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safe candy list for halloween

~ Anna ~ 1 Comment

TrickorTreatWhen I first moved to San Francisco, I got to live with a really great group women for a short few months.  Fast forward 10 years and I was at the Food Allergy Walk in San Francisco and ran into one of those women. Her name is Alison St. Sure and she was walking because she too has a child with food allergies and she had been diagnosed with Celiac disease.

Alison is the author one one of my favorite blogs, surefoodsliving.com. I consider her an expert in the food allergy world and I love reading her articles. Every year Alison publishes a  comprehensive list of allergy-safe Halloween candy that she spends endless amounts of time compiling.  I have referred to her list for the past several years and every time feel grateful for the countless hours she puts into calling food companies.

Check out the Safe Candy List  and take time to read some of Alison’s articles.

When buying candy to hand out on Halloween, you can make a child with food allergies really happy by filling their trick-or-treat bags with safe candy. It’s that easy.

stay tuned….cooking classes coming to s.f. this fall!

Quote ~ ~ Anna ~ Leave a comment

After the Zany Test Kitchen party we hosted for our cookbook back in February, we were inspired to roll out a series of cooking classes for children with food allergies. In addition to teaching kids how to make a few allergy-free easy dishes, we will be teaching them how to read food labels, avoid cross contamination, and cook safely–all in a fun-filled afternoon! This past weekend, we did a test run with our older children. They made lasagna, fresh pea dip with chips and bacon-wrapped dates. Both young chefs had so much fun together and they were so proud that they had made family dinner.

learning to read food labels and follow recipes
learning to read food labels and follow recipes

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chili cups

~ Megan Pickett ~ 2 Comments

As promised, here is the first of several favorites from our Zany Test Kitchen party. Chili is very popular in our house, and a great go-to dish that everyone can enjoy with very little substituting for various allergies. When my husband’s aunt Virginia made this for us last fall during a visit to her home in Vermont, we all had second helpings. She used ground beef and served it over rice–perfect for a crisp fall day in New England when appetites are hearty. In our attempt to make it a little less “rib-sticking” and also friendly for friends with allergies to beef, Anna and I swapped in ground turkey and served up the chili in lettuce cups.

Not so pretty, but incredibly tasty
Not so pretty, but incredibly tasty

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the zany test kitchen

~ Anna and Megan ~ 1 Comment

Have you ever known a kid to hold back on sharing his or her opinion? Neither do we, which is why we channeled the honesty of children and recently invited 10 kids, each with multiple food allergies, to a taste-testing party of 20 recipes from our cookbook. Prior to the party we contacted all the parents to find out each child’s allergies so everything we made was safe for all of our guests. With dishes ranging from breakfast through dessert, our goal was to elicit honest feedback from both the kids and their parents. What resulted was so much more….

 

 

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perfect squares

~ Anna and Megan ~ 2 Comments
A worry-free spin on the classic "Rice Krispies Treat"
A worry-free spin on the classic “Rice Krispies Treat”

In honor of Memorial Day and the start of (hopefully) sunny, warm days, we thought a few of our kids’ favorites were in order to kick off the long weekend. This slight twist on an old favorite is a big hit for all the kids and adults in our life. My son served these to his class to celebrate his 8th birthday and both of his teachers asked me for the recipe. We call them “Perfect Squares” because they have just the right balance of chewiness and crispness. Plus, my husband, who doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth, can’t get them into his mouth fast enough.     ~ Anna

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