Sunday, March 2, 2008
Need A Recipe?
You may have noticed that I usually put quotations around "allergen free" in my recipes. As I have said before, that is because everyone's allergies are different and therefore there is no such thing as a truely allergen free recipe. In the beginning of all this food experimentation my mother told me that she had read that rice was one of the only foods no one is allergic to, I have since read about people who are not only allergic to rice but some even anaphylactic. I use a lot of soy in my recipes because I can, but that was not always the case. I also used to use spelt instead of wheat until we found out Emily is allergic to gluten. Today I have a question to put forth to you...What are YOUR allergies? What recipe have You been looking for? I need some ideas for "new material" and I would love some input! I'm looking forward to hearing from you, and thank you! :)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
21 comments:
Well, since you asked :), we are looking for recipes without wheat, soy, milk or peanuts. So far, we can use eggs. We are not yet aware of any other allergies, but are on the lookout constantly for the symptoms.
I've been spending some time today looking for a wheat/milk free recipe for banana bread. Any suggestions?
Hi there! I'm glad you found my recipe site. I kind of go in spurts there. I cook like crazy and then go for a while making the same old things, but I do try and add some new things every now and then. Our allergies are wheat, rye, barley, (and I typically stay away from oat too), egg, milk, peanut and tree nut.
I'll be back to visit you and check out your recipes too!! :)
I do have a banana muffin recipe posted. I don't know if you are avoiding gluten or just wheat, but you can use gluten free oats or just sprinkle plain ol brown sugar on top. I think I do have an actual banana bread recipe around here somewhere. If I find it I will post it (it is egg free though). My biggest frustration right now is that I don't have a camera so I can't post pictures :( . I don't know about you , but I won't try a recipe for the first time if I don't have a picture.
My son is currently avoiding: eggs, chicken, turkey, milk, soy, corn, barley, peas, tree nuts and peanuts. We just reintroduced wheat a short while back. I have been managing to find snacks and recipes to bake treats. My hardest thing of all is trying to give dinner some variety. I have a handful of recipes that I mix around. They consist of beef and beans or beef and rice and usually tomato sauce, onions and green peppers in some conbination. He can have pork, but I have not managed to cook anything that I consider edible except for plain old ham. I really need some better dinners. I love the ones I've come up with, but variety would help, for all of us. Jason (my son) has decided that he doesn't like what I cook lately, and I think it might be boredom?? He used to like it. Anyway, the recipes have to be SIMPLE. I did not sign up to be a cook... the job was kind of given to me, you know! I'm learning as I go, but the easier the better for now. Thanks for any dinner ideas you may have!
Tracy does he like his veggies? I'm thinking most of the "allergen free" dinner recipes I have are made with turkey and soy because that's what Emily CAN have. All of my good ham recipes are made with potatoes. Does he like potatoes? Emily likes plain old grilled pork chops dipped in applesauce, now that it's getting warmer we'll be doing that a lot! Dinner is actually the hardest for me too. I've been trying to add more dinner recipes to my site and then I realize how oddly Emily eats. lol
Janeen, I just realized I never officially welcomed you to my site. Hello, and thank you for coming. I am very happy to have found your site also! :)
You seem like a really loving mother, and I think someone definitely needs to tell you that because I know moms don't get enough credit these days! :)
My own mom had to deal with a lot of health issues with me when I was growing up. I had horrible asthma as a child, then I developed IBS and had to have my gallbladder removed just last year at age 22! I notice that I can't tolerate hydrogenated oils and processed foods, but I've finally got it somewhat under control.
I would love a great gluten free pie recipe - my good friend was sick for so long and they couldn't figure out why, well, thank God now we know she has a gluten allergy! I told her I'd bake her a pie, but I'm still trying to find that perfect pie recipe.
Thank you Sophie, you're sweet! :)
As for the pie...
What kind of pie are you thinking about making? Do you just need a crust or the filling too? For the crust I use a mix. Either "The Cravings Place All Purpose Pancake and Waffle Mix" or "Pamela's Wheat Free Bread Mix". Both have directions on them for pie crust. I'm sure there are other good mixes out there too. Does your friend have any other food allergies or intollerances? If you let me know what kind of filling you want I will see if I can come up with something good.
Hi Again!
Well, thankfully, I found a wheat/dairy free pie crust mix at a local specialty store here in Austin just after posting on your site! The filling is going to be for a traditional blueberry pie, I'm not sure if she's allergic to dairy, but I just bought a vegan butter replacement that might come in handy. Thank you for the responses! I've actually been thinking about getting a food allergy test - it just seems strange how some foods bother my stomach and others don't. Sadly, I did test positive for antinuclear antibodies just last year (which contribute to autoimmune diseases, like chron's disease) so my issue could be related to an allergy or autoimmune disorder. Would I have to go to an allergy specialist to get the allergy tests your daughter's received, or a GP first? Thanks again for your help :).
You know, I don't think I've ever had blueberry pie. Sounds yummy!
You will probably have to go to a GP to get a referral, that really depends mostly on your insurance co's requirements. Then there are different tests too. One of my daughters had a scratch test where they put a tiny bit of the allergens in your skin and watch for welts. My youngest had a blood test done where they actually draw the blood out of you and test the blood itself rather than testing on your body. The scratch test was done by an allergist, the blood test was done by our GP in conjunction with an indepedant lab (Meridian Valley). I hope that you do get tested. I have a friend with chrons who refuses to acknowledge that she has food allergies and yet there are certain foods that very obviously make it act up.
Best of luck to you! I hope you'll come back and give me an update on your journey to good health (and the pie for that matter). ;)
I am going to try your cookie recipie this week. I am trying to figure out how to bake without wheat, egg, nuts. I am also going to try to adapt your banana bread to an apple bread. We have a banana allergy in out house.
Modern Allergy Mom,
Welcome! I looked at your profile and noticed you are just starting out, I am interested in seeing your blog when it's up and running. I feel like everyone who comes here is a personal friend now, afterall, we do all have something in common.
Let me know what you think of the cookies, and I think apple bread sounds sooo good! My middle daughter is allergic to bananas (they just make her lips itchy), but she eats them anyway because she loves them and says it's worth it. She's 12...What can ya do?
Thanks for the reply. I hope to have things rinning in the next week or so. There is a lot to learn! I will keep you posted. BTW I love your site! Thanks for suffering through all the trial and error and sharing your results.
My son's allergies are: Eggs (the biggie), wheat, milk, soy, corn and peanuts. As for recipes that I am looking for? Just something new, really. This whole search started when i was looking for a cookie recipe for my wife's birthday. The cookies are working well. My wife is getting really bored eating the same old stuff for entrees, though, so I want to cook some new things for her and find some new recipes that she wants to cook as well.
Karmazone, welcome. I would love to help in any way I can. "something new" is kind of vague, although it is also how most of us on limited diets feel from time to time. It looks like most of your allergens are pretty easily avoidable in entrees (baking is another story) as long as you are cooking from scratch, of course quick and easy processed foods are pretty much out of the question. I like to stick to nice simple meat and veggie meals most of the time. If you like to have a starch, my three mainstays are rice, Tinkyada rice pasta, and Pamela's Amazing Wheat Free Bread (made from mix). Best of luck to you, and if you have any other questions, specific requests, or comments I would love to hear from you.
Hi. My husband recently found your site and I was really excited to hear about it. He was the one that posted the 'something new' entry
:-)
So thanks so much for the cookies. I think I can help with being more specific though. We really like Mexican dishes. I'm having a difficult time finding a recipe for tortillas or something very similar. Also for a plain bread that we could use for sandwhiches.
I am also getting an itch to experiment more. And I was wondering (before I get cranked up good :-) if there is a flour that generally works well in place of wheat or if it just depends on the recipe? And an oil that generally works well in place of butter/margerine?
My son is allergic to eggs, peanuts, wheat, corn, soy, and milk. Thanks again.
Oh wonderful, thanks for the specifics! I have a recipe for what free tortillas that I would be happy to share but it is a gooey, sticky, pain in the butt to make. I am looking into buying an electric tortilla maker one of these days to hopefully make the process easier.
There is no one flour that perfectly substitutes wheat (see my most recent post on pumpkin pie). Sorghum is one of my new favorites, but usually a blend of flours is best. You can even buy gluten free flour blends online from allergygrocers.com and others.
The bread that I swear by now is "homemade" using Pamela's Amazing Wheat Free Bread Mix. There is an egg free version on the side of the bag. For best results bake in an 8"x4" pan. If you find you like it you can even order it by the 6 pack through Amazon and save a little money (there is a link on the right side of my blog).
To replace butter/margarine in baking Spectrum Palm shortening is wonderful! It even has a "buttery" taste in baked goods.
Did I cover everything? Let me find that tortilla recipe and I'll get back to you. Best of luck in your new baking adventures!
2/3 c rice flour
1/3 c potato starch flour
1/8 c tapioca flour
2 tsp sugar
1½ tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp Salt
½ tsp baking powder
1 c warm water (maybe less)
1 Tbsp shortening
1.Put all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl and beat together until a smooth dough is formed. You may find this easier to do in a food processor or mixer. Try starting with 3/4 c of water, because I always have to use a ton of rice flour to roll these out.
2.Remove the dough from the bowl and shape it into a ball then divide into 8 pieces.
3.Lightly dust either baking paper or plastic film with rice flour and roll each tortilla out into a circular shape between two pieces. It needs to be rolled out quite thinly and to approximately 250mm (10") diameter.
4.Roll out all the tortillas, layering them between baking paper to avoid them sticking together.
5.Heat a frying pan (big enough to fit the tortilla in) or griddle until it is fairly hot, but not scorching. Very lightly oil the pan or griddle and cook each tortilla for about 1 minute per side, you can omit the oil if you prefer.
6.Put the cooked tortilla onto baking paper, and repeat step 5 until all the tortillas are cooked. Stack each cooked tortilla between plastic wrap, and keep warm if using straight away.
These tortillas can be refrigerated or frozen until needed, but should be defrosted before using. Defrosted tortillas can be reheated in the microwave for 15-30 seconds (depending on the microwave power rating).
Oh for goodness sakes...I forgot to title that last comment! The post just above this is the "flour" tortilla recipe. Also, as long as I'm correcting mistakes, in the post above that it is supposed to be "wheat free tortillas" not "what free tortillas"! OK, I feel better! :)
HI. I am only this week finally getting around to trying the tortilla recipe. But I wanted to check one thing before I start. The recipe calls for potato starch flour. We have potato starch. Is that the same thing? Or do I need potato flour or a combination? I have not come across potato starch flour specifically and since I'm new to this I wanted to make sure. Thanks.
castlecruiser,
I'm not sure why I wrote potato starch flour, it is supposed to be potato starch. If you don't have potato starch on hand I have read that it is interchangeable with corn starch.
Here's a funny bit of information for future reference... potato starch and potato flour are different things, but tapioca starch and tapioca flour are the same thing.
Also, I know this doesn't help you today, but for future baking you might want to check out allergygrocers.com for some of the harder to find ingredients.
One last note...I just want you to be prepared...the dough for these tortillas is going to be frustratingly gooey and sticky, but if you make it dryer the tortillas will be tough. Good luck and have fun! Let me know how it goes.
Post a Comment