Snacking With A Peanut Allergy: The Fewer Ingredients The Better

When you have a food allergy, you need to check every food label. The safest way to eat when you have a peanut allergy is to eat foods with only a few ingredients. When you eat pre-packaged snacks, like 100-calorie packages of crackers or cookies, it is sometimes difficult to tell what is in the food. Many times, the ingredients are scientific names of chemicals that are hard to pronounce.

Stick with Fruits and Veggies

Fruit is the perfect delicious snack by itself, but if you want to add something special and you're not allergic to dairy products, you can dip banana slices, strawberries, or grapes into strawberry yogurt. Children love to dip their snacks, and they are more likely to eat the fruit with a dip.

The same is true for vegetables. Cherry tomatoes, snow peas, broccoli, or cauliflower can be dipped into ranch dressing for a special treat. A much healthier dip for the veggies is hummus.

Kids Like To Discover New Foods

Children love to see the interesting shapes of fruits and vegetables that they have never tried before. They can try papaya, star fruit, pomegranate, and other interesting fruits. Adults often like trying new foods as well.

Lentils and Beans Make A Great Snack

You may be able to find steamed lentils in the refrigerated section of your supermarket, and you can spice them up with chili powder, curry powder, garlic powder, or other spices.

Garbanzo beans are firm and tasty snacks that can also be spiced up for more flavor. They are available in the canned vegetable section of your supermarket, or you can boil them at home.

Popcorn is a Healthy, Peanut-Free Snack

Popcorn is a snack that almost everyone loves, and you can make it interesting by sprinkling Parmesan over the freshly popped corn if you do not have dairy allergies. The healthiest way to pop your corn is in an air popper. If you like butter on it, you can drizzle some on after popping.

Whole Grain Snacks are Best

Some whole grain snacks that are safe to eat when you are allergic to peanuts are whole wheat crackers but read the label carefully before eating. Rice cakes and whole wheat or brown rice pasta can also be cooked and made into a pasta salad with your favorite vegetables added to it.

Dried Fruits are Peanut-Free and Delicious

Raisins and fruit leathers are treats that many people love to eat. There are lots of dried fruits available, from pineapple, mango, banana slices, blueberries, strawberries, and others. Dried organic fruits are becoming more readily available, and if they aren't in your supermarket, you can find them online at websites like Trader Joe's.

Other Snacks to Try

People with peanut allergies who want to avoid peanut allergy symptoms can still enjoy a nutty taste by eating sunflower seeds. Sunflower spread on toast or whole wheat bread tastes a lot like peanut butter, but it won't cause an allergic reaction in most people. Pumpkin seeds are another alternative to tree nuts or peanuts.

More Peanut-Free Foods You Will Enjoy

Photo: Pixabay