Soy Free Mini Pita Pockets from Whole Foods

Hi All. I also wanted to share another great find for break alternatives that is soy free. I found these at Whole Foods and will post a picture once I get home. For the kids' lunches, I usually toast these up in my toaster oven, wrap with foil, and keep warm using my Warmables Lunch Kit. UPDATE: I just posted the picture of the Mini Pita Pocket bag.

 

Latest Update:  My sister discovered some soy free pita pockets at Giant while visiting me this summer.  The brand is Joseph's.

I recently also discovered a regular loaf of bread at Giant that my daughter can eat as well.  It does have soy lecithin, which is why the label says contains soy, but as I have noted in a previous post, my daughter is ok with soy lecithin, which applies to many soy sensitive or soy allergic people.  The brand is Giant's brand of Butter Bread.  I was so happy to see this since it has been a long time since she has had just a regular piece or loaf of bread.

Soy Free Sugar and Regular Ice Cream Cones

I wanted to share these ice cream cones with you all that you can find at the regular grocery store or places like Whole Foods. My little one is really enjoying eating ice cream again now that she doesn't have to bypass the cone :). These come in both regular and sugar cones. We just get the regular cones since the girls prefer those to the sugar cones.

Another Soy Free Snack Idea

I posted a while back on Soy Free Snack Ideas: http://handychickadee.blogspot.com/2013/02/soy-free-snack-ideas.html I found another kind of Lays Chip called Wavy Garlic and Sea Salt, which is very tasty and soy free. In my case, I look for both soy and onion. The Wavy Garlic and Sea Salt is both onion free and soy free. Also, it contains no MSG, which is great. Check it out. Enjoy.

Soy free take out pizza places

I have seen some questions about where to go or soy free pizza. Sometimes it is just nice to be able to order a pizza as an easy dinner. Pizza Hut, Little Caesars, and Dominos are not options so then what??? Papa Johns is an option as long as the dough is original hand tossed instead of the "thin crust".  My daughter did fine with cheese pizza from Papa Johns at a birthday party we were recently at.  Here is a link to Papa Johns allergen info:  Papa Johns Allergen Info.  Two other places that I frequent for pizza are Vapianos and Vocellis. The pizza is not only soy free to include the sauce and read, but it is deeeeeeeelicious. My kids love it. At Vapianos, we usually get the Americana, cheese, or half and half. At Vocellis we get the pepperoni and sausage toppings. Http://www.vocellipizza.com or http://www.vapianointernational.com/.  Even if you don't have either of those in your area, look up places that aren't so commercialized like papa johns and Pizza Hut. They typically make their own sauce and bread without all the added chemicals and soy. Good luck. If anyone knows of any other places, please comment. 

An Idea for Staying In Tune with Your Child's School Life

As the school year starts up, we begin to get back into the routine of homework, school events, uniforms, fundraisers, etc. In some schools, they provide a class roster with contact information for the parents of the children in the classroom. What I started doing with both my children is using Shutterfly's Free Create a Site using their Classroom template. When I received the roster for both my children's classrooms, I set up 2 sites, one for my first grader's teacher's class and the other for my 2nd grader's teacher's class. You can use the online wizard during the creation process, and it makes the process really easy and seamless. The shutterfly sites are great for having a one stop shop for looking at classroom pics, homework assignments, classroom events and announcements, parent volunteer sign-up information, etc. There is also a message board section where you can email all the members. I don't know about you all, but my email is a mess so this will help me to keep track of the assignments, announcements, contact info, school events, and volunteer opportunities. Anywho, I thought I'd share this for those of you with a school aged child or children. It's just a nice way of staying in tune with what is going on, keeping those communication lines open.

How to Loosen those Darn Nail Polish Caps

So my daughters and their friends were having a manicure party and a few of the caps were so tight. Instead of giving myself a blister from trying to twist it open, I was able to just turn it upside down and run warm water over the bottom of the cap. Then, I took a Q-tip, dipped it in some acetone, and just outlined the area under the cap where the grooves are. That was it. I then was able to twist the cap open. So don't hurt yourself trying to open that stubborn nail polish cap. Instead, use that energy for giving yourself a beautiful manicure/pedicure :).

How to Get Tree Sap off your Car Easily

My next door neighbor went camping over the weekend and parked his new car in a shady spot under a tree. Well, he came home Sunday and immediately started washing his new car. He had a lot of tree sap spots that he was trying to get rid of without scratching the paint on his new SUV. I brought over some bug off spray thinking that might work, but it didn't. So I did some googling and discovered that you can use anti-bacterial gel to get rid of sap on the car. Indeed, what ended up working is using anti-bacterial hand gel and make-up remover pads...the cotton-like ones. So with a squirt of the gel onto the affected areas, he washed the spots away with the round cotton-like make-up remover pads. Easy, right? Haha. Anyways, I thought I'd share that on my blog for those of you who find yourself in a similar predicament. So the next time you are given a free sample of anti-bacterial gel, don't throw it away. It has proven to be very useful outside of just what it is meant to be used for.

Finally!!! Something that works to pack hot lunches.

I have been on the hunt for something, other than a thermos, to keep my daughters' lunches warm. My younger one is in 1st and older daugher is in 2nd. I had been using thermoses to keep their food warm, but it wasn't so kid friendly when it comes to opening the lids at lunch. Also, certain foods just don't work right in a thermos. Anyways, I came across the warmables kids' lunch kit online at http://www.warmables.com and loved the concept of using cherry pits. I have been using the lunch kits for my kids, and they definitely work. Both my girls are so happy, especially my younger one because she can open the velcro warmables pouch all by herself, and the tupperwear that came with the kids is also easy to open. You can use your own tupper wear as well. I even toasted some pita bread, and wrapped it in foil, and threw it in the warmables pouch. Also, the colors of the kid's lunch kit warmables pouches are very nice. I got the pink and the aqua one. The pouches are a perfect size for the typical kids lunch bags. I bought the lunch bags for my girls from target. I put the pouch in and have enough room for snack and then a drink in the side pouch pocket. This is a must have for kids and/or adults who pack lunch.

Our Experience on the Disney Cruise aboard the Disney Dream August 2013

Hello Everyone. The girls and I just returned from our first Disney Cruise out of Port Canaveral. It was truly a vacation that we will always remember and most likely, repeat :). It was 4 days and 3 nights. The flight from Dulles was perfect. We left first thing in the morning. At the baggage claim, our chauffeur, Steve, was waiting for us. He was extremely nice and treated all three of us like princesses. The girls and I road in our own private car, and Steve dropped us at the Disney Cruise Line terminal point. Everything was very organized and went quite smoothly. We used a company called InterPlex. I thought the price was reasonable after doing some online searches. I just wanted us to have a really special experience down to the transportation to and from the port terminal, and it was :). Right before stepping on to the boat, there was a Disney crew there to announce our arrival. It was and felt awesome!!! I will tell you that I have cruised before on Carnival and Royal Carribean, which were very nice. However, Disney really knows how to bring service and cleanliness to that next level and then some. The girls and I were so impressed. I didn't have to lift a finger. I won't go into every detail, but I'll just name some of the highlights.
* At dinner, our server and assistant server cut any of the food that needed to be cut for the girls, while looking at me saying, "Mama, you eat your food and enjoy. We will take care of the girls." On the first night after the assistant server finished cutting up the chicken for Jess, Jess looked over at me saying, "Mama, he cut up my food. Do you think he thinks he's my baba????" hahahaha....she had me laughing and smiling all at the same time.
* I was a little worried at how Jess's soy sensitivity would be handled, but it was not an issue AT ALL. Our server, Anthony from Phillipines, planned out what the meals would be for Jess the night prior. All meals were prepared for her and ready for the next day....down to the outside barbecue on Day 3. I'm totally serious. I would just give whichever server our cabin number, and he/she would know immediately and get the food. Also, at the pizza places and snack shops, they personally made a soy/onion free pizza for us in 4 minutes...no problem. It was really something. When we booked the tickets, the agent told me that Disney will make the proper arrangements for allergies, but I had no idea. I'm serious. I had no idea it would be this amazing and stress free.

* The Disney Castaway Cay Island is absolutely marvelous. It is Disney's own private island, and it is so clean, relaxing, and just beautiful. The three of us really enjoyed it!!!
* The shows were so magical. I recommend getting there about 15 minutes early to get the good seats up in front section in the middle. The girls had never experienced shows like this, and it was just as magical for me.
* Deck 11 is where all the pool/slide/Nemo's Reef/hot tub, etc are located. There is also a huge slide called the Aquiduct. We will probably do that next time.
* It is so nice to be able to take pictures with all the characters and not wait in lines where it's 90+ degrees outside :).
* It's so nice to be able to do all the activities and eating on the Disney Dream and be able to get some chill time in your cabin when you need to. We would take breaks here and there so it was so peaceful and convenient to just walk up to our deck and just hang for a bit, and then go back out to party :).
* When you are on the ship, you don't see all these electronic devices and people messing around with their smart phones, ipads, laptops, etc. People are just enjoying themselves and relaxing. I loved that.


Some things that we will do next time are:

* Instead of spending too much time in Nassau, we will go to the movie theater to see one of the movies.
* Going to the Fireworks show.
* We will take some time to go to the Spa Salon on the ship.
All in all, it was an awesome vacation for all of us. It's worth every cent!!!