Allergen's in My Apple Juice?!

We usually buy our apple juice fresh from a local Orchard at the Farmer's Market, but earlier this week I ran out. So, when I came across a cold pressed 100% (1 ingredient) Apple Juice at Fresh & Easy yesterday I decided to give it a try since the Farmer's Market isn't until Sunday.

I glanced at the label to make sure there was indeed only 1 ingredient and put the juice in my  basket. It never even crossed my mind to check for an advisory label on apple juice yet, lo and behold, there it was....



...."Made in a facility that also handles Milk, Tree Nuts, Soy."  Thankfully I just happened to notice the advisory label while opening the bottle.

I really should know better by now to not assume or trust that anything is safe. Check out this box of cornstarch. I even found potatoes before with an advisory label reading, "May Contain Tree Nuts". You can never be too careful!



Our "Attempt" at Homemade Butter

After our homemade Ice Cream in a Baggie success I was feeling pretty domestic and thought I would give homemade butter a go. After all how hard could it be? I think we did this in elementary school.

Looks simple right?

I had some half & half in the fridge that needed to be used so the idea sounded genius. I filled a small mason jar about half way with the half & half, added a marble, put on the lid and shook...... and shook..... and shook some more. I passed the jar around to each of the boys and we all took turns doing laps around the kitchen shaking with anticipation which soon turned to doubt. The kids were over it, all of our arms were burning and we had no butter. I even made one last ditch effort and dumped the jar of half & half into the mixing bowl and put my mixer to work for a good 10 minutes. Still nothing.

Well come to find out, you can't make butter with half & half stupid! Heavy Cream is the magic ingredient. Duh! I did get something out this experience though..... A damn good arm work out!

Ice Cream in a Baggie - A Pinterest Summer Success!

In an attempt to keep my kids busy this summer I have become a Pinterest addict. I have found so many creative activities to keep them entertained and happy. One pin I was excited to try was this homemade ice cream in a baggie.

My kids love ice cream and Ive always wanted to make our own, but don't own an ice cream maker so this was perfect!

Here's what you need:

• 1 cup half & half
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup course salt
• 1 gallon-sized Ziploc bag
• 1 pint-sized Ziploc bag (I just used a sandwich bag since that's all I had)
• ice
• fresh fruit (optional)

Mix the half & half, sugar and vanilla together and pour into pint-sized Ziploc. Make sure the Ziploc is completely sealed.

Fill the gallon-sized Ziploc half way with ice and add salt.

Next, put the baggie with the half & half mixture inside the bag of ice and salt; seal.

Now shake like crazy for at least 5 minutes or until cream sets.

We took turns running around the backyard shaking our ice cream.

 Once the cream sets, quickly run the sealed pint-sized bag under cold water to remove the salt.

Open and enjoy quickly! Our ice cream melted pretty fast. I suppose we could have shook it a little longer, but patience were wearing thin and our hands were freezing! The ice cream was really good though. We added strawberries before digging in for a little extra fun.

  (I suggest making a baggie for each kiddo if your making it for more then one)

A Wicker Redo

My poor wicker chair has been in some serious need of a little tlc. I bought it probably 10 years ago at Ikea and it has somehow managed to find a place in our last 3 homes. However, it has been kicked outside at our current house where the weather has really taken its toll on the poor thing.
In fact, it was looking so pathetic that I almost threw it away. Then my husband, of all people, suggested a new coat of paint. Duh! Why didn't I think of that?

Two cans of yellow spray paint ( It really could have used three), a new bright red cushion I found on sale for six bucks at Target and we have a new wicker chair to atleast get us through the summer. Best of all, someone may actually sit on it now. Lord knows we can always use the additional outdoor seating.

Amazing Nut-Free Granola

I don't mean to brag or anything, but I'm going too; I make the best damn granola ever! It's true. My husband agrees it's the best granola he's ever had and to top it off, it's Nut-Free.

Now anyone with a peanut or tree nut allergy knows how difficult it is to find not only a safe granola, but a good granola. Well, look no further cause you just found it.

Amazing Nut-Free Granola

*You will need:

• 3 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut
• 3/4 cups GERBS peanut/tree nut free Raw Sunflower Seed Kernels
• 3/4 cups GERBS peanut/tree nut free Raw Pumpkin Seed Kernels
• 1 cup craisons
• 1/2 cup dried apricots; chopped
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
• 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

* If you are making nut-free, always read package ingredient list carefully and check for advisory labels.

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees.

Mix oats, coconut, seeds, craisons, apricots, spices and flaxseed together in a large mixing bowl.

Heat butter and honey together over low heat in a small saucepan till butter is completely melted. Stir in vanilla.

Pour butter mixture over dry ingredients and stir until evenly coated.

Spread mixture evenly onto parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 1hr 15min.

Allow to cool completely. Granola will still be soft when you first remove it from the oven, but will become crisp as it cools.

Once cooled, break into desired size chunks and store in an air tight container for up to  two weeks.

Recipe adapted from 100 Days of Real Food

Summer Fun with a Treasure Hunt

Round up some pirates booty and get the kiddos outdoors for some summer fun with a sandbox treasure hunt. Argh!

My kids both went to a pirate themed birthday party recently so I happened to have a pile of gold plastic coins, or "golden blooms" as we call them, and beaded "pirates treasure" necklaces. So when my husband picked up some new bags of sand for the sandbox, we decided to do a treasure hunt.

We tossed in the golden blooms and pirate treasures as we dumped in the bags of sand. Then the kids dug away filling their buckets with the treasures they uncovered. It was a great way to keep them outside and busy, especially if your like me and forget to count your golden blooms and necklaces. Oops! Just keep digging, I'm sure there's more. ;)

In fact, my five year old had so much fun, I have had to re-bury his bucket of treasures three times now. Then I just sit back, watch, maybe enjoy a glass of Yellow Tail and enjoy the sunshine and quiet while he digs till his little hearts content. Now that's what I call success!

Trader Joe's - Another reason not to trust a label

This is so frustrating to me! I have been looking for raw pepitas that are safe for my sons tree nut allergy to use in granola with little success. It seems as if every seed is processed with peanuts and/or tree nuts, so I was really excited when I found some at Trader Joe's with no advisory label. However, just because there was no allergy warning, I was still a bit hesitant about giving them to my son. Many of you, including myself,  have experienced issues with Trader Joe's products and there poor allergy labeling. This is why I rarely shop at Trader Joe's for anything other then bread (believe it or not, they're one of the only places I can find safe 100% whole wheat bread).

Luckily, I decided to contact Trader Joe's corporate office for confirmation about the safety of their raw pepitas and sunflower seeds in regards to my sons tree nut allergy and here was their reply:

Hello Trista,

Thank you for contacting us, and we do truly appreciate your comments. In response, our Raw Pepitas are packaged/processed on equipment with tree nuts. Of course all of our suppliers do observe Good Manufacturing Practices, which would entail segregating any of these ingredients and cleaning between each production run. However, to ensure your son's complete health and safety, we would not recommend consumption of this product. However, you will be pleased to know that our Sunflower Seeds are not processed in a facility with tree nuts.

We also want to assure you that we are indeed deeply concerned with the complete health, well-being and safety of all of our customers and crewmembers alike. This is exactly why we do voluntarily disclose any of the top 8 known allergens and ingredients in our products on our labeling for our customer review where other suppliers may not. However, as sensitivities may also tend to vary greatly, consulting with your healthcare professional is also the best rule of thumb in this regard. We also invite you to review additional information regarding our Allergen Labeling Standards via our website here:
http://www.traderjoes.com/about/product-faq.asp (see Item No. 8)

We do hope this information helps, and we thank you for shopping with us at Trader Joe's.

Sincerely,

Hazel
Trader Joe's
Customer Relations
Ugh! Don't try and take credit for looking after the well-being of your customers, and especially don't praise yourself for voluntarily disclosing the top 8 allergens and ingredients on your products unless you plan on disclosing this information on all your products! Their logic unfortunately just doesn't make much sense to me. Just another reminder to never trust a label!