Today for Day 2 of 10 Days of Gluten Free we are talking kids and birthdays.
Birthdays often bring up challenges when dealing with gluten free and other food issues. Whether is it your child’s birthday, or a party at a family member or friend’s house, birthdays can be challenging.
If your child is gluten free and it is their birthday, I think it is important to make them feel special, after all it is their day.
I like to keep the whole party, or day, full of foods they can eat. Ask them what they would like to eat and would like you to serve. Let them pick the foods and make it so that they can eat everything that is served.
This will help keep the day special for them.
If your gluten free child is attending a party, make sure that the host knows that your child is gluten free and offer to bring food that your child can eat. And I suggest taking food for the child that is close to what everyone else is eating.
Yes, I know this can be challenging and is not always possible, but if possible I think it is best to try.
One thing I recommend is to always keep gluten free cupcakes in the freezer ready to be used at anytime for parties and events. It is easy to take a cupcake out of the freezer to send with your child to a party.
If your family is not gluten free, but you have a family member or friend that is gluten free, please do not be afraid to invite them. It is no fun for a child, or even adult, to be that person or family member that no one wants to invite because of food issues.
The fact is that when you have food issues you are used to watching others eat what you can not have. You are used to bringing your own food. So please don’t be afraid to invite that friend or family member that is gluten free, they like parties as much as everyone else and would love to be invited too.
What tips do you have for dealing with birthdays and gluten free eating?
For more great gluten free information and giveaways please visit the other bloggers joining in on the 10 Days of Gluten Free.
Getting Started – Linda @ The Gluten-Free Homemaker
Resources – Wendy @ Celiacs in the House
Traveling – Karen @ Gluten-Free Travel Blog
Eating Out – Heather @ Gluten-Free Cat
Frugal Tips – Janelle @ Gluten Freely Frugal
Cooking – Carrie @ Ginger Lemon Girl
Baking – Jules @ Jules Gluten Free
Lunch Boxes – Tessa @ Tessa the Domestic Diva
Shopping – Laura @ Gluten Free Pantry
I hope you will join us for 10 Days of Gluten Free! GIVEAWAY OVER EMMA’S COMMENT ON THE PLAGHDOUGH POST WON. Winner chosen by Random.org
And here are the details for my giveaway.
I am giving away one $25 Bob’s Red Mill gift card that is good for their online store and one copy of my Cooking 101 For Kids ebook to one reader.
- This giveaway is limited to U.S. residents 18 and older.
- You are allowed one entry per “10 Days of Gluten Free” blog post for a total of 10 entries on this blog.
- Enter by leaving a comment on this post (and other 10 Days of GF posts)
- The giveaway begins May 7, 2012 and ends at 11:59 pm eastern time on May 18, 2012.
- No purchase is necessary. Odds of winning are based on the number of entries. The winner will be randomly chosen and will be contacted by email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond, a new winner will be randomly chosen.
I always send a cupcake or piece of cake with my son. I like the idea of having cupcakes always available in the freezer. My son has multiple food allergies, but I have just decided to go GF for health reasons too.
I was sorely missing cupcakes last night and kicking myself for not having a stash in the freezer! That’s such a useful tip for kids and adults alike!! (no entry, just commenting!)
Thanks for sharing these helpful hints about birthdays.
I always go all out on birthday cakes (I have a page on my blog showing all our past cakes) and I always have cupcakes in the freezer. My boys are always included in decisions for birthdays and family gatherings, so they understand what they can and can’t eat and they feel empowered when they can voice their opinion about it.
I just went gluten free recently, a week before my son’s birthday. I went to Safeway and found the French Meadow Bakery gluten free products. One of their little chocolate cakes took me through the whole weekend without temptation. The more blogs I read and the more I learn now, I feel confident that next time I can just bake it myself.
I love it when we can find treats like that to enjoy!
Thanks for your great information! Learning how to eat and cook again ahs been hard – people like you are a God send.
Thank you, that is so kind. I love sharing ways to make the gluten free life easier. Thank you for reading.
Thanks for the ideas!
We have recently had our son age 6 diagnosed with celiac, and parties can be tricky. One thing I love is parents who have plain old GF/Peanut free potato chips at a party. It is something everyone likes, and doesn’t make a kid look weird if that is all they can or will eat.
My son is not a fan of any of the GF cupcakes as of yet, but we still bring one along, and he eats the icing and leaves the rest. LOL! Our biggest success has been with bringing potato chips and a gf fruit snack candy for our son, and extra for any other guests who might want some.
Great ideas and great giveaway!
These are definitely great tips! It is SO important to remember to invite kids (or adults) to parties even if they have food allergies. Like you said, most of the time they will bring their own food or only eat “allergy-free” foods. I know that food is a critical part of the “party” but it is only ONE part of the party.
“The fact is that when you have food issues you are used to watching others eat what you can not have. You are used to bringing your own food.”
I have only been gluten free for about two month but I really wish I could get my friends and family members to understand this small little concept. They are always apologizing for eating things in front of me that I can’t have which is nice but really not needed.
Great post — I’ll be sharing on our Facebook and Twitter pages. Whenever I make a batch of gluten free cupcakes, I always stick a few in the freezer to have on hand for last minute parties or get-togethers where there will be lots of “gluten” treats for other kids. Then my son never feels deprived or left out. Frankly, the cupcakes I make (usually just from Betty Crocker or another good GF mix like Cherrybrook Kitchen or GF Pantry) are always better than the artificial, chemical-laden gluten cupcakes anyway!
i eat before i go so that i am not as disappointed or hungry when i get there and find very little i can eat.
Thankfully so far my son is fine with gluten. It’s just me that starves at all the birthday parties!
I usually have a stash of cookies or brownies or cupcakes that I keep in the freezer for such occasions. I hate for my child to feel left out.
Good ideas for a childs birthday. They sure hate to be left out.
Awesome tip about cupcakes in the freezer all ready to go, I will definitely have to do that for my dear 6 yr old!
Love the comment about not being afraid to ask a GF kid. I am used to bringing her food. It is not a big deal!
Cupcakes are a great idea – thanks for this series!
Send a special treat for the gluten free kiddo. 🙂
I try to make a similar treat to what the other children will be eating. I LOVE the idea of keeping GF cupcakes in the freezer to pull out!!
Great ideas! I may even be using some for myself…
I hate the whole social pressure issue of parties. My son’s college professor brought in homemade cookies yesterday to celebrate the end of the semester and my son ate them, knowing he shouldn’t. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings and didn’t want to look different. Plus, I’m sure he wanted the cookies!
Social pressure is hard to deal with at any age and I think is something we all struggle with.
Great post! When I bake, I always save a few cupcakes, or brownies, to freeze. Then when my kids have a party we just grab it from the freezer. I also found cute little individual cupcake holders for them to use for their dessert. The holders are something special for my kids, plus they think I’m cool for finding them.
So far my kids don’t have gluten issues but these are good things to keep in mind in case they do in the future. I never thought to freeze some cupcakes in advance for parties. Of course, when I have sweets around, they tend not to last very long even if they are in the freezer. Which is why I don’t bake all that often…
Any idea how long frozen cupcakes stay good?
If wrapped well, I think they should last several months.
If going to a barbeque, we bring our own gluten-free buns. For a birthday party, brining along some gluten-free cookies is fine.
Great ideas.