Disney and Food Allergies

One of the reasons I initially wanted to take the kids to Disney World was I had heard they accommodate food allergies.  This is always a huge stress for me when we travel.

Disney has food allergy policies in place that really keep there guests safe and relieve some of the stress.  I made restaurant reservations on Disney's website.  When making the reservation I was asked to check off which allergies are in my party.  Then I was told to contact Special.Diets@DisneyWorld.com and they sent me forms to fill out.  Those forms were sent to each restaurant.  They then sent a confirming email and asked that when we got to restaurant to mention the allergies once again and the chef will come out and talk to us.  Here is the lowdown on our experience.

The first full day of our vacation we decompressed at the hotel pool and then headed over to Downtown Disney for a late lunch and a little shopping.  We had a reservation at The Rainforest Cafe

Rainforest Cafe had a really fun atmosphere for the kids.  You were surrounded by lifelike jungle animals and huge fish tanks.  Every 20 minutes or so there was a "thunder and lighting storm."

We informed our server, Shawn, that we had two kids at our table with food allergies.  He send the chef out.

Chef Richard assured us Nolan could have the chicken tenders and that he would make something special for Sean--two plain hamburgers and fries that would cooked in a separate part of the kitchen.

After a long day at the pool, these boys cleaned their plates---so did the adults, the food was good.

One of the main reasons I wanted to check out Downtown Disney was Babycakes NYC.  This wonderful bakery is peanut and tree nut free, egg-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, soy-free, sesame seed-free.

Sean could pick whatever he wanted... 

Sean ended up with two cupcakes, some chocolate chip cookies and chocolate frosted donut.  He has never had a donut!

We brought the box of treats back to the hotel and he saved one for each day.  He was so happy.  Mumma was so happy.

The first day in the parks we went to lunch in Magic Kingdom at The Plaza Restaurant.

This time two chefs came right out, armed with a book of everything they served and all the ingredients.  Nolan settled on a grilled cheese and Sean once again had a hamburger.  We were again assured that it would be cooked safely in a separate part of the kitchen.

sliced apples to start

Nolan with one of the chefs

 Sean could even have dessert.  They had Rice Dream ice cream, a dairy-free treat that he loves, with Enjoy Life cookies for ears!

The next day we had lunch in Hollywood Studios at The Backlot.

The Backlot was an express type restaurant, which I was apprehensive about.

When placing my our order with Cody, I informed him of our food allergies.  I have to say it was one of the best experiences.  Cody was so helpful and then Chef Christa came out with that magic book.  This time there were chicken tenders and natural cut french fries that Sean could have.  And more Enjoy Life cookies :)

Every restaurant, express and sit-down, has a food allergy book, as well as every snack stand.  Even the popcorn stand had a book.  Sean and Nolan could have the popcorn too.

All-in-all we had great experiences eating in Disney World.  Sean and Nolan eat like kings!


I received two complimentary Disney World Park Hopper passes to facilitate my reviews.

Sunbutter Cookie Recipe Everyone Will Love!

My sister-in-law Sheila is a fabulous cook.  Now that Sean can eat wheat, Sheila gave me some great recipes to try.  My niece is allergic to eggs and peanuts so these recipes are egg-free, peanut-free and in Sean's case I will make them dairy-free and soy-free as well.

Last night I made Sunbutter Cookies.   I've talked about Sunbutter a few times but if you are just tuning in, Sunbutter is a creamy spread made from sunflower seeds.  It is a great peanut butter alternative.

These cookies are out of this world.  They are just like eating a peanut butter cookie.  They were a hit with the entire family.  I seriously can't stop eating them!  Here is the recipe...oh and for Sunbutter coupons click here:

Sunbutter Cookies

1/2 c margarine - for Sean I used soy free Earth Balance "natural buttery spread"
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 c applesauce
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 c + 2 Tblsp Sunbutter
1 1/2 c flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup choc chips - we use Enjoy Life choc chips

*Preheat oven to 325 and lightly grease a cookie sheet
* cream margarine and sugars together w/ a mixer. add the apple sauce and vanilla to blend. Beat in Sunbutter.
* gradually add in salt, soda, and flour until combined. 
* stir or mix in choc. chips
* Roll dough into 1 inch balls, lay on greased cookie sheet, flatten the balls a bit w/ your hand and make a criss cross with a fork on the surface (like when you make peanut butter cookies). *Bake 10-12 mins.
* When the cookies first come out they are very soft. You might have to let them sit for a couple of minutes on the cookies sheet to firm up until you can use the spatula and take them off. Once you can get them off, put on a cooling rack for 10 minutes or so so that they can completely cool and firm up.

Thank you Sheila for sharing this awesome recipe!!

Sean's First Food Challenge!

Most of you are aware that my Sean has multiple food allergies, well today I have some good news to share...

Sean did a food challenge with wheat at the allergist office this morning.  The numbers on Sean's last blood test for wheat where low.  They told us to bring some wheat crackers, they would do a skin test and if that was negative we could try giving him the wheat.

His skin test was negative!  The food challenge basically went as follows...
They give him a piece of the wheat cracker, waited 15 minutes, checked his skin and vital signs.  They  repeated this process 4 times.  He was absolutely fine, no hives or rashes!  He wanted to keep eating the crackers!

I asked the doctor if we had to gradually introduce the wheat into his diet or could he have a bowl of pasta right away...she said give him the pasta!  So guess what we are having for dinner tonight?!



(click here for Sean's allergy story)

TANABAR Granola Bars Review - peanut/tree nut free

Since finding out Nolan is allergic to nuts we have been searching for a safe nut free granola bar.  So when Vermont Nut Free Chocolates sent us some nut free TANABAR granola bars to try we were beyond excited!!

After school today, before he even took off his backback, Nolan tried the chocolate chip.

He LOVED it!  These bars are not skimpy either, they are close to an inch in thickness.  He was begging for another!

After dinner Nolan tried the Sweet Raisin, another winner!

Since so many classrooms are now peanut/tree free, these granola bars are a tasty, nutritious and best of all, a safe snack to send to school.

For more information or to order TANABARS or other nut free treats go to Vermont Nut Free's website
www.vermontnutfree.com
or you can find them on Facebook
www.facebook.com/pages/Vermont-Nut-Free-Chocolates

Unfortunately, my other son Sean can't have these granola bars as they contain wheat & soy.  The following are the ingredients:
Triple Berry: Rolled oats, honey, sunflower seed, dehydrated cane juice, salt & natural mixed tocopherols to preserve freshness, brown sugar, soybeans, crisp rice (milled rice, sugar, salt, barley malt), wheat germ (wheat germ, vitamin E acetate, folic acid), cranberries, sugar, citric acid, natural raspberry flavor with other natural flavors, elderberry juice concentrate, blueberry juice from concentrate, grape juice concentrate, sunflower oil, vanilla extract, cinnamon. Contains: wheat, soy. Processed on shared dairy equipment. Chocolate Chip: Rolled oats, honey, sunflower seed, dehydrated cane juice, salt & natural mixed tocopherols to preserve freshness, brown sugar, chocolate chips (sugar, chocolate liquor, dextrose, cocoa butter, soya lecithin, vanilla extract), wheat germ (wheat germ, vitamin E acetate, folic acid), crisp rice (milled rice, sugar, salt, barley malt), soybeans, vanilla extract, cinnamon. Contains: wheat, soy. Processed on shared dairy equipment. Sweet Raisin: rolled oats, honey, sunflower seed, dehydrated cane juice, salt & natural mixed tocopherols to preserve freshness, brown sugar, raisins, soybeans, crisp rice (milled rice, sugar, salt, barley malt), wheat germ (wheat germ, vitamin E acetate, folic acid), , vanilla extract, cinnamon. Contains: wheat, soy. Processed on shared dairy equipment. 

I was not paid for this review.  Vermont Nut Free sent me free samples of their granola bars to facilitate this review.

IT'S A NUTTY WORLD

Marin doctor saves passenger's life on international flight http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news

Reading things like this (see above link) scare the s#*% out of me!  While my Sean is allergic to peanuts and pretty much all tree nuts (and many other foods), my Nolan is specifically allergic to cashews.  This article confirms the fact that Nolan can't eat any nuts and that cross contamination is very real.

Thank God for the doc on board and for the epi-pens in their emergency kit.

Meatballs for Sean

This past Sunday was a lazy, rainy day.  Perfect day to make something in the crockpot.  I made egg-free, wheat-free, dairy-free, soy-free meatballs for Sean. 

I used all-natural hamburger,cornflakes,marinara sauce and a little bit of rice milk (sorry for the blurry picture!)

I crushed up 1 cup of cornflakes and added it to the hamburger.

Then we added 1/4 cup of rice milk. 

Then I squished it all together with my hands, rolled them into meatballs and buried them in the cockpot full of marinara sauce.  I ended up using 2 cans of sauce.  Let them cook in the cockpot for a few hours. 

I cooked these for about 3.5 hours on high.  Sometimes Sean eat them all by themselves...

 ...or with some rice pasta

Sean loves it :)

So just to recap - Meatballs free of wheat/egg/milk/soy:

1lb hamburger

1/2 crushed cornflakes

1/4 rice milk
2 cans/jars marinara sauce or homemade sauce

Squish all together with hands and form small meatballs

Submerge the meatballs in sauce in a

crockpot.  Cook for 3-4 hours.

Day Camp & Food Allergies - Feeling High Maintainence

As you may have seen from a past post we have been trying out the Weymouth Club.  They offer week-long day camps or you can go for the day.  Today was Mario and Luigi day.  Sean LOVES Mario so I called and signed them up.  I gave them a big "heads up" about my kids food allergies as this was going to be an all day affair with lunch included.  Nolan my 5 yr old would be able to eat the lunch, but Sean would not.  I would have to pack lunch and snacks for Sean because of his multiple food allergies.  I have done this all year for pre-school for Sean but this is a new place where he has never spent the day...this is when my anxiety starts to rise. 

We get there and I bring them in along with epi-pens, special lunch, snacks and a list of the things they are allergic to.  I gave the counselors a run down.  Then I look on the craft table.  On one end everyone is playing with play dough and the other end is doing a craft with stickers.  I had to say "the little one, Sean, can't play with the play dough".  Play dough has wheat in it.  In the past Sean got hives from touching it.  Then I follow with, "oh and my older one, Nolan, he can play with the play dough but he has to wash his hands after".  Ugh, I felt like such high maintenance Mama! 

Don't get me wrong everyone there was so nice about everything which was great because sometimes people look at my like I have three heads.  I hate to draw all this attention to myself and my kids but I know I have to.  It's my job to keep them safe.  I have to swallow my anxiety, put my big girl pants on and make everyone fully aware.  I want my kids to be able to experience the fun that other kids get to.  It just takes a lot of extra work (and worry) on my part and some days it gets to me a little ;) 

OK, I just needed to vent.  Of course I will feel MUCH better when the day is over, everything has gone smooth and the best part-- they tell me how much fun they had.

Easy Breezy Cape Cod

This past weekend one of my BFFs, Heather, and I took our kids the Cape.  We didn't have a real plan.  We knew we were staying two nights at the Ocean Park Inn in Eastham and at some point on Saturday we were going to Heather's family reunion in Harwichport.  Other than that we decided to fly by the seat of our pants.  This is what I love about Heather, she is so easy to be with and we always have fun.

The kids swam in the outdoor and indoor pools morning, noon and night.  We did bumper boats, beaches, trampolines, go-carts, more beaches, more bumper boats and arcades. 

We also ate out.  In this case not planning ahead for a child with food allergies makes me nervous. This is something you really can't be easy breezy about.  I did have back up food in the cooler if there wasn't something that I thought was safe for Sean.  I think because Cape Cod is such a summer tourist attraction almost everywhere we went had a sign posted that said "please inform your server if there is a food allergy in your party".  Sometimes I feel like they put this sign up as if to say "if you have an allergy there is really nothing you can eat here ".  This was not the case at the Fairway in North Eastham.  The manager came out and asked me thoughtful questions.  She told us how they would safely cook Sean's food.  They were so welcoming and understanding.

Although after a few root beers it got a little rowdy!

More pictures from our mini vacation:

Plenty of movies for the ride down.

Sean at the outdoor pool.

The indoor pool...

The beautiful beach in Harwichport.

The go-carts in Harwich.

The bumper boats in Harwichport.

The trampolines in Harwichport.

We took a tram-like shuttle to Coast Guard Beach, located in the Cape Cod National Seashore.

This beach was beautiful and the waves were awesome.

The Red Barn - a great place for lunch, arcades and a beer (located within walking distance from our hotel).  Sean was able to eat here too!

and more bumper boats...

Great fun, great weather, great friends...all around greatness.

Contact info for all the places we went:
http://www.capecodopi.com/
http://www.fairwaycapecod.com/
http://www.theredbarnpizza.com/
Buds Go Karts - 9 Sisson Road, Harwich, MA
Grand Slam Entertainment - 322 Main Street, Harwichport, MA
Trampoline Center, 296 Main Street, Rt. 28, Harwichport, MA