Making Allergies Easier

I've come across several blogs by parents of food-allergic children. I mainly read the ones that are about peanut and egg allergies, but many others have helpful tips and information, too. I've decided to start a list of 'tools' I use to keep Miss M safe, as well as a list of safe foods and substitutes that we use. I welcome your comments, suggestions, and questions about living with food allergies.

Safe foods/food substitutes:

• Soy Butter - it can be hard to find in our local grocery stores, but Wal-Mart has it's own brand that tastes great. I have found soy butter to be a much better peanut butter substitute than SunButter (my personal opinion).
• Hershey's chocolate chips - several other brands have nut warnings on the label (produced in a facility/on equipment that also processes peanuts)
• Cascadian Farm Chocolate Chip granola bars - I thought that granola bars were going to be off-limits until I found these. They are the only brand/flavor of granola bars I have ever found without a nut warning. I can only find them at Wal-Mart. I buy 2-3 boxes at a time, and they are a special treat in this house.
• GORP/trail mix - we make it nut-free around here with cheese crackers/Goldfish and Craisins or other dried fruit. When we can find a peanut-free brand of pretzels (usually at Wal-Mart...), we can add those, too.

Products that Keep Miss M Safe

• Laptop Lunch System - while we don't use it often right now, when Miss M starts school she'll be taking her lunch (to prevent any exposure to allergens). If you don't already know, I love this lunch box. Hopefully, Miss M will always be excited about the lunches she finds in her LLB, and we won't have to worry about her trading food with classmates.
• Cup-A-Cake cupcake carrier - anything that comes from a bakery is off-limits for Miss M. The chance of cross-contamination means that even the simplest cakes are not safe for Miss M, so we use the Cup-A-Cake to take along a special, safe treat to birthday parties. I have a batch of cupcakes in the freezer and assorted sprinkles in the pantry. Now I'm working on a recipe for one cupcake's worth of frosting!