I don't know about that school rules. I think its a PTA thing . They get to make up their own rules and they might have a very good reason as to why they asked for no box mixes or store bought anything. As to the allergy situation, unfortunately we live in an artificial worlk. There is too much pollution in our environment, artificial ingredients in our food than there was 10, 20, 30 yrs ago. It seems that every year that goes by the pollution increases and so does the illnesses and disorders. Of course the number or kids with allergies and disorders have tripled in the past years but so has the contaminants in our environment and food. I am a special ed teacher and I cannot tell you how many new illnesses and disorders are appearing. And we think this wasn't around when I was little, well neither were more than half of the preservatives in our food now adays. Not even if you try to buy organic is that safe. Nothing is organic anymore because guess what we are watering those veg. and plants with recycled water. Guess where that water comes from?

I think I went off topic. but I wouldn't donate anything if I didn't have the time. It would be interesting to find out why they asked for "homemade" items?

By the way, not being able to bring homemade food to school or other children than your own, is a law in effect that most states are adopting for various reason already mentioned in this thread.

Well...do marshmallows rolled in kool-aid with a tooth pick stuck in them count as 'homemade'?

We always had these at bake sales. No 'box mixes' there...

I'd have to send it just to see someone's reaction. Ingredients: Marshmallows, Kool-aid LOL

HAHAHAHAHA!!!! "Ingredients: Marshmallows, Kool-aid."

I think I got my giggle for the night...

And I probably would just not donate either. But my kids aren't in school...

An allergy is an allergic reaction to a food/chemical/substance as I recall. If I had a child with allergies I'd supply their treats on party days and not expect everyone else to bend to his/her special needs. I've sent cupcake cakes for my grand daughter's b-days and supplied all the faculty party cakes where my dd teaches and noone ever cared/asked what was in them OR how they were made. They just asked me to keep them coming.

This allergy banning is getting out of hand, though. My sister was a substitute teacher before getting a full-time job and at least one school district had a no peanut butter rule meaning she wasn't to bring a pb & j sandwhich for lunch--even though she'd probably be eating in the teachers lounge. I've heard of "no peanut tables" which makes sense but this seemed crazy to me.

OMG!!! I send stuff at least once a month! The only rule in our school is no nuts. But I still go in anyway. HAHAHAHA!!! (I just made myself laugh. I must be tired!!!)
Ok, by nothing homemade, does that mean I can't send my kid's sandwich with bread I made??? I think I'd have to move to a new state!!!

There was an article about allergies just this last week. In our zeal to have clean and anti-bacterial everything, we've eliminated exposure to a lot of the bacteria out there that was common place just a generation ago. Our bodies are turning on themselves, because our immune systems don't have anything else to attack.

My school district has also banned peanut butter from the lunchroom. My kids would've been in some serious trouble, as that's all they'd eat for a while!

I didn't mean to downplay anyone's allergies. I do think there are real food allergies, I also think there is something else going on in our food that is just not good (chemicals, preservatives, etc.).

thecakemancan....I think your eating program sounds great! I know I start to feel better immediately when I eat a little better, so I know you must be feeling awesome!

I totally understand the whole allergy thing. My best friend's little girl would not gain weight and was constantly broken out in a rash until she took her to an allergist who showed her the severity of her daughter's food allergies. She's highly allergic to peanuts and tree nuts, and moderately allergic to dairy and wheat. My friend doesn't take her anywhere she could come in contact with nuts--since she's had to carry an Epipen with her everywhere, I don't blame her! That said, she makes food just for her daughter, as close as she can get to whatever they're eating, and continues to eat normal stuff (minus nuts, of course). I don't think she would have any problem making something from a mix unless it specifically said it had peanuts or tree nuts in it and it wasn't going to be contained to her kitchen.

Getting back on track for the thread, if I couldn't make something from a mix, I don't think I would contribute. Scratch cakes are really hard to do well and mixes have all that figured out--it's why they exist. If they were worried about it "tasting" like a mix, why couldn't you do an extender? They taste like scratch to me!

Keep us posted...

Call me crazy (you wouldn't be the first), but I often have a hard time tasting the difference between scratch and box. I do mostly box, but sometimes scratch. Oh well, I still can't wait to see the whole reason behind the OP question.

This topic got me to wonder... does using Almond extract pose as a threat to peanut/nut allergies? I don't use it but I was wondering...

Our county and surrounding counties don't allow homemade, everything must be store bought. We go to a private school though so that doesn't affect us. Crazy though, huh?

Almond extract would effect those with tree nut/almond allergies, but not necessarily those alergic to peanuts. My son does fine with almonds, but peanuts close his throat up in a matter of seconds.
My son is also alergic to dairy and it took a long time to figure out the connection. I nursed him for 2 1/2 years because of "reflux" problems and problems we thought he had with digestion. Turns out he doesn't have relux problems at all. His dairy alergy gives him hives or a rash on his face and makes him really congested (runny nose and a lot of mucus in the mouth/throat). When he was a baby, I'd drink a lot of milk since I was nursing -- the more I had, the more reflux problems he had. And, lo and behold, that rash on his face wasn't baby acne after all!!!!
I still wouldn't expect the school system (or actually, the parents within the district) to make special accommodations for my son. Sorry, but the inconsistency within the district rules are what are really frustrating to me. If your kid can't take baked goods in for their b-day, why wouldn't you come up with some other fundraiser other than a bake sale with so many contingencies that no one would participate - with a end result of no funds being raised!

I wouldn't make anything for the sale. They are asking for donated items, which to me means to bring what you are able to make timewise and all, yet telling everyone what to bring. What are they cake nazi's? Why not just go ahead and let people know what exactly they want them to bring save all the hastle. Go through their recipes and hand them out. With no box mixes and no store bought it cuts out about 95% of what parents, working or not, can physicaly/financialydo.

Wonder if it's because they dont want anyone to show up with a bakery cake from a mega mart.

As for the boxed mixes there are lots of chemicals added. Some people are heading down the all natural road and I guess that is a control way of saying we'd rather go with all natural ingredients.

I prefer scratch baking for myself and friends. Some of my customers would rather have scratch over boxed any day. But when I dont have the time for scratch I will use a box.

After the serve safe course I took before opening my business i am VERY aware now of what can go wrong in kitchens that arent dilligent in the rules.

I WILL NEVER eat anything made by a child even my own. That is just a rule I started when my daughter was small.

wow this is so crazy to me... how can the expect you to fork out that kind of money for a "scratch" cake for donation just to make money off of you? If you know your kid has an allergy you don't buy anything from the bake sale... that is like taking my kid into an ice cream parlor if I know they are severly lactose intolerant, you just DON'T DO IT... it amazes me the audacity of this school to just say no box mixes. I start with a box because personally I don't feel like mixing the dry ingredients... I have NEVER had one person refer to my bakery as a box mix bakery, everyone thinks it is from scratch...If I get not complaints why change my way.. I do highly dr. my mix, but I do start with a mix.

I have a customer whose little boy has egg allergies and I always bake the Crazy Chocolate Cake recipe on this site as it is egg free. Now usually mom orders cupcakes which is wonderful because the recipe stickle like a pair of laytex britches on an oversized bootie , but nonetheless she orders everything from me for his school parties... I have had numerous mom's call me off of that needing allergy free items.

For all of you moms out there with kids allergies let me suggest www.cherrybrookkitchen.com
they have many nut, egg, gluten, and other allergy free mixes and such.. great site, great customer service. Good luck with your decision, I hope you get a reply soon.

This makes no sense to me, I'm willing to bet that there are plenty of parents who either don't know how to bake from scratch or just don't have the time. They've just cut their pool of donations down drastically, from what I've seen of bake sales they're lucky if some of the cakes have homemade icing and I've been living in the rural midwest since I was 12.

If they're doing it for allergy issues it makes no sense because you can't be sure a kitchen is nut-free and even a trace amount can affect someone who's very sensitive.

As for the allergy issues I've seen some interesting articles on it, kids in poor countries don't have as many allergies and keeping furry pets seems to help children avoid developing allergies. They say that part of it is the immune system not developing when homes are kept sterile. I can't help but wonder though if some of it is kids who have very serious allergies are just more likely to survive in countries with better health care.

If it weren't for peanut butter, my children would not eat. When they cut themselves, I swear, they bleed Jif! If the school banned pb because of a couple allergic kids, I would petition at city hall.....I am not kidding.

Please do not think I am not sympathetic to the allergic reactions of children, but GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!!! If a kid has allergies, the parents must be dilligent and the child needs to be educated so they know what they can and can't eat. I will never forget when my daughter was in kindergarten and had a friend over..... for some reason, even though there is not one allergy to be had in my whole family, I asked if she had any allergies and the Mom gave me all the details.

Well, when I served some cookies, the little girl (at age 5, mind you) was quick to ask if they had any peanut oil in them! LOL ~ that was a riot, but totally awesome.

I am approaching the end of my rope when it comes to overall changes being made for a few people. If some kids are allergic to PB, they need to stay away from it and ALL children should be educated about allergies. So they understand they may not be allergic but smearing some of their pb & j on the arm of someone who is (thinking the is funny or something) can be very dangerous - even deadly depending on how severe the allergy is. Banning PB from the school is just madness!

Man, I really like peanut butter.....

Really, if someone is allergic to a certain food, then do NOT eat it.. but the rest of them don't have to suffer just because some people cannot eat.. that would not be fair to those who are not allergic.

I also had to wonder (re: schools that completely ban peanut butter) how the school lunch program survives without those industrial size containers of peanut butter. I remember that as a kid, if we forgot to bring lunch or had no tickets, we still got a pb & j. Of course, school lunches aren't the same as when I was a kid. We had one main selection and a balance of veggies, fruits & dessert. We also had to eat everything we took and there was no option of not taking a little of everything (except dessert). We had yes thank you, thank you, or no thank you size portions. A local school I worked at had three main courses to choose from just to get kids to eat. Can you imagine the job of today's lunch lady?

redbird, this old lady can beat that. "in MY day...." we had one thing for lunch. Wed was Chicken-n-noodles/mashed potatoes/ veggie/salad/roll. Friday was fish sticks, mac-n-cheese, green beans, jello. There was no multi-menu. It was just like at home: This is what we made and this is what you're eating. Period. If you didnt' like fish sticks, you were S.O.L.

Good lord, "kids today" have almost a food court to choose from!

Some high schools are food courts!