Addi's Second Birthday: Healthful, Allergy-Friendly Menu, Made with Love!

I had not before attempted to throw an entirely allergy-friendly birthday party, but because we had a good handful of kids at this party with food allergies, I decided to do my best to make it a dairy/egg/nut/peanut/shellfish free party.  I know, some of you are wincing...but the guests didn't have to know that it was allergy-friendly!

We had the party at a SF Park & Rec playground and clubhouse with only a fridge and microwave, so I kept to mostly cold stuff.  I also love the idea of this menu for a picnic. 

I have to say that it was the most exhausting prep for a birthday party I've done (and recruited help, I did!), but it was really rewarding to know that all the kids could eat anything on the menu.  Tristan even tried spinach dip with peppers, Addi was chowing down on the prosciutto wrapped asparagus, and smoked salmon & Tofutti cream cheese sandwiches were apparently the new PB&J!  I loved how the adult and kids menu completely overlapped.

Here was the menu: (I wish I'd had more time to get some proper pics, but you'll get the picture...ha ha no pun intended!)

Raw veggies with Trader Joe's eggplant hummus, TJ's garlic hummus, and semi-homemade vegan spinach dip

Fruit: strawberries & grapes

Edamame (wow, I did not know Costco sold them in bulk...but then again, I should've known)

Sandwiches: (I used Rainbo white bread for the tea sandwiches, and sliced sourdough bread for the BLT's)

Soybutter & jam--substitute with sunbutter for soy allergies

Turkey & Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese

BLT's with Vegenaise--substitute Oscar Mayer Turkey bacon for non-red meat eaters 

Smoked salmon & Better Than Cream Cheese with freshly chopped chives & squeeze of lemon--just mix in the chives and lemon before spreading

Isreali Couscous w/ red peppers, zucchini, & corn

The couscous comes from TJ's in a box in the pasta section.  You could also use the Harvest Grains mix which has added orzo, quinoa, and beans for a similar dish with added protein. 
Measure out chicken broth instead of water according to package directions.  I usually add also a pat of allergy-safe margarine (Earth Balance).  Dice veggies, and when broth comes to a boil, add couscous and veggies.  At second boil, turn heat way down and cover until cooked (about 8-10 minutes, depending on how many veggies you add and whether some are frozen).  If you need to add extra liquid, you can add water til it's cooked. 

Prosciutto wrapped asparagus
So easy!  Just wash, trim, and blanch the asparagus.  Then, drizzle with bit of olive oil, add pepper, and wrap with prosciutto.  (I used half pieces of prosciutto).  For a zestier version, spread honey mustard on asparagus before wrapping in prosciutto.

Noah's Bagels (chocolate chip, raisin, plain, & blueberry) w/ Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese

Baby Greens Salad with Brianna's Poppyseed dressing

Chocolate Cupcakes dusted with confectioner's sugar (use sifter and do this at the last minute to avoid sogginess)


Isn't his sugar mustache the cutest?  All the kids were sporting them! 

TJ's Cinnamon Sugar Pita Chips

Coffee

We've done 40 cup containers from Martha & Bros. and Starbucks--comes with all the condiments and cups & stays hot for 5 hours.  Noah's does smaller boxes of coffee to go.  Coffee = essential for a 10 am kids' birthday party.

Box juices, water, lemonade & other assorted cold drinks for the adults

Happy birthday, Little Miss!  We love you!

Knorr Vegan Spinach Dip

Not the prettiest pic...people had already dug right in!

This was my mom's go-to spinach dip for parties, and I must say it got me to eat way more carrots and celery growing up than I otherwise would have.  She used the Knorr spinach dip recipe from the back of the package, and I made a vegan version for Addison's birthday party last week:

1 package Knorr vegetable recipe mix (find it at your local grocery store in the soup aisle)
1 10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach
16 oz. Tofutti Sour Supreme (you'll need two tubs because it comes in a 12 oz size)
1 cup Vegenaise (I get it from Thom's on Geary but I assume they carry it at most specialty markets)
3 green onions, chopped

1. Leave the spinach out to thaw for about an hour if you remember.  It'll save time later.  If it's still frozen, you can either cook it by boiling, drain, and squeeze (squeeze and squeeze the water out!), or put it in a colander and rinse and break apart with hot water, then squeeze.  It should feel very dry and be stuck together in a clump.
2.  Then just stir all the ingredients together and chill.

So good with veggies or a sliced baguette!  Or, put it in a carved out sourdough bowl for fancy presentation.

Secrets to Becoming an In-N-Out Allergy Insider

Stickers for the kids, mostly clean bathrooms, fresh ingredients with a made-to-order menu, all at rollback prices.  We heart In-N-Out!  For your vacations/staycations this spring break, consider stopping at an allergy-friendly In-N-Out!

Although In-N-Out doesn't publish their ingredients like other fast food restaurants, their helpful customer service staff will answer all of your questions about ingredients, so ask away.  If you catch them during business hours, give them a call (1-800-786-1000), and get an instant response.

A few little known secrets for the In-N-Out insiders:

1. The food is made to order, and if you let them know you have food allergies, they will fire up a "dedicated grill" to avoid contamination from their other burgers (ASK for a dedicated grill).  Plus, most of the employees are generally allergy-educated (from my experience). 

2. You can get fries from the freshest batch if you ask for fries with "no salt."  When the next batch is fried, they'll scoop out your piping hot serving before salting... If you still want some salt, ask for some on the side.  And don't worry, the cottonseed oil is just for the freshly cut potatoes.

3. If you're egg-allergic, ask for "ketchup instead," and they'll replace the egg-based sauce with ketchup on your burger.

4.  If you're wheat-allergic, ask for a burger "protein style."  They'll replace the bun with a fresh lettuce wrap.

5. If you're dairy or egg allergic (or both), you can still have your bun!  That's right...no egg or dairy in their buns.

6. If you've got the kids in tow, ask for stickers while you wait (we've also gotten some great paper hats by request for the kids to help pass the time on road trips, and made for a great Halloween costume a few years back). 

7. They open at 10:30 so for all you early lunchers like us, you've got somewhere to go when the kids start screaming HUNGRY!  And ask for your burgers "cut in half" (self-explanatory when you've got kids).

Check out In-N-Out's Not So Secret Menu for other variations on their made-to-order foods.  Remember: think made to order.  Even if it's not on any menu, they'll probably make it, so don't be afraid to ask.

Fast food can be safe and delish.  Happy In-N-Outing!

Six-Year-Old With Peanut Allergies Wanted Out?

Parents in a Florida school want a six-year-old girl with peanut allergies removed from her school to be home schooled instead.  What?  I was just about in tears when I read yesterday's story: 

Peanut Allergy Stirs Controversy At Florida School
ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) – Some public school parents in Edgewater, Florida, want a first-grade girl with life-threatening peanut allergies removed from the classroom and home-schooled, rather than deal with special rules to protect her health, a school official said.
"That was one of the suggestions that kept coming forward from parents, to have her home-schooled. But we're required by federal law to provide accommodations. That's just not even an option for us," said Nancy Wait, spokeswoman for the Volusia County School District.
Wait said the 6-year-old's peanut allergy is so severe it is considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
To protect the girl, students in her class at Edgewater Elementary School are required to wash their hands before entering the classroom in the morning and after lunch, and rinse out their mouths, Wait said, and a peanut-sniffing dog checked out the school during last week's spring break...[full story]

After reading the story, I thought a lot about it before deciding on what thoughts I had to share about it.  I have, for the most part, received empathy and understanding from my children's school communities regarding their food allergies.  So it's really hard for me to imagine a world where parents are actually protesting my child's enrollment in his school because of them.  I always feel it goes back to lack of food allergy education among the school community, and even what we as parents or doctors understand about food allergies.  With a lack of more details, I hesitate to comment on the extent to which the school has been asked to accommodate this child with respect to the severity of her food allergies.

Most disturbing were the comments that were posted after the article--over 3000 comments have been posted to date.  Whereas my first instinct was concern over the well-being of the child and how the ostracization of the school community was affecting her; most of the comments were actually in favor of making her being home schooled and basically expressed the selfishness of the family for making the school community take responsibility for her health.

How have your food allergic children's schools responded to their needs?  What is your take on what is happening in Florida?

Welcome CityMommy!

Just wanted to welcome our fab Bay Area CityMommy mommies to what we hope will be a handy resource for your families, whether or not you have allergic children.  Everyone has food allergic children in their lives--whether nieces or nephews, neighbors, children's classmates...

We're here to tell our stories, share recipes and allergy-safe craft ideas, and direct you to ingredient and product lists to help demystify food allergies for everyone. 

And for you mommies who haven't yet checked out CityMommy (hullo...where have you been?), do so today and join free for invaluable info, great conversation, discounts, and giveaways specific to your city!  They've literally got CityMommy cities all over the country.  So start connecting with other mommies in your area today!

Product review: STATkids

When we enrolled my son, Ryken, in preschool it was a big step for our family.  It was the first time I would leave him in the care of someone else on a regular basis.  I was nervous about how he would react to not having mommy at his beck and call.  And I was nervous about his food allergies.

Thankfully I found a great preschool program.  Not only were the seasoned teachers loving and supportive but they were also extremely accommodating of Ryken's dairy and peanut allergies. 

When Ryken transitioned to Kindergarten this year I knew things would be a bit different.  Bigger class, fewer teachers, and more chaos overall.  I remember being a teacher of 20 and the challenging task of being attentive to everyone's needs all the time.  Nowadays it is even harder for teachers.  Class sizes are bigger while expectations have remained consistently high.

I began to look for helpful reminders of Ryken's food allergies.  After some online research, I came across a promising company called STATkids.  STATkids makes school and travel products that enable you to clearly indicate your child's allergies. With white writing on bright, eye-catching red, it's hard to miss the allergy alert.  The company's products include wristbands, health cards, and fanny packs.  Lunch bags and backpacks are also available and can be personalized with your child's name, too.

I bought small-size wristbands for Ryken that fit him perfectly.  He loves to wear them and they don't irritate his skin one bit.  If he wanted to, he could keep them on worry-free through hand-washing, swim class, and showers without fear of rusting or ruining them.  I also bought a fanny pack where we keep his Epi-Pen, Jr. set and a bottle of antihistamine. It's nice to be able to easily tote that whenever we go out.

Be sure to check out STATkids website for their full line of products and Amazon.com for competitive pricing.

Irish Cranberry Soda Bread

At the kids' preschool, they make Irish soda bread every year, often made with buttermilk, and Tristan, now six (and a half, he says), had yet to try it.  So this year, I finally got my act together. Nothing like a rainy day to inspire allergy-safe baking with the kids.

I thought, I'm finally going to share some Irish tradition with the kids for St. Patrick's Day (which has become a much more noticed holiday around here since it is shared with Addison's birthday).  Well, it turns out that sugar and raisins (or cranberries, or any other like additions) are completely non-traditional.  Of course.

Traditional soda bread is actually made of four main ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk or other acid.  There are many more traditional Irish soda bread recipes out there.  You can try them for yourself, substituting the buttermilk with 1 cup safe milk+1 T. vinegar for dairy allergies.

When we got to the shelf to buy the raisins for the recipe, the kids picked the dried cranberries instead of the raisins.  So here is our version, based on this vegan Irish Soda Bread recipe:

Irish Cranberry Soda Bread: NO Dairy, Egg, Nut, Peanut, Soy* (contains: wheat)

1 cup safe milk (we used Trader Joe's unsweetened soymilk*, but rice milk or other varieties should work)
1 T. apple cider vinegar
2-1/4 cup flour
2 T. sugar
2 t. baking powder
heaping 1/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries (or raisins, or other dried fruit that may inspire you)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Add vinegar to milk and set aside to curdle.

3. Mix all dry ingredients together in large mixing bowl, including the cranberries.

4. Add the wet to the dry ingredients and mix together just until a dough is formed.

5. Sprinkle flour on lightly greased pan, silpat, or parchment paper lined pan.
6. Place on pan, sprinkle more flour on top (it was very sticky so I ended up coating my hands with flour), and form into a ball. 
7. Use a knife and slice an "X" on top.

8. Bake for about 40 minutes.  Ready when toothpick comes out clean, or when it sounds hollow when tapped.  (I baked mine for more like 50 minutes, which allowed for some light browning over the top crust.)

9. Set it on a rack to cool to prevent the bottom from getting soft.
10. Slice and enjoy!

Kids' Verdict:
Tristan asked for 3 more slices after dinner.  Obviously, the bread won out over the spaghetti I had thrown together and called dinner.
Logan didn't like "those little black things."  I think the cranberries may have been a bit tart for him.

The recipe was easy and the bread came out moist and tasty.  The cranberries gave it a little kick.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!