Fun with Food Allergies in Ocean City, Maryland and Bethany Beach, Delaware

Hi Friends! It's been awhile. Life is REALLY busy now with baby number three and working full time. But I just HAVE to share with you about our great food allergy finds on our recent trip to Ocean City, Maryland...with two stops in Bethany Beach, Delaware. Little Guy has multiple food allergies to dairy, egg, nuts, salmon and sesame, and he was able to eat out safely for 3 meals, plus 4 food allergy friendly desserts on and off the boardwalk.

Now, that's what I call an allergy friendly trip.

Vacations always stress me out a bit because most of my worry, planning and packing revolves around food. But it's a wonderful stress because that means we're going on VACATION - a much needed and loved activity! We've vacationed in OC Maryland almost every year, so it's easier when you've been there before. However, we haven't ventured to many restaurants.

At restaurants at home and on vacation, Little Guy has not eaten much more than a plain hamburger (no bun) plus steamed veggies, and maybe potatoes on the side. So, this vacation, I was determined to find a few different food allergy friendly options that our whole family could enjoy - including Little Guy!

A few weeks before vacation I emailed a number of restaurants that I found on both AllergyEats and in a food allergy forum on Facebook. A number of restaurants emailed and called me back immediately - which was just amazing! 

So where did we end up eating?  Well, we ate many meals at the beach house we rented, but otherwise we found a few good restaurants. 

BETHANY BEACH, DELAWARE
On the way down south from the Philly area, we decided to make a quick stop in Bethany Beach for lunch, before check-in time. I have to say - we really hit the jackpot with Bethany Blues. I spoke with the manager a week before the trip, and he told me that ALL their barbecue is free from Little Guy's allergens. WOW!

At the restaurant, we gave our allergy card to the waiter, and asked to speak with the manager. He confirmed that the barbecue, rolls, corn and green beans would all be safe. He said they would change gloves, watch cross contact, and they even mentioned that they were just named one of the 10 most allergy friendly restaurants in the US! 

I believe it.

They even made the corn on the cob specially for Little Guy for lunch since it's usually a dinner option. Little Guy had a GREAT meal and we truly appreciate Bethany Blues' allergy friendly options and care for those with food allergies.

We ALL loved the food at Bethany Blues so much that we decided to stop here again, on the way back home, for lunch! Little guy decided he like the pork barbecue and slider rolls, so he had THREE sliders, corn and green beans. 

Big guy now = big appetite ;)

We ALSO found two options for safe water ice on the Bethany Beach boardwalk. The first was at Shore Break.

We checked the ingredients of Georgeo's Italian Ice, and confirmed with the staff that they use separate scoops for the italian ice, separate from the ice cream.

Little Guy got a large (and it WAS large!), and Little Gal actually got a Spiderman popsicle, which was also a safe treat (even though she doesn't have food allergies). 

Happy kids all around!

I also spoke with the manager at Tropical Treats, and the shaved ice would have been safe for Little Guy. We didn't get a chance to try it, but hopefully next time.

OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND
While in OC Maryland, we ate at one restaurant, Harrison's Harbor Watch. This has constantly been a perfect restaurant for our family. Great food for everyone, and beautiful views of the boats coming in and out of the inlet, and of Assateague Island.

Again, we used our chef card, and the wait staff was very knowledgeable about food allergy protocols in the kitchen. They also always bring out the food with an allergy stick in it. A comforting practice for everyone.

Little guy safely ate a burger with no bun (the "best burger I've ever tasted"), green beans, applesauce and potatoes.

Now, what about food allergy friendly TREATS and DESSERTS!?  Everyone likes to get a treat on the boardwalk, right? Thankfully, we found safe cotton candy (sadly I didn't get a photo of the place where we got it!).

And water ice (maybe 2 or 3 times!?) at Polish Water Ice.

And we also specifically chased down DOLE WHIP. Yes, I said DOLE WHIP! It's a beloved treat for those who are dairy free and have food allergies. It's the creamiest dairy free "ice cream" I've ever tasted. It tastes like traditional soft serve ice cream made of cow's milk, but again, it's dairy free (and also egg free, nut free and free of all Little Guy's allergens).

See that awesome "Dole Whip" sign at the bottom?

Two happy kiddos with Dole Whip.

 We tracked down the dole whip on the way back from my relatives' house (always fun to visit them on our trips to OC!) since it was on our route back home. 

Dumser's Dairyland has many locations, and one with Dole Whip (the West Ocean City location)! Sooo, who wants to support a social media petition with me for Dumser's to add Dole Whip to ALL their locations!?

We unfortunately didn't get a chance to try ALL the restaurants I contacted who responded that they could safely cook for Little Guy. I really wanted to try Mother's Cantina since they said they could make safe tacos, fajitas or nachos (they even have vegan cheese). 

I also wanted to try The Bayside Skillet for breakfast for lunch as they also gave us a positive response.

I really hope this is helpful for others looking for food allergy friendly restaurant options in OC, Maryland and Bethany Beach, Delaware!

Please remember to do your own research at each restaurant to serve the needs of your specific food allergies. Management, chefs and policies change, so ask every time.

And yes, I'm logging all these great finds on AllergyEats!

I hope you'll join me on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for conversations and posts that may not necessarily be included on the blog.

Happy eating!

The Christmas Carol at the Walnut Street Theatre

'Tis the season to see a holiday show in the city! We were so excited to see The Christmas Carol musical at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philly this weekend. The show is just perfect for kids since it's only 1 hour, offers late morning show times, moves pretty quickly and has a few fun songs and surprises in it. Thanks to the Walnut Street Theatre for providing our family of 4 with tickets to the show.

Grandma was kind enough to watch baby sister since a quiet theater is no place for a squirmy 8 month old. Plus, it was fun to be able to enjoy a musical with the two older kiddos. 

So the 4 of us piled in our minivan (yes, I said minivan, we succumbed to the stereotypical parenting vehicle for our new family of 5!), and drove to Philly for the 11am show!

We each got a playbill and talked about The Christmas Carol story (Little Gal wasn't too familiar with it. Little Guy remembered seeing it on TV I think).

The stage was decorated for their other, longer running show, Matilda, with part of it decorated for The Christmas Carol.  The Christmas Carol is obviously has a shorter season since it specifically runs around Christmas!

The lobby of the theater was decorated so festively. Little Gal gave it a thumbs up.

I have to say, Little Gal was a little scared by the ghost of Marley and the ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, but the play was so lighthearted, quick moving, and had a happy ending, so she said she just loved it at the end.

We had to get home to baby sister, but if we could have stayed in the city longer, we definitely would have gone to see the Christmas "show" at the Comcast building and at Macy's.  We've done that in previous years, and it's really helped us get in the Christmas spirit!

Hoping you have some holiday fun in the next few weeks and wishing you a wonderful holiday season!

OTHER POSTS YOU MIGHT LIKE:

Chocolate Pretzel Peppermint Bark

SunButter Chocolate Crescent Rolls for the holidays

Countdown Checklist to Holiday Hosting with Food Allergies

5 New Nut Free School Lunch Ideas

Happy new school year my friends! I can't believe school is starting already, can you? Summer flew by for us. With a new baby (now 5 months old), going back to work, and just living life, I feel like summer totally got away from me! Well, with a new school year, comes a fresh opportunity to get creative with allergy-friendly school lunches! I named this post "Nut Free School Lunches", but really, they're dairy free, egg free, sesame free and of course tree nut free and peanut free -- all of Little Guy's allergens.

AND there's a fun theme to this lunch post, they're not only nut free and allergy-friendly, but they all include SunButter On the Go Single Cups.

If you've read this blog before, you know we truly eat SunButter every day in our family. We appreciate it as a safe and easy form of protein!

I find the SunButter On the Go Single Cups VERY useful for snacks and school lunches. They're easy to pop in a bag and GO (and when you have 3 kids, that's just what you need).

Here are our fun 5 New Nut Free School Lunch Ideas.


Thanks so much to SunButter for sponsoring this lunch post!

VEGAN and VEGETARIAN
This is "snacky" lunch box, filled with fruit, veggies, protein (dairy free cheese and SunButter), and a little fun with the blueberry muffins. The muffins came right out of the freezer. All I had to do with put everything in the box before school!

BREAKFAST FOR LUNCH - Round 1
We LOVE breakfast for lunch. Every time I make pancakes, I quadruple the recipe so I have extras to freeze. For school lunches I pop a few small pancakes out of the freezer, and microwave the bacon. My kids don't mind eating bacon OR pancakes cold! In the past I've also warmed up the pancakes slightly and wrapped them in foil. 

Tip - if you pack gluten free pancakes, they usually need to be warmed before eating since they get a little dry.

BREAKFAST FOR LUNCH - Round 2
I just cut up some toasted waffles into strips. They're great to dip in the SunButter with some apples. I also usually put the sausage in a thermos to keep it warm, but it was hard to see in the photo! I also sometimes send a little maple syrup as a treat!


HOT LUNCH
There are SO many hot lunch options you can send in a thermos like mac and cheese, chili, soup, etc.. Little Guy loves spaghetti and meatballs. Round it out with salad, and you have a good meal. I also like to send a little something sweet sometimes, and pictured here is a safe granola bar free of all his allergens, to dip in the SunButter...with a few chocolate chips of course!

Tip: Fill the thermos with hot water for a minute, then put in the hot food to keep it warm until lunch.

DELI LUNCH
And finally, I had to feature my favorite chicken salad in this lunch post. I've been obsessed with it all summer. As a nursing mama, I get VERY hungry, and this is a really healthy and easy form of protein. I make a big batch almost every week by boiling organic chicken, chopping in in the food processor, and mixing it with Veganaise, celery, onions and spices like thyme, parsley and sea salt. Perfect.

This is a colorful lunch with a good mix of protein, fruit, veggies, and a little sweet with graham crackers to dip in SunButter!

I hope this post helps you think "outside the sandwich" a little bit and inspires fun peanut-free and allergy-friendly lunches for school!

What's your favorite nut free lunch to pack and eat!?


Other SunButter On the Go posts you might like:

Healthy Nut Free Snack Ideas

Mason Jars and SunButter On the Go? Oh my!

Our New Fun Summer Snack with SunButter

Thanks to SunButter for sponsoring this post! 

I discovered a fun "trick" recently using SunButter On the Go Single Cups. If you've read this blog before, you KNOW how much we love and appreciate SunButter. It's one of our go-to sources of protein since Little Guy is allergic to dairy, eggs, nuts and sesame. So what's the trick?

Check it out below! 

The new SunButter On the Go Single Cups are perfectly sized to be used as mason jar tops.

SO cool, right!?

All you have to do is:

1. Fill the mason jars with your favorite SunButter dipping snack.

2. Put the SunButter On the Go Single Cup on top of the snack filled mason jar.

3. Screw on the mason jar outer lid (without the middle of the lid, since the SunButter covers the top perfectly!).

And voila! You have the perfect, portable and allergy-friendly snack!

We filled one mason jar with apples, one with pretzels and a few chocolate chips, and one with carrots and celery sticks.

I'd say that's a pretty well-balanced snack for the kiddos (or even adults!).

I'm so excited that we now have this fun way to take along our allergy-friendly snacks and SunButter On the Go Single Cups on summer excursions. 

Little Gal is excited too!

You may also like these posts:

SunButter Baked Oatmeal Cups

Healthy Snack Ideas with SunButter

SunButter Caramel Apple Dip

SunButter Baked Oatmeal (great for brunch!)

Chocolate Cookie SunButter Ice Cream Cupcakes

New Allergy-Friendly Cookie Taste Test

Do you love NEW allergy friendly foods as much as we do? I KNOW you do! We were very excited to try out these vegan, gluten free and allergy-friendly cookies from a new company, Partake Foods. The company was started by a food-allergy mom...just like many of you reading this right now! Denise kindly sent us 3 different kinds of cookies to try.

The verdict?

They're great! They're crunchy and totally satisfied our cookie craving :)  They're also delicious with a cup of a tea (or perfectly crunchy for dunking in soymilk or hot chocolate for the kiddos!).

AND they're free from the top 8 allergens, plus sesame (for Little Guy). What a find!

Our favorite was the Sprouted Grain Chocolate Chip, but we also loved trying the Sweet Potato Millet and Carrot Oat.

These cookies are also a treat that you don't feel bad about feeding your kids since they're made with wholesome ingredients!

Just check out the smiles of these taste testers. Not a bad job right?

Thanks to Partake Foods for sending us these cookies to try! They were delicious!

Other posts you might enjoy:

SunButter Breakfast Cookies

Vegan Chocolate Heart Cookies

Chocolate Cookie SunButter Ice Cream Cupcakes

Baby Makes 5! Update on Life Right Now.

It's been awhile!  Life has been full of sleeplessness and joy since I last wrote a blog post. Little Lady surprised us a few days early and was born at midnight on March 17, ringing in St. Patty's Day. She's such a joy and "easy" baby. I put easy in quotes because no baby is truly easy. However, she's thankfully sleeping, eating and doing everything she should do as a newborn!  

Little Guy and Little Gal are thankfully absolutely thrilled with their new little sister, and they have been loving her so beautifully.

I'm still on maternity leave from work, and I'm trying to enjoy every minute of it. If you have kids, you know maternity leave is NOT vacation, but it's certainly a nice change to focus on my kids and family instead of being on the computer all day.

We've been very busy these past few weeks with Easter, Little Guy's 8th birthday, his First Communion, volunteering at school, Field Day, baseball games and practices, swimming lessons, and just taking care of the 3 kiddos!

So, I've taken a break from the computer, blog and social media in general, but I'm slowly getting back online!

Don't forget to check Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter for fun updates, new allergy friendly products, and recipes that I'll be sharing soon!

Exciting News! Party of 5 Coming Soon.

I don't frequently share very personal information on social media. It's just my nature and I like to keep some personal things, well, personal. Yes, I have a blog, but the purpose of it is to share food allergy friendly and healthy  recipes and ideas, and also to connect with the "communities" that I'm interested in and feel like I can contribute to - like the food allergy, healthy living and parenting communities! I mean, this blog is all about a healthy balance of food, family and fun...with a food allergy twist, right?

But it's time to get personal. We have some exciting news!

We're soon going to be a PARTY OF 5! Baby #3 is due in a little over one week! 

We just took this very unplanned photo over the weekend when Grammy was visiting. It's certainly not perfect, but it's us! In all our messy house/just back from soccer/non-brushed hair glory :)

My black shirt makes it hard to see my very large baby bump, but it's definitely there!

And since I've been answering pregnancy and baby questions in person for the past few months, I thought I'd answer a few burning questions here with my blogger friends too!

Do you know if it's a boy or girl?
No! We are doing it the old fashioned way this time. We found out gender with both Little Guy and Little Gal. This time we are keeping it a surprise for all, including us!

Do you have names picked out yet?
Yes! But we keep those to ourselves until baby is born! The kiddos don't even know yet!

How are you feeling?
The first trimester is the hardest for me since I feel so sick all the time. The rest of the pregnancy was fine, and mainly just tiring due to restless legs syndrome I tend to have during pregnancy. Otherwise, things have been going well until these last 2 weeks where I've had major right side back pain. I haven't had back pain before with my two previous babes. Hoping it will go away when baby is born!

Are you eating any differently with this pregnancy based on food allergy research?
I definitely try to rotate foods more often during pregnancy (i.e. - I eat peanut butter (at work since we don't keep it in the house), but I don't eat it every day during my whole pregnancy).

Will you give baby peanuts early on as the new research shows?
Yes, I will most likely give baby-to-be food allergens earlier on based on food allergy research. However, I'll first get baby skin tested at the allergist around 3 - 4 months to see "what we're dealing with" as the allergist says. We did it this way with Little Gal, so I'm hoping it works out well with the new baby too.

With Little Guy, I couldn't even give him certain allergens early on since he reacted to my breast milk after I ate peanuts and dairy products around 4 months. He would get full body hives after breastfeeding around this age. His pediatrician told me to change my laundry detergent. When he still kept getting hives I went to an allergist, and the rest is history. That's how we first found out Little Guy had multiple food allergies.

Are the kids excited?
YES! They are going to be a wonderful older siblings. Having a new baby in the house is going to be a learning curve for all of us, but I'm praying that we'll all be able to live peacefully and happily together and thoroughly enjoy each other!

We'd appreciate your prayers as we wait in anticipation for baby-to-be! I will update the blog and social media when baby is here!

Fun Easter and Healthy Snack Ideas for Kids with SunButter On the Go Single Cups

Thanks to SunButter for sponsoring this post!

As a parent of a child with food allergies, I've found that it's important to get creative with food. You not only have to get creative with WHAT you make (substituting eggs, dairy, nuts and sesame are not always easy!), but HOW you present it. I've found that even though Little Guy does eat a lot of the same foods over and over again, he's happy to eat them when they're presented in a fun way. Presentation is also important when you're trying to get your kids to eat more HEALTHY foods, right?

Well, with Spring and Easter coming soon (thank goodness), I thought it would be fun to come up with a few ideas of how to creatively use SunButter On the Go Single Cups for healthy after-school or anytime snacks! The snacks are of course nutfree, dairyfree, eggfree and sesamefree for Little Guy!

We truly love these SunButter on the Go Single Cups and use them all the time for school lunches and easy throw-in-a-bag snacks.

But you can also dress them up. And what kid doesn't like to play dress up!? ;)

You can make a healthy snack with lots of fruit, veggies and pretzels and tell your kiddo it's a spring flower!







You could make a fun plate of healthy (and just a few sugary) "dippies" to let your kiddo choose what they want to dip: celery, carrots, apples, pretzels, graham crackers and even a few marshmallows and dairy free chocolate chips!





And what about a bunny? You could present it as an Easter snack if you celebrate Easter, OR a spring bunny would do too!

And how about a SMORES inspired sweet snack? Offer some graham crackers, dairy free chocolate and marshmallows. Plus, add a few strawberries in there to make it pretty AND healthy. All you need now is a cozy campfire :)

And when YOU have a chocolate craving? Why not try to swirl a little dairy free chocolate sauce on top and dip in some salty pretzels? I know I'd even enjoy this as an "after the kids bedtime" snack just for mommy to enjoy! 

But don't forget to just keep it simple too. I can't tell you how many times I've given the kiddos apples and SunButter as a healthy snack, but presenting it in this pretty way makes it so much more fun and tempting for kids to eat!

Look at this beautiful blank canvas. How would you dress up your SunButter?

#DressUpYourSunButter

Want more SunButter-iffic ideas? Check out these posts!

SunButter Baked Oatmeal Cups
SunButter Baked Oatmeal
SunButter Caramel Apple Dip
Easy SunButter Breakfast Cookies
Chocolate Cookie SunButter Ice Cream Cupcakes
SunButter Chocolate Cups

I only work with companies that I support and use in our own family. I hope you enjoy hearing about allergy-friendly products and snack/food ideas like this!

Don't forget to Pin this post for use later on:

Seeing the Peter Rabbit Movie? 5 Questions to Ask Your Child With NO Food Allergies

I woke up in the middle of night recently thinking about all the Peter Rabbit hubbub. I'm sure you've heard, but there is a scene in the new Peter Rabbit movie that shows the rabbits intentionally trying to throw berries into Tom's mouth, knowing he is allergic to them. Their evil quest is successful, and Tom has to use his EpiPen to stop progressing anaphylaxis. 

What's funny about that?

Nothing. It's called bullying, among other things.

But instead of writing another blog post about what's wrong with this scene, and how much it hurts those of us who have children with food allergies (and also hurts those WITH food allergies), I thought it might be most helpful to think about a positive step we can take NOW.

Yes, I'm going to #boycottPeterRabbit like many other food allergy families. Honestly, I wasn't too interested in having my kids watch the movie anyway, since it looked too action packed and stress inducing just from the previews, without even knowing about the food allergy scene.

However, there are many families with no food allergies, families who are our friends, who live in our community, and who we interact with all the time, who are going to see this movie.

If you're one of those families, all that I ask is that you take 5 minutes after the movie to talk with your child. Start by asking them these 5 questions, and...just listen. 

1. Do you know anyone who is allergic to food?

2. Do you think it's right to throw food at someone who is allergic to it, or tease them with it?

3. Do you think it would be funny?

4. How do you think that would make them feel?

5. How do you think someone with food allergies might feel about the scene in the movie when the rabbits throw food at Tom that he's allergic to?

Then, if your child has trouble understanding why the food allergy bullying scene might be hurtful to others like....

his or her friend from school with food allergies....

a kid they know who sits at the peanut free table at lunch...

or someone they've seen a birthday party that brings his/her own cupcake...

Explain to them how TRUE friends might act, and how important it is to put yourself in someone else's shoes.

Hopefully you can have a short and age-appropriate conversion about empathy and compassion. Even though there are many adults who have no empathy or compassion for people with food allergies (just read the comments of some of the articles online....I've learned to not even read them), I'm hoping the next generation, will grow up to be more compassionate about food allergies, and with a greater understanding of them and the risks associated with them.

Let me know if you ask these questions and how your child responds!

Valentine's Day Giveaway - Make Sure to Enter Today!

I have a fun Valentine's giveaway going on right now that you might just LOVE!💕 Pop over to my Instagram page and be sure to enter today.

This giveaway package includes: 

• A box of double chocolate mocha bars and a jar of chocolate seed butter from 88 acres
• Lip balm, body butter, and sugar scrub from Kiss Freely
• Two tins of chocolate hearts from Free2B

Umm, can you say ooh, ahh and yum!?

I'm so glad that I get to do this with two of my favorite food allergy friendly bloggers too, Sharon Wong of Nut Free Wok and Kelly from The Pretty Bee Blog!

Oh, and if you're looking for Valentine's Day ideas for school parties, or just something to make for your family or little ones, check out my Valentine's Pinterest Board. I'm always searching for and pinning new ideas!

This year I'm bringing these SunButter Chocolate Heart cookies to Little Guy's Valentine's school party (along with popcorn and fruit salad). I've made these for the past 3 years and everyone just LOVES them. They don't even know they're vegan and nut free (they do taste like chocolate peanut butter cookies!).

I may also make these heart-shaped pancakes for the fam. And don't forget about these fun printable Valentines that go well with any allergy-friendly lollipop or sweet!

Hope you have a joyful and loving Valentine's Day next week. That's what it's all about, right?

💗 💕 💘 💗 💕 💘

5 Healthy and Vegan School Lunches

Thank you to Hilary's Eat Well for sponsoring this post.

School lunches. Love them or dread them? For me, I love that I can pack healthy, whole food school lunches for my kids. Little Guy only eats food from home due to his food allergies. When I ask what other kids are buying at school (things like hot dogs, chips and ice cream), I'm honestly happy that he has healthier lunches every day. However, I wouldn't mind a break from packing lunch some days...even a break from THINKING about what to pack - which is sometimes the hardest part!

Since we all need a little inspiration from time to time, I thought I'd show you 5 ideas for how to use Hilary's Eat Well vegan and allergy-friendly products to pack healthy school lunches! Heck - these are so good that I even like to pack some of these lunches for myself for work!

These lunches are so easy peasy too. Just make sure you have all the veggies and fruits washed and food in the freezer, ready to pull out and pop in a lunchbox! Minimal reheating needed the morning of school.

5 Healthy and Vegan School Lunches

Breakfast for Lunch
Who doesn't love breakfast for lunch? (or any time of day!). It's pretty easy to pop pancakes out of your freezer, and warm up Hilary's vegan sausages the morning of school. Add some fresh fruit, and maple syrup and/or sunflower seed butter, and you have a great meal! You could even put the sausages and/or pancakes in a small thermos to keep them completely warm until lunch.

Well-Rounded Lunch
Protein, calcium, veggies...CHECK! I like to consider most lunches I pack for my kiddos well-rounded. However, this one certainly has a nice blend of all Little Guy's nutritional needs, and it's fun and filling at the same time. I heated up Hilary's Original Veggie Bites, along with Hilary's Traditional Herb Millet Medley and packed it in a thermos. Little Guy also has vitamin packed peppers, and calcium and protein packed soymilk and vegan cheese to round out the meal.

Dippy Lunch
Your kids probably like to dip food as much as mine do, right? Well, in line with our recent Dippy Dinner, I know my kids love dippy lunches too! I love giving them a variety of small, bite sized bites to fill up their bellies. Here I gave my son tortilla chips, peppers, carrots, sesame-free hummus and Hilary's Traditional Herb Millet Medley.

Pizza Lunch
Pizza, pizza, everywhere. I've become all too aware of the amount of pizza students (and humans in general) eat since Little Guy was diagnosed with his dairy allergy. Pizza is just EVERYWHERE! Birthday parties, every Friday for school lunch, social events, etc. I pack pizza for Little Guy every Friday to make sure he feels included with the pizza day lunch theme. Thankfully he happily eats it cold, so it makes it easy for me to just to pop out of the freezer the night before.

For this pizza I crumbled some cooked Hilary's Spicy Veggie Sausage on top (it's really not too spicy for kids - it has just enough spice in it!). I also included Hilary's Ranch Chia dressing as a dip for his veggies. Plus, I added my own trail mix that I threw together from pumpkin seeds, raisins and chocolate chips - all nut and dairy free!

Hearty Burger Lunch - 2 ways
Who doesn't love a good burger for lunch? Hilary's has a bunch of great veggie burger flavors, but I especially like this Black Rice Burger  I packed with some vegan cheese, fruit, and a small salad with Hilary's Balsamic Thyme Dressing on the side.

I like to cut the burger in half and put it in a thermos, so that you can eat it by itself, or even put the two burger pieces on a bun (gluten free or not, whatever you choose or need!).

So what are some of your favorite lunch ideas? Believe me, we all need new ideas from time to time to make sure we keep lunch fun, interesting and easy. So, please share you favorites!

This is the third and final post about Hilary's awesome products. You can read more about our dippy dinner here and our vegan stuffing stuffed peppers recipe here if you missed these posts. 

I hope you try Hilary's products if you haven't already! They have become a staple in our house!

Here's a pinnable image - save these ideas for later!

I only work with companies that I support and use in our own family. I hope you enjoy hearing about new allergy-friendly products and finds like this!