Verde Pasta

This is another wonderful adaptation from Simply in Season. My kids wolfed it down, veggies and all!


In a food processor or blender combine
1/2 cup diaya mozzarella cheese substitute
1/3 c rice or hemp milk (plain)
basil and garlic salt to taste,
Pulse a couple times to mix and blend up

Set aside

12 oz rice pasta (spaghetti, fusilli or linguine) cook according to package directions

2 cups broccoli
1 cup green beans
1 cup peas
1/4 cup spinach

Stir the broccoli into the pasta 6 min before it is done,
Stir in the green beans 2 min before the pasta is done
Add the peas and spinach 1 min before the pasta is done.

Drain pasta and veggies, add a little olive oil and toss, then pour your cheese mixture over the top and toss again.

Serve as a meatless meal or as a side to grilled chicken or steak.

Enjoy!

Vegetable Pasta Salad

Chock this one up as a win on both the eat more seasonally available veggies list and the meatless meals list! We have recently gone organic, cage free etc.. on everything. Gulp. But what is the sense in feeding a kid with allergies to wheat, soy and corn, meat that has only every eat whet, soy and corn?? So we are taking the leap and soon we will have a huge freezer in the basement with half or so of a few animals in it :) Feels kinda crazy I have to admit. But I have lost a ton of that extra baby weight that was hanging on and my kids are being less picky as we continually reply "this is what is growing right now, its all there is, eat it or be hungry" Less choices makes for less pickyness, and I can't even tell you how nice it is not to go in a traditional grocery store just from the stand point of not having to hear "mommy can I have...?" Now at the farmers market it is "mom can we have a honey stick?" Why YES you most certainly can! Anywho, on to the recipe :)
 I have recently acquired and fallen in love with the cook book Simply in Season. Everything we have done so far, even with tweaking for allergies, has turned out great. I think the homemade salad dressings might be my favorite part b/c they don't have any junk ingredients and are so simple! So this recipe is an adaptation of one of those.

Dressing
  1/4 c red wine vinegar
  1/2 tsp salt
  1/8 tsp pepper
  1/4 tsp garlic powder
  Whisk well
Slowly add in 1/4 cup olive oil,  whisking all the while
Sprinkle in some fresh or dried basil and whisk again.   Set aside

Cook 1 cup of rice past a of your choice according to package directions
Drain, pour into serving bowl and set aside

Open, rinse and drain a can of chick peas. Pour into bowl with the pasta

Wash and cut up cucumber slices, tomato wedges, sugar snap peas, and broccoli florets (or any other veggie your family eats)  Toss them into the bowl with the pasta.

Drizzle dressing over all and toss to coat, then if you so desire add some cooked and crumbled bacon and toss one more time.

Set in the fridge a few minuets to cool and collect.

Serve with a sprinkle of vegan parm or mozzarella.

Enjoy!

Hiding Veggies: Chicken Teese Quesadillas

My kids really liked the crunch of  these Quesadillas and never knew I hid carrots and yellow squash in it!

1 cup cooked chicken or turkey, diced or shredded

1/4 cup diaya cheddar or teese vegan cheddar
Half a block of Teese Vegan Mozzarella cheese, squashed with a fork (it will look kinda like ricotta or cream cheese)

1/2cup yellow squash puree
1/2cup carrot puree

dash garlic salt

6 brown rice or quinoa tortillas

Preheat oven to 350 and line baking sheets with foil

In a large bowl stir together chicken, cheeses, veggie purees and seasonings.

Spoon into the tortillas and then cut or roll into desired shapes and bake in the oven for 5 min or so.

I serve with a side of white quino and black beans.

Enjoy!

Hiding Veggies : Allergen Free Mac N Cheese

Crazy as it sounds I have had a very very very hard time making a allergen free mac and cheese that anyone around here likes, but surprise, add a few hidden veggies and new cheese and we are in business!

1 package Trader Joes Brown Rice Elbow Macaroni

1 package Teese Vegan Cheese  with the picture of the macaroni on the front

1/2 cup butternut squash puree

1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp white pepper
pinch of nutmeg
Non dairy plain milk to bring to desired consistency

Cook macaroni according to package directions

In a blender mix your Teese, butternut squash and seasonings.

When Macaroni has finished cooking, drain and pour sauce over. Warm and serve.

So simple, who would have  guessed????

Enjoy!

Hiding Veggies:Allergen Free Chicken Salad

I was totally shocked by how much my kids liked this, it is quickly becoming a summer staple at our home. Oh and there is cauliflower hidden in here and my hubby calls this the best chicken salad he has ever eaten!

If you can't have eggs just omit them, but my family can eat them so I include them here. 

2 eggs, cover with cold water, bring to boil, remove from heat and let set 15 min. Run under cool water, peel, remove yolk, chop. 

1lb cooked , cut up chicken,

2 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled

1/2cup cauliflower puree

1/2 grapes coarsely chopped

3/4 cup soy free veganaise 

1/4tsp chili powder

1/4tsp paprika

1/4 tsp garlic powder.

In a bowl combine your chicken, grapes, bacon, and eggs if using.  In another bowl combine your cauliflower puree, veganaise, and spices. 

Pour spiced veganaise mixture over chicken, grapes, bacon and eggs. Mix well. Serve hot or cold, as sandwiches or in large leaf lettuce wraps. 

Hideing Veggies while avoiding allergens : Quinoa Balls

Ok  now that summer is in full swing, and all those wonderful veggies and fruits are back on the table, how to get them in the mouths around that table? Particularly those veggies?  I picked up a copy of Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious recently and while it is NOT allergen free, it is pretty easy to adapt. We have added 5 new meals that the kids gobble up without question so far! My 2 year old has eaten more vegetables this month than she has her entire life :) So, for this week I will be posting a new meal Monday thru Friday that is both allergen free and hides at least one serving of veggies.


I admit it- I lie to my kids and tell them these are rice balls, but when I came across the recipe I had white quinoa, not rice in the cupboard so that was what I used. Talk about a protein lift! These and some fruit were all I served and they really kept us full all evening, my hubby didn't even go in search of a snack later when the kids had gone to bed.

Quinoa Balls

3/4 cup quinoa, cooked according to package directions

1/4cup cooked chicken

1/2 cup sweet potato puree.
1/4 cup of your favorite vegan cheese shreds, I opt for Diaya or Tease
1/8cup non dairy milk (plain)

Combine the sweet potato puree, chicken, cheese and 1tsp salt in food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a large bowl  and add in cooked quinoa, along with some GF bread crumbs to get the mixture lumpy enough to roll into balls.
Roll into balls, place on a pan or plate and set up your wet/dry dipping area like you would for frying chicken.

Pour more GF bread crumbs into a shallow dish and set aside.
In another shallow dish mix 1 egg or flax egg with 1/2cup spinach puree.

Dip your quinoa ball in the spinach "egg" mixture, then roll in the GF breadcrumbs.

Pour oil in a pan, just like you would to fry chicken. Arrange balls in pan and fry, turning to brown all sides. Set the on a plate to drain when all sides have been browned. Serve with ketchup.

Amazing how well those veggies are hidden isn't it???

Enjoy!

Allergen Free Olive Garden at home!

The past few weeks have been a blur of travel for a funeral and hosting/attending graduation open houses, so I haven't done to much "cooking". It's been sunbutter sandwiches, chips and veggies or grilled Trader Joes hot dogs (yay for allergen free under 5 bucks a pack!) or Jennie O Turkey burgers, which my son has fallen in love with! But yesterday was the hubby's birthday and I just couldn't reheat leftovers for that. He loves Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo, but that isn't something that is safe to have in the house and the time and money for a trip to Olive Garden just were not available. What's a girl to do? I grabed my copy of Cyble Pascals' Allergen Free and Easy  and found a recipe, but I am not much of a Whole Foods shopper and we can't have corn so the recipe got tweaked to reflect my family's needs and available food stores. *Side note, I love how this woman has revolutionized the way people with food allergies can eat, her cookbooks are great starting points for learning the alchemy and science of how to cook without "normal" ingredients, but if you don't have some sort of "whole" grocery store around you it can be very frustrating to follow her recipes.
Everyone loved this and we didn't leave the table still wanting the dairy and fat laden alternative!  I also did a garden salad with a Parmesan vinaigrette and garlic bread.

Fettuccine Alfredo
1 box brown rice fettuccine, we like Deboles or Tinkada Joy
1 package gluten and nitrate free, uncured bacon ( I scored a package at Natural Grocers this week for under 4 bucks!) (cut into small pieces before cooking to get a better crisp)
Garlic powder
Vegan rice Parmesan
1 tbsp rice flour
1 cup rice milk, room temp
1/2 cup vegan tease mozzarella cheese replacer (this is a new find for me and we really like it)
1/4 cup vegan Jack Diaya cheese replacer
pinch nutmeg
1/4 cup chicken broth, room temp

In a non stick skillet cook the bacon until nice and  crispy, almost burned even b/c you don't want it to go back to a mushy state in the sauce.

Cook your pasta according to package directions, drain and set aside.

Drain all but 1 1/2 tbsp of the bacon drippings from the pan. Add in a few shakes of garlic powder and vegan parm and cook on med-low, stirring, for a min or so. Add in the brown rice flour and stir another minute. Add rice milk and stir until sauce begins to thicken. Pour in your cheeses, nutmeg and a pinch of salt. Stir until the cheese melts. Add in your chicken broth and stir for another minuet or so. Add the crispy bacon pieces back into the sauce and then toss your pasta in the sauce.

Parmesan Vinaigrette 
1/8 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup oil
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4c vegan rice Parmesan
Rice milk added a tbsp full at a time at the end of blending until desired consistency is reached.

Add all ingredients to blender and mix well.

Enjoy!

Allergen Free Black Bean Tostadas

I am finding that Spanish and Mexican cuisine is some of the easiest to adapt to the allergen free diet. Thankfully it is also some of my husband and kids favorite kind of food so whenever I create something using taco seasoning they are happy :)
 Looking thru the fridge to use up some leftovers was how this yummy meal came to be.

Black Bean Tostadas 

1 can black beans drained

(optional) 1/2 a large,cooked, chicken breast shredded

1 tsp cumin or allergen free taco seasoning

1 cup cooked sweet potatoes

1/2tsp cinnamon

Desired toppings, lettuce, diced tomatoes, pico de gayo, slasa, avacado, Diaya pepper jack cheese shreds

Brown Rice or Udies GF tortillas

In a medium pot combine the beans, chicken and cumin/taco seasoning. Stir well and heat thru then set aside.

Mash or puree sweet potatoes to a smooth consistency and stir in cinnamon.

Preheat oven  to 300

Place tortillas on a cookie, or other baking tray, and spread a layer of sweet potatoes over them, like where the re-fried beans would go on a regular tostada.  Add a scoop of the bean and chicken mixture and sprinkle with teh Diaya Pepper Jack Cheese Shreds.

Place in oven for 15-20 min then remove and the rest of your toppings. Serve with a side of fruit.

Enjoy!

Allergen Free Sunbutter Cocoa Muffins

I frequently go into the kitchen knowing that I need to make something for my kids that is both good for them and will fill them up. They are eating machines right now! But I also frequently flip through my cookbooks with despair realizing that I don't have one or two ingredients and, sigh, am not in the position to just run to the store. And that is how most of the recipes on this blog happen. These super yummy, light and moist muffins are nothing short of the result of my forgetfulness in the grocery store :)  I try to make sure that snacks involve fruits or veggies, but when my kids are in an eating everything in sight phase adding protein in to keep them full for at least 2 hours is a must! This is one of the things I love the most about Sunbutter, and now Hemp Milk. We tried out the  Tempt brand in chocolate flavor this week, I figure it is best to east the kiddos into a new food by covering in chocolate when possible :)! It has a better texture than rice milk and the kids didn't blink, just asked for more.  So since I had Sunbutter and chocolate hemp milk on hand they were the basis for this recipe.

Sunbutter Cocoa Muffins

In a small bowl mix 1/2 cup rice milk with 2 tsp cider vinegar and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350, grease or line a regular muffin tin and a mini muffin tin or you could use 2 regular muffin tins, I like to use a mini for my little ones.

In a separate bowl mix 1/2 cup Trader Joes Sunbutter, 1/3 cup canola oil, and 2/3 cup brown sugar and 1 tsp vanilla. Mix well.

In yet another bowl mix 1 1/4 c Trader Joes GF flour mix, (as an aside I don't like this mix for pancakes, but in this recipe it worked great), 1/2tsp xanthan gum, 1tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt

Combine the dry and wet ingredients and mix on low speed until fully combined.
Add the Cider Vinegar/rice milk mixture and mix again.
Now add in the Chocolate hemp milk, a splash at a time, until your batter is almost soupy in texture.

Pour into muffin tins and bake. About 10 min for mini muffins, 20ish for regular ones.

Mine didn't have that rounded top that most muffins do, but inside they were light and fluffy so it didn't matter.

Enjoy!

New Things I have learned

So, as the winter weather seems to be hanging on for dear life this week I have just been remaking things, nothing new on our table, but I did learn some new stuff.

1. Earth Balance, my beloved Earth balance soy free spread has corn in it...sigh. I will be cutting back on how much I use it, and trying to sub some new things so be on the lookout for that.

2. In recipes that call for some sort of yogurt, non of which my child can eat!, you can use a mixture of hemp milk and applesauce. I will be trying this soon!

3. Hemp milk looks like a good thing to try. We have only ever used rice milk, but hemp milk has some awesome nutrition compared to that. Check that info out here

What new discoveries have you been making?

Allergen free Gnocchi and Veggies

We are still on an Italian kick around here, as well as switching over to a more organic/natural lifestyle, so we will be doing less meat. I think I have discovered a good selection of meatless meals that will be satisfying and since my family are meat and potato type eaters this makes me shout a big Yay!

I looked at the price of frozen GF gnocchi in the store and said forget it! Then came across a recipe for homemade, allergen free gnocchi from Cybele Pascal and it is really simple!  So that is what I use in this recipe.

Gnocchi and Veggies 

1 tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 cup chopped tomatoes (cherry or miniature heirloom ones work great)
Sprinkle of basil
1/2c of chopped frozen spinach
16 oz gnocchi 
1 tbs Earth Balance soy free spread
2 tsp lemon juice

First make your gnocchi, it will take you at least an hour so plan ahead, but once they are made they can be frozen or refrigerated and served a day or so later.

Heat oil in large pan and add garlic, stir for about a min and add the tomatoes and spinach. Stir for another two minutes or so. Remove from heat and toss with the gnocchi and sprinkle on the basil, stir in butter and lemon juice. You can also add a sprinkle of vegan Parmesan at the end.

Enjoy!

Allergen free Honey Ginger Muffins

These muffins are super simple to make and have a fun twist for a light springtime flavor! My kids have been devouring them left and right!

Grease or line two, 12 capacity muffin tins.

Pre-heat oven to 350

In  a large bowl mix
1 cup of canola oil
3/4cup of honey
1 1/2 cups apple sauce
1 tablespoon ginger
Zest from a small orange or lemon
Juice from the orange or lemon that you zested

In a seperate bowl whisk together
2 1/2 cups gluten free flour
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients bowl in small batches until it is all incorporated and mixed well.

Scoop batter into muffin tins and bake for 15-20 until tops are golden.

Enjoy!

Allergen free baked spaghetti

I have been missing Italian food A LOT lately and while I have come to terms with the fact that there is just no way to recreate a good allergen free lasagna there are lots of other things that can be recreate well. This week I decided to try a penne pasta version of baked spaghetti, because plain spaghetti is just getting old.  It was a pretty simple, and inexpensive meal and the kids loved it so triumph!!  You can also make some yummy garlic bread if you want to splurge a little bit.

Baked "spaghetti" 

2 bags Trader Joes Brown Rice Penne

2 Jars Aldi Traditional Spagettie Sauce

1/3 of a block of Vegan Diaya Cheddar, grated
3/4 of a block of Vegan Diaya Jack, grated

If you want you can add ground beef or turkey, but I make this for a meatless meal and serve it with peas or lima beans to add in protein.

Cook your penne according to the directions (this is a tip i never seen mentioned but adding some canola or olive oil to the water you boil the pasta in really prevents the pasta from sticking together)

Spread about 1/3 cup of pasta sauce across the bottom of a 9 by 13 dish.
1.Add a layer of cooked pasta
2.Add a layer of the cheese mix, go sparingly! the hint of cheese goes better than a large amount of something that is clearly not real cheese,
3. Spoon another layer of sauce
Repeat steps 1-3 until your dish is full and top with a sprinkling of just the Jack cheese.

Bake covered at 350 for 30 min, then broil on high for 3 to 5 min to get that browned cheese look on top.

Garlic Bread 

1 package of Udies GF french bread

Earth Balance soy free spread

garlic powder
vegan parmesean
oregano

Cut the frech bread in half, lengthwise
spread the Earth balance on both sides
Sprinkle with the mixture of garlic powder, vegan parm and oregano.
Bake at 350 until golden brown, about 5 to 7 min.

Fun or Fancy Allergen Free Easter Brunch

        Easter is a holiday that conjures up brunch foods for me more than any other. I think this stems from the Easter morning traditions I grew up with. My dad was a pastor and so we got up before dawn to go to a sunrise service by the lake, it was always unbelievably cold and my sister and I ended up wrapped in blankets on picnic bench singing about the resurrection while watching the sun rise and hearing the wave lap against the shore. Needless to say everyone was very hungry by the time it was over.  Back at the church people would have brought an assortment of breakfast or brunch items, and it was a wonderful time of food and fellowship. Some of the absolute best church memories of my childhood involved meals served in the fellowship hall. Sadly this is an experience that my kids just won't get, but I do try to recreate as many things that I remember having just in an allergen free way. 

The two things I like to serve best on Easter are a quiche and french toast. How in the world? Here's how. 

Muffin Tin Quiche 

You have two options here. 

Option 1: If you can have eggs then mix up 

• 5 large eggs
• 1/2 t. freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1/4 t. garlic powder
• 1 1/2 cups rice milk 
• 6 ounces allergen free cheese alternative of your choice, I think Diaya works best
• 2 cups fresh baby spinach, stems removed (or you can add in broccoli, red peppers, ham, just about anything) 

Spray your muffin tins with olive oil spray and pour in and bake at 450 for about 15-20 min. 

Option 2: If you can't have eggs here is a tried and true recipe

 2 1/2 cups chickpea/garbanzo bean flour

3 cups cold filtered water
3 Tbls olive oil
2 tsp salt
Assortment of things to add in :spinach, peppers, allergen free cheese, meats.... 

Mix up the flour, water oil and salt. Spray muffin tins, pour in your mixture. Then add your extras. 
Bake at 500 for 14 min. 

I do these in muffin tins since my kids eat anything that comes out of a muffin tin, but you could use a regular quiche dish to make your presentation more adult :) Just be aware that you will need to keep an eye on your quiche and adjust cooking time accordingly. 

Cinnamon French Toast  Shapes (or you can make it a casserole) 

Grab your favorite allergen friendly bread, some fun cookie cutters and get ready to wow !
Use the cookie cutters to cut out shapes (egg, rabbit, lamb, cross, flowers...whatever kind you have that would be appropriate to Easter)  in the bread. 

Mix up 
1 1/2 c rice milk 
1 egg or 1 flax egg 
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4tsp nutmeg
drop or two of vanilla 

Put your cut out shapes into the mixture and heat up a non stick skillet (low to medium). After both sides of the bread have soaked place a few slices in the skillet and cook until brown on both sides. 
Serve dusted with powdered sugar or with pure maple syrup and a garnish of berries. 

Yet again, to make this less kid like you can instead tear up the bread and place in a baking dish. Pour the mixture over it and place berries on top and bake at 350 for 35 to 40 min. 

Enjoy! 

Allergen free Easter candy

A big part of any holiday or celebration is food, and when you factor in food allergies, planning and executing those special meals takes more work. This week I will be taking the three main food aspects of Easter, the candy, brunch and main meal, and giving you some tips and ideas that range from creative to elegant and are so yummy no one will know they are allergen free.

The Candy
As kids my sister and I had lots of fun searching the house for our Easter baskets, and our mom had some pretty creative hiding places over the years, think dryer and dishwasher.  For my own kids the hiding places have been the easy part, finding things to put in the baskets has been infinitely  more difficult. At first we just bought things without diary and nuts, so the run of the mill jellly beans, starbursts and skittles made the cut. But now that we have cut out wheat, soy, corn and food coloring there isn't much left to to but make everything our selves.  This year I have started collecting candy molds, and they are surprisingly cheap and easy to find. I get most of mine from Hobby Lobby or Walmart.

The chocolate is easy. Simply grab a bag of enjoy life chocolate chips or chunks and Earth Balance soy free spread, melt in 30 second increments until smooth and pour into your candy mold. If you want something fancy like a filling just use organic jams or sunbutter and layer into the mold. You can even foil candy wrappers at stores like Hobby Lobby.

To do hard fruity candy place some organic jam in a pan, add in water and stir until smooth bring close to a boil, then pour into molds and refrigerate.

If making candy is not something you want/have time to do then check out your local Marshals or TJ Max for  Yummy Earth gummi bears, lollipops and jelly beans.  Or look go to Trader Joes and pick up a package of their lollipops.

If you are looking for something more gourmet then check out the following websites
Natural Candy Store 
Indie Candy 

Another fun and useful addition to your child's Easter basket would be Allermates. If you haven't seen these products yet you have got to check them out!

For the next week

so we are going the easy route tonight and having pizza. The hubs and I will enjoy the real deal, but the kids pizza's will be homemade.

They like Udi's thin crust the best, and the organic marinara sauce or the traditional pasta sauce from Aldi topped with a mix of the Diaya mozzarella and jack cheese. Sometimes my son likes to add broccoli to his pizza, and then I feel rather successful :)

This week I will be on a bit of a cooking hiatus, so check back next week (3/25) for Allergen free Easter food.

Enjoy!

Super Yummy Ham and Potatoes

This recipe is an allergen free re-creation of a meal my mom made when I was a kid. I love it when I find ways to share foods from my childhood in a safe way!  This recipe, yet again, calls for leftover ham 
You will need

1 cup leftover ham, shredded or cut up
4 yukon gold potatoes sliced to medium thickness
Mild allergen free cheese sauce (recipe follows)
Medium size baking dish
olive oil spray

Spray your dish with olive oil and preheat the oven to 375. Layer potatoes, meat and pour over sauce until the pan in filled. On the top layer i usually lay down one layer of potatoes, sauce and then meat with a tad of Diaya cheddar shreds on top. Bake covered for 20-30 min and then uncovered for another 30 min, until sauce has thickened and is bubbly and the top is browned.


Mild allergen free Cheese sauce

2 tbsp olive oil
dash onion powder
dash garlic powder
2tbsp rice flour
1 cup rice milk
sprinkle dried basil
sprinkle dried rosemary
1cup rice milk
1/4cup diaya cheddar cheese shreds

Heat the oil on medium in a skillet, add in the onion and garlic powders and stir for a few seconds. Addin the rice flour and stir to make a paste. Add one cup of rice milk and stir adding basil and rosemary. Once thickened add second cup of rice milk and cheese shreds. Stir until cheese has melted . Use in the above recipe.

Enjoy!

British Meat Pies

Think Pub food is off limits if you have allergies? Wrong! It just takes a little creativity and the right ingredients to recreate a pub in your own home. This meal is based in leftovers re purposed into a great new dish.

 The  meat from this meal is leftover ham  from an earlier crock pot meal. Shred the meat. You will also need leftover mashed potatoes, and whatever veggie mix you like. I use lima beans, peas, carrots and green beans. Grab a muffin tin for assembly and preheat your oven to 375.

Next make a simple rue. If you haven't made an allergen free rue before, don't worry it is easy. You need
2tbsp canola or olive oil
1tsp onion powder
2 1/2 tbsp rice flour
1 cup rice milk

    In a skillet heat the oil over medium heat and sprinkle on your onion powder, stir for just a min then whisk in your rice flour and stir to form a paste (about 1 min). Pour in the rice milk, whisking out lumps and keep whisking until if has thickened. Remove from heat.

To assemble. In each muffin tin place a spoonful of veggies, top with some shredded meat and pour a spoonful of rue over that. Then top with leftover mashed potatoes and place the muffin tin in the oven. Bake until you see that the rue has begun to boil (about 30-45 min).

Scoop out with a spoon to try and retain the rounded shape of the muffin tin.

Serve along side cobbler and with a gluten free beer for a true pub effect :)

Enjoy !

Hamming it up :)

My kids are into pork, we have recently done lots of sausage, ham and pork roasts. My son likes the salty flavors, my daughter enjoys the tender texture and my hubby and I are just enjoying the change from chicken.   This week I cooked a ham in the crock pot and will be using it several ways, but first the ham.

My kids love honey ham and there are two basic ways I make it. If we are just doing a small ham that will get eaten in 2 sittings then I pour honey over the ham and sprinkle it lightly with ground cloves and place it in the oven @350 for about 45 min.

For a larger ham that will be used in other meals I pull out my trust crock pot. I mix
1/3 Earth Balance spread (melted)
1/4c honey
1/3c brown sugar
sprinkle of ground cloves

and pour it over the ham in the crock pot. I cook it on low for 10 hours and it is just divine when its done!

We usually eat it with mashed potatoes and some veggies the first night and get the following meals out of the leftover meat.
British Meat pies
Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

More on those later this week!
Enjoy!

Protein packed Rice Crispy Treats

Ok, my kids love love love marshmallows  and I hate hate hate the ingredients. They are just junk, and even the ones found in natural food stores have some ingredients that make me nervous (gelatin from a fish source??) My son also really enjoys rice crispy treats and of course one of the main ingredients is marshmallows  so this week I decided to revamp the way I make rice crispys in order to get away from the marshmallows.

1cup brown sugar
1cup honey
3/4c Trader Joes Sunbutter
6c crisp rice cereal

In a large pot combine the brown sugar and honey and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves  Reduce heat and add in your Sunbutter and stir until smooth.  Pour in your rice cereal and stir to combine. Press into pan or make shapes if you desire. Then refrigerate for a few hours to to set.

Enjoy!

Tasty Pork

This one is a keeper! I love finding recipes that I can use just as they are. I wrote this one down years ago, but came across it again over the weekend. Everyone liked it so it will be making an appearance on the regular menu.

2lbs pork roast
1 can whole cranberry sauce or you can boil  and mash your own
3 shakes chili pepper sauce
2tbsp brown sugar

Place your roast in the slow cooker, mix the cranberry sauce, chilli sauce and brown sugar together and pour over the meat. Cook on low for 8 hrs.
Serve with brown rice and a green veggie

Enjoy!

What to eat when there's no electricity?

Here in the Midwest we are supposed to get a fair amount of snow mid-week. In this house we were warned that the power goes off pretty easily, so a storm bringing lots of ice and snow leaves me wondering just how and what I will be feeding my kids in the dark and cold that might happen.  Thankfully we do have a gas stove, but I don't want to be opening the fridge if the power is off!
So here is what I came up with, not the most nutritious things, but easy to find and prepare came first! And you can always get some gummie vitamins, the bear shaped ones are allergen free! Hopefully this can help you think thru food you could serve in a electricity or gas free environment :)
Breakfast
Cereal plain and simple. We never ever have it around here because one of my kids can go thru half a box in one sitting and there isn't all that much nutrition in it. But we grabbed some GF chex (the chocolate and cinnamon kinds don't have any milk or nuts either) and GF Rice Crispies and are all set.

Lunch
This will be sunbutter (Trader Joes brand doesn't contain any soy)  and honey sandwiches, we like Udi's bread, and potato chips. I also grabbed some raisins, bananas, apples and boxes of apple juice.

Dinner
Soup. There are many different options out there, even Walmart carries some organics now! Just do your due diligence and read the ingredient list and find ones you and your family will enjoy! If you have a fireplace or gas stove this is a great option. If you don't, sticking with the sandwiches and fruit might be the easiest rout.

If the power does go out my kids are going to think they have gone on vacation!

Enjoy!

Simple Stroganoff

My hubby loves Beef Stroganoff but I hadn't attempted it since having kids  with food allergies. However, on this journey of menu planning I am trying to add some of his favorites back in, and this was given the thumbs up! It was also surprisingly simple to do :)

I threw some leftover roast (about 1/4 lb) in the food processor and pulsed to resemble ground beef

In a pan I melted a tablespoon of butter and added onion powder. Stir for about a minuet  Add in 2 tbsp of flour and stir for another minuet.

Add in 1 cup of rice milk stirring to prevent lumps. As the mixture thickens add in 1/2 of beef broth and 1/2c more of milk along with a pinch of nutmeg and a couple dashes of white pepper.

Stir and serve over brown rice fusilli noodles, cooked according to package directions.

Enjoy!

Valentines Day Allergen Free

So Valentines Day is tomorrow and the easy route (or at least compared to what we do now) has been dinner out, nice chocolate that easily bought in stores everywhere, or fancy desserts,also easily accessible in stores. But, no more. Now those things are just nicely wrapped trips to the hospital.  So I have developed a few sweet treats and a main meal that still give those iconic valentines day feelings, and also allow your creativity to flow!

First, Dinner. One of the nice things about Valentines day was of course, not needing to cook. Well, unless you have a magic allergen free meal service, which is not a bad idea by the by, this is the next best thing. If you are doing a family meal you may want to use a full roast, but if this meal is just for you and your  sweetie you can use steaks.

Dredge your meat in a mix of rice flour with a few turns of white pepper.
Sear the meat in Earth Balance soy free spread, and transfer to baking dish or crock pot to make it even easier. Also place your potatoes and other veggies around the meat.
In the pan you seared the meat in mix about a cup of beef broth with 3 to 4 shakes of onion powder. Pour in about 1 cup of white wine. Whisk and then pour over your meat and veggies.  If using the crock pot, cook on low 8 hrs. If using a baking dish, cover and cook at 325 for 3 hrs for a roast and check at 1 1/2hrs  if using steaks.


Next, Dessert.  For the Kiddos check out the sugar cookie recipe and grab a heart shaped cookie cutter.
Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate ...yep that's what we are using. Chocolate Covered Strawberries, and Chocolate Candy here we come!

Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips are going to be your best friends for this, but if you can't get a hold of those then some stores have semisweet chips that will work, just make sure to read those ingredients, but you will need to add in sugar as you melt them and taste along the way!
Wash and cut your strawberries in half, place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper
Place chocolate chips in a bowl and melt in 30 second increments stirring every 30 seconds until smooth. I like to add vegan shortening or Earth balance to give it a creamier texture.
Using a fork spear the strawberries on the cut side and dip them into the bowl of chocolate  Carefully place them on the wax paper.
Repeat until all the strawberries are done and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 min.

To make your own candy, well your imagination is your only limit! Add some orange zest, ginger, ho-made caramel or organic raspberry jam, I could go on and on.... You can get fancy and use candy molds, easily found even at Walmart, or just use mini muffin tins.
Melt your chocolate using the method mentioned above.
For strait chocolate just spoon the melted mix into a plastic baggie and snip off the tip, then squeeze into the mold.
If you are adding orange zest, ginger or chili powder stir them into the chocolate after melting and then put into the molds.
 If you want to make candy with a caramel or jam center then squeeze a layer of chocolate into the mold, followed by a small dollop of the caramel or jam covered with another layer of chocolate.
Let the molds sit in the fridge for an hour or so and follow the manufacture instructions for how to get them out.

Enjoy !

Easy, Inexpensive Allergen free snacking

If the prices of the store bought ready made allergen free snacks make you feel like screaming, throwing up, or just not eating then these ideas are for you! My children (almost 2 and 4) spend there time doing one of two things, or at least is feels this way to me, eating or talking about eating. I hungry, or Mom when are we going to eat? are frequent questions, and I am getting tired of baking three times a week and seeing the amount of sugar they consume. So we have recently come up with some healthier  less time consuming and more wallet friendly options.

Hummus filled grape tomatoes
For a light tasting, protein filled snack.
Hollow out the desired number of grape tomatoes, all you need to to is slice off the end where they were attached to the vine and go around the inside in a circle with your knife to remove the seed and innerds.
Using a small spoon,, or medicine dispenser, or plastic bag that you fill and cut the tip off of, fill with desire type of hummus. We like roasted red pepper or plain around here.

Sunbutter fruit dip.
My mom made a great fruit dip when I was a kid, however it was full of dairy and I haven't managed to remake it allergen free yet. But, I did come up with this last week and the kids loved it, my oldest was licking his plate at the end!
Trader Joes Sunbutter (it doesn't have any soy in it, and is the only one that doesn't break my son out) put it in a small bowl by the spoon full (I used about one large serving spoon full to make enough dip for 2 sliced apples)
1 regular spoon full of powdered sugar
Drizzle Honey to taste and splash of rice milk to thin it out.
Stir with a fork until all ingredients are incorporated and smooth enough to dip out without that clumpy sticky texture.

Quick Smoothie
What kid or adult doesn't like a smoothie? Just toss a banna, some frozen fruit and a splash or two or rice milk in the blender and voila! You can even make it more like a dessert and add some allergen free chocolate chips  or syrup to the mix.

Rice cake "Popcorn"
If you can't have corn and miss something to munch with your movies this one is for you.
Break up a rice cake into bite size pieces
Melt some Earth Balance soy free spread and drizzle over the top.
Gently mix to coat.
You can sprinkle on an other topping you desire, cinnamon sugar, vegan rice Parmesan cheese or add in some Enjoy life chocolate chips.

Maple Chicken- a meal steeped in cinnamon

We are having a warm week around here, but I'm not quite ready to give up on my fall and winter menus, especially not one this good! It is like a whole meal full of dessert, but since it uses lots of cinnamon and honey it has tons of nutritional benefit and hides the veggies the kids just can't wait to eat up!

Maple Chicken
2 chicken  breasts
4tbsp pure maple syrup
2tbsp vegan butter
1tsp paprika
1tsp cinnamon

Melt the butter, mix in the syrup and spices and baste chicken. Place in oven on 350 for 30 min, then baste chicken again. Continue basting every 20 min until you have a good coating.

Cinnamon Butternut Squash
1 cooked and mashed up small butternut squash. Or you can buy frozen pre-chopped squash and just mash it up after steaming in the microwave. Add a small amount of butter. 1tbsp brown sugar and 1/tsp cinnamon and mix.

I also serve  steamed broccoli with this meal and make a fruit cobbler with cinnamon in the crust mix for dessert.

Quick Fruit Dessert.
1cup GF bisquick
1 1/2c fruit of choice
1tsp cinnamon
1tsp vanilla
1/4c applesauce
1/2tsp baking powder
sprinkle of salt
1tbsp oil
Rice milk

Mix the bisquick, cinnamon, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Add the applesauce, oil, vanilla and stir. Add rice milk until all in well mixed, but still a thick batter. Stir in your fruit and pour into baking dish. Bake at 350 until golden brown on top. Serve with a sprinkle of brown sugar and cinnamon on top.

Enjoy

National Pancake Day

Tomorrow may be my son and husbands favorite non nationally recognized holiday :) These two love pancakes and I mean LOVE. It is one of the most often requested foods around here and we make them many different ways. So for my two men we will be having pancakes at all three, yes you did read that right, all three meals tomorrow. But we are not going to have the same plain, tho yummy!, pancakes at all three meals, these will be a mix, some using veggies, some using fruit.

For your pancake base you can make it easy on yourself and use Bisquick's Gluten Free mix, one of your favorite allergen free boxed mixes  or you can  use this recipe.
1 1/3c allergen free flour mix 
2tsp baking powder
1tsp salt
1tsp cinnamon
1 egg or one of these egg replacements 
1tsp pure vanilla extract
4tbsp canola oil, or all vegetable shortening (room temp or melted)
1/3 c rice milk

Whisk together your dry ingredients  In a separate bowl beat together your egg sub, oil, vanilla and milk  Add your dry to the wet and mix well. Add in more milk if needed to achieve desired consistency   Getting lots of air into the mixture is key to it rising well!

For breakfast we are going to have
Strawberry Lemon pancakes
For this recipe if you are using above pancake mix, omit the cinnamon and vanilla and add in
2/3c sugar
1/4tsp salt
Zest of 2 lemons and thier juice
 You will also need 1/2 quart of strawberries sliced, but don't put it in the mix.
Always adjust your dry and wet ingredients to achieve your desired pancake consistency, some people like them runny some like them thick!
Combine your pancake mix, grease griddle or pan appropriately and pour out your pancakes, I like to use a tablespoon sized measure to do this. While one side is cooking, place slices of strawberries on the pancake. Flip and cook the other side when the first side is golden brown.
You can dust these with powdered sugar, strawberry syrup (recipe to follow) or pure maple syrup. Serve with eggs for protein!

Strawberry Syrup
In a small sauce dish place washed and cut strawberries covered in pure maple syrup. Bring to a boil until fruit is mushy and releasing its juices. Reduce heat to low. Mash fruit, add a tad of sugar and lemon juice. Stir. If you like your syrup smoother you can pour mix into a food processor or blender and mix until desired consistency is reached.

For lunch we are doing
Sweet Potato Carrot Pancakes with apple sausage links
Use your basic pancake mix, be sure to leave in the cinnamon or add it if you are using a store bought mix. Also add
another tsp cinnamon
1/4tsp ginger
1/4c cooked carrots and 1 cooked sweet potato (you should puree these together)
2tsp honey
Always adjust your dry and wet ingredients to achieve your desired pancake consistency! 
Cook these the way you would any pancake :)

Apple Sausage Links
1 apple peeled, cored and chopped fine, super fine!
1 lb or plain pork sausage or Jennie o turkey sausage.
1 tsp salt
1/2tsp sage
1/4 tsp savory
1/8tsp ginger
1/4tsp pepper
2shakes thyme
1tbsp oil
3/4tsp honey

Mix all in a bowl. You can roll them into links, balls or patties. Cook thru in a skillet.

And for dinner we will be having the all American breakfast for dinner, Pancakes, eggs, bacon, and fried potatoes with some orange slices. Who says people with food allergies can't eat well?? If you can't have eggs you could also serve baked beans as a side, and use turkey bacon or tofu bacon  the options are rather endless.
You will want to use your basic pancake mix at the top, and serve with warm pure maple syrup, another great product to get cheap(er) at Aldi btw! and a dollop of vegan butter. YUM!

Enjoy!

Allergen Friendly Superbowl Food

If you have food allergies you are no stranger to the worry and maybe, guilt that comes with eating with those outside your home. It can be hard to ask others to omit ingredients or buy expensive items to accommodate your food needs.  This worry can grow exponentially if there are kids involved and you have to worry about people touching things your child will touch, or just plain touching your child. So this year here are some simple ways you can make the Super Bowl or other gatherings a little easier.
First, host. This leaves you in charge of food and allows you to pass on simple allergen friendly tasks to your friends, like fresh veggie or fruit trays, paperware or drinks.
Second, here are some easy main snacks/ entrees and desserts you can make that will taste so great no one is even going to notice or think about them being allergen free.  Sorry that there aren't many exact measurements here, but I am an eyeball-er.

BBQ Sliders
If you are hosting a large get together you should use 3 to 4lbs of your choice of meat.
Famous Daves Rib Rub, it is allergen free and just makes things easier.
Allergen friendly BBQ sauce, we like Trader Joes, but make sure you read ingredients or you could make your own, I haven't found the right mix on my own yet, but it is a work in progress!
Udi's french Rolls, or other allergen free rolls you like.

Morning of rub your meat with Famous Dave's and place in crock pot with small amount of water.
Cook on low 8 hours. In the last hour open crock pot, shred meat and pour BBQ sauce over.
Cut your rolls in half and toast.
Spoon BBQ meat onto one half of the roll and top with the other half.



Bacon Cheddar Potato Skins 
In order to save on prep time, bake the appropriate number of potatoes the day before.
Cut the potatoes in half and scoop out the insides, gently!
Cook bacon until crispy, or just use some bacon bits
In a large bowl mash potatoes with a little vegan butter, add in  1/2 c to 1 c depending on amount of potatoes of Diaya cheddar.
Mix in your cut up bacon. (you could also add in veggies like broccoli and tomato, to make vegan if you wanted)
Spoon mixture back into potato skins
Broil on high for 5 min. If you are doing a large batch keep an eye on these and add time as needed.

Coco Crunch 
1 box rice Chex
1 package enjoy life chocolate chips
Earth Balance soy free spread

Using 1/2 cup of chocolate chips to 2tbs spread melt in the microwave in 30 second increments until mixed smooth, stirring every 30 seconds.  Just repeat this process whenever you run out until you have covered as much cereal as needed.

Put your chex on a lined baking sheet. Drizzle with the chocolate mixture and place in the fridge until set. Then transfer to a bowl. If you want a salty sweet mix you can sprinkle the chex with sea salt before drizzling the chocolate.


Hope you have fun! Enjoy!

Banana Bread so good you wouldn't know it was allergen free!

Banana Bread is one of my son's absolute favorite things to eat, it is one of the only reasons we buy bananas  just to make this bread! Serve it fresh out of the oven, toasted or just cold spread with Earth Balance spread and you and those you serve it to won't even know that it is free of gluten, nuts, corn, soy, dairy and eggs.

2 bananas
1 c brown sugar
1/4c canola oil
2 tsp honey
2c gluten free flour mix 
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2/4 c (yes i know it is odd) rice milk

Pre heat oven to 350 and grease loaf pans or muffin tins. Sprinkle a little flour in the tins and tap around to coat, otherwise the grease just fries the bread crust and makes it way to chewy.
In a large bowl mash the bananas, stir in the brown sugar oil and honey.
In a separate bowl whisk together your flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, xanthan gum, baking soda, and salt
Using a mixer incorporate the flour into your wet ingredients bowl. Mix, adding rice milk slowly, until smooth scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
Pour into bread pans or muffin tins. Bake for 25-30 min for bread, until crust is golden brown. If doing muffins check after 10 min and watch for golden tops.

Enjoy!

Chicken Noodle Soup

We have had all manner or weather extremes in the past 2 days around here, so last night when it got cold again it sounded like a good soup night.  This soup is a little bit time consuming, but makes a lot so you will have leftovers.

1 package brown rice or other gf pasta (spiral or shapes works best) cooked, drained and rinsed according to package directions.
2 chicken breasts, diced and then boiled until cooked thru.
6c chicken broth.
1 c chopped carrots
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/2 tsp thyme
1 tbsp oil

In a large pot add your oil over medium heat. Pour in your carrots and spices and cook, stirring to avoid burning, for 2 to 3 min.
Add your stock and pot of chicken, with its water. Bring to a boil and stir every so often.
Reduce heat and add in noddles.
Let heat thru and serve.

Enjoy!

One Grain More, A little something funny to start the week :)

Rustic Chicken or Turkey pot pie

Is there a dinner more comforting and and hearty during the winter than Chicken Pot Pie? Maybe, but this is one of our favorites :) It's a great way to use up leftover chicken and veggies, pretty simple to put together and you can mix up the filling and save it in a freezer bag and just add the top in the crock pot if you want to make it a freezer meal.

2 cups cooked shredded chicken or turkey
16 oz veggies, you can buy the bagged or just mix up leftovers or use your favorites.
Allergen free white sauce
             2tbsp olive or canola oil
             3 tbsp rice flour
             1 tsp onion powder
             2 cups milk
             1 cup allergen free chicken broth
Savory biscuit mix

Mix your veggies and chicken together.
 Make your white sauce
           Heat oil in a pan, add your onion powder and then rice flour. Stir while cooking about 1 min. Whisk in your first cup of milk making sure you remove lumps. Then add in remaining milk and chicken broth. Simmer until you reach a just thickened consistency (this takes 3 to 5 min) and immediately remove from heat and pour over your veggie chicken mix.

Now it gets fun! You can put this in a freezer bag and save for another day or you can put it in a large pan or you can scoop it into large muffin tins for individualized servings.

Lastly you need to mix up the savory biscuit mix, adding more milk, slowly!, than that recipe calls for. You want to be able to spoon or pour it out over the top of your veggies and chicken.

Bake at 375, put a cookie tray under the pan to catch drips!, for 30-45min, until bubbly and golden crust has formed.

Enjoy!

Even tho it's got veggies kids love it Zucchini Bread!

Zucchini's are a low calorie food, rich in flavonoid poly-phenolic antioxidants such as carotenes, lutein and zea-xanthin, a very good source of potassium, and are rich in vitamin A. And that's just a few of their bragging rights, but try and find a child who will just eat them raw or stir fried and well you are looking at a low percentage of children. But shred them up fine and hide them in this bread and you will hear the word "more!" echoing thru the kitchen!  You can use either green or yellow zucchini (otherwise known as summer squash) in this recipe. 

3 cups GF flour mix
1stp salt
1tsp xanthan gum
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3tsp ground cinnamon
2 cups finely grated zucchini 
1 cup canola oil
2 cups brown sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
Rice milk added a tablespoon at a time at the end to achieve smooth consistency. 
1/2c cocoa powder (optional) 

Grease 2 bread pans and lightly flour. Pre heat oven to 350. 
In a bowl whisk together your flour, salt, xanthan gum, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon.
 Set aside.
In a separate bowl mix your oil, brown sugar and vanilla until combined. Add in you flower mixture. Stir or mix with a mixer until all is incorporated  then add your zucchini. Mix on low until incorporated  At this point if you are still unsure if your kids will eat this, add the coco powder. Or you can make one loaf with it and one without. Start adding in your rice milk until the bread mix is pour-able instead of having to use a spoon to clump it into the bread pan. 
Bake for about an hour, testing for done-ness  in the middle with a knife. 

Enjoy! 

Allergen Free Potato Soup and Savory Biscuits

My youngest child loves soup! She requests it on a daily basis so I try to make a big pot once a week.  In fact it is just about the only way she will eat veggies, so in this soup I have added some in that you might find odd and should feel free to not use if you don't like them, but it's how I get this child to eat her vegetables!  This soup is hearty and creamy and incredibly simple to whip up. Serve with some allergen free muffins or my rustic savory biscuits for a filling side.
Potato Soup
3lbs Yukon gold potatoes
1 cup of ham or bacon (optional)
1 cup peas (optional)
2 tbsp canola or olive oil
3tbsp rice flour
1tsp onion powder
3 cups rice milk
pinch Basil
pinch Majoram,
pinch Rosemary
pinch Sage
pinch Savory
pinch Thyme
pinch white pepper
1 1/2 c  shredded Diaya Vegan Cheddar

Peel potatoes, chop into bite size pieces and boil until tender. Drain and leave in draining board.
In your pot add oil and onion powder on medium high heat and stir for about 2 min. Add in flour and stir for another minute or so. Pour in one cup of milk and whisk to avoid lumps. Add in remaining milk and keep whisking until all is well mixed. Add your spices and stir. Add  your potatoes, and other optional meats and veggies, back to the pot.  Let simmer 5 min. Pour in your cheese about 1/2c at a time, stirring until melted.

Savory Biscuits : These are pretty simple to make, just go slowly with adding your fats and liquids because the right balance is important!
2 cups GF flour mix 
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2c melted Earth Balance spread, spectrum shortening or oil.
1 cup Rice milk
1/4 tsp Garlic powder
1/4 tsp Basil
1/4 tsp Majoram
1/4 tsp Sage
1/4 tsp Rosmary
1/2 cup shredded Diaya Vegan Cheddar

Line a cookie sheet with foil, pre heat oven to  350
In a bowl combine your flour mix, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt and spices. Then add in your melted spread and rice milk a little at a time. You want your dough to come together but not be as runny as quick bread or muffins- you want to be able to roll it into a ball.  Lastly, stir in your cheese shreds.
Roll mix inot balls and bake on a cookie sheet lined with foil. Bake 30 min or until golden brown. (Make sure you watch for the color, not for them to puff. They don't get puffy, but still are good)

Sneaky Sweet Applesauce Muffins

These are a hit with my kids and yet again add in some veggies without them noticing!

1/2cup canola oil
1cup brown sugar mixed with a tablespoon cinnamon
11/2 cups applesauce
1 tsp vanilla
3cups allergen free flour of your choice
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
11/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2cup finely grated and then chopped, you want very small pieces  carrot. I like to use yellow carrots for this so that they don't stand out and could be mistaken for bits of apple.
Rice milk

Line a muffin tin with liners or grease with olive oil spray or vegetable shortening.
In a bowl pour in oil, vanilla, and brown sugar mixture. Whisk or stir until smooth.
In a separate bowl mix flour, xanthan gum, baking powder and salt.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet in one cup batches stirring each time until smooth.
Mix in he carrot.
Add rice milk a tablespoon at a time until a smooth, but not soupy, consistency is reached.
Pour into muffin tins
Bake at 350 for about 20 min, until golden brown.
Store in the fridge and reheat for about 10 sec before serving

Enjoy!

Allergen free Vegan Broccoli Cheese Soup

This soup is a mash up of my MIL broccoli soup and Cybele Pascal's  Broccoli and Cheddar Soup from her newest cookbook Allergy free and Easy Cooking. Her recipes are so well done, but don't always fit the bill for my family since she uses Corn and Coconut, both of which are no no's for us. However they are a great base-line to start from and then tweak to make things the way <in this case> my hubby loved from his childhood. My poor hubby probably misses "normal" food the most, but this got a thumbs up from even him, and our youngest  ate three bowls! This recipe makes enough for one meal at our house, so if you want leftovers just double.

Vegan Broccoli Cheese Soup 
You will need
1package  De Boles rice fettuccine (or any other long pasta you prefer)
3cups broccoli florets
3 tablespoons oil
1/8cup dried onion
3tbsp rice flour
4cups vegetable broth
1/4tsp white pepper
1/2tsp salt
pinch of nutmeg
2cups rice or other kind of allergen free milk, but you want one that doesn't have flavor or add sweetness.
1 1/2 cups shredded vegan Cheddar, if you can use something else go for it!If not and you haven't discovered Daiaya yet you really need to get some, by far the best cheese sub I have encountered.

Reconstitute the dried onion by just barely covering with water in a dish.
In medium pot cook noodles according to package direction, drain, rinse and set aside.
In a large pot heat oil and then add onions, stir and saute for about 1 to 2 min.
Add rice flour (think onion rue) and stir until the onion and flour are nicely browned.
Add the veggie broth one cup at a time, whisking to prevent lumps.
Whisk in your spices and let combine at a simmer for 10 min.
Meanwhile steam your broccoli for 5 min.
Add your rice milk to the pot and stir.
Blend your broth to smooth out the pieces of onion.
Pour back into pot and add the broccoli and noodles to the pot.
Stir in your cheese and let all simmer for five more min.


Enjoy!

I am thinking of doing a few new things here, first if you have an allergy free recipe that you want to share please let me know! Second, would an allergy free, budget, menu planner series be useful to anyone?

Smokey Chicken Casserole

   Casseroles are normally a pretty cheap and easy way to feed a family, right? But when you add in allergies

 to every processed "easy" food item it becomes right next to impossible. When my kiddos were both tiny I

gave up on casseroles because the time and hands necessary to their creation were things I couldn't invest.

   But,  now that they are more independent, and I am learning my way around the allergen free kitchen, I am

giving casseroles another try. This one was a result of the need to empty the fridge and stretch the budget :)

It turned out great and is now a family favorite!


     This recipie calls for a 9x13, so if you are using a smaller pan just half the ingredients. You can also use turkey, or pulled pork if you can't tolerate chicken or add in more kinds of bean to make it vegan.

Smokey Chicken Casserole
3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded. (I put a bunch of chicken in the crock pot at the beginning of the week and then shred it up and use it in different meals)

2 cans black beans, do not drain!

3lbs sweet potatoes cooked and mashed

2 packaged of either Udies plain tortillas or brown rice tortillas, or quinoa if you can find those.

2 cans diced tomatoes and 1 spoonful of diced green chilies

2 cups allergen free cheese of choice

a. Mash sweet potatoes and add in brown sugar, cinnamon, and paprika to taste.
b. Lightly smash black beans and add in cumin, onion powder, white pepper and chipotle    pepper to taste
c. To shredded chicken add, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, paprika and white pepper in SMALL amounts, to taste.
d. Pour diced tomatoes into bowl and add green chilies.
e. In casserole pan lay down a layer of tortillas, mashed sweet potatoes, beans and then chicken. Repeat process. Then add the final layer of tortillas
f. Pour the tomato and chili mixture over all and top with cheese if desired.
g. Bake at 350 until bubbly and cheese has melted.

Chocolate chip peppermint Rice Dream and Baked Oatmeal

We love ice cream, or rather, Rice cream around here, but there are not many flavors to choose from if you are trying to stay away from gluten, soy, corn, food dye, nuts of all kinds and of course diary. So, our son has developed a liking of just plain vanilla Rice Dream, but I enjoy the challenge of  expanding his options both in the sense of  is this possible to do with these ingredients, and will he eat the finished product?
One of my favorite ice creams as a kid was peppermint, but how to recreate it without the red dye 40? Thank goodness for Trader Joes! It became a pretty easy project after we found the Trader Joes peppermints and we decided to throw in some Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips as well. The result was something even my non allergic hubby, normally won't touch the Rice cream, hubby liked!

Chocolate Chip Peppermint Rice Dream

1 carton Organic, Gluten Free, Vanilla Rice Dream
about half a bag of Trader Joes peppermints
a handful or so of Enjoy life Chocolate Chips
A good blender.

Take the Rice Dream out and let it thaw to a squishy consistency  Meanwhile place your peppermints in the blender and run it on grind until you have small pieces. Place the pieces and Chocolate Chips in a bowl.
Once your Rice dream has thawed scoop it into the blender a little at a time along with the peppermint peices and chocolate chips, rotating the two for more even consistency   Set the blender to mix and let your masterpiece combine. Pour back into the carton and place in the freezer, or you can get creative and use some kind of Popsicle mold, until frozen. Enjoy!


Another one of my childhood favorites that I have been able to pass on to my allergic kiddo is baked oatmeal. It really helps to stretch my food dollars since he can eat an entire box of cereal(the one kind he can eat) in 2 mornings and this takes him 3 or 4 even with two bowls a morning, and it provides both satisfying carbs and needed protein.  This Pennsylvania Dutch favorite is great for cold morning, easily put together the night before and inexpensive to replicate as allergen free.

Baked Oatmeal 
4 Cups GF oats, I use Trader Joes, and if you are using the quick cook kind you will need to add more liquid at the end.
1 Cup brown sugar                                      1 cup rice milk
2tsp cinnamon                                              1/2 cup canola oil
2tsp baking powder                                      2 eggs (or if you can't have eggs 1/2 cup apple sauce)
1 tsp salt                                                      2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients ( I even just pour everything straight into the pan that I bake in, no need to dirty more than one pan!)  If you want you can store covered in the fridge overnight. Bake at 350 for 45 min or until browned on top.  Serve warm with allergen free butter replacement or just slice and serve as is.

Cranberry Pork and adding extra nutrition- without anyone knowing! to Chili

The Christmas season brought lots of baking and cooking to our house, and it also brought pneumonia  So we didn't do much of anything except hold sick kiddos.  But everyone is well now and the eating of all that food is commencing!
The first thing we had was some yummy cranberry pork with sweet potatoes, green beans and Udies GF rolls. While the rolls aren't completely allergen free they are free of gluten, soy, nuts and dairy so they are a nice treat every once in awhile, or, when I am in a hurry, since corn isn't life threatening for us. I wouldn't rate this as an exceptionally toddler happy meal, but since the kids were still sick they may not have liked anything I served.
Cranberry Pork (this was a FREEZER MEAL)
You will need
1 1/2lbs pork
1 can cranberry sauce, or one bag of cranberries that you have boiled and mashed.
1/2cup orange juice
1/2 small onion, sliced.  or a couple shakes of dried onion.
If you are making the freezer meal of this than put things in a freezer bag instead of crockpot!
Mix your cranberry sauce and OJ then add in your sliced or dried onion. Pour over pork. Cook on low 8 or 10 hours depending on when you want to put it in.

A few days later it was becoming apparent that the sweet potatoes were not going to get eaten. So instead of just throw them out I decided to try and incorporate them into my normal Chili recipe. It worked so well I will be hard pressed not to make it this way every time, because adding in extra nutrition unnoticed is always a great way to go!
What I did differently was instead of just adding the tomato paste to the pot I poured the sweet potatoes and 2 cups of water into the blender and pureed them, then added the tomato paste to the blender and transferred that mix to the Chili pot.Viola! Not ONE member of my family ever new what they were eating and the sweet potato added a very rich, slightly creamy,  thickening texture to the dish!