Allergy Free Trick Or Treating - Or Not.

While the wee ones love all parts of Halloween, there's a few small sticking points for us.  The candy is the big one, as Little Miss has a dairy allergy, and none of us eat HFCS, plus we avoid dyes and other nasties.  That limits the candy we end up eating each year, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

It's hard for the wee ones - especially Little Miss who usually ends up with just a few bags of pretzels - and I always have a stock of "trade" items on hand that are treats I know they can eat.  We're lucky, though.  A local organization put together an allergen free trick or treat for the special needs children in the area, knowing that so many are on restricted diets and can eat none of the candy they collect.

It's a brilliant idea, and I love that the neighborhood bands together to do this.  They even have tables at the ends of their driveways for the most part so the kids can trick or treat more easily instead of having to go all the way up to each of the houses.  One neighbor also creates an incredible haunted house for the kids to go through - altering the scary factor based on the requests of the kids going through in each wave.  This year, one person even rented a giant bouncy house so the kids could play once they finished trick or treating.

Except...

Here's where I start to feel ungrateful.  There were eight houses participating this year.  That isn't the issue.  My irritation - and I feel slightly justified in it because this was advertised as allergen free - is that this is what we collected from the eight houses:

So the most common allergens are peanuts, wheat, dairy, eggs, soy, fish, shellfish, and tree nuts.  Many more children have issues with corn, even though it isn't in the major 8 - yet.  In fact, companies are now required to label when their products have any of the big four: nuts, wheat, dairy or soy.  Most of the special needs children are on the spectrum (including Mister Man), and many of those are on gluten free, dairy free diets.  More avoid HFCS and dyes, including many who are diagnosed with ADHD.

I appreciate that many of the houses decided to go "natural" for the allergen free trick or treating.  But they missed the boat.  Natural is not allergen free.

The Pop Chips contain dairy.  The Barbara's contains wheat and soy and is produced in a factory with milk, eggs, peanuts, hazelnuts, almonds, pecans, pistachios, cashews, walnuts, and coconut.  The breakfast cookies contain wheat, soy, eggs, and are produced in a factory with wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, eggs, and dairy.  The Back to Nature contains wheat, egg, milk, and soy.  The Sunkist "fruit flavored" snacks?  There's no ingredient listing on them, but I can tell you that fruit flavored snacks will contain HFCS and dyes.

So of the eight items we collected - oh, they also handed out prepopped popcorn in bags that contained dairy, wheat, and soy, I forgot that one - Little Miss can have one.  The big event that she's most excited about because she can actually eat the treats she collects was a bust because unfortunately people don't understand allergies.  She was inconsolable, and I don't blame her.  She was looking forward to this for weeks.

And I feel like a complete schmo for complaining, but... it's advertised as an allergen free trick or treat, and it wasn't anything of the kind.  And she's my neurotypical kid.  Try explaining to a more profoundly impacted child that the candy they can eat... they can't now.  It was so disappointing and so unnecessarily so.

The concept is brilliant.  And Surf Sweets has great allergen free candy.  So does Yummy Earth.  Indie Candy makes wonderful allergen free candy.  Strawberry Hill sells all kinds of allergen free candies.  There's even Glee Gum that is an allergy free alternative.  And that's just a small sampling of the companies I buy from regularly that I know are allergy free.  There's a ton more out there.  None of it was included in what the houses handed out this year, but it could have been if there was better education of what allergen free means.

I love the idea.  I love that the neighbors are willing to do this special event.  But creating the special event and then providing items that the children can't enjoy makes it worse than not having it at all.  Because they're kids.  And they don't get why they can't enjoy an event created for them.  Next year, we may not go because I don't want the wee ones to have this disappointment again - and I can't take on another project so it gets done right (so I say now; watch, I'll end up spearheading this in another eight months).

Because we have allergies in our house and because we know so many who have severe allergies, we always provide an alternative to traditional candy.  I wrote Monday about the book or treat option I'm having this year.  And I'm passing our Plants vs. Zombies trading cards.  And we have a small stash of "special" allergen free candy for those who request it.

What do you hand out for Halloween?  Do you have children with allergies?  How do you handle it if you do?

Updated: I have since found out that the treats that were provided by the neighbors for the special needs allergy free trick or treat was purchased by the special needs organization that arranged this.  So the people who put it together who are supposed to be smart about this and advertised it as allergy free were the ones who provided the treats that absolutely were not allergy free.  I've moved past disappointed to disgusted and very sad.  These are people who are supposed to know better!

Cream Of Celery Soup - Tasty Tuesday!

It's cold in Chicago now.  Our beautiful days of sunshine and 70s are gone.  It's no longer easy, comfortable, or even possible to go outside without a coat.  In my mind, we've officially entered Soup Season.  Earlier this week, I made my Roasted Butternut Squash Soup, and it was good.  Last night, I did a new one, and it was awesomely yummy and again perfectly healthy.

Interestingly, my Cream of Celery Soup doesn't require any cream or milk.  And since I was in the process of doing a 14 day gluten free challenge, I was happy to make this gluten free, too.  Potato does an amazing job of making a beautiful thick texture and a creamy taste.  I've used this technique before with my potato and corn chowder that has barely any milk in it.  It feels wrong calling it "cream of" when there's no cream or milk, but this is exactly what it tastes like.

And this soup was good.  Even my husband who doesn't like celery ate it, and Little Miss kept taking spoonfuls from my bowl after she finished hers.  That's a good sign, right?

Cream of Celery Soup

Ingredients:
6 good size celery stalks (about a pound, but my digital scale broke, so I'm guesstimating)
1 medium baking potato
2 T oil or butter
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
3/4 c dry wine
4 c chicken stock (or vegetable stock to make vegan)
1/2 t nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Chop your celery into small pieces.  I cut my stalks in half lengthwise (after washing them well) and then chopped them into 1/2 inch pieces or so.  In a heavy soup pan, heat the oil (or butter).  Add the celery and cook over medium low heat.  Stir, then chop the onion after peeling it. The onion should be about the same size as the celery.  Add the onion to the pot and continue to cook.

Cut the potato into similar small chunks.  Personally, I like keeping the potato skin on, so I don't peel it.  If you feel differently, go ahead and peel it.  You want these smaller than you normally would so that they cook more quickly in the soup.

Smash the garlic and remove the skins.  Add the smashed garlic to the onions and celery and cook for a few more minutes, stirring periodically.  You want to cook it until the onion is fairly translucent but before it truly caramelizes.  At this point, add the wine, and cook it down until the wine has reduced by about half.

Add the potato after the wine has reduced, which will only take a few minutes.  Then add the chicken stock - adding the potato first means you don't get splashes of stock.  I'm always thinking, and no, I didn't learn that one the hard way, why?  Add the nutmeg, and stir once.

Bring this to a boil (cover it to bring it to a boil more quickly, then remove the cover once it boils), then turn it down to a simmer.  Cook for 15-20 minutes when the potatoes are soft but not mushy.

Use your immersion blender - still my favorite kitchen gadget - to puree the soup.  If you don't have an immersion blender, you can use your regular blender.  You'll puree it in batches.  Don't fill your blender more than one-third full of a hot liquid, and be sure to use a kitchen towel to hold the lid on.  You don't want the pressure from blending hot liquid to case the top to fly off and spray scalding liquid, so be careful (see, this is why I love my immersion blender - it reduces danger, and it's useful).

Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve immediately.  This is fantastic, even for me who doesn't like celery.  It's a light, fresh and slightly sweet flavor that is a perfect fall dinner.  Because this is such a light soup, it may work better as part of a meal rather than the entire entree.

Enjoy this and more with Blessed With Grace and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.  Rachel from A Southern Fairytale has an awesome Mouthwatering Monday linkup that I participate in, too.

Halloween Book or Treat

Halloween is almost here again, and I'm getting ready for the crush of children and teens who will bombard our house once again this year.  We average well over 350 trick or treaters each year at our house.  Our neighborhood is the place to be.

This year, I'm doing things a little differently.  Just a little.  I talked about how I'll be handing out free Plants vs. Zombies games, but that isn't the only non-candy alternative I'll be distributing.  But then I was cleaning out our bookshelf.  Again.  I'm not sure where all our books come from, but we seem to collect them like other people collect dust bunnies.

Many of them are books that the wee ones have long outgrown and are no longer interested in reading.  And we're lucky that they tend to take pretty good care of their books, so they're in good condition, too.  Suddenly, it dawned on me that I could very easily share our wealth of books with many of the younger kids who come trick or treating at our house.

So we're putting these books into a large bowl.  We'll have it available along with the candy so children can choose which they prefer.  Without a doubt, there will be many who will choose the candy, but I'm betting that there will be many who will choose a new-to-them book instead of the candy.  And I'll bet their parents will be thrilled.

Now that's a win-win-win.

What are you doing for your trick or treaters this year?

I'm A Saint Who Washes Dishes

It's always enlightening to hear what your children think of you.  Their opinions and perspectives are so often skewed - and so frequently entertaining.  My husband couldn't wait to share what the wee ones had to say about me this past week.

While at Sunday school, the family activity was to build scarecrows representing the saints they were studying.  As the group talked about saints, the teachers asked them to think about what saints were.  The children came up with people who act selflessly, who do good things, and the usual platitudes.  When asked for examples of people they thought were saint like, Mister Man came up with a long list that included John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln.  Little Miss's list was much shorter.  Just "Mommy."  Apparently, I am a saint to her.

When we got home, I asked her why she thought I was a saint.  Because you cook and clean for us all the time, Mommy.

The girl's got a brain in her head.

And on Tuesday at Cub Scouts, the den leader was talking about occupations and how important they are.  He shared his job and asked the children to talk a little about their parents' jobs.

Mister Man apparently piped right up with, Well, my mom doesn't have a job.  She doesn't really work.  She just does laundry and cooks all day.  She used to have a job at a bank, but now she doesn't anymore.

That child needs to have a little talking to.  And for the record "now she doesn't anymore" isn't code for me being laid off.  I'm pretty sure my husband is still laughing somewhere.

Have We Voted Yet?

I love the #VlogMom prompts because they make me think.  And this was a much longer vlog than I thought it would be (ok, just over 3 minutes, but still...), and after I was done, I still had more to say that I left unsaid.  For now.

This week, Julie Meyers Pron from Julieverse asks:

What do you think of this year's political season?  Not what do you think of politics and your beliefs, but the season and how it's gone.  Have things gotten out of hand?  Has the media been fair and even?  Are you exhaused?  Too many phone calls, doorbell rings, etc?  What do you REALLY think?

I feel like a bad citizen.  I really do.  But tired is definitely the word that sums it all up for me right now.  How about you?  Are you dressing your kids in racially charged political t-shirts like I've seen on some of my friends' children?  Are you out canvassing or sharing your every political thought on Facebook?  Or are you done with it all for one reason or another?

Four Eyes? Nah, We're Sixteen Eyes!

Little Miss started saying at the end of the last school year that things were fuzzy.  As she admired both my glasses and the ones that Mister Man now wore all the time instead of just for board work, I wasn't surprised.  Don't tell anyone, but when I was a kid, I faked an eye exam just so I could have glasses.  And I could totally see Little Miss doing the same thing.

So I blew her off.

Great mom moment, yes?  Then came June when Venus made a transit across the sun.  Mister Man was beyond thrilled that he had made a special viewer in school.  That afternoon, our whole family trooped outside to take turns with Mister Man's cardboard tube of wonder where we could see the little black dot moving across the sun.

Well, most of us could see it.  Little Miss couldn't find it.  Neither could I, but then I got smart and grabbed my prescription sunglasses, and voila there was Venus!  Little Miss still couldn't find it.  And so I offered her my sunglasses, with one eye nearsighted and the other eye farsighted.  She looked goofy with them on, but she closed one eye and gasped.  Mom!  I can see it!

So apparently she really is nearsighted.  Oops.

So yes, I took her to see an optometrist.  It may have been a month later, but she was busy with summer school and then went out of town for two weeks - I get a pass on that, right?  And she officially needs glasses, just like the rest of us.  The whole family is four-eyed now.

But I think she looks the cutest in her glasses.

S'mores Bars - Tasty Tuesday!

This past week was teacher conferences.  Our PTO provides dinner for the staff both nights of conferences, knowing that they're constantly running.  They absolutely appreciate it, and they adore that we make everything homemade for them rather than catering it.  I signed up to bring a dessert and wanted to bring something creative.  There are always a ton of brownies and cakes.  So I decided to make s'mores bars.

I had no idea how I was going to do it, but I had marshmallows, chocolate, and tons of graham crackers in my house, so there had to be a way, right?  I finally decided to do a takeoff of a shortbread bar recipe, and my luck held - it worked.

I brought a sample to a friend before conferences, and she ate the whole thing in one sitting.  After conferences, there were no leftovers even though desserts are usually overboard.  I made them again to bring to the Chicago Food Swap this past weekend.  My husband requested that I just trade with myself.  And they went over nicely at the food swap, too.  Even Mister Man liked them.  This was his reaction to them after he'd finished his sample.

S'mores Bars

Ingredients:
3/4 c butter at room temperature
2/3 c sugar
1 egg at room temperature
1 t vanilla
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
20 graham crackers
1/2 c flour
1 1/2 c chocolate chips
20-25 large marshmallows

Directions:
Crush your graham crackers.  I love pulsing them in my blender, because it's easy and not messy.  I've found that the best way is to break the graham crackers in their quarters and do half, pulsing until they're just about crushed, then adding the other half and proceeding the same way.  Otherwise, that large bag and a rolling pin or can works well, too - and helps get rid of frustration.

Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  It doesn't get light and fluffy if the butter is cold, so make sure it's at room temperature.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat again. until well combined.  Add the baking powder and mix once again.

Add the graham crackers and flour and stir until just combined.  Grease a 9x13 pan and put the graham cracker mixture into the pan, reserving around a cup or a little more for a topping.  This is a press with your fingers exercise.  I tried to be dainty and use my spatula, but it didn't work.

Pour the chocolate chips over the crust into a nice, even layer.  You can use chocolate bars (it takes about 7), but the chips taste better and are cheaper.  The marshmallows are the next layer.  Take the marshmallow in your fingertips and use your other fingertips to twist and pull it apart so you have two non-smushed marshmallow halves.  Place the halves sticky side down in rows over the chocolate.  I did five halves per row, but do what works for you.  Crumble the last of the graham cracker mixture over top that, and voila!

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes.  Let them cool fully before cutting.  By using the large marshmallows instead of mini-marshmallows, you've given yourself room to cut without your knife getting stuck in marshmallow and the topping pulling off.  See?  I'm thinking!

Once they're ready, you can serve them at room temperature and store them in a sealed container for three or so days.  If they last that long....

Mister Man decided he needed a fork to eat these.  Smart kid.

Enjoy this and more with Blessed With Grace and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.  Rachel from A Southern Fairytale has an awesome Mouthwatering Monday linkup that I participate in, too.