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Mickey and the Roadster Racer Birthday

Carter turns 5 on Monday, and today we are having some family over to celebrate. Carter found these cute decorations on amazon prime and helped put everything together. The decorations from amazon were $14.00 and very easy to assemble. Chloe did the pom poms and Carter did the rest. We’ll share some photos today of the party. For the cake, I took a shortcut this year. we ordered from HyVee bakery. They have an amazing assortment of cakes and they taste AMAZING! For miss. Chloe, I’m going to stop at Whole Foods and get a package of Nutphrees cupcakes and her and I will definitely have our own little cakes.…
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Those Costco Blueberries…

I’m sure this has happened to you. You get to the grocery store and the produce looks amazing, so you over buy? Yep. {Raises Hand} Guilty. Maybe it’s my crazy, creative left brain that just goes nuts with how beautifully displayed everything is {ahem, HyVee + Metcalfes Sentry for sure}. So perfect + colorful. Generally, we do a good job eating up our produce. Its summer, so eating fresh is absolutely more enticing. This week we purchased jumbo boxes of blueberries, grapes and strawberries for the 4th of July festivities and recipes. WELL…it was a little overboard. Strawberries and grapes are gone; however, the blueberries! They were just chilling here…
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Root Beer Floats

Summer! Summer is a time to enjoy desserts guilt free. We are so active in the warm months that one dessert a day, that the kids choose, is totally ok with me. It was hot and we had been to a few playgrounds, the kids decided the Gigis Root Beer Floats were going to be dessert . I’ve had many questions this year about ice cream safety. I’ve done the research, the MOST safe ice cream is vanilla Breyers Natural Vanilla that is also Gluten Free. When I called Breyers earlier this year, two customer service reps confirmed the nut free status, free of cross contact as well. Chloe also…
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Nutphrees Cupcakes

We had an awesome 4th of July – and I really hope you did, too. We had a big discovery while on vacation; NUTPHREES CUPCAKES are now being distributed to the lovely state of Wisconsin. This is a huge. A real game changer. Safe nut-free baked items will now be available for pick up at your local grocery store for birthdays + parties. I’m so thankful for this brand, Nutphrees, from the Chicagoland area. I’ve talked about them before on nutfreemomblog and this is my other favorite feature of this evolving company, delivery. In Madison, WI, they are at Whole Foods. In the Milwaukee area, they are at a few…
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Dove Chocolate

Dove has several types of chocolate made in a dedicated nut free facility. The following products will now be completely worry-free: Silky Smooth Milk Chocolate Large Bar Silky Smooth Dark Chocolate Bar Silky Smooth Raspberry & Dark Chocolate Swirl Large Bar PROMISES® Silky Smooth Dark Chocolate PROMISES® Silky Smooth Milk ChocolatePROMISES   ® Silky Smooth Dark Chocolate PROMISES® Silky Smooth Milk ChocolatePROMISES PROMISES ® Silky Smooth Raspberry & Dark Chocolate Swirl PROMISES® Silky Smooth Caramel Milk Chocolate Silky Smooth Milk Chocolate Singles Bar Silky Smooth Dark Chocolate Singles Bar. They released the following statement: We are pleased to announce that we now have a large number of our DOVE® Milk…
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4th of July Menu

In our house, this is actually the 3rd of July menu. On the 4th, we hang out at my Aunt Martha’s House for a family get together. We love it, there are lots of laughs, swimming and of course, amazing food prepared by my Aunt! Our cookout begins on the 3rd with friends and family coming over in the afternoon to socialize and have a few laughs. We love to hang out on the balcony and watch all of the people make their way down to the lakefront. We put our blankets down on the grassy hill to hold our seats for the big show. And while we wait, we…
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Dairy Queen & Nut Allergies

It is summer, and a steamy one at that. We’re all frantically reading labels and trying to find cool summertime treats for our kiddos and friends. It is certainly tricky when you have a food allergy, to say the least. Over the past year we have become good friends with our neighborhood Dairy Queen. Each Dairy Queen is a little different, and establishing a relationship is crucial when you have an allergy. The DQ that we frequent has a few “approved” by MOM items on its menu. The soft serve and pre-packed Starkiss popsicles are some of them. How do we DQ? Know your DQ or talk to a manager…
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Lite Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

I fully intended on blogging tonight about my failed recipe disaster, minus an oven fire. You see, any creation that comes out of a kitchen with two wild animals roaming freely is bound to end in disaster, eventually, if not regularly. I regularly mess things up in the kitchen when I’m cooking / baking, mostly because I’m half responding to the random MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM questions buzzing in my ear. The point is not to dwell on it, then just eat it or throw it out and move on…to McDonalds. Fortunately, luck was on our side tonight. We were multitasking ninjas and decided it was a splendid time to…
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Olbrich Botanical Gardens – Madison, WI

June, the beginning of summer in the mid-west and it is always a busy month in our household. It’s usually the last week of school, followed by the beginning of pool season, backyard play times, neighborly hangouts and the one big event I still help plan, Olbrich Garden’s Rhapsody in Bloom! This fundraiser is important since it helps keep the gardens fee for the public to enjoy. Yes, Olbrich is amazing + gorgeous + free! What is Olbrich Gardens?! It is a botanical garden that sprawls 16 acres with an array of paths and stone trails to stroll. It is host to the only Thai Pavilion in North America, which…
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Rhubarb Compote & Overnight Oats

Today is so exciting! The summer slimdown 2018 food challenge starts and I’m already off to a great start thanks to food prepping in advance. This morning consisted of drinking 16oz water and taking vitamin C and probiotic. Then I made my usual CCN mango mint lime smoothie (from 2 food challenges ago) and had my morning cup of coffee, sans sugar and dairy. The picture above is my morning snack. easy. Rhubarb Compote 4 cups chopped rhubarb 1/4 cup maple syrup 2 cups cherries (I used strawberries) Preheat oven to 350 Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil Add your ingredients to the pan and mix around to combine…
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Healthy Pancakes

Sounds like an oxymoron, right? As we were shopping this week, we stumbled upon these pancakes, which are made in a peanut/tree nut free facility. They also offer gluten free pancake mixes. Hodgson Mill Buttermilk Multi Grain Pancake Mix is worth it! The kids cleared their plates and didn’t grumble about Mom’s “Healthy pancakes” hahaha. These pancakes contain: Stone ground whole wheat four oat bran whole grain yellow corn meal flax seed buttermilk cane sugar baking soda salt We made the first batch, then used this recipe to thicken it up: 3/4 cup pancake mix Use 1/3 cup milk 1 egg 1 tbsp oil 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp…
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Nut Free Mom Box

The wait is OVER! Nut Free Mom Box is available now. This is personal. From me to you. Let me help you reduce the stress for your next family vacation, trip to Disney, Grandma + Grandpa’s house. Wherever you are going, let me help take that “extra snack packing” element off your shoulders. There is already so much to do before traveling, the allergy kit doesn’t have to be something you worry about. The Nut Free Mom Box is 100% customizable. The pre-packaged box includes the items shown on my etsy shop, but we can make it fit you and your family perfectly. My daughter has severe nut allergies, and…
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2 Week Summer Slimdown Challenge

If you’ve followed me for a while, you know how much I love Cara Clark Nutrition’s healthy eating plans. Occasionally, I get into a cooking / healthy eating rut. Lazy, I don’t want to plan my own menu or search for new recipes. I also need a gentle reminder to keep my body moving every single day. Cara Clark’s plan fits my lifestyle so well. There are no games, counting, or crazy diets to follow. This is all real food – stuff you normally get at your local grocery store with some guided work outs and easy to make healthy snacks. The part that I love the most is the…
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Allergy Friendly Ice Cream

Its summer! And I’ve had a lot of traffic on the  blog regarding ice cream. In November, I met the very amazing and talented SPOKIN. Check them out as well as this link for safe ice cream. https://www.spokin.com/dairy-free-food-allergy-friendly-ice-cream/
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