Grown Up Peanut Butter Truffles {peanut-free}

Are you guilty of running to the pantry with spoon in hand looking for the peanut butter {or soy butter} jar ready to dig in for a heaping spoonful of protein to boost that energy? Now there's a better alternative! This is a great mix of protein and brain food perfect for a mid-morning or afternoon pick-me-up! And it only has approximately 1 gram of sugar in each truffle!

Peanut-Free Truffles: Grown-up style

1/2 c crunchy soy butter {almond butter or sun butter works here}

1/2 c rolled oats

3 T ground flax seed

2 T pure cocoa powder

2 T Agave Nectar (natural sweetener, like honey)

Put ingredients in mini food processor and pulse until blended. Roll into balls and place on wax paper. Chill until stiff. Keep chilled in fridge - they are better this way! Yummy snack with only approx. 1 gram of sugar per truffle. Makes 10-12 truffles.

These would even make a good after-school snack for the kids! Or a great addition to their lunchbox.

Ground flaxseed is high in fiber, Omega-3 fatty acids and lignans. Ground flaxseed contains 1.6 grams of Omega-3s per Tablespoon and it is recommended that adults have 1.6 grams per day. And the benefits of Omega-3s are incredible...they promote better brain function and higher intelligence, there is a lower incidence of childhood disorders with Omega-3s, among many other benefits you can read about here.

Monkey Bread {dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free}

So, Daughter has Vacation Bible School this week and that means there are snacks involved! Not just any snacks, but YUMMY snacks. The kids love it and the food always goes with the theme. This year's theme is a jungle theme. Hence, the Monkey Bread. Because I love her more than I could ever express, I want her first experience of VBS to be a good one and I want her to be able to be like all the other kids and eat what they eat....well, at least very similar to what they eat. The sweet lady involved in planning much of VBS, was very kind to send me the list of snacks for the week so that I could plan Daughter's allergy-free snacks. So, here's my version of Monkey Bread....dairy-free, egg-free and peanut-free. I am pretty sure the only allergen it does have is wheat.

MONKEY BREAD

1 tube of Pillsbury Thin Crust Pizza Dough (*contains wheat)

cinnamon

brown sugar

Smart Balance Light - buttery spread (*dairy-free, vegan)

Open tube of pizza dough, slice into 1/2 inch thick slices (dough still rolled just like it came out of the can). Take each slice, lay it flat on cutting board and cut into quarters. Grease muffin pan, place 3 cut pieces of dough into each cup. Mix buttery spread, cinnamon, brown sugar and then place a nice dollop of the mixture on top of each dough mound. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until nicely browned.

Serve warm or let cool and freeze them individually for a ready-made breakfast treat or dessert when you need something quick!

*Do NOT use paper cupcake liners. This doesn't work so well. Believe me, I tried it. If you do use them, take paper liners off immediately after bringing them out of oven so they do not have to be chiseled off this yummy treat!

Stay tuned for more snack ideas!!

Allergy-Free Sweets

My newest project on my never-ending- to-do list is to find a good mix of delectable, yummy-looking, sweet treats for my soon-to-be Kindergartener! This is going to take some major time and research, but I am going to accomplish this. The plan is to make her a little cookbook full of yummy recipes that she can eat so that I can refer back to this constantly as K5 is full of special treats, etc. I know it's hard to believe, but it IS possible to get tired of eating cupcakes. She has proved this theory. It's time for me to get on the ball and find some exciting alternatives. The criteria for these snacks are: 1) they have to be portable 2) easy to eat without having to heat up, etc. 3) they need to look very appealing to a 5 yr old 4) cannot contain ANY dairy, milk or peanut derivatives 5) They need to TASTE really good!!

So, if you've got any good great ideas for me, feel free to share your ideas!! I will do my best to post these recipes along with pictures when I come up with them.

For now, I leave you with some great convenience foods that are allergy-free in case you don't already know about them.

• Cherrybrook Kitchen - I couldn't have survived the beginning months of learning to live allergy-free without these products!! They have dairy-, egg-, peanut-, gluten-, wheat-free products that really do taste yummy! I buy these locally at Whole Foods Market.
• Enjoy Life Foods - I have found their chocolate chips are very yummy and my daughter loves them! You really cannot taste much difference between them and real chocolate chips. The other products, you just have to taste for yourself to decide whether you like them or not. They have coupons on their website, so that is a plus! I also buy these products at Whole Foods Market.
• Divvies - Dairy-free, Nut-free, Egg-free bakery!! They have lots of goodies! I am sad that I missed out on their chocolate easter bunnies that were available for a limited time only, but I will find another one for my girl somewhere! It's my mission!
• Premium Chocolatiers - I FOUND ONE! They have allergy-free chocolates! It doesn't get any better than that, Folks!

I'm sure there are more - I just don't have time to look right now. There are a couple of hungry girls begging for food. Until next time....