Allergen free Gingerbread boys and Cutout Sugar Cookies

Two iconic Christmas cookies that you would spend big bucks on in an allergen free bakery are much less expensive to make your self but, fair warning, they are time consuming. As a matter of fact if you have anything else to do don't try to make more than one kind of cookie in one day!

For both you will need the all purpose flour mix of
4 cups white rice flour (I really like the bulk bags at Natural Grocers, it results in a very good texture, not at all grainy)
1 1/3 cup potato starch
2/3 cup tapioca flour
   This mix needs to be stored in the fridge.

Gingerbread boys
 3 3/4 cup all purpose  flour mix          1/2 cup spectrum shortening (or Earth balance soy free butter)
1 tsp xanthan gum                              make sure to soften this!
3/4 tsp baking soda                               1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp salt                                                1/2 cup agave nectar or sugar            
1 tbsp cinnamon                                   1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1tbsp ground ginger                            
1/2 tsp ground cloves


1. Combine flour mix, xanthan gum, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in mixer, add shortening and applesauce until the consistency is like fine meal. While mixing add in agave and maple syrup. If you find the mix has not come together with a good elasticity add in small amounts of canola oil until it does.

2. Divide the dough into two balls, and place each between two pieces of wax paper.

3. Roll out the dough until and place in the freezer for 20 min.

Preheat oven to 350
4. Remove from freezer and cut out with cookie cutters. Move to baking sheet lined with parchment paper with a spatula.

Bake for no more than 10 min .  Cool for a few min before moving to cooling rack to finish cooling.

Decorate with raisins, allergen free choc chips, sugar etc.

With leftover dough roll out and refreeze and repeat the process.

Cut out Sugar Cookies

2 3/4 cup all purpose flour                          1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp and 1/8tsp  xanthan gum                  1 1/2 tsp egg replacer mixed with 2tsp rice milk (or just 1 egg if
3/4 tsp baking soda                                        you can have eggs)
1/4 tsp salt                                                  4tbsp rice milk
3/4 cup spectrum shortening, or Earth Balance soy free butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
6 tablespoons brown sugar

Whisk together flour, xanthan gum, baking soda and salt. Set aside
With a mixer cream shortening  sugar and brown sugar for about 10 min. Add your egg or egg replacer and vanilla and mix for about 20 more seconds.
Add in the flour mix and rice milk in three alternating batches. (rice flour, 1 tbsp rice milk, rice flour, 1 tbsp rice milk, rice flour, 1 tbsp rice milk) If you find the dough hasn't come together add the last tbsp rice milk and work with your hands.
Divide dough into 2 balls and chill in fridge for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350.

Sprinkle more flour onto work surface  and rolling pin. Roll out dough and use cookie cutters. Save scraps and repeat.
Bake  for just about 10 min. Cool before decorating.

Spicy Chicken and Replacement Reese's

Here's another freezer meal! We made it incredible easy by also buying some Birdseye brown rice which cooks up just right in the microwave, best quick rice ever we think, and it is just rice, no pesky allergens to worry about with that stuff.  So here it is! 

Spicy Chicken

       In a freezer bag place the desired number of chicken breasts, I used 3, a can of un drained black beans, a can of diced tomatoes, and a can of tomato sauce.  (yet again, Yay for Aldi) 

    Also add  a pinch to a quarter tsp (depending on the heat your going for, I go by smell of the mixture, odd I know) of Garlic powder, Paprika, Cumin, pepper, Onion powder, Oregano and Thyme. 

    Then throw it in the freezer until you need it. The night before take out to thaw and in the morning empty it into the crock pot and cook 8 hrs on low(I also tossed in some frozen peas during the last half hour of cooking). When it is done cook your steam bag of rice, shred the chicken in the pot, stir once and then serve over rice YUM! 

Replacement Reese's :) Yes, you did read that right! I don't know if you have missed those yummy candies as much as we do, they are my hubby's favorite, but ,this year I finally got a good recipe  that satisfies the cravings! I think one of the reasons they have worked out so well is because of Trader Joe's Sunbutter. We have tried several kinds over the years, but think that Trader Joe's is the best. It doesn't have any kind of soy in it! You will need. 

For sunbutter mix

1/2 cup sunbutter

4 1/2 tsp Earth Balance butter (in the red tub)

1/2c corn free confection sugar

1/2 tsp salt.

Mix all together until smooth and set aside 

For chocolate

1 cup Enjoy life chocolate chips or chunks

1/2cup sunbutter

Combine and microwave in thirty second intervals, stirring until smooth. 

Line a mini muffin tin with muffin liners. Place a 1/2tsp chocolate mix, followed by 1tsp sunbutter mix, and topped with 1tsp chocolate mix. Then refrigerate until set. Tada! You will love! 

Tomorrow we will have allergen free Sugar Cookies and Ginger Bread boys! 

Brown Sugar Pork with Apples and Pears

This is one of the great freezer meals! I had a 4lb pork loin that I cut up into thirds to make some of these meals and this is one of them. Please forgive the very inexact measurements :) Feel free to use more if your goal is to feed more than 4 people or if you want lots of leftovers. We got 4 meals out of this.

You will need
1 1/2lbs (ish)
1 apple washed and sliced
1pear washed and sliced
 1cup brown sugar
1 tbps cinnamon
1 tsp dry mustard

For freezing: place the pork in a freezer bag and slice apple and pears and place on top. Write dry ingredients to be added when placed in crock pot on the bag.

Thaw freezer bag the night before you want this meal. Also mix your dry spices and cover for quick morning add in. In the morning dump into the crock pot, add just enough water to cover the bottom of the crock pot. Pat or sprinkle your spices over the roast then arrange some of the pear and apple slices over the top. Cook on low 8hrs.

We also had squash with this meal, if you are busy and working all day it would be advisable to cut up your squash in advance and just put it in the crock pot. I do mine in the oven by slicing it in half placing it on a baking dish and covering the bottom on the dish with water. Then I bake it at 350 for about an hour, the rind should be wrinkly looking or browned and the squash should come away from the rind easy peasy when it is done. I mash it up and mix in some allergen free butter, Earth's Best in the red tub, and brown sugar. Serve the pork roast over the squash. You can also throw a bag of steam able veggies in the microwave for another allergen free side.
Enjoy!

First try at allergen free freezer meals

Ok so FREEZER MEALS have been a big scary unattainable aspect of cooking in my life for a few reasons. 1) I don't have a huge freezer   and 2) Most of the meals you can find online to freeze have some sort of milk or soy ingredient in them so they are out. 3) Spending all that time chopping  sorting, cutting and bagging with the thought of my children having run of the house was just plain petrifying.

However, the past couple of weeks we have found some great deals on plain meats and frozen veggies, potatoes and such so, in order to keep those deals from ending up in the trash before we got around to eating them, I decided to take the plunge and FREEZE!

This morning we sorted through the pantry and found  the fixins for 8 different allergen free meals.
Chili
Brown Sugar Pork Roast
Potato Nachoes
Spicy Chicken and Rice
Broccoli Soup
Cranberry Pork
Potato Soup
Herbed Pork Roast
                              Not all of these had to be frozen, only 5 to be exact but it was nice to know I won't have to go to the store for at least the next week if not longer.  All this week, and maybe into next, depending on how quickly we eat! I will post recipes and let you know how they turned out. For today we will start with Chili I have to give a shout out to Aldi, so many of their prepared foods are made without junk and make my life so much easier, as is the case  with this dish. Non of these cans of beans or tomato products have any wheat, soy or corn hidden in them-they are just plain food. 

1 can Dakota's pride mild chili beans
1 can Dakota's pride black beans
1 Can Great Value chickpeas
1 can Happy Harvest Chili Style diced tomatoes (puree before adding if you don't like tomato chunks)
1 can Happy Harvest tomato paste
1tbsp Chili powder
pinch of dried onion
              Combine all beans and there juices in large pot or crockpot, add in tomato paste and stir adding water as needed until desired consistency is reached. Add in the diced tomatoes. Add your spices and simmer for 20-30 min or leave on low for 8hrs.

This is one that you could make ahead and pour in a bag to freeze then defrost and throw in a crockpot. But, since it is just opening cans and adding spices, and I am home all day, I didn't feel the need.

Enjoy!

Allergen free taco seasoning and wheat and corn free "taco" salad

My family loves tacos, and just about anything with "taco" flavoring on it. However most store bought taco seasonings have so many additives or milk and wheat that it is hard to find one if you have food allergies. So, after checking out many homemade ones I finally came up with one we like and will stick with.
Easy Allergen free taco seasoning
1tbsp chili powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
    Mix all and store in a container or shaker. This makes about as much as you will find in a store bought packet.

Now it is pretty simple to make tacos or taco salad for people with food allergies by just replacing the taco shells or chips with something that person can have, but if you like these dishes a lot it can get a little pricey and sometimes the available substitutes just aren't that great tasting. So this last month as I was in save save save mode I decided to try something different. I used sweet potatoes instead of chips in a taco salad. The hubby and kids liked it and I think I will make taco salad this way from now on.
"Taco" salad 
4 to 5 large sweet potatoes
taco seasoning
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 c leftover cooked shredded chicken (turkey, ham or leftover roast work just as well)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp onion and just a pinch more brown sugar
   Wash and cut up your sweet potatoes, you can slice them like you would for a chip, or cube them like you would for thanksgiving, whatever you prefer. Toss them with just enough olive or canola oil to coat then add your tacos seasoning, toss, add brown sugar and toss once more. Bake at 400 for about 15 to 25 min, turning as needed,  depending on how you cut your potatoes and how high or low your oven cooks. When the potatoes are about done  Take out your leftover meat and shred it up and put it in a frying pan with a little water or oil. Sprinkle with the Cumin and Onion and the pinch of brown sugar, stir well and heat through.
You can serve this all combines, potatoes, lettuce, meat, tomatoes or, just put everything in separate bowls and let people add what they can eat or like.

Enjoy!

Conversion Charts Galore!

So last night came and went with just one parent and two cranky toddlers, and the promised conversion charts disappeared amid several runs of Winnie the Pooh. So, tonight while the kiddos are having a camp out with Dad in the living room I am getting to add these in quiet :) I hope you will find them helpful!

To replace eggs (I rarely have to do this since no one here is allergic to eggs, but if you are here are some things you can use instead)

Applesauce  1/4c unsweetened=1egg

Baking Soda and Vinegar  (if you do this one add it last and place straight in oven!)
 1tsp baking soda+1tsp cider vinegar=1 egg

Banana 1/2 banana mashed=1egg

Egg replace Ener-G egg replacer is manufacturer in an allergen free facility and the instructions can be found on the package.

Flaxseed Meal  1 tbsp flax meal mixed with 3tbsp water=1egg

Prune Puree  5oz=1egg

Soy, Coconut, or Rice Yogurt  1/4c = 1egg


To replace dairy

Rice, Soy, Almond, Coconut or Hemp Milk...the options are rather endless. So read the ingredients well, find one that you like and just use it cup for cup in place of cow's milk

To make your own butter milk add 1 tbsp of lemon juice or cider vinegar to 1 cup of your nondairy milk and let sit for 5-10 min then use in your recipe.

There are rice, soy, and coconut yogurts that can be used measure for measure in recipes.

In place of butter you can use Canola oil, Olive Oil, Safflower Oil, or Sunflower Oil  1/3c oil =1/2c butter

Earths Best also makes a dairy, corn, wheat and soy free spread that comes in a red tub, we can even find it at Walmart!

Spectrum Shortening is allergen free and can be found through the internet or a natural grocery store.

The best replacement I have found for peanut butter is Trader Joes SunButter. It doesn't contain any soy and is just plain good! If you don't have any other nut allergies tho there are hazelnut, almond and cashew butter options out there as well.


If you can't have any gluten then there are many flours out there to try, but be aware that most of them can't be used alone, they need to be combined with other things.
Here they are : rice, corn, potato, tapioca, bean, garfava, sourghum, quinoa, millet, buckwehat, arrowroot, amaranth, teff, montina and flax flours.
 I haven't experimented to much yet and for just a general all purpose flour I mix 4c white rice flour with 1 1/2c potato starch anad 3/4c tapioca flour. And I don't pay for the rice flour in the stores! I just buy some plain (not quick cooking) white rice the throw it in the blender on grind and then in a coffee grinder and tada! Much more cost effective for the same thing!


I hope these are time and stress savers!

Let's try this again!

Wow, I have to admit i forgot totally and completely about this blog! Between Baby #2, a cross country move, and the crazy that is food allergies it got lost in the shuffle, but I found it again today and am going to be faithful to it from now on!

    By way of an update, Neil allergies have flexed and changed but at this point we have reached a stabel place with them. He can't have nut or dairy products of any kind, and any kind of melon now breaks his face out in a rash so we have given those up as well. Wheat, corn, soy and food dye give him skin rashes, behavior issues and intestinal discomfort so we are avoiding those.

What in the world does that leave?  Well nothing much pre packaged or under thirty minutes that's for sure!  My cooking skills have gotten a workout in the last 2 years, i have fallen deeply in love with my crock pot, and we have returned to real food. We aren't that picky about foods being organic, and on one income couldn't afford to be anyway, so we do what we can, but do use fruit and veggie wash regularly!

I hope what i have learned in the last year will be helpful to you, please feel  free to contribute and comment !

(conversion charts for nuts, dairy, wheat flours, and eggs coming later today!)