YummyAllergenFree

Enjoy Life's Crunchy Cookie Collection

2012-01-06T08:34:00.000-08:00

First of all I need to apologize to the wonderful people at Enjoy life, they sent these cookies for me to review a month ago, and I am just now getting around to it. The cookies were delicious, so sadly all I have left to take a picture of are empty boxes. Now I have mentioned many times before that I am not a crunchy cookie kind of girl. For this reason I tried to get my girls to head up this review for me, but all I could get out of them is " I don't know, they're all so good!" It's speaks highly of the cookies, but not very descriptive. So, at this point, I decided to try them myself.
When I did get around to trying them the
Double Chocolate Cookie and the Chocolate Chip Cookies were already gone. I assume this either means that these were the preferred flavors or that my kids are chocoholics (highly possible). I tried the two that were left. My favorite of these two was the Sugar Crisp, although the Vanilla Honey Graham would be PERFECT for making s'mores. Texturally I can tell these are a gluten free cookies, they do have that slight tell tale grittiness, but if you are used to eating gluten free you won't even notice it. The flavors, however, are amazing! With many allergen free cookies all you taste is sugar. The new Enjoy Life Crunchy Cookies have wonderfully full and complex flavors. Even the sugar cookie didn't just taste sweet...it tasted like a sugar cookie. All four flavors were definitely a thumbs up. We also discovered that any one of these cookies makes an awesome "ice cream" sandwich!
I am so glad to see that Enjoy Life seems to be blossoming as a company. I have seen a few good allergen free companies come and go in recent years. Enjoy life is still expanding, and I am even finding it in my less expensive everyday grocery stores now. How great is it not to have to travel 15 miles out of your way to pick up a box of chocolate chips cookies, or worse yet pay double what they're worth in shipping charges?! To the Enjoy Life company...Thank you for this opportunity to review your products and I hope to see more and more from you in many years to come! :)

Egg Free Royal Icing

2011-12-09T19:01:00.000-08:00

As usual, I have no time to make or post anything new, but I thought at the very least I could re-post my egg free royal icing recipe. I don't think I could live without it this time of year. I hope it comes in handy for others in need too. I hope you all are having a very, very wonderful holiday season!!! :)
And here's the recipe...

1 c Powdered sugar
1 T Ener-G egg replacer (dry)
1 t Cream of tartar
1/8 t Xanthan gum
2 T Water (approximately)

Blend all dry ingredients together. Add water slowly until desired consistency is reached. Less water will be strong enough to bind gingerbread houses, more water will be better for a piping bag.

Mini Cherry Pies: Gluten Free and Vegan

2011-11-23T20:32:00.000-08:00

I had not planned to post this, it was an afterthought really. The rest of the family is having cheesecake for dessert on Thanksgiving and Emily asked for cherry pie. I was already using my 9" pie pan for the cheesecake, so we made her two mini pies in small ramekins. Again, I wasn't going to mention the pies here, but when we finished making them I stepped back and looked at them...they were adorable! They were so beautiful I HAD to get a picture! Then of course I thought "I have a picture, I might as well post it". The picture doesn't do them justice though. Maybe the holidays are making me overly emotional, but these doggone things were so cute I almost cried!

NOT SO MUCH A RECIPE, BUT HERE YA' GO:

1 batch of pie crust, mine is here
http://yummyallergenfree.blogspot.com/search/label/pumpkin%20pie
1 can of allergy safe cherry pie filling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Press your pie crust evenly into the ramekins. If you have any leftover crust you can cut designs for the top. This was my first ever lattice top...maybe THAT'S why I was so proud!(?) Fill crusts to 1/2" below the top. Crimp or decorate the tops as desired. Place ramekins on a cookie sheet in case your filling boils over. Bake until tops are golden. My pies have all varied from 50 minutes to one hour. These ones baked for 55 minutes.

I hope you all have a truly beautiful Thankgiving full of family, friends, and fabulous foods!!!

Enjoy Life Mega Chunks and Banana Oatmeal Mega Chunk Cookies

2011-11-16T08:32:00.000-08:00

I was so excited when I heard about Enjoy Life's new Mega Chunks, but then I couldn't find them in my local store. Then Enjoy Life contacted me and asked if I would like to review them and I said oh yes, yes! For the record, they also sent me a bag of their new chocolate granola to review. It tastes wonderful! I've always enjoyed the flavors of Enjoy Life granolas, but I have a problem with the texture. I am not a crunchy person, and they are definitely harder than oat based granolas. However, if you are the kind of person who loves snacking on corn nuts, like my mother, then you should definitely give it a try. Now back to the Mega Chunks. They are wonderful little chocolate chunks, about the size of half a Tootsie Roll, and have so much potential that I had a hard time deciding what to do with them first (besides eating them straight out of the bag, which we also did). Remember, they are free of all top 8 allergens, Kosher, and have no trans fats or artificial ingredients...not to mention delicious! Meanwhile, I had a brown banana calling my name and two girls in need of cookies, so was born the banana oatmeal chocolate chunk cookie. :)

BANANA OATMEAL MEGA CHUNK COOKIES:
1/2 c Gluten free oat flour
1/2 c Sorghum flour
1/8 c Potato starch
1/8 c Tapioca starch
1/4 t Xanthan gum
1/2 t Baking soda
1 t Salt
1 t Cinnamon
3/4 c Dairy free margarine
1 c Brown sugar
1 1/2 c Pureed bananas
1 t Gluten Free vanilla extract
3 c Gluten free rolled oats
About 20 -25 pieces of Enjoy Life Mega Chunks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lay parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
Whisk together oat flour, sorghum flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, xanthan gum, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, and set aside. Cream together margarine and brown sugar. Add vanilla and banana. Mix well, scraping sides and bottom of bowl to make sure all margarine is incorporated. Blend in the flour mix. Add oats, and stir for 1 more minute.
Drop cookies on parchment lined cookie sheet by large tablespoons (or using a small spring action ice cream scoop like I did). Press one Mega Chunk deep into the center of each cookie (they tend to rise back out a bit when baking).
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. The chocolate chunks take about an hour to harden back up, so if you are going to be stacking your cookies for storage, you may want to refrigerate them for a few minutes first.
These cookies were really delicious, and possibly bordering on healthy. I can't wait to try another recipe with this chocolate...maybe the blondie recipe on the back of the bag. Yum!

"The Allergy Free Cook Bakes Bread" Gluten Free, Egg Free, and Dairy Free! by Laurie Sadowski

2011-11-06T10:44:00.000-08:00

I am reviewing a new cookbook this week, The Allergy Free Cook Bakes Bread. It is available HERE on Amazon for only $11.54! If you are new to gluten free cooking this book will be a lifesaver. When I first started this allergen free endeaver, (oh gosh, has it been 10 years ago already?), I bought an allergy cookbookbook that had a comprehensive list of gluten free flours and their properties and I could not have ever come this far without it. The problem is that there are more flours available now than there were 10 years ago, so many of the new flours were not included in my first book. The allergy Free Cook Bakes Bread not only has an extensive list of flours, but also a wonderful guide to dairy replacements, and egg replacements! I really do believe this is a must-have book! Now, as I have been writing this my Chocolate Chip Scones from this book have been baking. In the time it took for me to take and upload a picture...they are gone! In other words, I would buy this book just for the information it provides, but as a bonus the recipes are amazing too! :) Included are recipes for quick breads, yeast breads, scones, tortillas, bagels, focaccia, and more. I want to thank Laurie Sadowski for sending me a copy of this book!!! I let Emily decide which recipe we should make first and review, and this was her choice:

CHOCOLATE CHIP SCONES:

1/2 c Sorghum flour
1/4 c Quinoa flour (we subbed with millet)
1/4 c Tapioca starch
2 T Sugar
1 1/4 t Baking Powder
1/4 t Baking soda
1/2 t Xanthan gum
1/8 t Sea salt
3 T Dairy free margarine
1/3 c Enjoy Life chocolate chips
5 T Soy milk (or other milk alternative)
1 T Cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 400 degress. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Mix together soy milk and vinegar. Set aside.
Put the sorghum flour, quinoa flour, tapioca starch, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, and salt in a large bowl. Stir with a dry whisk until combined. Using a pastry cutter or two knives (or mashing with a whisk like I do), cut in the margarine until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Pour 1/4 cup ofthe soy milk and vinegar mixture (vegan buttermilk, for which the recipe is also in this book) into the flour mixture to make a dough and stir until just moistened, add the rest if needed. Using floured hands, gather the dough into a cohesive ball and transfer to the lined baking sheet.Gently knead dough 2 or 3 times until it holds together. Pat into a 1/2" thick circle. (At this point I sprinkled a little sugar on top because we like sweet.) Using a floured knife cut the dough into 4 wedges, pulling them apart only slightly.
Bake 15 to 18 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool for at least 5 minutes. Serve warm. ( Ours were definitly served warm, the house smelled like chocolate chip cookies and the kids came running!)

"Lunch Box" Gluten Free Apple Pies

2011-10-20T07:08:00.000-07:00

I thought these would make great little take-along pies for Emily's school lunches, that was the plan anyway.I guess I didn't really think it through, because we made them on Friday and the recipe only made five pies, so of course by Monday when I went to pack her lunch they were all gone. Oh well, at least I know they were good! By the way, if anyone knows the name for this type of pie (mini, with the filling enclosed in crust) please tell me. I know that they have a name which is escaping me and it's driving me crazy!

CRUST:
1/3 c plus 1 T Chilled vegetable shortening
1/4 c Rice flour
1/4 c Sorghum flour
1/4 c Potato starch
1/8 c Sweet rice flour
1/8 c Tapioca starch
1 1/2 t Dry Ener-G egg replacer
1/4 t Salt
2 t Sugar
2 to 3 T Ice water

In a large bowl with a wire whisk blend all dry ingredients. Cut in vegetable shortening until particles are the size of small peas (most recipes say to use a pastry cutter or two knives, I actually use my whisk in a potato masher sort of way, alternating between stirring and mashing until the desired consistancy is reached). Sprinkle in water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry dough holds together when shaped into a ball with hands (1 to 2 teaspoons additional water can be added if necessary). Flatten into a rectangle and chill dough for at least an hour.

FILLING:
2 c Thinly siced apples (about 2 med. apples)
1/2 c Water
1 T Lemon juice
2 T Brown sugar
1/2 t Cinnamon
1 or 2 dashes of Nutmeg

Stir all the ingredients together in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples are tender-crisp and the liquid has reduced to a syrupy coating. let the apples cool before handling them.

ASSEMBLY:
I guess I should have taken pictures, but I think it's pretty easy to understand. Take the dough out and allow it to rest at room temperature for a few minutes. Roll it into a rectangle 40"x 20", using sweet rice flour for dusting if necessary. Cut into 10 rectangles, each 4"x 2".
Line a baking pan with parchment paper.
For each pie, lay one rectangle on the parchment paper. Then lay a mound of apple filling down the center, leaving acout 1/4" of crust open around the entire perimeter. Lay another rectangle of crust on top, lining up the edges, stretching a little if needed. If dough tears, it can be mended with a little pinching (if it won't stick, wet your fingers with a little water). Crimp all around the outside edges with a fork or crimping tool. Try to keep the thickness of the crimped edges about the same as the original thickness of the crust, in other words, around the edges the two layers should now be pressed to the same thickness as one layer would be. If you make it too thin the edges will burn.

TOPPING: (optional)
Brush tops of pies with a very thin mix of powdered sugar and water. Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon sugar.

BAKE:
Preheat oven to 350. Cut slits or designs into the top of each pie. Bake approximately 50 minutes. I checked mine at 45 minutes and they were not done. I cooked them for 60 minutes and they were a little crunchier than I would have liked. So, I'm thinking 50 minutes is a good time, but I haven't tried it yet. When I get around to making these again I will come back and revise this part.

Well, there you have it. Happy Snacking!

Human Rumination Syndrome

2011-09-24T10:29:00.000-07:00

This isn't really a formal post. It has just occured to me that I need help and information, and I have this forum to put my plea out into the world wide web, and I have found myself with a few minutes to write. I posted a while back about my daughter Amanda and her diagnoses of Eosinophilic Esophagitis. We now think the EE is actually a reaction to the fact that she is constantly regurgitating. Every single day she gets up and has something to eat, then as soon as she is done eating, and continuously for the rest of the day, her food comes back up one small mouthful at a time. She simply swallows it back down and goes about her day, it is so constant that there really is no other option. Also, every time she eats, her stomach gets hard and swollen, but she showes no outward signs of having gas. We finally ended up at a GI who looked at her multitude of tests for her tummy troubles and said "I've been doing this for 15 years and I've never seen this before, I'm sorry, I don't know what to tell you". Huh??? We need answers!!! So, we went online and started Googling all of her symptoms, and WE found the answer. She has Human Rumination Syndrome. Unfortunately it is a "syndrome" and not a disease, so no pill or quick fix. We found a biofeedback breathing technique here http://www.healingbridge.com/articles/articles-biofeedback.htm that actually seems to help keep her food down but it's almost impossible to do as constantly as she needs to and still live a normal life, and when I tried to make an appointment with them they said they don't deal in her condition and refused us.
I doubt that any of my regular readers know anything about this condition, but again it is my hope that by putting this on the internet maybe someone out there who is just searching key words will see this and have some information, or input, or ANYTHING. It can't hurt to try. Right? I welcome any comments, thoughts, suggestions, and stories. Thank you!
For my regular readers, I really do plan to start posting more recipes again soon...I really do! :)

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins-Gluten Free, Dairy Free, and Egg Free

2011-07-01T09:42:00.000-07:00

Well, we have probably all noticed that I don't seem to have time to create new recipes anymore, but I do find myself drawing on other great bloggers recipes from time to time. My daughter was craving lemon poppy seed muffins recently and in searching for a gluten free version I discovered Nicole at Gluten Free On A Shoestring, and I am so glad I did! Here is the link to her recipe for GF muffins (which do contain dairy and eggs) http://glutenfreeonashoestring.com/lemon-poppyseed-muffin-love . Nicole uses a flour blend called Better Batter which I am planning to try in the near future. I didn't have any flour blends on hand so I used one of my usual combos, but there are so many blends out there right now, and you can certainly substitute 2 cups of your favorite blend for the first 5 ingredients in my recipe (also leave out the xanthan gum if your blend already contains it). These muffins are incredible, even without eggs and dairy!

½ c Rice flour
½ c Sorghum flour
½ c Millet flour
¼ c Tapioca starch
¼ c Potato starch
1 t Xanthan gum
1 t Baking powder
1/2 t Baking soda
¼ t Salt
Zest of 1 lemon
2 T Poppy seeds
½ c Dairy free margarine
¾ c Sugar
2 Eggs worth of egg replacer
1 c Soy yogurt (I used half lemon and half vanilla)
½ t Vanilla extract
Juice of 1 lemon

Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium sized bowl, place the flours, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, salt, lemon zest and poppy seeds, and mix to combine. These are the dry ingredients. You want the lemon zest and poppy seeds to be coated in dry ingredients so they don’t clump together in the batter. Set the bowl aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar until fluffy and light in color. Add the egg replacer, soy yogurt, vanilla extract, and lemon juice, beating well to combine after each addition. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, and beat well until the batter becomes thicker and a bit more elastic.

Divide the batter evenly among the 12 cups of the muffin tin. Place the muffin tin in the center of the preheated oven, and bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

We also drizzled a little icing over ours, made from powdered sugar and lemon juice.

Enjoy!

Kelapo Virgin Coconut Oil and Gluten Free Vegan Almond Cookies

2011-05-03T12:13:00.000-07:00

I have decided in this post to do a review and a recipe at the same time. I was sent a jar of Kelapo Cold Pressed Virgin Coconut Oil, and I have been having so much fun with it that I didn't know where to start. Coconut oil has many health benefits which you can read about by following the link below. The most relevant health benefit here, however, is that it is a dairy free, soy free baking alternative! Now I know some people don't like the taste of coconut. In the almond cookie recipe below you really can't taste it. For those of us who DO like coconut, I have to tell you, I tried spreading it on toast like the company suggests and it was amazing! The first thing you taste is coconut, then after a few seconds I swear it tastes and feels like butter on your tongue. Tonight we are going to try melting it and pouring it over popcorn. Oh yes, and I've been cooking my stir fry and root veggie casserole in it too, this really is wonderful stuff! Thank you to Jen over at the Kelapo company for introducing me to a wonderful new baking alternative! I would also like to mention that this product is organic and fair trade certified. I am having trouble with my integrated links, so please follow the link below to find out everything you want to know about Kelapo Coconut Oil http://www.kelapo.com/index.php.
On to the recipe...I'll keep this short, but I have to mention why I made these. When I was a little girl my Grandma would occasionally bring home a little pink bakery box with fresh baked Chinese almond cookies inside. They were so amazing! I recently felt an overwhelming desire to share this with my kids, so I altered a recipe to be gluten free, egg free, dairy free, and soy free. Guess what...they didn't even like them! Silly kids!!! Anyway, despite what the kids may say I think these are incredible. I ate the whole batch! :)

1 c Kelapo Virgin Coconut Oil (please see link above)

3/4 c Sugar

1 Eggs worth of Ener G Egg replacer

1 t Gluten free almond extract

1 c Almond flour

3/4 c Brown rice flour

3/4 c Sorghum flour

1/8 c Potato starch

1/8 c Tapioca starch

1/2 t Xanthan gum

1 t Baking powder

1/4 t Salt

24 Whole blanched almonds

Optional: 2 parts corn syrup to 1 part water to be used as an "egg wash"

Heat oven to 350°F. Combine Kelapo Coconut Oil and sugar in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Add egg replacer and almond extract; beat until well mixed. Add flours, starches, baking powder and salt. Beat until well mixed. If dough is too dry and crumbly, add a teaspoon of water at a time until it JUST comes together. If you add too much water your cookies will be like marzipan in the middle (believe me- I know).

Shape dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten to about ½ an inch thick. Press an almond into the center of each cookie.

Optional: If you want to mimic the look of egg wash, mix 2 parts corn syrup with 1 part water in small bowl, then brush tops of cookies with the mixture before baking.

Bake for 15 minutes or until just set. Cool completely.

Peach Cobbler, Gluten Free and Vegan

2011-04-20T09:04:00.000-07:00

This is my Aunt Jamie's beloved peach cobbler recipe from my childhood (with a few alterations of course). The last time I spoke to her she said "it's called Poor Man's Cobbler", and I said "no, it's called Aunt Jamie's Cobbler, it says so right here in my cookbook." :)
I have been playing with different flour blends and am still perfecting it, but I have found it's better to go very light on the starches. I hope this cobbler makes you feel as happy on the inside as it does me!

1/2 c Margarine
1 c Sugar
1 c Soy milk
1 c Gluten free flour blend
1 t Salt
1 1/2 t Baking powder
1 Pinch of baking soda
1/2 t Cinnamon
1 Quart canned peaches (or other desired fruit)- drained

Preheat oven to 350. Put the margarine into a medium sized casserole dish and place it in the preheating oven to melt.

Mix together the sugar, soy milk, flour blend, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.

Once the margarine is melted, remove dish from the oven and pour in half of the batter. Pour in the peaches, then pour the remaining batter over that.

Bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until dough rises up to cover the peaches and is golden brown. (Depending on what your specific gluten free flour blend is, it may not turn golden brown, but it will look dry on top and will be fluffed up over the peaches).

Eosinophilic Esophagitis and More Food Allergies

2011-03-24T11:02:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't posted for a while, life has been busy, but as you can see we have new developments. I have always said that my oldest daughter, Amanda, has the fewest allergies...funny thing is, we had never had her tested.

So, lets start at the beginning. For over a year now, my 17 year old has been having tummy troubles, but she didn't tell me until about 5 months ago when it started getting really bad. Every single day she would get up and have something to eat, then as soon as she was done eating, and continuously for the rest of the day, her food would come back up one small mouthful at a time. She would simply swallow it back down and go about her day, it was so constant that there really was no other option. The doctors started ordering one test after another. Of course they all wanted to call it GERD, but there is no acid coming up, just food. One of the tests showed some bile pooling in her stomach, but the doctors didn't seem too worried about that. The biopsy showed EE, her eosinophilic count was over 60. Then we did the allergy test. The results... peanuts (which they weren't even supposed to test her for because of a family history of anaphylaxis), wheat, barley, dairy, soy, and beef. She cut all of these things out of her diet and for the first day she had no regurgitation. We were so excited, this was actually working!!! Every day following, however, her symptoms have returned. We have not yet figured out why. So this is where we are at in our journey. It's her journey really since she is an amazing young adult now, but of course I will always be here to love her and support her in any way I can. She has started a blog journaling her condition and the foods that she eats every day. She and her boyfriend eat out a lot and I've been really impressed so far with the options they have found and with the helpfulness of their servers at the restaurants. Her blog is http://myjourneytoahappytummy.blogspot.com/ . I may be biased, but I thinks she is an amazing writer and I am so very proud of her! I'm also very proud of how well she has been handling this whole thing. She inspires me :)

So, that's where we are now. I hope to be posting a peach cobbler recipe soon. Maybe, with this new inspiration, I will find the time and energy to start posting recipes more frequently again. Love and allergen free hugs to you all!

Apple Pie Crisp

2010-12-25T21:36:00.000-08:00

Please forgive my absence. I haven't had much time for baking, let alone posting and taking pictures. This post, however, was done almost entirely by my daughters. Nikki wrote the recipe and baked the crisp and Amanda took the pictures and uploaded them for me. Thank you girls! We are calling this apple pie crisp because instead of my traditional crisp filling (which is simply sliced apples), it has a thick sweet apple pie filling. The crisp was eaten so fast that we had to make it twice before I had enough left to get a picture of one small piece! Enjoy!!!

Filling:
8 cups (about 5 large) of granny smith apples
1/2 c Granulated sugar
2 T Tapioca starch
1/2 t Nutmeg
1/2 t Cinnamon
1 t Vanilla extract
1 t Lemon juice
Dash of salt

Pare and slice apples. Place in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix well, we used our fingers :)

Topping:
1 c Brown sugar
1 c Gluten free oats
1/2 c Gluten free oat flour
1/2 c Spectrum shortening
1/8 t Salt

Mash all of the topping ingredients together until there are no longer large lumps of shortening.
Sprinkle the topping over the apples. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes, or until the apples are tender.

Meals To Live

2010-11-02T20:29:00.000-07:00

I am very excited to have discovered the Meals To Live line of frozen foods! In their words, Meals To Live is "a strong advocate for diabetes prevention, healthy lifestyles, and proper nutrition". I was contacted by the company and asked if I would like some sample meals to review on my site...you know me, I never pass up free food. After I received the meals I was immediately contacted by Nisha who told me that they had accidentally sent me a "standard" sample pack which included meals with gluten, and she told me to throw them away. I greatly appreciate Nisha's diligence and attention to detail, many companies wouldn't have noticed or acted upon such a mistake. Of course I didn't throw them away because I myself don't have any allergies, so I gobbled them up! Now we come to my dilemma...six of the meals are gluten free, four are not, and one of the gluten free meals contains eggs and dairy...how do I present this to my allergy free readers? That's when I realized that many of you moms and dads are just like me, no allergies of your own but cooking for allergic kids. We need to eat too! These meals are amazingly like good wholesome home made food. They use top of the line ingredients and absolutely no fillers. They are packed with vitamins, high in protein and fiber, and low in fats and calories. Wonderful! I am told they retail for $3.99 to $4.99 which amazes me because of the quality of the foods used compared to most frozen meals already on the market. They are currently available at Ralph's, Walgreens, Rite-Aide and Food For Less. On to the review...

I am actually going to review the foods as a whole, then I will list which ones are allergen free. Every single meal was of incredible quality! The green beans were crisp like they were fresh steamed, the meats were real meat, and the sauces were minimal and delicious. My favorites were the Mexican style dishes, the spices and seasonings were very authentic. The first meal I tried was the white chicken burrito and it is still my favorite, it really tasted like something I would pay $10.00 for at a Mexican restaurant. It had quinoa and veggies inside with a nice green sauce on top. Emily's favorite was the sliced turkey with balsamic sauce and butternut squash. It was the perfect blend of sweet and tangy. The omelet with spinach and turkey sausage was impressive too, eggs don't always microwave well but this was really good ( I have to admit though, I cheated a little on this one and added some extra cheese). I will definitely be keeping a few of these meals on hand for those days when I spend so much time cooking for the kids that I forget to cook for myself. Following is a list of the current meals available and their allergen contents:

Gluten Free, Egg Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, Nut Free: White Chicken Fajita, Sliced Turkey with Balsamic Sauce and Butternut Squash, Grilled White Chicken with Brown Rice Pilaf and Vegetables, Shrimp Jambalaya , and Grilled White Chicken with Roasted Red Potatoes and Green Beans

Gluten Free, Soy Free, Nut Free: Spinach Omelet with Turkey Sausage

The following items DO CONTAIN eggs, dairy, and wheat: Stacked Eggplant with Seasoned White Chicken (also contains pine nuts), and White Chicken Chili Relleno

The following items DO CONTAIN dairy, and wheat: Turkey Meatballs with Whole Wheat Spaghetti, and White Chicken Burrito with Green Sauce

IMPORTANT NOTE: I read each and every ingredient with my own eyes...which are not perfect and sometimes make mistakes. Please remember to always read labels and only trust yourself to know what is OK for you and your family! :)

And The Winner Is...

2010-10-19T21:56:00.000-07:00

My youngest daughter has chosen the winner of our Lucy's cookies giveaway, and the winner is... Mommy Michel! Congratulations! Thank you to everyone who left a comment. I hope you will all still have a chance to try Lucy's at some point. By the way, Nikki and I discovered a new use for these cookies, ice cream sandwiches! They were so good!!! I wish I had a picture...but we ate them too quickly. Just scoop a little ice cream between two cookies, smoosh them together a little, wrap in foil, and freeze. YUM!

Lucy's Cookies Giveaway- Gluten Free, Egg Free, Dairy Free, and Nut Free!!!

2010-10-05T07:47:00.000-07:00

After receiving only a couple of responses to my last giveaway, I spoke to a few people and realized it was because so many of my readers simply couldn't eat the product due to multiple food allergies. That was when I decided to contact Lucy's Cookies and see if they would be interested in hosting a giveaway...and they said yes! Lucy's cookies are amazing!!! They are crunchy, which insures a much longer shelf life, the texture and taste are wonderful, they are easy to find (available at Starbucks...and you know how easy THEY are to find), and best of all every Lucy's cookie is certified free of gluten, eggs, dairy, tree nuts, and peanuts. In addition, these cookies contain no cholesterol and no trans fats, they include many organic ingredients, and they are vegan and Kosher certified.

Lucy's sent me a very generous variety of cookies to sample and review, and they are going to send this same package to one very lucky winner right here! This package includes one bag (3 or4 cookies) and one box ( about 16 cookies) of each of their four flavors: Chocolate Chip, Sugar Cookies, Oatmeal, and Cinnamon Thins.

I'm not really sure how to go about reviewing these cookies, they are all just so good. I have eaten half a box of Cinnamon Thins as I've been sitting here writing. We also discovered over the summer that the Cinnamon Thins are a great replacement for graham crackers when making s'mores! The general opinion in my house is that the Chocolate Chip are amazingly similar to Chips Ahoy. Nikki's favorite is the Oatmeal Cookie. My favorite is the Cinnamon Thin followed closely by the Sugar Cookie. They both taste very "eggy" and "buttery" to me which is very hard to do with no eggs or butter. The texture of all of these cookies is crunchy, but not too hard. The flavor is hard to describe, I want to make sure I do it justice. These cookies contain bean and oat flours so they actually have a hearty taste, not like some other gluten free options that taste like sugary air. It is a full and earthy flavor, but "earthy" in a good way and not bitter at all.

If you would like a chance to win this fabulous gift box, please leave me a comment below!!! Emily will be drawing the winning name from a hat on Monday, October 18th. In the mean time, next time you are in Starbucks you should definitely grab a bag and give them a try! Lucy's cookies are also available at Whole Foods and Amazon, which you will find a link to at the right of this page. Good luck to everyone! :)

Ian's Winners!

2010-09-29T20:23:00.001-07:00

Well , I didn't get very many responses to my Ian's giveaway. I'm still wondering if it is because I did a poor job of posting or if it's because so many of my readers are allergic to milk and eggs and simply couldn't eat the cookies. Maybe it's something else that I am completely unaware of...at any rate we have winners! Congratulations to Emily Wyatt and Jennifer!!! I will be contacting you by email to get your addresses which I will then forward to Ian's so they can ship you your yummy prizes.

Ian's Back To School Giveaway-YAY!

2010-09-15T09:25:00.000-07:00

I am just loving Ian's more and more every day! This month they contacted me and asked if I would like to do a back to school giveaway. Yes I realize we've all been in school a few weeks or more by now, but free stuff is good anytime! Right? Ian's will be sending packages to two lucky winners, each package will have in it two bags of gluten free cookie buttons and two bags of gluten free animal cookies. We haven't tried the animal cookies yet, but my recently diagnosed 14 yr old (the more difficult child to please) loves the cookie buttons. One of the things she misses most are Goldfish crackers. The buttons are a sweet cookie, of course, not a cheesy cracker, but because of the size and crunchiness they have become a great replacement. Please be aware that these cookies DO contain milk and egg. If you are interested in entering to win, please leave a comment (as short and sweet or as long and detailed as you would like) in my comments box below. If I receive more than two entries, I will be drawing the winners from a hat on Monday, September 27th. Also, remeber to look in stores this month for Ian's new products which I recently reviewed in this post http://yummyallergenfree.blogspot.com/2010/08/ians-new-products-rave-review.html. I'm going to keep this post short, and I know that all of you dealing with back to school and food allergies will understand why. Between Paperwork, Dr.'s visits, emergency action plans, meetings with school nurses, prescription refills, preparing backup foods...Stay strong, at least we're all in this together. Now leave me a comment, enter to win, and good luck!

Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls

2010-08-30T11:21:00.000-07:00

Cinnamon rolls! What more can I say? These are gluten free, egg free, and dairy free, but if you are able to have egg and/or dairy you can substitute one egg for the egg-replacer and/or 2/3 c. skim milk for the dairy alternative and the water and you will end up with an even lighter and fluffier version. Those of you who are used to going without all three (as are we) are still going to fall in love with these! Plan to make them on a day when you have some free time as they are time consuming and a bit messy to make, but they are worth it. The last batch of 8 that I made in the evening was gone by morning. Two last notes before we get started...1: This dough is sticky and soft, it is not easy to roll, remember that no matter what your "rolls" look like they will still taste great! 2: You can frost these with any icing or frosting that you like. My favorite homemade dairy free butter cream frosting recipe can be found here. We used Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Cream Cheese frosting which, oddly enough, contains no dairy. (I know that's kind of scary, huh? It was good though.)

DOUGH:
1/3 c Warm water
1/3 c Soy milk
1 T Yeast
¼ c Potato starch
¾ c Corn starch (or arrowroot starch)
½ c Millet flour
¼ t Baking soda
2 t Baking powder
½ t Salt
2 ½ t Xanthan gum
2 T Melted palm shortening or dairy free margarine
¼ c Granulated sugar
1 Eggs worth of egg-replacer
¼ c Oil
1 t Vanilla extract

FILLING:
¼ c Softened dairy free margarine
1 T cinnamon
½ c Brown sugar

Pour warm water and milk (about 110 to 115 degrees into a large mixing bowl. If you would like to use a thinner milk alternative such as rice or almond, omit the water and just use 2/3 c. milk. Add the yeast and allow it to foam for about 5 minutes.

While the yeast is proofing, combine in another bowl potato starch, corn (or other) starch, millet flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum. Whisk or sift together.

To the warm water, milk alternative, and yeast mixture add 2 T. melted shortening or margarine, granulated sugar, egg-replacer, oil, and vanilla. Stir until combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low until they are incorporated, then mix for another minute on medium. Place the dough in an oiled bowl (I use the now empty dry ingredients bowl to save dishes). Cover with an oiled piece of plastic wrap and put it in a warm place to rise for about 45 minutes.

Lay out a large piece of parchment paper and sprinkle it with corn starch. Spread out the dough into as much of a square as you can. Sprinkle some more corn starch over the dough and lay another piece of parchment paper on top. Roll the dough into a 13" x 13" square. Remove top sheet of parchment paper. Spread the softened margarine over the dough leaving 1" at the top edge clean to help it stick when rolling. Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle it evenly over the entire surface of margarine. Begin to roll, from the bottom up, as tightly as you can. The nature of gluten free cinnamon rolls is to roll more loosely than a stiffer standard dough. Lift the bottom layer of parchment paper as you roll to help it along and maintain shape. Your roll may collapse and look more oval than round, it is OK. Pinch the clean 1" edge into the roll to seal.

Grease a medium sized baking pan. Using a sharp knife, slice the rolls into 8 even pieces. If you dip the knife into corn starch between each slice it will prevent sticking. Place the slices into the greased pan. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and allow to rise again in a warm place until the sides of the cinnamon rolls are touching.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees while the rolls are rising. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until they are lightly golden on top. Cool slightly then remove from the pan.

If you want a thin icing you can pour it over while they are still warm. If you prefer a thick frosting, wait until they are fully cooled.

Ian's New Products- Rave review

2010-08-03T09:30:00.000-07:00

I recently received an email from Ian's Natural Foods asking if I would like some samples of a few new item's they are introducing in exchange for an honest review. Of course I jumped at the chance! My youngest is currently going through a box of Ian's GF chicken nuggets every week with an occasional box of Ian's GF fish sticks thrown in for good measure. My middle daughter (more recently diagnosed) has also fallen in love with their chocolate chip cookie buttons. Before I move on to the review I would like to point something out so that no one else makes the same mistake I did. Ian's is a natural food company, but not entirely allergen free. The wheat based chicken nuggets look very similar to the GF chicken nuggets...the best indicator is that the wheat products have blue lettering on the front of the package and the WF/GF products have red lettering. Also, many of their WF/GF products contain other allergens such as eggs and milk, so (as is our mantra) always read the labels. They also have this great interactive allergen search to help you find safe foods for your specific need.

On to the review...

The first thing I tried (before my daughters even got out of bed) was the WF/GF Egg and Maple Cheddar Wafflewich. This is a funny story actually because both of my daughters who are gluten free are allergic to eggs. Well, someone had to try it, right? Mommy to the rescue, I can and will eat anything! In my "able to eat all foods" opinion these were REALLY GOOD. They rivaled any fast food breakfast sandwich I've ever had, and were better than any wheat filled frozen varieties I've tried. There were two in the package, so I tried one made in the microwave and the other made in the oven. (different days, I'm not THAT piggish.) Both were good. The microwave version was a little soggy and the one from the oven was crispy. My personal preference is soggy, but that's just me.

The next thing we tried were the chicken tenders. They were much more sophisticated than the nuggets we usually buy. Think of restaurant strips versus fast food nuggets. They took a little longer to prepare since they were baked and I usually microwave the nuggets, but it was worth the wait. There were 4 large strips in the box...Emily ate 3 and I ate 1. I felt just like we had gone out to dinner and ordered chicken strips. Good quality chunks of meat with crispy flavorful breading, exceptional! The tenders are not yet available in stores, but are expected to be out in September.

Last, but absolutely not least were the chocolate covered wafer bites. Oh my goodness these were dangerously good! They were very much like bite size Kit Kats. My middle daughter, as I have said, is still mourning the loss of wheat. Last Halloween ( has it been a year already?) she cried because she would never again have a Kit Kat, one of her favorites. She loved Ian's little bites so much that she asked me if we could get "180 million more bags". Sadly, these also will not be available until September, but at least I can get them in time for swap outs this Halloween. What amazed me, though, was how milk chocolaty the coating was. I must have read the label 3 times just to make sure I wasn't missing a milk ingredient. They are gluten free, milk free, egg free, and nut free. I don't have the bag anymore so I'm not sure about soy, but it is possible that they were soy free also. Everyone in the family tried the wafer bites, those of us with allergies and without, and everyone loved them!

I want to thank Ian's again for thinking of us. I also want to say again that this was an honest review. I just realized how much I am raving about all three of these foods, but they really are just incredible. I am grateful to Ian's and all the other allergy friendly companies out there that are making my life so much easier and my kids so much happier!

Gluten Free Vegan Banana Waffles

2010-07-21T09:27:00.000-07:00

Yes, I finally have a new recipe! OK, so maybe the initial idea wasn't mine. I was inspired by Food Allergy Mama's vegan banana chocolate chip waffle recipe. I was browsing her recipes and my middle daughter saw these and got very excited, then I had to tell her they were made with wheat flour. She is newly diagnosed with wheat allergies (possible celiac) and it has been a VERY difficult adjustment for her. She still cheats sometimes and then feels lousy for days! I am, therefore, trying to come up with truly amazing new recipes for her so that she won't feel so deprived...this is one of those recipes. These waffles really are wonderful. Not only do they taste delicious, but the texture is very wheat-like. I made the fist batch using Enjoy Life chocolate chips, but they stuck to my waffle iron very badly. I tried the next batch without chocolate chips and the problem was solved. These are our new favorite breakfast food. Thank you Kelly!

1 c Rice flour
½ c Millet flour
½ c Sorghum flour
½ c Corn starch (use tapioca starch if allergic to corn)
2 T Sugar
1 T Baking powder
¼ t Salt
1 2/3 c Vanilla soy milk
6 T Oil
2 T Water
1 c Mashed ripe bananas

Preheat waffle iron.

Combine flours, starch, sugar, baking powder, and salt using a wire whisk. In a separate bowl whisk together soy milk, oil, water and banana. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

Ladle about a 1/2 c. batter on hot iron that has been sprayed with dairy free baking spray. Cook until steam is no longer escaping from the waffle iron. For standard waffles my iron says it should take 5 or 6 minutes, my waffles took 10 to 12 minutes, so I would say try doubling your waffle irons recommended time. Watching for them to stop steaming is really the best way to tell.

Walk For Our Future! :)

2010-06-01T13:53:00.000-07:00

A few food allergy statistics from FAAN:

 Though reasons for this are poorly understood, the prevalence of food allergies and associated
anaphylaxis appears to be on the rise.
 Peanut allergy doubled in children over a five-year period (1997-2002).
 Research suggests that food-related anaphylaxis might be underdiagnosed.
 An increasing number of school students have diagnosed life-threatening allergies.
 More than 12 million Americans have food allergies. That’s one in 25, or 4% of the population.
 The incidence of food allergy is highest in young children – one in 17 among those under age 3.
 About 3 million children in the U.S. have food allergies.
 The CDC reported that food allergies result in over 300,000 ambulatory-care visits a year among children.
 Eight foods account for 90% of all food-allergic reactions in the U.S.: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts (e.g.,
walnuts, almonds, cashews, pistachios, pecans), wheat, soy, fish, and shellfish.
 There is no cure for food allergies. Strict avoidance of food allergens and early recognition and
management of allergic reactions to food are important measures to prevent serious health consequences.
 Even trace amounts of a food allergen can cause a reaction.
 Most people who’ve had an allergic reaction to something they ate thought that it was safe.
 Food allergies are life-altering for everyone involved and require constant vigilance.
 Early administration of epinephrine (adrenaline) is crucial to successfully treating anaphylactic reactions.

These are my three girls, each with her own special set of food allergies. FAAN will be hosting their annual walk for food allergies in Portland Oregon this year on August 28th and I am so excited! I have lived in Oregon for 8 years and have never been to Portland. I've heard they have many allergy friendly restaraunts there. I'm still trying to figure out the logistics of how to do this, since Portland is 3 hours away and my group has now grown to 8 people, but somehow I'm going to make it happen. If you live near Portland and are interested in joining the walk, please visit their website at http://www.food allergywalk.org/site/TR/2010Walk/2010Walks?fr_id=1700&pg=entry. If you live anywhere else in the US and want to find the walk nearest to you the complete list can be found here http://www.foodallergywalk.org/site/PageServer?pagename=2010Walks. I hope to post more about this and about my groups name when I get a little more organized.

Teriyaki Edemame (Gluten Free)

2010-04-10T09:21:00.000-07:00

This is a super simple, sweet, high protein dish that Nikki loves! We serve it over brown rice. The picture looks a little different than the dish usually looks because I was out of toasted sesame seeds, so we used Eden Organic Seaweed Gomasio instead. We also would normally use whole baby corn, it's the only kind I've ever seen in the stores, but a friend gave us a whole case of this sliced baby corn and I love it. They look like cute little yellow flowers!

1 20 oz. can of pineapple chunks in juice
1 Bag (12 oz. more or less) of shelled edemame
1 8 oz. can of baby corn
¼ c San J Teriyaki Sauce (it's gluten free)
1 T Sesame oil
2 T Rice vinegar
2 T Dark brown sugar
1 T Toasted sesame seeds

Bring pineapple juice and chunks to a boil. Boil over med-high heat for about 10 minutes, adding a little water if needed. Add edemame and corn, boil for another 3 minutes. Mix together teriyaki sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, and brown sugar. Pour the mix over the veggies, Stir and boil until thickened into a thin syrup. Remove from heat and toss in the toasted sesame seeds, or just sprinkle them on top. Serve over rice or rice noodles if desired.

Egg-Free Easter Eggs! (Gluten Free Crispy Rice Treats)

2010-04-01T10:14:00.000-07:00

OK, so they're a little lumpy...it's a work in progress. Emily saw the commercial for Easter themed rice crispy treats and had this great idea. Every year we debate weather to dye eggs in this house, since half the family is allergic to eggs.The fun, however, is not in eating them but in decorating them. Since we can touch the shells without incident, we usually dye eggs and then Daddy has to eat them all. "Well", Emily said, "why don't we make rice crispy eggs and cover them in white icing so they look like real eggs, then we can decorate them!" We had so much fun!!! I think we all agreed it was even more fun than decorating real eggs. Just be sure to use edible substances for decorating. We used colored icing (just powdered sugar, water, and food color), candy sprinkles, and the new Paas Color Snaps which look like Q tips (kind of a rip off though, as 1 package was only enough to color about 4 eggs).

MARSHMALLOW CRISPY TREATS:

3 T Dairy free margarine

6 c Mini marshmallows

6 c Erewhon Crispy Brown Rice Cereal Gluten Free

2 Dozen hollow plastic Easter eggs (optional)

Wash and dry the plastic eggs before you start. Use margarine or oil to grease the insides of the eggs.

Melt margarine in a large pot over low heat. Add marshmallows and continually stir until they are completely melted and smooth. Remove from heat and add cereal. Mix until cereal is fully coated.

Using greased hands, take a plastic egg and pack as much cereal mixture as you can into each side. Close the egg until it is snapped shut and continue to hold it firmly closed for a few seconds, until you can let go without it popping open. Move on to the next egg. This is a great family project, the more hands involved, the faster it will go. (optionally, you can simply form the eggs by hand, but I didn't seem to posses the skill required for this) While your eggs set up, prepare the icing.

SUGAR ICING (dries fairly hard):

6 c Sifted powdered sugar

6 T Water

1/4 c Corn syrup

Mix powdered sugar and water until smooth. Stir in corn syrup. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed until all ingredients are fully incorporated. Lay out a wire cooling rack with foil or plastic wrap underneath to minimize the mess. Remove crispy treats from plastic eggs and dip them one at a time into the icing. Coat each egg fully, shake off excess icing, then place it on the wire rack to dry. They will take 5 hours or more to harden completely. Now decorate your "eggs". Have fun and HAPPY EASTER!!!

The Celiac Maniac.. YAY!

2010-03-15T12:46:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to share the good news! I live in a fairly small community and, although we do have a few places that cater to the gluten free lifestyle, we don't have the options that they have in places like Portland. Well, our gluten free community just got a little bigger! I am so happy to have found The Celiac Maniac!!! They are right here in Bend, Oregon, and their products can be found at Natures, Whole Foods, Riley's, Newport Market, and Empire Coffee Company. Not only that, but those of you not able to get to Bend can order their English muffins through their online store. Now I have to tell the story just so you understand how excited I am…
Part one:
One day my oldest daughter Amanda came home with a cupcake and said "this is delicious, Emily and Nikki have to try it". I said "there's no way that Emily can have that cupcake if you bought it in a store" (believe me, I've looked)! She told me it was gluten free, and of course I responded with "what about the eggs and milk?", she said "no, they're vegan", and I said "no way"! Well, yes they are…EGG FREE, DAIRY FREE, AND GLUTEN FREE…WOOHOO!!!
Part two:
My daughter Nikki is 14 yrs old and was just diagnosed with a gluten allergy this year. She is still struggling with it a lot. Nikki has been a vegetarian in a house full of meat eaters since she was 4yrs old. She is also allergic to nuts and eggs, so cheese and grains meet a huge part of her protein requirements. Not only that, but when I try to cook a "family meal" it is meat based, so she often fixes herself something quick and easy. Until this year she was pretty much living on things like Goldfish crackers, quesadillas on flour tortillas, mac and cheese, pasta with parmesan, grilled cheese sandwiches, and pizza. All of that came to a screeching halt. She hasn't truly acquired a taste yet for gluten free breads and pastas yet. I bought some English muffins a couple of weeks ago and when she saw them in the cabinet she really wanted to make some English muffin pizzas…but she didn't. I was proud of her (because she still cheats sometimes), but I was also heartbroken. A few days later I was in Whole foods and I decided to check out the Celiac Maniac cupcakes. As I was asking the bakery worker about the cupcakes, she reached down behind the counter and said "we have their English muffins too". I know I get a little too excited about food sometimes, but I think I may have heard angels sing! I raced home with the English muffins and popped one in the toaster for myself just to see if I had reason to be so joyful, I did. They are fabulous! Nikki made her pizza muffins (pictured above) and loved them, and Emily finished off the bag, eating toasted English muffins and jam every day until they were gone.
I just want to say "welcome" to The Celiac Maniac, and "thank you"!!! One more victory for the allergen free!

Fabulous "Allergen Free" Marble Cake

2010-03-05T08:48:00.000-08:00

Well, here it is, the culmination of 3 years work. I have tweaked this recipe so many times that it barely resembles the original. This can be made a vanilla cake by simply omitting the cocoa powder, or be made chocolate by adding a little more cocoa powder to the whole mix. Be sure to use good quality vanilla and cocoa powder, it makes a difference. I had hoped that when I finally posted my masterpiece I would have a stunning photo to go with it, but we still have not replaced our long lost camera with the "food" setting, so this is the best I could do. I hope this will aid in bringing many happy birthdays to all those who, like me, had all but given up on birthday cake!

½ c Rice flour
¾ c Corn starch
¼ c Coconut flour
½ c Millet flour
¾ c Potato starch
2 c Granulated sugar
1 t Xanthan gum
½ t Salt
2 t Baking powder
1 t Baking soda
2 c Room temperature water
1 T Ener G egg replacer mixed with ¼ c warm water
2/3 c Canola or sunflower oil
2 T Vinegar
1 T Vanilla bean paste
¼ c Unsweetened cocoa powder
1 T Water

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour (I used rice flour) 2 round cake pans or one 9"x13" rectangle.

Sift all dry ingredients (rice flour through baking soda) into a mixing bowl, make sure there are no lumps in your coconut flour. Add 2 c water, prepared egg replacer, oil, vinegar, and vanilla bean paste. Mix on low for 30 seconds, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula, then mix for an additional 2 minutes on medium.

Pour 2/3 of the batter into the prepared pan/pans. Do not smooth it out, empty spaces will actually help with the swirling.

Add ¼ c of cocoa powder and 1 T of water to the remaining batter. Stir until blended. Pour the chocolate batter into the pan/pans, filling in any holes in the vanilla batter. Use a knife, spoon, or spatula to swirl the chocolate and vanilla together. If you have ever used this method with a "standard" cake you will find it is not quite as easy here. This batter requires more of a forceful pushing than a delicate swirling. If you drag the knife through a glob of chocolate it will float around in the vanilla like an island. Push down, lift up, then swirl… you'll get the hang of it.

Bake 2 round pans for about 40 minutes, bake rectangle for about 1 hour, the middle should spring back when touched gently.

We frosted the birthday cake with this frosting. It can also be made soy free by using all shortening (no margarine) and rice milk or water instead of soy milk. The cake pictured here is frosted with Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge frosting. This frosting is dairy free, as are their regular chocolate and vanilla frostings. They do, however contain soy. Keep this cake covered, due to the high starch content it dries out quickly. Enjoy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY!!! (and CAKE!)

2010-02-24T13:18:00.000-08:00

Happy 8th birthday Emily! We had the most amazing party this year at Bouncing Off The Walls, an indoor playplace full of bounce houses, inflatable obstacle courses, giant inflatable slides, a velcro wall, and tons of toys. If you have one near you, I highly recommend them for parties. They took care of everything, even making a list of which children brought which presents. I received a confirmation letter from them about a week before the party which included some helpful tips for a smooth running party. It included things like bringing extra socks and such, but it also said to find out in advance if any of the children attending have food allergies...I wasn't expecting that. It turns out that the manager has two children of her own with food allergies. I wish I could post pictures of all the kids playing, but since the grownups all got to play too we didn't take any pictures. Here is a picture of the happy birthday girl and her wonderful sister who decorated the cake for me.

The cake, by the way, was AMAZING! Some of you may have been around about this time last year when I wrote about how depressed I was, and part of the reason being that I had been trying to create a perfect cake recipe for over a year and I still hadn't mastered it. I quit trying for about 8 months. As a matter of fact, as is evident in my lack of recent blogging, I pretty much took most of last year off from cooking altogether. Well I guess I just needed a break, because now I am feeling excited about cooking again and am working on new recipes for my vegetarian/gluten free daughter. I just finished making her some biscuits and she said I "have to post them!". Anyway...back to the cake (I seem to be rambling, but I do that when I'm excited). I made a great chocolate cake but it was VERY chocolaty. I made a decent vanilla cake, but it had that slight protein shake flavor. Then it came to me...marble cake! I also found that by increasing my starches quite a bit I get a much lighter, fine crumbed cake. The only problem with that is that it seems to get stale much quicker, fortunately that wasn't an issue this time because the entire cake was polished off in one day. I am hoping to post the recipe next week. In the meantime I will leave you with one more picture of the most exciting cake I've ever made and some precious little party guests.

Gluten Free GingerBread People with Egg Free Royal Icing

2009-12-18T09:29:00.000-08:00

I have decided to take it easy on myself this year. I realized that I just don't have the time or the energy to make a ginger bread house, then I patted myself on the back and said "that's OK". However, I did still want to post my egg-free royal icing recipe, so we decided to make gingerbread people instead. For this I did not even need to create a recipe, I borrowed this wonderful recipe from Janeen at Mom's Food Allergy Diner, which is egg free, dairy free, gluten free, and nut free. I didn't have any Bette Hagman's Gourmet Light Flour Blend so I had to play with the flours a little bit. My final flour blend was:
1 ½ c Sorghum flour
1 c Tapioca starch
1 ½ c Rice flour
½ c Cornstarch
½ c Potato flour
This is a whole cup more flour than the original recipe called for, but it worked well for us. It could be the humidity or the altitude, who knows. After baking the gingerbread people, the girls decorated them with egg-free royal icing. So, here are our little gingerbread people (the ones who haven't been eaten yet) saying "Merry Christmas everyone"!

Merry Christmas From Our New Home!

2009-12-08T08:45:00.000-08:00

A dear old friend of my husband came to visit this week. He is an amazing photographer, and I finally got some pictures of my new house. This (among other things) is what has taken so much time away from my blogging for the past 5 months. It is finally starting to feel like home though. Isn't it beautiful all covered in snow? It is a whopping -9 degrees here this morning. It was freezing all weekend, but we still managed to get our tree too. Thanks again to our friend for taking these pictures for me!!! These are just snapshots. If you want to see some of his truly breathtaking nature photos you can find him at http://treesloth.printroom.com/GHome_main.asp?domain_name=treesloth .

A VERY HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON TO EVERYONE! :)

Egg Free Royal Icing

2009-12-04T08:40:00.000-08:00

I have been holding on to this recipe for a year. Actually, I lost it when my hard drive died and was thrilled to see that I had posted it on another site so I was able to get it back. The other site, by the way, is http://hoppobumpo.blogspot.com/2008/12/great-eggless-royal-icing-experiment.html , and has amazingly detailed descriptions of several other egg free royal icing recipes. I made my icing thick. It was strong enough to assemble a gingerbread house and was hard as a rock by the next day. It also tasted good! You can thin it out a little if you want drippy snow-like icing for the roof, but I don't know how long it will take to harden. I wish very much that I had pictures to show, but we don't have any working cameras in the house. If I can get a decent picture with my disposable camera, I will post it later. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

1 c Powdered sugar
1 T Ener-G egg replacer (dry)
1 t Cream of tartar
1/8 t Xanthan gum
2 T Water (approximately)

Blend all dry ingredients together. Add water slowly until desired consistency is reached.

Broccoli Rissoto

2009-11-12T09:11:00.000-08:00

I thought I had already posted this recipe, but I have searched my site and can't find it anywhere. It must have been one I was about to post when I lost my hard drive. I usually make it dairy free for Emily, but here I have added a little cheese at the end to add some protein for Nikki. I just make a full batch, then take half out, and add parmesan to the remaining half. I have been using Wolfgang Puck's Free Range Chicken Broth in a lot of my cooking lately. It tastes wonderful, and I contacted the company and was told that it is free of gluten, dairy, and eggs, (and of course nuts). I can't remember if it has soy and my package is gone so I can't read the ingredients right now, but they assured me that when you read the ingredients there will be none of the top 8 allergens hidden under such titles as "natural flavorings". All major allergens will be stated.

1 c Uncooked arborio rice
2 T Olive oil
2 T Dairy free margarine (for soy free, omit margarine and add 2 more T olive oil)
1/2 c Chopped onion
2 c Chopped broccoli
4 c Chicken broth (one 32 oz box of Wolfgang Puck's Broth)
1/4 c Parmesan cheese (optional)

Saute onion and broccoli in olive oil (and margarine if using) for about 3 minutes. Add rice and stir for another 2 minutes.
Stir in one cup of broth and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, or until broth is absorbed (mine took 8 minutes). Stir while cooking to prevent sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Stir in another cup of broth and continue stirring and cooking for another 5 to 10 minutes, once again until broth is absorbed.
Add another cup of broth and do the same.
Stir in the last cup of broth and continue stirring and cooking until most broth is absorbed and rice is soft with a creamy texture.
Add salt and pepper to taste and at this point add parmesan cheese if desired (If cheese is used this will of course contain dairy). For a "cheesy" taste without the dairy you can also add a T of nutritional yeast which is also fairly high in protein and B vitamins. Enjoy!

Hello Again

2009-10-27T08:39:00.000-07:00

I've missed you! Have you ever fallen so far behind on something that the thought of picking it back up again was frightening and overwhelming? I have been thinking about blogging constantly but I just don't know where to begin. We spent the entire summer trying to buy a house with one mishap after another, but we have finally bought our first home and are starting to settle in. between the house and my new job I have been relying on old recipes and not really creating any new ones. I thought that maybe I was done with this whole recipe creating/blogging thing...but times are changing...
Until now all of my recipes have been created for my youngest daughter Emily who has the most food allergies. No one else in the house really eats "Emily's food", it has a stigma. My oldest daughter Amanda was allergic to milk when she was a baby, but she seemed to outgrow it. This past year, however, foods with dairy have started to make her mouth itch and give her stomach aches, so she has been avoiding it for the most part.
A few weeks ago my middle daughter Nikki had her allergy tests done and (drumroll) she is allergic to wheat! I had suspected this for a while but was unwilling to face it. Nikki is a vegetarian and has been eating nothing but pizza, pasta, cheese sandwiches, and Goldfish crackers for a long time. She has had "Emily's food" and doesn't care much for it. We are in the process of working hard to change her diet, but every once in a while we still have a "she's going to starve to death" moment. Nikki is eating rice pasta and we just found a local pizzeria that has gluten free pizza on Mondays, but she is desperately longing for the texture of wheat. Also, Nikki tested negative for peanuts, which I thought was odd, and I told her not to go running out and eat a peanut...so of course she did! I got a call from the school. She was violently ill, throwing up for an hour, then sleeping for two days. I'm thinking the peanut result was wrong!
To sum it all up, it looks like I do need to get back to the drawing board and create some new recipes for ALL of my girls. I don't know when it will happen, I think my muse is on vacation. In the future some of my gluten free recipes may contain eggs and dairy to improve the texture for Nikki and also to provide a little more protein for her. I will try to remember to post a little warning on these recipes ( not that you aren't all pros at reading ingredients!). All of my old recipes will still be here too for those of us that are on more limited diets. Well, here's hoping that I will be back before another three months has flown by! Thanks for sticking with me!!!

Broccoli Salad

2009-07-09T10:00:00.000-07:00

I had a hard time naming this one, and yes, my creative conclusion was
"broccoli salad". The flavor is a lot like cole slaw, but it also has a slightly Asian feel due to the sesame seeds. By the way, I didn't use plain sesame seeds in mine, I used Eden Organic's Seaweed Gomasio because that's what I had laying around. Also, I haven't tried this, but I'm thinking that you could avoid the soy by leaving out the Vegenaise and it would have a more genuine Asian flair...but you may need a little more liquid of some sort.

½ c. Vegenaise
¼ c. Agave nectar
¼ c. Rice vinegar
2 T. Toasted sesame seeds
½ t. Celery seeds
½ c. Dried cranberries
1 Bag of Mann's Broccoli Slaw
1 Head of broccoli
Salt and pepper to taste

Chop up the head of broccoli and put it in a bowl with the broccoli slaw and the dried cranberries. Mix the Veganaise, agave nectar, rice vinegar, sesame seeds, and celery seeds. Pour it into the bowl of veggies and stir well. Add a little salt and pepper. Chill for an hour or so to let the flavors combine. WOW, that was easy (and yummy too)!

Yummy Gummy Bears by Surf Sweets!

2009-06-30T22:59:00.000-07:00

The Surf Sweets company contacted me and asked if I would like to review their products on my blog. (Well of course I would!) I said yes, and shortly thereafter received a generous box of treats to sample. As a matter of fact, there were so many different candies to try that I kept putting it off because I wanted to be able to devote some time to the sampling. I finally found some time and rounded up three children. E is 7 and has multiple food allergies, N is 13 and a vegetarian but she eats "standard" gummies anyway despite the fact that they have gelatin in them, and K is 13 and has no dietary restrictions whatsoever.

I have before me now four very detailed reports and I am trying to figure out how to organize my review. Let me start by saying that Surf Sweets are mostly organic, with the percentage of organic ingredients used ranging from 87% to 97%. They are made with real fruit juice and natural colors, and provide 100% of the RDA for vitamin C. All of the candies are gluten free, dairy free, soy free, nut free, and made in a completely nut free facility. Most of the treats are also vegetarian because they are made with pectin instead of gelatin.

So, here is the list of candies that we got to try:

Vegetarian: Jelly Beans, Sour Worms, Fruity Bears, Gummy Swirls, and Sour Berry Bears.

Non-Vegetarian: Gummy Bears, and Gummy Worms.

Please use the link at the beginning of this post to see pictures of everything and to get more information.

The textures were just as I'd expect. The Gummy Bears and Gummy Worms were springy and bouncy just like they should be. Everything else had a texture that reminded me a lot of those orange slice candies. It's a softer more jelly-like texture.

As for flavor, we had varying opinions but I'll try to combine them.

Jelly Beans: very very sugary sweet.

Sour Worms: I thought they were the perfect combination of sweet and sour, K said they weren't sour enough.

Fruity Bears: These truly reminded me of the "fruit slices" candy, fruity and sugary.

Gummy Swirls: These had a nice sweet and fruity flavor too, but more than that they are pretty. They look and taste like swirly gumdrops and would be wonderful for decorating cakes and such.

Sour Berry Bears: Way too sour for N, E, and me! N actually spit hers out. K LOVED them!

Gummy Worms: Taste just like gummy worms only a little more tart.

Gummy Bears: These were the hands down favorite of everyone! The taste and texture was incredibly similar to traditional gummy bears, but these were even better! You can really taste the fruit in these.

All of the candies were deliciously fruity. I definitely recommend grabbing a bag and trying them when you get a chance. Hopefully my brief summary above will help you find the one that's just right for you. Thank you again to the Surf Sweets company for thinking of me. The girls and I truly enjoyed your sweets!

Egg-Free Potato Salad On A Rainy Spring Day

2009-06-11T09:39:00.000-07:00

I have always considered this to be a "German style" potato salad, but after doing a little research I found that theirs almost always has bacon in it. I may be trying that version next since Emily loves bacon. This salad, however, was created for Nikki, my vegetarian. As you can see it is a beatiful day for eating outside. Everything is green and smells of fresh rain. I picked some chives from my garden and sprinkled them on top of my salad (since the girls don't allow onion IN the salad). Chopped red onion would be really, really good in it too... personally, I love onions!!! OK, enough about onions, here's to spring and the beginning of salad season!

6 Medium sized red potatoes
½ c Chopped Kosher dill pickles
½ c Chopped celery
½ c Sliced black olives
¼ c Dill pickle juice
2 T Reserved black olive juice
2 T Rice vinegar (or any preferred vinegar)
1 t Dried dill weed
½ t onion powder
½ t Salt
A couple of grinds of black pepper
　
Bring 1” of salted water to a boil. Add whole potatoes and bring back to a boil. Cover the pot and reduce heat to medium. Boil for 20 to 30 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes. You want them to have a little resistance when pierced with a sharp knife, but you don’t want them to feel “crunchy” in the middle. Remove potatoes from heat, drain them, rinse in cold water, and drain again. Put them in the fridge to cool.
While the potatoes are cooling, chop up the pickles, celery, and olives. Take out the potatoes and chop them into bite size pieces. Put them into a medium bowl. Add the pickles, celery, and olives, and all of the remaining ingredients on top. Stir everything together with a sort of “folding” motion. It can take a little while to get everything incorporated without mashing the potatoes. A little mashing is good, however, it gives the potato salad a hint of creaminess.

Say Hi To Sophie

2009-06-05T10:05:00.000-07:00

This is my niece's daughter Sophie. I can't believe she's 15 months old already and I'm just getting around to introducing you to her. I've never met her in person because they live so far away. Sophie was born on Emily's birthday and has the same allergies plus soy. I am writing this partly to welcome her and her family to our allergy community, but also to ask for help. We used to avoid soy and I remember how hard it was. As soon as we found out we could have it, all of my soy-free knowledge flew right out the window. Her allergies are wheat, eggs, milk, soy and peanuts. If any of my fellow bloggers out there have recipes for this set of allergies, would you please leave your info in my comments box? Any comments or suggestions for toddler foods would be greatly appreciated too. Thank you all!

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries-Allergen Free (unless, of course, you are allergic to strawberries...or chocolate)

2009-06-02T07:33:00.000-07:00

I am not a candy maker by any stretch of the imagination, and yes, I've seen prettier, but I'm still darned impressed with myself right now. :)

Several weeks ago my amazing daughter Amanda had to take a HUGE advanced placement European History test, you know, the kind where they search you and take all of your belongings as you enter the room. She was not even allowed to have a water bottle, and had to be "escorted" to the restroom. It was a scary test! I thought she deserved a reward when it was all over so I bought her some chocolate dipped strawberries. She shared them with everyone...except Emily who couldn't have them. I said "I can make some for you, it should be pretty easy". Well, the funny thing is that making them WAS easy, finding the time to make them wasn't. Three different times I bought a basket of beautiful strawberries, came home and put them in the fridge, and by the time I had a day off to make them they were not pretty anymore. Well here they are Emily, finally, I'm sorry it took three weeks to make them!

6 Beautiful strawberries

1 c Allergen free chocolate chips (I usually use Enjoy Life brand, but I just discovered FMV brand-super cheap- at Fred Meyer...so cheap I guess they couldn't afford to put milk in them...YAY! FMV does have soy lecithin, Enjoy Life does not have any soy)

2 t Spectrum brand Palm shortening

1/2 c Allergen free white chocolate chips

1 t Spectrum brand palm shortening

Put your chocolate chips in a tall narrow plastic cup with the 2 teaspoons of shortening and melt in the microwave on medium setting, stirring about every 30 seconds. I would be more specific but every microwave is different. Mine actually has a "melt chocolate" setting. You can, of course, do this the traditional way with a double boiler, but I like to keep things simple. Also, having your chocolate in a narrow and tall glass makes dipping simple and minimizes waste. Cover a plate with parchment or waxed paper. Grab a strawberry by the top and dip about 3/4 of the way into the chocolate. Lay it with the prettiest side up on the plate. Continue until you are out of chocolate or out of strawberries. Place in the fridge until chocolate is hard.

The white chocolate drizzle is optional and I actually found it to be a little trickier than I expected. Add the other 1 teaspoon of shortening to the white chocolate chips and, again, melt in whatever way you are most comfortable with. Allow to cool slightly (that's the part I had trouble with). Transfer into a plastic sandwich bag. Snip a tiny corner off of the bag and use it to "pipe" the white chocolate drizzle over the top of the strawberries. Enjoy!

A little side note here... I made this recipe soy free with my niece's beautiful baby girl Sophie in mind. Sophie is allergic to almost everything Emily is plus soy. I know that a lot of my readers are allergic to soy and so I do tag all of my recipes that are soy free. If you go to my "labels" on the right side of this blog and click on "soy free" the recipes that come up should all be free of gluten, dairy, eggs, peanuts, beef, and soy.

What's A Working Mom To Do?

2009-05-27T06:37:00.000-07:00

No, seriously...What? How do you people do this? I used to be offended by the term
"working
mom" when I was a "stay at home mom" because I felt like it implied that those of us staying home weren't "working", but I realize now that there is a difference. Now I have my full time job at home AND I have to spend 9 hours away from home too. I have no time to cook, much less create recipes and write about them. So anyway, I came home from work the other day, Emily was hungry, and I had nothing prepared. This is how it went down...
Open the fridge... "hmmm let's see, we have some leftover steamed broccoli from last night, here's some white rice from the Chinese take out we had on Sunday, and a block of Emily's cheese...cool, cheesy broccoli rice!" So I melted about 1/4 of the block of cheese with 1 tablespoon of margarine in the microwave. I threw in some salt, pepper, onion powder, and a little nutritional yeast for good measure. I added the broccoli that I had chopped up, and the rice, and stirred it all up, then threw it back in the microwave for another minute. Voila, dinner! Technically a side dish really, I did give her a hot dog too for protein.
I just want to take a moment to tell all of you parents out there dealing with food allergies how amazing you are. Weather you are a mom or dad, working outside the home or not, weather you are creating recipes or researching allergy blogs and cookbooks, constantly reading and interpreting labels, always with your child's health foremost in your mind (and those of you doing this for yourselves too) every one of you is a hero! My thoughts go out to you today and I am sending you all a great big virtual allergen free hug!!!

Life Changes

2009-05-12T07:33:00.000-07:00

Not much cooking going on this month, as I am working part time now and we are looking to buy a house, not to mention having to show this one. I actually broke down and spent $5.00 a box for Amy's Kids Meals Baked Ziti (my links aren't working so I'm going to do this the long way... http://www.amys.com/products/category_view.php?prod_category=20 ) Emily LOVES these. As far as I know this is the only Amy's Kids Meal that is vegan and gluten free, but it does have almonds, sunflower seeds, and soy. It's a little rice pasta in red sauce with soy cheese, broccoli, gluten free faccocia, and a little apple crisp. It is yummy! My 13 year old will be babysitting Emily while I work so I am going to have to have a lot of quick and easy (probably frozen) meals on hand. It may be time for ME to call on all those wonderful allergen free mommy blogs out there!!! So anyway...we haven't found a house yet but we are renting right now and the owner is selling this house, so the move is imminent. I am very slowly starting to clean house and pack up things that we really don't need out. This poster has been hanging on my wall for a year now, Emily made it in kindergarten. I just love it so much, everything about it! I love the artwork, her design and choice of colors, but of course I also love her awareness of her allergies. It is posted on there, in my opinion, with a sense of pride. It is time for the poster to come down now, but it is definitely going in her memory box! :)

Chicken "Stroganoff"

2009-04-29T08:21:00.000-07:00

Were I to make this again for Emily I would leave out the onions, the mushrooms, and the fake sour cream, HOWEVER... in my opinion this recipe is better! I guess it's designed more for adult tastes. I can't blame her, when I was a kid I couldn't stand onions or mushrooms either. So last night, after I took this picture, we spent 5 minutes picking out all the onions and mushrooms before she would eat it. As for the fake sour cream, I didn't even put it in. I just know that it would have had more of a richness if I had. I guess what I'm saying is that here we have two recipes in one. For a basic chicken in cream sauce (which was still delicious, don't get me wrong) leave out the onions, mushrooms, and fake sour cream...For a dish that is more like a true stroganoff follow the recipe below.

3 or 4 Boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1/2" strips
8 oz Sliced crimini mushrooms
1 Yellow onion cut into strips
1/4 c Dairy free margarine
3 T Sweet rice flour
2 c Chicken broth, warmed
2 t Chicken bullion safe for your allergies (1 cube of Harvest Sun brand)
1/4 c Dairy free sour cream alternative (like Tofutti http://www.tofutti.com/ss.shtml)
Cooked gluten free noodles

Melt about 1 tablespoon of margarine in a large frying pan over medium-high heat . Sautee chicken strips for about 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Add mushrooms and onions and cook while stirring for another 5 minutes. Set aside.

Dissolve bullion in warm chicken broth.

Melt 1/4 cup of margarine in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Sprinkle in sweet rice flour and whisk until creamy. Slowly pour in about 1/4 of the broth while whisking until fully blended. Continue adding about 1/4 of the broth at a time, whisking until creamy after each addition. boil and whisk for about 1 minute. Mix in the sour cream substitute.

Add the chicken, mushroom, and onion mixture to the sauce. Stir well and simmer until heated through, about 5 to 10 minutes.

Serve over noodles (or rice) if desired. I was trying to go for an egg noodle effect, so I used broken up Tinyada lasagne noodles.

Sloppy Turkey

2009-04-23T07:23:00.000-07:00

I couldn't resist the title. One of the first allergen free cookbooks I ever owned had a section on eating extremely alternative foods, and one of the recipes in it was called "sloppy goat". Every time I think of it I truly laugh out loud. I get a mental picture of a very messy goat eating lunch! I have yet to find anyone who thinks it is as amusing as I do (sigh).

I have been too busy to cook lately, much less post recipes, so my next few "recipes" may be very simple, not to mention few and far between. There's nothing wrong with quick and simple dinner ideas either though, right?

I made this specifically for Emily, so it is a sweet and kid friendly version. If you prefer you can make it even easier and just use "Manwich". I read the label and the only allergen I saw was soy, but I didn't call the company so I can't make any guarantees. Emily won't eat "Manwich" because she doesn't like "things" in her sauce (bell peppers, onions, and such). This version is sweet and spicy, yummy and messy, as you can see in the picture...although she does seem to be licking her fingers rather daintily. :)

1/2 c Safe barbecue sauce
1/2 c Ketchup
1/4 c Water
1 1/4 lbs Ground Turkey
Allergen free hamburger buns http://yummyallergenfree.blogspot.com/2009/04/hamburger-buns.html

Crumble and brown the ground turkey in a large frying pan. Mix the barbecue sauce, ketchup and water together. Add the sauce to the turkey and simmer long enough to reduce and thicken to the desired consistency, about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve on fresh baked or reheated buns. If you have leftovers you can freeze the sloppy joe mix as well as the buns, then when you need a REALLY quick and simple meal...there it is!

Hamburger Buns

2009-04-06T07:27:00.000-07:00

These are obviously not as soft and fluffy as the cheap white buns you get at the store, but they are comparable to whole wheat buns. These buns are best if used the same day they are made. If you have leftovers freeze them immediately, then when you are ready, microwave them for a bit and they soften right up. If you like your buns toasted, that will work great too.

1 Bag of Pamela's Wheat Free Bread mix

2 Eggs worth of prepared Ener-G egg replacer

1/4 c Oil

1 1/3 c Warm water

Pour the warm water, oil, and prepared egg replacer into a mixing bowl. My own special way of knowing if the water temperature is right...I stick my finger in it, the water should feel like my daughters head when she has a low grade fever (I know, I'm an odd duck). Add the baking mix, then the enclosed yeast packet on top of that. Mix on low speed for 30 seconds, then on medium-high for 2 minutes.

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Put the dough out in half cup blobs. I used a large spring action ice cream scoop. You should have about 6 or 7 buns. Wet your hands with warm water (or you can coat your hands with oil) and pat down the blobs, shaping them if needed, until they are round and about 1" tall. Re-wet/oil your hands before doing each one.

Put the buns in a warm place to rise for about an hour or until doubled in height.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 30 minutes or until tops are golden and buns sound hollow when you thump them. Cool completely, then slice across the middle with a sharp serrated edge knife.

These are perfect for burgers, but they're awesome when used for deli style sandwiches too!

Enjoy :)

P.S. Don't forget that you can buy Pamela's bread mix by the case (6 bags) through my Amazon link which is to the right. I go through about 2 bags a week and I find that it is much cheaper to buy through Amazon. The trick is to order an inexpensive book, or something else you have been needing or wanting, along with it so that you get free shipping. ;)

Egg, Dairy, and Gluten Free French Toast

2009-03-30T07:25:00.000-07:00

This is one of the recipes I lost when my hard drive died, but I think I've got it pretty close to the original. My pictures may be blurry and amateur for a while, my oldest daughter lost her camera and I am taking my own pictures again. This recipe does not need to be gluten free. You can use any kind of bread, although a sturdy bread works best. I will first post the recipe for flax egg replacer because it can also be used in other recipes. It is good for binding and moisture retention, but does not help with rising.

Flax Egg Replacer:

Bring 1/2 c of water and 1 T of flax seed to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. There are a few ways to do this. If you don't mind the seeds you can use whole seeds and just leave them in. If you don't want the seeds in you can strain them out, but it is a little bit of work. I opted for the third choice which is to grind the seeds first and leave them in so they are just not as noticeable.

French Toast:

1/2 c Water and 1 T Flax seed as prepared above

2 Eggs worth of prepared Ener-G egg replacer

1/4 c Soy milk

1/2 t Vanilla extract

1 t Cinnamon

About 3 slices of bread-We use Pamela's Wheat Free Bread Mix bread

Preheat a well oiled frying pan to medium-high.

Whisk soy milk and Ener-G egg replacer into flax seed egg replacer. Mix in the vanilla and cinnamon.

You are now looking at a pretty thick goo. Instead of simply dipping your bread in the mixture like you normally would this will require more of a spreading action. I laid my bread into the mixture and flipped it over, then used my hands to spread it around and sort of massage it in. Yes, this is messy, but if your in the right mood it's kind of fun. Wipe off any excess glops.

Place in the frying pan and cook for approximately 3 minutes on each side. If your toast is browning too quickly turn the heat down. Oil pan before each new piece.

This only makes 2 or 3 pieces, so if you are making more simply double the recipe.

Allergen Free In-A-Pinch Pancakes

2009-03-22T10:40:00.000-07:00

Ughhh! I ran out of my
"Cravings Place" pancake mix, and here it is Sunday morning...
we have to have pancakes! This is the recipe I threw together. It's possible that it could be improved upon, but for now Emily is plenty pleased with this recipe.
I do apologize for the lack of recipes here lately. Somehow, when I lost all of my recipe files on my computer (even though I have most of them here too) it felt like I lost a little piece of me, and a little confidence too. It is a very difficult feeling to describe, but I feel almost like I have forgotten how to bake allergen free.
At any rate, I'm ready to start again. Here is our pancake recipe. Next I am going to try to remember my french toast recipe...I can do this. Right?

1/4 c Tapioca starch
1/4 c Potato starch
1 c Rice flour
1/2 c Sorghum flour
4 t Baking powder
2 T Granulated sugar
1 1/2 c Water
2 t Vinegar
2 t Vanilla extract
2 T Oil (safe for your allergies)
2 T Applesauce

Preheat griddle to medium-high heat.
Combine all of the dry ingredients and sift or whisk together until well blended.
In a separate container whisk together all of the wet ingredients (everything remaining).
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until fully combined and smooth.
Oil your griddle with margarine or oil safe for your allergies. Pour slightly less than 1/4 cup of batter onto griddle and cook for a couple of minutes. It's time to flip when: bubbles stay open after they pop, edges look dry, and you can see a slight golden color on the bottom of the edges where they meet the griddle. Flip pancakes and cook for another minute or two. Adjust heat if necessary. My griddle usually gets hotter the longer it is on, so I start out at medium-high, and by the last pancake I am at medium.
I served these with very naughty nitrate filled bacon, it's just sooo yummy.
Thank you all for sticking with me through my recent struggles, hopefully I will get back in the swing of things soon!

The Best Laid Plans...

2009-03-09T07:46:00.000-07:00

I'm back! I know, you probably didn't even miss me, but I missed you. My computer died, and I mean DIED, about a week ago and we just got it up and running again. I had to replace the hard drive and use 15 recovery disks just to get it back to original factory settings. Yes, we lost everything. My daughter's thousands of pictures and all of my recipes that I hadn't yet posted here...like my cake recipe...are possibly gone forever. :( I know, I know, I should have saved it all! The funny thing is that whenever someone would say "make sure you back up anything important", I would say "we don't have anything important on our computer". I never really realized HOW important the pictures and recipes were until they were gone.

Anyway...on to a happier subject! Emily and I put three names into a hat for our blogiversary drawing with the intent of drawing two, then we looked at each other and thought "this is silly!" Therefore, I would like to announce ALL THREE of our winners!!! Congratulations to SisterCooks at Sistercooks.blogspot.com , Krista , and Joy at http://becomingleaneatingclean.blogspot.com/ ! I will be contacting you all by email later. Thank you for participating and for helping me to celebrate my first year here. Have a fabulous allergen free day everyone!

Happy Blogiversary To Me!

2009-02-28T07:34:00.000-08:00

So, it's a little late, but NOW I feel like celebrating. Will there be cake? Yes! Finally! I will be posting that recipe next. Will there be presents? Of course! I am holding my first ever give away drawing. I have seen other bloggers do this and I think it's a fabulous idea! I have met so many wonderful people in our allergy community this past year. All of you have encouraged and inspired me more than you can imagine, and I want to thank you for being a part of my life. In addition to my thanks, and a great big virtual allergen free hug, I want to give you presents! There will be two separate drawings for which Emily will be pulling names out of a hat...maybe even a party hat. The first is for a bag of Pamela's Gluten Free Bread Mix (formerly known as Pamela's Amazing Wheat Free Bread Mix, and quite frankly I'm sad that they changed the name), the second is for a bag of Tinkyada rice pasta (you choose the shape). If you are interested please leave the name of your blog if you have one...free advertising...and your email address in my comments section, and let me know which item you would like to try for (both would be fine). Also, if you are not comfortable leaving your email here for all to see, you may send it to me at cgweber@bendbroadband.com . If you win I will contact you for your address and to find out what kind of pasta you would like. The drawing will be held Monday, March 9th. Best of luck, I'd send them to everyone if I could! Once again, thank you all for joining me on this journey. Here's to another spectacular year!!!

Happy Birthday Emily!!!

2009-02-23T18:16:00.000-08:00

Is that a great picture or what? That is a picture of the candy and silk rose petals being released from the fabulous pull string pinata that the girls and I made for the party. Emily decided that she wanted a fairy theme and since we were on a budget this year we had to get creative. I bought a couple of 88 cent school folders with pictures of the Disney Pixie Hollow fairies on them and we used them to cover a cereal box (and decorate the walls). Then the girls added some tissue paper flowers to the sides, and Emily suggested a little skirt around the bottom made of silk rose petals. I tied many, many ribbons to the top for strength, then punched holes in the bottom and tied lots of ribbons on to the lower flaps to be pulled later. Next we filled it to the brim with candy and flower petals, and I hot glued it shut. (I think I may have also prayed at that point that the whole thing would actually work when the time came...and my prayers were answered!) Here are some pictures of the pinata after it had been opened and I laid the empty carcass out on my kitchen table.

We also played a home made game of "Pin The Wings On The Fairy" that looked like this.

Last, but certainly not least, we all decorated our own cupcakes...always a crowd pleaser! Emily had her cupcake which, by the way, I think I am almost ready to post the recipe for. Everyone else had Betty Crocker cupcakes. We used Duncan Hines Vanilla frosting and Dark Chocolate Fudge frosting, both of which are dairy free. Here is the birthday girl decorating her cupcake.

I want to thank everyone again for your kind words of encouragement. You were right, the party was great! HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY!!!

Thank You :)

2009-02-17T08:09:00.000-08:00

I got so many comments and emails on that horrible post I wrote the other day that I thought instead of responding in my comment box I would put it out here for all to see...Thank you! I was overwhelmed by the encouraging responses from all of my friends. Friends I have never met and yet now I realize that our friendships are not any less real. I am so thankful to have our online allergy community and support network. I read all of your comments and emails yesterday and then I had a good long, cleansing, therapeutic cry. It was just what I needed. I feel renewed and revived and ready to face a new day. As recipes go, however, I am still having a dry spell. I have plenty of foods for Em, but in order to feel vital I need to create NEW things. So, as usual, I am taking requests. If anyone has a dish that they want to see transformed into allergen free I'd love to hear from you! Thank you again everyone, truly!
Allergen free hugs,
Charmaine

Caution...Depressed Blogger Ahead

2009-02-15T12:06:00.000-08:00

This is not the post I had hoped to be writing. This is supposed to be a big month for me. I started this blog one year ago and I thought I could write a whole post about my one year blogiversary. I enjoy creating allergen free recipes, I get excited about posting them, and I love hearing from my readers so much...but here it is my one year anniversary and I find myself burned out and tired. I just don't feel like celebrating.
Emily's birthday is next week too. I had planned on developing the perfect allergen free cake by now. I had given myself a whole year to figure it out. I was going to be the most amazing chef ever with my gluten free, egg free, dairy free cake that looked, tasted, and felt just like "the real thing"! The cake is getting better, I will admit, but it's still not what I want it to be. It's not ready to post. We will be having cupcakes this year...Emily with hers, and everyone else with Betty Crocker.
Then there is her party. My husband lost his job last month, then got hired by another company, only to find out that they too are closing their doors. I have been looking for work since September, but apparently staying home and taking care of allergy ridden children for 10 years doesn't look impressive on a resume. I know I should just take a deep breath and relax but I don't want a bunch of strangers in my filthy house. I don't want to feel like I should apologize for the home made pinata or the lack of toys in the goody bags, and especially not for the allergen free food! I just don't feel like celebrating.
Remember way back when I started this blog and I said I would be doing some venting? Well I've been having so much fun that I never really had anything to vent about. Now I do...thank you for listening. Gosh this feels so wrong. Everything I have said here is so opposite of what it was supposed to be. This should have been my happiest, most fun, and excitement filled month ever, and I really am sorry that I just don't feel like celebrating. Maybe next month. :)

Scalloped Potatoes- GF/DF

2009-02-09T12:54:00.000-08:00

The simple solution to "cheesy" scalloped potatoes would have been to melt Emily's fake cheese and pour it all over them. The problem with that, as I'm sure I've mentioned before, is that Emily's fake cheese doesn't smell very good. As a matter of fact, her sisters insist that the smell of it makes them sick to their stomachs. Well, the last thing I need is for the people Emily admires most to be telling her how "disgusting" her food is! Because nutritional yeast has been described as having a cheesy/nutty flavor I thought I would give it a try. I tasted these myself (even though I am a gluten and dairy eater) and I thought they were quite delicious, and best of all they smelled good too!

4 to 6 Medium sized red skin potatoes
4 T Dairy free margarine
3 T Sweet rice flour
1 ½ c Warm chicken broth
½ c Soy milk (or other milk alternative, another 1/2 c. chicken broth works fine also)
1/8 t curry powder (optional)
1 t Onion powder
2 T Nutritional yeast
½ t Salt
Pepper to taste

Grease a medium casserole dish. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Slice the potatoes into ¼” slices and put them into the casserole dish. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan melt the 4 T of margarine over medium heat. Sprinkle in the sweet rice flour. Stir and cook for one minute. Add about ¼ of the warm broth and stir until smooth. Continue to add broth, a little at a time, stirring until smooth after each addition. Add the Milk substitute and again stir until smooth. Stir in curry powder, onion powder, nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Boil for one minute while stirring.

Pour the sauce over the potatoes and toss until potatoes are all coated.

Bake for 45 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

Gluten Free, Dairy Free Chicken Cordon Bleu

2009-01-27T07:28:00.000-08:00

I know that Chicken Cordon Bleu is supposed to be oozing with cheese. I thought about replacing it with fake cheese, but there really aren't any good swiss cheese substitutes. Honestly, if you get a nice flavorful ham, you won't even miss the cheese. Sorry about the shadows in the picture, I had to take it myself. I've learned a lot from amanda, but I don't think I will ever be the photographer that she is. :)

4 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
Thinly sliced ham, enough to fill chicken
1 Stick of dairy free margarine, melted
about 1 c of Gluten free bread crumbs

Grease a baking dish. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

There are two ways to go about preparing your chicken. My favorite way is to place a chicken breast in a gallon size ziplock bag and pound it until it is about ¼” thick, then roll it up. The other way is easier, simply slice your chicken breast across the middle and open it like a sandwich. Sprinkle the chicken with a little salt and pepper. Place the ham inside. If you are rolling it then do so now and secure with a toothpick, otherwise just close your “sandwich”. Dip it in the melted margarine, making sure that every bit is covered, then fully coat with breadcrumbs. Place in baking dish. Repeat with each piece of chicken. Sprinkle any remaining breadcrumbs over the top and drizzle any remaining margarine over that.

Bake for approximately one hour, or until chicken is fully cooked.

P.S. Don't forget to take out the toothpicks!!! (oops)

Turkey Meatballs and Spaghetti

2009-01-20T07:41:00.000-08:00

I linked back to my breadcrumb recipe, I feel like a pro! :)
My husband's family is Italian, so I've been making meatballs since before Emily was born. The original recipe calls for beef and lots of garlic, both of which Emily can not have. If you make these and you are able to have garlic then add a little garlic powder to the meatballs themselves, and a couple of cloves of crushed garlic to the sauce. Also, these are best when simmered in the sauce for a couple of hours, but if you only use a few at a time (like we do) then freeze the meatballs without the sauce so they will be easier to portion out later.

Meatballs
1 ¼ lbs Ground turkey
½ t Salt
¼ t Black pepper
½ t Onion powder
¼ c Gluten free bread crumbs

Mix well. Roll into walnut sized balls. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Pour a jar of allergen free marinara sauce into a large pot. I'm on a pretty tight budget right now so I used Hunt's canned sauce. I've never used canned sauce before but it was actually pretty good. If you are using garlic then crush a couple of cloves into the sauce now. Add the meatballs and stir them in. Simmer on low heat for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn't burn or stick to the bottom. Serve over your favorite pasta. We use Tinkyada rice pasta.

Gluten Free Bread Crumbs

2009-01-17T14:46:00.000-08:00

Well here I am making spaghetti and meatballs for dinner and thinking "oh I should post this", meanwhile my chicken cordon bleu recipe is waiting in the wings, and I realized that I really should have my breadcrumb recipe posted somewhere on this site since I use them so much. I mentioned bread crumbs in my turkey meat loaf recipe, but this will be a post that I can link back to every time I use them. So here it is...

Basically you are just using whatever bread you normally eat. We make our bread from Pamela's Amazing Wheat Free mix (available through my Amazon store to the right). Emily doesn't usually eat the heels, so I cut them off and dry them overnight on the counter. If I cut her bread into shapes, like her flower hamburger buns, I set the scraps out to dry too. If you don't have extra heels or scraps then by all means you can just dry out a few slices of bread. Also, if you are a more sanitary person than I, and you don't like the thought of your bread sitting out all night, you can bake it in a low temperature oven until it is completely dried out.

Now that your bread is dry, we are going to grind it into crumbs and add some seasonings. Put the bread into your blender with some salt and pepper and whatever dried herbs and seasonings your little heart desires. OK, OK, you want a recipe??? Here is a VERY general guideline. Tonight when I made breadcrumbs for Emily I measured what I put into them for the first time ever and this is what I came up with...

1 c Breadcrumbs
½ t Salt
¼ t Dried basil
½ t Onion powder
A couple of dashes of dried oregano
A couple of grinds of black pepper

Blend all together in blender, pulsing or shaking when needed, until it reaches a very fine crumb.

I would definitely add garlic powder too, if Emily weren't allergic to it. Now you have dried, seasoned bread crumbs that you can put into an airtight container and keep indefinitely, adding to it whenever you have more to add. I have found so many uses for it now that I make sure I never run out.

If You Can't Join Them, Beat Them!

2009-01-07T10:42:00.000-08:00

Hmm...That title sounds a little violent. It was supposed to be a twist on the old saying "if you can't beat them, join them". You get it, right? Anyway, the point here is that as much time and effort as we put into trying to eat what everyone else is eating, it's really great when we get to have something that's even better. I have read many stories about mom's who worry that their child will be lonely and isolated at the school's peanut free table, only to find out that it is now the "popular" table and their friends are fighting over the limited number of seats. My heart sings with joy every time I make something for Emily and one of her friends asks "can I have one?". My post this week is not so much a recipe as a revelation I finally had. I have been trying to make gluten free, egg free, dairy free hamburger buns that are soft and fluffy for a few years now with no success. I have made buns that are good from Pamela's Amazing Wheat Free bread mix, but for a child who has had the cheap fluffy white buns before it's just not the same. OK...so let's go with that...not the same...how about better? Do you know how to make just about anything better to a 6 yr old girl? You turn it into a flower! Yes, it was that simple. I took 2 slices of bread and cut them with a flower shaped cookie cutter. Emily LOVED it! I could just hear the other (imaginary) 6 year old girls saying "can I have a flower bun too?"! I have done this a few times now and, although I didn't do it for this picture, I have found that you can make it more bun-like by using the 2 heels of the loaf of bread. We throw on a turkey burger, some Vegan Rella, some fixin's, and voila! Happy, happy 6 yr old girl eating her flower burger

P.S. Don't forget to save the scraps for breadcrumbs :)

Chex Party Mix- Gluten Free, Dairy Free, and Peanut Free

2009-01-05T07:32:00.000-08:00

I had planned on posting this recipe for New Years but I haven't been able to get at my computer for a week. Things have been a little frantic around here. Santa brought mice for Christmas thinking that maybe a very small animal would not be so allergenic...Santa did not know that you can NOT buy peanut free mouse food! So my latest mission is home made mouse food (sigh). Then, on New Years day, our power went out for 6 hours due to insanely scary winds and our internet, telephone, and cable TV went out for 24 hours. Anyway, today the kids go back to school, the power is up and running, and the mice are fed :)

So here it is...better late than never.

6 c Rice Chex cereal (Rice Chex are gluten free)
1 ½ c Gluten free pretzels (Glutino)
6 oz can Blue Diamond honey roasted almonds (or pumpkin seeds)
1 bag Ricepod crackers (about 1 cup?)
6 T Dairy free margarine
2 T Worcestershire sauce ( Lea and Perrins is gluten free)
1 ½ t Herbamare season salt (or plain salt or other season salt)
1 t Onion powder
2 T Brown sugar

Heat oven to 250 degrees. Melt margarine in large roasting pan in oven. Stir in Worcestershire, seasonings and brown sugar . Gradually stir in remaining ingredients until evenly coated. Bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread on paper towels to cool. Store in airtight container. Happy New Year!!!

P.S. I'm actually thinking I should try to "market" this mouse food. I don't know how many others have been faced with this problem. If anyone has any thoughts or comments as to weather or not this is a needed product I'd love to hear from you.

Cookie Press Sugar Cookies

2008-12-22T18:28:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!!! It's almost here! I think this will be my last Christmas cookie post. I wanted to get creative and show all of the many things you can do with these cookies, but I have had bronchitis for a week and a half now and it has definitely had a negative affect on my energy level. So, for now, I am posting the pictures of the ones I got done and I will simply mention some other ideas. I have pictured here some Christmas trees with green sugar sprinkles and some wreaths with a simple powdered sugar/water/ food color icing. Peppermint extract in place of the vanilla with crushed candy canes on top would also be very festive. Another of my favorites (if you can have almonds) is to use almond extract instead of vanilla, and to make a flower shape with petals laid on top made of almond slices. I have never tried these with lemon juice and zest, but I think that would be really yummy too. If I ever get around to trying it I will let you know. I also have an oat flour version of this cookie that I plan to post someday. OK, I'm going to go rest now...Happy Happy Holidays!!!

2 c Rice flour
½ t Xanthan gum
½ c Granulated sugar
1 t Baking soda
¼ t Unbuffered vitamin C crystals (can be substituted with 1 t cream of tartar)
½ c Spectrum palm shortening
½ c Water
1 t Vanilla (or any desired flavor) extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt shortening and allow to cool until slightly warm.

Whisk together flour, xanthan gum, sugar, baking soda, and vitamin C crystals. In another bowl mix shortening, water, and flavoring. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. (If dough is too wet add more flour, 1 T at a time up to 4 T)

Put the dough into your cookie press and press onto ungreased cookie sheet. If you are going to be sprinkling with colored sugar crystals then do so now. Bake until bottoms of cookies start to turn golden. For most shapes this will be about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove cookies to cooling rack immediately. Once cooled you can dip them in icing or decorate any way you desire.

Crunchy Oatmeal Cookies

2008-12-19T09:00:00.000-08:00

Oh this has been a wonderful week (other than my having bronchitis)! My mommy came all the way from California to spend a week with us and since I wasn't feeling like getting out too much we spent the whole week baking. We also got our first snowfall of the year which is very exciting, but now it doesn't seem to want to stop! Anyway...about the cookies. When I was young everyone would rave about my mothers crunchy oatmeal cookies (this was before she knew she had celiac). I never cared much for them because, as I have said before, I am a soft cookie kind of girl. Since my mom is visiting, however, I thought I would make this gluten free and "allergen free" version just for her. As It turned out, she loved them, Emily loved them, and even I loved them...maybe my taste has matured. These cookies have a lovely crunch but are not "hard" in a way that you sometimes get with gluten free baking. To anyone who can't have almonds I am sorry. Of course you could try replacing the almond flour with another flour or ground seeds and replacing the chopped almonds with chopped seeds or even omitting them. I haven't tried any of that but if you are feeling adventurous I would love to hear about your results! One last note... My friend Tracy recently commented that she can taste the tapioca starch in her baking and doesn't care for it, so I was also sort of dedicating this recipe to her because I used arrowroot starch instead of tapioca starch...I didn't think to ask her first if she could have almonds (sigh). Anyway, even though this recipe is not going to be one that Tracy can use, I did find that the arrowroot starch worked just as well as tapioca starch and should be pretty interchangeable in any recipe. Cornstarch is another option, although corn is a pretty common allergen.

½ c Gluten free oat flour (I made my own in my coffee grinder)
½ c Arrowroot starch (tapioca starch or corn starch can be used instead)
¼ c Rice flour
¼ c Almond flour
¼ t Xanthan gum
1 t Baking soda
1 t Cinnamon
1 c Spectrum shortening
1 c Granulated white sugar
½ c Brown sugar
1 Prepared egg replacer
1 t Vanilla
¾ c Chopped raw almonds
1 ½ c Gluten free rolled oats
Shortening and Granulated sugar for dipping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk together all flours and starches, xanthan gum, baking soda, and cinnamon. Set aside.
Cream together shortening and sugars. Stir in egg replacer and vanilla. Mix in the sifted flour mixture, crushed almonds, and rolled oats until fully incorporated.

Roll the dough into walnut sized balls and lay 2'' apart on ungreased baking sheet. Now, take a wide bottomed glass or a tin can and grease the bottom of it and dip it in the sugar. Use the sugared end to press evenly on each cookie until flattened to about 1/8''. Keep dipping the glass in sugar as necessary, it shouldn't need to be re-greased very often. Bake for approximately 12 to 14 minutes.

Merry Christmas and Happy Happy Baking!!! :)

Snicker Doodles

2008-12-15T08:00:00.000-08:00

Well...

after 4 trials these are the snicker doodles I have decided to post. They come out of the oven gooey and raw in the middle, but if you can leave them alone for a couple of hours they will be perfect. I came up with one that didn't come out of the oven raw, but it had no flavor and by the next day it was very dry. These actually taste like snicker doodles which is amazing to me because I always thought snicker doodles tasted like egg. They are gluten free, egg free, dairy free, and nut free. If you need for them to be soy free just replace the margarine with shortening. So here's the way this recipe works: Cook for 10 minutes, remove from oven and allow to cool on the pan for at least 5 minutes, move to a cooling rack until completely cool, put them in a sealed container for at least one hour, and now finally you can eat them. OK, don't get me wrong, you can eat them at any point. Fresh out of the oven they will be gooey, after cooling on the rack they will be soft on the inside and crispy on the outside, and after they have been sealed up for an hour they will be soft (but not gooey) all the way through.

¾ c Sorghum flour
¾ c Tapioca starch (tapioca flour is the same thing)
¾ c Potato starch
¾ c Rice flour
1 t Xanthan gum
1 t Baking soda
2 t Cream of tartar
½ t Salt
¼ c Softened dairy free margarine
½ c Spectrum palm shortening
1 ½ c Granulated sugar
¼ c Applesauce
2 Eggs worth of prepared Ener-G Egg Replacer
½ t Vanilla extract
¼ c Granulated sugar
1 T Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Sift or whisk together all of the flours, starches, xanthan gum, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream together margarine, shortening, and 1 ½ cups of sugar. Add applesauce, egg replacer, and vanilla, and mix until creamy. Stir in the dry ingredients until well combined.

In another bowl mix together ¼ cup of sugar and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon. Roll dough into 1 ¼ inch balls. Roll each ball in cinnamon sugar until fully coated and place on baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes. Allow to cool completely before eating. If you try to eat these warm they will be doughy and seem raw in the middle.

Candy Cane Sugar Cookies

2008-12-07T20:50:00.000-08:00

Here is our second Cristmas cookie...YAY! These may not be the easiest cookies to make, but they sure are fun! (Just for the record they weren't easy to photograph either!) Emily and I made them together and we had a great time. She even came up with the very clever idea of making straight candy cane sticks instead of canes so she wouldn't have to deal with the frustration of the cookie dough breaking when we tried to bend it. As for me, when mine broke I just smooshed them back together. Our candy cane cookies are gluten free, egg free, dairy free, soy free, and nut free. The original recipe called for the sprinkling of crushed candy canes, but we decided to leave it off this time around because if you were to make a plate with a variety of cookies including these and wrap it all up together they would all taste like mint in the end. We also thought crushed cherry candy canes would be nice...but I didn't have any. These are similar to my sugar cookie recipe but definitely crunchier. They have a lovely buttery flavor, but without the butter...woohoo!

1 c Spectrum Palm shortening
1 c Granulated sugar
2 Eggs worth of egg replacer
1 t Vanilla extract
1 1/2 c White rice flour
1/2 c Sweet rice flour
1/2 c Potato starch
1/2 c Tapioca starch

2 t Xanthan gum
1 t Salt
2 t Baking powder

½ t Red food color-If you can’t have red dye, dark red berry juice such as pomegranate, raspberry, or cherry works well.
½ c Crushed peppermint candy (optional)
½ c Granulated sugar (optional)

Cream together shortening and 1 cup of sugar. Add egg replacer and vanilla and mix well. In another bowl sift or whisk together all of the dry ingredients. Slowly add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and blend thoroughly (about 1 minute on low speed). Separate dough into 2 halves. Add enough food coloring to one half of the dough (it may take more or less than ½ t depending on what kind you use) to get a nice red color, and mix until color is uniform. Refrigerate for at least one hour.

Take dough out of refrigerator and warm at room temperature for about 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 350. Take about 1 tablespoon of dough from one color and roll it into a strip about the size of a pencil (maybe a little thicker). Do the same with the other color. Place strips side by side, press lightly together, then twist like a rope. If dough sticks sprinkle it with a little powdered sugar, if it cracks or breaks just press it back together. Transfer to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, then bend the tops to look like candy canes (or leave straight like Emily).

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, take them out before they start to brown or they will be VERY crunchy. While baking, mix crushed candy canes and the ½ c of sugar if you are going to be using them. Sprinkle this mixture over the cookies as soon as you remove them from the oven. Allow cookies to cool on the pan for 5 minutes before moving to a cooling rack. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Spice Cookies

2008-12-03T08:38:00.000-08:00

Here we go, I'm so excited! This is the first cookie I think of when I look back at my childhood holidays. It is my favorite. Three of my mother's best recipes came from Peg Bracken's "The Compleat I hate to Cook Book". The title always makes me laugh because my mother and I both love to cook, but it's a great book because she keeps everything simple. Of course, altering the recipe for food allergies is a little less simple. My mom did everything by hand. She stirred the dough with a wooden spoon and she rolled it into balls by hand. I used my KitchenAid mixer and my spring action ice cream scoop. Our version of this cookie is free of gluten, eggs, dairy, and nuts. It is a very tender cookie, not so good for shipping to a friend, but moist and soft, and it not only keeps well but improves with age...well, you know, I'm talking days not months. It freezes well too.

½ c Softened dairy free margarine
¼ c Applesauce
1 c Dark brown sugar
¼ c Molasses
1 Eggs worth of prepared Ener-G egg replacer
¾ c Sorghum flour
½ c Tapioca starch
½ c Potato starch
½ c Rice flour
1 t Xanthan gum
2 t Baking soda
¼ t Salt
1 t Ground cinnamon
¾ t Ground Cloves
¾ t Ground ginger

Cream together margarine, applesauce, sugar, molasses, and egg replacer. In a separate bowl sift or whisk together all of the remaining ingredients. Pour the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture and stir until well blended, scraping down the sides as needed. Stir for an additional 30 seconds (or about a minute if you are stirring by hand). Refrigerate for at least one hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Roll dough by hand into walnut sized balls or use the 1 ½” spring action ice cream scoop and place on cookie sheet allowing enough room for spreading.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, tops should no longer look wet. Cool on the pan for at least 5 minutes. The cookies will be very soft at first, maybe even raw looking in the middle. By the next day the moisture will have redistributed and they should be moist but not gooey all the way through.

It's Cookie Month

2008-12-01T08:33:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite childhood memories is making and delivering Christmas cookies with my mom. Every year she would start baking cookies about 2 weeks before Christmas, then she would wrap them all up and on Christmas Eve we would drive all over town delivering them to our friends, looking at all of the beautifully decorated houses along the way. She put so much work into those cookies! Every night when I went to bed she would still be up baking. There were snow balls, and spice cookies, and oatmeal cookies, and Enlgish toffee bars...I know there were more but I can't remember them all now. In honor of my mother and to indulge my memories of this time of year I have decided to dedicate the month of December to cookies. I am going to try to recreate some of my old favorites and add a few new ones too. I am also welcoming requests. If you have a favorite holiday cookie that you are not able to have anymore let me know and I'll see what I can do. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

*I want to make a note here that my recipes are all gluten free, but most are using the same total amount of flour as the original recipe called for in wheat flour. I'm not making any guarantees because other ingredients have been changed too, but if you can have wheat you may want to try taking out all the flours, starches, and xanthan gum in my recipes and replacing them with an equal amount of "regular" flour. Best wishes and happy baking!

Winter Veggie Casserole

2008-11-24T08:58:00.000-08:00

Here is a great side dish for Thanksgiving. Nikki eats this often as a main course which is why I added the edemame beans for protein. I know I refer to Nikki as a vegetarian and this has chicken stock (not to mention worcestershire sauce which has anchovies), but the only problem she has with eating meat is the texture. If you prefer to make this as an oven casserole just put everything in a casserole dish and bake, covered, at 350 for about an hour or until vegetables can be pierced easily with a fork. It's a little spicy and a little sweet and is a great comfort food on a cold winter day.

8 c Hearty winter vegetables cut into large chunks: red skinned potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, celery, parsnips, rutabagas, pearl onions, and sometimes shelled edemame for added protein (whatever vegetables your family enjoys!)
2 T Margarine or sunflower oil
1 ½ c Chicken stock (you can just use a whole 14 oz can)
1 T Worcestershire sauce (Lea and Perrin’s is gluten free)
1 T Tomato paste
2 T Brown sugar
1 t Whole grain mustard
2 Bay leaves
Salt and Pepper

Heat margarine or oil in a large frying pan. Add all of the vegetables (except for edemame if you are using them) and a few grinds (or a light sprinkle) of salt and pepper. Toss to coat and let cook over medium heat while you prepare the sauce, stirring occasionally.
Whisk together chicken stock, worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, brown sugar, and mustard.
Add the bay leaves to the pan and pour the sauce over everything.
Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium low. Cover and cook for about 30 minutes or until potatoes are soft and carrots are tender crisp. Stir once or twice during cooking so that all of the veggies get coated with sauce. If you are using edemame add them at the last 5 minutes, if you overcook them they shrivel up and get icky.

Whew! It's Done!

2008-11-19T07:17:00.001-08:00

Nikki is playing Sleeping Beauty's mother (the queen) in her first drama club play next month. Nikki is very petite and finding a costume that fit her was impossible...so we made it. Now mind you I haven't sewn in about 10 years so this was a little daunting. That is why, although completely unrelated to allergies, I decided to post a picture of the dress. I am so proud of it that I'm giddy and I just wanted to share it with the world! Amanda told me the picture is awkward, but I told her that if she's going to make me take my own pictures then she can't complain. Besides, Nikki wouldn't let me show her face. So, there it is...I can get back to cooking now! :)

Nikki's Birthday!

2008-11-17T08:47:00.001-08:00

People keep asking me if I'm ready for Thanksgiving, to which I reply..."Thanksgiving? It's Nikki's birthday, I can only handle one holiday at a time!" I'm posting this because I don't want you all to think I've just been slacking this month. Not only is it Nikki's birthday, but I have also been sewing a queen's dress for Nikki's upcoming school play which I will post photos of soon. So, anyway, I wanted to share with you the cool food stuff we did for the party. Nikki wanted a hedgehog cake. We baked a regular cake mix (she can have "normal" cake) in a large stainless steel bowl, frosted it, and covered it in pretzel sticks. The face is an ice cream cone and the ears are vanilla wafers. Sitting next to the cake you will see Emily's little allergen free hedgehog baby cupcake. I just used what I had for hers...sunflower seeds for the spikes and tortilla chips for the face and ears. Amanda and I have been thinking since summer that we should do an "edible arrangement" for Nikki's birthday since she loves fruit so much...we didn't think about the fact that it is now November and good fruit is hard to come by. We had fun cutting and arranging all of our lovely sour fruit and then Amanda had a brilliant idea, she poured sugar all around the base of the fruit for everyone to dip it in. By the end of the evening every bit of fruit was gone. The party was lots of fun...there was a candy fight (which involved candy necklaces being used as sling shots...not MY idea!) and we watched "the Orphanage". All in all one of the best 13 yr old parties I've been to. HAPPY BIRTHDAY NIKKI!!!

Chewy Nut Bars

2008-11-06T08:04:00.000-08:00

I realize that the name "nut bars" is a little scary for those of us with nut allergies, but if you can have just one nut you can make these! If you can't have any nuts you might even be able to make the whole thing with seeds (pumkin, sunflower, sesame, flax, etc.) Emily can have almonds...it is the only nut she can have...so that is what I used. The texture of these bars is truely chewy, not soft cookie chewy, more like candy bar chewy (YUM!). My inspiration was the Sweet and Salty nut bars by Nature Valley which are one of my guilty pleasures that I eat while no one else is home, then wash my hands and brush my teeth immediately...that takes some of the pleasure out of it. Now I can eat these any time I want without the fear of harming someone in my family...I can even share them! The frosting on the bottom is delicious and makes them more like the originals, but if you want to simplify this recipe simply leave it off. These bars are sweet and salty and chewy and incredible all on their own! As for my picture this week...my 12 yr old Nikki (13 this weekend) saved up her own money and bought herself a digital camera this summer, this picture is the first of her's that I have posted. Looks like I have 2 talented photographers now, yay!

DRY INGREDIENTS:

1 c Coarsely chopped raw almonds (Blue Diamond is peanut free)
1 c Coarsely chopped Honey roasted almonds (Blue Diamond is peanut free)
½ c Gluten free rolled oats ( Lara's )
½ c Crisp rice cereal (we used EnviroKidz )
1 c Frosted flakes (we used EnviroKidz )
¼ c Roasted salted sunflower seeds
1 c Dried cranberries

SYRUP:

¼ c Brown sugar
½ c Corn syrup
1 t Vanilla extract
½ c Sunbutter

FROSTING:

1 c Dairy free white chocolate chips
¼ c Sunbutter

Prepare 9x13 pan with non-stick spray. In a large mixing bowl, toss all dry ingredients. Substitute whatever nuts, seeds, and dried fruits are safe for your family.

In a saucepan, combine brown sugar and corn syrup. Bring to a boil and allow to boil one minute.
After boiling, turn off heat and add vanilla and sunbutter. QUICKLY pour this hot mixture over the dry ingredients and toss to combine, I actually ended up kneading it all together with my hands.

Pour warm mixture into prepared pan. Wet your fingers and press the mixture down into the pan to compress the bars so they will slice evenly. Put pan in the refrigerator while preparing the frosting.

In a microwave safe bowl combine white chocolate chips and sunbutter. Microwave on medium power, stirring frequently, until melted and well combined.

Turn bars (they are not actually bars yet, it is still one big piece) out of pan and flip upside down. Spread frosting evenly over the entire bottom. Chill until frosting is hardened. Slice into bars.

A Wonderful "New" Magazine!

2008-11-04T07:24:00.000-08:00

My mother just sent me a magazine called "Living Without" and I am really enjoying it! I suppose it's not really new since I just looked at their website and it said "celebrating 10 years", but it's new to me. It seems to be mostly gluten free and dairy free, not completely allergen free (as a matter of fact they seem to use an excessive amount of eggs in my opinion), but still full of great stuff! Lots of recipes and great articles. If you want to check them out but aren't ready for a subscription you can find them online at http://www.livingwithout.com/ .
P.S. I noticed that after I published this post Google put an ad for Living Without on my site. Just for the record this post was not a paid endorsement.

Gluten Free Vegan Pumpkin Pie

2008-10-26T10:45:00.000-07:00

I have never been much of a pie baker, so when I found out Emily's class was having pumpkin pie for their fall festival I was a little nervous. I went online looking for a recipe but I couldn't find one that had (or rather DIDN'T have) everything I needed. I did, however, find a fabulous vegan pumpkin pie filling at Vegan Spoonful . Ok, battle half over...now for the crust. This is a conglomeration of 3 different recipes plus my own experiences in gluten free baking. When you look at this recipe your first reaction may be "are all those flours really necessary?". In my opinion...yes. Each and every flour brings something special to the table:

RICE FLOUR adds body but is almost always gritty when used alone.

SORGHUM FLOUR looks and tastes the most like wheat but is very heavy.

POTATO STARCH lightens the blend, adds softness, and helps retain moisture.

SWEET RICE FLOUR adds pliability and is less gritty than normal rice flour, however too much will cause toughness.

TAPIOCA STARCH lightens the blend, binds and adds pliability, and helps baked goods to brown. If too much is used the product will be tough and sometimes doughy in the middle.

There are many more GF flours that I have not covered because they are not in this recipe, but I just wanted to add that high protein flours such as quinoa flour and bean flours help to hold the structure in cakes and such. If you have problems with your baked goods collapsing try adding a high protein flour, but in very small amounts as they have strong flavors.

One last note I also wanted to make is that I did find one recipe online that would have worked for us but it had a buckwheat crust and I don't have any buckwheat flour. It is one of the very few flours that I have never tried. If you are a fan of buckwheat then you may want to check out this pumpkin (there is also an apple) pie recipe at Mom's Food Allergy Diner .

CRUST:

1/3 c plus 1 T Chilled vegetable shortening
1/4 c Rice flour
1/4 c Sorghum flour
1/4 c Potato starch
1/8 c Sweet rice flour
1/8 c Tapioca starch
1 1/2 t Dry Ener-G egg replacer
1/4 t Salt
2 t Sugar
2 to 3 T Ice water

In a large bowl with a wire whisk blend all dry ingredients. Cut in vegetable shortening until particles are the size of small peas (most recipes say to use a pastry cutter or two knives, I actually use my whisk in a potato masher sort of way, alternating between stirring and mashing until the desired consistancy is reached). Sprinkle in water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry dough holds together when shaped into a ball with hands (1 to 2 teaspoons additional water can be added if necessary). Shape into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for a few hours.

Place disk between 2 sheets of parchment paper. Roll pastry 2 inches larger than an inverted pie plate. Try to control the rolling pin and move from the center out. Don't use the rolling pin to go back and forth. You want the crust as evenly rolled as you can. Peel off top layer of parchment paper and lay pie dish over the dough. Flip over and allow the pie crust to sag into the dish. There may be a lot of patching required at this point, but the good news is that I found this dough to patch very easily. Roll the edges under and do the knuckle crimp around the top edge. If you are a novice like me this crimped edge instructional video may help. I have not had a need to use foil to prevent burning with this pie.

FILLING:
1 15-oz can pureed pumpkin
1 c Vanilla soy milk
3/4 c Sugar
3 T Cornstarch
1 t Cinnamon
1/2 t Ground ginger
1/8 t Ground nutmeg
1/8 t Ground cloves
1/2 t Salt

Combine canned pumpkin, soy milk, sugar, cornstarch, salt, and spices in a large bowl, and mix very well with an electric mixer, about 1 minute on medium speed (alternatively, you can combine these ingredients in a blender).

PIE:
Preheat oven to 350. Pour filling into unbaked pastry shell, and bake for about 60 minutes. The pie will still be jiggly when you take it out of the oven, but it will firm up as it cools. Cool completely on a cooling rack, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for several hours or overnight before serving.

Pumpkin Muffins With Pumpkin Seed Streusel Topping

2008-10-16T08:45:00.000-07:00

It's October...what else would I post but a pumpkin recipe! These pumpkin muffins have no gluten, eggs, dairy, or nuts, and can be made free of soy by using safe oil and spectrum shortening instead of margarine. The streusel topping is sooo yummy...sweet, salty, spicy, and "nutty" (because they are not actually "nuts", they are seeds. You get it, right?)... I think I'll have to try this on some other things now... Ooooh it would be so good on top of apple crisp! ( you like all those dots? Yes, that's what it sounds like in my head, just one random thought running into another) Also, thank you to my daughter Amanda for yet another stunning picture. I truly appreciate your talent!

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 c Rice flour
1/2 c Sorghum flour
1/8 c Tapioca starch *
1/8 c Potato starch *
2 t Baking powder
1/2 t Baking soda
1/4 t Salt
1/2 t Cinnamon
1/2 t Nutmeg
1 c Canned pumpkin puree
1/2 c Brown sugar
1/4 c Oil
1/8 c Soy milk (or rice milk) *
1/8 c Applesauce *
1/2 t Guar gum (or xanthan gum)
1/2 t Vanilla extract

TOPPING:
1/8 c Margarine *
1/4 c Brown sugar
1/4 c Gluten free oats
1/4 c Shelled, roasted, salted pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
A dash of cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg
* If you don’t have an 1/8 cup measure, it is equal to 2 Tablespoons.

Preheat oven to 350. Pulse oats and pumpkin seeds in a blender or coffee/spice grinder, just enough to break them up a bit. Mix with the rest of the topping ingredients until combined and crumbly and set aside.

Sift or whisk together rice flour, sorghum flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

In a large mixing bowl stir together pumpkin, brown sugar, oil, soy milk, applesauce, vanilla, and guar gum. (If you are using xanthan gum add it to the dry ingredients, if you are using guar gum add it to the wet ingredients)

Add dry ingredients to wet and continue to stir until completely blended. Mixture will be very thick.

Put paper liners in muffin cups and fill cups 2/3 full with batter (it will be thick, like halfway between batter and cookie dough). Cover each muffin with topping and gently pat down so it will stick after the muffins are cooked.

Bake at 350 for approximately 25 minutes.

Super Simple Turkey Meatloaf

2008-10-03T20:09:00.000-07:00

Yes this picture is my handywork. I just couldn't convince my daughter Amanda that she would rather stay home and take pictures of meatloaf than go to her homecoming game tonight. Nikki wasn't much help either. She's a vegetarian and thought the whole situation was disgusting. Emily wanted to help in the beginning. She suggested that we surround the meatloaf with Polly Pockets, but 20 minutes later when the meatloaf was done all she had to say was "would you hurry up and take that picture, I'm hungry!" So here it is, super simple, kid friendly, allergy friendly meatloaf, served in an old Kid's Cuisine container...just for fun. Dry mustard and garlic would also be welcome additions to this recipe and would have been in there if Emily could have them.

1 ¼ lbs Ground turkey
¼ c Seasoned gluten free bread crumbs http://yummyallergenfree.blogspot.com/2009/01/gluten-free-bread-crumbs.html
¼ c Allergen free instant mashed potato flakes (I used Barbara’s Bakery brand)*
½ t Onion powder
¼ t Salt
¼ t Pepper
1 T Worcestershire sauce (yes, Lea & Perrins is gluten free, it does, however, contain garlic)
½ c Ketchup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put all ingredients except for ketchup into a bowl and mix until well combined. Press the mixture into a loaf pan and spread the ketchup evenly over the top. Bake for 1 hour. That’s it, super simple!

*I couldn't find the link to Barbara's Bakery mashed potato flakes so I wrote a letter to the company and found out that they have been discontinued. Here is the company's response:
Thanks for your email. Unfortunately, we have discontinued our Barbara's Mashed Potatoes product due to a prolonged period of disappointing sales and ongoing production issues. We all loved this product, as did many of our valued consumers, and we are disappointed that we had to finally discontinue it.
Paradise Valley brand all natural mashed potatoes has been recommended by some of our staff members. Another source for all natural potatoes only is Barry Farm Foods (www.barryfarm.com), located in Ohio; this source was recommended by another consumer of our potatoes and does have online purchasing. We hope you find this source useful as an alternative to our discontinued brand.

Zucchini Bread

2008-10-02T11:06:00.000-07:00

I have always thought of zuchini bread as a fall food, so I've been holding on to this recipe. My mother told me the other day, however, that zuchini season is almost over. I guess living in central Oregon keeps me a little out of touch with "normal" growing seasons. This is basically the same recipe as my banana bread. It is gluten free, egg free, dairy free, and nut free. As bread goes it is a little sweet (maybe more like a snack cake)...but how else am I going to get these kids of mine to eat zuchini? ;)

½ c Brown rice flour
½ c Sorghum flour
½ c Potato starch
¼ c Tapioca starch
2 t Baking powder
½ t Salt
1 t Cinnamon
1 t Xanthan gum
1/3 c Dairy free margarine, softened (or Spectrum shortening)
3/4 c Brown sugar
1 T EnerG egg replacer mixed with ¼ c warm water (equal to 2 eggs)
1 c Grated zucchini
½ c Mashed pears (baby food works great, so does applesauce if you don’t have pears on hand)
1 t Vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8”x4” loaf pan.
Measure all of the dry ingredients (the first 9 ingredients) into a bowl and blend well with a whisk. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl cream together margarine and brown sugar. Add prepared egg replacer, zucchini, pears, and vanilla. Mix to combine. Slowly stir in dry ingredients, scraping down sides of bowl, until fully incorporated. Beat on medium speed for another minute.

Pour batter into greased loaf pan and smooth the top if needed ( a metal spoon dipped in water will smooth it without sticking to it). Bake for one hour or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with crumbs instead of goop.

Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and continue to cool on a rack.

You will need to cool this bread pretty thoroughly before you slice it, but of course you do have to try a piece slightly warm with melted margarine on it. As for the rest of the loaf (if any makes it to the next day), it is moist and sweet and delicious cold and straight out of the bag the next day and for several days after.

Chicken Marsala

2008-09-22T11:29:00.000-07:00

I haven't had time to come up with any new recipes lately so I am pulling up an old family favorite that I revamped a while back. I should probably mention also that I took the picture...If Amanda had taken it the color would be more vivid, the set up would be more dramatic, and all in all it would probably look more appetizing. You'll have to take my word for it, the picture doesn't do this dish justice. It is delicious and beautiful too! I have this tagged as soy free and garlic free but I have not heard back from Wolfgang Puck soups yet so I am not absolutely certain how allergen free it is. Please use ingredients that you know to be safe for your family. :)

4 T Margarine or olive oil
4 Chicken breasts (trimmed, boneless, skinless)
1 Minced shallot
1 c Sliced mushrooms
14 oz Marsala wine
14 oz Chicken stock (my new favorite is Wolfgang Puck’s Free Range
Roasted Chicken Stock)
¼ c Sliced green manzanilla olives

Heat 2 tablespoons of margarine or oil in a large frying pan. Brown chicken on both sides, about 5 minutes per side. Remove chicken from pan.
Heat remaining 2 tablespoons of margarine or oil in the same pan. Sauté mushrooms until glossy and brown. Add shallot and olives and sauté for another 5 minutes.
Stir in allergen safe chicken stock and wine. Simmer until liquid is partially reduced, about 10 minutes.
Return chicken to the pan and spoon the sauce over the top of it.
Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked and tender.

P.S. I got my response from Wolfgang Soup's and YES, believe it or not, their soup broth does NOT contain garlic! WoooHoooo!

Gluten Free Finger Paints

2008-09-14T12:27:00.000-07:00

Emily wanted to fingerpaint and I couldn't get to the store............

Ingredients:

4 cups water

1 cup cornstarch

food coloring

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Dissolve cornstarch in a separate bowl with 1 cup of cold water. Remove boiling water from heat and add cornstarch mixture. Return to heat, stirring constantly. Boil until the mixture is clear and thick (about 1 minute). Remove from heat.
As the mixture is cooling, divide into separate bowls. Stir in food coloring. Allow to cool a little, although once the mixture has sat for a few hours it will solidify. Now you can fingerpaint! FOOD COLORING DOES STAIN...so wear old clothes, lay out some newspaper, and be prepared to have colorful hands. :)

Amazing "Allergen Free" Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-09-09T07:18:00.000-07:00

These are the most amazing chocolate chip cookies ever, they even stay soft a few days longer than the traditional Toll House cookies I make for my husband! They are gluten free, egg free, dairy free, and nut free. I have never tried this recipe with Spectrum shortening, but if you were to use it they would also be soy free. It is also possible that if you cook them longer you would have a crunchy cookie (for those like my mom who prefer a crunchy cookie), but I have not ever tried that either because personally I like a big soft cookie I can sink my teeth into. :)

½ c. Softened margarine
1 c. Brown sugar
½ c. White sugar
2 Eggs worth of egg replacer (EnerG egg replacer)
½ c. Applesauce
2 t. Vanilla extract
1 c. Sorghum flour
¾ c. Tapioca starch
¾ c. Potato starch
½ c. Rice flour
1 ½ t. Baking soda
1 t. Salt
1 t. Xanthan gum
1 c. Mini chocolate chips (Enjoy Life brand chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Combine sorghum flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, rice flour, baking soda, salt, and xanthan gum. Whisk together until well blended.

In a separate bowl cream together margarine and sugars. Add egg replacer, applesauce, and vanilla, and beat until creamy. Gradually mix in dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips. (dough will look a little gooey)

Drop by rounded tablespoons (I like to use a small spring action ice cream scoop) onto the parchment lined cookie sheet (if you don't use parchment paper the cookies will spread a little more but they will still be great). Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, they should be very light brown on the edges and look slightly under baked in the middle. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

If you bite into a cookie at this point it will be a little tough on the edges and gooey in the middle. Now for the magic...put them in a sealed container for a couple of hours, the moisture will redistribute, and when you take your next bite the cookie will be soft and cooked all the way through! I hope you enjoy these as much as I do, ummm....I mean as much as Emily does. :)

Back To School

2008-09-04T22:58:00.000-07:00

This is my "Lock and Lock" container (available through my Amazon link at right... although I bought mine at Wal Mart) and I LOVE it!!! I have some "regular" containers that freeze shut every time I put them in the freezer, and I have to thaw them before I can take anything out. My Lock and Lock seals tight to prevent freezer burn and opens easily...and no this is not a paid endorsement. I am writing this because last year we came up with a great way to be prepared for the never ending parade of allergen ridden goodies that seems to come through a kindergarden class. The school allowed me to keep a small box of Emily's treats in the freezer in the teacher's lounge. Every time a parent showed up at the last minute with a box full of cupcakes, Emily would go to the office and they would let her pick out one of her treats. It worked out beautifully and so we are doing it again this year. Here is her box with cupcakes and chocolate chip cookies (which I will be posting the recipe for next week). I think this year I may need to add pizza...pizza parties seem to be the standard reward for everything. Anyway, I know this solution won't work for everyone, but I thought I would put the idea out there in case it was helpful to someone. Happy Back To School!

A Last Hurrah To Summer...Dairy Free Fudgesicles!

2008-08-30T08:39:00.000-07:00

We went to Emily's 1st grade orientation on Wednesday. It was so kind of the PTA to welcome everyone back to school with fudgesicles (that was sarcasm)! If it had been cookies I could have brought some along but popsicles don't travel well, especially on the half hour walk it takes us to get there. I promised Emily that I would try to make fudgsicles for her when we got home. My plan was to use coconut milk like my dear friend Melanie at "A Foodies Fall From Grace"
(http://mjennings26.wordpress.com/
2008/07/26/gluten-free-vegan-popsicles-that-taste-good/),
but when I got home I found that my one can of coconut milk had vanished...no one knows where it went! At this point the promise of fudgsicles had already been made so we moved on to soy milk. I have to say these turned out amazingly like the real thing. They are a little less sweet (agave or more sugar could be added), but the texture is smooth and creamy. Really good! Amanda decided to go with an abstract photo...a fudgesicle defying gravity...I like it!!!

1 1/2 c. Soy milk
1/2 c. Chocolate syrup (I used Hershey's)
2 t. Powdered sugar
2 t. Guar gum

Mix the soy milk and the chocolate syrup in a container with a pour spout. Sift the powdered sugar and guar gum together to remove all lumps. Slowly sprinkle the sugar/guar gum mixture into the chocolate soy milk while whisking like crazy! This is of course to avoid lumps (which is also the reason for combining the sugar and guar gum). I haven't tried making this in a blender but it might be worth a try and may eliminate the clumping problem. If anyone tries it please let me know if it works. Pour the mixture into popsicle molds. if you don't have popsicle molds there is always the classic ice cube tray covered in tin foil with toothpicks stuck through the top (yes, my mother did that). Freeze until solid and enjoy!!!
Now let's go sit on the porch and eat our fudgesicles in the gentle warm breeze... ahhhhh...
in a month this porch will be covered in snow.

My Summer!

2008-08-19T17:07:00.000-07:00

I don't know where the summer has gone! My father-in-law informed me the other day that it had been 21 days since my last post (I guess it's been longer than that now). I have just been so busy with dental appts and orthodontic appts and doctors appts... that seems to have been my whole summer. I haven't had time to cook, much less develope new recipes or write about them. On that note, however, I thought that instead of posting a recipe this time I would write a little bit about the goings on around here. My aunt recently told me that she would like to see more about my family in my blog (BTW I finally found Diane's blog and enjoyed reading it so much!). I'm not much of a writer so generally I tend to steer clear of storytelling, but here's a quick update.

Amanda is 15 now. She passed drivers ed at the beginning of the summer and will be driving me around by this time next year (yay)! She's been very busy doing homework lately (summer homework, can you imagine?!), preparing for the honors and AP classes she will be taking this year. The braces are off and we love her beautiful smile. The tragedy of our summer, however, is that Amanda broke her collar bone while longboarding, and of course I HAVE TO post her x-ray!

She is healing, but because they can't put a cast on it and the doctors don't want to do surgery the bone is going to heal overlapped and with a lump. The other tragedy is that amidst the shuffle of trying to get her home after the accident her camera was lost. My regular readers may know that Amanda does most of my photography, so we are going to have to invest in a new one very soon!

Nikki is now 12, she will be 13 in November. It has been a big orthodontic year for her also. Two weeks after Amanda got her braces off, Nikki got hers on. Nikki's summer has been pretty mellow (although she has three friends spending the night tonight). She took a beginning tap class and will be taking another in the fall. We found out that the school boundaries have been changed and, although we have not moved, Nikki will have to attend a different middle school this year than she was at last year. This has been a little traumatic, but she seems to be OK with it now. Nikki saved up her own money to buy herself a camera this summer and it arrived a few weeks ago. She is having a great time with it... it's purple!

Emily...oh Emily! Emily is 6. She is full of imagination and energy. I couldn't really tell you what she's been doing all summer, but I know she's been busy! She doesn't have a lot of friends, partly because of her food allergies (people are too nervous to have her at their houses), and partly because I don't drive and that makes playdates more difficult. Her best friend up the street moved away a few weeks ago and she has been very bored and lonely. Still though, never in one place for very long. She has been putting on shows for me, singing and dancing. She has also been doing lots of arts and crafts. She took a tap and ballet combo class this summer and enjoyed it, but she doesn't like to pay attention so I don't think we'll be doing it again. Emily also had major dental work done this summer (oh, the teeth in this family!). She had three of her front teeth pulled. She will be starting first grade in a few weeks and is very excited.

As far as family stuff goes, Glenn has just been working, working, working...gotta pay for all those dr/dent/ortho appointments!!! I have no idea where my days go, but I know there's never time to sit down. We didn't have a "vacation" this year but we did have a really fun camping trip. We stayed in a tee pee and the girls played in the lake. Emily caught her first fish. (Actually...Emily caught 6, Glenn caught 1) I hope this has given everyone a nice little glimpse into our lives. This is probably the only post of it's kind I will ever do. I wish everyone an absolutely wonderful end of the summer. We love you all...family, friends, and food allergy ridden cyber acquaintances!

Chocolate Oat No-Bake Cookies

2008-07-18T10:35:00.000-07:00

This simple yet incredible recipe was first intoduced to me by my oldest daughter Amanda. Amanda is only allergic to peanuts, so when she made this in cooking class she simply omitted the peanut butter originally called for and the result was beautiful. For Emily, of course, we have had to tweak it a bit more than that. Emily LOVES oats...raw and straight out of the box! If this recipe is too "oaty" for your taste you may want to try replacing half of the oats with shredded coconut. Also, I have never tried this with other alternative milks, but the recipe seems to be sturdy enough that rice milk would probably work. If anyone does try it with rice, hemp, oat, almond, or any other milk alternative please let me know how it works for you. As is, this recipe is peanut/tree nut free, gluten free, dairy free, and egg free. Again, I would love to hear about any alterations made and how they turned out, I think this recipe could be a lot of fun to play with!

¼ c Margarine (dairy free)
¾ c Sugar
¼ c Brown sugar
¼ c Soy milk
¼ c Cocoa
1 t Guar gum (xanthan gum would probably work, I haven’t tried it)
Pinch of salt
¼ c Sunbutter
1 t Vanilla extract
1 ½ c Gluten free rolled oats
¼ c Gluten free oat flour (if all you have on hand are oats, grind your own flour in a blender, coffee grinder, or food processor)

Cover a cookie sheet with waxed paper and set aside.

Mix margarine, sugars, soy milk, cocoa, salt, and guar gum in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium low heat and boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and add sunbutter, vanilla, oats, and oat flour. Stir well. Drop by spoonfuls (I use my trusty 1 ½" spring action scooper) onto prepared cookie sheet. Cool in refrigerator.

Now I'd better go get a picture quick before Emily eats them all!

Tag! I'm It!

2008-07-17T14:15:00.000-07:00

Yes, I've been tagged. Thank you to the amazingly talented mom/chef/author of http://www.speedbumpkitchen.com/ for thinking of me. I've always been fascinated by other blogger's tag entries. I love learning about their oh so interesting lives...then there's me. This is probably a much needed push to look inside myself. My mother has been telling me for a while now that I need to "find myself". I am one of those stay-at-home-mom types who completely defines herself by her children and her home, although quite frankly at this point in my life I feel that's the way it should be. It will be a challenge to come up with 6 facts about me that I feel are even remotely interesting, but I am here to give it a try.

Here are the rules:

Link to the person who tagged you.
Post the rules on the blog.
Write six random things about yourself.
Tag six people at the end of your post.
Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

1. Anyone who reads my blog is probably already aware of this but it's a place to start...I am surrounded by people with numerous and severe food allergies (my husband, my mother, and all 3 of my daughters) but I actually have no food allergies myself.

2. I was born and raised in California, but we moved to Oregon 7 years ago and I will never go back (well, except to visit). I love it here!

3. I made my own senior prom dress and I made my own wedding dress. The wedding dress won 3rd place in the California State Fair, an achievement I sill take pride in 20 yrs later! (of course I don't ever have time to sew now) Hmmm...I was going to post a picture of my self with this entry, maybe I'll make it a wedding picture.

4. I have a phobia of driving. I am 38 yrs old and have never had a drivers license. I walk a lot and take the bus when I have to. (geesh, you'd think I'd be in better shape! Don't let the picture fool you, that was 20 yrs and 40 lbs ago.)

5. My favorite city to visit is San Francisco!!! I love the diversity, the art, the food, and the general vibe of the city! I also love that it is one of the few places where a person is better off NOT driving.

6. My mother is my hero! Prepare yourself for a long story, more about my mom than myself, but her life choices have helped shape who I am, so please bear with me...

When I was a teenager my parents split up and I stayed with my mom who was a severe alcoholic at the time. The second I turned 18 I was outta there! After a few more years of misery my mom realized she needed to make some changes. She quit drinking and smoking all at once, cold turkey! She then did some soul searching and decided to leave a well paying job with benefits and move to the country. She moved to an old mining town/tourist attraction and played the autoharp and sang songs on the street for tips. She is currently living in a renovated chicken coop (I am not kidding) and is the happiest she's ever been. Once she stopped drinking she became more aware of how she felt physically and it wasn't so good. She eliminated corn and dairy from her diet and became a vegetarian. She felt better for a few years but then started having stomach trouble. That's when she self diagnosed celiac disease. Today my mom is eating an organic,vegan, gluten free diet, living in nature, and doing odd jobs to pay the bills, and she is incredibly self fulfilled. My biggest lesson learned from her, and one I think most people could benefit from, is to strive for simplicity! I know she will never read this (she doesn't own a computer...or a TV), but I'm going to shout this out anyway...I LOVE YOU MOM!!!

Well, there you have it...That's me :)

Now for the chosen 6....

I tag:

Janeen of "Mom's Food Allergy Diner" at http://foodallergycooking.blogspot.com/

Bella of "The Hampton Roads Food Allergy Connection" at
http://cleanyesterday.wordpress.com/

Melanie of "A Foodie's Fall From Grace" at http://mjennings26.wordpress.com/
(we'll give Melanie a little extra time, I didn't realize she just injured herself)

Allergy Mom of "The Allergic Kid" at http://allergickid.blogspot.com/

Queen Telling Of "The Allergy Cafe" at http://theallergycafe.blogspot.com/

Tracy of "Winning Against Eosinophilic Esophagitis" at http://winningagainsteosinophilicesophagitis.blogspot.com/

I tried to choose people who have not been tagged before, if I have mistakenly re tagged anyone please let me know. I am looking forward to learning more about all of you! :)

Speedbump Kitchen (do I know your real name?) thank you again. This was fun.

Fruity Rainbow Butterfly Treats

2008-07-03T10:22:00.000-07:00

How's that for a name? OK, so I said A while back I would post this as soon as I had all of my ingredients and my photograper handy at the same time...that never happened. I finally ended up making 1/3 of a batch (which only made 3 butterflies) and taking this sorry little picture my self, but here it is. The recipe for these is exactly the same as the crispy rice treats except for of course that you use Post Fruity Pebbles which are "gluten free" instead of Rice Crispies cereal.

I would like to make a note at this point that I did call Kraft (who owns Post cereals) to ask about cross contamination. They say that if there is any chance of cross contamination at their plant it will be listed in the allergy warning, HOWEVER this is only for wheat, not barley. oats etc.! Also, the gentleman told me that the labeling is only for what happens in their plant, if any ingredients were cross contaminated before they entered the plant Kraft foods would have no way of knowing it. So, there's the disclaimer. All in all I don't know that these are really any safer than the orginals if you have celiac. Emily does not have celiac, she only gets a little itchy with gluten, so here we go living on the edge again!

And now the recipe:

3 T Dairy free margarine
6 C Mini marshmallows (make sure they are safe for your allergies)
6 C Post Fruity Pebbles cereal

In a large pot melt the margarine over medium-low heat. Add the marshmallows and stir until completely melted and no lumps are left. Pour in the cereal and stir hard until thoroughly mixed. Pour into a greased 9"x11" pan. Coat your hands with margarine and flatten mixture into pan. Cool treats in pan and then turn them out onto a cutting board. Using a butterfly cookie cutter (plastic is best, metal tends to bend out of shape) cut out as many shapes as you can. My daughter Nikki pointed out to me this time that you don't HAVE to eat the scraps, they can be squished back together to get more cuttings just like rerolling cookie dough (of course we only erntertained that idea momentarily...then we ate the scraps!).

Asian Turkey Lettuce Wraps/Cups

2008-06-27T06:28:00.000-07:00

I'll be honest, I have yet to perfect the wrapping of a lettuce leaf. I have tried all different varieties of lettuce and none of them are easy to roll. The one thing I have found to make a difference is putting less filling in...but then I'd have to eat like 8 of them! As you can see my new solution is to use the smaller leaves and make them little bowls instead. I buy the "live" butter lettuce (the kind with the roots still attached) and give the big outer leaves to Emily (she enjoys the challenge), and I use the small inner leaves.

The lettuce looks like this. It is hydroponically grown and comes in a big plastic container with the root ball still attached. Please feel free to use whatever lettuce you like best and, by all means, if anyone finds a lettuce that rolls well let me know!

1 1/4 lbs. Ground lean turkey

4 Green onions

1 Small can of water chestnuts

1 t Garlic powder

1 t Ginger powder

2 T Gluten free soy sauce, I like to use Bragg

Prepared rice

Grated cheddar cheese or cheese substitute

Lettuce for wrapping

Start to brown the turkey in a large frying pan. While turkey is cooking, finely chop the green onions and water chestnuts, then add them to the turkey. Continue to cook and stir for about 10minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, and soy sauce. Stir well and simmer until turkey is cooked through.

Put the turkey, rice, cheese, and lettuce on the table and serve family style. Basically the assembly is: a scoop of rice, a scoop of turkey, some cheese, and a shot of soy sauce if desired. Then fold and roll like a burrito or make little cups out of the smaller leaves. Truth be told, my husband just throws it all in a bowl and mixes it up. No matter how you prepare these, half of the filling is going to end up on your plate and there will be a lot of giggling when you look at the person sitting across from you and see them trying to shove it in their mouth before it falls apart! Maybe this is all part of the reason my family loves lettuce wraps so much (aside from the fact that they are REALLY yummy), eating them is good wholesome family fun!

"Allergen Free" Hot Dogs

2008-06-15T13:23:00.000-07:00

Yay, it worked! I mentioned before that the original reason that I wanted the Twinkie pan was to make gluten free hot dog buns, well...here they are. They are about an inch shorter than the hot dog but all in all I think they're pretty cute. There's not really a recipe here, but let me tell you what I did. I used Pamela's Amazing Wheat Free Bread Mix and made the egg free version on the side of the bag. Grease the Twinkie pan and put about 1/4 C. of the dough into each one (I made a hamburger bun out of the leftovers). Then, with oiled or wet fingers, spread the dough so it is as smooth as possible on top. Allow to rise in a warm place (I use my oven) for about an hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 20 minutes or until they sound hollow when you thump the tops. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes then turn them out so they don't get soggy.

Now in order to use these as actual hot dog buns you will need to do a little knife work. Remember how Subway Sandwiches used to cut the big V in their bread so that they could load in more toppings? That's what we are going to do here. Lay the
"Twinkie" on it's side and cut out the center length wise in the shape of a V (or a U if you are really talented). Here is a picture of how it should look.

As for the hot dog itself, we used Jenni-O turkey dogs this time although they do contain nitrates which I try to avoid when I can. Emily is also mildly allergic to mustard which you can see in the picture is on there too. We were living dangerously this weekend! A better choice for us is Sheltons (free of beef, dairy, nitrates, and garlic), but they are just so hard to get. Please use whatever hotdogs are safe for your allergies.

OK, throw in some allergy safe chips and a pickle spear and you have a "regular" old all American lunch! :)

Cherry Blossom Crispy Rice Treats

2008-06-03T20:31:00.000-07:00

Spring is here and all the lovely flowers are in bloom (at least that's what I hear from other parts of the country)! Emily and I have decided to celebrate, despite the fact that it has been cold and rainy here 8 out of the past 9 days, by making our own flowers. Our inspiration was not only spring but also the fact that I have a very fancy bottle of natural cherry flavor in my fridge just wasting away. I plan to post "rainbow butterflies crispy rice treats" as soon as I have the ingredients to make them and take a picture, but at the risk of ruining the surprise, this needs to be said now instead of later... Rice crisp cereals DO CONTAIN a very small amount of gluten due to the "malt flavoring", if you want to make a gluten free version use Post Fruity Pebbles as they are completely gluten free (although I don't know about shared equipment). As for Emily's lovely pink cherry blossoms, they are dairy free, egg free, and nut free.

3 T Dairy free margarine
6 C Mini marshmallows (make sure they are safe for your allergies)
5 Drops of red food color
1/2 t Natural cherry flavor from The Spicery Shoppe (optional)
6 C Crispy rice cereal

In a large pot melt the margarine over medium-low heat. Add the marshmallows and stir until completely melted and no lumps are left. Remove from heat and stir in food coloring and flavor. Pour in the crispy rice cereal and stir hard until thoroughly mixed. Pour into a greased 9"x11" pan. Coat your hands with margarine and flatten mixture into pan. Cool treats in pan and then turn them out onto a cutting board. Using a flower cookie cutter (plastic is best, metal tends to bend out of shape) cut out as many shapes as you can, eating the scraps as you go (ok, that part is optional). At this point we took colored mini marshmallows and pushed one into the center of each flower. Skittles, or any candy safe for your allergies, would be cute too. There you have it....spring flowers Oregon style!

Go Dairy Free Givaway

2008-05-31T10:40:00.000-07:00

I have just signed up for my first monthly newsletter from http://www.godairyfree.org/ and I'm excited! I discovered this site recently when Alisa at Go Dairy Free did a review of my site and my crepes. I have been a faithful reader ever since! She posts daily and opens doors to all kinds of allergen free blogs and events. She also has recipes and a great list of resources and books. If you sign up for the newsletter you are also entered in a monthly drawing. As the name implies this site is mostly about living dairy free, but this month the prizes for the drawing are gift packages from Gluten Free Essentials which are free from milk, eggs, nuts, gluten, and yeast! (crossing my fingers!) For more information please go to http://www.godairyfree.org/200805152535/News/Nutrition-Headlines/June-Giveaway-Mixes-Baking-Gluten-Free-and-Food-Allergy-Friendly-into-Three-Great-Prizes.html
Even if you don't win a prize I think you may find her site to be reward enough :)

The Survivors

2008-05-29T00:12:00.001-07:00

Not too bad, huh? Time heals all wounds. The cupcakes actually came out very much like "the real thing". (If you are just joining us please see post below)

Help-Exploding Twinkies!

2008-05-28T13:28:00.000-07:00

I have wanted this Twinkie kit for about a year now since I started trying to make gluten free hot dog buns for Emily and I thought the pan might be helpful. Well, yesterday was my birthday and I finally decided to treat myself. I was so excited I couldn't wait to get the kids out of the house this morning so I could start experimenting with gluten free vegan "Twinkies"!

Since the pan only bakes 8 at a time I decided to turn half the batter into chocolate cupcakes with cream filling and chocolate ganache on top (you know, Hostess style). I am therefore, at this point, pulling on 4 different recipes at once. My kitchen is an utter disaster, but I'm having fun and all seems to be going well.

Then I tried to fill them (Dun Dun Dun....)! I filled a couple before I broke one open and realized there was not nearly enough cream inside, so I decided to reinsert the nozzle and try squeezing harder...BOOM!!! Cream filling exploded all over the place! It was on all over the baked goods, it was dripping off the counter, it was on the floor, and it was all down the front of me! You really had to be there, these pictures don't tell the whole story. Looking back it is hysterical, at the time I wanted to scream!

It took 3 hours to clean the kitchen but I am done now and ready to write about this exciting experience! In the end I got cream filling into everything (had to pull out another pastry bag) and I decided to go with a simple chocolate frosting instead of ganache on the cupcakes. Emily and her friend came home from school and devoured the worst of the bunch. Now I am just waiting for Amanda to come home and take pretty pictures of the few that survived. Needless to say, I won't be posting the recipe just yet!

Orange Scones

2008-05-23T13:13:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while I remember something I used to make for Emily and say "why don't I make that anymore?", then I pull out the recipe and see wheat flour and say "oh yeah, that's why!". That was the case with these lovely scones. I always loved the recipe because it was dairy free and one egg was easily replaceable. When we used to think Emily was only allergic to wheat (not gluten) we made this with spelt flour. Anyway, everything has changed now, and since I really missed this recipe I decided to rework it into a dairy free, egg free, gluten free, soy free, peanut free, corn free...sorry, I got a little carried away there...recipe. Yummy!

*My photographer (my 15 yr old daughter, and BTW thank you Amanda!) was feeling artsy this evening...I don't usually garnish my food with jewelry, but I do love the photograph!

¾ c Sorghum flour
¾ c Rice flour
¾ c Potato starch
¼ c Tapioca starch
1 t Xanthan gum
¼ c Brown sugar
1 t Baking soda
1 t Baking powder
½ t Salt
1 Eggs worth of EnerG egg replacer
1 c Orange juice
2 T Oil
1 T Grated orange rind
2 T Raw sugar (turbinado)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease an 8” round cake pan. (This dough is stiff enough that you could probably make the traditional hand shaped scones out of it and bake them on a cookie sheet but I haven't tried it that way yet...If you do please let me know how it turns out)

Put all of the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk together until well blended and no lumps of brown sugar remain. In another bowl prepare the egg replacer and then add to it the rest of the wet ingredients and whisk together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until well combined. You may need to give up your whisk for a wooden spoon at this point because the dough is pretty stiff.

Press dough into the cake pan. Sprinkle the raw sugar all over the top. You may want to press the sugar down slightly so that more of it stays on after baking.

Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes. Let cool on wire rack until just slightly warm. Turn out onto a cutting board and slice into wedges. These are a little dry (as scones are supposed to be) , so a nice cup of coffee or tea is a welcome accompaniment.

Tell Me About Whole Foods Market

2008-05-18T09:49:00.000-07:00

Over the past year I have spent A LOT of time online researching allergen free foods. I have had many discussions with various people about our favorite foods and where to buy them. Many times Whole Foods Market was mentioned and every time I would sadly reply "we don't have a Whole Foods here". Well, guess what...now we do! Whole foods just bought out Wild Oats here in Bend (I'm still not sure if that's a good thing or not). The problem is that now I'm wracking my brain trying to remember all of the product recommendations I got in the past that were available at Whole Foods. Now admittedly I have not been in the store yet, and when I do go I am sure I will not have a problem finding plenty of things to buy, but I would still love some input from our wonderful allergen free community. I would love to hear from anyone and everyone! What are your regular purchases, your favorites, or your least favorites (so I know what not to waste my money on)? I thank you in advance for your time and your responses... and, on that note, (I'm feeling very emotional today) I also wanted to let all of my kindred spirits out there know how much I appreciate you! Big allergen free hugs to everyone! :)

Chicken Enchiladas

2008-05-09T18:36:00.000-07:00

Yes, there is an enchilada under there, and it is free of gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, and garlic! It is hidden partly because we LOVE our toppings (on a good day it would have had guacamole and fake sour cream too) and partly because when I took it out of the pan it kind of fell apart. I am going to write the "standard" recipe below, but just for the record Emily's enchilada was made with plain tomato sauce, no chili peppers, and no garlic powder...she's not really into spicy food and she's allergic to garlic. Also, for my friends who are allergic to chicken, this is really yummy with beef or pork too. Just use a nice fatty/tender piece of meat like a chuck roast or the darker meat pork chops.

1 1/2 lbs Boneless chicken (or other tender meat)

4 c Water

2 t Bullion (that's one cube of Harvest Sun brand)

1/2 t Chili powder

1/4 t Garlic powder (better yet a fresh crushed clove of garlic)

1/2 t Onion powder (again, about 1/2 of a finely chopped fresh onion would be great)

1/4 t Black pepper

1/4 t Sea salt

1 4 oz can of diced green chilies

1 Can of enchilada sauce

4-6 Corn tortillas (depending on how full you like them stuffed)

1/2 c Grated Vegan Rella Cheddar flavored rice cheese (or other "safe cheese")

TOPPINGS: lettuce, tomatoes, red or green onions, black olives, avocado/guacamole, salsa, and Tofutti Sour Supreme are all good!

Before I start the recipe I would like to remind you to please read the labels on all of your ingredients. The bullion, chili powder, canned chilies, enchilada sauce, tortillas, and cheese substitute (and any others I may have missed) can all potentially contain the top 8 allergens.

Place the chicken in a large saucepan and cover it with the water. Bring to a simmer over med-low heat. If you boil it too hard your meat will be tough. Stir in the bullion, chili powder, onion (powder), garlic (powder), salt, and black pepper. Cover and simmer on low heat until meat is tender enough to shred with 2 forks making a scissor motion. Start checking for tenderness at 30 minutes, depending on your cut of meat it could take up to an hour or even an hour and a half. Most of the water should have evaporated too. For a longer cooking time you may need to add a little more water, or if it seems too wet just take the lid off while simmering for a few minutes. Add the canned chilies and continue to pull and shred the meat until it is in small pieces (about 1") and the chilies are mixed in.

Preheat oven to 350. Set up your assembly line... pour half of the enchilada sauce into a shallow dish, microwave your tortillas for about 30 seconds to make them pliable, grab the meat, and have ready a casserole dish to put them in. Dip a tortilla into the enchilada sauce and then lay it in the casserole dish. Put a large scoop of meat (maybe 1/4 cup?) down the center and roll it up. Continue with each tortilla, laying them side by side, until the filling is gone. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce evenly over the top of them all. Bake covered for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and sprinkle the grated cheese substitute (this can also be omitted entirely if you don't care for fake cheese) over the top. Place back in the oven and continue to bake, uncovered ,for another 15 minutes.

While the enchiladas are baking get all of you toppings and condiments chopped and ready. Remove from the oven and load on the toppings! Or, if your family is finicky like mine, let them choose their own toppings and add them individually.

Italian Sausage and Peppers

2008-04-25T17:43:00.000-07:00

First of all, how cute is that Tinkyada Little Dreams rice pasta?! I couldn't help myself, I had to take a picture. That being said, it also goes great with sausage and peppers. My Italian mother-in-law taught me how to make this. It is a family recipe and was certainly never labled as "allergen free", that's just a bonus. This dish is quick and simple with minimal ingredients, and it is so delicious! (I just hope there's some left when my husband gets home) I like mine served over the top of my pasta, but this picture is of Emily's plate and she is 6...that "don't let my foods touch" stage. I hope that your family will love this as much as mine does. Bon Appetito! :)

1 Package of Jenni-O Sweet Italian Turkey Sausage (or other "safe" sausage)
1 Large red bell pepper sliced into strips
1 Large green bell pepper sliced into strips
1 Medium onion sliced into strips
1 15 oz Can of safe tomato sauce (we used Hunt's 100% natural)

Fry the sausages in a large frying pan over medium heat for about 20 minutes, turning occasionally to brown all sides. Add the peppers and onion and stir fry for another 5 to 10 minutes until the veggies are tender-crisp. Pour in the tomato sauce and stir. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve alone or with your favorite pasta.

Chicken Curry

2008-04-25T07:15:00.000-07:00

A while back Tracy asked me about dinner recipes and it got me thinking. I really don't have many dinner "recipes" for Emily (my 6 yr old) because our family (generally speaking) does not share her food, so her dinner is almost always something I can just heat up or throw together quickly. Now I know at this point some of you are shaking your heads at me in dissapproval. I know that a lot of families sit down and eat allergen free food together and I applaude them! In this family, however, it just isn't feasible. I have a husband and daughter who are red meat eaters, one daughter who is allergic to red meat but eats turkey, chicken, and pork, and one daughter who is a vegetarian...me, I'll eat anything! Then we add in food allergies and the fact that everyone here has DIFFERENT food allergies...well, I just can't do it! This brings me to my latest recipe. My oldest and youngest daughters pretty much don't touch each others food, their eating habits are the least similar in the family, but this weekend Amanda (my 14 yr old) made an incredible chicken curry that the three of us sat down and ate together and it was so nice! (my husband hates curry and Nikki my 12 yr old had leftovers, but I'm happy with 3 out of 5!) This is is an Americanized chicken curry so it's not too spicy and very child friendly. Before I get into the recipe I also wanted to make a note to Tracy: I think you can do this one if you use cubed pork instead of chicken and veggie broth for the chicken broth.

3 c Cubed cooked chicken
2 T Olive oil
1 Medium onion, chopped
1 T Curry powder (we used The Spice Hunter salt free organic curry seasoning)
1/2 t Salt
1 Granny smith apple, chopped
1/3 c Golden raisins (regular raisins are fine and much cheaper!)
1 c Chicken broth
Prepared rice, shredded coconut (we use sweetened to balance out the spice of the curry), and chopped cilantro

Heat olive oil in a large frying pan. Add onions and cook over med heat until soft. Stir in curry powder and salt and cook for 1 minute. Add chicken, apples, raisins, and broth, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to med-low and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.

Serve over warm rice. We put out our cilantro and coconut separately so each person can add to taste. Quick, simple, and so delicious!

Crepes...Yes Crepes! Gluten Free, Egg Free, and Dairy Free

2008-04-12T11:21:00.000-07:00

Crepes are basically made from wheat flour, lots of eggs, milk, and butter, so obviously an exact replica is out of the question. Sometimes I have a hard time knowing just how good a recipe is because my only willing taste testers are myself (a little biased seeing as I am the chef) and my 6 yr old who has never had anything standard to compare it to. I made 4 different versions of this recipe before I came up with one I am happy with, but I still am not positive it couldn't be better. If anyone tries this recipe please give me some feedback. Constructive criticism is always welcome and appreciated. I am putting the recipe for the crepes themselves first, then a few filling ideas. Because these don't have any sugar in them they are great for both sweet and savory fillings. If you have never made crepes before the swirling motion may take a little practice. I hope you enjoy them! :)

CREPES:
3 Eggs worth of prepared egg replacer
3/4c Soy milk (or rice milk for soy free)
3/4c Water
3T Melted Margarine (or Spectrum Shortening for soy free)
1/3c Rice flour
1/8c Sweet rice flour
1/8c Potato starch
1/8c Tapioca flour (starch)
1/2t Salt

Preheat an 8” omelet pan to medium-high. Here are the keys to success:
1. Use a heavy duty Teflon coated pan, brand spankin’ new if possible.
2. Keep an oiled paper towel next to you and give the pan a wipe with it after the removal of each crepe, re-oiling the paper towel as needed.
3. Make sure the pan is fully preheated or the first crepe won’t brown… then again there is the old saying “the first crepe is for the dog”, which pretty much means your first crepe is just for practice.

Put all ingredients into a blender and blend for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and blend for 1 more minute.

Pour 1/4 cup of batter into the pan, then lift the pan off of the heat and swirl it until the bottom is covered and the batter has stopped flowing. Set the pan back on the heat and cook for about 2 minutes, until the edges are all curled up away from the pan and the bottom has browned a bit. Gently flip the crepe over and brown the other side for about 2 minutes. Remove from pan and lay on a piece of plastic wrap. Continue layering crepes with plastic wrap as you remove them, this will make them more pliable and keep them from sticking to each other.

Fruit Filling:

Since I was a little girl it has been a tradition in our family to have fruit filled crepes for breakfast on the morning after a birthday sleepover party. I don't have recipes per say, but these are our 2 favorite fillings.

1. Strawberries: 1 pint of chopped fresh strawberries with a few spoonfulls of sugar and a few spoonfulls of water mixed until sugar is dissolved and a syrup is formed. If you prefer an easier version just buy the frozen presweetened strawberries, my girls actually prefer them.

2. Apples: chop up a few apples and put them in a pot with just enough water to cover. Add a little sugar and a dash of cinnamon. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the water is gone and apples are tender.

Put a line of filling down the center of each crepe and roll it up. Top with whipped soy cream (Soyatoo) if desired.

Savory Filling:

Here is the recipe for the filling used in the picture above, but really you can fill them with just about ANYTHING you like.

4T Margarine

2T Sweet rice flour

1c Chicken broth

1/2c Chopped cooked chicken

1/2c Chopped cooked broccoli

Melt margarine over medium heat, add sweet rice flour, cook while stirring for 3 minutes (it will look grainy-it's ok). Add a little of the broth at a time, whisking thoroughly with each addition, until all broth is added and the sauce is smooth and creamy. Stir in chicken and broccoli. Cook until heated through. Put a line of filling in the center of each crepe and roll it up. Top with a little of the cream sauce if desired.

Well, there you have it, an extremely long post for Emily's gluten free, egg free, dairy free, *soy free crepes. I hope the length of this post won't scare everyone out of trying them. It's really pretty simple for a special occasion food. Again I ask that if you do try these please let me know what you think of them. Thank you for sharing with me in our family's special tradition. Enjoy! :)

*My versions of this recipes contain soy, but it is all easily replaceable. Soy milk=rice milk/chicken broth, margarine=Spectrum shortening, omit Soyatoo whipped cream, and make sure all of your ingredients (ie chicken broth, or any fillings you are choosing to use) are soy free.

Nonuttin-Give Them a Try

2008-04-10T07:20:00.001-07:00

You may know that I usually stick to recipes, I'm not much of a writer, but I have a story I feel compelled to share. Nonuttin (http://www.nonuttin.com/) is an allergy friendly granola bar company in Canada who's products are free of peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, egg, wheat, barley, rye, (and now gluten), trans fats, artificial colors, artificial flavors, preservatives-including sulfites, GMOs, and animal by products. I applaud them just for that, but their customer service is beyond anything I have ever experienced!
About 6 months ago I ordered a sample pack from the Nonuttin company. Admittedly it is difficult for most of us to shell out the $50 required for the minimum order, but they do offer 3 different trial packs for $10 each and these can be ordered without meeting the $50 minimum. We got our sample pack and devoured it in one day. Everything was delicious! I held on to their address so that someday when I had an extra $50 laying around I could order more...I haven't gotten around to that yet. A couple of days ago, out of the blue, I got a letter from the company detailing some problems they have had recently with their new gluten free oats and with it came a free granola bar so that we could taste for ourselves that the problem had been rectified. It has, once again it was soft, chewy, and absolutely yummy!
Apparently the owner of the company herself was tasting the products one day and realized they had a somewhat sour taste. Long story short, she found out there was a problem with the shelf life of the new oats. Production was halted and all reachable customers were notified and their products were replaced. Then they proceeded to send out these samples to all customers (even me, who had only placed a $10 order to begin with) along with a very detailed letter about what had happened and what had been done to fix it. Needless to say, they lost a lot of money in this process and I have decided it is time for me to dig deep in my pocket and make that $50 order. Not only am I ordering wonderful products that my family will love, but at this point I also feel like I am supporting a cause. This is the kind of company that all businesses should strive to be like. I want to help ensure that the Nonuttin company continues to grow and be successful. I hope that anyone reading this will also consider placing an order, even a trial pack. I want to see good people triumph!

"Allergen Free" Banana Bread

2008-03-31T20:16:00.000-07:00

It's done, it's done, and oh my gosh is it good!!! I looked everywhere for a banana bread recipe that was gluten free, egg free, and dairy free with no luck. Finally I pulled out a classic old recipe and proceeded to change every ingredient. Whaddya know...It worked! Not only did it work, it's incredible (if I do say so myself). Now I will admit this photo is a little bit deceiving, I think it makes the loaf look taller than it is. The actual loaf of bread is 2 1/4" tall. It is pleasantly dense and moist with a fine crumb and it holds together well. My 12 yr old, Nikki, fed it to her friends and none of them knew it was "allergen free". Can you tell I am beaming with pride right now?! :)

1/2 c Brown rice flour
1/2 c Sorghum flour
1/2 c Potato starch
1/4 c Tapioca starch
2 t Baking powder
1/4 t Baking soda
1/2 t Salt
1 t Cinnamon
1 t Xanthan gum
1/3 c Dairy free margarine, softened (or Spectrum shortening)
2/3 c Brown sugar
1 T EnerG egg replacer mixed with 1/4 c warm water (equal to 2 eggs)
1 c Mashed ripe bananas (this is about 2 large bananas, if you’ve mashed your bananas and find you are just short of a cup you can make up the difference with applesauce)
2 T Applesauce
1 t Vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9”x5” loaf pan.

Measure all of the dry ingredients (the first 9 ingredients) into a bowl and blend well with a whisk. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl cream together margarine and brown sugar. Add prepared egg replacer, mashed bananas, applesauce, and vanilla. Mix to combine. Slowly stir in dry ingredients, scraping down sides of bowl, until fully incorporated. Beat on medium speed for another minute.

Pour batter into greased loaf pan and smooth the top if needed ( a metal spoon dipped in water will smooth it without sticking to it). Bake for 50 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with crumbs instead of goop.

Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and continue to cool on a rack. Now you can slather it with margarine while still warm, wait until it cools (yeah right) and eat it like snack cake, or try it toasted tomorrow morning. This is one of the few allergen free breads that is just as good the next day even without toasting or warming.

It's Rising!

2008-03-31T14:45:00.000-07:00

Is it a sad statement on my life that everytime I bake something for Emily the rest of the world stands still? I fall into my own little space while calculations of cutting recipes into fourths and what ratios of GF flours to use and how much xanthan gum will be required swirl around in my head. I am writing this now, in fact, because I am baking banana bread and I need something to keep me preoccupied so I don't feel the need to keep checking it's progress every two minutes. I just got a new (used) oven...and it works! It still feels like a dream. No more slamming the oven door every 10 minutes to keep the oven turned on, no more opening the door to see what's happening to my bread (this one has a working light!), and no more guessing that my temperature dial needs to be set about twenty five degrees higher than called for. The problem is that now I have too much time on my hands! I find myself sitting on the floor with my oven light on just gazing at my bread while it bakes...wow, that IS sad. I suppose I could do the dishes...nahhhh. So here I am..... looking for a little distraction.....thank you for joining me. :)

Ham and Bean Soup

2008-03-27T09:48:00.000-07:00

OK Tracy, this ones for you, a dinner. I made this soup from our leftover Easter ham and canned beans...so quick and simple! The funny thing is I made this recipe free of gluten, dairy, garlic, etc. so Emily could have it and then she didn't even want to try it. The rest of the family however cleaned out the pot in one night. It was sooo yummy!

1 Meaty ham bone

1 14 oz can of chicken broth (or vegetable broth, beef broth might even be good)

1 14 oz can of water

2 15 oz cans of white beans (we use S&W brand in light seasoning, so unseasoned may result in a different finished product)

1 Large carrot

1/2 t pepper

Place your ham bone in a large pot with the chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for about 1 hour. (Now at this point I'm thinking I should retract that part about this being quick. How about if at the end I give you the shortcut version?)

Take the ham out of the pot and set aside to cool a bit. Pour one can of beans with juice into the pot with the broth and water in it. Blend with an emersion blender or mash well by hand. Keep simmering.

Remove ham from the bone and chop into small pieces. Chop carrot into small pieces also. Put ham and carrots into the pot. Pour the other can of beans with juice into the pot. Add pepper and stir well. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 1/2 hour or until carrots are soft.

Now for the shortcut. This will be a little less salty and a little less "hammy" but still delicious and a lot quicker. Skip the whole hambone thing and just buy a thick slice of ham at your deli counter. Put the broth, water, and one can of beans into your pot and blend. Add the ham (chopped), carrots, pepper, and the other can of beans and stir well. Simmer for about 1/2 hour.

There ya go, quick and simple. :)

Rice Pasta Salad

2008-03-26T14:02:00.000-07:00

This is not a recipe so much as an idea for those times when you just want something different or when you just want to clean out the fridge. I have forced it into recipe form for practical purposes, but really I just throw in handfuls (my handful is about ¼ cup) of this and that until it looks good. Keep in mind that if you can’t have rice pasta there are also pastas made of corn, quinoa, amaranth, and, well, even wheat (lol). This colorful pasta salad is full of flavors and versatile enough to be made free of all allergens that are unique to you, so let your creative juices flow. By the way, these are just the ingredients I had on hand last night. Some of our other favorite additions are: broccoli, cauliflower, bell peppers, red onion, green onion, cubed cheese substitute (my daughter who can have dairy likes grated parmesan in hers), any canned beans, sugar snap peas, and canned chicken or tuna.

4 c Cooked rice pasta veggie spirals (Tinkyada)

¼ c Each (basically 2 c total):
Kosher dill pickles, diced
Black olives, sliced
Carrot, grated
Cucumber, diced
Celery, diced
Grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
Ham, julienned
Red onion, chopped

¼ c Kosher dill pickle juice

¼ c Safe Italian dressing (we use Briannas Blush Wine Vinaigrette, it is sweeter than regular Italian so if you are using a standard vinaigrette then you may also want to add a pinch of sugar for the kids)

¼ t Black pepper

OK…Throw it all in a bowl and mix it up, that's it! If you can wait then refrigerate for about an hour to chill and to blend the flavors...personally, I like it room temperature straight out of the pot. :)

White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

2008-03-21T09:02:00.000-07:00

OK, if I do say so myself, these cookies are amazing! I'm talking dangerously good! Although, I have to say as cookies go they are pretty darned healthy. They are gluten free, dairy free, egg free, and nut free. They are high in fiber and protein, not to mention the vitamin C in the applesauce and cranberries! This recipe is adapted from the fabulous original recipe for Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies created by Karina the Gluten Free Goddess at http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2007/08/vegan-oatmeal-raisin-cookies.html
I hope you enjoy them as much as we do...just be sure you know when to quit...ughhh!
*Please note that some of the harder to find items in this recipe have links to their home page. They are also all availabe in bulk through my Amazon links to the right.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet. (a few dabs of shortening between the cookie sheet and the parchment paper will hold it in place and keep it from rolling up.)

Combine in a bowl and beat until smooth and creamy:

2/3 cup Spectrum Organic Shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons light olive oil

In a separate bowl whisk together the dry ingredients:

1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup oat flour (certified gluten-free Lara's Oats)
1/2 cup potato starch
1/4 cup vanilla rice protein powder (Nutribiotics)
1 teaspoon guar gum
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt

Add the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture, beating to combine. When the dough is smooth, add in the following:

2 cups rolled oats (certified gluten-free Lara's Oats )
1/2 cup allergen free white chocolate chips (Veganessentials)
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Use a 1 1/2" spring action ice cream scoop to measure out the dough and place on the cookie sheet about two inches apart. Do not flatten. Bake in the center of a preheated oven for 12 minutes, or until they are golden. They will be quite soft until they cool. Using a thin spatula, remove the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Support for Families With Food Allergies

2008-03-21T07:16:00.000-07:00

About a year ago I stumbled upon an online support group for families of children with food allergies. It is the most extensive, well organized, amazing allergy website I have ever encountered. They have a forum for just about any allergy related subject you can think of, and if they don't already have it you can start a new one. All of the other parents there are caring supportive people and I have come to feel like they are part of my family. The name of the site is Kids With Food Allergies and the link is http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/index.html
There is a fee for joining, but if you cannot afford it a simple letter is usually all it takes to have the fee waived.
I'm sure there could be a smooth transition here but I'm a little foggy this morning. Anyway, I also want to take a moment to address eosinophilic disorders. The first time I had ever heard of this type of thing was in Kids With Food Allergies and I have to say (although I know none of us is looking for sympathy) it broke my heart. Now, since I have had this blog, I have met several new people who have food allergies and eosinophilic disorders so they obviously go hand in hand. Because I am only just learning about this myself I will not try to explain it, but I would like to share with you the links to two other sites that will. Please visit these women if you are looking for support or if you would just like to be educated on the subject. The first is
Mothers Encouraging Mothers of Eosinophilic Children and the second is
Winning Against Eosinophilic Esophagitis . Thank you both for your work! Also, Kids With Food Allergies has an entire forum devoted to eosinophilic diseases, and a subsection for children with feeding tubes.
I realize this post is disorganized and random but I felt a need to share this information immediately instead of waiting for my creative side to wake up. I hope you all have a lovely day. Happy spring!

Yayyyy Brownies!

2008-03-17T07:55:00.000-07:00

Guess what, I found another Pamela's product that does not have dairy in it! This could not have worked out more perfectly. A few weeks ago I was browsing the shelves at my local health food store, doing my usual label reading, when I came accross Pamela's Chocolate Brownie mix (http://www.pamelasproducts.com/Products_frames.html) and realized Emily can have it (gluten free, egg free, dairy free, and nut free). At the time I was making a multitude of practice birthday cakes so brownies weren't really a priority and I stuck the mix in my cabinet and forgot about it...until this weekend. My husband brought home some of those "cosmic brownies" by Little Debbie, you know the ones. dense and fudgie with bright colorful candy sprinkles on top. Now what 6 yr old is not going to want one of those when she sees Daddy eating them?! Suddenly I remembered my mix. I whipped up a batch using EnerG egg replacer (http://www.ener-g.com/store/detail.aspx?section=8&cat=8&id=97) and sprinkled some jimmys on top. They are fabulous! (Yes, I'm eating them too.) I have included this mix in my Amazon Favorites and I have to tell you that I myself will definitly be buying them by the case. Yeah brownies!!!

Dairy Free Ranch Dip

2008-03-11T12:15:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to have finally come up with a recipe for dairy free ranch dip! It was so easy to make I can't believe there isn't already something like it on the market. My daughter loves it, but more amazing is that I love it too (I can have dairy, and ranch dressing is one of my favorite "foods"). I think a little garlic in it would be lovely, but Emily is allergic to garlic so I didn't even try it.

I would also like to point out that my photographer is back! My 14 yr old daughter Amanda has a new camera and I am so glad. :)

Thank you for the pics Amanda!

1/2 C Vegenaise mayo substitute

( http://www.followyourheart.com/vegenaise.php )

1/2 C Dairy free sour cream substitute

( http://www.tofutti.com/ss.shtml )

1/8 t Dry dill (fresh would be great, I just didn't have any)

1/4 t Pepper

2 T Fresh parsley chopped fine

1 T Chives chopped fine

Just mix it all together, cover, and refrigerate for at least an hour so flavors can combine. That's it! :) Happy Dipping!

Oh, I almost forgot, if you want it thinner so that it is more like a dressing than a dip just add a dash or two of water or milk substitute (soy, rice, etc.).

Kraft Style Mac and Cheese (Gluten and Dairy Free)

2008-03-07T06:51:00.000-08:00

As you can see, Emily LOVES her rice cheese (although admittedly the rest of us have a hard time with the smell)! She also loves trying to be like her older sisters. My middle daughter Nikki eats a lot of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese (cut me some slack, some nights I have to cook 3 different meals to accomodate everyone) and Emily always used to look longingly at it and say "I wish I could have that" in her most pathetic little voice...the same voice that had spurred most of my creations for her. Well, anyway, here it is, Emily's dairy and gluten free mac and cheese. Who would have thought that was possible???
*Just for the record this dish will work better for a child who already has a safe cheese that they really do like than it will for a child who was just eating Kraft a few weeks ago before they were diagnosed with allergies...it is good...but it is different.

1 c Dry pasta (we use http://www.tinkyada.com )

4 oz Meltable dairy free cheese (PLEASE READ THE LABLE TO MAKE SURE IT IS ALSO CASEIN FREE) We use Vegan Rella, made by Panos, which is also soy free but is nearly impossible to find online. If you can have soy, I have tried Follow Your Heart brand and I loved it, but Emily doesn't care for it.

2 T Soy milk or rice milk

1 T Margarine

1 t Nutritional yeast

Cook the pasta according to the directions. Drain,rinse, and set aside. In the same pot (I am the queen of 1 pot dishes), over medium heat, melt the cheese with the milk substitute, the margarine, and the nutritional yeast. Once it is all melty and gooey add the pasta back in and stir until warm and well coated. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Now, like I said, my kids actually prefer this pre-fab looking version of mac and cheese. If you want a homestyle mac and cheese then lay this in a casserole dish. Mix together a pat of margarine and safe bread crumbs. Sprinkle it over the top of the mac and cheese and then grate a lttle more cheese over the top of that. Put it under the broiler for a few minutes and voila!