Blueberries: Summer's Candy

So, with summer staring us in the face, I'm continuing the 'eat more fruit' series I started with the strawberry post last week. This time, I decided to give you some snacks/meal ideas with blueberries.

Besides the obvious of just eating blueberries right off the bush, or out of the plastic container from the store, why not try some of these things?

Blueberry Quesadillas (courtesy of my sister's kitchen) - Just substitute butter for Smart Balance Light buttery spread - it's dairy-free and substitute the cream cheese for Tofutti brand cream cheese, also dairy-free. Delicious idea! Can't wait to try it!

Vegan Blueberry Cobbler {dairy-, egg- and gluten-free} courtesy of glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com

Vegan Blueberry Muffins {dairy-, egg-free} courtesy of egglesscooking.com

 

Blueberry Vanilla Yogurt Parfait {dairy-free}

Fresh blueberries, rinsed

coconut milk yogurt, vanilla flavor {or soy yogurt}

granola

Layer in a parfait glass (or cute tall glass or glass bowl) the blueberries and yogurt. Top with granola. Serve. YUM!

*photo courtesy of whfoods.org - recipe by yours truly.

Fruit Pizza {Dairy-free}

Today was my girl's Fall Party at her school and to most people that means 'Yay! Party food!', but my first thought was, 'Time to research some fun alternatives and hope they turn out well!' Today's menu was pizza, cheetos, orange soda and dessert. Thanks to my wonderful friend who had signed up to bring dessert, I didn't have to worry with that one. She knows my girl very well and watches out for her. I can't tell you what that means to me! Many of my friends are like this and it is really such a blessing to me. So, she was bringing Oreos, which are free of my child's allergens. My big alternative to find was for pizza. I've never found a good dairy-free cheese that makes pizza taste like real pizza, so I knew I would have to be creative. I decided to make a fruit pizza. So, I went to my Trader Joe's and bought Whole Wheat Slims (very thin, round sandwich bread that is sturdy enough to hold toppings), Tofutti brand Cream Cheese, fresh strawberries, fresh raspberries and blueberries. I let the Tofutti sit out on the counter to reach room temp and then mixed in some brown sugar until it became a dip consistency. Then, I spread it between the two wheat slims to hold them together and make the base a little thicker. Next, I spread the dip on top of the wheat slim as you would a pizza sauce. Finally, I added fresh fruit. I refrigerated it overnight so that the cream cheese mixture would harden up a little bit. This turned out great!! My girl was very excited when I showed it to her this morning. Instead of cheetos, I could have added any type of her chips, but decided to just give her fresh strawberries to dip into some of that dip mixture and she was good to go. I can't wait to see how she liked it.

Have any of you ever found a dairy-free cheese? I mean completely dairy-free that has not even been processed around dairy? If so, please let me know where!!!

Fruit Salad - Yummy, Yummy! {Allergy-free}

So, today's snack in VBS {Vacation Bible School} was animal crackers and frosting. Believe it or not, it DOES matter what brand you buy. Some products have been manufactured around common allergens even though they may not contain allergens. But, as we all know, cross-contamination can pose a very serious risk in some people. Therefore, it's safe to say that if you have an allergy be sure to pay attention to the fine print. (Sorry for the quality of the below pic.)

The animal cracker snack was easy to substitute. I bought the Barnum & Bailey Circus Animal Crackers because they do not contain any of the allergens that Daughter is allergic to and are not processed around any of her allergens. Most generic brands and/or Stouffer's brand of animal crackers, she cannot have because of the processing issue. So, I just bought her a small box of the circus animal crackers and gave her a very small container of Betty Crocker Chocolate Frosting (has none of her allergens) and she was good to go!

Tomorrow, Daughter will be having Fruit Salad and because I am not sure whether the fruit salad at VBS is canned (which could pose processing issues for Daughter) I just made my own fresh fruit version of fruit salad for her. She will be having some juicy peaches, apples, bananas and blueberries. The hardest part of this will be remembering to pack it in her bag in the morning!

All of these are great snacks and super easy. I'm going to be bringing these snacks out at our house on a regular basis instead of the pre-packaged things from now on!