Rice Krispies Treats Pumpkins- An Easy Allergy Free Halloween Treat for the whole Family

Aren’t these so cute?! You are going to love how easy this is and most importantly how FUN it is. You will definitely want to keep this recipe in mind for future Halloween parties. This recipe will include double instructions. One set for the adults and another for the kids. So while you’re busy at the stove, the kids are busy and happy and not wrapped around your legs 🙂 Yay! We love win-win situations!

Alright, so let’s get started with the most important info. The allergy info! This recipe is free of most allergens. It doesn’t need any hacks or hard-to-find ingredients. It’s free from the following common allergens:

• Peanut/ Tree Nut
• Dairy
• Fish/ Shellfish
• Gluten
• Eggs

THIS RECIPE DOES INCLUDE SOY. So if you or a loved one has a soy allergy, this recipe is not for you. (Sorry, soy allergy family!) If you’re not allergic to soy, read on and get ready to get cooking!

Ingredients

-6 cups of Kellog’s Gluten Free Rice Krispies (Make sure it says Gluten Free on the box!)

-4 cups of miniature marshmallows

-Black and Green icing pens

-Orange Food Coloring

-3 tbsp of Earth Balance buttery spread (or whatever your fav dairy-free spread is)

You will also need:

– 1 Large Bowl

-1 3D Pumpkin Mold

-Wax Paper or Foil

1. Adults: Prepare the work space. Clean the pumpkin mold and have the ingredients handy and pre-measured for your little helpers.

    Kids: Wash your hands, roll up your sleeves and put on your apron if you have one. Pour your Rice Krispies cereal into the large bowl.

2.  Adults: Melt 3 Tbsp of ‘butter’ over low heat in a medium saucepan. When the butter is melted, add your marshmallows and stir constantly until the marshmallows are

completely melted. Remove from heat and stir in a few drops of your orange food coloring. (Do one at a time, until you get a bright orange color) Pour your

mixture into the bowl over your cereal and mix until your mixture is evenly coated. Let the mixture sit for about 5 mins or so while you check out the ideas the

kids came up with.

    Kids: Think about what faces you want your pumpkins to have. Sketch some ideas on paper with your favorite crayons, colored pencils or markers.

3. Adults/Kids: Press a small handful of your mixture into your mold, put your wax paper or foil over the mold and flip. Lift the mold to reveal your pumpkin! Repeat this

step until you run out of your mixture.

*Tip: It helps to spray your hands and the mold with cooking spray or coat them both with a little bit of the buttery spread you used.*

4. Adults/Kids: Decorate your pumpkins will spooky or silly faces. Have fun!

These are the sketches we came up with. Mine is the one with the sunglasses B-)

A few of our pumpkin faces for inspiration

Enjoy! Have a safe and super fun Halloween!

Chuck E Cheese’s: my experience with this food allergy-friendly restaurant

This past weekend, I took my daughter to Chuck E Cheese’s for the first time. She’s 3-years-old so she was SUPER excited about it. To be honest, I was excited about it too! I haven’t been to Chuck E Cheese’s in…….20 years?! (Gosh, that sounds really weird) lol I knew she would have a blast playing the games and crawling through the tunnels and I was sure she’d get a kick out of meeting Chuck. (Is it weird that I always thought his name was Chuckie?) Anyways….

After a close friend of mine sent me a link to get coupons for our outing, I was really set on going. The only thing left to do? Check out the menu. I’ve found that it’s much easier to snag a menu and whatever allergen info either online or in-person prior to a family outing, rather than bombarding servers, cooks and managers with my concerns while they’re scrambling around taking orders. They’re busy and most of them have no idea what I’m taking about or what’s in the food, or how it’s cooked, or how serious my concern really is. Totally understandable. In my case, a server having to “guess” or have that “uh……..idk? i don’t think so. She’ll  probably be fine” sort of thing going on, it’s SO not okay with me . So, to save everyone’s sanity (mostly mine), I like to have everything planned out in reference to any allergens before I even leave the house.

That being said, I was very pleased with the allergy info on Chuck E Cheese’s website. Most restaurants make you jump through hoops to figure out what common allergens are in their food, even if they do have it posted online. Chuck E Cheese’s has an allergen finder option on their menu page that is user friendly in several ways.

• It’s easy to find
• You can customize your info based on what location you’ll be visiting
• It’s downloadable (I saved mine for future reference. Also a good idea to take it with you.)
• It lists each menu item and directly next to it, it lists all common allergens

Nice, right?

They even offer gluten-free pizza which I know is a huge deal for lots of families. So to sum my experience up, it was smooth sailing both before and during our visit. We ordered a small pizza and a small order of traditional buffalo wings. The price was reasonable. I spent about $20 and we ended up taking home a doggy bag. They bring your food to your table while you play so you don’t have to worry about sacrificing any play time. If you decide you just don’t want to eat their food or you’re attending a birthday party and need to bring your own cake or cupcakes? Not a problem.

Overall, I was very pleased with my experience at Chuck E Cheese’s from a food allergy family’s perspective. So my advice to you would be:

1. Print the allergy menu
2. Print the coupons
3. Get your family in the car
4. Kick back, and let the kids run wild. lol (FYI, they serve beer/wine at Chuck E Cheese’s 😉  I’m just sayin’ lol)