Christmas is a wonderful time of year, but as a lot of Christmas celebrations are food based, it can be stressful for families living with an EGID. The following tips are to give you some ideas on how to manage these events.
Schools and Childcare
For those with children, talk to their teacher early on about whether the end of year parties which may include food. If they will, offer to work with them to make sure that your child is included such as bringing in your own food to share with the class or making all food allergy friendly. Ensure you do this early so that if needed written plans can be put into place. You can also make suggestions early in the year about other activities the class could do, such as craft based activities.
Around this time of year, children tend to be given food to give out to their classmates which may not be suitable for your child. You can either try to make other parents aware of your child's allergies or as an alternative, offer your child something to exchange the food with, such as money or prizes. Always tell your child not to eat something given to them if you or an adult you have given permission to has not checked the ingredients to see if it is safe for them.
Around this time of year, children tend to be given food to give out to their classmates which may not be suitable for your child. You can either try to make other parents aware of your child's allergies or as an alternative, offer your child something to exchange the food with, such as money or prizes. Always tell your child not to eat something given to them if you or an adult you have given permission to has not checked the ingredients to see if it is safe for them.
Christmas Parties
Attending other parties such as those hosted by friends and family members can be managed as well. You may offer to help the host create an allergy friendly menu by adjusting some of the ingredients. If you don't want to ask the host to amend the dishes they will be serving, instead suggest a few allergy friendly options be served or offer to bring your own food that can be offered to everyone. Ensure you put in precautions to stop contamination of safe foods with others being served. You can also host your own party, which will allow you to have control over what is being served or you can make it more of an activity based gathering rather than a food based one. You also have the option of giving out a list of food that people can bring to your party if you wish to make it an allergy friendly event.
Advent Calendars
Children (and adults) with allergies don't have to miss out on counting down the days until Christmas! There are many options for either advent calendars which don't contain food, allergy friendly food or empty calendars that you can fill with your own options. Check out our Australian Allergy Friendly Finds pages on Facebook and Instagram for ideas this Christmas.
Gingerbread Folk Easter Treats
ausEE is fundraising with Gingerbread Folk. To support us at Christmas, please purchase your Gingerbread Folk treats through our fundraiser link and use our discount code AUSEE to get 5% off!
Orders are shipped direct to you by Gingerbread Folk and ausEE charity will receive a 20% commission from every sale using the AUSEE discount code! Everything you purchase using the AUSEE discount code attracts a discount and a commission (not just products from their Christmas range).
Gingerbread Folk are egg free, dairy free, nut free and they have gluten free options!
Orders are shipped direct to you by Gingerbread Folk and ausEE charity will receive a 20% commission from every sale using the AUSEE discount code! Everything you purchase using the AUSEE discount code attracts a discount and a commission (not just products from their Christmas range).
Gingerbread Folk are egg free, dairy free, nut free and they have gluten free options!
Useful Links
Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia - Festive Season
Best practice guidelines for anaphylaxis prevention and management in children’s education and care
Best practice guidelines for anaphylaxis prevention and management in SchoolsEOS Network - Top 6 Allergen-Free Christmas Recipes
Happy Tummies - Christmas BlogKids with Food Allergies - Celebrate Christmas with Food AllergiesMy Food Allergy Friends - Christmas Colour-Ins
Navigating Holiday Meals with Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE): Practical Tips and Strategies - Article by Ayanna Amadi
Recipes
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Rolled Christmas Sugar Cookies
- Ingredients: 3 cups plain flour
- 1 tspn baking powder
- 1 cup Nuttelex
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tspn Organ 'No Egg' mixed with water
- 1 tspn vanilla essence
- Method:
- In a bowl of an electric mixer, using paddle attachment, cream together Nuttelex and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add in ‘no egg’ and vanilla essence, mix well.
- Add combined flour and baking powder slowly, blend until all the flour is mixed in and the dough leaves the sides of the bowl.
- Remove dough from bowl, wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for approx. 1 hour.
- Roll out dough to ½ cm thick and cut out shapes.
- Place cookies on greased baking trays and bake at 170C for 10-15 minutes.
- Allow to cool before icing.
- Tips for decorating:
- To make a stamped cookie, cut it out with the round cutter first.
- For icing roll out fondant on a silicon baking sheet on cleaned bench, lightly dusted with icing sugar.
- Cut out shape to match cookies.
- Brush one side of fondant shape lightly with water to stick to baked cookie.
- To finish off, brush with edible gold paint.
Gingerbread
- Ingredients: 1/2 cup Nuttelex
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2/3 cup golden syrup
- 2 1/2 cups plain flour
- 2 tspns ground ginger
- 1 tspn bi-carb soda
- Method:
Icing: Mix 1 cup icing sugar, approx. 1 tablespoon Nuttelex, 1 tspn vanilla essence and enough hot water to make a good consistency for piping. Place in piping bag or ziplock bag with corner snipped off. Decorate with your safe lollies.
Thank you to our member Kathleen for these recipes.
Page last modified: 8 January 2024