It Almost That Time of Year Again

 I've been thinking about what kind of theme to have for my sons third birthday. I know it's a little far off, but October will be here before I know it! That and I just have so much fun making his cake (Gluten Free of course) and planning his special day. Right now, I am leaning towards a Thomas themed cake....not sure about flavours yet though. We will be taking him on a special outing to the Zoo this year as well. 


Below are the Gluten Free cakes I made for my son's first and second birthdays. He is able to eat gluten but I choose to make anything homemade GF for him. It's safer for my health and enjoyable by the whole family.

1st birthday was all about playing with the icing

First time I ever made a cake...not bad ;)

Must practice those piping skills

He loved playing with the dinos

Canadian Law & Cocoa Pebbles Treats

Last week I received a nice surprise from family members who had returned from an American vacation. Gluten Free food! It's always fun to see whats new and different across the border.


The Glutino wafer's were great as always (we have them here too).
Corn Chex is just AWESOME! 
I have yet to make the Betty Crocker cookie mix but noticed on the side of the box that it is manufactured IN Canada! Good news is this line will be sold here soon.
As for the Cocoa Pebbles Treats....YUM! What a great snack! This brings me to the rest of today's post-


I was so impressed with the Cocoa Pebbles Treats (it's a nice change to eat a snack that I don't have to make from scratch) that I sent an e-mail to Post asking if Canada will sell them soon.  Below is the response which really threw me for a loop.

June 08, 2011 

Dear Sandra Lajoie,

Thank you for your inquiry for Post Fruity Pebbles.

Due to character licensing and copyright issues, the Fruity and Cocoa Pebbles cannot be sold in Canada at this time. It is also due to Canadian law popular cartoon characters on the television cannot sell products such as cereal. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

Thank you for using Post.

Michael Carpenter
Consumer Response Representative

~~TLXEA_19121624~~N

A law that bans cartoon characters on food cartons? I have yet to confirm this but either way it's a shame. Why should we be punished because other people cannot limit / monitor their child's food consumption properly? I know a lot of the cereal out there IS pretty junky but banning it based on a cartoon character is silly. Why not encourage these companies to make their products healthier? 


****UPDATE****

After seeing the Gluten Free, Post Cocoa Pebbles in a variety of Canadian stores, I decided to email them to see if we will be getting the GF Cocoa Pebbles Treats any time soon.

Below is the response I received.

April 09, 2013 

Dear Sandra Lajoie,Thank you for contacting Post Foods regarding Post Cocoa Pebbles Treat Bars. Unfortunately, this product has been discontinued.The Cocoa Pebble Treat Bars have been recently discontinued and you will only see those for a limited time now. The Cocoa Pebbles Cereal is available in Canada at this time and currently that is the only Pebbles or Gluten Free product that we have available to be purchased there.

We appreciate your loyalty and patronage and invite you to try another one of our many products. Thank you again for contacting Post Foods.Kerri Jordan
Consumer Response Representative

My First Online Gluten Free Order

Today I received my gluten free order from the Hospital for Sick Children's Speciality Food Shop. Not only is shipping FREE for Ontario, but my order showed up in only 3 days! They offer a wide selection of Gluten Free products to choose from. So much so that they gained a new loyal customer. I was also really happy to read that ALL of the purchase proceeds directly support patient care and research at the hospital.

 As you can see, I ordered a lot from the Simply Good Line. I stumbled across it on Amazon.com but was disappointed to find out they don't ship it to Canada. So I did some research and came across a review of the cupcake mix by Celiac Baby!. This made me want to order it even more. She let me know that Nut'N Gluten in Vaughan carries the cupcake mix. Unfortunately I probably won't get out that way anytime soon. Always good to know for future reference though! No giving up here. I e-mailed Simply Good (known as Well & Good in the lines Australian home). The response was awesome. I was informed that the line is available through  The Healthy Planet in  Pickering Ontario and online at the Specialty Food Shop (Sick Kids Hospital, Toronto).

I also purchased a pocket book which clearly lists ingredients that we can and cannot consume. Had this about 10 years ago and it was time for an updated version. I find it to be a real asset!