2019 Top 10 store bought allergy free snack foods for kids and toddlers!

I've done a few of these posts over the years, as we have made more and more friends with food allergies, and sensitivities. It seems like our "Food-free" and "allergy" community is growing bigger by the day... It makes me a little sad inside that there are so many children that have so many issues with food, no matter where they stem from, but I know that food companies are getting better and better, and even some new companies have surfaced in that time too! Below is our 2019 top 10 favorite snack for young kids and toddlers, that are store bought, ready to eat snacks, without you having to do ANYTHING! It's great, because sometimes we just need a break... or we're going on vacation, or our kids are going to play at a friends house... The reason we want something quick and easy are nearly unending, so hopefully this will give you some new ideas to keep little hands full, and tummies happy, all the while giving you a moment to breath and relax.  Please note that some of these yummy snacks have peanuts, and a couple of the foods below our top 10 contain egg. Links are available for almost every product listed so you can look and make sure each is safe for your family. With love and admiration, for your willingness to work hard and make food still taste good!
Hugs and Love,
The Allergy Mommy!

TOP 10!!!!
1.) Kind Kids chewy granola bars! (Honey vanilla, chocolate, and PB chocolate chip) These are at most big box stores and online. Around here they average $5 for a box of 10 or $3.50 for a box of 5)
2.)Trader Joes Fruit Buttons (Strawberry, grape, and mango) These are only at Trader Joes, but are $.59 each, and my kids all LOVE them! I even love them haha!
3.)So Delicious coconut milk yogurts. When the kids were younger I only gave them 1/2 the container since they are a bit pricey, but they are at most stores and I haven't had a bad flavor yet!
4.)Cascadian Farms chewy Vanilla chip Granola Bars & Crunchy Honey oat Granola Bars (Cascadian farms has several other safe options, these are just our two favorite by them) These are easily found at Target, and sprouts, as well as vitacost.com and run about $3.50 a box at most places.
5.)"Enjoy Life" Snicker-doodle cookies. These are typically found the gluten free section at the store (walmart does have them in the GF section), but not every store carries them. Also give the ginger-bread cookies a try, they are great too! Check out the whole cookie line HERE They are very soft & chewy!
6.)Gerber Fruit and Veggie Melts , these are the "safe" alternative to the yogurt melts many little kiddos get... They are super tasty, and my kids are always wanting more. Walmart and target both have them, and many other stores have them.
7.)Plum Organics Mashups & Plum Organics Teensy Fruits(do not mix these up with regular plum organics as those have dairy. These are normally found on the fruit cup/fruit pouches isle in most grocery stores, and the teensy fruits are on the baby food isle.)
8.Earth Balance Aged white cheddar puffs (my little ones safe "pirate booty")
9.)Kind Fruit Bites (No sugar added, and truly scrumptious!)
10.)Trader Joes Apples and Cinnamon Instant Oatmeal


Some of our other favorite store bought foods are below. These include things that even you adults will want to munch on. :)

• "Naked" fruit drinks. We love the mighty mango, Red Machine and green machine. Make sure you get the "Naked" brand, as Odwalla brand tends to use soy in a lot of their products!!
• "Al Fresco" sausages ( These are chicken sausages. Aidells also has some chicken sausages that are safe. We love these sausages, especially when we're going to a BBQ with friends, and want to be able to eat something.
• "Stretch Island Fruit co." fruit leathers 
• Trader Joes Mayonaise, and it's soooooo good! (This has EGG!)
• Earth Balance Soy free buttery spread. It's our butter substitute. (red container)
• "Tostitos Natural" organic blue corn tortilla chips w/Herdes mild salsa
• "Dole" Fruit cups. We typically do pears as they are easier on the digestive tract than many fruits
• Corn Tortillas (Not all brands are soy and wheat free, so make sure you read the label) for tacos.
• Cascadian Farms Fruit and Nut, and French Vanilla Almond granola Cereals
• Trader Joes Gluten Free egg Fettuccine pasta (CONTAINS EGG)
• Breanna's Dressings (The poppyseed, and honey Mustard are our favorites)
• Preggo "Market Fresh" Tomato Basil Spaghetti sauce

Dairy free soy free egg free banana oat pancakes!

Hey Friends, I've have a few different posts today, and I couldn't not post my kids favorite pancakes. They are the easiest thing you'll ever make that low allergy, and I feel like they are on the healthier end of "pancakes" haha. So, here they are, Easy as can be!

Banana Oat Pancakes!

Ingredients needed:
One large Banana
Oats (You can do quick or old fashioned, they give different textures so play with them to see what works best for you)
Honey
Cinnamon
vanilla

That's IT! Whew! Now, throw the banana into a cup or bowl and mash it up till it's creamy and add 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1/4 tsp cinnamon. Add oats till it's a bit sticky, but mostly oats. The banana is the binder. Turn on your stove, and use coconut or avocado oil in the pan, these guys LOVE to stick to the pan, so make sure you have oil down. cook on low until golden on both sides. Pour honey over the top, and add any fresh berries you're not allergic to and EAT UP! Simple as that! They are my favorite, not only because they are simple, and yummy, but they are also pretty inexpensive too!
Hope this finds you having a lovely day!
Love,
The Allergy Mommy!

Milk alternative worth trying! Oat Milk!

Good morning Everyone, How am I finding you today? How are the kids? Over here in Anderson-ville, we have a little cold, but life is good. Can I just say, life with MFPI is getting easier as more time goes on... Not that it's an easy thing to deal with, but what stores are offering, that is actually worth eating, is getting better. One of my favorite finds recently is that Oat milk is becoming easier and easier to find, and where is used to be cost prohibitive, it's coming down to where most milk alternatives are. Even silk has it in it's lineup. Some of the great things about oat milk are that it's high in both protein and fiber, but low in fat. A lot of the milk alternatives now days are made from some sort of nut (almond, cashew, coconut), which while nice and high in protein, is also very high in fat. Rice is another alternative, but depending on who is drinking it, and how much, it's also high in sugar, and has the downside of rice having small amounts of arsenic in it. There's some controversy over the whole rice and arsenic thing, so feel free to do your own research on that, and come to your own conclusion. It's not right for us, but it works great for others. :) ANYway, back to milk... Since milk is one of the big sources for kids of both vitamin D and calcium, it's really important that you know how much they are getting, and from what sources. You don't want all of the vitamin D and Calcium to come from "Fortified sources" because their body won't uptake and utilize as much of that, but some is perfectly acceptable, and necessary... Oat milk is also VERY easy to make at home if you are worried about the "Gluten free" side of oats, as I'm sure you've figured out that not all oats are grown equal. If you make it at home, it's a super easy way to ensure that you, or your little one, aren't being "Glutened" as we like to call it. Now, one of the things we love so much about the oatmilk is it's creamy luscious texture. If you have texture kiddos who don't do "grainy", this is a great option to give a try.  One of my FAVORITE oatmilk products actually comes from my favorite dairy free brand, SoDelicious. They sponsored a contest I did a few years back, and they have always been super supportive of my little blog. They make great products, that are becoming easier and easier to find, and that makes life, well, easier. So, I bet you're wondering what my favorite oatmilk product is, aren't you? It's, of course, Ice Cream!!! SoDelicious now has an oatmilk ice cream line, and when I tell you that it's AMAZING, I wholeheartedly mean it. I'm not affiliated with them, I just LOVE their stuff! So, check them out, I promise, THEY ARE AMAZING. haha.

Just for examples sake, we're going to take a look at the silk oatmilk. I'm not in any way affiliated with, nor do I gain benefits from silk in any way, by posting this, so my info is purely for your sake. The information listed is from the info on their website, so feel free to visit them with any questions about their products.
They have 3 "Flavors" available, plain, vanilla and chocolate.

 

Plain Ingredients: Oatmilk (Filtered Water, Oat Extract), 2% or less of: Sunflower Oil, Vitamin and Mineral Blend (Calcium Carbonate, Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin D2, Riboflavin (B2), Vitamin B12), Malt Extract, Dipotassium Phosphate,  Gellan Gum, Sea Salt, Sunflower Lecithin, Locust Bean Gum, Ascorbic Acid (to protect freshness).

Vanilla Ingredients: Oatmilk (Filtered Water, Oat Extract), 2% or less of: Cane Sugar, Sunflower Oil, Vitamin and Mineral Blend (Calcium Carbonate, Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin D2, Riboflavin (B2), Vitamin B12), Malt Extract, Dipotassium Phosphate,  Sea Salt, Gellan Gum, Sunflower Lecithin, Locust Bean Gum, Natural Flavor, Ascorbic Acid (to protect freshness).

Chocolate Ingredients: Oatmilk (Filtered Water, Oat Extract), Cane Sugar, 2% or less of: Cocoa (Processed with Alkali), Sunflower Oil, Vitamin and Mineral Blend (Calcium Carbonate, Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin D2, Riboflavin [B2], Vitamin B12), Malt Extract, Sea Salt, Locust Bean Gum, Gellan Gum, Sunflower Lecithin, Ascorbic Acid (to protect freshness), Natural Flavor.

Updated TOP 10 best store bought Gluten-free Soy-Free Dairy-Free Egg-Free Snacks for small kiddos!

So, the original post of this was so popular I figured I should update this list for all of the new fun treats out there. We still LOVE all of the items we put on the first list, but there are a few more we just cannot live without. So, Here are the TOP 10 soy dairy egg and gluten free snacks, and if you need/want more ideas, feel free to go to the Original post!!!!!

1. Kind Kids Chewy peanut butter and chocolate chip granola bars (PEANUT WARNING!)We Love these!!!!
2. So Delicious coconut milk yogurt
3. Enjoy Life Chewy Cookies (our fav is still the snickerdoddles)
4. Happy Baby & Plum Organics fruit pouches (do not get the smoothie or greek yogurt, dairy)
5. Angies Boom Chicka Pop kettle corn Popcorn (target always has it)
6. Nabisco Gluten free Rice thins in original/sea salt
7. Earth Balance Aged white cheddar puffs (my little ones safe "pirate booty")
8. Simply Balanced (archer farms) fruit twists, strawberry mango is our fav! (Target only) and on the same front here with fruit leather, Trader Joes Fruit Buttons!! They're so yum!
9. Plum Organics Fruit Shredz 
10. Food should taste good multigrain chips (our whole family loves these, and there are a few other safe flavors as well, Olive, sweet potato, Blue corn and kettle corn)

Alright, That's our TOP 10 list for now... I'll try to do a post on this every 12 months so that its getting to new fun things to try. I strive to check these labels regularly for any changes that could harm the kiddos we do all of this for, but PLEASE check them on your own as well. As always, check with your doctor before adding anything new into your childs diet, so they are informed and know what to do in the event of an emergency. With love and admiration, for your willingness to work hard and make food still taste good!

Love, The Allergy Momma

Almond flour Blueberry Pancakes

While searching on the net today for a yummy recipe for better pancakes than I have been making, I stumbled on this recipe! The only downside to this recipe is that it contains egg, but I'm sure with some tweaking I will be able to get the perfect pancake, especially after some trial and error. :) This Lovely recipe is brought to us by The Urban Poser, who has tons of great recipes might I add. So, thank you Urban poser for creating a wonderful recipe for us to share. Ladies, please check out her blog, there are TONS of other recipes that I think you would all find very helpful in making good food, that is safe for all. Happy eating!
Love,
The Allergy Mommy

Perfect Dairy Free Almond Flour Pancakes (Grain/Dairy Free)

by:The Urban Poser

1 1/2 cups  fine ground blanched almond flour 

1/2 tsp baking soda.

1/4-1/2 tsp  salt

1/2 tsp   cinnamon(optional) 

3 large  eggs (or equivalent pastured eggs)

4-5 Tbls full fat coconut milk(Natural Value has a guar gum free version or try subbing any liquid here)

2 Tbls  honey

1 tsp vanilla or juice of half a lemon
1/4 cup fruit (optional)

Oil for frying

In a medium bowl, sift and/or mix together the almond flour, baking soda salt and optional spice.

In a separate bowl, blend together the eggs, coconut milk  honey and vanilla.

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry and mix well. Let rest for a few minutes.PrePre-heat your pan over medium heat(I use cast iron). Watch the heat closely, it likes to climb. If it gets too hot, not only will the pancakes burn, they will be badly shaped and hard to flip. This will vary depending on your stove top and pan. I like to use cast iron.

Add batter to pan.  If you have trouble flipping the pancakes, try making them silver dollar sized.

Fry the pancake till it starts to bubble and the edges just start to form(and dry a bit). If they start cooking to quickly (burning before it's time to flip) then adjust the heat. Every stove top is different. Flip over carefully using a THIN METAL spatula. Continue to cook till the pancake firms up.

Makes about 25-30 silver dollar size pancakes

If needed, keep pancakes in a warm oven. There pancakes freeze and reheat well. I like to make them ahead of time, freeze them then put them in the toaster to reheat!

Top with honey or your favorite natural sweetener and or cold coconut cream.