Birthday Party treats for Children with Allergies
It must be the birthday season as for the last few weeks the children have been at a birthday party nearly every weekend and this morning I received an email from a friend hosting a birthday party for her little boy this weekend and asking me what food she could provide for my two year old.
As parents of a little girl allergic to Nuts, Eggs, Wheat and Anaphylactic to Dairy , we have got used to the routine of before each party packing a little lunchbox of treat’s especially for her, that we can whip out at a moments notice when she’s asks the famous word’s “where’s my one?”.
The reason why I pack my own food for my daughter is not because I do not trust the hosting parent to cater for my daughter (and realistically most can’t) but because I realise that for any parent hosting a birthday party can be a little stressful and catering for all the potentially different and diverse allergies of every guest can be a big ask so personally I think it’s a polite thing for me as the guests Mum to ensure my little girl is catered for.
Of course that does not mean I don’t appreciate when the host makes an effort to include my child by including food that she can eat as well. A platter of fruit is always a good bet here. 
But in my birthday party treat box I usually include:
Fairy Bread
I bake my own bread (sort of!) every week using Easy Bakers Instant Oven Bread, It’s yeast, dairy and wheat free. All you need to do is add water . I then take a slice or two out of the freezer the night before, defrost and in the morning cover with Nuttelex spread and sprinkle with Thousand’s and One’s and pop it in a lunch box ready to go. Hey presto instant fairy bread!
Biscuits
I’ve tried making my own wheat, dairy, egg and nut free biscuits and it’s a bit of a challenge as you need to adjust the water, egg replacer and wheat free flour ratio’s to get the correct consistency. After much dabbling I located Orgran Outback Animals biscuits in the Health Food section of your supermarket. A packets costs around $4:00 and you get around 50 or so small biscuits. They are also gluten free / wheat free / dairy free / egg free / yeast free / GMO free / soy free / vegan and nut free and I would say a must on the shopping list of any parent hosting a birthday party. What’s more they taste good too. The only downside I do have about these biscuits is they include Palm Vegetable Oil and there is much controversy about the social and environmental impacts of oil palm cultivation.
However, I always keep a little box of them in my bag at all times. So if we are at friends house and my other children get offered a treat which my daughter can’t have I know I can always dip into my bag and pull out one of these biscuits for her as well.
Cake
As every parent knows the birthday cake is often the highlight of the birthday party and something my children look forward to. As my daughter has got older I have found that they biscuits don’t wash with her when the cake comes out so I bake my own muffins for my daughter and keep them in the freezer, ready to take one from the freezer when I need.
As with the biscuits I’ve tried making my own cake using different combination of flours and and have eventually found a recipe that works for me. It’s gluten free, wheat free and if you replace the egg needed with egg replacer and do not include the icing it’s also dairy and egg free.
The recipe is based on a prize-winning cake recipe from Peter Bennett, a regular feature at the Royal Melbourne Show a couple of years ago apparently. Though instead of placing in a cake pan I place the mixture into muffins trays so after cooking they are easy to cool and place in a zip lock bag and then into the freezer until needed.
The recipe includes gluten free flour, cocoa powder, brown sugar, Nuttelex, egg replacer, vanilla essence and water. If you would like the full recipes email me and I’ll forward it to you.
And if you can’t be bothered or are in a rush, Orgran also have a cake mixes including a Chocolate Cake Mix that is dairy free, egg free and suitable for vegans.
Lolly bags
Finally the lolly bags. I normally ask the host parent to give me the bag before giving it to my daughter so I can quickly take out an chocolate (while she’s not looking). As my daughter is only two years old she’s usually quite happy to get even one jelly bean or a snake.
Do you have a child with an allergy? How do you ensure your child is catered for at birthday parties? What treats to you prefer for children with allergies?
Over to you,
PS: Have you checked out Generous Party? It’s the no fuss, charitable way to organise a child’s birthday party. More>>
