On how to throw a Dairy Free Frozen Birthday Party...

OK, so... before we start this post, I'd like to point out that the theme to 'Baby's' party was chosen by her not me. 

Clue here:

She's obsessed!

Yes, you've guessed it - Frozen! 

BUT don't just sigh and switch off - let it go!! (ha! ha! OK, very, very bad joke!!)

If your little one is dairy free, like 'Baby' you might get some ideas for your little one's party - whether it's Frozen inspired or not! And, if you're NOT dairy free but just looking for some Frozen birthday ideas, well hopefully you'll find this post helpful too!

In a way that was quite good that 'Baby' wanted a Frozen party - it made things easier, to some extent - 'cos everyone seems to have done one already - there were loads of ideas on Pinterest.

The thing I've discovered with Pinterest though, is that some people seem to go overboard with the whole perfect party thing, so you really have to don your reality specs and view everything you see through those... that is unless you want to start becoming: 

a) despondent 

or 

b) Partyzilla (think 'Bridezilla' only with a birthday party to plan, rather than a wedding)!

I seemed to keep switching between the two, but ended up as mainly 'b'!

However, eventually, after losing hours of my life to Pinterest, I came up with a cunning plan - the whole party would retell the story behind the film, activities, games, food, everything!

So we started at the beginning with...

Do you wanna build a snowman??

Well we certainly built snowmen alright! 

I like to begin children's parties with a 'settling-in' activity, usually craft-based, so we built snowmen...

as party bags:

OK not perfect, like some you see on Pinterest, but all a child's own work - apart from the nose!

(These came from Hobbycraft. Of course a little cutting out of noses was required in advance - I pinned the sheet for this on my Frozen section on Pinterest.)


with marshmallows:

The kids loved making these!

(The bodies held together with the aid of cocktail sticks!)


we also played 'Pin the nose on Olaf'...

The second face (in case you're wondering) was the acetate for judging the winner!

and we built snowmen out of loo roll too!

We (well the children) wrapped willing adults (parents who'd stayed for the party).

I split the children into four teams, gave them an adult, some toilet roll, an Olaf mask and some time. I only wish I'd had time to take some pics!! 

As all the craft and snowman wrapping took longer than I anticipated, some of the rest of my theme went flying out the window!

We did still play:

Frozen Corners

I had four willing helpers wearing masks of the four main characters - one in each corner of the room. Children had to decide which character to stand by before I cut a deck of cards. Depending which card was shown eliminated a group of children each time, until one player was left.

Frozen statues! 

Y'know the good old party favourite of Musical Statues, only this time set to music from the Frozen film. S'ppose it goes without saying, but this game was to represent the part of the film, where Elsa lets loose her powers!

Pass the Iceblock

Good old Pass the Parcel - all dressed up! This was to represent the role of the ice cutter in the story!

The prize was this snowman kit from WHSmith, wrapped in layers and layers of silvery wrapping paper - each layer opening rewarded with a dairy free Chocolate coin!

I interspersed silver tissue paper and silver Christmas wrap, to distinguish easily between layers!

And we also played:

Frozen Tag

This was to tell the story of Anna rescuing Elsa. The idea was that a child would race around being Elsa and 'tag' other children, who would then be 'frozen' into 'statues'. Another child would be 'Anna' and rush around 'melting' the 'frozen' children with a hug!

They seemed to enjoy this game, but to avoid it going on for ever, I had to enlist another 'Elsa' and curtail 'Anna' - to bring everyone to an eventual standstill!! 

Other games I had up my sleeve, as 'possibles' were: 

• The Hot and Cold game - someone goes out of the room during which time some item is hidden. On returning to the room the person has to find the item with the help of everyone else yelling 'hot' if they're close to its hiding place, or 'cold' if they're not.

• Elsa's Frozen Footsteps - a bit like 'What's the time Mr Wolf'.

• Frozen Kim's game - with items related to the story e.g. carrot

Dairy Free Prizes

included:

• mini Haribo packs (from multipacks)

• Frozen glow wands (from The Entertainer)

• small toys from places like Poundland

I like to include non-food/sweet prizes when/where I can!

Eventually, it was time for our dairy free feast, to celebrate Elsa's homecoming...

We had:

• Sandwiches with either ham, chicken, jam or Plamil's dairy free chocolate spread. The children certainly ate them up!

• Cucumber, carrot and mini bread sticks (Waitrose own brand are dairy free) to dip into Olaf hummus (bowl of hummus with face made of carrot and olives). 

• Original Pom Bears (dairy and gluten free). I would have liked the Snowmen Pom Bears that I found the other year, but this year Pom Bear didn't make them :(

• Asda Freefrom Shortbread biscuits - I added some pale blue icing and sprinkles to 'Frozen' them!

Dr Oetker products are usually (but not always) dairy and gluten free.

• There were also these fruity royal sceptres (the marshmallows were specifically aimed at encouraging picky eaters like my 'Baby' to eat fruit!!):

Well I had to add some healthy food in somehow!

• and we had some melting Olaf jelly dessert - for when summer returned to Arandelle!

Totally pinched from Pinterest!

• Frozen Cupcakes - good old Hale and Hearty gluten free chocolate muffin mix, made up with dairy free Pure margarine and topped with some printed rice paper cake toppers, that The Hub found on Amazon.

We made them in silver cupcake cases to add to the Frozen effect.

• And Birthday Cake!!

The birthday cake was intended to be this one (which actually we ended up in having for another day, when she had friends to birthday tea): 

By no means perfect, but 'Baby' was pleased!

This took some of the pressure of the party off me - I was so afraid it would go wrong and also that there wouldn't be enough to go around the twenty plus kids invited to her party!!

See how it was made here!

If Elsa is more your little one's thing, or you like a challenge, there's a tutorial here, by a lady who obviously makes these cakes professionally. Definitely lives up to the description!  Stunning Elsa cake

'Baby's' party cake ended up being this ready made cake - bought from the shelves of a Tesco supermarket, but also available from Sainsbury's.

Yes, I know it's cheating, but I never claimed to be Super Mum!

It just about went 'round - being not as big as I expected it to be, when I saw it in its packaging.

When it was time to go home...

The snowman bags the children had made were packed with their marshmallow Olafs and these party bags, which were all dairy free, apart from these chocolate bars, which came from The Works.

Oo look! Same size as a Moo Free choccy bar!

But guess what? Some spare wrapping paper from the outer packet, and a Moo Free Chocolate bar, soon became a dairy free one for 'Baby'. Okay so she was not fooled for long - she soon worked out what I had done, but didn't seem too disappointed! It was the only non- dairy free thing about the whole party, so she didn't have too much to complain about, did she?!

'Baby's' packet

And after the party...

we cleared up the hired hall and went out for a meal at ASK Italian, so we could recover!!

On the actual day of her birthday, I sent 'Baby' into school with this, for her friends:

Yup! More dairy free cake! The Olaf wasn't made by me - it was part of a set!

It went down really well with her teachers and friends!! For the recipe, see here.

A few days later, we encouraged 'Baby' to write some 'Thank You's'. Well, she wrote their name and hers, I wrote the rest - but she is only five!!

The Hub made these

Further Resources:

If you're planning a Frozen party, I strongly recommend this post for links to a whole load of other Frozen inspired ideas. You might just spot where I picked up some of mine! 

Alternatively, check out my Frozen board on Pinterest, 'cos a lot of the ideas I picked up online are pinned there! 

If you're in the UK, I don't know if they still have them, but Asda had a great range of Frozen party plates/tablecovers etc. and so did The Works, who also had sticker books and even huge cut-outs of Frozen figures (like the one we had of Olaf). However, you could use silver paper plates and frosted plastic disposables (to look like ice).

Online, check out Party Delights range. They have loads!!

And more recently, I've caught sight of a fantastic new cake decorating resource which sadly wasn't available when 'Baby' had her party. It can be found at Lakeland, see here! 

P.S.

Apologies for some of the dodgy photography! It's hard acting as the party planner, caterer, hostess and official photographer, you know ;)

Flying Swiss Air with the Dairy Free 'Baby' (Part One)

It's taken a lot for The Hub to persuade me to go skiing this year - up 'till now, nearly all our holidays with 'Baby' have been at Center Parcs - where I know what I'm letting myself in for (see here)!!

It's not that I didn't want to go - it was just the fear of not finding food that was safe enough for us to eat that was holding me back.

Having agreed to go, I can't say my pessimism was lifted when The Hub discovered that Swiss Air could provide either gluten free food or dairy free food, but not both at the same time (see here for more information about their 'Special Diet' meals) and that was travelling Business Class!! Travel Economy, and if you are flying to Zurich, all you are offered is a sandwich. Knowing that Leon Restaurants had opened a branch at Terminal Two at Heathrow (and also Terminal Three), and that the flight would only be an hour or so, placated me somewhat - regarding the outward bound journey, anyway!

Flying business on the outward bound flight meant we were allowed to carry extra baggage - which we definitely needed for the purpose of carrying extra supplies of food and dairy free milk for our holiday! It turned out that upgrading to Business Class was cheaper from the London end (not that much of an additional cost, according to The Hub) but was somewhat more expensive from the other end. So he didn't book it for the return flight, as by then, our luggage should be that much lighter - assuming we had consumed all our supplies of free from food!! (NB Check out Travelling with the Dairy Free Baby, for more tips for travelling by air, contributed by folks from our FB page.)

Must admit, the idea of the free lounge that comes with travelling Business class, although not strictly necessary, appealed! Free coffee as much as anything else!! But what with an extra check-in for bulky luggage that was going to be transferred straight to our final destination and needing to get food from Leon, access to the lounge went straight out of the window - we simply didn't have enough time. The MIL was horrified that we hadn't used the free lounge. She'd been through the day before and told me that all the food was very good - all organic. Yeeeeeeeeeees! We're still having to educate our families about what it means to be gluten/dairy free! 

Once aboard, strapped in, and mid-air, I discovered that 'Baby's' meal was labelled 'low lactose' - which was enough to set my dairy free alarm bells ringing and make me groan. Later on, when the basket of free chocolate did the rounds (Swiss Air always do this) they kindly offered her lactose free chocolate. 'Uh, no thanks!! She has an allergy to milk,' I replied. Cue total look of confusion on air stewardess's face!

Having since looked at the website (I'd left it to The Hub, who was booking the flight, to look into all this), I have now discovered that they give the option for a 'lactose free' meal, which is free of dairy products. Hmm! One of my pet hates - confusion between lactose free and dairy free!!

However, on inspection, it looked OK - dried fruit some salmon, couscous etc. - although the bread roll wrapper said that it may contain milk - something we'd usually avoid, due to previous experience. 

'Baby's' meal.

Feeling I had little choice but to let 'Baby' have the bread roll, I reluctantly halved it and handed it over to her to spread with the margarine that had been provided.

As it happened, 'Baby' quickly decided that she didn't like it - within one bite - which, it turned out, was just as well. Becel Original (the spread that was provided) is made with whey from milk (see here), which I only discovered by searching online later that evening. Grrrrr!!!

Good job 'Baby' is not anaphylactic, isn't it?? Although to be fair, if she was, I very much doubt that I'd have taken the risk with the bread in the first place - I'd probably have brought along all our own food.

The Becel spread

In fact, 'Baby' very soon decided that nothing on the tray was suitable, '...for a little girl like me!' (Her words, not mine!) She ended up with half of one of the fries I'd purchased from Leon, prior to boarding, and a few chunks of the chicken (once I'd wiped the sauce off)! Under duress, she also ate a few of the black grapes - once I'd halved and de-pipped them!

After that, I gave up trying and handed her a packet of crisps from my bag. I'd never normally let her eat a whole pack by herself, but needs must!!

My meal on board Swiss Air

My gluten free meal was similar to 'Baby's', but with the addition of a slice of Gruyere cheese - which was soon passed to The Hub. I then discovered that the gluten free bread roll was useless for me - it definitely contained milk - no 'may contain' about it!

The gluten free roll

I ate the apricots, couscous, salmon and grapes. I would have gone for 'Baby's' salmon as well, but It looked as though she'd got gluteny crumbs all over hers by the time I thought of it!

Unfortunately, I am intolerant of pineapple and suffer from OAS (oral allergy syndrome - the worst reaction I ever had was to raw pepper), I didn't dare risk the raw pepper, therefore I had to avoid the rest of the food on my tray.

So it was a good job I'd purchased some lunch from Leon, at Terminal Two at Heathrow (see here)!

Lunch from Leon!

Whilst I appreciate Swiss Air can't offer all multiple allergy sufferers choice - it would be an impossible task to provide so many combinations. My OAS, for example, is such a curved ball, that I don't usually mention it - just pick off the bits I can't eat (you can't do this if you are anaphylactic of course). 

I do wish, however, they'd consider that many Coeliacs (suffering from a medically recognised disease requiring complete avoidance of all gluten) are intolerant to dairy - certainly initially and that many others not Coeliac, but perhaps suffering from a less specific intolerance are also now finding that they can't consume gluten and dairy - it's certainly becoming more common.

That said, there are now companies out there who can and do manufacture ready meals completely free from the top fourteen allergens. There's Ilumi, in England, and Natama - the company that supply Disneyland, in Paris. 

Hopefully, one day, companies like Swiss Air will realise the benefits of buying in such meals - they won't then have to stock so many different kinds of meals for allergies but just one that hits the top fourteen.

Until then, if you're from the UK and you are travelling, I'd strongly recommend taking a look at Ilumi's website, if you haven't done so already,  their long life ready meals are tasty and really reasonably priced. As for Natama, well find out what I thought of their meals here.)

Postscript: 

Have since realized the bread roll on the dairy free tray looked like it DIDN'T contain gluten, I wonder if I should have had that instead?! See the 'sans gluten' on the top right of my picture?

Label for the bread roll on the 'low lactose' meal.

Oh well!

Related Posts:

Travelling with the Dairy Free 'Baby'

Leon at Heathrow Terminal Two

Eating Dairy and Gluten Free in Resort Hotels at Disneyland Paris

Travelling with the dairy free 'Baby' - Leon at Heathrow Terminal 2

What a sight for sore eyes!

And the journey was only just about to begin! We were travelling to Zurich with Swiss Air. I already had an idea that Swiss Air couldn't fully accommodate my dietary requirements, and was relieved to locate Leon fairly quickly, on the lower concourse (by the way, Leon also have a restaurant at Terminal Three). 

An added benefit, we soon discovered, was the presence of a free soft play area, just around the corner!! Which gave me time and space to investigate further.

Difficult to miss this one!

I have to say this particular branch of Leon appeared popular - it was certainly busy!

Not living quite so near to London as we used to, it's been a while since I'd visited a Leon restaurant, so I was interested to see what I'd find. 

One thing I was pleased to see was that the boards behind counter indicated certain dietary requirements (i.e. 'gf' for gluten free and 'df' for dairy free) so you could see at a glance which meals might be suitable.

It was also great to see that Leon's almond milk milkshakes are still on the menu.

However there weren't that many food options open to me (both dairy and gluten free) that weren't spicy, and I wanted to avoid anything too exotic to ensure that my sensitive tummy had no reason to complain!

I could perhaps have opted for one of the salads, but so many modern salads stick Edamame beans in, which I can't eat as they're basically immature soya beans, so I didn't want to take that risk.

Look out for 'DF' on the menu displayed behind the counter.

In the end, I selected the gluten free 'Bunless Burger' (chicken burger without a bun - see here) and added a side of fries (see here). 

Dining DF and GF in the air, Leon style!

When I opened the box, it wasn't so much a burger as a juicy chunk of chicken - which was good, in that it was quite definitely chicken and not processed, but there wasn't much salad around it so it really did require the extra side order of fries to bulk it out and make it more filling. 

Personally speaking, I thought £5.95 for the 'chicken burger' was a bit on the pricey side, but The Hub just shrugged and pointed out that it was 'London prices!'

This is it!

As it turned out, the fries were quite spicy. So 'Baby', normally quite the chip monster, decided against them - leaving me to reflect that none of the menu at Terminal Two was particularly suited to children (unless they enjoy spicy food and have a more sophisticated palate). Their normal children's menu looks like this, see here.

The same went for the almond cookie, which I bought to follow (see here). It was the only gluten and dairy free biscuit/cake type thing that I could see available. I quite liked it, but the slight hint of orange was not appealing to my particular little one.

That said, Leon's clientele are perhaps (more usually) hip young professionals, who enjoy food that's a bit different!

The almond cookie came in a candy-stripe bag

In summary, Leon's food was infinitely preferable to the food served by the cabin crew - it was such a relief to find something that was safe for me to eat and it was tasty. However, costing over £10 in total (I also bought a cold drink) I'm not sure that I really felt that I had value for money, and as there was nothing there that appealed to 'Baby', it meant that she had no other option than the food on the plane. 

BUT if it wasn't for Leon I would quite definitely have gone hungry, so I really hope they continue to prove popular at Heathrow, as I'm sure a lot of people like me will benefit greatly from their presence!

Related Posts:

Dinner with Leon

Travelling with the Dairy Free Baby

Oo! Ah! Christmas Chocolat! 2014

This is it folks! 

*Cue drum roll*

For it is the time of year when we all eye what 'normal' folks are able to get from the shops, by way of seasonal products, and wish for our own - dairy free, of course!

Well, as per usual, I've been eyeing up all the dairy free options, and it seems that there is more availability than ever, this year!

I have, of course, been keeping folks updated via Twitter and Face Book, whenever a 'find' has been made, but here is the list again - just to prevent anyone from missing out on anything!

Previously, I've begun with the more pricey stuff, but this time we're kicking off our list with...

Moo Free

This is one of my favourite dairy free brands - quite simply because it tastes good and is now so freely available - thanks to Sainsbury's! I love he fact that I can now pick up a bar (or maybe two) of Moo Free when I do my supermarket shop!

For Christmas, Merry Moo's Selection Box (containing a Mini Moo chocolate bar, a Mini Moo Bunnycomb Bar, a Mini Moo Minty Moo Bar, a Mini Moo Cheeky Orange Bar and a Mini Moo Santa Bar) for £4.49. It's also available from Holland and Barrett for the same price. It's £4.50 at Ocado.

Via Ocado, you can buy an ideal stocking filler, the Mini Moo Santa Bar, for £1.25 and the Advent Calendar for £4.99. I'm also expecting these to appear in Waitrose before too long!

Mini Moo Selection Box and Advent Calendar

Allergy Information:
Dairy, egg and gluten free. It may contain soya and hazelnuts.

'Choices' by Celtic Chocolates

Another dairy free brand that I enjoy is Celtic Chocolates - you can find them in most of the major supermarkets in various guises - usually as the stores 'own brand' free from chocolate, but sometimes under their own name of 'Choices'!

Their Advent Calendar is available from Sainsbury's, Tesco and Asda - the designs are all different on the outside, but inside the chocolate is the same! Interestingly, depending on where you buy it, you might be charged very differently for exactly the same thing! Sadly, my Asda doesn't have them!

Sainsbury's £2.69

Tesco £3.25

'Choices' at Sainsbury's

Their Chocolate Santa comes in 'milk' chocolate and white chocolate. It's available at both Sainsbury's and Tesco for £1, or you can pay £1.79 for the white chocolate or £1 for the 'milk' chocolate at Ocado. Holland and Barrett have both Santas priced at £1.49 each.

Great stocking fillers!

The Chocolate Discs (coins to you and me) are sold via Sainsbury's for £1.59 or at the moment for 2 for £2.50. Sometimes these are sold in read and green wrappers. They are a great favourite in our house, for parties (see here) and also for making Christmas tree decorations (see here)! I have also recently seen them in Tesco in silver and purple wrappers, for £1.50. I thought they'd disappeared, but they've reappeared in the Seasonal aisle in a special free from section!

See? Same thing, but different packaging!

Choices also make Assorted Nets - basically a selection pack. These are sold by Ocado for £5.50.

If you're looking for a gift, their Caramel Gift Box is priced at £4.59 (Ocado).

For after dinner mints, try their Mint Crisps - available from Sainsbury's under their 'own brand' for £2.49 at the moment.

Allergy Information:

Dairy and gluten free. The chocolate is made with soya lecithin. The Caramels are also made with soya flour. I have heard (via @Twobabyfoxes on Twitter - who has been in correspondence with them) that they are also nut free.

Kinnerton

Kinnerton specialise in making chocolate that is specifically nut free. They also make a dairy, egg and gluten free chocolate. This is quite a dark chocolate. They do make an Advent Calendar, but you have to join their mailing list to obtain one. They release the order form for these in September - they have to be ordered well in advance as they do a very limited run. This was highlighted on the Dairy Free Baby and Me Face Book page a while back. It's too late to get one for this year, but you can sign up to be notified for next year (see here).

However, this year, Kinnerton have produced a large Chocolate Santa, which is available through Asda.

Nice to see Kinnerton branching out!

Allergy Information:

Dairy, gluten, egg and nut free. Made with soya lecithin.

Plamil

Plamil have been around for a while, but are only becoming more widely available quite recently. Their pack of Snowmen can be found at Holland and Barrett and some health food shops. They can also be bought online directly from Plamil (see here).We tried these last year and 'Baby' and I both enjoyed them, but the chocolate was quite hard to bite into. 

Plamil's Snowmen

They also make Advent calendars, which are available through health food stores or their website, but I think Holland and Barrett's Advent dairy free calendars are also made by Plamil. 

Allergy Information:

Dairy and nut free. They are made without, but may contain soya.

Hotel Chocolat

Their 'Without Dairy' range, this year, consists of their usual classy Advent Calendar, priced £12.50.

And these little lovelies:

Mini Santas: 3 for £2.50; Tiddly Penguins: 8 for £5.50; Star Tree Decorations: 1 for £1.95 or 5 for £8. The Star contains 3 mini snowflakes. What a classy way of adding chocolate to your Christmas tree!

Rabat 1475 Small 100g Christmas Wreath: £8; Christmas Nights 100g Chocolate Slab: £3.75, or mix and match with other selectors for £3.15 each; Christmas Giandujas Selector: 6 truffles for £3.75, or mix and match selector packs 3 for £3.15 each.

Chocolate Chilli Penguins: 10 for £7, or three or more for £6; Rabat 1475 Large 450g Christmas Wreath: £22.

Sadly, however, Hotel Chocolat aren't making their dark chocolate Rudolph licks this year, sadly, theey're only available in milk and white chocolate. They've also discontinued the dark chocolate smiley licks as well, which is a real shame as 'Baby' used to like these.

Allergy Information:

'Without dairy' isn't the same as completely milk free. Somewhere on their website I noted a message that stated that all the Hotel Chocolat dark chocolates that are listed as 'Vegan' are considered suitable for Vegans but they cannot guarantee no traces of milk whatsoever. 

All the dark chocolates are made with soya lecithin. Most people allergic to soya should be okay with soya lecithin, as the protein has been removed, however, some people still experience a reaction.

The Advent calendar, Dark Chocolate Star, Tiddly Penguins, The Chilli Penguins and the Mini Santas are also made without gluten. However, you shouldn't necessarily read this as gluten free.

Some Hotel Chocolat chocolates contain nuts, therefore all Hotel Chocolat chocolates may contain traces.

Not all of the 'Without Dairy' chocolates are 'Vegan' - the lists are slightly different! 

See the Hotel Chocolat website for more details.


Montezumas

Montezuma's have a few shops scatttered around the south of England, but it is also available to buy online. They sell milk chocolate and dark chocolate. Some (but not all) of their dark chocolate items are made without dairy and are listed as Vegan. Some of you may be okay with their dark chocolate, see notes on allergies (below), for further information.

Dark Chocolate Advent Calendar is made with organic chocolate and is suitable for Vegans. It costs £9.99.

Dark Christmas Star £3.99 or 3 for £11.


Allergy Information:

Montezuma's dark chocolate is described as suitable for Vegans or those avoiding dairy. They say it may contain dairy and nuts, but is free from gluten and soya.

Personally, we do not eat Montezuma's, as I think 'Baby' reacted to it, when she tried some last year. We only tried it because the shop assistant described their manufacturing and cleaning practices in some detail and it seemed thorough, enough, but not for us!



Ayni


New to my list, this year, is Ayni - a paleo chocolate, that is free from the top allergens! It is also refined sugar free. Unfortunately, it's only available by ordering online, but what I've seen does look worth the effort (see here)! 

I've not tried any yet, but apparently Ayni was exhibiting at the Liverpool Allergy Show in October, and I've heard that they taste good!

I love the look of their Advent chocolates from £3.99 

How cute are these?

...and also their Christmas Cracker from £2.99. I certainly wouldn't say no, to this in my stocking, this year!

A classy Christmas treat!

Allergy Information: 

Ayni is free from dairy, egg, gluten, grain, soya, sesame and nuts! It is also refined sugar free.

D & D Chocolates

I first found D and D Chocolates some while ago. They are another source of dairy free chocolate that is also only available online. We love their mini Easter eggs (see here).They don't sell ready packed Advent Calendars, but they do sell some refillable ones, as well as the shapes with which to fill them! These Chocolate Advent Calendar Shapes are £6.49 for 25.

And there's also these Christmas Tree Decorations 6 for £3.98.

Dairy free Christmas tree decorations!

Meanwhile, these Chocolate Minty Snowmen are £8.75 for a box of twelve. they might seem pricey, but won a Free From Food Award, earlier this year!

Tasty after dinner treat?

Allergy Information:

Free from dairy, gluten, eggs and nuts. Not made with soya, but may contain.


D and D also have Christmas Carob, for those for whom chocolate is not an option (see here).



And finally...

If you're struggling to find a stockist, of these products, near you, you may like to try the following online sites: 

A Lot of Chocolates
Alternative Stores (online Vegan store)
Free From for Kids
Goodness Direct
Sam's Pantry (based in Ireland but will post to the UK)
Tasha's Dairy Free Delights (also makes her own hand made chocolates)
The Shop in the Shed
The Vegan Store (watch out as some details, such as 'may contain milk' may not be listed)

And if you'd rather do without chocolate, many toy stores sell Advent calendars containing small toys - I know Playmobile make some. And Holland and Barrett also sell a Peppa Pig and a Thomas the Tank Engine Advent Calendar containing vitamins! Well that's certainly one way of getting them in!

Related Posts: 


Dairy free ways to decorate your tree



Have yourself a gluten and dairy free Christmas (2013)



Baking with Baby - it's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas



Baking with Baby - Gingerbread



Baking with Baby - Wishing Yule a Happy Dairy Free Christmas



Treating Father Christmas (Mince Pies)