The Pseudo Vegetarian

Okay, today I got an email from Big Guy's day care center (where he goes two days a week) with tips on what peanut-free snacks parents can bring in. The center is peanut-free so they are trying to help people out with some ideas because (apparently) some people can't exist without those pesky legumes.

Before I share the list (which by the way, about 50 percent of the things on it my kids can't eat because of all their other allergies ... sigh), I want to share a funny story about what recently happened to him at his day care as a result of his allergies.

At this day care they feed him lunch and a snack. I usually ask Big Guy what he ate for lunch and he was often telling me "I had beans and a tortilla, mommy. But everyone else had chicken." Oooo-kay, I thought. I guessed the chicken was breaded and had egg in it so they didn't give it to him.

After a couple weeks of this, the teacher asked me, "Can he eat chicken? I'm just wondering because the kitchen doesn't give it to him, but I gave him some because I thought he could eat it." I asked her if it was breaded. "Nope, just grilled chicken," she answered.

Well, we figured out that the kitchen misread his card about his food restrictions and thought he was a VEGETARIAN! And so all he got were beans!!!! Jeez! Poor kid already can't eat a lot of the things the other kids eat and now he can't eat meat either AND he is loaded up with the toot food!

So, a big thanks to the teacher who caught it and helped fix the mistaken identity Big Guy had with the day care kitchen.

Anyway, back to the list of peanut-free snacks for those who are lucky enough to only have ONE food allergy ....

Cereal/Bars:

General Mills

• Cinnamon Toast Crunch
• Kix, Berry Berry Kix
• Lucky Charms
• Rice Chex, Corn Chex, Wheat Chex
• Trix
• Kellogg’s

Cereals: Corn Pops, Crispix, Fruit Loops, Post Alpha Bits, Quaker Cap ‘N Crunch

Nutri-Grain: Apple, Blueberry, Raspberry
Nutri-Grain Twist: Banana & Strawberry, Strawberries & Cream

Post
Honey Combs

Cheese/Dairy:
Sargento
Mootown Snacks- Cheeze & Pretzels, Cheeze & Crackers, Cheeze & Sticks

Yogurt
Go-Gurt, Drinkables

Other Cheeses -- Sliced, cubed, shredded, string cheese, cream cheese, spreads, dips

Crackers/Chips/Cookies:

• Austin
• Zoo Animal Crackers
• Betty Crocker
• Cinnamon Graham Cookies
• Dunk Aroos
• Sprinkled Vanilla Frosting

Frito Lay

• Cheetos- Crunch, Zigzag, Puffs
• Rold Gold Pretzels
• Sun Chips- Original, Sour Cream, Cheddar, Classic, Flavored

General Mills

• Bugles- Original
• Keebler
• Bite Size Snackin Grahams- Cinnamon, Chocolate
• Elf Grahams- Honey, Cinnamon
• Fudge Stripes Shortbread Cookies
• Golden Vanilla Wafers
• Grasshopper Mint Cookies
• New Rainbow Vanilla Wafers
• Munch’ems- Sour Cream & Onion, Original, Ranch, Cheddar
• Snack Stix
• Sugar Wafers
• Toasteds- Wheat, Buttercrisp
• Town House Classic Crackers
• Wheatables- Original, Honey Wheat, Seven Grain

Kraft

• Handi-Snacks- Cheez ‘N Crackers, Apple Dippers, Cheez ‘N Pretzels
• Handi-Snacks Teddy Grahams- Honey, Chocolate

Nabisco

• Air Crisps
• Potato- Sour Cream & Onion, Ranch, Barbeque, Cheddar
• Pretzel- Original
• Ritz- Original
• Wheat Thins- Original, Ranch
• Barnum Animal Crackers
• Cheddar Sportz
• Cheese Nips
• Dizzy Grizzlies- Vanilla Frosted, Chocolate Frosted
• Graham Crackers- Honey Maid, Cinnamon, Chocolate
• Newtons- Fig, Cobblers, Raspberry, Apple
• Ritz Crackers- Original
• Saltine Crackers
• Teddy Cheddy
• Teddy Grahams- Cinnamon, Chocolate Chip, Chocolate, Honey
• Triscuits, Triscuit Thin Crisps
• Wheat Thins
• Old Dutch
• Baked Cheez Curls

Chips

• Crunchy Curls
• Pretzels
• Pepperidge Farm
• Butter Thins
• Goldfish- any flavor
• Goldfish Graham Snacks- Honey, Cinnamon, Golden
• Pringles - Any Flavor
• Sunshine
• Big Cheez-It
• Cheez It- Regular, Reduced Fat
• Hi Ho Crackers- Regular, Reduced Fat

Fruit:

• Fresh-Apples, Bananas, Oranges
• Packaged Fruit- Apple Sauce, Apple Sauce Mix, Diced Pears, Peaches, Raisins, Mandarin Oranges
• Fruit Snacks- Fruit Roll Ups, Fruit by the Foot, Fun Fruit

Jell-O and Pudding Snacks:

Popcorn:

• Barrel O’Fun
• Corn Pops (No Kernels)
• Frito Lay
• Cheddar Cheese
• Chester’s Popcorn Butter
• Old Dutch Popcorn
• Carmel PuffCorns, Cheddar, White, White Cheddar

Vegetables:
Fresh Carrot Sticks, Celery Sticks


Special Treats:
Cakes/Cupcakes
Cub Foods Bakery, Kowalski’s Bakery, Sam’s Club Bakery White, Chocolate, Marble Cakes


Candy:
Air Heads
Rolos
Dum Dum Pops
Runts
Gum Drops
Shock Tarts
Hershey Kisses-Milk Chocolate, Extra Creamy
Sixlets
Jolly Ranchers
Skittles
Junior Mints
Smarties
Life Savers
Spree
Lollipops
Starburst
Mike & Ikes
Sugar Babies
Milk Duds
Sweet Tarts
Nerds
Tootsie Pops
Oompas
Tootsie Rolls
Ring Pops
Twizzlers

Cookies/Donuts:

• Cub Foods Bakery
• Donuts/Donut Holes- Glazed, Powdered Sugar, Sugar
• Sugar Cookies
• Kowalski’s Bakery
• Iced Sugar Cookies
• Donut Holes- Plain, Glazed

IceCream/Frozen Treats:

• Edy’s
• Whole Fruit Bars
• FlaVorice- Freezies
• Good Humor Popsicles
• Sherbet Cyclone
• Icee- Squeeze up tubes
• Italian Ice

Kemps

• Fudge Bars- Regular and Junior Size
• Ice Cream Bars
• Ice Cream Cups
• Ice Cream Sandwiches- Regular, Mint Chocolate Chip
• Twin Pops- Any Flavor
• What’s Up Orange Sherbet Treats
• Klondike
• Oreo Ice Cream Sandwiches

Minute Maid

• Soft Frozen Lemonade
• Polar Express
• Ice Cream Sandwiches