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Back to School

Yogurt and Granola

September 7, 2016 by Holly Yzquierdo 10 Comments

Dairy-Free Yogurt and Gluten-Free Granola make a great breakfast, snack or dessert.

My youngest son does not like cereal. Every morning I have to figure out something he will eat. He prefers a mound of fruit. While a bowl full of fruit isn’t bad I want him to have something that will stick with him a little longer Yogurt and Granola are two of his favorites!

Dairy-Free Yogurt and Gluten-Free Granola make a great breakfast, snack or dessert.

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My son loves fruit. Before he lost one of his front teeth, he would easily eat 5+ apples per day. His missing tooth has slowed him down some, but not much. I end up cutting up a lot of fruit for him now which means he can eat it faster than ever.

As much as he loves a big bowl of fruit for breakfast, I feel like he needs something a little more complex. Thankfully he loves the granola. I love it too.

Yogurt and Granola

Yogurt and Granola

This isn’t an actual recipe, it’s more of a “put all of this together” type of thing.

I use dairy-free yogurt, fresh fruit and granola for an easy breakfast, snack or dessert.

I like to start with granola in the bottom of the bowl, then add yogurt, then fruit. I repeat layers until I’m satisfied.

You can mix and match granola flavors, yogurt flavors and different types of fruit so you always have something interesting to try.

If you have food allergies, carefully inspect all the labels. Gerb’s has a great allergy-safe product (unfortunately it has honey). Bob’s Red Mill has great vegan granola (but it’s not gluten-free).

gluten-free, peanut free granola banana

I have to put the granola away in the pantry every time or I’ll make little pit stops all day long munching on it. I’ll often dip a piece of fruit in SunButter then roll it in the granola.

I also put granola on dairy-free ice cream! What can I say, I’m a sucker for this stuff.

 

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Filed Under: Back to School, Breakfast, Recipes Tagged With: Back to School, Breakfast, Dairy Free, gluten free, Plant Based Diet, Recipes, Vegan

Fast and Easy Breakfast Ideas

September 6, 2016 by Holly Yzquierdo Leave a Comment

Fast and Easy Breakfast with SoyNut Butter Toast and fruit

If you’ve been enjoying lazy mornings all summer the beginning of school can be a shock to the system. These fast and easy breakfast ideas will help you acclimate to the new school year.

Some of these breakfast ideas need to be eaten at home but others are perfect for enjoying on the way (unless your the driver). Almost every item on the list can be made in 5 minutes or less. The others can be baked ahead of time.

Fast and Easy Breakfast Ideas

Fast and Easy Breakfast with SoyNut Butter Toast and fruit

Toast with SoyNut Butter and Fruit

It doesn’t get much easier than toast. We love SoyNut Butter spread on our toast and fruit on the side. Sometimes I’ll slice the fruit and put it right on the toast. Speaking of fast and easy, get it on Amazon!

Bobs Red Mills Oatmeal Cups

Oatmeal Cups

I’m a huge fan of oatmeal! It’s easy to make but Bob’s Red Mill Oatmeal Cups are simple enough for my kids to make by themselves. Plus, clean up is a breeze! These gluten-free cups only need water and they are ready in minutes.

On days I don’t have time to make my Instant Pot Oatmeal, these oatmeal cups come to the rescue! I get them on Amazon!

Strawberry Banana Muffins gluten-free and gluten-free

Strawberry Banana Muffins

These Strawberry Banana Muffins have to be baked ahead of time but they are a filling breakfast that you can give your kids on the way to school.

Gluten-free granola

Granola

I always keep granola on hand for “emergency” breakfasts and snacks. It’s a ready to go meal when I don’t have anything else available. I love the I’m Healthy gluten-free granola; it’s gluten-free and peanut-free with flavors that do not disappoint. Available on Amazon.

Yogurt and Granola

Granola and Yogurt

If I only have a little time, I’ll pour some dairy-free yogurt, fresh fruit and granola in a bowl for a breakfast that takes less than 2 minutes to make. My youngest son loves this treat! I’ll admit, it makes a great dessert too!

Plant-Based Gluten-Free Breakfast Cookies that are allergy-friendly and delicious. These cookies are a great choice for breakfast on the go.

Breakfast Cookies

Cookies for breakfast, yes please! These Breakfast Cookies are closer to a granola bar than a dessert. They are great on the go but healthy enough to call it breakfast. Make them on the weekend for easy weekday meal.

Bobo's Oat Bars

Bobo’s Oat Bars

I fell in love with Bobo’s Oat Bars. These hearty bars are like mini loaves of baked goodness. I was surprised to love every flavor I tried. I keep them in my purse and they easily pass for a meal. I’ve begrudgingly shared a few with friends and they loved them too. Get them on Amazon.


What are your favorite fast and easy breakfasts?

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Filed Under: Back to School Tagged With: Back to School, Breakfast, gluten free, Plant Based Diet, Vegan

Handling Food Allergies at School

August 26, 2016 by Holly Yzquierdo 2 Comments

Food Allergies at School

If you have a child with food allergies, the beginning of the school year can be a scary time. If you don’t have a child with food allergies you probably don’t understand what the big deal is. Let me explain and offer some helpful tips for navigating food allergies at school (even when it’s not your problem).

For kids with food allergies, the smallest amount of their allergen can be life and death. Imagine for a moment having to be concerned about staying alive at school. I’m not exaggerating.  Between breakfast, snack and lunch time there are many opportunities for kids to come into contact with foods that could hurt them.

Food Allergies at School

Thankfully, or maybe I should say miraculously, my son outgrew his peanut allergy. I had been dreading the start of kindergarten because I was very concerned about him coming into contact with peanuts. Even if kids washed their hands, food comes in on clothes and faces (my kids can’t be the only ones who leave breakfast on their shirts).

Even though I don’t have to worry about food allergies any more I will always be aware of how food allergies impact families.

What You Need to Know About Food Allergies At School

Food allergies aren’t once size fits all. Some allergies are more common than others but without knowing which food allergies are in your child’s classroom it is hard to keep all the kids safe. Ask teachers if you should avoid certain foods due to food allergies. Some teachers will inform you on their own but some will not. [Read more…] about Handling Food Allergies at School

Filed Under: Allergies, Back to School Tagged With: allergies, Back to School

Bob’s Red Mill Oatmeal Cups Giveaway

August 17, 2016 by Holly Yzquierdo 31 Comments

Bobs Red Mill Oatmeal Cups Giveaway

This post is sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Once school starts our mornings are packed. We eat breakfast, get ready, make lunches, and are out the door. I’ve found a healthy, hot breakfast that my kids can make themselves, Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Oatmeal Cups.

Bobs Red Mills Oatmeal Cups

We had gotten into a cereal rut because I needed something easy and fast in the mornings. My kids will often wake up before me; I’m not one of those wake up before your kids kind of moms (I get every minute of sleep I can). That meant the kids would usually have cereal. I preferred for them to have something healthier but our busy mornings didn’t always allow it.

Then I discovered Bob’s Red Mill Oatmeal Cups. At first I was skeptical but the ingredients list won me over. The oatmeal cups vary by flavor but use real ingredients that I would typically put in homemade oatmeal like flax and chia seeds. My favorite flavor is Apple Cinnamon!

Bobs Red Mills Oatmeal Cups

My kids are 5 and 7 and they can prepare the Oatmeal Cups all by themselves. If you are a parent of little kids you know this is life changing. They pour the water into the cup, microwave it for one minute, let it set for two minutes, then it’s ready to eat.

There are a lot of things I love about these oatmeal cups:

  • Delicious flavors
  • Healthy Ingredients
  • Easy to prepare (even my kids can do it)
  • Fast
  • Easy clean up
  • Vegan and Gluten-Free

We will still make oatmeal the old fashioned way or in my Instant Pot but these oatmeal cups are a great option, especially during those hectic first days back to school.

Bob’s Red Mill is happy to sponsor a giveaway for an assortment of oatmeal cups! One lucky winner in the continental U.S. will win a selection of oatmeal cups.

Giveaway

Update: Congrats to our winner Donna K!

Bobs Red Mill Oatmeal Cups Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you don’t win the giveaway you can find these oatmeal cups at local retailers (I found them at Target), or order them from Bob’s Red Mill or Amazon.

A little #backtoschool shopping at @target! Thankfully I found these @bobsredmill #oatmeal cups! My whole family loves these! My back to school shopping always includes breakfast, snacks and lots of lunchbox items! #glutenfree #myplantbasedfamily

A photo posted by Holly Yzquierdo (@myplantbasedfamily) on Aug 16, 2016 at 8:06pm PDT

This post was sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill. The opinions and thoughts are my own. This page contains affiliate links. 

Filed Under: Back to School Tagged With: Back to School, Breakfast, Giveaway, Vegan

Easy Lunch Box Side Items

September 27, 2015 by Holly Yzquierdo 2 Comments

Lunch Box Side Items

Are you in a lunch box rut yet? It is easy to do.

The routine of packing a lunch can get monotonous, especially if you are packing for multiple children. Sometimes getting the lunch made is more important than making it interesting.

Lunch Box Side Items

When I’m packing lunches I don’t think, “I wonder if this is fun/interesting/(fill in the blank).” I try to make sure it is:

  • Enough to fill them up
  • Not too much that will get wasted
  • Food they will actually eat
  • Food that can be eaten quickly

My boys love salad but it isn’t the best thing to pack in their lunches for a few reasons. It takes a while to eat, doesn’t have many calories (to give them energy and fill them up), and they would probably skip it in favor of other foods. I save salads for home.

We typically stick to a main dish, fresh fruit and/or veggies and side items.

I also avoid items like gummy bears or lollipops. We keep those for special treats when they are with us.

Easy Lunch Box Side Items

I don’t buy a lot of individually wrapped items because they are more expensive. I buy larger containers/bags of lunch box side items but sometimes my boys have gotten tired of things when I’ve pack them repeatedly.

Our lunch boxes aren’t packed full of fresh fruits and veggies. We have those in every lunch box but we also have sandwiches or tacos, pretzels and other convenience items.  I consider the items listed below to be side items. Check out these main dish ideas if you need them (there is a printer-friendly version).

I’m breaking them up into two categories, Salty and Sweet.

Salty

  • Pretzels wheat or gluten-free
  • Tortilla chips (when serving Unfried Beans)
  • Rice Cakes
  • Crackers
  • Chips like Plentils
  • Popcorn

Sweet

  • Raisins
  • Apple Sauce Pouches or we buy in bulk and use our mini dipper containers
  • Rice Cakes
  • Dried Fruit
  • Granola
  • Granola Bars (if you have food allergies carefully read labels)
  • Enjoy Life Cookies

Keep in mind that we have fresh fruit and/or veggies in every lunch. In a pinch we may use apple sauce but it’s normally seasonal produce, right now it is apple slices.

We use the EasyLunchBox Containers that have three compartments. The large container is for the main dish and the other two containers hold either fresh fruit/veggies or one of the side items listed above. You can read more about our Lunch Box Routine and discover 5 tips to help you simplify yours.

My husband does most of the shopping these days. We shop at Sprout’s, Costco and Walmart most of the time. We also buy quite a bit on Amazon. Try Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial if you haven’t yet. We use it all the time! You can use subscribe and save to have items delivered on a schedule.

What types of side items do you pack in your lunches. I’m always looking for more ideas!

This page contains affiliate links.

For More Lunch Box Fun check out…

Basic Lunch Box Essentials for elementary kids

The Plant-Based Lunch Box Guide for 2014

Filed Under: Back to School Tagged With: Back to School

Teaching Others about Food Allergies

September 17, 2015 by Holly Yzquierdo 4 Comments

Teaching Others about Food Allergies

Yesterday I posted the last Back to School giveaway of the year and today is the last post in the Teach Your Kids to be Food Allergy Advocates series.

I’m thrilled to have Kathryn Martin joining us today. I met Kathryn at the Food Allergy Bloggers Conference last year. (This year the conference will be in Denver!) We hit it off right away and shared many meals together. She blogs at Mamacado about her family, healthy living and food allergies. Today she will share about a very important topic, teaching other people about food allergies.

Teaching Others about Food Allergies

5 Tips for Teaching Others about Food Allergies

If you’re a parent of a child with food allergies, you know what it’s like to quickly become a food allergy “expert”. I wouldn’t call myself an expert yet. Still, ever since my son was diagnosed with food allergies 5 years ago, I’ve had to teach countless friends, family, child care providers and teachers about food allergies and EpiPens. After doing it a few times, I’ve become more and more comfortable with teaching others about food allergies and how to keep him safe.

I thought I’d share some tips with you about how to teach others about food allergies. I hope this helps you in your food allergy journey!

1. Assume No Knowledge

When you’re meeting with someone for the first time, assume he or she has NO knowledge of food allergies. Come prepared with ALL your tools. Then, when you talk a little more, adjust your conversation based on what they already know.

For instance, I recently met with my son’s future Sunday school teacher to talk about his food allergies. She immediately told me she has two sons with severe food allergies to peanuts and sesame. She knows all about EpiPens and emergency action plans.

WHEW.

I breathed an immediate sigh of relief. I knew I didn’t have to teach her how to use an EpiPen, so I focused on other points I wanted to cover.

However, just remember that everyone’s food allergy journey is different.  Even if the person has prior experience with food allergies, you can still teach them a lot about your child’s specific food allergy journey. Make sure you still cover all the information about your child to keep him/her safe.

2. Give Them Resources

I give each teacher a binder of information about Little Guy’s food allergies, and other related educational information. The content includes:

  • His food allergy action plan
  • How a child might describe a reaction
  • Teacher’s checklist for managing food allergies
  • Reducing the risk of exposure to food allergens
  • Potential food allergens in school activities
  • Non-food rewards
  • Cleaning methods
  • How to use an EpiPen

Here’s a photo of everything I recently included in his Kindergarten binder.

kindergarten binder

I also make a cover page to go on the front of the binder that includes his name, grade and photo. I ask them to keep the folder is his classroom in an easily accessible place.

3. Outline Your Key Points

After two or three meetings with teachers, I realized I was writing down the same notes before each meeting.  Write your key points down, and keep them in a safe place where you can find them again.  Here are the main points I usually focus on during my meetings.  I ask the teachers/caregivers to:

CREATE A SAFE ENVIRONMENT

  • Keep food out of the classroom as much as possible
  • Offer non-food rewards
  • Know there can be allergens in crafts – check labels
  • Wash hands and surfaces/use wipes before and after eating
  • Monitor snack/lunchtime and no sharing of food

INCLUDE MY CHILD

  • Plan non-food focused activities and lesson plans
  • Give me advance notice so I can read labels or provide safe alternatives for anything that may be food related
  • If bullying occurs, make sure it’s addressed immediately. Educate the other students (through books or conversations) about food allergies to reduce the possibility of misunderstanding and bullying.

GIVE EPINEPHRINE IF NEEDED

  • Know how to recognize the signs of an allergic reaction, and especially how younger children might describe a reaction
  • Understand the emergency action plan and know where to locate it
  • Know where the epinephrine is located
  • Know how to use the epinephrine and use at the first sign of an allergic reaction. DO NOT WAIT.

There are so many other points to cover during a meeting, but these are usually my main topics!

epi pen

4. Encourage Them to Practice Using Epinephrine

It’s important for child care providers and teachers to have actually practiced using an EpiPen. So, I always bring 3 “practice” related items to my food allergy meetings:

  • EpiPen trainers. They are look-alike EpiPens with no needle or medication in them that you get with each EpiPen prescription.
  • Expired EpiPens. Yes, keep that expired epinephrine for future practice.
  • Oranges. What? Yep, the oranges are a safe place for the teachers to release the needle of the real EpiPens when they practice.

Remember to throw away those oranges after you’re done!  Then also ask your allergist where to dispose of the EpiPens.

5. Keep your cool

Talking about your child’s food allergies is emotional. There’s no question about it. Practice out-loud what you’re going to say ahead of time. Laugh a little before the meeting (watch something funny, or remind yourself of a funny moment). Think about something positive you’ll do AFTER the meeting to take off the pressure. Bring water to drink to distract you if you feel emotional.

Also, think about asking your spouse, a trusted friend or family member to come to the meeting who understands food allergies and can be there to support you. I’ve found that I do feel more confident and in control of my emotions each time I have a meeting. Practice does make it easier.

How do YOU teach others about food allergies?  Have you become an expert at teaching others yet?

Bio

kathrynI am Kathryn Martin, creator of the blog Mamacado, and working mama of two who loves my family, healthy living, and avocados (of course!). My Little Guy is allergic to dairy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts and sesame. Despite his food allergies, we try to create healthy and delicious meals we can all enjoy. I’d love it if you’d check out my blog, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook pages for great ideas on food, family and fun…with a food allergy twist! 

 

Filed Under: Allergies, Back to School Tagged With: allergies, Back to School

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