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Greetings!
Yes it's the old cliche of "where did last year go?" and "here I am again, at the beginning of another year". Happy 2011! I hope you and your families had a fabulous Christmas and New Year. We enjoyed some gorgeous treats (the Sunbutter truffles from our last newsletter were everybody's favourites) and time away with family & friends. Of course it was way too short.
Now we're back to it! We have lots planned for 2011. Our brand new website is being designed, and we have new products for you and new brands we are testing. We will also expand the retail network this year so you should see more of our products around in a store near you.
I hope 2011 is a fabulous year for you and I'm certainly looking forward to providing you some safe and yummy foods to enjoy on your special diets.
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Qld Floods
It is surreal as I sit here on a glorious sunny and hot Qld Summers day, that only a week ago and just up the road, thousands of peoples homes and lives were devestated in the Qld floods. To assist in some small way, we will donate $1 from every order we receive during the month of January to the Premier's Flood Appeal. I will let you know the total amount next month.
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Surf Sweets range expanded
Surf Sweets have been literally surfing out the door and why wouldn't they? Organic, all natural colours & flavours, no corn, gluten, dairy, soy, nuts, eggs and produced in an allergen free facility. And they taste AMAZING!
We have 3 new products in stock now. As well as being allergy friendly, these are also Vegan.
Fruity Bears - Our lightly sugared all natural Fruity Bears are fruity, sweet, and irresistibly fun. Made with organic sweeteners and organic fruit juice, Surf Sweets Fruity Bears are packed with Vitamin C so you can feel great about your choice!
Gummy Swirls - These unique gum-drop shaped gummies are swirled, fruity and fun! Made with organic fruit juice and organic sweeteners. Surf Sweets Gummy Swirls packed with Vitamin C and calcium.
Sour Worms - With a wonderful blend of tangy and sweet, these Sour Worms are simply irresistible! Made with organic sweeteners, Surf Sweets Sour Worms are also packed with Vitamin C. Now you can enjoy your favorite candy and feel great about your choice.
To view full nutritional details and to order, please click here |
Back to School. Lunchbox ideas
Don't you agree that packing lunches for kids on special diets is the pits. I find it difficult to keep inspired and produce safe and yummy foods that travel well for school lunch.
Each year, I share a list that might give you some ideas of what has worked for us and ideas from the fabulous mums from the Biomedical Autism Group. I hope that below you find something that works for you. Of course, not every item will suit every person's diet and please substitute ingredients to make them safe for your own circumstances.
Good luck and happy lunch making!
Savoury ideas : ^ Frittata (potato, carrot, spinach, capsicum, garlic, eggs)
^ Rice Slice (rice pressed into base, 6 eggs for topping with spinach/salmon or whatever you're using, + celtic salt), cooked and cut into squares
^ Felafels
^ Leftover sliced chicken and finely chopped coleslaw
^ Lentil & potato rissoles
^ Leftover casserole with mash (potato/sweet potato/pumpkin) sent in thermos
^ For tuckshop day : send along home-made or suitable pie/sausage rolls to keep in the tuckshop freezer which can be heated up for lunchtime. Great for those days when you are tearing your hair out and cannot think of a single thing to pack in the lunchbox!!
^ Nori rolls with avocado, carrot, lettuce, salmon
^ Babaganoush with carrot and cucumber sticks
^ Mild dahl + rice (sent in thermos)
^ Fried rice (veges, ham, egg)
^ Pappadams
^ Home made soup with gluten free spiral pasta (sent in thermos)
^ Eskel crackers with nuttelex and Vege spread (contains soy)
^ Home made pizza leftovers
^ Leftover roast meat and salad
^ Container of salad - let your imagination run wild - quinoa tabouli, gluten free pasta, salmon, veges, rice, lentils, currants, lettuce, chicken, hard boiled eggs, snow peas, celery, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, capsicum, cucumber
^ Rice crackers
^ Quinoa tabouli
^ Tuna pasta salad (rice, amaranth or quinoa pasta)
^ Rice paper rolls with lettuce, carrot, cucumber and rice
^ Chicken drumsticks
^ Cold sausages
^ Left over home made chicken nuggets or fish fingers
^ Ham/zuccini/tomato/spinach muffins made with eggs and almond meal
^ Vege kebabs (capsicum, cherry tomato, mushroom, cucumber, carrots)
^ Bean salad
^ Rice bread with cashew nut butter
^ Rice salad - rice, chickpeas, kidney beans, peas, sweetcorn
^ Leftover spaghetti bolognaise (in thermos)
^ Egg wraps (2 egg omelette cooked very thin, add filling and roll like a wrap. For filling try savoury mince, ham, roast meats, tuna, salad)
^ Home made rissoles
^ Fish fingers and hummos
^ Fritters - pumpkin, zuccini, broccoli, leftover roast meats, eggs + rice flour
^ Lunch cake - like a frittata - lots of veges/spag bol sauce or meat. eggs
^ Baked beans
^ Hard boiled eggs
^ Chicken or sausage kebabs
Sweet things and treats
Top Pick : Enjoy Life's snack bars - available in Caramel Apple, Very Berry, Cocoa Loco & Sunbutter crunch flavours - individually wrapped and perfect for the school lunchbox!
^ Home made biscuits and muffins that suit your child's diet are a great morning tea/afternoon tea snack
^ Trail mix. Experiment with what nuts/fruit/seeds suit you, make a big container and keep in the fridge and scoop into smaller containers to put into lunchbox. Try : Enjoy Life choc chips, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, hazelnuts, sultanas, dates, figs, sluphur free dried fruit (cut into small bits), dried cranberries. Sometimes I also chop up some gluten/dairy free marshmallows in it as well.
^ Pineapple/coconut cups (can crushed pineapple, can of coconut milk with tablespoon honey thickened with tapioca starch). When cooled put pineapple on bottom and coconut on top
^ Home made pikelets (try banana + honey or apple + cinnamon)
^ Date and pumpkin scones
^ Fresh fruit salad
^ Fruit juice jelly
^ Popcorn
^ Plain potato chips
^ Vege chips
^ Preservative free dried fruit
^ Fruit kebabs
^ 'Annie's' fruit bars
^ Orgran little animal biscuits
^ Leda fruit bars
^ Pieces of fresh fruit
^ Raw veges + dip of tahini or peanut butter
^ Coconut bread + honey
^ Rice crackers or carrot sticks + humos
^ Chicknuts (roasted chickpeas)
^ Coconut & Date balls (recipe on website)
For our new favourite cookie which will be going in our lunchboxes next week (it is grain free, egg free, gluten free, dairy free, nut free but tastes sensational) take a look at this link here
This information is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical or nutritional advice.
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Back to School tips for parents of kids with allergies & intolerances
Managing allergies and intolerances can be tricky when the kids are at school and you don't have direct control over their environment.
Make sure you establish good communication with your child's teacher right now, in the beginning of the year. Request a meeting to explain your child's situation and have it all put in writing for the teacher to have handy in the classroom, as well as being readily available for any relief teachers. Put a photo of your child on the top of the sheet, so new teachers can readily identify them.
Find out from the teacher where the closest fridge/freezer is, and take along a lunchbox full of allowed foods they can call upon for birthdays and other celebrations. Cupcakes and muffins usually freeze well (we always send Love Cake muffins and cakes and the other kids are so jealous, these are SO good and better than any other cake the rest of the class will be having!). You will need to monitor the levels in the box to ensure there is a good supply on hand.
Request that you be notified in advance of any cooking lessons/excursions/special occassions so you can provide allowed alternatives. On days where the class needs to bring a plate to share, remind the teacher that your child will eat from their own plate. It might be helpful to buy a special lunchbox that is only used on these special occassions. We have one that is called the party lunchbox, and it only comes out on these special days when I pack it with things my son doesn't eat regularly, so both the food and the packaging is novel and he doesn't feel he's missing out.
Go and see your tuckshop convenor and go through the menu of the tuckshop with them. You can make a list of what your child is allowed to buy over the counter, and have that stuck up in the tuckshop (with a photo of your child) so all they need to do is identify themselves at the tuckshop and their choice will be cross-referenced to the list. This gives them a great sense of never missing out, being allowed to get things at the tuckshop like all the other kids. You can also provide your own food (I make party pies and sausage rolls and take them to the tuckshop where they store them in the freezer) for lunches. Then my son puts his tuckshop order in as normal and they heat up his special food and put it in the bag - voila - tuckshop order just like the others.
If ingredients in art & craft materials are likely to cause any problems, either request that the school buys a brand that you know is safe, or give them the recipe to make their own if that's what you do at home. Most teachers will be accommodating in this situation, however if they are not as a last resort you may have to take in your own materials for your child to use. Make sure your teacher knows how to take necessary precautions to prevent any cross contamination.
If your child suffers life threatening allergies, ensure you have an emergency action plan at both the school office, in the classroom and any other ancillary classrooms (music room, library etc) and that all staff are trained the in the use of medications/epi-pens. Have your numbers as well as your doctor/pediatrician/hospital handy for the school staff.
Forward planning and lots of communication with your child's teacher will be the key to managing your child's food requirements at school. Good Luck !
This information is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical or nutritional advice.
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Good news for WA customers
I know how frustrating it is for you all in WA (as well as NT and TAS) because of the very long transit times for your orders. Well good news WA! We have a local stockist now up and running. Allergy Tots stock most of our products (and I'm sure if there's something you want specially they will order it for you). And because they are local to you, the transit times should be MUCH quicker. So if you are in WA, please give Kelly a call
Allergy Tots Contact Kelly - kelly@allergytots.com.au Ph 0408 949 566 Website coming in next few weeks! Of course we are still able to process your orders for you as per usual, but we hope the addition of a WA stockist will be a positive for you.
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As always, we welcome feedback and suggestions any time. If you have a recipe to share, or even a photo of something you've made with our products or your kids enjoying our products, then please send it along so we can share it.
Have a great January!
Sincerely,
Kris Barrett
Allergy Friendly Foods |
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