Our First FARE Walk!

I think I've mentioned it before, but I didn't feel terribly drawn to the Food Allergy Community until my kids started going off to school. That's when I was forced to acknowledge that the rest of the world isn't as knowledgeable nor as accepting of food allergies as my family and close circle of friends. That's when I really discovered the need for advocacy and outreach, and when Hubby and I came up with the idea for Allergy Superheroes.

And that's why, even though I've dealt with food allergies for more than 30 years, I'd never been to a FARE Walk before.

We went as Team Allergy Superheroes this year, and we had a great time! We learned a lot too, and perhaps we'll even sponsor our local walk in the future. This year, though, we just enjoyed chatting with other Food Allergy Families and scoring free goodies from all sorts of allergy-friendly companies!

The boys enjoyed meeting this peanut-allergic elephant.

It was great to meet a representative of one of our favorite peanut-free brands, Sunbutter!

We also loved meeting the people behind Don't Go Nuts, another Colorado company that we'd like to get more involved with in the future!

The crowd gathered for opening announcements. I think we had a pretty good turn out.

Of course we had a great turn out, if celebrities like Anna and Elsa showed up!

The walk route was a pleasant loop around Wash Park in Denver.

There's that elephant again, cheering us on.

The crowd thinned out as the walk went on, as people moved at different speeds, but it was fun to see the Wash Park trail fill up with blue shirts.

This mile was sponsored by our own allergist's office!

It's much harder to see on camera, but I loved seeing the blue shirts reflected in the lake.

We stopped to chat with some volunteers at one of the water stations along the way. They were very friendly :)

There was no information on the website about how long the route was, so I decided to use MapMyRide (but set to walk) to find out the length.

Unfortunately, I forgot to end the route the moment we got back, so there's a tiny bit of extra mileage in there. I'd didn't walk that far before I figured it out though, so I'd say the walk was probably 2.25 miles.

In addition to all the free samples from sponsors and allergy-friendly companies, there were snow cones available at the end!

There was also a free train ride. Did somebody say "train"??!!!!!!

The boys after the event--their new bags are filled with goodies. If something's free, my kids will grab it!

There were quite a few goodies for all of us, in fact. We loved getting to try some foods we've heard about but haven't purchased yet! Here's a sampling of our swag.

And the items the boys claimed all for themselves.











I'll end this recap with my favorite pic of the day. FARE gave out wristbands to all participants: teal for those of us with food allergies, and dark blue for the people who love us. There were a lot of folks with food allergies at the walk, but there was also a whole lotta love!

Allergy Superheroes at Vegetarian Mamma - Review and GIVEAWAY!

The wonderful Cindy Gordon over at Vegetarian Mamma has offered up a review of our products!

Click here to see it!

I love this picture of her son with one of our buttons :)

And the best part is she's hosting a giveaway for one of our shirts, a button, and a sticker pack! (Gender, size, and allergen(s) of winner's choice.) So head on over to her blog and enter for your chance to win!

Thanks again, Cindy!

And remember that we've got a promotion going on through Labor Day in honor of Back to School!

Use the code BACKTOSUPER for 15% off your order!

Homemade Fondant

I've never been a huge fan of fondant icing. It's probably more of a texture thing than anything, but I prefer cake icings to be rich and creamy, and generally more smooth than fondant.

However, when it comes to decorating cakes, fondant can go to so many more places than regular icing, which is why I sought out a fondant recipe a little over a year ago, when I wanted to make a fondant box of crayons spill out onto the surface of a chalkboard cake.

I found this recipe, and was amazed at how easy it was to make!

The original recipe called for an entire bag of powdered sugar. That was way more fondant than I will ever need at one time, and so I've scaled it back appropriately. In fact, I'm including four columns of ingredient proportions, depending on how much fondant you think you'll need.

If you only plan to make a little for decoration purposes (this is what I did for each color in my crayons) you would be wise to get this set of measuring spoons first, or something equivalent. These allow for precise measuring of very small amounts. A dash is 1/8 tsp, a pinch is 1/16 tsp, and a smidgen is 1/32 tsp.

Once again, this recipe contains shortening. I don't like shortening as I don't like hydrogenated fats, but I decided it was worth it for a once-in-a-great-while recipe. Maybe someday I'll find a healthier substitute. If you know of one, please share!

One last note, if you're making smaller amounts of several different colors, make each batch separately. It's much harder to make the color uniform if you try to add color after the fondant has turned into dough.

Homemade Fondant
This recipe contains soy.

Ingredients

Directions

In a bowl, stir together the corn syrup, shortening, and coloring until smooth and uniform.

Mix in the salt and vanilla.

Gradually add the powdered sugar until you have a stiff dough.

Once the dough begins to clean itself from the sides of the bowl, transfer to a counter and knead in remaining sugar (or use the dough hook attachment if you have a stand mixer.) If the dough remains sticky, add more powdered sugar until it is smooth and no longer sticks.

Roll out the fondant between two layers of waxed paper until approximately 1/8 inch thick.

This was a "Large deco" sized batch

Cut into shapes, if desired, and then chill in the fridge (still between waxed paper) until ready to use.

This batch was actually halfway between "8-9" round" and
"Large deco." And it still frosted a 9" round just fine,
although I rolled it pretty thin

Fondant must be chilled to hold its shape--small shapes, in particular, will tear if you try to move and shape them at room temperature.

You MUST have a layer of regular frosting on the cake for the fondant to stick. Just use your favorite, whether homemade or from a jar.

Remove fondant from the fridge and carefully remove the top layer of waxed paper. Gently lift entire sheet of fondant from under the waxed paper and flip it over onto the frosted cake.

Smooth from the middle and down the sides, trimming and overlapping where necessary. Don't be afraid to patch any tears with pieces of trimmed fondant.

Remove embellishments from the fridge and carefully place on the cake in desired positions.

Store any excess in a tightly sealed container in the fridge.

Enjoy your cake! Fondant can be used to make all sorts of fun frosting shapes!

I originally found this recipe here.

Linking up at Allergy Free Wednesdays and Gluten Free Fridays

What sort of frosting do you prefer on cakes?

Don't Lick the Dough!

Zax had a minor allergic reaction last night. And it was my fault.

We've been baking without egg for basically his whole life, but recently we were given the green light to start feeding him baked egg. On top of that, we've entered him into a Clinical Research Study where we've pledged to feed him baked egg on a regular schedule (I'll blog about it in detail at some point, I promise.)

Yesterday evening I was experimenting with a new bread roll recipe that had egg in it. The dough was so sticky that I needed help in the kitchen. I asked Zax to help me scatter some extra flour and get an extra baking sheet out. After he helped me, he pretended he was going to eat the rolls raw. I jokingly told him "no," so instead he ran around me and licked the dough that was stuck to the counter.

Alarmed, I told him to stop, so he started scraping the dough off with his fingernails so that he could eat it that way. I managed to prevent this and sent him off to wash his hands with the admonition that the dough had egg in it, and raw egg at that. I asked if he'd actually licked it and he said 'yes,' so I said I hoped it wouldn't be enough.

"For an allergic reaction?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied. "Or salmonella."

Sure enough, maybe five minutes later Zax reported that his throat felt funny. Benadryl resolved all symptoms within about 15-20 minutes, but still. Licking the raw bread dough.

I realized pretty quickly that this was really my error. I hadn't warned Zax that this particular dough contained egg. He's used to his allergens being in the house (not touching someone else's plate, etc) but he's never before been told he can't eat dough or batter. I don't let the boys eat it while we're actively baking, but since our baked goods never carry the threat of salmonella, my kids have never met a beater they aren't allowed to lick.

Until now.

I honestly hadn't thought about this risk in baking with egg until it happened. I also hadn't expected him to want to eat raw bread dough--but then, I seldom make bread products so he probably didn't realize it wasn't going to be sweet like pastry dough.

Lesson learned.

I apologized to Zax over dinner, for not realizing this risk and warning him about the dough I was making. He didn't seem too upset over it, for which I'm grateful.

And to top it all off, the rolls didn't even turn out that great. Zax didn't like them, which means I'll be baking (with egg!) again today.

*sigh*

Gluten Free Baked Doughnut Goodies

Yesterday, hubby and I attended our first expo! We had a booth at the Incredible Edible Gluten Free Food Fair from Denver Celiacs. It was quite the learning experience, and we had a lot of fun.

In honor of potential new followers from the Fair, today's recipe is another one that hubby wrote up for me, for Gluten Free Baked Donuts! Take it away, Dean!


Time for another guest blog post by hubby Dean and it's about . . . wait for it . . . doughnuts! Yes, another doughnut blog post (I told you I've become obsessed with them). I'll start off with this by saying I love doughnuts (kind of obvious now isn't it?), but I know they're not the healthiest, so I don't have them very often. Being able to make them gives me a little more control of what goes into them, so maybe they're a little healthier.

When Zax was diagnosed with his egg allergy, I thought this would be the end of him being able to enjoy such a wonderful food. We found a gluten-free bakery that also didn't use egg and got him some. He loved it, but it's a bit of a drive and not very friendly on our budget. When I found many recipes on Pinterst that were egg-free I though I hit the jackpot.

A doughnut pan and dozens of doughnuts later, it's become another breakfast he can eat safely. My best friend from high school (and our graphic designer for Allergy Superheroes) has had issues with gluten for a while. Doughnuts would then be something harder for him to find and enjoy. As a thank you for all of the work he's done for us, I thought I would try modifying our standard doughnut recipe to be gluten-free. Maybe someday I'll even try to make them top 8 free . . . someday.

Free From:  Egg, Wheat/Gluten, Peanut, Tree Nut, Soy, Fish, Shellfish. It could be modified to be dairy free.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups gluten-free flour 
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon Ener-G egg replacer mixed with 4 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Topping Variation:

• 2/3 cup Confectioners' Sugar (or as I call it, powdered sugar)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Spray doughnut pan with nonstick cooking spray.

I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour. I liked the idea of not needing to add anything else to it being it's a straight flour replacer. It also became more readily available for us since it's now carried at our local grocery store. 

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together gluten-free flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg and salt.

I used Ener-G egg replacer instead of eggs (egg allergy in the family). It's simple to use and it's quick. 1 tablespoon of it mixed with 4 tablespoons of water = 2 eggs.

When finished, you get a frothy looking mixture.

Add buttermilk, egg replacer and melted butter.

Beat until just combined.

Taste test the batter to make sure the gluten-free version tastes good. It did!

Fill each doughnut cup approximately 2/3 full.

Bake 7-9 minutes or until the top of the doughnuts spring back when touched. Let them cool in the pan for 4-5 minutes before removing.

Them move them to a wire rack.

I coated them with confectioners' sugar by taking the sugar and placing it in a resealable bag. Then put in one doughnut and shake until covered. Repeat 11 times.

I actually got a couple more out of this one since we wanted to try them and see how the gluten-free version was. The boys ate them right up. Eileen and I thought they were good, but they did seem a little denser. (And see, this time I got plenty of good photos.) Enjoy! Until my next blog post, don't forget how super you are!

Have any of you successfully baked gluten-free doughnuts?

Linking up at Allergy Free Wednesdays and Gluten Free Fridays,

And don't forget that we're open for business selling gear to protect your little allergic or celiac superheroes! And yes, we have gluten products! www.allergysuperheroes.com

www.allergysuperheroes.com