Enjoy Life Decadent Bars

I recently had the opportunity to sample Enjoy Life's new Decadent Soft Baked  Bars. 

Let me first say that I always feel very comfortable recommending Enjoy Life products because I know their focus is on making good-tasting food that is also safe for people with food allergies and celiac disease. All of their products are free of wheat, dairy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, fish, shellfish, sesame and sulfites.

As anyone with multiple dietary concerns knows, it is priceless to be able to turn to a ready-made product that you know will be safe and tasty.


That brings us to enjoy Life's Decadent Bars. They come in four flavors: Cherry Cobbler, Chocolate Sunbutter, Cinnamon Bun and S'Mores. Each bar is drizzled with chocolate or white chocolate- honestly, they look beautiful.

I really like the texture- soft, with a little crisp in them- and I thought they tasted great (admittedly, the Chocolate Sunbutter was my favorite!). These bars are perfect to have on-hand for a quick snack or to serve during a playdate. They are small and easy to carry, which makes them ideal for travel too. 

If you want to try them out, grab a coupon and head over to your favorite grocery store that carries Enjoy Life products (check out the store locator to find one near you). They can also be ordered right from the Enjoy Life Online store for  single boxes or a 6-pack. The shelf life of the bars is approximately 9 months and there is currently a free shipping offer on orders over $49.

I'm happy to add Enjoy Life's Decadent Bars to my list of easy, delicious and safe foods. I love a product that makes life a bit easier!

Disclaimer: While I was not paid for my review of this product, I was provided with a complimentary sample pack. The opinions shared are my own.

New Package and Label on Wegman's Chocolate Chips

Dairy Free Chocolate Chips

 Wegmans traded in it's old brown chocolate chip bag for a spiffy red and white striped package that reminds me of a circus tent. That's not all they changed, though. Their allergen label is different too. The old label said: 

"Contains Soy. Manufactured in a plant that processes products that contain milk."

The new label is simpler: "Contains Soy"

Hmmmm...did they just drop off the sentence about milk or did they change manufacturing plants? I did what any good food allergy detective does and called Wegmans to find out.

"Good question," I was told. "Someone else called and asked the same thing (there must be a bunch of food allergy detectives out there!), so I have the answer from our Quality Control Director."

"There has been a change in manufacturing practices so the chocolate chips are no longer made in a plant that processes products containing milk."

So, there you have it. The label is correct and if you've been loking for a truly dairy-free chocolate chip, Wegmans fits the bill!

Technology Helps With Food Allergy Baking

An iPad  as a Souz-Chef

I picked up some Pillsbury Puff Pastry® sheets several weeks ago and promptly tossed them in the freezer and forgot about them. This week I thawed them and then had to do something with them. With my iPad on the counter, I scrolled the Pillsbury recipes and found Homestyle Chicken Pot Pie with Ham. I easily threw that together (sans ham) and was left with another thawed pastry sheet. That lead me to Chocolate Triangles- I know, sounds yummy, right?

 But darn it- how to get around the egg wash...

 Just a few touches of the iPad screen lead me to a vegan website that said I could use milk- soy, almond, cow etc. as an egg wash. It worked beautifully. Tablets make great kitchen assistants, especially when you need to check ingredients or find substitutions.

Now if we can only get them to chop and stir...

Homemade Easter Candy is Allergy Friendly

Make Easter Candy

Thanks to places like Amanda's Own, Premium Chocolatiers and Vermont Nut Free Chocolates, it's easier than ever to find dairy, nut and peanut-free candies for Easter. If you didn't get your Easter order in on time, there's no need to worry. Pull out your safe chocolate chips (Enjoy Life mini-chips are great for this), melt some in the microwave and pour them into a mold.

I found this 6-inch bunny mold at AC Moore and the bunny, chick and egg-shaped chocolate lollipops (candy sticks are available in any craft store candy section) are always a big hit. Encase the goodies in some colored plastic wrap in rose, blue, green or violet for a festive presentation.

If you're looking for a cute Easter Bunny cake recipe, bake your favorite cake recipe in one nine-inch round pan and one eight-inch round pan, then check out the rest of my instructions here.

Happy Holidays!

Food Allergies: A Matter of the Heart

With my food allergic child now in middle school, Valentine's Day was less stressful this year. While a few teachers, and the bus driver, handed out lollipops, most of the day was a typical school day.

I did try to bring in some holiday festivities to our dinner by making mini meatloaves in a heart shape and by baking these Valentine's Day cupcakes. It's super easy to turn any cupcake into a heart shape. Simply drop a small marble between the liner and the side of the cupcake tin and then bake (yup, it's safe to bake the marble!). I frosted them in pink  and topped each with a chocolate heart made by melting Enjoy Life mini-chips and pouring the melted chocolate into my heart-shaped candy mold.

Take a few minutes to read Nicole Smith's Bring Your Own Food Allergy- to Parties. She offers some great insight into navigating the party scene for our kids with food allergies.

Enjoy Life Has Dairy Free Mega Chocolate Chips!

Enjoy Life has two new products and as they are both chocolate, I was more than happy to take the opportunity to try them out.

Their first new product is dairy-free mega chocolate chips. I am so excited that Enjoy Life is introducing this to their product line. I regularly  bake with Enjoy Life dairy-free mini-chocolate chips. They are perfect for melting when I want to use my candy molds and I like to use the mini-chips when I make the miniature size of my banana chocolate chip muffins. I had been having a trouble finding a bigger chip because the Allergy Grocer, my source for Barry Callebaut chips, went out of business. Then I discovered that Wegman's brand is dairy-free and I started baking with them.

Now, there's another choice, a BIG choice. Enjoy Life's mega-chips are  free of gluten and the top eight allergens, including dairy, soy, peanuts and tree nuts. The best part is that they are FULL of delicious chocolate taste.

They are really good- right out of the bag!

I also made a batch of chocolate, mega-chocolate chip brownies (what can I say...I enjoy my chocolate!). The big chips melted beautifully and created an ooey-gooey treat.

I am very pleased with these chips and you can get a coupon for 55 cents off an Enjoy Life product on their website.

The other new Enjoy Life product is Double Chocolate Crunch granola. I know that finding a peanut, nut and dairy-free granola is tough. Look no further. This granola is yummy right out of the bag and equally delicious in a bowl with milk (cow, soy, rice or otherwise).

This granola hits the spot when you need a quick chocolate fix!

Enjoy Life products are available at dozens of online retailers and at many grocery stores.

I'm off to have another one of those brownies!

Fall Holiday Chocolates That are Also Allergy Friendly

I enjoy making my own simple dairy and nut-free chocolates using a candy mold. If however, you are searching for something special this holiday season for a food allergic loved one, check out Premium Chocolatier's products. How elegant is a box of pumpkin truffles for maybe a hostess gift. Kids will love the stand-alone chocolate turkeys for a fun thanksgiving treat and their mini-chocolate cheesecakes (yup, they are dairy and nut free too!) would be a welcome gift to anyone who has never been able to indulge in a traditional box of chocolates.

I have always been satisfied with my Premium Chocolatier orders and they are perfect for those times when I want something distinctive that I can't make at home. They also offer gluten-free chocolates, dairy free chocolate covered pretzels and their Milkless candy bar tastes just like a traditional Hershey® bar- honest!

Chocolate does make life a little sweeter.

Dairy Free Chocolate Chips

I do love chocolate! When I realized that my Ghiradelli milk chocolate chips were no longer an option in our new world of food allergy, I was a bit panicked. Well, maybe panicked is a bit strong...

no, taking away my favorite chocolate chips did cause panic!

So, we embarked on a tasting of dairy free chocolate chips.  I was not interested in mini-chocolate chips. I prefer the regular size for most of my baking. Fortunately I discovered Barry Callebaut chips. I swear to you, you'll never miss the dairy in these chips. I order them from The Allergy Grocer, as they're not carried in stores. This works great, except:

•  the chips can't be shipped during the summer months due to high temps and melting
• they're awfully expensive, especially with the shipping...

but who can put a price on a good chocolate chip?

Imagine my excitement recently while shopping at Wegmans's, when I noticed their store brand of chocolate chips is dairy free. I bought a bag, giddy at the thought of saving on those shipping costs. We had a blind taste-testing in our home that night.

No comparison. Barry Callebaut wins out.

So, I'll keep ordering multiple 5 lb. bags of Barry Callebaut chips from The Allergy Grocer, but I'm always willing to do more taste-testing!

Any suggestions?

By the way, Allergy Grocer offers free shipping on orders over $100. Go ahead, you can do it...

Enjoy Life Helps Food Allergic Consumers

"Don't Worry, Eat Happy" is Enjoy Life's slogan. I love it and wish I could feel that free most of the time. It's hard to find safe food for someone with food allergies. Enjoy Life has created a Survival Guide to help anyone who follows a special diet.

Check out their great information on a variety of food allergy topics.

While I'm at it, I'll plug their great dairy-free chocolate chips, available in the specialty section of my local grocery store. Now that makes me happy!