Eat Gluten-Free On Halloween And Every Other Day

Nowadays there are many kids that have different kinds of allergies, gluten being one of them.
Kids hate being different. There are ways parents can make sure they feel they're a part of special occasions and holidays like Halloween.

We spoke with a natural food expert, Andrea Donsky about how you do it.

Halloween is challenging.

This is how she makes it work for her young children.

" Personally," said Donsky, "what I do is when we are trick or treating, I do allow my kids to have some of the regular candy when they're with their friends. This way they can feel like everyone else when they're with their friends.

" But what I do when they come home is I'll switch the treats for something else. I'll pre-buy certain organic treats that don't have all the food coloring in it and i will switch it when we get home. Any excess, I'll give to my husband and he'll take it to work."

For every other day of the week, however, especially if your child is intolerant of gluten, you want to keep their palette primed, for tasting and enjoying healthy foods that are gluten-free.
Here are some options.

For breakfast, there are some great alternatives.

"Nature's Path," said Donsky, "makes several different types of cereal. They have an entire kids line of cereal. Try Whole O's instead of Cheerios. It looks the same, it just doesn't have the gluten. These are great breakfast alternatives.

"Some of the other things that parents can give their kids are for snacks. These crackers, Nut Thins, are made from almonds. They're made by a company called Blue Diamond. This is a great alternative.

" This is one of my favorites, Ians. They're chicken nuggets, and they are allergy-free. You pop them into the toaster oven. You can serve some vegetables on the side. It makes for a really great lunch. There are many different types of chicken nuggets on the market. These are actually my favorite. They taste great, they're crunchy, if you leave them in the toaster oven a little bit longer they've got that real texture to them. They're quite delicious. Add some organic ketchup to them.

"Many of us love eating junk food, especially kids, they love to indulge in junk food so we have some gluten-free junk food options for kids and their moms and dads and their caregivers.
" If they're in the mood for ice cream, we have some truly decadent coconut milk ice cream. It's made by a company called Turtle Mountain and it's gluten-free and it's dairy-free and this flavor is cookie dough. It tastes delicious.

" Also take a look at Pamela's Products. They make cookies.

" Another brand is Kinnikinick. They make breads and donuts and muffins. This Kinniknick cookie is an alternative to Oreo's and look at these donuts. Every kid likes donuts and these are a great gluten- free variety. They're dairy free as well and they taste great.

About vitamins. There are many vitamins on the market that contain gluten and for people who can't digest gluten there are two great varieties that we recommend.

" There's Slice of Life. These are more for adults, but they do have a children's variety. It's called Yummy Bears.

" There's also a product called Oxylent. It's a multi-vitamin powder drink and this is more for an adult. It's very easy to use. You just pour it into wate. I pour it into my bottled water. You can drink this throughout the day, I keep it on my desk and sip it.

Check out Andrea's website:
www.naturallysavvy.com

Also these websites dealing with gluten-free foods:
www.smarter.com
www.comparisonsearches.com
www.bettycrocker.com
www.glutenfreemall.com
www.totallyhealthvitamins.net
www.normthompson.com