Nut-Free Supermaket Finds Friday: Enjoy Life Foods (TM) Granola!

 

Granola makes a healthy snack and a nutritious add-in to many recipes, but as you may have discovered, a good nut-free granola is hard to find. So that's why I chose this week's Nut-Free Supermarket Friday find: Enjoy Life Foods Nut and Gluten-Free Granola. This flavorful and healthy snack comes in three flavors: Cinnamon Raisin Crunch, Very Berry Crunch and Double Chocolate Crunch. (Double yum).

We love all three at my house, not only as a snack but as a great recipe add-in. For example, the Cinnamon Raisin Crunch makes a tasty addition to several recipes I have on this blog including as part of the streusel topping for my Nut-Free Sour Cream Coffee Cake (just add a half a cup to the streusel for flavor and crunch) and it's the granola I use for my Honey Granola Muffins.

You can also stir any of the flavor varieties into oatmeal or add it to my nut-free granola bars in place of chocolate chips.

The Enjoy Life Foods web site has nutritional and ingredients info for each variety. Here's some information on the Cinnamon Raisin Crunch flavor:

Crispy bites of brown rice granola sprinkled with raisins and a touch of cinnamon!


Ingredients:
Brown Rice Flakes, Evaporated Cane Juice, Brown Rice Syrup, Raisins*, Rice Crisps (Rice Flour, Rice Bran, Raisin Juice Concentrate, Honey, Salt), Inulin (Chicory Root Fiber), Ground Cinnamon, Ground Flaxseed, Salt, Natural Cinnamon Flavor, Rosemary Extract.
*Sulfite-Free


Allergen Info
Gluten Free, Wheat Free, Dairy Free, Peanut Free, Tree Nut Free, Egg Free, Soy Free, Fish Free, Shellfish Free.
Source: Enjoy Life Foods web site.

I buy Enjoy Life Nut and Gluten Free Granola at my local supermarket down the street ( a division of SuperValu); it is also widely available at Whole Foods and other natural foods stores. Enjoy Life's web site has a store locator. They also have a full list of recipes for each of their products on their site. Sign up for their newsletter to gain coupon savings, also on their site.

You can also check the Enjoy Life Foods web site for full nutritional/allergen info on their other granola flavors and products.

I hope you find it on your local supermarket shelves, but can also order online!

Note: Nut-free supermarket Friday finds products are chosen for their peanut and tree nut-free status. They may contain other top allergens; please evaluate your own allergy needs regarding any products mentioned here. Thank you!

Nut-Free Recipe for Back to School: Nut-Free Granola Muffins with Honey

Enjoy Life Cinnamon Raisin Crunch...yum!

Back to school time is upon us and that means parents are looking for healthy but yummy foods that kids can use to refuel. Why not try these nut-free granola and honey muffins? I adapted this recipe from several muffin/quick bread recipes I already use. They are wholesome, tasty and perfect for a quick breakfast or energy-boosting snack.

What I love about this recipe is that you can vary it to your family's own tastes. For example, add some dried fruit in place of some of the nut-free granola (from Enjoy Life Foods--it's awesome) or add some coconut if your kids can have it. Use some whole wheat flour in place of the all-purpose (but be sure to add a little more liquid or the muffins will be dry.)

If you like, add about 1/2 cup of Sun Butter to the recipe instead of honey. If you deal with egg allergies, replacing the eggs with a half cup of unsweetened applesauce or a mashed banana would be delicious. Even if you don't deal with egg allergies, adding a mashed banana to this in place of honey would increase the nutritional value and taste great. (Those of you with egg allergies, feel free to add your own egg replacements.)

Hungry yet? Here's the recipe.

Nut-Free Granola Muffins (basic recipe)

Ingredients:

1 stick of unsalted butter, slightly softened
2/3 cup brown sugar (I use dark brown)
1/4 to 1/2 cup honey (adjust according to how sweet you want the muffins)
2 large eggs
1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice ( I use McCormick)
1/2 tsp salt (Morton's fine sea salt is really good for baking)
1/4 cup 2% milk (a little more if using any whole wheat flour)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (I like Fage brand)
2 cups Enjoy Life nut-free granola (I use the Cinnamon flavor)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line two 12 cup muffin pans with 16 cupcake liners.

Using a standing mixer or an electric handheld mixer, cream the butter, brown sugar and honey in a large bowl until very well mixed and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time (or egg replacer), mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla extract.

Stir together the milk and yogurt. Set aside.

Sift together dry ingredients except for the granola. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture a little at at time, alternating between the milk/yogurt mixture. Do not over beat.




My trusty Kitchen Aid.

Turn off the mixer and stir in the granola by hand until well-combined.

Fill the muffin cups about 2/3 full, not all the way to the top. Bake about 20 minutes (I check at 18 minutes) until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool on a wire rack. Serve with butter, honey, cream cheese,  a sprinkling of powdered sugar or just plain. These are also great served warm.

The finished product!

Food Allergies and Valentine's Day: Make It Sweet

What is Valentine's Day without chocolate? If you haven't ordered yet, you'll want to quickly snap up some nut-free treats from Vermont Nut Free Chocolate, pronto! From truffles to heart-shaped candy, it's all good and 100% nut-free, facility, products, everything..

Peanut Free Planet is another online retailer with a wide variety of treats perfect for Valentine's Day. I recently ordered some Seth Ellis Chocolatier SunButter Cups from Peanut Free Planet and they just arrived! Can't wait to dig in...but I'll hold off until after school. Don't want my kids to miss out!

Enjoy Life Foods offers this yummy allergy-friendly Valentine's Day recipe you can try with your family. I found pink Jet Puffed Brand (by Kraft Foods) marshmallows at my local supermarket (marshmallows are used in the above recipe). They contain gelatin but no egg whites for those of you dealing with dairy and egg allergies as well as nut allergies. My kids loved them--the marshmallows are even heart shaped.

What about school parties? Food is offered at school on Valentine's Day for many of us. For example, our school is offering an ice cream blast on Monday to celebrate the holiday. I was given advance notice from the teacher, which was great. However, I will be putting my Cuisinart into action and sending my daughter with her own ice cream that day.

What are some good non-edible treats to suggest for an allergy-friendly classroom? Every school kid likes pencils, stickers and other non-edibles. If another parent wants suggestions for edible treats, Smarties brand candies and Dum Dum Suckers are two kid favorites that are free of the top 8 food allergens. These are easily found in the supermarket, so that's a bonus. Stay away from Brach's conversation hearts (nut allergy warnings) and all chocolate treats; chocolate is just too risky for nut allergies and kids with dairy allergies can't have it, either.

For more tips on a safe, sweet and successful Valentine's Day class party, check out this link to my previous post on the topic!

Food Allergy News: Enjoy Life Foods Cookies, Now Even Tastier!

I was so excited when Enjoy Life Foods contacted me recently about their new cookies, complete with new packaging! My headline directly quotes the cookie boxes with its "Now Even Tastier" text, and it's easy to see what they're talking about. I pretty much had to wrestle the box of Lively Lemon Cookies away from my youngest daughter. Yes, they're THAT GOOD. You can even smell the delicious lemon aroma the minute you open the box.

We also sampled Snickerdoodles and Double-Chocolate Brownie cookies, the latter made even more amazing by the addition of Enjoy Life's dairy-free, nut-free chocolate chips. Snickerdoodles have all the wonderful cinnamon flavor and chewy texture you love, but with none of those pesky food allergens.

My whole family thought that each flavor of these delightful cookies were packed with flavor and that they had a great, chewy "soft baked" texture. Enjoy Life cookies cater to several different food allergies and intolerances, but you would never know they are "allergy-friendly" just based on taste alone. Plus, each is made with wholesome, natural ingredients so they're better for your kids than many other cookie brands out there.

The other thing that's great for kids with nut allergies is that all Enjoy Life products are created in dedicated, nut-free facilities. So you never have to wonder "Is this safe?" because it is. No cross-contact issues here, folks, so all you have to do is savor the cookies without worry.

I am always happy to hear about a new or improved Enjoy Life Product and I will be buying these again and again. I also recommend these cookies to my daughter's class and Girl Scout Troop meetings because NONE of the "Top 8" food allergens are present in these cookies and they also contain no sesame or sulfites. They're good for just about any allergy--and they taste good. A difficult combination to find, but Enjoy Life definitely achieves that here.

Please click this link to learn more about Enjoy Life and their fabulous line of products. You can also click the link to get some money-saving coupons!

Note: I was not compensated for this review, other than a few cookie samples!

Food Allergy-Friendly Chocolate Treats from Enjoy Life Foods: Boom Choco Boom!

I was SO excited to receive samples of delicious Boom Choco Boom candy bars from our friends at Enjoy Life Foods! And check out the smile on my daughter's face as she displays her candy bar in the photo. Let me just say the bar was GONE a few minutes after that photo was taken.

What are Boom Choco Boom bars? They are delicious dairy-free, gluten-free and NUT-FREE bars of chocolatey goodness. The bars are made with rice milk and they come in several varieties including dark chocolate, milk chocolate and crispy rice chocolate--my daughter's favorite (and mine.) We do not need to avoid dairy around here but let me tell you, people, these bars disappeared quicker than you can say "Hey, are there any more of those Boom Choco Boom bars left?" My entire family, including my daughter without any food allergies LOVED these bars.

One thing I really enjoyed about them was they have all the chocolate taste but a much lighter feel on the palate due to the rice milk. They don't "overfill" your tummy. This may be why my oldest kept asking to eat more of these. She told me to tell my readers that she "thought she was gonna die" if I didn't give her another crispy rice bar right after the first one. So of course I did. What's a mom to do?

These bars are available at Whole Foods stores throughout the U.S.--look in the candy section. In the Whole Foods I shop at, the candy section is located near the deli and bakery aisles. If you can't find them, you can also order them directly from Enjoy Life. Follow this link to get a coupon for Boom Choco Boom!

Nut-free chocolate is hard to find--nut-free, gluten-free and dairy-free chocolate that tastes great is even harder to find. I think these candy bars would make great stocking stuffers.

FTC Note: I received food samples but no compensation for this review.

Nut-Free Trail Mix from Enjoy Life Foods!

I recently had the good fortune to try the new Enjoy Life Foods product No Nuts! Nut-Free Trail Mix! "No Nuts" Trail Mix from Enjoy Life is what we've been waiting for at my house. My daughter always loved the idea of trail mix--but all brands always contained peanuts or tree nuts.

Not anymore! Enjoy Life "No Nuts" Trail Mix to the rescue. It's a great treat for my daughter to bring to school and she's already gotten a lot of her (non-allergic) friends interested in it.

We tried both flavors: "Mountain Mambo" and "Beach Bash." Mountain Mambo has pumpkin seeds, chocolate chips and more delicious salty-sweet flavors. Beach Bash has dried apricots, cranberries, sunflower seeds and more.

Each flavor is free of peanuts, tree nuts, gluten, dairy and soy. Be aware that the flavors do contain sunflower seeds if that's an allergy concern for you.

How wonderful to have a sweet and salty but healthy snack for my kids. They've both rushed to eat this delish trail mix after school and it's great to have this option.

My daughter's review of both flavors was "They're salty, crunchy and sweet. Just kind of perfect!" I would agree. I think she may have had a slight preference for Mountain Mambo because of the chocolate chips--she's a chocoholic. Don't know where she gets that from.

Click this link to go directly to the Enjoy Life web site page devoted to No Nuts! Trail Mix.

You can find No Nuts! Trail Mix at Whole Foods. I spoke with the Enjoy Life rep and she said this new product is now available at all Whole Foods stores. You can also order online at the Enjoy Life website.

Note: Other than free food samples, I received no other reimbursement for this review.

Nut-Free Holiday Sweets and Treats!

Whew! It's been a busy week around here with work, holiday prep and all the other stuff that goes along with the holiday season. With all of the holiday magic I'm trying to create, it occured to me that many of you may be wondering where to find safe, nut-free sweets and treats for the holiday season. If you're new to nut allergies, the holidays can be an especially confusing time. What is safe to serve? Where do I find allergy-free treats that I can really trust?

You're in luck because I have some great suggestions! First, A & J Bakery in Rhode Island has some super-yummy holiday treats at their in-store bakery right now including -- gasp!-- nut-free Yule logs! I love those. They are also the home of the allergen-free gingerbread house, complete with plastic decorations, allergy-free candies and a full set of directions. You can order these kits online, so get going! Visit their website to learn more.

Next up is my all-time nut-free candy favorite, Vermont Nut-Free Chocolate! They've got their usual delicious array of Christmas-themed treats including peppermint bark--a family favorite--as well as chocolate "Skippers"--a nut-free M&M-style candy that are great for decorating cookies or cakes.

In addition, Vermont Nut-Free has chocolate coins for Hannukah as well as other Hannukah-themed candies. Be aware that Vermont Nut-Free, while completely safe for nut allergies, does contain milk, soy and egg in many of their products.

If you're looking for nut-free, dairy-free or egg-free cookies and candies, Divvies is the answer. They've got many delicious and colorful options, perfect for stocking stuffers or Hannukah treats.

If you're looking for treats that are free of the top 8 allergens, then of course you've got to check out the assortment from Enjoy Life Foods. Their site even has recipes that use their allergy-free ingredients, so be sure to stop by and see what's on offer.

If you're looking for delicious nut-free, egg-free and dairy-free baked goods--and you don't have time to bake-- look no further than Sweet Alexis Bakery. They've got a delicious assortment that my family is crazy about. These tasty baked goods are extremely high quality and they make a great gift! Or bring them to the family holiday party. Either way, you're gonna love them.

I hope this gets you off to a good start! And to my Jewish readers, Happy Hannukah!

Enjoy Life Foods Nut-Free Granola and Nut-Free Breakfast Cereals!!!

Recently I had the pleasure of receiving some samples of Enjoy Life Foods products including two varieties of nut-free granola and two breakfast cereals: Enjoy Life Crunchy Rice and Enjoy Life Crunchy Flax. Both of the cereals are

100% natural and sweetened with fruit juice and honey. The Crunchy Flax also has whole grain, Omega-3s and lots of good fiber.

When my daughters tried the Very Berry Granola and Cranberry Apple Granola, the response was the same: "Mmmmmmm."

My oldest daughter (pictured) is the one with the nut allergy and she's now mixing the cereal with the granola as a "trail mix" to bring for her school snack. Her little sister is really enjoying the granola as well--even though she doesn't need to eat nut-free. I think that's a testament to how tasty Enjoy Life products are!

It's hard to find nut-free granola so needless to say we are thrilled with these and will make a point of stocking up once our supply runs out (and the way things are going that may be today!)

My kids also love the breakfast cereal--and so do I. The flavor is great and the other thing I like is that it's not overly sweet. I'm always looking for ways to add flax to the diet and this is a delicious way of doing so. A few readers have asked recently about how to make a nut-free "streusel" topping for baked goods. I think either these of these cereals or the granola are a great way to add crunchy texture without the nuts! So there's another reason to love these products.

Best of all is the fact that all of these products are made in a dedicated nut-free facility. In fact, Enjoy Life is free of all of the top 8 allergens and are gluten-free as well. These items are "allergy-friendly" as every package states. "Nut-free facility" and "allergy-friendly" are two terms that mean SO MUCH to us when we're looking for safe foods for our kids. As many of us have discovered, natural foods can mean "chock full of nuts" or at least they will have had cross-contact. Not so with Enjoy Life Foods--you can eat nut-free as well as naturally. To me, that's like the Visa commercial: Priceless.

You can find Enjoy Life Foods products at many supermarkets including Whole Foods and your local grocery store. Or order online by visiting their web site: http://www.enjoylifefoods.com/. You can even download grocery store coupons on the site. Enjoy Life Foods are also now available in Canada.

Be on the lookout for more Enjoy Life Foods products--they're always coming up with more allergy-free choices.

Note: I received no compensation for this review other than food samples. The opinions expressed are mine and mine only.

Enjoy Life Foods Has a New Blog

Just wanted to give a shout out to one of my favorite companies, Enjoy Life Foods. They have a brand-new blog and I look forward to reading it.

Enjoy Life Foods also has the added bonus of being available in many grocery stories nationwide, so not only are they a tasty allergen-free choice, but they are also a convenient one.

Also, The Nut-Free Mom Blog appears on their blog roll. I just found out a few days ago and I'm honored to be in such great company--I see a couple of my blogger buddies there as well.

I have a little story to share about Enjoy Life Foods that illustrates why I love it so much.

A few weeks ago my youngest daughter was at her Daisy Scouts meeting and one of the leaders called me. She knew that I know about nut-free foods and was double-checking a snack they were about to serve the girls. One of the girls has a severe nut allergy, just like my oldest child.

Well, it was unclear from the label if the food was nut-free and I hung up the phone unable to shed any light on it.

I told my oldest daughter what had happened and she said "Don't we have some Enjoy Life Coco Loco Bars?" Yes, we did. In fact, I'd just bought them a day before.

She then offered to bring them to the meeting so the allergic Girl Scout could have a safe snack that we KNEW without a shadow of a doubt was nut-free. My daughter took the short walk over to the school herself and hand-delivered the goods. She told me later that the girl with the nut allergy had her face light up when she saw a "safe" food arrive in a package with the words "nut-free" all over it. Plus, Coco Loco are darn tasty.

Later, the Daisy Scout leader told me that she would keep the Coco Loco box for future meetings and that the girl's mother was ecstatic to learn that Enjoy Life Foods had saved the day. I think ELF got a few new fans that day.

So for all of you who may not have heard of this fabulous allergen-free food company, be sure to check out their web site and look for them at your local grocery store.

Bam! Emeril Takes on Allergy-Free Cooking

My kids have always loved famed chef and TV star Emeril Lagasse--maybe because he talks directly to the camera (as kids shows tend to do) or maybe because he made a Sesame Street cooking video several years ago--one of their favorite videos back in the preschool days.



Either way, he helped get them interested in food and cooking which turned out to be a good thing once we discovered my oldest daughter's severe nut allergies. We cook and bake all the time around here now and the kids enjoy pitching in to help.



So I was happy to discover this joint venture between Emeril and Enjoy Life Foods on YouTube. In it, Emeril visits a Whole Foods store and talks to families with all manner of food allergies and intolerance, including gluten intolerance and nut allergies.



Then, he demonstrates how to make allergy-free brownies that can be enjoyed by families with multiple food issues.



No matter what you think of Emeril, it's clear that the man loves food and is very enthusiastic about the subject so I think he's a great person to advocate for allergy-free food. His participation in this video also shows that food allergies have come a long way in reaching the public consciousness. First Martha Stewart posted allergy-free trick-or-treating tips on her web site and now Emeril tackles allergy-free cuisine! I'm encouraged when I see mainstream figures addressing the subject of allergy-free cooking and baking. It's just becoming an accepted thing--and as Martha would say, that's "a good thing."



Enjoy the clip!

Nut-Free Granola Bars--Where to Find Them

Granola bars are a great, quick and healthy snack--unless you have nut allergies. These bars are usually loaded with nuts or at the very least have come into contact with nuts during the manufacturing process.

I always enjoyed granola bars as a snack and have wished my children could enjoy them as well. They are so easy to pack in a backpack or lunchbox.

The good news is that there are more and more nut-free granola bars on the market these days. Two delicious versions that I've discovered are from Vermont Nut-Free Chocolate and Enjoy Life Foods. The only downside would be that these are a bit pricey. To help with the cost, click here to get an Enjoy Life Foods coupon. You can also find nut-free granola and similar nut-free snacks at FAB Snacks, founded by Jennifer B of the blog Food Allergy Buzz.

Enjoy Life Foods are available at many supermarkets across the U.S. including Whole Foods Market. They are also now available at Jewel grocery stores in the Chicago area--that's where I buy mine.

What are some reader favorites? I can't try them every granola bar out there, so let me know!