Friday, October 27, 2006

Miracle Margarine


Fleischmann's Unsalted Margarine actually helped make me feel like things could be normal for my food-allergy kids. Who knew that margarine had such super-hero qualities??

Before I realized that this margarine didn't have any dairy in it, I was going to specialty food stores to get soy butter for my son with the dairy, egg, peanut, tree nut allergies. I felt like dealing with these allergies was going to be a BIG deal (and yes, sometimes it can be a big deal). But finding something in the regular dairy case -- and a product I could easily direct other people to get -- was awesome.

I thought I was a little nuts to get such happiness from a margarine until my friend told me what happened after her daughter's birthday party. My friend (the b-day girl's mom) made rice krispy treats with the Fleischmann's Unsalted Margarine for my kids since they couldn't eat the cupcakes. She then offered one of the treats to another mom at the party (who happens to be her best friend), but the friend declined because her son has a dairy allergy. B-day Mom told her it was okay for him to eat them because of the Fleischmann's (side note: DON'T get the salted/regular stuff, it does have milk in it). The friend didn't know about the great powers of Fleischmann's Unsalted Margarine and was delighted and surprised that she could fill her kid up with those yummy treats. But later she told B-Day Mom she was a little mad that she hadn't told her about Fleischmann's earlier since she knew that she was dealing with the milk allergy.

SEE!!!! Everyone wants to know about Fleischmann's! Actually, I think this little story demonstrates how we all want to keep things as normal for our kids as we can AND not have to go to 5 different specialty stores to get food for the little critters.

All Hail Fleischmann's! But I am still searching for the spreadable kind ... I only know of one local grocery that carries it. SO, I read a bunch of labels and found out that Smart Balance spread also has no dairy in it. Yeah!!

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Anne -- Great blog!! It's very informative and humorous! I have a quick question for my friend. Her daughter is almost one and she has an egg/dairy allergy. Do you have any recommendations for store bought party food? My friend has to buy food for the day care class and it has to be store bought, but she also wants her daughter to be able to eat it. Any suggestions? The chidren's ages are around 10 months to 2 years. Thanks!!

Trish (yes, that Trish)

Anne D said...

Hey - Since the kids are pretty young, I would recommend the following:
-- dry cereal
-- pretzels
-- pretzel goldfish (not regular/cheddar)
-- fruit cups
-- jello cups
-- teddy grahams
-- oreos (for a treat)
-- fruit, like grapes (if they'll cut them up) or apple slices
-- tofutti cuties (soy icecream sandwiches)
-- popsicles

And some of these might be for older kids, since mine are 4 and 2, its hard to remember what you feed them when they're younger

Glad you like the blog. Send the link to your friend!!

The Rainbow Zebra said...

We use Earth's Balance vegan "butter"--love it because we can cook and bake with it!

Anonymous said...

Earth Balance is great, unless I'm making a recipe that calls specifically for "unsalted", and then I have to go with Fleischmann's. I learned the hard way that Earth balance doesn't work in recipes calling for unsalted when I ended up with a salty graham cracker crust for my egg-free, dairy-free cheesecake. Yuck!

Anonymous said...

FYI: oreos now contains milk in their ingredients. My frien dfound out the hard way. After years of knowing her son could eat them, later found this out.

Anonymous said...

My 4 yo son has multiple allergies.

Sadly, Pretzel Goldfish list milk powder as their last ingredient, unless they have changed the recipe recently.

We also avoid pretzels that have added "flavor," as it may be butter-based. Snyders have been okay.

We love the Newman's Own "oreos" and alphabet cookies.

Anonymous said...

MY SON HAS A MSPI (MILK, SOY PROTEIN INTOLLERANCE). DOES THE MARGARINE HAVE SOY IN IT? I HAVE SEARCHED HIGH AND LOW FOR A BUTTER WITH NO DAIRY AND NO SOY!

Anonymous said...

Be sure to use the Smart Balance Light. The regular has dairy ingredients. I agree that Earth Balance works well, but it is pretty salty. I have a package of Oreos in my cabinet. Just double checked the ingredients. No milk. =o)

Valerie Buller said...

My daughter has an egg/dairy allergy so I use Fleishman's unsalted as well. Another margarine I found in a regular grocery store is Willow Run which is doesn't contain milk either. Also, in answer to some one asking about treats. I have found using plain soy yogurt in baked goods works well. I have a chocolate chip cookie recipe that it works in and found it works in things like biscuits, scones and muffins. Cake mix it did so, so. I have a chocolate cake recipe from scratch that works well that has no eggs in it, but does anyone know of a yellow cake recipe that works well?

The Secret Cupcakes said...

Hey guys -- after seeing so many people, especially Mom's, having difficulty finding party food for their children with multiple food allergies, I decided to start my own business. I create gluten-free, lactose-free cupcakes and cookies. They are soo good, that most of my customers do not have food allergies and they love it! I myself am allergic to lactose so it feels good to eat these treats! I specialize in gift boxes and ship anywhere in the USA. But I also deliver locally to private parties (baby showers, engagement parties, child's bday parties). (And on a side note, I also use Fleischmann's unsalted butter for all my baking!)

Anonymous said...

For those looking for dairy/egg (and nut free) sweet treats, I recently discovered divvies.com

I have a 15month old with dairy, egg and nut allergies and the poor thing would literally drool everytime we were at a party or his older brother got a treat. They are yummy, delivered fresh and then you can freeze them to always have on hand and not be baking into the wee hours when you forgot you had a party. I have sent them to daycare and non-allergy kids love them too. They also offer cookies.

We have also had good luck with Enjoy Life products (though some have sunflower oil in it if that is a concern) but great for packaged cookies or bars.

I can't find them everywhere but the Stop & Shop by us does sometimes carry them.

Anonymous said...

Oh, also for pretzels we have good luck with ROld Gold. They make minis and little sticks that are milk fere and not made near nuts (some pretzels are).

Unknown said...

What about the whey in Fleischmanns?

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sarah said...

Hey: Just wondering if anyone has suggestions on how to get a healthy amount of fat in my one-year-old's diet, as he is not drinking Rice Dream Enriched?

Anonymous said...

This is not true!!! Be very very careful, it has WHEY in it, which is a milk derivative, my daughter has such a severe milk allegry she could have gotten very sick if she ate this. Make sure you know all the facts before you post something like that.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous, can you be specific about which post you are referring to and which product has whey in it so we can be aware? Thank you

andrew's mom said...

I bake with Fleischmans all the time, but recently I have been having a really hard time finding it. They have discontinued carrying it at the Shaw's and Stop and Shop near my house. I am devastated! I called the company and they said they did not stop making it, and they're not sure why the stores have stopped carrying it. She looked within a 30 mile radius of my zip code, and nobody carried it. Of course they had to discontinue the one margarine that has no milk. Ugghh, how frustrating!

Anonymous said...

I am surprised that margarine has milk in it AT ALL. Isn't margarine supposed to be solidified VEGETABLE fat/oil? Isn't that what distinguishes it from butter? I'm sorry, but I'm a foreigner and it amazes me. And the fact that they add salt to EVERYTHING, including margarine, which I would never even suspect is just appalling. How are people supposed to be healthy with the amounts of hidden salt they eat? I just found out the hard way that margarine has salt after making a salty chocolate... Yuck.

Anonymous said...

Fleishmanns regular margerine has milk, but the unsalted does not. You can tell because the regular has the U in a circle, and the word Pareve, meaning kosher, but the salted also has a 'D" meaning dairy - people who keep kosher cant eat dairy and meat in the same meal.

Earth Balance does make a soy free margerine, but the flishmanns is soy-based.

it does the best things for my gluten free pie crust - half fleishmanns unsalted and half shortening - awesome!

Kim McAuliffe said...

Does it contain soy?

Anonymous said...

i just read the ingredients in fleishman's unsalted margarine, and it does in fact contain milk products .... specifically whey.

Anonymous said...

My son is HIGHLY allergic to all dairy and I can tell you...if this margarine contained any milk product...I would know right away! "Whey" is not listed in the ingredients so I'm not sure why someone thought that.
Also, I noticed "Anne D" made some snack suggestions...BEWARE of any of the Goldfish products. Even the pretzel goldfish contain milk. Snacks for us are VERY brand specific. Another example, he can eat Kashi cereal bars but cannot eat Nutri-grain or store brand. After several VERY expensive "vegan" birthday cakes that tasted like cardboard, I discovered that Duncan Hines carry a few flavors that do not contain milk. Classic Yellow, Devil's Food Chocolate and the Lemon flavors. We are also able to use Classic Vanilla, Classic Chocolate (not Milk Chocolate) and the Lemon flavored icing. Makes life a lot easier when birthdays come around.
My son also enjoys Unfrosted Strawberry Poptarts...and yes, Oreos are a nice treat when others are enjoying cake.
Wheat thin, triscuits, pringles, original sun chips, veggie straws.
We are able to purchase completely "soy" yogurt from Whole Foods as well...he loves the vanilla.

Anonymous said...

I am having trouble finding the Fleishman's Unsalted Margarine as well. Always bought it at Stop and Shop and they don't carry it anymore. Also checked Wal-Mart. I have a Dairy allergic 12 year old and never had an issue with it. No whey listed on the ingredients. Great for baking! Also have Oreo's at the house and no milk listed. I wonder if it depends on the facility where it is produced. I will keep an eye out in the future. I've been using the Duncan Hines cake and brownie mixes for years. They taste great and most do not have dairy. Another great product is Sour Supreme. We use it with dip mixes (mostly the Lipton Kosher ones) and everyone flips over them. I use half Mayo and half Sour Supreme and it tastes great!