The First Casualty

Tears well up in my eyes as I bid a sad farewell to Duncan Hines brownies, those delicious, easy, parve-o-licious treats that fill my belly almost every Shabbos. While I am a cooker, I'm not much of a baker (who has the time?), so Duncan Hines brownie mixes are the perfect solution to a husband who loves chocolate and a wife who likes the ease of combining a bagged mix, oil, water, and eggs.

Who can forget the near-tragedy a few years ago when Duncan Hines stopped being parve for a short while? After rushing the stores and buying out all of the parve brownie mixes they had in stock, I actually signed a petition to bring back the parve status! My social activism was a success, and they regained their parve-ness within months.

Last night, as I was about to begin making my favorite Shabbos dessert, I noticed the label of darkness:

MANUFACTURED ON EQUIPMENT THAT ALSO PROCESSES PEANUTS AND TREE NUTS

Noooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I thought DH was going to cry. I thought I was going to cry! This is the first significant victim of our newly nut-free kitchen.

Darn you peanut-ridden equipment. Thank goodness the cake mixes are a different story.

Goodbye old friend.

What's for Dinner?

I love to cook. That is to say, I love to cook when I have the time and energy, spending time in the kitchen isn't going to pull me away from one of my favorite tv shows, and I am interested in eating whatever it is I am about to cook. In an average week, I rely on Shabbos leftovers for Sunday night dinner, make a baked ziti for Monday and Tuesday dinner, cook something random for Wednesday night dinner, and order out on Thursdays (did I mention I love...as in love...pizza?).

In other weeks, I rely heavily on cereal, ice cream, and takeout to get me through the week. Healthy, I know.

Anyway, on those nights when I do decide to cook dinner, I am usually only interested in making something that takes 25 minutes or less, doesn't involve a lot of cleanup, and uses ingredients that I already have on hand. This is what I came up with this week:

Tuesday: Chicken hot dogs over ziti with broccoli (thank you frozen bodek veggies) and mushroom tomato sauce

Wednesday: Baked breaded flounder with rotini pasta tossed with olive oil, mozzarella, fresh basil, and fresh tomatoes

Thursday night is reserved for Shabbos cooking (as is Friday afternoon after I get home from work). We're having guests this week. Honored guests at that! My mom is coming in town to spend Mother's Day with her grandsons (my husband and I will be there too, but we're just an added bonus; it's the kids she comes to see), my best friend from college just finished her JD and is coming to town with her husband, and my brother is making a special guest appearance to surprise my mom! A regular menu won't do. Here's what I have planned:

Shabbos Dinner:

• Butterflake challah
• Homemade chicken soup (from the freezer; I made it a few months ago and was saving it for an occasion like this one)
• Tomato basil chicken (Kosher By Design, Short on Time)
• Salami Quiche Florentine (KBD, SOT)
• Hearts of palm/avocado/tomato salad
• Sweet potato casserole
• Cake (should have been brownies, but more about that later...)
  

Shabbos Lunch:

• Challah
• Red bliss potato salad (Kosher By Design)
• Tomato basil chicken (sound familiar?)
• Green beans with garlic
• Corn on the cob
• Cake (should have been brownies, but more about that later...)
  

My First List

This was my first week buying nut free, so I was particularly nervous and tried to play it safe. On kosher.com I am assured that things are kosher, but I am not able to read food labels at all. (Attention makers of kosher.com: if you are reading this, please add clear copies of all food labels to your website). On peapod, I can see fairly clear images of the food labels, but their kashrut labeling is not always accurate or complete.

See what I'm dealing with here?

Anyway, here is a list of products which are both kosher and nut free:

• Of Tov Chicken Breast Nuggets (I was worried about peanut oil)
  
• Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Shells
• Arnold Stone Ground 100% Whole Wheat Bread
• Heinz Ketchup
• Galil Sun Dried Tomatoes in Oil
• Lieber's Cut Hearts of Palm
• Fleischmann's Unsalted Margarine Sticks (B'H! What would I do without this in my kitchen?!)
• Butterflake Challah (the whole bakery is nut free!)
• Rold Gold Pretzels Tiny Twists

Don't worry. I also bought a healthy assortment of fresh fruits, vegetables, and produce, but the above-listed items were ones that I was concerned about. I played it fairly safe this week and didn't buy a lot of snack foods.

Let's Start at the Very Beginning

Flash back to a young girl growing up in Lexington, KY, eating peanut butter sandwiches almost daily and serving as a taste-tester for Long John Silvers seafood restaurant.

Flash forward to a mother of two who keeps kosher and just found out that her toddler has a severe allergy to peanuts.

Both girls are me. We'll call me Mama Wass.

I've been keeping kosher for 5+ years, and by now shopping, cooking, and eating within the rules of kashrut is old hat. I work full-time, and I survive by doing most of my shopping - including groceries - online. As I recently stated to a friend, without the internet my children would be naked and hungry. Two websites, kosher.com and peapod help keep food in our bellies and our fridge.

Unfortunately (for many reasons, with my shopping preferences falling low on the list), last week my 2.5 year-old was diagnosed with a severe peanut allergy and has now been instructed to avoid peanuts, nuts, sesame seeds, and anything manufactured with or near these products. We must be diligent about reading the labels on any food he may eat. Here's the problem: I shop online! It's not possible to see the exact labels on the food I buy. When faced with the possibility of no longer being able to buy groceries online, my knees began to shake and beads of sweat formed on my brow. I quickly realized that I needed a list. A list of kosher/nut free products that I could safely buy (and then double-check at home) online.

Since google is my friend (except for an unfortunate incident involving images of tumors with teeth and hair), I quickly turned to it to search for such a list. Much to my surprise and disappointment, one doesn't appear to exist.

So I decided to start a blog. I'm hoping that this blog will serve as an ongoing resource for me (and others like me), who need a quick reference list of kosher, nut-free groceries. While my notebook could serve the same purpose, I've always wanted to write a blog, so here it is.

Welcome to my blog. It, like my house, is kosher and nut free.

p.s. Here's my disclaimer: Always double-check food labels before assuming that they are a) kosher or b) nut free. Things change, so just because something was once safe to eat doesn't mean it still is now. Be careful. Use me as a reference but not as a final green light.