My last post outlined my carefully laid plans for Halloween night. We had a pre-trick or treating party at our house, which was my way of controlling our environment without foregoing the fun and excitement of the most frightfully fun night of the year.
We had a lot of fun with the menu for our party. Everything was free of dairy, egg, peanut, and tree nut ingredients. Our goal, as always, was to create a safe worry-free environment for Elena in our home.
The cupcakes were made from a safe chocolate cake mix, a can of pureed pumpkin, and 1/2 cup water. That's all!!! We decorated with safe candies (hint: Jelly Belly brand candy corn and jelly beans contain no egg, dairy, or nut ingredients). Rold Gold pretzel rods made excellent branches.
The Veg-O-Lantern makes for fun presentation of raw veggies.
This skeletal veggie man was fun and easy to put together. His head is a bowl of safe hummus, which is our go-to veggie dip. Kids do love dipping.
The snake is filled with a mix of ground turkey (seasoned with cumin, chili powder, and oregano), rice, and salsa. He was our main course.
With a belly full of safe food, we headed out for some trick-or-treating fun.
The excitement of trick-or-treating is all over her face. She loved every minute and, luckily, never tried to remove any candy from her bag.
At home, we sorted her candy into a safe pile and an unsafe pile.
Then we used the unsafe pile to fill bags for the goblins. I read the ingredients to her and when she heard one of her allergens, she put the candy in the appropriate bag.
Is it crazy that I was nervous about letting her touch the outside of the wrappers? I did decide to let her place them in the bags herself, but I can't say it was comfortable to watch.
I don't even think she realizes that this isn't what every other kid does when they get home after Trick-or-treating. Filling bags for the goblins was as much fun as the rest of the night.
In the end, we had a great, fun, safe night. The goblins brought gifts in exchange for the candy and Elena never asked about missing confections. In fact, we ended up trading in most of her safe candy at Earth Fare for a free kids meal and a prize. Safe or not, who wants their kids having that kind of sugar access?
Love it. I'm always interested in how other families with food allergies handle the night. You really went all in. Here's what we have done: http://dairyfreediner.wordpress.com/2011/10/31/full-circle-on-halloween/
ReplyDeleteSimply brilliant! Your food is beautiful and creative, and I love, love, love the goblin idea.
ReplyDeleteI know they will tell you themselves one day, but both of your lovely girls and so lucky to have you as their mama.
(Loved the pics too. I had no idea how big your lion and lamb are now. Adorable.)