Gluten Free + Dairy Free Treats

Holidays are so fun. I love celebrating them and love making them special for my kids.

But I feel like I'm juggling 1000 things at the moment, so I'm a little less on-the-ball with holidays (i.e. forgetting them until the day or week before.)

Like Easter is apparently this weekend. Whoops.

Lack of planning is extra tricky since my kids can't eat dairy or gluten. In fact, until recently we (and their GI doc) thought they might be Celiac (luckily, they are not.) But gluten and dairy DO make their stomachs hurt a ton, so we avoid them. 

So in my research this week for alternate treats and fun doo-dads for their Easter baskets, I thought I'd share some great gluten and dairy free treats we love (as well as non-food items that are always a hit!) I've also included my typical go-to bigger treats - like cakes and cookies - that we use for holidays and events like other kid's birthdays, (when I have to bring along separate, matching, treats for my kids so they don't feel left out on the regular birthday cake.)

* Chocolate Caramels from Cocomels: I easily found these on Amazon AND they were on Prime so go I got them in one day.  Remy loves chocolate so I know these will be a hit. 

* Theo Chocolates: Love their chocolates - so was excited to find their website makes it easy to search chocolates that are Vegan and Gluten Free. Then I used their Chocolate Finder to track down a store (here in LA it's available at Whole Foods, Bristol Farms, Gelsons, and lots of small specialty markets.) 

* No Whey Foods: They offer boxes of chocolates for valentines day, chocolate bunnies for easter, and other fun themed goods. But they sell out online FAST (I tired to order some last week and was sadly too late for Easter.) Available online + select retailers (list on their site.) 

* UNREAL: We have tried both the dark-chocolate peanut butter cups and the crunchy quinoa chocolates and Remy really liked both. Just watch out - not all their flavors are dairy free so be sure to read the label. Available at Whole Foods. 

* Surf Sweets: Gummies, worms, bears, and jelly beans. These are available near me at Whole Foods and Ralphs. They also have a store locator to easily find where to get yours. 

* Yum Earth: Remy loves their lollipops (for Valentine's they offer heart-shaped ones) and they also sell gummies and little skittle-like candies. I grabbed a bag of their gummies at Target today!

* Creamies: We used these for Remy when she was little and will probably use them for Mikey too as he loves them. (But in reality - 2nd child means he'll probably get more sweets than Remy did at that age...) 

* Puffs: Something we already have on hand that just about every baby loves. You could also do Cheerios if you aren't worried about gluten-cross contamination. 

 * Dried Fruit: Haven't done this but saw it on Kids Eat in Color and loved the idea since my kids both love dried strawberries! 

* Annie's Gluten Free Bunny Cookies: These are one of our go-to treats for filling the little plastic Easter eggs. Love that we can easily find them at Ralphs and Target. 

* Partake Foods: Mama run business alert! These cookies are top 8 allergy free, come in a bunch of yummy flavors, and you can find them at Target, Ralphs, Whole Foods - basically anywhere! Plus Denise Woodward, the founder, is a total inspiration for us!

* Katz: makes prepackaged cupcakes, twinkie-like-cakes, and donuts that you keep in the freezer. We send these to school with Remy so she has a special treat of her own when someone is having a birthday celebration. We get them at Sprouts (which is a great store for finding DF+GF frozen meals too!) You can also snag them at Target and Vons. 

* Cybele's Free To Eat Cookies: Another woman-founded brand, LA-based Cybele's are our favorite pre-packaged soft-style cookies. The birthday cake flavored ones are SO good my husband and I can easily devour the whole box & have done so on multiple occasions (after the kids go to sleep.) Their chocolate chip cookies are also great. Available at Ralphs and Whole Foods. 

* Tattoos: Tons of options available on Amazon Prime (or at Target)... would love to make MiliMili print tattoos some day! 

* Bandaids: If you have a little toddler, bandaids are always a winner. Love the fun prints and packaging on the bandages from Welly. (This is another product we'd love to do with our prints on it - in case anyone knows where to custom print small-ish batches!) 

* Stickers: I like to get a mix of puffy ones, metallic, textured, and standard. 

* Bouncy Balls: I grab a small bag of these at Target. 

* Toy Cars: How cute are these wooden ones available from Bonjour Fete?!

* Fun Shaped Crayons: Love all the art supplies from this woman-owned brand Ooly! These crayons would be such a fun way to fill Easter Eggs + Stockings. 

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If you have a kiddo with similar food intolerances / allergies and have other sources of great holiday treats - let me know! I'm always looking for new products for the kiddos and love supporting small brands.