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That was six-year-old Noah over the microphone at his first Cub Scout Pinewood Derby: he built and raced a SunButter car! We are so proud, and we’re especially thrilled his family shares their story. Go, Noah, go: you’re on a roll!

Noah makes friends easily and is very social with just about everybody. He has severe nut, dairy, egg and shellfish allergies. He and his family have eaten SunButter products since Noah was four years old. His family eats SunButter (and avoids nuts and nut butters) to keep Noah safe since he is very sensitive to nuts and even reacts with hive breakouts just by the nut protein touching his skin. His family believes it’s best to not to have Noah’s allergens in the house.

One of the big events for Cub Scouts every year is the Pinewood Derby. Noah and his dad, Kevin, thought long and hard about what theme to focus upon for Noah’s first Cub Scout Pinewood Derby car. Noah wanted to make the car something exciting and handsome and wanted it to be a brilliant blue color with orange flames coming off the wheels and he wanted great decals. He also wanted a theme for the car to represent something he likes.

A SunButter car is born

In the family garage, Noah and Dad had carved and sanded the rough pine block into a sleek low-profile car shape that satisfied them. Noah held his smooth, wooden, unpainted creation in his hands and said, “Wow… Dad this car is great!” Now the time had come to paint the car. They brought out the brilliant blue spray paint and painted the car. Then they took a break to let the paint dry and went back in the house. Dad and Noah were still wondering about the theme for the car. Noah pointed to the SunButter jar on their kitchen counter and said, “Dad, how about we make a SunButter car?” Dad looked at the “SunButter Natural” jar and examined the multi-colored label stuck fast to the jar. “Hmmm. That label would sure make a good decal. That is, if we trimmed it.” Dad and Noah took multiple SunButter Natural jars from their pantry (they buy multiple jars at a time to keep it stocked in their pantry), and they went to work carefully removing the sticky red, blue and yellow labels and then they trimmed out their SunButter label decals used for the car.

When the paint had dried, Noah and Dad carefully placed the decals that were created from the sticky label onto the car. Then Noah said, “Dad, we need to add the flames to the wheels, too.” Mom had bought some other car decals at the local craft store and the flame decals were part of that set. Noah and Dad placed the flame decals on the wheels and the car was finished. When they were finished, Noah again marveled at his car. “It’s a beauty,” said Dad.

Attention peanut allergy people

When the day came for the Pinewood Derby race, Noah and his fellow scouts had a fun time racing their car creations. Noah’s friends examined his SunButter car and they were very impressed by the attention to detail and the overall craftmanship of the car. Several scouts asked about what SunButter was and Noah told them. “It’s like peanut butter, but it’s made from sunflower seeds.” Later when the races had finished, Noah had a moment to grab the microphone from our cubmaster. Noah spoke into the microphone holding his SunButter car, “Attention please. If you have a peanut allergy you should make a SunButter car!”

Noah’s car didn’t place in the race, but what he did get was much more priceless: smiles and “oohhsss” and “ahhhs” from his friends.Noah was definitely proud of his creation and his parents realized the need for Noah to put something from his lifestyle into that creation.

And we think Noah has some incredibly supportive, nurturing parents. Lucky guy!

 

Food is fuel. Food is also fun! One of our weekly highlights is seeing photos of what Keeley McGuire packs in fun bento lunches for her lucky daughter, who also happens to have a peanut allergy. We’re proud Keeley shares her story here, and we love watching her daughter thrive. Thanks, Keeley! Check out this recent creation:

My name is Keeley and I have a little site called Keeley McGuire Blog. When I started blogging last year, I didn’t really know what direction I was headed – I just knew I needed a creative outlet. I started sharing some crafts, recipes, my love affair with my crockpot, and what I called “silly sandwiches” for my daughter, aka Little Miss.

If you’re a mom looking to spice up your kiddos’ lunches, start simple. Use a cookie cutter on the sandwich! It takes the same amount of effort to cut a sandwich into a fun shape with a cookie cutter as it does to cut it in half. Then, get as clever as you’d like.

Finding out about childhood food allergies

My daughter was diagnosed with a severe peanut allergy just before her first birthday. I first found out about her allergy when her daycare (at that time) provided the kids with peanut butter to use for a craft. I’ll never forget that phone call – that feeling.

Little Miss also began speech therapy at the age of one and half, which eventually lead to an educational ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) diagnosis. My baby, just barely two at that time, was now going to be going to a special needs school, five days a week all day. I was a young mom, handling her allergy and now ASD diagnosis alone. This little girl was my world though. Even though I was scared, tired, and at times felt like a horrible mother, the early intervention was the most amazing thing that could have ever happened!

Daunting task of packing nut-free school lunches

I was very blessed with the fact her very first teacher had a daughter of her own with a peanut allergy, so I was comforted to know she was in good hands. However, I was left with the daunting task of packing school lunches every day for just a wee-tot who was incredibly picky. At that time, she wouldn’t eat sandwiches, most vegetables, the only meat she would touch was a chicken nugget, and I was still learning the ins & outs of her allergy (what foods were okay, what weren’t) so I felt like I had little options. I would cutout small bits of cheese and breads or crackers. Send applesauce or yogurt. That’s about all she would do.

Even though Little Miss was limited in her choice of foods, I came upon so many great products as she continued through school and grew; at first just for myself. I remember trying many of the alternative spreads and not liking any – thinking it was hopeless search. I don’t remember when I first discovered Sunbutter, but for this Mama who was once ADDICTED to peanut butter & honey sandwiches, I was thrilled to have something delicious to use again!

Creative, waste-free lunches

As Little Miss progressed in school, so did her speech, her sensory issues, and even her food palette. As she began to become more open to trying new foods, I was also trying to find ways to make her lunches more fun and not just a boring brown sack every single day. It was my amazingly supportive and wonderful sister who introduced me to bento making – A creative and waste free approach to lunch.

Bento lunches

I remember looking at pictures of true Japanese kyaraben bentos and just being in AWE of the amazing artistic talents some of these mothers had. I was nowhere near that caliber, so I started simple. Making her “silly sandwiches” as I mentioned above – a sandwich shaped like a fish, a monster face, or even cut into the shape of a hand to make her Sunbutter & jelly a little more entertaining.

It then expanded into her fruits and vegetables. I found she was more apt to try something new if I cut it into a fun shape or let her eat it with a toothpick. It was a win/win – I got to have fun making her lunches, she tried new” good for me foods”, AND she didn’t care about not being able to enjoy hot lunch like the rest of the kids because they all thought her “special lunches” were pretty cool.

Little Miss progresses

Now, her lunches have become the main feature of my blog. I have packed her lunch every single day since she was the age of two. She is now six and this has been her first school year without an IEP – meaning she met all her educational goals thanks to the early intervention, amazing teachers, and her therapists along the way. It’s been so much fun to see how she and her lunches have evolved  – truly the creative outlet Mama always wanted, yet I send her to school knowing that her lunches are safe for her allergy, healthy, and make her feel as special as she is to me.

Do you have other tips for parents of children with food allergies? What’s your story? What works for you? We’d love to hear about it. Comment here or on our SunButter Facebook page.

 

 

Thanks to you, it’s been one sunny year at SunButter!

In the spirit of holiday cheer-sharing, here is a SunButter coupon. You’ll save $1 on one jar of your favorite SunButter variety.  You also get five of our favorite recipes on handy recipe cards. Friends in Canada, please use this Canadian coupon

We’d also like to share our holiday letter version of highlights of SunButter’s year:

Travels

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SunButter loves road trips, packed into treats like these apple sunflower wraps.

Safe at school

SunButter skipped off to school with many youngsters—and was part of home-school curriculum for others like this Kansas mom/teacher.

Getting fit

SunButter was part of fitness-minded folks’ lifestyle. We’re proud to help fuel runners, bikers, yoginis and weight-lifters, including people like Chad and Maria.

Starring role

SunButter is a safe, tasty substitute for peanut butter, and many bakers gave us a part in these yummy “Butterfinger” bars

 

Loss and love

Brittany cleverly mourned the passing of her jar of SunButter. We happily sent her a coupon for a free new love.

Any SunButter tips or happy memories you’d like to share? We treasure your input and stories. And we always welcome your recipes. Happy Holidays!

Save on ink? Print coupon only: U.S. or Canada

Hi! It’s STUFT Mama again. I’m so excited to be back to share an amazing recipe with you all. In case you missed it, my last guest post here was about guilt-free holiday treats. I’m a big believer in moderation and making smart choices, especially during the holidays. That being said, I’m also a big believer in impressing my friends and family with my holiday cookies every year. As crazy as this year has been, it is no exception.

I’m not quite sure when the holidays snuck up on me. I was a little late getting out the decorations and ordering the Christmas cards this year. (I also may have a little a lot of last-minute shopping that still needs to get done.) I guess that’s what happens when I’m training for a marathon, running a business, teaching fitness classes, blogging at STUFT Mama and trying to take care of almost-two-year-old twin boys. Hmmm… Go figure.

One thing I did manage to do though this year is create these amazing STUFT SunButter Doughtzel Balls.

 

Not only are they fun to say, but they’re even more fun to eat.

Oops. Sometimes it’s before they make it to the oven.

I don’t mean to be bossy, but really, you have to make these balls.

Yes, you have to. Otherwise you might end up on the “naughty list.” You don’t want that to happen, do you?

I didn’t think so.

So, you better be good and you better go right ahead and “Deck the Halls” with these balls.

STUFT SunButter Doughtzel Balls

makes 32 balls

1/2 cup light butter spread or margarine

1 cup SunButter

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup all purpose flour

3 tablespoons nondairy or low fat milk

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup crushed pretzels

Instructions:

1. Mix light butter spread, SunButter, sugars and vanilla until smooth.

2. Combine the next five ingredients (all the dry ingredients except for the chocolate chips and pretzels) in a separate medium-sized bowl.

3. Add dry ingredients to wet mixture gradually.

4. Add 2-3 tablespoons of nondairy milk to moisten the dough.

5. Stir in the chocolate chips and crushed pretzels.

6. Cover and chill dough for at least 30 minutes.

7. Use cookie scoop (or hands) to form balls and place on cookie sheet.

8. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

9. Let balls sit on the cookie sheet for a couple minutes before moving to a cooling rack.

Notes:

These can be eaten in dough form straight from the refrigerator. (You may have figured that out by the previous picture. I had to try a few just to be sure that I wouldn’t give you bad advice.)

They also freeze quite nicely.

So, when you’re ready to impress (and get on the “nice list”), take some time to make these balls.

They’re worth it (and they just might be the perfect last-minute shopping snack).

Actually, maybe I could get out of the shopping altogether if I just made another batch of balls. They are just that impressive. What do you think?

 

Jennifer is a work-at-home mother of two. Her son has eczema, allergies, and asthma, and her daughter has mild eczema. She blogs about her family’s journey to itch-free, sneeze-free, wheeze-free days at It’s an Itchy Little World. She is the founder of The Eczema Company.