Screeeech, that's the sound of my soap box. Excuse me while I step up.
The start of school means some interesting challenges for my children. They have been in classrooms where the list on the door of forbidden foods has been as long as my arm. No nuts, peanuts, kiwi, egg, dairy, fish, shellfish....
No shellfish? This one made me snicker a bit since the luxury of shellfish will never make it on my kid's lunch.
The forbidden food list highlights an alarming trend about the number of allergies that children today are facing. It seems that there are more triggers for severe allergic reactions and the classroom can be a dangerous place for children who risk an anaphylactic reaction.
I cannot imagine the worry parents have when they send their child to school with a life threatening allergy.
It has never been posted no wheat or gluten products. There's a very good reason for that omission. My family won't die in the presence of breadcrumbs. We don't expect others to refrain from eating products with gluten. And I am thankful my worries don't include severe reactions.
Schools have been proactive about reducing the risk to children with severe allergies by banning peanuts and nuts in schools altogether.
A box of President's Choice peanut free products was sent to our household recently. The glutenator, the one child who could eat gluten, was thrilled. Here was enough peanut free snack food for months of school lunches. The celiacs were not thrilled; but they understand that their restrictions do not expand to encompass everyone.
It's a valuable lesson.
We squirreled the snack food out of sight, because it's just cruel to dangle a mountain of goodies in front of people who can't eat it. And I broke out the apron to bake gluten free muffins and other treats.
Would I buy peanut free treats? Before our celiac diagnosis, the answer would have been no since I made peanut free goodies myself. Now, it's not so easy. I almost never cook with wheat anymore. The risk of cross contamination is too high and the frantic cleaning is not that appealing.
Now I buy more ready made wheat products for the glutenators because it reduces risk to my family.
What am I preaching on my soap box?
We have a responsibility toward children to reduce the risk of danger. We cannot eliminate it entirely and there is a point at which each person will have to be aware of the risk. But as adults - it is our responsibility to reduce risk, teach awareness and provide safe places for our children.
I cannot guarantee there is no cross contamination from peanuts in our home. I cannot eliminate the risk of someone with a life threatening allergy having a reaction in my home. But I can contribute to reducing risk by having peanut free snacks on my child's lunch.
I'll buy that.
Showing posts with label Product Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Product Review. Show all posts
Monday, September 7, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Blue Menu
Not long ago, I was contacted by a representative for the PC Blue Menu line and asked if I would be interested in reviewing some of their products.
There are certain products with which I have had shameless love affairs; truffle oil is one and the President's Choice Chocolate chip cookies another. This cookie love affair has a long history, a bit longer than my marriage I might add. In fact, my infatuation dates back to the time when these cookies still wore their plain neon yellow no name wrapper.
But times changed and the plain yellow school uniform evolved into the Armani- esque President's Choice The Decadent Chocolate Chip packaging. Different suit but same love interest!
What does this have to do with my interest in the PC Blue Menu? I was very interested to try new products from Loblaws because they are constantly reinventing their offerings. Healthy and organic are two qualities which piqued my interest, but the bottom line would be how my family liked the food.
PC Organics European Extra Dark Chocolate
This is not technically part of the Blue Menu but chocolate is one of the favourite food groups in this house and we have our priorities....
There is nothing left but the wrapper from this chocolate bar (little snicker) and we would have licked the wrapper too if any chocolate sauce were smeared onto it! With 85% cocoa solids this is an over powering strong chocolate, too strong to eat straight up. But, the smoothness of the bar made the possibilities for this chocolate endless. It was the perfect candidate to make a decadent chocolate cream sauce which everyone loved.
Chocolate Orange Cream
100 g PC extra dark 85% chocolate, broken into bits
75 mL white sugar
250 mL heavy/whipping cream (unwhipped)
grated zest of one orange
Heat cream and orange zest over medium low heat until a slight skin forms and shimmers on the surface. Remove from heat and add sugar. Whisk until sugar is fully dissolved. If the sugar is not fully dissolved, place pan back on the heat momentarily. Remove once the sugar is dissolved and before adding the chocolate.
Add chocolate pieces and stir. The chocolate will begin to melt and the chocolate will appear curdled at the beginning. Don't despair! Keep stirring and it will become smooth.
This chocolate sauce is deliciously thick when warm and gorgeously spreadable when cold. For real sweet tooths, add more sugar.
PC Blue Menu Soybeans
The soybeans were a natural fit with my blog and I realised that, even though we eat beans quite a few different ways, there are no bean recipes on the blog.... there are no caviar recipes either but I digress...
In our house, fast food is a banana, eggs or canned beans. One of my favourite ways of eating beans is cold, with a drizzle of truffle oil and a squeeze of lemon. We love chick peas and kidney beans served this way. The test of these beans, was to try them in the same manner. They turned out to be a perfect plate for the salad since they had a smooth creamy texture.
Soybean Salad
1 can soybeans
one small grated zucchini
one medium grated carrot
sea salt
truffle oil
wedge of lemon
Open can of beans and pour into a colander. Rinse with cold running water. Let them drain. Place beans in small bowl. Drizzle with truffle oil, squeeze lemon and sprinkle sea salt over top. Put on top of bed of grated carrot and zucchini.
Interestingly, my husband preferred to drizzle the PC Omega Oil over his salad. But for me, the combination of beans and truffle oil can't be beat. However, we have been using the Omega Oil for dressing our salads and everyone has enjoyed it.
If I were to add two things to Blue Menu products, the first would be labelling that indicates whether or not an allergen is an ingredient in the natural flavour or colour. In our case, not everyone in our family can eat wheat. Therefore, we have to clearly know whether or not gluten is an ingredient; an ambiguous label is one that I tend to forgo in the grocery store. To the credit of the help line, they were incredibly courteous in answering questions and the few products we questioned did not contain gluten.
The second addition would be to add a box (or several) of the PC Decadent Chocolate Chip cookies to the sample. Er, it has nothing to do with the Blue Menu but everything to do with an ongoing illicit affair that I'm hiding from the celiacs in the family.
I'm shameless.
There are certain products with which I have had shameless love affairs; truffle oil is one and the President's Choice Chocolate chip cookies another. This cookie love affair has a long history, a bit longer than my marriage I might add. In fact, my infatuation dates back to the time when these cookies still wore their plain neon yellow no name wrapper.
But times changed and the plain yellow school uniform evolved into the Armani- esque President's Choice The Decadent Chocolate Chip packaging. Different suit but same love interest!
What does this have to do with my interest in the PC Blue Menu? I was very interested to try new products from Loblaws because they are constantly reinventing their offerings. Healthy and organic are two qualities which piqued my interest, but the bottom line would be how my family liked the food.
PC Organics European Extra Dark Chocolate
This is not technically part of the Blue Menu but chocolate is one of the favourite food groups in this house and we have our priorities....
There is nothing left but the wrapper from this chocolate bar (little snicker) and we would have licked the wrapper too if any chocolate sauce were smeared onto it! With 85% cocoa solids this is an over powering strong chocolate, too strong to eat straight up. But, the smoothness of the bar made the possibilities for this chocolate endless. It was the perfect candidate to make a decadent chocolate cream sauce which everyone loved.
Chocolate Orange Cream
100 g PC extra dark 85% chocolate, broken into bits
75 mL white sugar
250 mL heavy/whipping cream (unwhipped)
grated zest of one orange
Heat cream and orange zest over medium low heat until a slight skin forms and shimmers on the surface. Remove from heat and add sugar. Whisk until sugar is fully dissolved. If the sugar is not fully dissolved, place pan back on the heat momentarily. Remove once the sugar is dissolved and before adding the chocolate.
Add chocolate pieces and stir. The chocolate will begin to melt and the chocolate will appear curdled at the beginning. Don't despair! Keep stirring and it will become smooth.
This chocolate sauce is deliciously thick when warm and gorgeously spreadable when cold. For real sweet tooths, add more sugar.
PC Blue Menu Soybeans
The soybeans were a natural fit with my blog and I realised that, even though we eat beans quite a few different ways, there are no bean recipes on the blog.... there are no caviar recipes either but I digress...
In our house, fast food is a banana, eggs or canned beans. One of my favourite ways of eating beans is cold, with a drizzle of truffle oil and a squeeze of lemon. We love chick peas and kidney beans served this way. The test of these beans, was to try them in the same manner. They turned out to be a perfect plate for the salad since they had a smooth creamy texture.
Soybean Salad
1 can soybeans
one small grated zucchini
one medium grated carrot
sea salt
truffle oil
wedge of lemon
Open can of beans and pour into a colander. Rinse with cold running water. Let them drain. Place beans in small bowl. Drizzle with truffle oil, squeeze lemon and sprinkle sea salt over top. Put on top of bed of grated carrot and zucchini.
Interestingly, my husband preferred to drizzle the PC Omega Oil over his salad. But for me, the combination of beans and truffle oil can't be beat. However, we have been using the Omega Oil for dressing our salads and everyone has enjoyed it.
If I were to add two things to Blue Menu products, the first would be labelling that indicates whether or not an allergen is an ingredient in the natural flavour or colour. In our case, not everyone in our family can eat wheat. Therefore, we have to clearly know whether or not gluten is an ingredient; an ambiguous label is one that I tend to forgo in the grocery store. To the credit of the help line, they were incredibly courteous in answering questions and the few products we questioned did not contain gluten.
The second addition would be to add a box (or several) of the PC Decadent Chocolate Chip cookies to the sample. Er, it has nothing to do with the Blue Menu but everything to do with an ongoing illicit affair that I'm hiding from the celiacs in the family.
I'm shameless.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
