The Pure Pantry Saves Valentines Day

Until this year, I think the kids still truly believed that Valentines Day was all about spending a few weeks creating lovely tokens of friendship for their classmates, and not about candy.  We thankfully still had the homemade cards, which I was so grateful for.  In fact, it was Addi's first year exchanging Valentines cards, and when the morning came, she got a bit teary-eyed over the thought of parting with her 30 painted and glittered hearts.

Who can blame her for not wanting to part with her creations?

 

 

 

 

She begrudgingly brought her Valentines cards to school, but quickly had a change of heart--yes, a change of heart--when she realized she had received 30 lovely cards, many with candy attached. 

Back at home, with all of her cards scattered in front of her, some ripped open envelopes (why is it so difficult for children to open envelopes?), and a pile of lollipops, chocolates, and other confections, I finally relented and gave her a lollipop. 

And then there were two.  Two holidays she now associates with getting a piece of candy.

She's the lucky one without food allergies, but it was heartbreaking after so many years of a strict 'no candy rule' to see the kids wanting it more and more.

As for my MFA (that would be Multiple Food Allergic) boys, I was rushing around the kitchen at 8 am on Valentines Day trying to whip up chocolate cupcakes, only to discover I was low on pantry staples like flour and sugar. 

In a pinch, I dug out one of the mixes I'd picked up at the Gluten & Allergy Free Expo last weekend.  We are not gluten-free, but we do avoid egg, dairy, and all nuts (except coconut), and it was really eye-opening to sample lots of products that were free of the top 8.  I am a gluten-free novice, but found the cake at this booth so incredibly rich and delicious that I had to buy a bag to see for myself.

The Pure Pantry Mixes at the GFAF Expo were beautiful to look at but are even better to bake with.

 

In a blind taste test, I would've never guessed that the Pure Pantry Wholegrain Dark Chocolate Cake Mix was anything free.  How they managed to get such a moist, rich, and delicious cake with a true dark chocolate taste out of this mix is beyond me.  To prepare it without egg, I used Ener-G Egg Replacer according to the directions.  I also opted for coconut oil, as I had used it in Irene's brownies, and was impressed by the results.  I liked how the directions included dietary modifications, and some recipes for frostings.

I topped the cupcakes with an egg and dairy free cream cheese frosting that I made with soy cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract, but quickly found that the frosting wouldn't hold up without remaining chilled.  Nevertheless, frosting-less cupcakes were a hit with the boys, as well as with my littliest sweets monster.  We've been frosting them and gobbling them up for dessert in the last few days.  I've managed to eat my fair share of the two dozen I baked, telling myself I'm doing it for the good of the team.  :)

In the end, I think the spirit of card-making and giving still won out over the candy.  Addi's lollipop was never even finished before it was dumped into the compost bag, and, even after the candy came and went (into the compost bag alongside a half-eaten lollipop), the cards and memory of a day filled with love remain.

I hope you and yours had a fabulous and safe Valentines Day.

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.