Cookies, Candy, and Vitamins

Got your attention???

Today I stopped by Job B to pick up some food for our "picnic" lunch. Fruit and cheese. BFF's DS3 had asked for a treat. He has allergies... LOTS of allergies. The biggest are: milk, soy, nuts of all kinds, Red 40. These are the MAIN things I have to label read for, for his sake. And it can be TOUGH to find a treat that doesn't contain these. I was willing to forgo the HFCS and hydrogenated oils for this, just to get him something.

Well I took a walk down cookie row. I figured I'd have better luck with some kind of cookie than candy. Regular stuff? All out. Hydrogenated SOYBEAN oil all over the place. Organic?? NOPE, still has soy or milk. Started looking at shortbread like cookies, most had butter, which is MILK. *sigh* Would I EVER find something he could eat??? I picked up a pack of Lu Cinnamon Sugar Spice Cookies. Mmmmmmmm... Sounds good. I looked, fearing the worst. Guess what? NO milk, NO soy, NO nuts, NO dyes!!!! I couldn't fallen on the floor.

My next stop was checkout. I am SUCH a sucker for Skor Bars. The delicious toffee and chocolate... mmmmm. So I grabbed it, took a quick gander at the ingredients thinking, "I probably should NOT be eating this, I'm SURE it has a hydrogenated oil or HFCS." To my surprise, AGAIN, it didn't have EITHER!!! So I have found a candy, that I LOVE, that is still on the safe list as of today!!! LOL.

Among our many stops today we needed to pick up some supplements for BFF's DS3. Since he can't have milk, he needs extra calcium, and for other reasons, extra Vitamin C. He also takes Acidopholus (I can't spell today, i'll fix this later). At our fave store, Target, we began perusing the vitamin aisle. Now, all her DS's already take a daily multi-vitamin, which INCREDIBLY enough, lacks ALL DS3's allergens. So she was HOPING to find a gummy style chewable calcium and vitamin C for him. After much looking we found it, a gummy style Calcium and vitamin C's that lack the allergens. IN A MAINSTREAM STORE!!!! OMW!!! So I gotta give a shout out to the company that makes "Lil Critters" vitamins. How AWESOME is it that this company takes care of the kids (and adults) with allergies like DS3? And he says they taste good too! :)

As for the Acidophilus. BFF read the ingredients list for the A I take. It's a capsule, too big for DS3 to take, but it was a place to start. Sure enough, LACKS the allergens!!! We mix it into something such as applesauce for him. So another shout out to Origins brand at Target for again being a great company committed to producing a product that allergy prone person's can safely take.

BFF's DS and my own desire to lead a healthier, hopefully thinner, life have really taken me down a path. I strive to KNOW what's in my food, most importantly, I strive to know that what I am eating DOESN'T contain things that are unhealthy or unsafe for myself or the people I am with. I would go TOTALLY milk, soy, and nut free for this incredible little boy. I already am striving to stay away from red 40.

READ THE LABELS, know what you are eating. There's an old adage out there about not eating your food unless you can pronounce EVERY SINGLE ingredient in the list. I urge you to follow this! Also, know the HIDDEN names for things. Soy and Milk have so many names.

****UPDATE****

BFF found the link to these vitamins by Lil Critters!!! Gummy Vitamins Among the interesting things she has learned, I HAD to share this ONE:
Q. Are L'il Critters product bottles recyclable?

A. Yes. We use only #1 and #2 recyclable bottles and they are BPA Free.

I <3 them!!!! OMW!!! Good, allergen free vitamins and supplements, in recyclable bottles, that are ALSO BPA FREE??? I LOVE THEM!!!!! :) :) My DD's will be taking these vitamins!