Oreo Turkey Treats!

Again a little pre-post post! I am going to make these tomorrow - Thanksgiving Day - with my son and his cousins. There are several versions out there. We are opting for the peanut-allergy-friendly version and still oh-so-cute!


A note on the candy corn...pretty much everywhere was OUT of candy corn now that Halloween is over. I found a bag in the Safeway brand candy of the candy section. The last bag!!! woohoo!

******Disclaimer: Not my kid, not my picture...from familyfun website!!!******

Oreo Turkey Treats

Oreo Cookies
Whopper Candies
Candy Corn Candies
Royal Icing (recipe to follow)

Take half of an Oreo with the frosting side up, place a full Oreo vertically on top of this Oreo using Royal Icing to make it "stick". Place a Whopper front and center for the "head". Use candy corn for the "tail" and the "beak", using Royal Icing to make it "stick". Use Royal Icing to dot on a couple eyes...if you don't have a small piping bag - just put royal icing in a small sandwich bag, and clip off a small corner...voila!

Royal Icing

3 egg whites, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 C. powdered sugar

Mix until light and fluffy. Use immediatly because royal icing hardens QUICK!

Cheesecake Factory - When dining out ALWAYS talk to a manager BEFORE ordering

Well, I love Cheesecake Factory and have always had exceptional service. Well not this time. I went with my mother and son for a light dinner after a movie. I took my trusty Chef Card from foodallergy.org that has worked like a charm at every restaurant I've visited while in Hawaii and here in Arizona. I've always been treated very well and even thanked by the waiter/manager/kitchen staff for being so prepared and helpful to them in serving us. Long story short I couldn't get a word in edge-wise at CF because the woman waiting on us kept cutting me off to tell me, "I've already been trained on all this stuff and all I can tell you is that we can't promise anything". After several attempts to ask her if she knew if they used peanut oil, to let her know he could DIE, etc. etc. etc. I was repeatedly told "I've already been trained....". So finally I told her very nicely that we would just not order anything at all for my son. She then became a little more accomodating and tried to advise us on a few options.
In the meantime she went to get the manager. He was amazing! He told us what my son could and could not eat. He advised us about what oils were used, that the bread they serve as an appetizer comes from a factory pre-made etc. He was very grateful for the Chef Card and asked if he could keep it. He then made sure he brought my son sliced bananas to snack on while we decided on something for him to eat. It is important to note that the items she advised us of that were "safe" in her mind...were in fact NOT safe according to the manager.
My point in sharing this is to hopefully help create a helpful tip for those with a PA when dining. The Chef Card is a GREAT start. My next tip comes from this situation at CF. From now on my husband and I decided that upon requesting a table we will also request that the manager visit us before ordering. There are MANY great waiters/waitresses out there. However, you just can't count on thier training or knowledge. As for me, my son's life is just far too valueable to take any chances. Speaking to a manager immediatly takes you to HOPEFULLY the most trained person in that establishment, and creates a sense of urgency and importance to your situation. Believe me I wish I could just go in and out of a restaurant without all the "to-do", but we can't and won't. One last tip...regardless of how rude someone may be or uninformed...always take the high road and be as nice as possible. That really helped us when the manager came over...he was met by a kind calm mother...which I'm sure was easier for him to help us than had I been irrate and out of control :o) We were able to continue our dining experience in a safe friendly atmosphere.

To review:
1- BRING plenty of Chef Cards with you to have on hand wherever you go!
2-Request a manager meet with you before you order (share the Chef Card with the manager and server)
3-Be nice, kind and calm ... you'll get more with sugar than with spice!
4-Bring plenty of wipes wherever you go... wipe down your child's movie theatre arm rests etc., wipe down their portion of the dining table...wipe, wipe, wipe! My son loves to grab a anti-bacterial wipe and help out. Plus, with all the winter sickness going around it couldn't hurt for that reason either!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Buns

From Baking Like Betty

Okay so the picture is of the perfection I created before I made a rookie mistake...I thought I could put them in the fridge after letting them rise a couple times. Then wake Sunday morning and pop them in the oven for a wonderful fresh from the oven breakfast...not so. When you make these yummy buns do it all in one shot! We still baked them and the tops baked well and tasted so yummy. I was tempted to put cream cheese frosting instead of the icing in the recipe, and it would be good with cream cheese frosting (what is not?!?!), but this icing is just perfect! I am going to make again this Saturday and then we will eat re-heated Sunday lol. Live and learn right?!?! I found this recipe in a Taste of Home magazine. It doesn't replace the infamous cinnamon bun...but it's a fun change for a warm fall breakfast.

A few things I've learned along the way that make dough easier to work with...
When heating milk just bring it to a warm enough temperature that around the edges you see little bubbles, but DON'T bring it to a boil.
For your rise(s)... Heat your oven to the lowest setting (mine is 170). As soon as it hits its mark turn your oven off. I do this while I'm preparing my dough. Then when ready for my rise I place in a bowl loosely covered with plastic wrap. This creates the perfect warm environment for a good rise.
For your rise, very lightly grease the bowl with SHORTENING - not Pam - not butter. Place ball of dough in bowl and flip it around a few times to lightly cover the entire surface with shortening to prevent drying while rising.
Hmmmm... I think that's it... Oh one more thing. When you are waiting for your yeast to dissolve throw in a T of sugar. This will help activate your yeast so that you know if it is "good" or not.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Buns

2 T active dry yeast
1/2 c warm water (110-115 degrees)
4 eggs
1 c shortening
1 c canned pumpkin
1 c warm milk (110-115...I learned that its warm when there are bubbles around the edge of pan BUT don't bring to a boil)
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c packed brown sugar
1/3 c instant vanilla pudding mix
1/3 c instant butterscotch pudding mix
1 tsp salt
7-8 c all-purpose flour

Filling

1/4 c butter, melted
1 c packed brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Icing

3 T water
2 T butter, softened
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 c powder sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In large mixer dissolve yeast in warm water. Add eggs, shortening, pumpkin, milk, sugars, pudding mixes, salt and 6 C flour. Beat until smooth. Stir enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky).
Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth (or in mixer). Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top, Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Punch down; divide in half. Roll each portion into a 12x8" rectangle; brush with melted butter. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over dough to within 1/2" of edges.
Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch seams to seal. Cut each into 12 slices. Place cut side down in two 9x13 pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.
Bake at 350 for 22-28 minutes or until golden brown. In a small mixing bowl, combine the water, butter and cinnamon. Add powdered sugar and vanilla; beat until smooth. Spread over buns, serve warm

How to handle Halloween?!?!

Well if Halloween isn't a "tricky" holiday for kiddo's with peanut allergy...I don't know what is?! Halloween is one of my favorite holidays to celebrate. I love October through March. My most favorite is especially October-December...Halloween, Thanksgiving & Christmas...fun, fun and more fun!! Plus, the weather is wonderful!

So, how I I handle raising a nut free kid on Halloween? Now let me stress the fact that I am super careful with my kiddo and we do not even allow products processed in the same facility as peanuts. We take no chances. So that will include our Halloween activities as well. Below I have some ideas that I have found on several blogs. I think it is a little bit harder when your child is younger (mine is 22 months old), but as they grow you can teach them just how important it is to be so careful on this fun holiday.

*CARRY YOUR EPI-PEN WITH YOU!! If you have a teenager make sure they have it with them, and that their friends are aware what signs to look for and how to help your teen. Definitly only send them with very trusted friends.

*Have a Halloween party at your house - an environment you can control!!! For example, our toddler is having his own Halloween party on Halloween day (this year it happens to be a Saturday). I would suggest a time between 11a-1p for kiddo's this age. We invited about 10 other children. Asked them to wear their costumes. We will have a light lunch for parents (crossaint sandwiche bar), chicken nuggets for kids, a witch pinata, Halloween sugar cookies, tons of orange and black balloons for playing with, pin the nose on the jack-o-lanter, and TONS OF PEANUT FREE CANDY (in the pinata). I found our pinata for $10 at WalMart (I thought that was a good deal). We will blow the balloons (rather my husband will lol), by mouth so that they don't float away and the tot's can kick and throw them around.

*As your child gets older, or if you participate in Trunk-Or-Treat/Trick-or-Treating...this is a bit "trickier" - no pun intended...okay it was!! Stress to your child DO NOT EAT ANY CANDY UNTIL MOMMY AND DADDY CHECK IT!!!!! Tell they why in a way that is suitable for their age. Watch them vigilantly. Then once candy collecting is done...do your checking. I would say to be safe (since the ingredient labels are now not available)... get rid of anything chocolate i.e. candy bars. Know your candy when you do your personal Halloween candy shopping. When in doubt - throw it out. And I would do just that with all candy that is "dirty"...throw it out. Don't even keep it around. Then give your child any extra candy you have bought that was not given out at your door. Or buy some goodies just for that purpose that you set aside...maybe let them pick out what their special goodies are!

*Some other things you could do as kiddo's get older is to have apple-bobbing, caramel apple making, etc. Just be creative and have fun. If you are having fun, your kid's will have fun. If you don't make a big deal about them "missing out" on anything... they may not even feel that they are!!!

Halloween Safe Candies

*Now a little note here: always check labels. Especially year from year. You never know what a company may change by way of their facilities, and you can never be too careful. I'm sure there is much more than what I have listed below...this is just what I found this year:

• Tootsie Rolls
• Tootsie Roll Pops
• Smarties
• Dum Dums
• Milk Duds (small Halloween packs...not large movie size packs)
• Sweet Tarts
• Skittles
• Starburst
• Whoppers (small Halloween packs ... not large movie size packs)
• Sixlets

I found a lot of these at the $1 store and WalMart. I also found a huge bag of mixed candy for about $11 at Costco (I didn't pick it up because I had already bought all my candy)... and everything in it was "clean" or peanut-free...and included much of what you see above.

Remember to HAVE FUN!!!!!! One way I am trying to help myself look at this is similar to how my own parents looked at Halloween for me and my siblings as children. None of us had any food allergies, but it was (and still is) a scary world out there. We were NEVER allowed to eat any candy until our parents checked it. When they checked it - it was for "open" or "curious" pieces of candy. There were always stories (and I was too young to know if they were real or myths (i.e. razor blades in candy). So I am following the same concept...only I am looking for two reasons...safety of open items or "curious" looking pieces ... as well as to ensure it is peanut free!

Boo Cups!

Now I want to post a little disclaimer that I have not actually made these yet. But really... I'm sure they will taste soooo yummy!! Really, how could you go wrong with chocolate pudding, Oreo's and cool whip?!?!?! I would normally wait to post until I have made a recipe myself HOWEVER I am making these right before Halloween, and wanted to share so that you have time to make them for your boys and ghouls! The only thing that I would change/alter to make this treat peanut-free is use a couple of crushed Oreo pieces for the eyes. The original recipe calls for mini chocolate chips...which the only one's I can find are by Nestle and processed in a facility that also has peanuts. Or you could chop up some Hershey's milk chocolate chips instead...whatever your heart desires to get the eye effect!

*** Image from Kraft.com ***

Boo Cups

recipe from kraft.com

2 pkgs Jello Instant Chocolate Pudding

3 1/4 C cold milk

1 tub cool whip, thawed & divided

20 Oreo cookies, crushed & divided

15 small, clear plastic cups

Beat pudding mixes and milk in a large bowl with wire whisk for 2 minutes. Stir in half each of the cookie crumbs and cool whip. Spoon 1 T of the remaining cookie crumbs into bottom of each plastic cup. Cover with a layer of pudding mixture followed by a final layer of cookie crumbs. Top of with a cool whip ghost and a couple of ghost eyes (use either cookie crumb pieces of chopped up Hershey's  milk chocolate chips for a peanut-free version). Cool whip ghost how-to: Fill a resealable plastic bag (i.e. ziplock) with remaining cool whip, seal bag. Use scissors to cut off a corner from bottom of bag. Squeeze cool whip from bag to resemble ghost! BOO!

Servings: 15

Don't worry what other's may think!!!

I took my son to a story time at the library today. It was GREAT! There was a very sweet mother there that had a little girl that wanted some of her snack out of a Dora backpack. So the mommy opened up the bag and handed her a snack...the very sweet mommy was really just innocently being kind to my son and offered him something as well. I lunged forward and grabbed it out of her hand while saying, "Oh no...what is that?!"...She looked a little taken back. Then I realized it was a good 'ol healthy grape. I then looked at her and thanked her for sharing, but said that my son has a sever peanut allergy. She still looked at me like I was ONE CRAZY MOMMA! Well you know what... that's fine... think I'm crazy... think I'm whatever you want...if that innocent mommy or her daughter cross-contaminated that grape - my son could have had a reaction. If it wasn't a grape...who knows how bad things could have been. So my point... DON'T BE AFRAID to hurt someone's feelings or have someone think you are a crazy momma! Now I'm not saying be rude or anything...but don't hold back!

FAAN Downloads....AWESOME!!!!

I am taking my sweet little boy with us to Hawaii...and one of the items that I have found to be super helpful in preparing (and giving me EXTREME piece of mind) is the CHEF CARD. You basically fill-in the info and give it to your chef/waiter/manager etc. at the food establishment you are eating at. Why do I think this is SO cool?!?! Because if you are a PA person yourself or have a family member with PA... you know that 99% of the time when you advise a food establishment that your child has a severe PA...they just nod their head and don't really take it in. In one ear - out the other. They don't really understand unless you state it several times and ask for a manager. So to help ya out... the Chef Card!
http://www.foodallergy.org/downloads/ChefCard_Interactive.pdf
 I like the interactive version that you can type in your info so that handwriting can't ruin any communication.