Author Archives: kachalmers2

Gluten-free Valentine’s Day cards plus 3 treat ideas

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Valentine’s Day brings plenty of opportunities to make your g-free kid feel extra loved — as well as show love to others — around the clock. Here are a few ways to make things seem “Valentinesy” (as we say) for the weeks surrounding the big day:

IMG_0224G-free V-day cards!

Last year I drew these 4 little Valentine’s Day cards — made especially for all the g-free kids out there. You can download the PDF here: 4VcardsHR, then print out copies of it for your kids to color, glue onto colored construction paper and give out for Valentines — or just hang in their room or on the fridge. (*Please note: the below preview won’t print out large enough — click on the blue link four lines above this for the printable PDF).

V-day G-free treat ideas

1.  For those of you who are “regulars” here, this is no surprise……but, one of our “go-to” treats — for any occasion — is chocolate dipped marshmallow pops. All you have to do is stick a skewer into each marshmallow (or do it without skewers), dip them in melted chocolate, add sprinkles, put on wax paper and set in the freezer. Allergy-friendly and always a hit with school parties!

2.  With your handy-dandy cookie cutter, make heart shaped pizzas. For these we just rolled out part of the dough and cut them out, then topped them individually. Or even easier — just make regular pizzas and use a cookie cutter after it’s cooled. Moms like me are always happy to eat the leftover scraps!

3:  Make simple peanut clusters. Just fill cookie cutters up partway (depending on how thick you want them) with melted chocolate mixed with peanuts, decorate with sprinkles if you’d like, then let them set in the freezer for a while before you pop them right out.

Remember and repeat:  Life is not all about food!

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Kraft Good Seasons dry mixes are NOT gluten-free anymore

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IMG_6115I can’t believe I’m saying this after years of exclusively using Kraft Good Seasonings dry mixes as my family’s go-to salad dressing, but I am…. Kraft Good Seasonings dry mixes are (just as of recently) NOT gluten-free anymore. Unfortunately you won’t find anything about it on the Kraft website or anywhere else online — at least that I could locate!  No wheat warnings or notices from a big company like Kraft — just a stealthy ingredient & label change. The only way I first found out is by the good word of the online gluten-free community…

I felt the need to post this because, basically, there is nothing else out there to warn people. Take me for instance: I was so ingrained in my habit of being devoted to their mixes that I never thought to continue to read their labels since their ingredients have been gluten-free for as long as I have (almost 6 years) and probably longer… Until just recently…

After hearing about this, I went to my cupboard and found 2 unused packets to check for myself. Sure enough, underneath the ingredients, it reads, “contains wheat, soy” in bold letters. It looks to me like the wheat is in the dried soy sauce they are now using because it reads, “soy sauce (wheat, soybeans, salt)”.

IMG_6117I took the time (5 minutes) to call Kraft to find out more. Unfortunately I apparently know more than their customer service reps do. I said that I had heard their dry mixes now contained wheat. She said that just this month (some people are saying Dec. 2012 but she didn’t know for sure) Kraft reformulated their ingredients and “some of the spices contain wheat.” I notified her that the package said that it’s the soy sauce that contains wheat. Next I asked which dry mixes were involved in the reformulation and she said, “As far as I know, just the Italian.” So I proceeded to tell her that I had 2 packets in my hand (Zesty Italian and Garlic & Herb) which also read, “contains wheat.”  That was news to her. So — so far there are 3 mixes affected: Italian, Zesty Italian and Garlic & Herb. I had to ask to get a case number and lodge a complaint (asking them to go back to their old ingredients) and had to give her some coding from the packets.

Here is more information, which circulated on the Celiac ListServ email network, from someone else who looked into this:

“I spoke with Kraft yesterday and they explained what happened with their Good Seasons Italian — dry packet mix. Seems like one of their major manufacturing facilities had wheat on the production line and it wasn’t cleaned. (Different explanation than the one I received) That’s why thousands of boxes had to be re-packaged and labeled “contains wheat.” The head of dietary services suggested that if calls were received that they might be able to sway the top-brass to move to a safer facility. They suggested that we call 1-800-522-0501 and get a case number and lodge a complaint. (Tip:) Many stores still have the old formulation… I went to several and bought out the stock. Check your local stores, too. PLEASE take a minute to call and strongly suggest that they change facilities and go back to keeping this product all natural and preservative free… as the original box states.”

So, please, take a few minutes and join us in calling Kraft at 1-800-522-0501. Ask for a case number and request their old formulation. Maybe there will be power in numbers on this one. Please share this notification so others aren’t inadvertently consuming gluten through these salad dressing mixes.

And last but not least, please heed this warning as proof that we all (myself included) need to continuously read and re-read packaging labels and be vigilant for things like this to happen again….even to our tried & true, favorite products. We can never be too careful.

Disney’s Magic Kingdom Park: Gluten-Free for Cheapskates

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flowersIt’s been almost a year since our trip to Disney Magic Kingdom in Orlando, and realizing many families are about to venture there for spring break,
I thought I’d finally take the time to finally tell you about our experience…

My husband and I were basically talked into taking our girls to Disney… Our ideal vacation spot is OBX in the off-season, where you can have an entire beach to yourself — not standing in line at a crowded theme park. Yet even so, we succumbed to the pressure of family and friends advising us to take our girls “at least once”….and actually ended up having a great time — and thanking them for the push!  :)

First of all, we knew we would have to keep it on the cheap side. Thankfully we had friends who were renting a condo about half an hour away from Disney, so we stayed there to avoid hotel fees. Obviously we lucked out with that part. Secondly, we actually drove the 1,200 miles it took us to get there to avoid air fare!  Third, we decided to just spend one day at the Magic Kingdom, and be there from the minute it opened until closing time at night to get our money’s worth. We got recommendations ahead of time from friends who have been there multiple times, asking which attractions were “musts” for 8 year old girls and what they liked about them. We found a map and planned to go to the most highly recommended rides first before the lines got long, then ad lib the rest of the day after we did our “must-sees”.

Another thing I did beforehand was ask people for gluten-free tips on my Facebook page. Thanks to the awesome group of parents on there, I received a bunch of advice and recommendations as to where to eat g-free, which was a huge help…

IMG_5798I’m pretty sure we covered the entire park that day — enjoyed a few GF meals, the evening parade, fireworks and everything else on our list. We knew it would be our only chance to cover it all, so that kept us energized and refusing to quit early. Obviously that’s not going to work for families with various aged kids, but our girls were almost 9 at the time and we were all physically well and able to make it through such a full day.

As far as gluten-free food goes, we did bring some of our own energy bars to snack on in the morning, but we also ate at two restaurants within the Magic Kingdom that day and bought a few other GF treats here and there. (FYI, you are allowed to bring your own cooler and food if you’d like to save even more money that way.)

IMG_0397For lunch we ate at “Cosmic Ray’s” in Tomorrow Land. My girls both had a hotdog with a gluten-free bun (quite possibly the only GF hotdog bun they’ve ever had — we usually just eat them plain) and I had a big angus burger with a gluten-free bun. This picture at left shows my burger…

The bun looked like it was going to be rock-hard when it first came out, but it was totally soft and delicious, as were the girls’ hotdog buns, also shown below… I don’t remember exact prices at this point, but I believe each meal was somewhere around $10 for hotdog, fries and a drink.

IMG_0401For dinner we ate at the “Pinocchio Village Haus” restaurant, which is in Fantasy Land.
We were drenched from an unexpected thunderstorm (I highly advise bringing ponchos!) so we came in to warm up inside and enjoy some food. We split two g-free pizzas (priced the same — $9.95 each — as the regular personal sized pizzas that were only half the size!) which were very tasty and filling, along with some oven-baked fries.

IMG_5802At both places a “Coordinator” took our order, gave us a check with “ALLERGY” stamped on it in red, a buzzer for when it was ready, and that same person followed the order all the way through, even handing it to us himself when it was ready. No confusion, no attitude, no problems….

IMG_0452They really went above and beyond to make us feel confident about our meals and the prices weren’t any higher than regular food. Both restaurants were a great experience. Disney recommends advance notification for sit-down restaurants, but the quick service places (like we went to) are ready to roll with set GF options. It couldn’t be easier! Just tell them you need your meal gluten-free and they take care of everything.

We also cooled off by enjoying their rainbow pops and splurged on (just a few) Mickey Mouse ice cream bars and fruit slushies over the course of the day!  :)

IMG_0418legosAs we were leaving the park that night, someone told us about “Downtown Disney” which is close to the Magic Kingdom — with free admission and free parking! Of course we just had to check it out the next day!  After tooling around the Lego Store and checking out the huge Lego sculptures all around us, we ventured over to Babycakes, which is in the same building as Pollo Campero and Fresh-A-Peel. Their little bakery was in one corner and it felt so good to be able to tell my girls that they could get whatever they wanted…

IMG_5821Morgan chose a lemon cupcake, Lindsey picked a brownie cupcake with mint frosting, and I enjoyed a cookie sandwich, all of which were heavenly.

IMG_5824There was also another window (not shown) that had all kinds of other baked goods in it: doughnuts, banana bread, and much more. We boxed our desserts up and had them after lunch…(after sampling each one first, of course…)

trexextOne of the attractions within Downtown Disney was T-Rex Restaurant, our family’s favorite dining experience of all time, recommended by a fellow Mom, Angel, who is a big supporter of the g-free kid Facebook page…

We had THE most fabulous lunch there. It is the most incredible place — huge, realistic-looking & sounding, moving dinosaurs, giant fish tanks, fossils on the walls, volcanoes, color-changing ice cave, meteor showers every 20 minutes — you name it. Besides an amazing atmosphere, the food was outstanding…

trex3Our waitress sent out the Chef, who was super nice. He went through both the kid’s menu and the adult menu with us, telling us exactly how he could make things GF for us. The girls had pasta with white cheddar sauce plus cinnamon apples as a side, and also rotisserie chicken and chips. We split both meals between them so they could both try double the amount of GF foods. I ordered an amazing salad with rotisserie chicken and lots of other stuff on it.
The Chef said he would make
everything himself to assure no cross-contamination, and he also came back out once we started eating to make sure that everything was to our satisfaction, which it totally was.

icecaveI didn’t take any pictures of our food at T-Rex, only because we were just soaking everything in and didn’t want to take anything away from that by worrying about pictures, as I’m sure you can understand. Trust me, though…it was excellent!

beachThe rest of our days in Florida were spent beachcombing, body surfing and just relaxing in the pool…keeping it as cheap as possible. Our indulgences at Downtown Disney may seem like a splurge for cheapskates, but it was so worth it to have such delicious GF food without having to worry about anything. Our girls still talk about it and I know it was an experience we’ll all remember for a very long time….and I truly hope yours is as well. Hopefully this information (and much more at the links below) will give you that “push” you may need to give your g-free kid a memorable experience that you’ll never forget — at Disney… where gluten-free dreams come true… :)

To help you plan your trip to Disney, here are fifteen valuable links:

Obviously, in my post, I only touched on a few ways to show your g-free kids a great time in Disney. Please comment below with your own personal experiences at Disney and share more tips and recommendations for other families — thanks!

For kids: start the new year off with a blessings notebook

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Whenever I start a new book, my daughters always ask me what it’s about. At the beginning of 2012, when I was reading this book (at left), I explained how the author started a list of 1,000 gifts from God, in hopes that it might help her live a more joyful life, and I read them some examples.

This moved my one daughter to start her own list of 1,000 blessings, so one morning she brought a new notebook to church and started writing. She already has over 500 blessings listed and is determined to get to 1,000 someday, which I know she will. (Click on each photo if you’d like to enlarge & read them.)

Here are some of my favorites from her list:  #483: hearing the sweet sound of rain falling on the roof; #490: Seeing a big, huge murmation; #460: squishing your toes in the gushy sand by the waves; #469: going to Niagara Falls and feeling mist on your face; #454: when you have tape and scissors when you need them (very important for a crafty girl); #241: bad people who have changed; #465: getting a song in your head that you absolutely love. #472: Christmas lights in the summer that remind you of Christmas.

I like to keep this notebook in plain view around the house, as it reminds me to mentally list my own blessings (I started a notebook years ago but never had the discipline to keep it going) and to be extra thankful for the life I lead and the family I am part of. It’s fun to leaf through her notebook and read what she sees as blessings. It’s a wonderful feeling to know my own child is capable of seeing so many things in this world as blessings and it also has a way of making those things she finds amazing seem even more amazing to me.

You may be wondering why I’m posting this on a site about g-free kids… Well, it struck me as interesting that she didn’t even think of writing anything about gluten-free until she got to #402: gluten-free foods; #403: gluten-free people; #404: gluten-free books. Those are the only times she says anything about GF. Personally, I think it’s pretty cool that she thought of over 400 things before mentioning her diet.

That tells me that I’m doing a pretty good job of helping her realize she is just a normal kid, that her special diet does not need to be a main focus in her life, and that there is much, much more to life than food… Like #370: pretty irish dancing dresses, #319: laughing families, #255: sunshine shining through the windows, #430: not getting into trouble, #448: having a great imagination, #462: days when you get to relax, and #493: playing games by the fire.

Why not have your child start a list of blessings, and (if they are on a special diet) see how many things he or she can come up with before food is mentioned?  It will help them to be grateful, to keep things in perspective and let them realize that life is about so many more things than just food. What better time to start than the new year? Help your child to keep the focus on the real stuff of life… letting a kid be a kid — g-free or not.

Happy new year, everyone!  :)
~Katie

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P.S.   If your g-free kid needs a positive attitude adjustment about his or her diet, Mommy, What is Celiac Disease? will help your child to keep it all in perspective.

4 thrifty, last-minute, homemade Christmas gift ideas

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It’s a week before Christmas and all through my house, unfinished projects are scattered about… Well, some of them anyways…

I was scrambling for ideas for a while, but I finally came up with a few homemade gift ideas I wanted to share with you. What do these gifts have to do with gluten-free kids?  Absolutely nothing — I just can’t afford another website to post random crafty ideas on, so I’m sharing them here.  :)   Anyhow, these gifts all cost about $1 – $3 each, and are easy enough to let your kids help.  I hope that you enjoy them and have time to try a few…

• • •   1st idea — festive mini bouquets   • • •

I have to credit my creative Mom with this idea. A few weeks ago she popped in with a little something for me….similar to this but in a smaller, crystal bud vase. It’s been sitting cheerily in my window and has made me want to make some, myself, for other people…

IMG_5558I was at Michaels yesterday and saw the same type of “spray” that she used, at 50% off ($2.50 on sale) so I grabbed a few. I cut them apart and pulled beaded wires out of the main stem and put them into these little 3″ bottles, which are actually maple syrup bottles from Cracker Barrel. Both are shown here….and, no, I’m not a hand model.  ;)

IMG_5584 Last I just glued some ribbon around the bottle for some extra color. Any kind of spray, bud vase and ribbon will work.

• • •   2nd idea — votive candleholders filled with dried nature   • • •

Again, I was at Michaels and saw these red & green, dried, natural decorations on sale. I threw a few bags into my basket (on sale for $2.99 a bag) even though I wasn’t sure what to do with them yet. They looked like tiny seedpods, smooth pinecones and puffballs, but they were dyed Christmas colors. I ended up in the candleholder aisle and this idea just sort of came to me:  a clear vase to hold the dried stuff, and a votive holder that fit into the top, sealing away the dried stuff down below so it wouldn’t be flammable.

IMG_5594So I picked up 10 each of the round vase and votives (all $1 each), found some natural twine (on sale for $1.50) to go with it and went home and put them together. I strategically placed a few acorns & various pinecones (from my own collection) in the vases, and filled in around them with the red & green dried stuff. (Hint: fill up the center area as much as you can w/ some sort of filler — I used pinecones — that will make your red & green filler go further.) Supplies are shown here:

IMG_5559Then I just fit the votive holder on top of it (you could also glue it if you want it to be permanent, but maybe someone will want to change the filling someday) and tied the twine around the neck of the vase. Then I found these great, vintage-style, free gift tags that I printed in b&w from Call Me Victorian and CoreyMarie.com. This project was a piece of cake and I whipped off all 10 in an hour. I went back the next day to buy more supplies so I could make some for myself, as they are just my style.

Can’t find the red & green stuff or you’re not too into nature?  Think outside of the box: fill the large vase w/ buttons for someone into sewing, seashells for the beach lover, real holly leaves and berries, ribbons, sparkly decorations, or whatever you think the recipient would enjoy…then buy ribbon and tags that fit the styles you choose.

• • •   3rd idea — snowman decorations made from clay pots   • • •

Obviously this is not a new idea, although I have yet to see them done this way before with 3 pots stacked up, or stylized this way…

IMG_5638The pots were (again) from Michaels: $.49 — $.99 each. Not sure of the sizes, but just go there and see how three of them stack up. Just paint the pots with acrylic paint, glue them together and decorate as desired. The faces were just drawn with fine point Sharpies, but you could also just glue on buttons or paint on a simple face. I bought a spray of fake berries and holly leaves, and cut the red berries in half with an exacto for the noses. I bought a few spools of ribbon at Michaels ($.99 a roll) that fit the neck of the middle pot where I glued it on for the scarf. Otherwise it’s just buttons glued on and decorations added to the hats. Anything goes.

• • •   4th idea — soap set to scent and decorate a bathroom   • • •

I bought a 3-pack of Dial Basics Hypoallergenic soap (I like a mild clean scent) at Dollar Tree for $1. Then I just glued on (school glue) pieces of scrapbook paper that I had trimmed to size with an exacto, then hot-glued ribbon and wooden shapes (a few dollars a bag from Michaels) onto which I had painted the letters JOY. If you like scented soaps, go for it. If you want to add some kind of base for the soaps to set on, have at it!

soapsGFK

These projects have been wrapped up in my house, but a few other stragglers remain to be finished by me or my daughters… If you happen to be one of their teachers or someone close to us, forget you ever saw this post!   :)

Do you have any cheap and easy gift ideas to share? If so, feel free to add a link below. We can all use some go-to ideas — the more the merrier!  If you try any of the above ideas, feel free to post a picture of your final project on g-free kid’s Facebook page.
And feel free to pin away if you find any of these ideas worthy.

Merry Christmas!

~Katie

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Favorite gluten-free holiday treats, from our family to yours

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Every year there are a few tried and true treats that we love to make in December. I’ve made these recipes so many times that I could do them in my sleep… Even in the midst of this crazy month, I’m always happy to whip up these goodies, as they’re easy, fun and always worth the little bit of effort I have to put into them. If you’ve been following for a while, some of these ideas will be familiar to you. Even though we’re not breaking any new g-free ground here, I still wanted to put our holiday favorites together in one post. Hopefully they become your family’s favorites as well!  Enjoy…

Looking for a g-free treat to send in for a class party?  Every year I make about 100 of these for my girls’ holiday parties in December and every year they are a big hit. They’re a go-to party treat (for other holidays, too — just change the sprinkles!) as all the kids love them and they’re allergen-free. Just poke sticks of some sort through marshmallows, dip in melted chocolate, add sprinkles and put on wax paper. Freeze for a bit to set, then refrigerate if using them soon. If you’re making them ahead of time, you can just freeze them in an airtight container and let them thaw out in the fridge the day before, or just on the counter the morning of the party. You could also use mini candy canes instead of sticks, or crushed candy canes instead of sprinkles, etc….anything goes!

IMG_9396Want a simple candy recipe that will tempt both young and old alike?
Then try our longtime family favorite “Buckeyes” recipe —
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 8 T butter
• 3 cups confectioners sugar
• chocolate chips or melting chocolate disks
(I always double the recipe which makes about sixty 1″ balls). Cream 1st three ingredients together and roll into balls. Melt chocolate and dip the balls in, then set them on wax paper. (We dip them only halfway into the chocolate: it’s not as messy as covering them all over.) Freeze them in single layer until hard, then store in fridge or freezer (depending on how soon you’re going to share them). Either way, keep them out of sight or they’ll be gone before you know it…

395137_320839607941299_819685579_nTrying to find a sweet gift idea that your kids can help with? Then whip out your holiday cookie cutters, some peanuts, chocolate chips and sprinkles. Instead of your classic, free-form peanut clusters, just melt chocolate and mix with peanuts til they’re coated, and spoon the mixture inside cookie cutters til all the spaces are filled. Then add holiday sprinkles, freeze til solid, then pop them out of the cookie cutters and put a few into a festive cellophane bag with a ribbon to give as gifts to neighbors, the postman, etc.

IMG_9392Want a quick, refreshing dessert idea to surprise your family? Then make these mini ice cream sandwiches, using Pamela’s Products cookies filled with ice cream. Get crazy and roll the edges of the ice cream in holiday sprinkles or crushed candy canes for extra color.  Any flavor ice cream and cookie will work!

icecreamsandLooking for a finger food that is sure to be a big hit? Then make these mini pigs-in-a-blanket, using Chebe bread mix (you can use their regular bread mix, cheese bread or breadstick mixes). Just make the mix according to directions, roll out and wrap pieces around GF mini hot dogs, and cook according to directions for mix. So savory and so good…if you’re lucky enough to have any left, they reheat very well, too.

401759_325149900843603_1398804214_nOr maybe you’re looking for a killer appetizer dip for an upcoming party? Look no further. Ask anyone who knows me what I always bring to parties (usually by request) and “feta artichoke dip” (said with a dreamy smile) will probably be the answer. And since I love this dip, myself, I’m always happy to comply. Please excuse the poor photo — it’s much better than it looks below, as many can attest to.  :)

feta2Hot Feta Artichoke Dip
• 1 can (14 oz) artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 6-8 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 cup mayo
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 clove garlic, minced
Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients and spoon into 9″ pie plate. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Garnish with chopped tomato and green onions if desired. Serve with G-F tortilla chips.

Hope you’ve enjoyed our holiday family favorites. I have some more recipes to come soon, which are a little more time-consuming than these, but worth the time if you have it. In the meantime, if you’d like to see 27 more of our favorite kid-friendly recipes, you can download a free PDF at this link.

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Super simple g-free toffee brittle

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Before Christmas last year, my Mom had tried a version of this delicious brittle (made with Saltine crackers) at church coffee hour and was instantly hooked. After she raved about it a number of times, she tracked down the original recipe, I went out and bought some Glutino original gluten-free crackers to replace the Saltines, and we got the other ingredients together. We whipped it up one night and this brittle was a huge hit over the holidays — especially with my daughter Morgan. We will definitely be making it again this month…

What you will need for this recipe (which is a good one to let kids help with):

  • 1 box original flavor Glutino original gluten-free crackers
  • 1 stick of butter
  • 2 cups of brown sugar
  • 2 cups of mini chocolate chips
  • toppings of your choice: toffee pieces, m&m’s, sprinkles, diced nuts, crushed peppermints, butterscotch chips, coconut — you name it!

(Please excuse the photos — we did this on a whim and I didn’t have my own camera.)

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STEP 1:  Empty the entire box of crackers onto an ungreased baking sheet,
all in one layer. Then preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

STEP 2:  In a medium size pot over the stove, cook one stick of butter and 2 cups of brown sugar together until gooey, then pour over crackers to cover them, and bake at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes until bubbly. (Watch carefully so that nothing burns.)

STEP 3:  Remove pan from the oven and sprinkle 2 cups of chocolate chips over top,
let it sit a few minutes to melt the chocolate…

STEP 4:  Then, after the chocolate chips are melted enough, smooth the chocolate layer over with a spatula and top with toppings. Put the tray in the freezer for at least an hour.

STEP 5:  After at least an hour has passed, remove it and break it into irregular pieces
with the help of a stiff spatula. Voila!  A sweet treat for any occasion!

Let me know what you think of this recipe — we call it “toffee brittle” because the taste of it reminds us of toffee, even though we didn’t use any as a topping. After you try it (trust me — you will definitely be glad you did) let me know if you can think of a better name for it. Thanks, and enjoy!

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Snikiddy Review and Giveaway

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This post is long overdue…  Snikiddy has been a favorite brand name in our house for the past few years when we first picked up a bag. What kid doesn’t love super-crunchy snacks they can both eat and play with?  We’ve tried a few Snikiddy varieties, but my daughters’ favorite is their grilled cheese puffs, which are little, cheddar-cheese flavored, crunchy balls of gluten-free goodness. They never get sick of them, and if we are buying a bag of Snikiddy, that is the kind they always choose.

IMG_5381Here are the ingredients for the cheese puffs: CORNMEAL, RICE FLOUR, SUNFLOWER AND/OR SAFFLOWER OIL, CHEDDAR CHEESE (CULTURED PASTEURIZED MILK, SALT, ENZYMES), NONFAT MILK, WHEY, SALT, NATURAL FLAVOR.

You won’t see chemicals or artificial colors in these babies. Snikiddy products contain no corn syrup, no hydrogenated oils, no trans fat, no preservatives, are low in saturated fat and are wheat and gluten free.  It’s a healthier alternative to so many other similar snacks.

We have also tried (and enjoyed) Snikiddy mac n’ cheese puffs, and sea salt and bbq baked fries, but the grilled cheese puffs remain #1 in my girls’ eyes — and in mine. Something about that combination of flavor, texture, size and shape just do it for us I guess… We have yet to try their “Eat Your Vegetables” varieties, but I am hearing good things so far…

Just for fun: My one daughter enjoyed making this origami basketball hoop (below) to toss her cheese balls into. Even if you don’t like your kids to play with their food, this is still something they could easily learn to make. Of course my daughter had to make a whole park to go along with hers!  :)   Instructions for a simple hoop are on this video.

IMG_5430For more information about Snikiddy, please take a moment to visit their website:  You can find out more about the company & its people at: http://snikiddy.com/about and you can read more about their products here: http://snikiddy.com/products.

So — I’ve got a simple giveaway for you… Snikiddy was kind enough to send me some free product coupons which is what I’ll be giving away.  There will be 3 random winners, each receiving a “free full size product” coupon and a $1 off coupon, which they can redeem themselves at a local retailer.

To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment below, letting me know which Snikiddy snack your child would most like to try if you were to win these coupons.

Giveaway ends at midnight on Thursday, December 6, 2012. Then the 3 winners will be notified, and will have 24 hours to get back to me, otherwise new names will be chosen. U.S. and Canadian residents only please. Thanks for your understanding…

Disclaimer: Snikiddy sent me free product coupons for this giveaway.  I only promised an honest review and was not compensated in any other way. Opinions are my daughters’ and my own.

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For much more in between posts, follow me on Facebook and Twitter,
and be sure to check out the online photo album of g-free kids and g-free kids’ stuff page.

Hot Feta Artichoke Dip

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Hi all,

I have given up on writing long posts all the time since it seems like it’s gotten to be all or nothing with me and posting the past few months….I used to feel that in order to post something it had to be a long, thorough post. From now on some will be long and others will be short, but I will try to post more often either way….thanks for bearing with me.

Right now I just want to share one of my family’s favorite gluten-free recipes — one that is requested over and over again for parties at family and friends’ houses.  Here it is:

And here’s the recipe. Try it. You won’t be sorry — unless you get sick of making it time and time again when it becomes a favorite request.  :)   Enjoy!    ~Katie

5 ways to make your g-free kid feel like a superstar

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When children are first diagnosed with celiac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity or a wheat allergy, their lives will change. So will yours as a parent. That is inevitable. Food is such a huge part of our lives, and being on a g-free diet means that you can no longer just go to any restaurant or party or social occasion without first planning ahead. Spontaneity may take a back seat for a while, but just until you learn the ropes and gain confidence.

The great part, though, is that how you view those changes is entirely up to you. You can either act like you feel sorry for your child and talk incessantly to anyone who will listen about how hard the diet is and how expensive the food is — or, you can make your child feel lucky and blessed to have been diagnosed, and show gratitude for all of the awesome choices of g-free foods that are now available. The #1 thing you can do for your child, right from the beginning, is to introduce them to their new best friend: a positive attitude. It is absolutely essential. If you haven’t shown one yourself, forgive yourself and just move on to helping boost your child’s morale and feelings about being g-free.

Here are some great ways to help your g-free kid feel like a superstar:

Start a “#1 Supporter” contest. Enlist all of your child’s supporters to help. Have them read about how vital they are to your child and start a contest to see who can win the #1 Supporter prize (whatever you deem the prize to be: a hand-painted t-shirt, a certificate, blue ribbon
or whatever). This gives supporters the chance — and extra incentive — to show how much they care by the positive words that they use around your child, and by
the actions that they take, like: writing the child a letter of encouragement, buying them a g-free treat, taking them out to dinner at a restaurant with a gluten-free menu, making them a gluten-free dish (with your assistance)
and other ideas listed at the bottom of this article. Through this contest your child will feel so loved and cherished. Set a time limit on the contest (a month maybe?) and then encourage everyone to keep the support coming even after it’s over!

Try to find gluten-free replacements for all of their old favorite foods and celebrate each new discovery. I honestly can’t think of one type of food that we haven’t yet found a g-free version of. (Here are some examples: To replace Cheezits, try Wellaby’s Mini Cheddar Crackers; to replace fish crackers, try Schar’s Cheese Bites; to replace chicken nuggets, try Ian’s brand or Wegmans’ version if you are in the NE; to replace pizza crusts & breadsticks, try Chebe mixes; to recreate old favorite baked goods, substitute regular flour with a GF all-purpose flour like Jules.) With each success, celebrate with your child by giving a loud “woo-hoo!” and high fives (or however you want to express yourselves) and make sure you include the rest of the family in the celebration, too.
It feels so good for kids to know that their whole family cares about them and is happy for their successes — plus, their acceptance of the diet
will grow, knowing there are great-tasting GF alternatives to old favorites.

Let them be included in the g-free kids online photo album. Many kids feel like they’re the only ones in the world on the g-free diet — so let them know they’re not!  They will take pride in seeing their own face in the album, knowing that they are part of an ever-growing group of g-free kids from around the world. Imagine their face lighting up as they look around at all of the other happy faces, see where everyone is from and read about what they enjoy doing. They will begin to feel a sense of camaraderie and kinship with other kids who eat the same way they do and will feel included in something special.

Arrange to have your child be “star of the day” at school. Make plans with your child’s teacher for a special day of learning in his or her classroom. If your child is very young, bring in a children’s book to read to the class. If your child would rather do it solo, send a book in for your teacher (or your child if they’re able) to read aloud. If you can be present, allow time for Q&A afterwards, emphasizing how lucky your child is to be diagnosed, how it isn’t contagious, how it differs from an allergy (if applicable), and that
his or her foods taste great, too. If your child is older (and comfortable with the idea) let him field the questions himself — as long as you know he is relatively prepared. Then let the class enjoy whatever delicious GF treat (giant cookie cake, cupcakes, brownies, etc.) you made and sent in, so that they can see how good your child’s food tastes, too. Your child will enjoy being the center of attention that day, and will feel good knowing that his peers now better understand and accept his diet.

Put your g-free kid front and center in a photo frame. Here is a printable frame that I designed for your g-free kid. You can download, print it and tape your child’s 4×6″ photo from behind. Buy one of those inexpensive clear, plastic magnetic document holders for your fridge and put your child’s photo in the middle. Every time he sees it, the words on the frame — “gluten-free is good for me” … “I’m a g-free kid” … “proud to be gluten-free” — will start to stick with him and grow his sense of pride. Plus it’ll remind everyone to be careful to avoid cross-contamination as well. Hope you and your child enjoy it!

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Before I close, let me just say that, as a parent, I am not one to spoil my children or let them act as if they are the center of the universe. But, if your child is struggling with being gluten-free or is newly diagnosed, I think it’s a fine time to boost up their self-esteem and do whatever you can to help them feel better about themselves. These 5 ideas should go a long way in helping your g-free kid gain confidence and begin to embrace the gluten-free diet and the changes that come along with it.

Have you tried any of these ideas already?  What effect did they have on your child?
Feel free to comment below about any of these ideas and add more of your own for other families as well. Thanks!