People covered. Sessions covered. Let’s talk food! I mean, that’s what Wednesdays are for, right?
Unfortunately, I don’t have many (read: any) pictures of what I ate while I was at HLS. Womp, womp. My allergies make eating out a somewhat stressful experience, and because I’m not too keen on touring hospitals in the cities I visit, I tend to stick to things I know won’t send me there – namely packaged foods and the ever elusive nut-free restaurant. Maybe I’m being a tad bit overly cautious, but I’m pretty sure the couple of bad experiences I’ve had in the past left me paranoid and scarred for life 😯 Serious allergic reactions are not fun.
That being said, my weekend in Minneapolis consisted of a lot of Target and Chipotle runs, both of which were mercifully close to our hotel. You have no idea how badly I wish I could have tasted what the city and the summit had to offer…
… but such is a life plagued by allergies. Oddly enough, it doesn’t usually bother me all that much. I mean, sure, it’s inconvenient and requires a decent amount of planning, but I don’t think it’s quite bad enough to elicit the ever common “OMG how do you live like that?! I would die!” reaction that I seem to get from a lot of people. Honestly, it’s the only life I’ve ever known, and while, yes, it sucks when you can’t join friends for dinner at a Thai restaurant or eat over half of what you got in your HLS swag bag…
… it’s really not that bad, especially when you focus on the delicious things you can eat. So let’s take look at some of the wonderfully peanut-free meals I’ve been enjoying, shall we?
Breakfast… featuring peanut-free roasted almond butter from Maisie Jane’s.
It’s kind of ridiculous how much I missed oats while I was away, but at least I had my beloved almond butter (I never leave home without it). Now that I’m back, it’s been oats for breakfast every morning. These were banana oats layered with plain Greek yogurt and topped with roasted almond butter, buckwheat honey, and a healthy shake of cinnamon.
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Morning snack… featuring peanut-free caramel macchiato almonds from Blue Diamond.
I managed to snag a few packs of these while I was at HLS, and now my biggest concern is where I’m going to find more… I’m normally not a huge fan of eating nuts on their own, but holy.snap these are amazing. They’re crunchy, sweet, and so, SO satisfying. Canada… you better be on board with this!
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Lunch… featuring peanut-free Mountain Mambo trail mix from Enjoy Life Foods.
Don’t give me that look – it was a breakfast for lunch kind of day. This was a bowl of plain Greek yogurt mixed with coconut milk, frozen blueberries, and a banana, then topped with cinnamon Puffins, Kashi Honey Sunshine, almond butter, and trail mix. I’ve been a big fan of Enjoy Life products for a few years now, and I can always count on them for some delicious allergy-friendly foods. Plus, their trail mix has chocolate chips… and you can never go wrong with that 😉
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Afternoon snack… featuring peanut-free almond butter from Barney Butter.
Oops… so I had a moment of weakness and whipped up some more no-bake almond fudge protein bars. And then several subsequent moments of weakness where I proceeded to make a good dent in the batch. But kudos to Barney Butter for being peanut-free. I can’t even tell you how frustrating it is to come across almond butter jars that “may contain traces of peanuts.” Stank eye.
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Dinner… featuring peanut-free sunflower seed butter from Sunbutter.
I just realized that last week’s WIAW featured a stir fry as well, but this one has chicken instead of tofu, and noodles instead of rice. What can I say? I do love stir fries… They’ve pretty much become my go-to meal, not only because of how versatile they are, but because they give me an excuse to eat one of my favourite sauces. All it is is a spoonful of Sunbutter thinned out with water, with a spoon of soy sauce and sugar added, but it adds some pretty amazing depth and flavour to a lot of savoury dishes. A good substitute for that pesky peanut sauce that so many people seem to be a fan of…
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Evening snack… featuring peanut-free homemade applesauce 😉
Breakfast before bed has pretty much become a regular thing around these parts. This was a bowl of plain Greek yogurt topped with a Weetabix and homemade applesauce. I have to say that I’m super thankful that most cereals don’t have any sort of allergy warnings on them… Aside from things like granola, most boxes I come across are safe for me to eat. Thank goodness… I have no idea what I’d do without cereal in my life.
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So there ya have it – does that look deprived and lacking to you? Inconvenient, sure, but miserable? Not so much. That being said, I definitely wouldn’t mind being rid of my allergy, but it’s honestly hard to imagine a life without it. I mean, to be able to go out to eat and not have to fuss or worry? To be able to pick up anything at the grocery store and not be disappointed that I can’t have it after I read the ingredients? Holy.snap. Mind blowing…
Do you have any food related allergies? Any other peanut sufferers out there?!
Silly question, but… are you a big fan of peanut butter? No judgment if you are 😉
What was your after dinner snack/dessert last night?
I love how much you embrace the positive! I honestly can’t imagine having I be so careful when it comes to food (especially now since I’m finally feeling free from the calorie counting/crazy label reading lady days)…I mean, try don’t tend to “sneak” kiwi into most foods these days! Of course I guess it would suck if I moved to some kind of tropical environment…I’d be so nervous!
I’m gonna have to be in the lookout for those almonds! I picked up some mocha ones the other day but haven’t tried them yet. Have you tasted the coconut ones? They are pure bliss!
You know me and my undying lie and devotion to the peanut and all it’s varieties of butters, but I have to say, I’m my quest to bring down the nut butter stash, I kinda rekindled my love with the good ol’ sunflower seed! It’s funny, I’m not a fan of the seeds themselves at ALL, but in butter form? Yum!! I love how well it goes with sweet or savory too! And of COURSE, now I’m craving some SSB stir fry…and I have no more SSB! Womp womp!
I have a pack of mocha ones that I haven’t tried yet either, but I did munch on the coconut ones and they’re fabulous! Definitely perfect if you like coconut.
If you ever come back to MPLS, we are such a foodie friendly and everybody should be able to eat here friendlycity. They would’ve gone above and beyond at most nice places downtown MPLS to attend to your needs.
I DO love peanut butter – so much that I polish off a jar every 1.5 weeks – but I also know that life would go on without it. When I first found out about my gluten allergy and Celiac allele, I thought living sans wheat was the end of me. No pizza? Pasta? Cake? Welp! Sure, it took awhile to adjust, but I honestly don’t miss it anymore. Life *did* go on! There are wonderful GF (and in your case, peanut free) options out there! And honestly, while I find great joy in exploring restaurants, the *true* joy is eating with others – which can be done anywhere. 🙂
Last night’s after dinner snack was a protein crepe slathered with peanut butter (just imagine it with almond butter 😉 ), and two squares of Lindt sea salt dark chocolate. I slept like a baby.
Hope you’re doing well, Amanda! I’m so bummed I wasn’t able to attend HLS this year, but really hope that we’ll have another opportunity to meet next year. Hugs!
Gah! SO good to hear from you, lady! I’ve missed seeing your face around the blog world 🙁 And I was totally bummed that you couldn’t make it out to HLS! Hopefully there’ll be future opportunities 🙂
I know what you mean. I can’t eat a lot of “normal” food myself and people always pitty me. I don’t like it! You need to concentrate on the good things though. All your food looks so good. I could just dig in all at once 🙂
I bet those nuts are good! I’ve had the mocha almond fudge ones and they were yummy but haven’t tried caramel macchiato. I didn’t even know they made em.
Neither did I! WHich is why I probably did a mini happy dance when I saw them on the table.
Potential blog giveaway….maybe?! :):)
Anyway, on a more serious note, love your blog. visit it everyday……..feel a bit like a stalker tho.
I don’t have any food allergies so I honestly can’t relate but I must say that your attitude towards it is really refreshing. Focus what you can eat instead of what you can’t! Love you attitude towards things. Again, glad you had a good time!
You know I can totally relate! I know this past weekend made me seem like I was a total daredevil when comes to my allergy, but I’m usually pretty cautious. I mean, I eat at most restaurants other than Asian and raw food restaurants, but I try to be really careful with not eating products that are made in the same facility as nuts or that may contain them. Which limits us to like… a tiny fraction of the food products out there. It’s so frustrating!
Forgive me for being crass, but I want your nuts. I have no problem eating them straight up and that flavor sound ridiculous. Um hello coffee lover here.
Your stir fry looks really good too and very creative way to work around the typical peanut sauce. Your meals don’t look like someone being deprived at all. They look like someone embracing the foods they can eat instead. Love the attitude.
You want my nuts? How about a package? 😉 😆
I really don’t think there’s such a thing as being overly-cautious when it comes to allergies. As much of a hassle as it is, I think it’s awesome that you stuck with your gut feeling and avoided any possible contamination at HLS! Go you!
Ohmygosh I LOVE that mountain mambo mix. So good!
I feel the same way about my allergies. It’s impossible to imagine my life without them, so it doesn’t even seem like a big deal most of the time.
I actually find myself thinking more about what it would be like to not have environmental allergies. Being able to go outside for a run whenever I want? Not having to stay inside in order to avoid itchy eyes, nose, and throat? Not being miserable after a day of cleaning and dusting? Yes, please!
Yup, I’m a BIG fan of peanut butter! Peanut allergies are definitely no fun though. My little cousin has a severe peanut allergy as well. Whenever we have a family function and I’m making food, I always have to super cautious about what I make and I make a point to read the labels carefully. Her allergy is so severe that if I ate peanut butter, then gave her a kiss on the cheek, she would have a reaction. So, we’re always VERY careful. It really is so scary!
It’s the same way with me… I can get a rash even if someone is eating a PBJ somewhere close to me, and any guy I date has to steer clear from the peanuts.
It’s crazy how careful you have to be with peanut allergies, boy am I glad that I don’t have one! Although peanut butter isn’t my favourite nut/seed butter, I do really enjoy it. All of your peanut free meals looks really tasty!
damn, I wish you would post earlier, So I wouldn’t have to wait a whole 12 hours until I can read your post…and then curse myself for having eggs when really, I want oats now!
I am a huge fan of peanut butter and don’t discriminate against the other ones! Since I’ve run out of all jars, I’ve resorted to using the single serve packets I smuggled from the States and currently am eating the barney butter and as much as I like it…there’s something about it which doesn’t compare to plain old, roasted almond butter. Sorry, that probably sounds abit strange.
For someone with such allergies, you still have an amazing day of eats! Those almonds….damn. Australia JUST introduced vanilla flavoured ones by some generic brand which has flopped. Fail.
There’s always oats for lunch 😉 And yeah… Barney Butter is -okay- but it definitely has a strange taste to it compared to the other nut butters. I like it the best in baking.
I always seem to forget that you are allergic to peanuts. I can’t imagine because I feel like everything has traces of peanuts or made in facilities like that. It must be tough! I can relate, allergies are no fun at all
I honestly can’t believe how many things contain traces of peanuts… like… why?!?! But I know things must be a pain in the butt for you with your gluten allergy too 😕
I’m sorry you didn’t get to indulge on all the good food. I feel you!! I don’t get anaphylactic but I do have severe pain with my allergies. BUT at least there was Chipotle!! 🙂
I do really like PB, but I’m without all nuts and seeds right now. :/ bummer…
Yummy-your stir fry looks delicious! I’m a huge nut-butter lover. I generally go for sunbutter and almond butter 🙂 Dessert for me last night ended up being a piece of pumpkin coffee cake I made for a club meeting.
I am allergic to dairy. I’ve never had anaphylactic, but all kinds of immune system reactions (including barfing and hives) and migraines and flu symptoms that last for days. Annnd apparently I Could go into shock from it any old time.. Fun. I get a TON of how do you do it type comments, and you just get so used to it, as you said… it’s my normal. I can’t fathom Not reading every ingredient label I come across.. just second nature now.
I will say, it does sound like you are Extra cautious, and I usually trust restaurants when I tell them about my allergy, and will make do where ever I am.. BUT I have had some Terrible experiences, actually one last weekend at a small trendy place downtown (Toronto), told about my allergy, when my food was placed down I was told “this has ZERO dairy in it!”… and an hour later it was clear they lied. NOT fun, awful 3 days afterwards and totally makes me only want to eat at total safe zones!! So..yeah I get your paranoia, completely.
And I love peanut butter, but also almond butter… the only places where I Only like PB is a PB and Banana sandwich or a PB cookie 🙂 But, I’d guess I miss out on much more than you do!! If that makes you feel any better 😉
Hope you enjoyed Minneapolis! My sister was born there and my fam lived there for a very short time before going (back to) Winnipeg.. it’s such a pretty city!
Going to make that applesauce tonight!!! Can you stick the apples in the oven?
Mmm no probably not… they would become too dry and you’d just end up with baked apples.
I love the idea of using sunflower seed butter in stir-frys! I have a really minor peanut allergy-my face breaks out if I eat it too much. I’m kind of sensitive to all nuts, but my reaction is a little different for each. It’s weird because I developed this issue in the past year.
I have have Celiac, and am also allergic to soy and dairy. But almond butter so trumps peanut butter any day so you are not missing out!
Too right that’s a silly question! I love peanut butter, well all but butters really. They are really addictive but I’m not complaining!
Uhm buckwheat honey?? I feel like I need this in my life…is the taste much different from clover or flower honeys? And I think everything should be nut-free save for nuts and nut products themselves, no more of this “may contain trace amounts of nuts” nonsense.
Yup! It doesn’t really taste anything like normal honey. It has a really strong taste… kind of like the darker you go with maple syrup, the more mapley it tastes. It’s my favourite kind of honey 🙂
Mmm all of your meals look delicious as usual. I really want to try that stir fry sauce (using either peanut or sunflower seed butter 🙂 )
I must say that I LOVE my peanut butter, but I also love sunflower seed butter just as much!
As for last night’s snack, I ate a banana muffin with milk. Simple and delicious.
I am the complete opposite of everyone else with the peanut allergy in that I have the almond allergy! lol. I am not a sever reactor but it is there and I am told to avoid almonds (and raw walnuts) because you never know when one day it will become a severe reaction. That being said, I was in Manhattan today at a Healthy Brand Showcase and allowed myself to taste some stuff that I knew had almond milk in it and something else with walnuts. I definitely felt slight reaction for a few hours and realized I can’t mess around with this stuff. I have what they call OAS – oral allergy syndrome. It correlates to the pollen I am allergic to – I take zytec to minimize the symptoms but I really shouldn’t mess around as I said before.
The varying reactions definitely make it a little scary. I was hoping that my allergy would become less severe as I got older, but no luck on that front 🙁
Wow that must be frustrating! I have to say I think I love almond butter more now than PB, I have actually just bought a huge big tub of the stuff, so amazing! I also need to order some more sun butter!
Sorry to hear your allergies made it difficult over there. I miss those almond butter bars so I definitely need to whip up some more! They’re the perfect study snack in the afternoon for me. I had a really late dinner last night since I didn’t get home until 7, so after dinner I just had a cup of vanilla spice energy tea to keep me awake while studying for exams.
If you cooked for me I wouldn’t mind being peanut free! I need to make those bars.. so bad!
I am intolerant to almonds and I hate it! At least it in’t a full blown allergy but it makes me feel like crap. On another note I realllllly hope someone recreates that chocolate cake that I keep seeing on everyone’s recaps!
As a child I was mildly allergic to citrus fruits (would break out in a rash), but it went away with age (apparently this is not entirely uncommon). I don’t like peanut butter, or plain peanuts, or anything peanut flavoured though – it’s just a weird taste to me. Almond butter on the other hand… Oh, and hazelnut butter – if you haven’t tried that, you should, it’s delicious.
Snack/dessert last night was macadamia nut and caramel ice cream with chocolate sauce.
Your lunch looks like a dreaaamm. Yum. Also, stir fry is the plan for dinner tonight! It’s my favorite way to use up and enjoy a crap-ton of veggies.
One of my cousins has severe allergies. Like, he’s allergic to almost everything. I always felt bad for him during Christmas dinner when he’d have to bring his “safe” food to the table and couldn’t indulge in the homemade ravioli, etc. But, as you said, it’s the only life that he’s known…so I don’t think he felt deprived. Fortunately, the allergies seem to be less severe as he’s older now. But still gotta watch.
I’m only lactose intolerant. No food allergies here, although I occasionally get hives when I eat mango? Random.
I’m that way with pineapple, so I feel ya on the randomness! ANd I’m actually wondering if my own allergies got less severe over time, but my doctor refuses to give me a test. He just says to put some peanut butter on my skin first and see what happens. Uhm yes. Thank you 😯
I love travel-sized snacks!
All of your food looks delicious! That flavor of Blue Diamond Almonds looks phenomenal as well. Glad you got to attend HLS! Wish I could have made the trip out this year. Happy WIAW! 🙂
As a fellow peanut-allergy sufferer (as well as tree nuts, almonds, etc. … I know, it’s brutal) I am extremely excited for that sunflower seed butter stir fry sauce recipe! Since sunflower seed butter is the only nut-like butter I can have, I usually substitute it in most recipes, but never thought of making a non-life threatening peanut sauce with it. I guess that’s where reading blogs comes in handy! You are a genius 😉
If I didn’t have four giant tubs of applesauce in my fridge right now, I’d be running to the kitchen right now to whip up some of the homemade stuff 😉
And I’ve always considered myself fortunate that I don’t have any food allergies or sensitivities that I’m aware of…my stomach has proven that it can basically handle anything and everything.
And you know my feelings on peanut butter. But out of the three nut butter jars I brought back, none were peanut! two almond butters and a hazelnut…I’m a little surprised. You almond-butter lovers must be rubbing off on me :-p
I ate dinner at 9:30 last night, so no real snacks for me afterwards…although I did follow it with some cold roasted buttercup squash. Give it like a month and we’re going to be part oompa-loompa.
You -have- to let me know what you think of Maisie Jane’s! And I’ve pretty much already come to terms with the fact that I’ll be turning orange soon. I just hope it’s not -too- striking.
that mountain mambo mix is my favorite. When I am out of snacks at work, they sell it in the cafeteria, and I could go through a whole bag like nothing is wrong!