Allergy Friendly Easter Basket Tips

I thought I would share some of our favorite Easter basket candy and non-candy goodies.   Holidays can be more difficult to manage with food allergies than every other day of the year.  We food allergy parents have to stick together and share our ideas!

As the kids get older, it becomes more difficult to find *useful* things to add to there Easter baskets.  I highlight useful here because I just can’t bring myself to add another chintzy plastic doo-hicky to their Easter baskets!  Those things were great when they were younger and easily entertained, but once you start finding plastic bugs, bracelets, and bouncy balls in every nook and cranny, you start to dread bringing any more home for fear they will multiply.   A few of my ideas, I got from my own awesome, yet practical,  Mom.  🙂

Here are some practical, non-candy ideas:

• Cool new hairbrush or  hair accessories
• Battery operated toothbrush  (I figure, what they hey, it’s a holiday!  Splurge!)
• Books!
• CD’s or movies
• Craft supplies.  The sky’s the limit here.  Markers, colored pencils, chalk, paints, loom bands, play dough…
• Perfume, lotion, bubble bath, etc.
• Wall  or window decals
• itunes gift card
• Headphones
• Lego packs
• Jewelry
• Gardening gear like gloves and seed packets.
• Nail polish
• Baseball cards, Pokemon cards, Garbage Pail Kids cards…

With candy, you have to be very careful and always read labels.  From year to year, we see changes in “may contain” labeling statements that are important to take note of.   We make it a rule to not trust off-label candies, especially the ones that are made outside of the U.S., where the same labeling laws and quality may not apply.  Also, be careful even with the candies you’ve known to be safe in the past.  Sometimes a different package size, different store, or even a different lot of the same thing may NOT be safe from your allergens.

Candies we like:

• Skittles
• Airheads
• Cotton Candy
• Starburst original candies and jelly beans
• Laffy Taffy
• Jolly Rancher
• Dum-Dums
• Yummy Earth organic lollipops
• Surf Sweets gummy worms, Trolli Crawlers gummy worms
• Swedish Fish
• Big League Chew
• Sour Patch Kids
• Twizzlers
• Lifesavers orginal, mints, and Big Ring Gummies
• Peeps
• Dots
• Mentos
• Fun Dip
• Dubble Bubble gum
• Saf-T-Pops
• Fluffy Stuff Cotton Tails cotton candy

 

 

Random Reminders (for my kids)

Always, always, carry your Epi-pen, inhaler, and Benadryl with you. As in, keep it *ON* you.

When in doubt, go without.

Wash your hands before you eat, every time. Besides germs, you never know if you have touched something with milk, egg, or peanut residue on it.

Make sure your dishes are clean.  If your plate or silverware still has unidentifiable goobers stuck to it from the last meal it held, in addition to being totally gross, it could also have  something you can’t have on it.   Get a new one for sure.  (ick)  Oh, and steer clear of anything made in cast iron.  Those things are never (by definition) washed with soap and water and can hold all sorts of trouble in their “seasoning”.

If the person preparing your food speaks English as a second language, eat somewhere else.  You have to feel comfortable that they truly understand what is dangerous for you.

If friends aren’t willing to make compromises for your safety, they’re not good friends.  If a friend is willing to learn about and help you manage your food allergies, be grateful and cherish them!  That is a good friend.

Never use a shared toaster. If you have to, use a toaster oven and line the rack or pan with foil to protect your food from cross-contamination.

Remember, labels can be deceiving.  Test your label reading knowledge at http://www.allergyfreetable.com/food-allergies-label-quiz.php 

Always carry spare safe snacks with you.  You don’t want to get stuck away from home and starving without something safe to eat, or worse, make a bad choice because of it.

Disclaimer

Read the label.  Every time!  Then, even if the label appears to be free of your allergens, check the company’s website and/or call them to rule out cross-contamination.  Every time!  The intent of this website is not to provide nutritional or medical advice.  It is up to you to decide what’s best for you and your family.  Also, I am not one to adhere to strictly organic, non-GMO, whole, clean, paleo, vegan, etc.  Granted, they are good for you!  In our home, we do what we can to keep things easy and as close to normal as possible.  Lastly, I would love for you to enjoy and share my blog.  Please remember that all content on this blog, created by me, belongs to me.  (copyright implied here)  Likewise, all content on this blog borrowed from others, belongs to them and will be credited as such.  Thank you!