Safe Snacking

I love to help others dealing with food allergies to find safe foods to eat. As we send our children back to school, it is so important to send our kids with foods that are safe for them and the other children. 1 in 13 children have food allergies! Peanut allergies are the most common food allergy and can be so dangerous. Trace amounts of peanuts can cause a reaction- and some can be deadly. I have compiled a list of some ideas for peanut free snacks to send with your little ones to school that will keep them safe and taste great!

Peanut Free Snack Ideas

Fruits and Veggies

·         All Fruit and Vegetables

·         Raisins, Craisins and Dried fruit

·         Go go squeezes and fruit cups

·         Fruit Snacks (Betty Crocker Brand, Target , Annies Organic, etc) check label on others

·         Fruit Leather

·         Hummus w pita chips or veggies

·         Guacamole w tortilla chips

Dairy and Meat

·         DanimalsGo-gurts,

·         Trix yogurt

·         String Cheese (Sargento or Meijer Brand)

·         Kraft Cubes or sliced cheese

·         Cheese and crackers, cheese and pretzels

·         Build your own nachos w tortillas, shredded cheese and salsa

·         Jell-O Pudding Cups and Gelatin

·         Hunts Pudding

·         Kraft Handi Snacks Pudding Cups

·         Turkey or Ham rollups made w or without cheese, could do with tortillas or without

·         Pepperoni, cheese and crackers

·         Cottage cheese, cottage cheese and fruit

·         Quesadillas

·         bagels (Lenders or Thomas brand) with cream cheese (no nut type)

Cereal and Bars

            Kellogg

·         Nutra-Grain Bars (apple, cherry, raspberry, blueberry)

·         Pop Tarts

·         Apple Jacks

·         Rice Crispy Treats (pre packaged)

·         Corn Flakes

·         Corn Pops

·         Alpha Bits

·         Frosted Flakes 

              

                General Mills

·         Cinnamon Toast Crunch

·         Cheerios (regular, Fruity, Apple Cinnamon, frosted only)

·         Kix (plain)

·         Lucky Charms

·         Trix

·         Cocoa Puffs

·         Cookie Crisp

·         QUAKER OATS: Life Cereal

Crackers and Chips

·         Graham Crackers- plain or with almond butter

·         Cheese Nips

·         Teddy Grahams (Cinnamon, Chocolate Chip, Honey, Chocolate)

·         Nilla Wafers

·         Barnum Animal Cracker

·         Triscuts (plain)

·         Wheat Thins

·         Premium Saltines (original)

·         Ritz Chips

·         Ritz Crackers

·         Cheez-its

·         Vanilla Wafers (golden, mini)

·         Elf Grahams (honey, cinnamon)

·         Scooby Doo Graham Crackers

·         Wheatables (original, honey wheat)

·         Club Crackers 5 pack cheese and pretzel dip

·         Town House Classic Crackers Toasted (Wheat, Butter crisp)

·         Wheat Thins

·         Goldfish

·         Make your own trail mix with marshmallows, cereal, pretzels, craisins, etc

·         Handi Snacks

·         Annies-Organic Bunny Cheddar Crackers, Organic Traditional Snack Mix Bunnies, Organic Whole Wheat Bunny Crackers, Organic Sour Cream and Onion Bunnies, Organic Bunny Grahams

·         Rold Gold Pretzels-NOT snyders. My daughter loves the honey mustard pretzels rold gold makes!

·         Doritos (any flavor)

·         Cheetos

·         LAYS regular and baked chips

·         Tostitos

·         Sun Chips (Original, Sour Cream, Cheddar, Flavored)

·         Fritos

·         Popcorn

·         Thomas Brand Bagels, English Muffins, Pita Bread

Sweets

·         Skittles

·         Starburst

·         Tootsie Rolls Tootsie Pops

·         Smarties

·         Mike and Ike

·         Twizzlers

·         Laffy Taffy

·         Life Saver Gummies

·         Dum Dum sucker

·         Air Heads

·         Hershey Kisses (milk chocolate only)

·         DOVE Silky Smooth Promises (milk chocolate kind only)

·         Junior Mints

·         Yummy Earth Organic Lollipops, gummies, candy

·         Kraft  and Publix brand Marshmallow

·         Surf Sweets gummies and candy

Cookies and cake

·         Oreos- regular blue package and Golden ones in yellow package

·         Enjoy Life (all flavors) **known for their allergen free cookies!

·         Honey Maid and Nabisco graham crackers

·         Loora Doones

·         Keebler Vanilla or Rainbow wafer

·         Pre packaged Rice Krispie treats or make your own!

·         Annie’s brand cookies-pre packaged or mix

·         Betty Crocker SuperMoist Box Cake Mixes (Butter Recipe Chocolate, Butter Recipe Yellow,

·         Carrot, Cherry Chip, Devils Food, Double Chocolate Swirl, Lemon, Natural Vanilla,

·         Party Rainbow, Triple Chocolate Fudge, Yellow, White)

·         Betty Crocker Rich Creamy (Caramel, Cherry, Chocolate, Cream Cheese, Milk Chocolate,

Mint Chocolate Chip, Rainbow Chip, Triple Chocolate Fudge, Vanilla) Frosting

·         Betty Crocker Whipped (ButterCream, Chocolate Cream Cheese, FluffAy White,

Milk Chocolate, Strawberry, Vanilla)

·         Betty Crocker Decorating Gel. Icing, or spray in all colors

·         Betty Crocker Sprinkles (Decorating stars, Nonpareils, Rainbow Mix, Chocolate flavored)

·         Betty Crocker Sugars, all colors

Not all Turkey is Created Equal..

Two misconceptions about turkey burger: 1. they are dry 2. They are boring. Neither is the case if you use the right meat and cook them right! One reason people get dry turkey burgers is that they cook them like beef. Turkey burgers need to be cooked low and slow. Also, another tip to preventing dry meat is to fill them with a wet vegetable- in this case I am using finely diced onion. Next issue? choice of meat. Many people that have tried a turkey burger at a restaurant didn't like it. why? it is usually frozen (yuck) and not a good quality meat. Not all turkey is created equal! Jennie O Lean is my go to and have tried many others that fail in comparison, but each person's tastes are different. Just promise me you will not try one brand, cooked one way and decide you don't like ground turkey! I have in fact cooked meals using ground turkey for many other people who actually never knew it was turkey. Why? because of the kind I used and the way i season and prepare it. Case in point? My sun dried tomato turkey burger..It is easy, healthy and so delicious!

Sun Dried Tomato Turkey Burgers 

• 1/4 cup finely diced yellow onion
• 1 lb lean ground turkey ( I prefer Jennie O)
• 1/4 cup diced Sun Dried Tomatoes in sauce - I use California Sun Dry Tomatoes julienne cut with herbs then run my knife through them quickly to chop. 
• 2 Tablespoon of oil from the jar of Sun Dried tomatoes- (If you use a dry sun dried tomatoes add 2.5 tablespoons of oil instead of 2 )
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp dried basil
• 1/4 tsp Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 350. 

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, making sure to evenly distribute each ingredient. I use my hands! Do not over mix.

Heat a large skillet on medium high heat with olive oil (I don't measure but about 1.5-2 tablespoons). Score your meat in the bowl to make a "+" to ensure all burgers are equal in size. Form four patties. Place in skillet and heat first side 2 minutes and flip (they should be slightly brown). Heat other side 1 minute, then put skillet in the oven for about 7 minutes or until meat is no longer pink. Do not overcook or they will be dry!

I find these in the produce section on an end cap at Publix

Side Suggestions:

I love to serve these burgers over cous-cous, but we can no longer have them..so today we tried them with quinoa and it was good! I suggest cooking your quinoa or cous cous with some olive oil or butter, salt and maybe some sun dried tomatoes if you really like them! If you are making quinoa you will need extra seasoning-it takes a lot! 

Roasted broccoli- seasoned w olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper

Green Beans

Buns toasted w garlic butter (can also be dairy free w earth balance spread) and a pinch of garlic, mayo mixed w a little oil from the sun dried tomatoes and a few diced tomatoes mixed together to make an aioli. You could also add romaine and a sprinkle of fresh basil if you want to go all out!

Turkey Hamming it up!

I love Jennie O products, and I'm especially grateful they have created so many turkey products since the only meat Wynn can have is turkey. I've seen Jennie O's Turkey Ham many times at the grocery store but I've never purchased it, because honestly I just didn't know what i would do with it and..well..it sounded a little odd. A ham made of turkey? It seemed a little weird, but I finally decided to try it..and I'm glad I did! This is SO simple and only 3 ingredients. Try it- you won't be sorry!
This recipe works perfectly with a "turkey ham"but will also work very well with a boneless ham!

Brown Suagr and Pineapple cured Turkey Ham

Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, Corn Free, Rice Free, Egg Free

2 lb Jennie O Turkey Ham or boneless ham

1 1/3 cup pineapple juice

1 1/3 cup light brown sugar

Crockpot

1. Grease the bottom of your crockpot with Pam Grilling spray (doesn't contain soy) or spray of choice.

2. Pierce the top and bottom of your "ham" with a knife several times ( to allow juices and brown sugar to seep in your meat).

3. Divide your brown sugar in half. pack 1/2 of your brown sugar on the flat side of your meat. hold it onto the meat with your hand, and  flip it, placing it flat side down in the crockpot. Its okay if some of it falls out to the side.

4. Pack the rest of your brown sugar on the top of the ham. 

5. Pour the pineapple juice all around the sides of your crockpot (not on top of the ham). 

6. Cook on high for 4 hrs. Remove ham and slice it, then place it back in the crock pot.

7. Cook an additional 30 min-1 hour to allow juices to soak in every slice!

This sauce will thicken as it cools. For a thicker serving sauce, just turn off cooker and allow it to sit for about 30 min. 

This tastes great on rolls smothered in sauce or on its own with a side of sauteed green beans. You can also use leftovers for a salad, casserole, omelet or sandwich the next day.

The Gluten Lovers Gluten Free Waffles

My son has recently been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called Eosinophilic Esophagitis (called Eoe for short). I will write more about his diagnosis in another post. It has been tough, and it has drastically changed his diet and mine (due to nursing). When i first got the list of what he cannot eat, my first thought was "Well, what CAN he eat?!" We have not done further testing to see if he has even more triggers, but for now we are avoiding:
Egg 
Soy
Dairy
Wheat
Barley
Oats
Peas
Peaches
Beef
Chicken
Pork
Seafood
Shellfish
Rice
Corn

So! As you can see, this is pretty overwhelming. Wynn is in feeding therapy with a feeding aversion, so he already wouldn't eat many foods..but what he DID like was foods with wheat and corn. Yikes! Therefore, my first priority in making new recipes for him was to find a bread product that actually tasted good. Almost all Gluten Free products I have found use rice and/or corn flour which he can't do. ugh. so! I had a lot of trial and error cooking, and i finally created the PERFECT waffle recipe that tastes amazing!! Whether you are gluten free or not, you will love these!

Gluten Lovers Gluten Free Waffles

1 Cup Bettes Four Flour Blend
2 Tablespoons Earth Balance Soy Free Butter (or regular butter, softened)
1 Tablespoon Safflower Oil
1 Egg or 1 Egg Replacer Egg (ener-g brand- 1 1/2 tsp powder mixed with 2 warm tablespoons water and set aside)
1 1/2 tsp Hain pure foods baking powder (gluten free)
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp sugar
3/4 cups of Silk original (not vanilla or unsweetened) Almond Milk or regular milk if diet allows

Preheat Waffle Iron.
If using egg replacer, pour mixed replacer in a medium bowl and beat with a mixer on low for 30 seconds (if using a regular egg, omit this step and add with other ingredients). Add all other ingredients except for milk. Mix on low for about 10 seconds until combined. Add Milk and mix on low for one minute, making sure all ingredients are fully combined and mixture thickens a little.
Pour desired amount into greased waffle iron. cook until waffle iron says they are done (mine shows a green light). These waffles will not turn dark brown, however, if you cook them too long they will become hard. They should be golden and crispy on the outside and slightly soft on the inside. These are so so good, and they even freeze very well! After they have cooled, simply place them in a freezer bag and put in the freezer. When you are ready to eat them, just take them out and reheat in the toaster oven or microwave. Success!! My daughter even likes them better that Bisquick waffles. Yay!

The finished product :)

Products you will need:

Hain Gluten Free Baking Powder

 Ener-G Egg Replacer

 Bette's Gourmet Flour Blend -Its the BEST! 

This flour does Not contain Rice flour or Corn Flour either! Almost all GF Flour blends contain Rice Flour. I finally found this one that doesn't and tastes awesome!! Yay!

Earth Balance buttery spread- this stuff is amazing!

I find this at Walmart, Whole Foods, Publix

Now THIS is how you make amazing gluten free waffles!!