pumpkins and ghosts. 

Here are a few other ideas for treats for Valentine's Day:

• Dairy-Free and Egg-Free Chocolate Shortbread cut-out cookies
• Dairy-Free Heart Rice Krispies Treats
• Dairy-Free S'mores
• Dairy-Free, Nut-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Dairy-Free Banana Boats
• 2010 Top 10 Valentine's Day Recipes (mine is number 5)
• Dairy-Free, Nut-Free Puppy Chow
• Dairy-Free No Bake Crunchies
• Banana Muffins (use dairy-free margarine)
• Other Non-baking ideas: Fruit snacks, Enjoy Life Chocolate Bars, Enjoy Life Boom Choco Boom Bars, Fruit Crisps, Chocolate chips, Dum Dum Suckers, and Smarties

Remember it's only a big deal if you make it a big deal.  Also, if your children are young just baking something together is more important than the end result.  Valentine's Day is a holiday to show love and friendship -- not just to eat a lot of treats.

Hershey Kisses -- Follow up

A while back I realized that many Hershey Kisses flavors are in fact peanut-free and nut-free.  I honestly couldn't believe it when I read the package.  I have eliminated all nuts and peanuts from my diet since learning that I have an allergy, even though it's a pretty mild reaction.

I know have been eating Hershey Dark Kisses for about two months.  And I am happy to say I haven't had any reactions (as far as I can tell).  I am so happy.  I am a chocoholic and buying Enjoy Life bars was really getting expensive.  While I still enjoy Enjoy life chocolate and value their dedication to allergy-free products.  I am extra happy at Hershey for providing me with a sweet treat that I can get a really good deal on after the holidays!

Smore's in a Jar

I made this Smore's in a Jar recipe for our daughter for Christmas!  It was really yummy.  I used crushed Teddy Grahams, Earth's Balance Margarine and Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips for substitutions.  It woudl be a great recipe to pass at a gathering! Really easy and fun!

Dairy-Free, Egg-Free, Nut-Free Chocolate Shortbread Cutout Cookies

I was really excited when I found this recipe in an old cookbook.  The original recipe calls for butter, but I substitute dairy-free margarine. There are only five ingredients.  The dough isn't very sticky.  You can roll it out right away and you don't need much flour.  I was extra excited about it being egg-free, which meant our 3-year-old could roll out the dough and help with the cookie cutters.  Overall, the taste is okay, but with frosting -- yummy!!

Chocolate Shortbread Cutout Cookies
(Dairy-Free, Egg-Free, Nut-Free)


1 cup dairy-free margarine (I use Earth's Balance)
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup cocoa
1 3/4 cup flour

1. Mix margarine, powdered sugar and vanilla together.
2. Add cocoa.
3. Then add flour.  Mix until smooth.
4. Roll out dough -- don't need much flour.
5. Cut with cookie cutters. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
6. Bake at 300 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.  Watch them carefully because they are so dark, it's hard to see if they are burnt.

Super easy and fun to make with the food allergic child!!

No More Rack

I don't normally post non-allergy related items here.  But this looks really interesting.  The site is called No More Rack.  When you sign up you get a $10 credit -- shipping is rumored at $2. Most items are listed around or just above the $10 mark.  I think it might have some potential to get something really cheap.  Check it out and let me know if you get anything interesting.

Food Allergies and Preschool

Well, it's been about 2 1/2 months since our little food allergic daughter has been in preschool.  She is allergic to milk, egg, peanuts and tree nuts.  Her little bubble of safe food and never being around a potential hazard has been altered.  And I can honestly say all is going very well.  She eats snack and lunch at school.  Her teachers know to read the labels and have a stash of snack bars (Enjoy Life and Glutino) and some snack size Teddy Grahams and Oreos that I stocked up on after Halloween.

Lunch is a little different story.  It took a couple months to get the ingredient lists for the items from the school district.  And some of those are even a year old.  But if I don't think it will be safe, she eats something else.  She really likes soybutter and jelly sandwiches.  Typically there is fresh fruit and veggies (way to go!) from the school district lunch, so we just make up the rest later in the day if need be.  She's a typical 3-year-old who eats when she wants to eat.  Lucky for us, I work in the same building that she attends preschool.  That's a load off my worried shoulders (and for her teachers, too).  Her teachers have told me that she knows about her food allergies and doesn't mind eating something else.

On a side note; we were eating a chips and salsa at a restaurant last week.  Our daughter asked if she could have a tortilla chip.  I handed it to her and told I wasn't sure if it had food allergies, but it's probably okay (I carry Benadryl everywhere we go just in case).  She pulled back and said "no" and decided not to eat because it could have food allergies.  What a smart little 3-year-old!

While her reactions thus far are fairly mild (as far as we have seen), you never really know what may happen if another child spills milk or touches her after eating peanut butter.  There are days I pick her up and her face is rashy.  But she's a rashy kid.  She could have rubbed her face on a toy that was cleaned with soap that made her rash up.  She sometimes is rashy while eating a completely allergy free meal at home.  There just is no rhyme or reason.  But I wanted to share our slow transition to the real world and dangers for a food allergic child.  And to those of you just starting out on this journey, it does get easier.  It does.

More posts coming soon!

Sorry for the lapse in posts lately.  With work and the holidays, I'm a little extra busy.  I'll be posting more soon.  So much to share.  In the meantime, be sure to check out the food allergy blogs listed in my sidebar -- lots of great ideas!

You never know what might work

We normally make a pancakes from a box (Aunt Jemima).  It's what I knew when I first started feeding my allergic child.  And when you find something that works, you just stick with it.  Our daughter is able to tolerate milk and eggs in most baked goods, such as pancakes.

The other morning I woke up and we had no milk (cow's milk) in the house, but I had already promised pancakes.  I decided to substitute rice milk in the pancake mix and the outcome was great.  I added just a little extra mix to the batch because the rice milk thins it out a little.  But other than that, they turned out the same.  You never know until you try!

A conversation with Silk (an e-mail, too)

Have you noticed?  Silk Soymilk now contains an allergy statement that states:  Contains Soy, May contain almond and coconut.  I freaked out when I read that. Words ran through my head-- almond, tree nut, cross contamination, tummy ache, reactions, how dare they...

I sent an e-mail to WhiteWave Food the company that distributes Silk Soymilk.  I also made a phone call.  Below is the e-mail response.

Thank you for your recent e-mail to Silk®. We appreciate your interest in our products.

We can assure you that we take allergenic food concerns seriously, and have instituted allergen control programs at each facility manufacturing the Silk Pure Almond and Soymilk products.  Our allergen control programs consist of several components, designed to comprehensively address allergenic food concerns at multiple points of production.  Examples of this program include the following:

·         Supplier control – each ingredient used in production goes through steps to ensure quality and purity.

·         Cleaning procedures – validated procedures to ensure effective clean and rinse is accomplished after each production run.

·         Allergen-free product testing – testing in-process and finished product at frequent intervals to ensure safety.

·         Storage/warehouse – allergen status labeling and isolation of ingredients to ensure no cross-contamination occurs.

·         Production scheduling - scheduling of product runs are done in a manner that ensures allergen-containing products are run only after non-allergen containing products, protecting the immediate subsequent product from contamination risk.

Food safety is our highest priority and as part of our commitment to quality, all employees involved in the manufacturing of Silk have a comprehensive awareness of food allergen concerns.

Please contact us if you have any additional concerns or questions.

Thanks again for contacting the Consumer Affairs Department.

In the phone conversation that I had with the company, the representative also said to me that her company is aware that many of their customers have other food allergies besides dairy and take that very seriously.  I was happy to hear her say that.  I made me feel like I was listened to.  So many people don't believe food allergies even exist.  For her to say we know that's why you drink our product is because you trust us, made me feel confident they are doing the best they can.

So my conclusion is that they take food allergies seriously.  They need to put that it may contain almond or coconut because there is a chance that it could be on the equipment even though they practice good cleaning procedures.  I conclude that at least I know they are doing their best to keep cross contaminations from happening and that is lot more than I can say for other companies.  It's as risky as consuming anything when you have food allergies, but at least I know.  I honestly worry more about companies that don't have statements at all on products.  

Let me also remind you this is a lesson to re-read labels even on products you use regularly.  Our daughter has been drinking Silk Soymilk for 2 years and this new allergy statement just appeared on our carton in the last week here in Wisconsin.