Food prep for Spring Fair

Our family will be attending a spring fair tomorrow,

we attend the same fair every year and try to prepare for it as best we can.

We plan ahead and be very organised to attend and make it is fun and enjoyable for our munchkins, despite the fact that they have food allergies, skin concerns and asthma.

Like most Fairs it has entertainment, rides, sometimes animals, stalls and lots of lots of yummy foods.

The only food that can be purchased safely for our munchkins at this stall is corn on the cob with butter, a lovely snack that they enjoyed last year.

We are hoping this stall is there again this year too.

But there will be so many yummy looking foods to which we will have to explain is a no no and not safe, in order to keep our kids happy, give them a treat and keep them safe we pack all the food with a special twist.

The fair if my memory serves me correctly doesn't sell show bags, but most children would be able to buy hot chips, cake, lollies, a burger and the usual fair foods.

Although I will have to pack my munchkins morning tea to bring I thought it would be nice to pack it in small 'show bag' so that they can also have a special food experience at the fair.

This is what I came up with...

My little Man and Little Miss will both receive their 'showbags' on arriving at the fair.

each 'show bag' contains:

a sticker book

(fairies and transport. we were running out of stickers :P)

two little people cars

(Declan has been asking for cars to play with in the sand and these do the trick,

they will also come in handy when they go for a quick holiday with Nan and Pop next weekend to Ballina to the beach)

Authentic Original french fries

(so they can also eat chip like everyone else, even if they aren't hot)

Lotus organic Banana chips

(from Mrs Flannerys, no preservative's or traces of nuts, the munchkins consider this a special treat)

Artisse organic lolly pop

(free of gluten, wheat, dairy,peanut, soy and gmo)

small sweet William chocolate

(free from peanuts and tree nuts, lactose, cholesterol, animal products, no artificial colours and preservatives and low GI)

This year I have decided to pack a lunch consisting of:

honey sandwiches

cheese sandwiches

small plain yogurt tubs

a small glad snap bag of green seedless grapes

special desert -homemade chocolate cupcakes with sprinkles

small biscuits for a extra snack if needed

I almost always pack too much but better have more than have a child hungry, especially one with allergies...you can't just stop the car or pick something up at a stall that is safe.

Hubby and I have decided to pack our own lunches too so the kids don't have to watch as we eat hot chips or burgers in front of them, plus saving money and being healthy at the same time helps.

We will pack salad sandwiches, grapes and muffin bars for ourselves.

Before we leave in the morning, antihistamines will be given, eczema creams and suncream applied, allergy wrist band on declan, water bottles filled, safe food talk to munchkins whist travelling in the car, medications in the nappy bag checked (epi pens, antihistamine's, creams, thermometer, pain relief) and make sure the wipes container is full to the brim (you can never have too many wipes when allergies are involved) and hopefully we will all enjoy a fun safe day!

talking food with my little man

This was just too cute not to share.
A proud moment where Declan shows that he is becoming more aware about his food allergies and that he does understand.
It's nice to know when they appreciate special home baked treats too :)

Today I handed Declan a homemade honey biscuit topped with chilled chocolate and sprinkles
- a special treat for morning tea.

Declan: "Mummy" (looking at the biscuit)
              "Is this biscuit from a packet?"

Mummy: "No it's not a packet biscuit Declan. Mummy made those special ones just for Declan and   Thalia. They are safe for you."

Declan: "We have to check the packet for the packet ones don't we."

Mummy: "Yes, it's very important to check packets so we can make sure the ones from the shop are safe for you to eat."

Declan: "Yeah, no eggs and nuts. They make me sick!"

Mummy: "Well these ones are very safe, Mummy didn't use eggs or nuts to make them."

Declan: Thank you Mummy, I'm happy it is safe. It's looks yummy!!"

Mummy: "I've very happy that you like the biscuits Declan. You make Mummy very proud when you ask questions about food to check it is safe. When you get older you can help Mummy and Daddy read the packets to check if foods are safe for you to eat.
Your getting very clever!

Declan: Thank you Mummy, I love you (spoken with a mouth full of biscuit and giving mummy cuddles :D)

It's nice to see all the hard work paying off trying to educate him to safely live a allergy life.
Now he has started Sunday school and is attending places with his peers where unsafe food is being eaten, it's very important that Declan knows to always ask about food before touching and eating.

Now that his sister has a Play Kitchen and play foods (safe and unsafe) it's interesting to hear their little conversations and questions when playing about "pretend eggs" and comments like "Thalia, what do we do with eggs and nuts? I think we should put the eggs over here away from the other food so we can keep away".

It makes me happy to see
1. that they are playing nicely together
2. they are enjoying pretend play with the new kitchen and food
3. they both have an understanding of unsafe and safe foods and their allergies
4. they remind each other and others of food issues though both pretend play and real life circumstance's.
5. they are able to learn about allergies through play and enjoy it.

Amen to allergy awareness! :D

A peek into my pantry

Welcome to my pantry!!!

I thought since I was going on a mission to clean up and clean out as most people do from time to time I would take some pic's to share


....you know the clean up days where you think "okay, this time it's going to stay organised and clean so everything is easy to see"

...lol well it never seems to work but at least you might find some exciting food that was hibernating at the back of the cupboard or have a few minutes, hours or days of that contented feeling of being somewhat organised

...that is when and until the hubby or child moves everything around and finds a oh so wrong place for what seems like every item!!!


enough of my ranter :P

The reason I wanted to share was to show what a pantry of family with severe allergy's looks like.


Living with a child who has anaphalaxis towards eggs and nuts isn't easy...every shopping expedition becomes very interesting.

Diving into a world of "may contain......" or "made in the same factory as.." can be somewhat frustrating and expensive.


Needless to say 1 3/4 out of my 6 pantry shelves are dedicated to baking alone.

It's been over a year since we found out about Declan's allergy's and it has changed our family's daily life in more than one aspect. We are very fortunate to have a few friends that also have allergy's in their family's and can understand, share recipes, brain storm how to convert that oh so yummy recipe to make it safe and so on.

We are also blessed that their are company's out there that make safe food for people like us...."HALLELUJAH!!!"

Yep, I'm that crazy woman standing in the isle of your local food store who smiles quietly to herself and does a happy dance while pure happiness, excitement and relief flows though her veins....over a new found safe ingredient or product. :)

There are also some very good benefit's of all the jazz that goes with living a allergy life.....baking (a forgotten skill and activity for all ages in past years), knowing exactly what's in your food (preservatives, chemicals etc), becoming more aware of your surroundings and probably much more that I can't think of at the moment.

On decluttering my pantry over the last few days and emptying boxes I saved 2 empty boxes for a specific purpose.
A bit of background information: For part of Thalia's Christmas present she will be getting some play food and play kitchen items and then for her birthday in Feb. she will get a play kitchen to go with them.
The play food we have brought has pretend eggs in it which made us think...do we let them play with it? should we take it out of the pack? leave it in?

After a few chats with some friends we have decided that yes we will leave the egg's in with the presents for the children to play with as a educational tool.
Obviously Declan isn't allergic to a plastic egg, we know that but we were worried at the age of 3, Declan might be confused with the whole concept that it's safe to pretend but not safe to eat the real thing etc..

So the egg will be their to show our children what an egg is,what it's used for, where it comes from, that other people can eat them etc
then as an addition to the play food I will place the 'orgran no egg' box pictured above for the children to pretend to use when they are "baking a cake" to make it safe etc. The no egg box and the safe biscuit box will also show and hopefully educate the children when they are a little older how to read labels and identify safe foods.

Well that's a day in the life of my beloved pantry....

remember eat, live, love and learn :)
ox