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.