Planning for an Allergy Friendly Easter

Before this year there was no Easter without Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs, dying Easter Eggs and candy, candy, candy.  Then there came my Monk, and his safety and happiness surmount any love of sweet peanut butter.

This year the Easter Bunny is going Allergy-Free and filling baskets with non-food treats.  For those in need of some inspiration, here are a few ideas.

Books
Books are a great gift no matter the occasion, and the best thing about them is that you can find books for as little as $1 (Dollar Store or Target's One Spot).   All of my children love the "If you give a..." books, and this Easter version, while not the typical style, features the sweet Mouse and is a cute preschool selection.  Monk will be getting the Easter Touch and Feel Board Book in his basket this year. 

Balls
What child doesn't love a bouncy ball.  I swear we can't pass up one of those bouncy ball vending machines at the grocery store without hearing the jarring requests for quarters. Local drugstores, dollar stores and superstores all carry fun selections that would be good additions to baskets.  Bouncy balls come with an added benefit of getting the kids outside to play (or getting you a broken glass depending on the situation.)

I found these cute striped balls at Target.

Legos
While they are more on the expensive end of things, we are a Lego household.  Jag is quite literally obsessed with Legos and thankfully they package minifigures individually and sell a few bagged kits for under $10.  The 2014 Easter set from Lego can be found here.

Continuing the Lego theme, I found a water bottle topped with Mr. Lego Head and a Unikitty nightgown on Zulily when they cleaned out their Lego Movie stock.

BTW...if you don't already shop on Zulily, you should check it out.  They always have fun holiday gift ideas and have even featured Allergy Friendly companies AllerMates and Enjoy Life Foods in the past 6 months.

Sidewalk Chalk
Every kid loves sidewalk chalk, and for Easter you can find it in the shapes of eggs, bunnies, chicks, etc. To keep things interesting, I found sprayable chalk at our local Walgreens. I figure that I have basically set myself up to have the house graffiti-ed, but at least it is washable!

Allergy Note: Be careful when purchasing chalk if your child has dairy or casein allergies as some chalks can contain casein as a binding agent.

Puzzles
My kids love puzzles.  They are great for Easter baskets and are super easy to find at your local dollar store. My last visit to the Dollar Tree had Disney Princesses, Doc McStuffins, Avengers, Mickey Mouse and several other options.

 

And if you want to bring a little of the meaning of Easter into your baskets, our local Dollar Tree always has a good selection of Bible Themed puzzles and coloring books.

Toys
Most small, tinker-type toys that would fit in an Easter basket are great for immediate gratification, but are horrid a few days later when they break, or ever worse, end up jammed into the arch of your foot during a late night trip for a glass of water.  There are, however, a few exceptions to this rule when it come to what keeps their attention and holds together.

Packaged in a cute little Easter Egg, the bunny earred Hex Bugs are new for us this year.  Santa did bring a hex bug with reindeer antlers this past Christmas and it was (and still is) a big hit, so I expect nothing less of this toy, pink ears and all.

The Disney Princess Magiclip dolls are also a huge hit in our house, and the perfect size for an Easter treat.  Target almost always has the individual dolls in their holiday aisle. Although I couldn't find an Elsa or Anna this year, I am pretty sure that one little girl will still be breaking glass with her squeals come Easter morning.

Girls Only!
Speaking of squealing girls...There are some things that I remember getting in my basket every year that my sweet Punkin loves to see in her's.  Nail polish, fun plastic rings, hair accessories, lip gloss or basically anything beauty related will bring a huge smile to her face.  If you are looking for a polish that is free from harsh toxins such as Formaldehyde and Phthalates, Zoya Nail Polish is great, albeit a bit more expensive than the usual beauty brands.  Their Spring colors are super girly too!

 

Stuffed Animals
What Easter basket would be complete without a stuffed bunny or chick. Whether it is Ty or Gund, Easter just isn't the same without a fluffy little something that you will later have to scour the earth to find a bedtime! My sweet Monk will be getting the sweet cuddly bunny below, which was a steal when I found it on Zulily. Punkin has the same bunny in pink, which she received as a baby gift, and it is the perfect bedtime sleeping friend.

Candy
If you opt to add a little sweet to your kiddos baskets, Kids with Food Allergies has compiled a great list of allergy-friendly Easter candy.  Check it out here! 

Need a recap of great places to shop for Easter goodies?

• Target's Holiday and One Spot isles (Use Cartwheel for additional $$ off.)
• Dollar stores
• Local Pharmacies like Walgreens, CVS, etc.
• Zulily
• Last minute, oops forgot something?  Amazon is great if you have Prime!

Amazon Prime (One Year Membership)

Happy shopping and Happy Easter!

He Touched an EGG!

Yesterday was April fools day. My children had been home sick for two days straight, which is in itself enough April fools for me! So to keep them busy (and me sane) I pulled out Easter Eggs to dye.

Last May when Monk was diagnosed with a severe egg allergy, I wasn't thinking at all about the holiday that surrounds itself with decorating, hiding, and eating this one particular food. I will say that in past years the whole business of Easter eggs was not too appealing.  Buy at least a dozen eggs, boil them, and then anxiously watch as my small and not so graceful children hover a fragile shell over a bucket of dye, held steady by a wire the diameter of my floss.  Doesn't that sound fun!

Because my Monk's egg allergy is contact, he cannot touch eggs or their shells. So fast forward, and my new role as allergy mom has me scouring the internet for all things allergy friendly and I see someone mention dye-able plastic eggs, from Walmart no less.

A quick trip to Walmart and I come home with....

 Yep, you saw it right folks, $1.97 per dozen for these little babies, and they look like the real deal (leading Jag to suggest that we scare the hubby with a little allergy April fools joke later that evening).

I got some nifty PAAS dye loaded q-tips ($.99 at Walmart) to paint them with, but soon found out that markers work well too.  The kids had a great time with their eggs and then proceeded to play Easter bunny for the rest of the afternoon.

Here are some of the finished eggs (see if you can spot the "Mommy's been watching too many episodes of The Walking Dead" egg.)

I tried to get Monk to pose with his finished egg, but he was only interested in throwing it (which he couldn't have done with a real egg btw.)

So here is the run down on this new allergy-friendly find.

Pros:

1. No prep work from me. 
2. No stinky egg smell (or vinegar smell for that matter)
3. No fear of cracks or dropping accidents
4. Absorb egg dye just like the real thing
5. Didn't even have to purchase dye as markers work fine.
6. No worry that someone will hide one and that I will find it a week later by following my nose.
7. Kept 2 children's attention with very little mommy help needed for at least a solid hour!
8. My sweet little monkey can hold these eggs without fear of a reaction! (guess that should have been #1)

Cons:

1.  No strangely colored egg salad (is that really a con?)

I guess you can say that we really liked these little eggs. In fact, I plan to go grab about a dozen more in case someone decides not to produce them next year. Let me know if I can pick some up for you!

Names confusing? I got tired of using my kids initials and changes their names. See this post to know who is who.

Allergy Friendly Valentines Day - Thinking Ahead

My sweet boy is just a year old and we are still a few years away from dealing with the sugary sweet onslaught of Valentines.  If anything, however, I am a planner, so I have already started to compile my mental filing cabinet of allergy-friendly Valentine's Day treats. I found a few that are nut, gluten, dairy and egg free.

Surf Sweets Organic Fruity Hearts (nut-free, gluten-free, and vegan)

Premier Chocolates (nut-free, gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free)

Divvies Candies

(nut-free, gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free)

 Dum Dums Original Pops 

(nut-free, gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free)

Threw that last one in there as it was once rumored that I ate a whole bag of them while spending the day with my Great-Uncle.

There are several other allergy-friendly foods that are everyday candies, chocolates, etc available. A great resource for a list of peanut, tree nut and egg-free snacks and candies is the Snack Safely list.  Click here for the latest 2014 version of the list.

NOTE: I decided to start a Pinterest account for the blog so that I could keep all of our allergy friendly recipes, tips and products in one place (feel free to follow me here.)  I have created a board specifically for Allergy-Free Holidays, which is where I have pinned several non-food Valentines ideas and more!