Tasting Tuesday.......

[livingnutfree]

Ok so my daughters new teacher seems totally on board with FA even mentioned somethings she does that we didn't ask to have done. My husband met with her yesterday and she just found out about my dd nut allergy but said she has it in her plans to once a month do a tasting Tuesday. Where kids read recipe, make their own with their ingredients  from home, taste and write about it. I think it's a great learning idea however with FA a bit scary. She wants to met with us to go over our ideas. So I'm trying to come up with recipe ideas that wouldn't have a chance of a nut in it. Ie ants on a log, ect.... (maybe this should be under nut allergy forum) but my dd came up with the idea that we go watch them make it. (such a smart girl . She's super excited about it and the teacher is willing to ditch idea if we can't come up with a plan.  It's not a community thing they make their own and taste their own from ingredients from home. At first I freaked when my hubby told me but still digesting it. Any thoughts?

[rebekahc]

I think it sounds very do-able as long as each child brings his/her own ingredients and the teacher makes sure none of the recipes contain nuts.  That way you can easily make sure your DD's ingredients aren't may contain without singling her out.

(From a teacher standpoint, though... There will always be kids who can't bring the ingredients or whose parents forget.  Assuming no other allergic students, I'd probably offer to bring a few extra sets of DD-safe ingredients for the teacher to have on hand for those who forget and for the teacher herself to use.)

[becca]

I am not sure I understand.  Every Tuesday, each child brings in their own ingredients to make their own food item?  So, ingredients coming in every Tuesday from 20 or so different homes?  But no sharing of the food?  Does the teacher assign the recipe to each child?  Or does just one child present their recipe each Tuesday, like a rotation or sharing time? 

I had more to say, but I am not sure I fully understand the scenario. 

Are you looking for recipe ideas? 

becca

[livingnutfree]

Becca. Yeah everyone bring their own ingredients but it's only once a month. they make their own from the same recipe and eat their own from the foods they brought in. but yes i'm looking for recipe ideas that would have a minimal risk of nut cross contaimination. thought of fruit salad or smoothies. not sure on the details yet whether or not things will be cooked/baked but i'm thinking not and thatd be the safest option. any ideas? tia

[becca]

That sounds complicated, allergies aside.  But anyway, fruit kabobs come to mind, maybe a trail mix with safe items in it, like cereals, raisins, craisins, chocolate chips, etc...  But I can see where parents might just toss in what is around the house if they do not have only safe items, so not such a good idea, maybe. 

I googled "easy, no bake kid recipes" and got some good hits, but all are for large recipes and it seems hard to reduce it down to a single serving for each child.  One was oreo balls.  I have had those, but it is a recipe where you crush the package of oreos, mix with cream cheese, and make truffles, dipped in chocolate.  But how would you do that with each kid bringing that from home to make their own?  Others were haystacks.  melted butterscotch chips tossed with crispy chow mein type noodles, dropped onto cookie sheets. 

Maybe other kabob ideas?  Like cheeses and raw veggies(cucumbers, cherry tomatoes). 

Veggie salad. 

There are no bake cookie recipes but still require boiling.  Again, not sure how each child does their own, all in the time frame allowed, etc...

[becca]

Here is a snack blog:

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=fun+kid+snack+ideas&view=detail&id=F079B563A66D7AA3C70C2E5BFA089A75BD8EEC52&first=1

I googled "fun kid snack ideas" and clicked on an image with cute cracjer and fruit bigs.  This site seems to have cute ideas.  I am not sure how old the kids are or how complex the teacher wants to get with recipes.  Maybe these are too simple or juvenile?  But they are cute!  If cookie cutters are needed, you could send your own, even if other children might need to share. 

There were some cute(not healthy) sushi treats.  Rice crispy treats, cut, wrapped in fruit roll ups, and gummy fruit snacks in the rools as well.  My kids did sushi with the Japanese teacher with things like hot dogs, maybe tortillas?  Again, I am sure you can google something. 

And that makes me think of tons of things you could create in a totilla!

Having offerred all those thoughts, I have to say, my personal experience is that food in the curriculum like this was always very stressful and never as safe and easy as a teacher thinks it will be.  This depends on your tolerance for having things in the room that would surely be may contains, quite possibly.  But if that part is ok with you, and everyone has their own supplies, I guess it could work.  I guess it is not much different that bringing a snack, if it is not too messy. 

[CMdeux]

Here is what I'm wondering, though, as I'm reading others' advice to you...



a) is this project-- as it is currently proposed-- completely road-tested??

b) is the "each child will eat his/her own" part new?

c) is the "each child will only eat what he/she has brought from home" part new?


I'm guessing that this USED to be a communal ingredients, communal snack kind of activity.  That I can see being a relatively simple, straightforward activity, but obviously not one that is suitable for a child with LTFA.

I'm guessing that this is something that the teacher is either SO enamored with that s/he won't give it up and is desperately looking for a way to make workable with FA.... or that this is a relatively inexperienced teacher who doesn't see what a mess this is probably going to be.

It concerns me that the teacher may really have NO IDEA how complicated this is actually going to be in practice if she's trying to track it individually for 20-30 children.

  Having the kids each MAKE the same thing-- at home-- and then bring it in and do the tasting activity at school seems workable to me.

Having the teacher provide the ingredients (vetted/assisted by YOU) also seems workable to me.

Otherwise, I can't see this working with actual food-food.  Only with 'no-bake' sweet treats of one kind or another, and in that case, this isn't much of an educational activity, if you kwim.