Allergy friendly party food for kids

My regular readers know from my last post that we are very excited for Chloe and Quinn's birthday party this weekend!  My regular readers also know that we have many dietary restrictions due to Cassidy's EoE (more on that here) and will likely have even more in the future since Chloe has also been diagnosed. I don't expect the world to accommodate my children's food allergies, but this is a party for them and I feel strongly that they should safely be able to eat pretty much whatever they see under such circumstances.  As I have mentioned before, our current list of allergens for Cassidy includes dairy, eggs, cauliflower, cucumbers, cantaloupe, peanuts, apples and zucchini.  In addition, there will be several other party guests with allergies, in some cases life threatening ones, to shellfish, peanuts, eggs, milk and tree nuts.

 When we have a birthday party for the kids, either for family or for friends, we usually have basic finger foods for grazing, but we try to name the snacks things that fit in with the theme.  Makes it easy, it keeps it fun.  For this years Star Wars/Woodland Fairy party, Quinn's side of the table will have Vader Veggies, Wookie Cookies, Death Star Donuts and maybe some Jedi Juice.  Chloe's side will have Fairy Berries, sticks and branches (pretzel sticks and rods) and Pixie Heart Cookies.  Both sides of the table will have cupcakes, too.  All of the food will be allergy safe for Cassidy as well as all of the party guests. 

To start with, because allergies to peanuts, tree nuts and shellfish are often life threateningly severe, I choose to just avoid these completely when we are hosting a party for children.  I'll make the cupcakes (I have yet to find delicious cupcakes that meet our allergy needs without making them myself).  I use the chocolate cake recipe from the Food Allergy Mama blog, which you can find here.  If you are a new or seasoned food allergy baker and are not familiar with this blog, you should really check it out! Her recipes use regular ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen or are readily available at grocery stores.  Love that!

The fruit and veggies are easy to pick up; I order the veggie tray without cauliflower since it is Cassidy's favorite and she can't have it.  She is old enough to know that she should just avoid the cucumbers, and they are always a favorite with everyone else, so we keep those on the menu.  The fruit tray we just order without cantaloupe, easy peasy. We will have juice boxes, which pretty much all contain apple juice, so I also get a couple of packs of chocolate soy milk boxes.  That way Cassidy has something to drink, and of course any other kids with (or without) milk allergies are welcome to them as well. Pretzels are safe for everyone and another option is plain potato chips.  Just make sure they aren't cooked in peanut oil!


Other than that, since I have been busy making fairy wings, light sabers and goody bags, the donuts and all of the cookies (chocolate chip, star wars and hearts) I ordered from my FAVORITE allergy friendly baker, Jenny.  She keeps a vegan kitchen (certainly no shellfish, eggs or dairy there!) and has designated bowls and utensils for baking without peanuts and tree nuts.  Her baked goods and candy are fantastic and very reasonably priced.  She also has always been able to accommodate our extensive allergy needs.  She saved the day for our Christmas celebration, and has saved me endless stress by providing the cookies, donuts and candy for Chloe and Quinn's party.  Aren't the heart cookies pretty?  Those are also her sparkle mini donuts pictured at the top of the page. To check out her other selections, place an order or contact her, you can visit her Etsy shop, HippieCakes, here.

Once we introduced food allergies into our already busy life with 4 kids, a dog and 2 self employed parents, I had to officially accept that I cannot do everything myself.  While this has always been true, (for me and for everyone else on the planet if we want to be honest) in order to give my kids the care, attention and emotional support that they need as well as still allowing them to be kids all while maintaining at least a little bit of my own sanity, I have had to formally accept that I am not superwoman. 

This week my laundry is piling up and the house is messier than usual, but it's a small price to pay for the look on my kids' faces during their birthday party.  Besides, I'd rather make fairy wings and light sabers with my kids or snuggle on the couch and read to them.  This week we have streamlined the process of creating a birthday party that is worry free for food allergy kids (kids shouldn't have to worry at birthday parties anyway!) and sure to be fun for all. That's like conquering our own little corner of the world! Everyone is safe, well fed and very well loved at the end of the day, which is certainly a priority as far as I am concerned. I guess the laundry will just have to wait until next week.