Weekend Getaways: Food 101 for the Family with Food Allergies

For some, summer means travel.  I relish the lazy days close to home myself, but if we had the option to travel all summer long, I might very well consider it.  Unfortunately, for a food allergy family, traveling is a challenge with an enormous amount of planning involved.

With a severely food allergic child, I feel less and less comfortable eating out, especially when we're far from home.  I think I've got the Epinephrine to ER thing down pat when we're at home, but being on vacation with an allergic reaction is a different story all together.

So I try very hard to limit our restaurant eating and do as much preparing and cooking as I can.  We will be away this weekend for a rare mini getaway with the family, and although we will be within an hour from home, I still have a lot of planning to do.  Some tips to make the getaway more like a vacation and hopefully, less stressful:

1. If you can, book a hotel with a refrigerator at the very least, and for longer trips, some form of a kitchen or microwave is essential.  If there's no microwave in the room, there may be one available for use, like in the lobby.

2. Seek out the markets near your hotel before you go, and plan on making a few trips with a list of easy, allergy-friendly, low maintenance food options in hand.  Some forethought saves you time in the long run.

3. If there is a stove available, bring your own pots/pans and cooking utensils.  This cuts out the mystery and puts some of your cross-contamination worries at ease.

4.  Bring paper goods and disposable eating utensils.  No one likes to wash dishes on vacation, but this is especially important if all you have is a fridge.  An added bonus: kids can eat by the pool and not skip a beat!

5.  Bring drinks or water bottles and lots (and lots) of non-perishable snacks to pack for day trips, have by the pool, or satisfy a craving.  Some of our favorites are safe granola or breakfast bars, crackers, popcorn, fruit or fruit and gel cups (like Dole Fruit and Gel Cups), fruit leathers, seeds, and dried seaweed.

If you're a seasoned food allergy mama you likely already follow these guidelines religiously.  For those of you who might be starting out, know that you CAN have fun while on vacation.  And yes, we were the ones with the 8 grocery bags filled with food upon check-in, but we were also the ones who spent a fabulous 87 degree day by the pool.

Wishing you safe and happy travels this summer!

Valentine's Day - a little less food, a lot more fun!

Valentine's Day is here.  What is typically anticipated as a sweet and romantic day sure generates a host of different emotions from those with food allergies or food-allergic children.  Sadness, exclusion, anger, dread, anxiety, terror.  And with an estimated 1 in 3 parents reporting that their food-allergic child has had a life-threatening anaphylactic reaction on Valentine's Day, it's no wonder that parents are on edge on this food-filled holiday.

I am happy to share that neither of my sons' classes will have a full-blown Valentine's Day celebration this year.   Woo hoo!  Really, this is mostly about keeping school time for school-related learning and not solely a decision based on the risks of food allergies...but I will take it as a minor victory in the name of food allergy families anyway!!  Kids are free to pass out Valentines and candies at the end of the day and kids are preparing heart bags to carry their love loot home.

Ryken's class is, however, doing a math project with conversation hearts and Gummi Bears but both are safe for him.  I also am a little leery and will pack a safe treat for Ryken in case some well-intentioned parents who have forgotten about Ryken's food allergies bring in armloads of store-bought cupcakes and cookies.  This happens occasionally to my disappointment and to the teachers' as well.  Divvies Bakery, a dedicated milk-free, egg-free, nut-free bake shop, recently sent me samples of their chocolate hearts which are available for online purchase.  I think these will go in the treat stash!

Although I don't consider myself a crafty DIY mom, I love making Valentines.  Construction paper, pencil, markers, and scissors.  Decorations: optional.  There is something extra special about getting a Valentine that someone put a little sweat into making.  In past years when Ryken was a preschooler, I helped him cut out hearts and had him dictate to me what he wanted to say to each of his friends.

My younger son, Callan, is now the preschooler.  His fine motor skills are a lot more developed than his brother's were at his age although his endurance for making thirty Valentines by himself isn't quite there yet!  So I made a little cardboard template of half a heart, traced the half-hearts on folded construction paper, and let Callan cut them out himself.  Callan wasn't keen on writing messages (again, the endurance thing) but I convinced him to write his name on all thirty hearts so that his friends would know it was a Valentine from him.  He was so excited to put the Valentines in the school cubbies.  One of his classmates found his and said, "Thank you, Callan."  Callan beamed with pride!

With Ryken being older, more skilled, and able to focus longer on a task, I gave him the option of working with the computer.  He happily accepted.  (Note: I rarely let the kids use the computer.  I still have to figure out the perfect balance of becoming computer-literate and becoming a game-playing tech zombie, if you know what I mean.)  I traced the hearts for Ryken to make the process a little easier since we only had a week to do everything.  He was responsible for cutting them out and composing messages on the computer.  This provided a good opportunity to get acquainted with Microsoft Word, typing, and general tricks on using our laptop.  Ryken loved the grown-up feeling of working on his project.  After he finished, we printed out the messages, cut them, and taped them to the hearts.

My kids have been surprisingly mum about Valentine's sweets.  They were so happy to make Valentines for their classmates and are excited to be getting cards from their friends.  Maybe Valentine's Day has been spared the reputation of being another food holiday?  Maybe love still prevails for this special day...

I still plan on making a special Valentine's Day treat for the kids.  We will start the morning with heart-shaped pancakes.  I made a batch of nut-free fudge by tweaking a recipe from a cookbook by vegan chef Chloe Coscarelli.  That recipe isn't quite perfect yet so I'll need to refine it before sharing it with you.  (In the meantime, we have a whoooole lot of first-try fudge to get through...)

Wishing you and yours a safe and happy Valentine's Day.  Let's hope with more awareness, education, and care in our communities, we can bring that 1 in 3 statistic drastically down.

Dai Fat Go--Cakes for a Prosperous New Year

Most of our mothers and grandmothers have literally perfected a few to several dozen specialty Chinese dishes; but most do very little home baking.  This is not to say that they are immune to the wonderful smells wafting out of the doors of the Chinese bakeries on Stockton, Clement, or Irving Streets--the don tats (egg custard tarts), char siu baos (steamed pork buns), and the gai mei baos (cocktail buns).  But let's just say that my mother-in-law's oven is most popularly used to store over-sized pots and pans--not for baking.

It's nice to have a big wok with a lid for steaming.  It will fit a 6 muffin tin.

So it was fun to see how her eyes lit up when she realized she could make a simple cake using equivalent amounts of just four simple ingredients, after a friend gave her the recipe.  The "fat" in the name of the little cakes means prosperity [think: gung hay fat choy], so, they are typically made around Chinese New Year.  This year, the first day of the year of the snake lands on Sunday, February 10.

I rivaled my mother-in-law's excitement with the realization that the recipe is naturally egg and dairy free, two of the main food allergens in our household. My mother-in-law has been making the cakes all week, and the kids have been enjoying fresh muffins for breakfast.  I've found they go especially well with my afternoon cup of coffee.  They are really moist, spongy, and slightly sweet.

What gives these cakes their pretty flower shape is that they are steamed, not baked, so I guess my mother-in-law will be keeping her pots and pans tucked safely away in her oven for the time being.  Steaming muffins was a first for both of us.

Before I give you the recipe, you should know a few things about my seldom-baking mother-in-law. When someone says to add 1 cup of something, she uses a dry measuring cup, not a liquid one.  And when someone says to add brown sugar, packing the sugar is optional.  So even though the original recipe said to add one cup of brown sugar, packed it was equivalent to 3/4 of a cup.  This recipe couldn't be easier.

Logan had a blast helping his grandmother with the cakes.  Way too much fun for a sick day.

Dai Fa Go--Big Prosperous Cake  (No Egg or Dairy)

1 cup flour

1 cup water

1 cup dark brown sugar, unpacked (or about 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed)

1 cup Bisquick

Stir the ingredients together, pour into lined muffin pan, and steam on a plate in a large pan or wok covered for 15 minutes.

Makes 6-8 little cakes

A big prosperous Chinese New Year to all of out Get Allergy Wise families!  Time to go clean the house...

After Thanksgiving Soup

It's Sunday after Thanksgiving, the perfect lazy day to reflect on a weekend spent with family and friends, and ending with an easy, hearty meal to fill our stomachs for back-to-school.

By 1 pm Thanksgiving day, I'd handed the kids off to my brother for some incredible summer weather playground time, picked up the toys off the floor, and even set up the tables and chairs for a party of 16 with a 4 o'clock reservation to feast.

With a mix of relief and dread, I sat down to several huge mounds of clean laundry covering two-thirds of my living room rug, and started folding, sorting, and putting away baskets of clothes that had forced me to send the kids to school in mismatched and ill-fitting outfits for the past week.  I pulled my Honey Baked Ham out of the oven by two, and with an hour to spare, I prepped my quick and easy allergy-friendly desserts--Semi-Homemade Vegan Chocolate Pumpkin Bread Pudding and Apple Cranberry Crisp.  Soon after, the guests started arriving and pouring wine--the party had begun!

Regardless of how much help and support I have before and during these parties, it's hard to ever completely put my guard down and relax.  This year, most of the food was allergy-friendly and safe for my kids to eat, but you are never 100 percent sure, especially when you're hosting a potluck.  One unsafe ingredient in one dish is enough to send a food allergic person to the ER, which is definitely the last place anyone wants to be on Thanksgiving night.

But I managed to sit back with a glass of wine and take a bit of time to enjoy a few small moments and conversations from the evening.  And thankfully, tummies were full and satisfied without incident.  There may even have a been a dance performance and a bit of karaoke thrown in for some good old family fun.

It would've been nice to sleep in the next day, as there were still a couple of dishes in the sink and some crumbs to wipe up, but we had other plans.  We were off for an overnight in old Sacramento--via Amtrak--destination...the Polar Express!  All of the pre-made pasta, leftovers, cold cuts, bread, fruit, and snacks, and an in-room fridge and microwave allowed me to create a safe menu of foods for Tristan during our trip.  Perfectly sunny weather, hanging out with friends, and trains everywhere contributed to a memorable weekend.  Such fun!

Whew!  Finally today, a day of rest.  We are cleaning house and I have our after Thanksgiving Soup on the stove, with a ham hock base, Honey Baked Ham The Soup Solution Green Garden Soup Mix, potatoes, carrots, celery, fennel, and yellow onions.  Containing no dairy, egg, or nuts (note: does contain wheat and soy),* Honey Baked Ham not only allowed me to contribute a hands-off crowd pleasing Thanksgiving day main dish, it is giving me a--quite possibly even better--hearty and delicious soup for our Sunday night dinner.  Paired with a few other leftovers, including our desserts, we will feast again tonight with very little effort.  What fun things do you do with your Thanksgiving day leftovers?

The soup hit the spot--so delicious, I want to eat it for days.  Thank you Honey Baked Ham!

We hope all of our GAW families had a warm and wonderful Thanksgiving, and a little break from the norm.

*Honey Baked Ham's ingredient and allergen information is not published on their website.  Please contact them at 866-492-HAMS for specific questions and up-to-date ingredient information.

Bring on the Red, White, & Blue

Fourth of July.  A day for family, picnics, hotdogs, and all things red, white, and blue.  And what better way to celebrate than to make one of America's favorite desserts: Jell-O.  Who could forget a tray of Jell-O chilling in the fridge on a hot day, pudding pop commercials featuring Bill Cosby, or the coveted rainbow layered Jell-O served at parties?

Such a mystery to my little hands, how they got all those colors to line up so perfectly in one little square of Jell-O.  And what was the white layer made of?

Well, Jenn at JustJenn Recipes seems to understand my childhood obsession, with a beautiful tutorial on how to make rainbow Jell-O.  I decided to try my hand at making a dairy-free version for the Fourth of July, using coconut milk instead of condensed milk.

Red, White, & Blue Jell-O
adapted from JustJenn Recipes

Add color and stripes to your Fourth of July party with Red, White, & Blue Jell-O.

1 6 oz. box red Jell-O
1 6 oz. box blue Jell-O
6 packages unflavored Knox gelatin
1 cup coconut milk
hot water
coconut oil (optional)*

1. Combine 1 cup of coconut milk with 1 cup of hot water and set aside.  If you prefer a sweeter white layer, you could probably add some sugar to this mixture.

2. Stir in 2 envelopes of unflavored Knox gelatin with 1 cup of hot water, then combine with coconut milk mixture and let cool to room temperature.

3. Mix together box of red Jell-O, 1 envelope of Knox gelatin, and 1-1/2 cups of hot water.  Pour about half the mixture into 9 x 13 Pyrex pan and let chill in the refrigerator until set, about 30 minutes.  If you are worried about sticking, grease bottom and sides of the pan with coconut oil*.

4. While the red layer is chilling, mix together box of blue Jell-O, 1 envelope of Knox gelatin, and 1-1/2 cups of hot water.  Let it cool to room temperature.

5. Once the red layer has set, add 1/3 of the milk mixture to the pan, and let chill in the fridge for about 15 minutes, or until set.

6. As each layer sets, add a new layer, alternating between red, white, and blue.  I added them in this order: red, white, blue, white, red, white, blue.  This way one side of each square is blue, one side is red.

7. Cut into squares and enjoy!

Slice Jello in half lengthwise and use a star-shaped cookie cutter for stars and stripes all in one treat!

For other festive Fourth of July treats, try Michelle's Red, White, & Blue Fruit Pops,




a simple star pasta dish,

fresh berries over soy or coconut ice cream or yogurt,

or a bowl of red, white, and blue tortilla chips with your favorite salsa.  Happy Fourth!!!

My Mother's Day Wishlist

Seeing as Mother's Day is a few days away, we're going to keep things simple this year.  I started to think about what I would really like to do or have for Mother's Day, and came up with a few ideas that any husband-led band of kids should be able to achieve.  And truly, guys, we love stuff that comes straight from the heart.


1. Pack a picnic.  Um, just to clarify, packing a picnic...requires much more planning than going on a picnic.  This weather we're having (early Indian summer, please stay with us...please please please!) just screams picnic, but somehow, well let's face it, I am always the one to pack the picnic foods.  Got to have everyone's favorites--soybutter sandwiches, no jam on this one, cut in triangles not squares, etc.  If just for one day, I could sit back and enjoy the meal without the chaos that is sure to ensue in the minutes before screaming "Shoes on everybody now!" that would make for a pretty special Mother's Day.  Just sayin'.  
       
Some picnic ideas:

• Cut up fresh fruits.  Add a special twist for Mom by dipping strawberries into chocolate 
• Cut up fresh veggies with a favorite, allergy-friendly dip, like Spinach Dip or Hummus
• Cooked corn on the cob
• Favorite allergy-friendly sandwiches, made special with sandwich shape cutters, or cut into small triangles
• Edamame
• Favorite snacks, like popcorn, Furikake Chex Mix, Granola Bars
• Allergy-safe sweets, like Irene's Coconut Cookie Bars, Chocolate Covered Strawberries, or Blueberry Scones

2.  Family Portrait.  It doesn't get much cuter than this.  Have your kids draw family portraits using bright markers, oil pastels, or a combination of markers and watercolors.  Put a frame on it for an added touch.  If all else fails, any piece of original artwork will be much loved.

Artwork by Tristan, using oil pastels

3.  Breakfast in bed.  Classic.  I guarantee you, this never gets old.  Have your kids design a menu of items that will be served.  Let older kids pour the milk, cereal, and juice, have little kids pull out plastic plates or trays.  Try yogurt parfaits or fruit smoothies for an easy, healthful option.  After sleeping in a few hours, mom will be hungry.

4.  Family Tree.  Create a family tree and have your kids add names, draw pictures, or glue on photos.
   
5.  Video.  Compile all of that video you have of the kids and create a simple movie.  Mom will be reminded of how it's all worth it.

6.   Acrostic.  Spell "Mommy" down the left side of a piece of paper and let older kids fill in a poem about mommy.

7.   Clean.  Clean up a part of the house that is notoriously messy or cluttered.  She won't even mind being awoken by the sounds of the plates clattering or the vacuum roaring!

8.   Coffee Filter Flowers.  Last year we made tissue paper flowers for the moms in our lives, and this year I wanted to try these coffee filter flowers.  To make them a bit more kid-friendly to make, I used scotch tape to attach the top and bottom coffee filter to a cake pop stick, and cut a slit through a layered batch with a scissor.  The kids had fun scrunching and squirting a water/beet juice mixture with a spray bottle.  Just be careful!

9.   Gift Ideas.  It's rare that my husband and I agree on what a romantic, lovely, useful gift looks like.  It took some thinking, but here are my picks for those of you who feel you must go out and buy something. Hey, nothin' wrong with that!

• Jane Iredale Sugar & Butter.  A lip exfoliator/lip balm all in one.  Organic brown sugar on one side exfoliates, while the tinted lip plumper moistens and gives a bit of shine.  Gluten-free, but contains macadamia nut oil.  
• Keurig Single Cup Brewing System  I don't understand how I ever lived without my new coffee maker.  Brews one cup at a time, so the babysitter, mother-in-law, or any visitor can have a cup of freshly brewed coffee in minutes.
• Silpat Silicone Cookie Sheet Liners  In lieu of parchment paper, it's a fantastic pan liner for baking cookies every time.  I use it to roll out dough, too, and it's perfectly nonstick.  
• Statement Necklace A statement necklace is just what its name says it is--it's a necklace that makes a statement.  I handpicked this Stella and Dot one at a fundraiser for my Mother's Day gift--what a win-win.  This Tessellate Necklace from J. Crew goes into my queue of must-haves.  Ahem...
• Skip Hop Central Park Blanket and Cooler Bag.  The creme de la creme of picnic blankets.  Water resistant, folds up with carrying strap, and comes in super cute colors.  Comes with a cooler bag now.  They've thought of everything, haven't they?
• Takeya Classic Glass Water Bottle in fuchsia and black.  Not only does it looks awesome, will hydrate you throughout the day (and you know how dehydrated us moms get!), it's made of glass so no more chemicals with my water, thank you very much.  Comes with a cool silicone sleeve in a variety of colors.  
• Fillmore Bake Shop Macarons  I try not to rope myself into falling in love with too many sweets shops that sell stuff that none of the kids can eat, but a girl has to have her sinful delights (all kept in my top cabinet, above the fridge).  My lovely sister-in-law (thanks Theresa!) brought a box of these over to me the other day, and they were absolutely heavenly.  Aaah.  So many flavors, so little time.  

The key to winning mom's heart on Mother's Day is to remember that you've already won her over.  But being extra thoughtful and kind to each other will really make her day.

Happy Mother's Day ladies!  Enjoy!

Torn Paper Mosaic Cards

I love homemade gifts for Mother's Day.  I gladly pass on flowers and boxes of chocolates in favor of home-cooked meals (not made by me of course!), kid crafts, and cards...I love all the thought and effort that goes into making the day a special one for me.  And besides, my kids usually can't share in the chocolates due to their milk and nut allergies and flower pollen often sends me into a sneezing, eye-rubbing spiral!

A Mother's Day flower gift without the pollen!

My kids love to make cards and "books".  Cars, dinosaurs, Batman, and Angry Birds seem to be their subjects of choice lately and they usually just use pencil, markers, scissors, and the occasional puffy alphabet sticker.  For Mother's Day this year I wanted to introduce a new kind of technique they could use for making cards so that they will have more crafty ideas for the future.

For the past month at preschool Callan has been studying mosaics.  The kids there have been experimenting with different textures, shapes, and materials to create pictures.  Some kids have approached their mosaics with a definite plan on what they want to make, and have been drawing with pencil and filling their pictures completely to make their mosaics stand out.  I decided that making paper mosaic pictures would be a beautiful way to decorate a Mother's Day card while also reinforcing the techniques taught in Callan's class.

Before I led the kids through the project, I made a couple of cards myself.  Going through the process first was handy because it helped me figure out how to lay out the steps and where my kids might run into some trouble.  It was nice to have finished products so that the boys could see what I meant by filling in the spaces.  After making the sample cards, I picked up a couple of key steps right away: glue the white paper onto your cardstock first and only apply the glue to the edges of the white paper.  Otherwise, the white paper becomes bumpy and you can see the streaks of glue coming through the back.  (See my flower card below.)

Ryken and Callan were excited to try the art project.  Each step was challenging -- especially their first task of making a drawing big enough to fill the page and simple enough to be able to create a distinct picture.  The kids had to draw and erase a couple of times before they came up with good-sized drawings.  Tearing the papers into small pieces proved to be difficult for the kids.  They risked losing interest (especially Callan) so I had them choose the colors and magazine pages and I tore up pieces for them. 

Callan (age 4) was ready to quit on his mosaic pretty early on.  The kid just wants to draw cars all day!  The novelty of mosaics wore off fast and he was back to just paper and pen and car drawings once again.  Ryken (almost 7), however, was really interested in the task.  He wanted to make a Star Wars card but with a Jedi mindtrick of my own, I convinced him to make a simpler design that didn't require face, hair, clothes, lightsaber, and body.  I wasn't able to persuade him to make a Mother's Day-friendly flower or heart card, though as he finally decided on an Angry Bird.

The cards came out better than I expected!  They loved being able to incorporate their drawing skills in the card.  The kids were so fond of their mosaics that they wanted to keep them instead of sending them as Mother's Day cards.  We got around that by taking lots of pictures and promising the kids we would include a note in grandma's card to ask her to display them so we can see them on our next visit.

Paper Mosaics

White construction or 8.5"x11" paper
Cardstock or 9"x12" construction paper
Pencils
Scissors
Old magazines, construction paper, colored paper -- any paper material that you no longer need and don't mind tearing up
Glue or glue stick
Muffin tin for separating the torn paper by color  (I didn't do this but sure wish I had!)

1. Fold and cut 8.5"x11" white paper in half to create two 8.5"x5.5" sheets.
2. Choose a 9"x12" cardstock paper for the background and fold in half.  
3. Apply a thin layer of glue just along the edges of one 8.5"x5.5" sheet.  Adhere to one side of the cardstock.  The white paper will be your canvas for your paper mosaic.
4. Lightly draw a simple picture on the white paper.  Have your child draw something that fills up most of the page.  It may help kids to use another sheet of paper as a draft so that they can fiddle with their drawing and figure out how big it needs to be.
5. After your child has his/her drawing, talk about the colors that they will need to complete their art.  
6. Look through magazines and old colored papers for colors and patterns that can be used for the mosaic.  If you are going to be doing something in red, look for a few different shades or patterns of red.  Variety adds interest to the mosaic.
7. Tear the pages and papers into small pieces.  (We tried to make ours about as big as the kids' fingernails.)   For ease of use, group similar color pieces together.
8. Spread a thin layer of glue over a small section of your drawing.  Stick paper pieces one at a time on to drawing being careful to stay just within the drawing's borders.  Glue pieces close together or slightly overlap them so that the white paper underneath is completely covered.
9. Continue to glue paper pieces on to the drawing one small section at a time until you are finished.  When you have filled your whole drawing, double check to make sure all pieces are glued flat.  Dab with more glue if needed.
10. Once glue has dried, you may want to put the finished cards beneath a stack of heavy books overnight in order to flatten them.  Glue or any wet substance (like watercolor paints) can warp paper.
11. After you have flattened the cards, write your message to your special someone!

I'm thinking of helping the kids make torn paper mosaic self-portraits such as these.  I think they would be pretty neat gifts for the family!

Easter for the Egg Allergic

Now I know you must be wondering what our egg-allergic family is doing for Easter this year.  Well the answer is: not much.  We've been so busy with trip after event after trip and getting back into the swing of things over and over and over.  Not to mention Tristan's first standardized test is right around the corner, and both of us can't wait to be over and done with these practice test packets.

We still have lots of goodies for you from last year, along with a new idea for a sweet Easter treat.  Hopefully, you'll still find the inspiration you're looking for.

Last year, Michelle showed us how to glitter our plastic eggs, which proved to be a fantastically fancy and kid-friendly way to decorate eggless eggs.



At our house, we thought up a few more ways to adorn our plastic eggs using stickers, stick-on gems, and decoupage, googly eyes, and felt.  My hope was that this year we'd try out Eggnots, a new dyeable, ceramic egg, but I dropped the ball on that one, and will have to save it for next year.

Decoupage your Easter eggs for some fun texture and color

Add all sorts of stickers

Stick-on gems adds sparkle

Last year, Irene made beautiful Easter chocolates, perfect for stuffing Easter baskets.

Allergy-friendly Easter chocolates

I attempted some Rice Crispy Eggs using some extra plastic eggs I had as molds.  The kids couldn't get enough of these.

Rice Crispy Eggs

I was able to dig up an egg/nest project that Michelle had prepared for a baby shower we threw a few years back.  I thought it would work perfectly for Easter, too.  You can make them with just chocolate or a chocolate and soybutter (or another allergy-friendly butter) mix.  Just melt about 12 oz of chocolate chips (we use dairy-free Trader Joes semisweet chocolate chips) with 1/2 c. of soybutter, and mix with a box of shredded wheat.  Line a cupcake pan with foil or paper liners and shape mixture into nests.  Let cool.  Add allergy-friendly jelly-beans.

Shredded wheat nests
Photo credit: Michelle T.

So you see, there is still plenty of time to whip up some egg-free treats for your cuties this Easter.  Have fun and most importantly, try to spend some quality time with family!