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!