Chocolate Chip Cookies

We are in the midst of our second attempt to reintroduce eggs into the littlest ones diet. The first attempt was aborted because I goofed and added back in vanilla flavoring in his milk without thinking that a possible reaction could have been to that or to the eggs. So today I made chocolate chip cookies that are pretty much allergen free except for the egg. I adapted this recipe and have been messing with it for a while but I think today's tweaks came out the best so far and I'm pretty happy with them, happy enough to eat at least 6 cookies myself, so far..........

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 C granulated sugar
3/4 C packed brown sugar
1/2 C Palm shortening ( I used Spectrum brand)
1/2 C Coconut oil (needs to be in an almost solid state, so stick in the refrigerator if needed to get it to come together. You want it not too hard and not too soft, about the consistency of softened butter)
1 large egg
2 1/4 C Gluten free flour blend
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C Agave Nectar (this amount is approximate, I just added until I got the level of moistness I wanted in the dough)
1/2 bag of Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips (or you can use raisins or other dried fruit or nuts)

Heat oven to 350*.
Beat sugars, egg, shortening, and coconut oil in a large bowl on medium until well combined. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt, dough will be stiff. Add in agave nectar and chocolate chips, mix.
On foil lined baking sheets drop tablespoon full of dough and bake for about 7 minutes.

My first sheet I baked for 8 minutes and they came out a little over done, but the 7 minute time, in my oven, was perfect. A little crunchy on the edges and soft and chewy inside. I had made this recipe before with only palm shortening and no agave nectar and the dough was dry and crumbly and the cookies did not spread out when baked at all, they stayed hard little balls, with the addition of the coconut oil and the agave nectar they are sweet, soft, chewy, and oh so good!

Paleo Sheperd's Pie

Another idea I came across on Pinterest while wracking my brain for a dinner idea that will fit into the kids, especially the littlest ones, diet restrictions.  I think it came out good, and all 3 kids and the hubby ate really well with very little prodding. Score!

The recipe I found called for a mashed cauliflower topping instead of mashed potato's, but seeing as I didn't have that much cauliflower on hand and I doubted my kids would fall for that, I used mashed potato's. This version has a ton of flavor thanks to the addition of a pound of bacon! Yep you read that right, a. pound. of. bacon. Yum!

Paleo Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients:

1 pound of Turkey or Pork Bacon, chopped
1/2 - 1 yellow or brown onion
1 1/2 C chopped carrots
1 1/2 C chopped celery
1 pound ground beef (organic if you can afford it)
1 8oz can of tomato sauce (Hunts Roasted Garlic is my fav)
Dash of salt to taste
Dash of pepper to taste
Dash of paprika
Mashed potato topping (6-7 servings)
Daiya cheddar cheese (optional)

In a large frying pan or pot, fry up chopped bacon until almost cooked through, add in onions and saute for about 5-10 minutes or translucent. Add in carrots and celery and cook until soft. Add in ground beef and cook until no longer pink. Season the mixture with salt, pepper, and paprika. Add in tomato sauce and cook mixture until thoroughly heated through.

Previous to this I made up a large batch of instant mashed potato's following the package directions. I set these aside until I needed them. The brand I use is gluten free as well as free of dairy and soy. Make sure to check your package.

Spray a 13x9 in baking pan with non stick cooking spray. Pour ground beef, bacon, and veggie mixture into pan. Top mixture with mashed potato's.

Bake at 350* for 30 minutes. Top with Daiya cheddar cheese and bake an additional 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Gluten Free Creamy Spanish Rice and Chicken Casserole

So the other night I wanted to try my hand at making Gluten Free pizza for the littlest one, but then discovered that I am almost out of the gluten free flour mix I would need to use. So I needed a plan B ASAP! A friend was posting pics on Facebook of a casserole that included chicken, corn tortillas, cream of mushroom soup, and chopped green chili's and of course smothered in cheese! It looked so yummy and made me wish we could eat it, but sadly we can't. I thought about trying to tweak it to work with our current restrictions, but didn't really want to bother. But the Mexican food theme was now stuck in my head so I needed to come up with something. So I started making stuff up! I have a recipe for Spanish rice that we all love, which just so happens to be Gluten Free, as well as all the other intolerant foods we are avoiding free, so I used that as my base. I made it creamy and it turned out GOOD! One of the twins cleaned his plate and so did the littlest one!!!! Of course I had to have one kid who wasn't a fan but even the hubby ate two helpings! So here you go.

First off you will need to make the Spanish Rice.

Spanish Rice

Ingredients:

2 Tbls Olive Oil
1/4 Medium Brown or Yellow Onion chopped
1 1/2 C Rice
3 Cloves Chopped or Minced Garlic
2 1/2 C Chicken Broth
1C (8oz) Tomato Sauce (I like the Roasted Garlic from Hunts)

In a medium sauce pan heat oil. Saute Onion for a few minutes, til its translucent. Add dry rice and cook for another 5-7 minutes, until the rice looks golden brown. Add garlic and saute for another minute. Add broth, slowly, directly into the rice, not onto the hot pan. Stir in tomato sauce. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn heat to low and cover. Let simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat.

You'll also need to make up a batch of Cream of Mushroom Soup. Check out my recipe here: http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1400178794632799190#editor/target=post;postID=453508138891568566

To make the sauce:

Ingredients:
1/2 C Soy Free Veganaise
Dash of Lemon Juice
Pinch of Garlic Salt
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup (or use one batch of homemade version)
1 small can of chopped Green Chilies

Mix all ingredients together well, or blend them together in your blender.

Now onto assemblying your casserole!!!!

Spray a 13x9in pan with non stick cooking spray (I use Olive Oil spray). In a large bowl, or right in the pan, mix together rice, sauce, and shredded chicken (use about 1-2 chicken breasts or one can of chunk chicken) Place in the pan, bake in the oven at 350* for 20-25 minutes. Top with Daiya cheddar and jack cheese's and bake for additional 10-15 minutes.

I don't have a picture of this because I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out when I was throwing it together, but I will take one the next time I make it because I know I will be making it again!

Gluten Free Sandwich Bread

Its been a while since I posted any recipes so thought I'd better get on that. Here is one of the ones that I am working on today.

Gluten Free Sandwich Bread

For this recipe you will need to use your favorite gluten free flour mix (not baking mix). I used Jeanne's Gluten Free Flour Mix. I think it tastes pretty good and is pretty easy to assemble. Here is her recipe:
1 1/4 C Brown Rice Flour
1 1/4 C White Rice Flour
1 C Tapioca Flour/Starch
1 C Sweet Rice Flour (sometimes known as Mochicko in Asian markets)
2 scant tsp Xantham Gum (I use Authentic Foods allergen free xanthum gum, it is grown on cabbage and not corn)
Mix all ingredients together and store in a cool dark place. I keep this flour mix and all my gluten free flours in the refrigerator.

Now onto the bread: (adapted from http://www.artofglutenfreebaking.com/)

Ingredients:

3 C Gluten Free Flour Mix
2 1/2 tsp Xanthum Gum (Authentic Foods Allergen Free)
4 tsp Grain Free Baking Powder (I use Hain Featherweight)
1 tsp Salt
4 Tbls Sugar
2 Tbls Active Dry Yeast (I use Red Star, I have found this amount to have a very yeasty smell and flavor so I have reduced to 1 1/2 Tbls)
1 1/2 C Warm, but not hot Milk Alternative or Water (I use water as we currently have the littlest one on Coconut milk and don't want this to have a coconutty flavor)
2 tsp Vinegar
1/4 C Olive Oil
2 Large Eggs

Preheat oven to 375*. Oil and flour your pan with a little Olive Oil and Tapioca Flour.

Place your warm milk or water in a bowl and mix in 1 Tbls Sugar and your Yeast. Mix well, cover with a towel and set aside in a warm, draft free place for 10mins to proof.

In a med/large bowl mix together flour, xanthum gum, baking powder, salt, and the remaining 3 Tbls sugar.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, which I don't have, beat eggs, olive oil, and vinegar to combine with a paddle attacthment. I don't have a stand mixer so I used my trusty hand mixer. Add in the yeast mixture and beat for a few seconds to combine. Then add the liquids to the flour mixture and beat on med/high for about 3 mins. If you don't have a stand mixer you will need to stop every time the beaters get clogged with the dough, scrape back into the bowl and beat again. I scrape the dough out onto a large piece of plastic wrap and then roll and smoothed it into a log shape, about as long as the loaf pan. then unroll and drop into the prepared pan. Use the plastic wrap to smooth the top down, try to make it as even as possible. Gently cover the loaf with the plastic wrap and let rise for about 30 mins in a warm spot. Keep an eye on it and don't let it rise to much above the rim of the pan.

Bake at 375* for approx 20mins. Check at the 20min mark, if the top is getting too brown tent with foil and bake an additional 10mins, so that total baking time is 30mins.

Remove from oven and let cool. Turn onto rack to continue to cool. Slice once cool and store with wax paper between each slice in the freezer in a large zip top bag. This will make it easier to get just one or two slices out without having to break the loaf. You can toast a bit once its thawed.

I previously made this without the eggs, but we are starting egg reintroduction with the littlest one and the GI doctor wanted me to start out baking with eggs first. I used a variety of egg replacement methods with pretty good results.

For some reason that I dont' understand my loaves look good right after I take them out of the oven, but then the center collaspes. Hmmmmm...........

Just an update

The littlest one had his follow up with the kids GI doctor yesterday. We travel over 2 hours each way to see the kids team of specialists, worth it, but with gas prices the way they are right now its killing our budget!

But we got great news, the Top Allergen Elimination diet we are currently following with the littlest one is working! He has gained 1 pound and grew 1 inch in height! Amazing, seeing as this kid hasn't grown or gained anything since right after he turned 2, almost a year ago. He will be 3 in December.

So we will keep him at his current level of restriction for another week or two, then I'm supposed to start making his gluten free bread with eggs, like the recipe calls for, though I've been replacing the eggs with various egg replacer methods. He's supposed to eat the bread containing  eggs for one week and then if he has no reactions, I'm to start to feed him scrambled eggs, one of his favs, for another week. If still no reactions we move onto the biggie, in my book at least, Wheat!!!!! If he passes the wheat reintroduction that will be huge for my cooking and baking!

After wheat, the doctor left it up to me as to what foods in what order I reintroduce next. But I'm to leave the reintroduction of dairy, soy, and corn for last. Since we know for sure that those foods cause him issues 100%. I worry about the reintro of those, just because I know it will be very, very rough, but the GI insists that this be done as scientifically as possible. So that means I have to take my personal feelings about how food affects my child out of the equation, which as a mom is super tough to do! So I will slap on my scientist lab coat and pretend that none of this bothers me, just to "prove" what I already know. Oh the life of a mom of a food intolerant kid!

One Whole Chicken, Four Recipes

The other day while scanning the sale ads for all the local grocery stores I found that one store had whole chickens on sale for $.79 per pound. Sounded like a good deal so onto my list it went. I like to pick up a whole chicken or two when they are on sale because I can get more than one meal out of just one chicken. So this is what I made with my one, on sale, whole chicken:

Oven Roasted Whole Chicken

Take your whole chicken out of the wrapper and pull out the junk they put inside (neck, liver, giblets, etc.) My mom always finds something to do with those, but really, I don't want to know! Next rinse your bird in cool water inside and out, then drain it. Pat it dry with paper towels and set onto a plate. Grab your Extra Virgin Olive Oil and pour a little onto the bird and massage it into the skin on one side, next rub in your seasoning. I use a homemade seasoning salt mixture, repeat on the other side as well. Next grab your Reynolds Oven Bag* and prepare it according to the directions that come with it. You'll need to put a tablespoon of flour in and shake it around, I used Tapioca Flour, then you'll place your prepared bird into the bag and seal it. Then cut 6 one inch slits into the bag so that it doesn't explode while its in the oven!!! Cook according to the directions that come with the bag. Serve with a side and you've got dinner!

Chicken Stock

After you've cooked your whole chicken and enjoyed it you'll need to clean the bones. Save all that leftover meat! Remove all the skin and all the meat. In your crock pot place chopped celery, onions, and carrots along with the bones from your chicken and cover with water, season to taste with salt, pepper, garlic,whatever suits your taste. Turn your crock pot on low and cook for at least 24hrs. When done strain out all the bones and veggies and store in 2 cup increments in Ziploc baggies in the freezer. Use in place of canned chicken broth in recipes. I got 8 cups of broth.

Nachos

In my previous post I told you how I made nachos with the leftover chicken from the whole oven roasted chicken I made. We also had some left over Tri Tip Roast so we didn't use all that much of the left over chicken. Top your Beanitos Bean chips with your choice of toppings, we used leftover chili, chicken, tri tip, tomatoes, lettuce, black olives and Daiya cheese, pop in the microwave to heat and YUM!

Easy Chicken and Potato Soup

Since I still had leftover chicken, tonight for dinner I wanted to use it up, so I made this super easy soup/stew, or as my hubby would call it "Stewp".

4 Med- Small Potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 Stalks of Celery, washed and chopped into large chunks
2 Large Carrots chopped into large chunks
1/2 an Onion chopped
1 Tbls Olive Oil
3 Cloves of Minced Garlic (jarred is fine)
Leftover Chicken
1 Can  of Chicken Broth or 2 Cups of Chicken Stock (see above)
2 C water + 3Tbls divided
2 Cubes of Edward & Sons Not-Chick'n Bouillon Cubes*
3Tbls Tapioca Flour
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large pot heat the olive oil over med heat, add in onion, garlic, and celery and saute until translucent. Add in broth/stock 2C of water and bouillon cubes. Add potatoes, chicken, and carrots, Stir. Cook on med/high heat until it starts to boil. Lower heat and cover pot, allow to simmer for 45-60 minutes or until potatoes and carrots are soft. In a small bowl mix the tapioca flour and 3Tbls of water to form a slurry, mix out any lumps. Add slurry to soup pot and stir well to mix it into the soup. Allow to simmer covered for another 20 mins. Serve topped with Daiya Cheddar cheese (optional) and a side of allergen free bread or crackers.

*http://www.edwardandsons.com/ These little gems are great! They are Vegan, Gluten Free, Free of Dairy and Soy. Though not as flavorful as the regular bouillon cubes they are handy! And we've never had a reaction to them.

*http://www.reynoldsovenbags.com/ These I love because your chicken or turkey won't get all dried out in the oven and no need to baste!

One of my favorite products.....

When I figured out that we had to cut corn out of the kids diets I had a personal boohoo moment, actually I got depressed and I may or may not have shed a tear or two. We live in the southwestern United States and Mexican food is a very big part of our lives. At every party and a couple of times a week we have something that includes a major staple in that type of food, corn tortillas. We eat corn tortilla chips dipped in ranch, dipped in salsa, eat them with TexMex dip, etc, etc, you get the idea. We always kept a bag of them, especially a HUGE bag of them from Costco, in the pantry. You're going to have a party??? I'll bring the corn chips! Well no more! I wanted to cry, I may or may not have. Not only did I discover that corn is in practically EVERYTHING, take a look at most ingredients labels and you'd be shocked what it shows up in (just ask my mom who was letting the littlest one drink pancake syrup out of a little cup when she was babysitting the kids for the weekend causing his latest major reaction because the pancake syrups number one ingredient was corn syrup, and she never suspected that today's pancake syrup was any different from the Maple syrup she grew up eating on pancakes. In her defence it took me a while to figure that one out as well and she gave him a little cup for dipping his pancakes in but he thought it was much better to skip the whole dipping part and just drink it instead), but I also loved serving corn on the cob whenever we'd BBQ during the summer, and it was a cheap easy veggie that the kids would eat.

Potato chips just didn't cut it in all situations where we'd need chips. We were all so used to corn tortilla chips. I figured we'd have to live without a lot of the things we loved because you just can't eat them without tortilla chips, but living without is just not me, I needed a substitute. I just happened to be in Target one day because they sell the Enjoy Life Plentils, another great chip that are allergen free, (check them out: http://plentils.com/ )
and no other store in my repertoire of stores carries them, and to my surprise on the next shelf up was these things called Beanitos: http://beanitos.com/

They are chips made from beans. Caught my interest because they looked like some of the fancy corn tortilla chips from my time in New Mexico, blue corn, etc. I picked up the bag to reminisce (yes, I reminisce about food now that so much of it is off limits, don't judge my pathetic life!) and I started to read the package. Very top of the bag said: Always CORN FREE. I was intrigued, so I kept reading, Black Bean Chips, they are Certified Low Gylcemic, Corn Free, Gluten Free, High Fiber, 4g of Complete Protein, and Non GMO Project Certified. YES! I was already in love but I had yet to turn the bag over and read the ingredients, I've been fooled by the advertising on the front of packages before. Once I did I grabbed a bag and took them home to try out with the kids. I bought two different flavors, Black Bean and Pinto and Flax. Gotta say the pinto and flax are not my fav, theres sort of a weird taste to them which I attribute to the flax. But the black bean ones are good, you could almost close your eyes and imagine they are corn chips!

Now I've just realized that they do use guar gum in them so I will be forgoing them since I'm suspecting that in my most recent allergic reaction, but the kids have all done fine with it. I suspect that the guar I bought was contaminated with another substance, I've read that guar and soy are very similar and/or they are often cross contaminated, not 100% sure what the deal was, but I will be avoiding it.

So tonight we are having make your own nachos night for dinner. I planned my weekly menu around using the leftovers for a nachos night. Earlier this week we had chili, tri tip roasted in the crock pot, and oven roasted chicken all of which I will reheat and use in the making of our nachos. The kids can choose a meat to go with the beans and Daiya cheese and chopped tomato and black olives for topping their Beanitos with and Voila! Nachos!

Allergen Free Granola Bars

So I started the littlest one on his Top Allergen Eliminations Diet yesterday. I was scrambling around trying to convert one of my easiest bread recipes to allergen free using an all purpose gluten free flour mix, but I didn't know that its just not possible to swap out gluten free flour for wheat flour straight across without more adjustments to the yeast and other leavening thingamagigs. It turned out ok I suppose. I used a gluten free flour mix that you put together yourself and calls for adding in xanthum gum, well most xanthum gum is grown on corn, so its a no-no for us. So through research people with corn issues sub in guar gum. So I used that and lo and behold I had an allergic reaction to the guar! Me, not the kids! All the other stuff in the flour mix I've had before with no problems, the only new thing was the guar. So after I was able to drag myself off the couch without dying, I went into the pantry and opened the guar gum to smell it, to test my theory that it was definitely the guar, threw myself right back into the depth of another reaction! So no more guar gum! That throws a huge wrench into my gluten free plans.

I spent time researching and found one brand of xanthum gum that is allergen free, not grown on corn!!!!! But the price..... WHEW! And of course its not sold in stores and has to be ordered and the shipping costs more than the product! I ordered it off Amazon, but I really have no other choice since xanthum or guar gum is essential to baking gluten free. So, though it hurt me in the tummy to spend that much on a product, and especially the shipping, I did it because my kiddo needs bread!
Here is the xanthum gum I ordered: http://www.authenticfoods.com/products/item/31/Xanthan-Gum

After my failed bread attempt that almost killed me, thank God for Benedryl! I wanted to make safe granola bars that would fit into the littlest ones diet. Here is what he is having to avoid:
Dairy
Soy
Corn
Wheat/Gluten
Nuts
Peanuts
Fish/Shellfish
Berries
Citrus/Citric Acid
Eggs

As you can see this makes things kinda difficult. So I took the granola bar recipe I posted the other day and modified it to make it safe for him.

Allergen Free Granola Bars

Ingredients

4 1/2 C Gluten Free Regular Slow Cooking Oats
1C Gluten Free Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Vanilla
2/3 C Coconut Oil Melted (the original recipe called for melted butter but since the Earths Balance Soy Free one contains natural flavoring derived from corn I subbed in the oil, no coconut flavor at all!)
2/3 C Honey
1/4 C Agave Nectar
1/3 C Brown Sugar Packed
1/2 C Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 325*. Combine all ingredients but the chocolate chips. Mix well and then add in the chips and mix to distribute them. Line a 9X13 inch cake pan with foil and spray with safe non stick cooking spray. I like Olive Oil spray. Press the mixture into the pan and using wax paper to cover your hand press down really well. Make sure you compact the mixture a lot or it will fall apart after its cooked. Bake for 20-25 mins or they look really golden brown. Allow to cool in pan and then pull out your foil and then cut into bars. I cut mine small since the littlest one is only 2.5 years old and doesn't eat too much.

Granola Bars!

I've been MIA around here for a bit. I'm still waiting to hear back from the kids GI doctor as to the top allergen elimination diet he wants done with the littlest one, so I haven't really felt like a big cooking or baking project since I'll have to keep it from the littlest one. I found out at the end of the week after still no response to the email I sent to the doctor that he was on vacation. So, since I was sick of us eating only basics and not really trying anything new I got in the groove today and spent the day roasting myself in the kithcen with the oven and stove both going full tilt. It's supposed to be fall already, but we are still in the high 90's to 100's around our neck of the woods. But I was productive and did a lot of baking and cooking today (yesterday as well actually).

Yesterday I baked pizza's and cinnamon sticks. I made extra to freeze as well. And today I made..... are you ready for it? Drum roll please....... Granola Bars, Sweet Potato Muffins, Rosemary Olive Oil Bread (in the crock pot!), and Chili. We had the chili and bread for dinner tonight, and the granola bars and muffins are for the older boys lunch boxes for school. Oh and I was doing laundry the whole time! I'm so proud. Now I will crawl into bed and pass out! Well, once the kids are in bed that is.

Today I'll share the granola bar recipe since they are super easy and really yummy.

Basic Granola Bars

4 1/2 C Rolled Oats (regular not quick cooking, you could definitely use gluten free oats too!)
1 C Flour (choose your flour)
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Vanilla* (be aware that almost all vanilla extract is suspended in corn alcohol)
2/3 C Butter, Melted** (your choice of safe alternative like Earths Balance, depending on your allergens)
1/2 C Honey (I'm pretty syre you could use Agave Nectar as well)
1/3 C Brown Sugar Packed
1/2 C Add in of your choice, today I used raisins, but you can use nuts, dried fruit, peanut butter, mini chocolate chips from Enjoy Life brand, etc.

Directions:

Combine all ingredients except for the add in item. You may need to add a bit more honey to make it really hold together. I did. Then add in your extra item and mix til distributed evenly throughout mixture. Line a cake pan with foil and spray with cooking spray, I used Olive Oil spray. The easiest way to get the foil to shape correctly to your pan is to turn the pan over so the opening is on the counter lay the foil over it and shape it to fit the pan. Once you have it fitting snugly to the outside of the pan gently pull it off, maintaining the shape as much as you can, and flip your pan over and insert the foil. Dump your granola mixture into the cake pan and using a piece of wax paper to cover your hand (this will be sticky and the wax paper will keep your hands clean and your granola in the pan) press the granola mixture down firmly and evenly throughout the pan. Make sure you really compact and press the mixture really, really good. If not it will crumble apart after you bake them and try to cut them. When you think you have it pressed down enough, do it some more! Bake at 325* for 18-22 minutes, depending on how thick they are. You want them to be really golden brown. Allow to cool in the pan. Once cooled, flip your pan over and they will dump right out. Pull the foil away and cut into individual bars. I like to "wrap" mine in individual snack size baggies so they are easy to pack in the kids lunches.

Here they are after I popped them out of the pan and peeled the foil away.

All cut into individual bars and "wrapped" in baggies ready for lunches!

*Since most Vanilla Extract is suspended in Corn Alcohol there is a simple way to make your own. Buy a 750mL bottle of Potato Vodka and 2-3 Vanilla Beans. Put the beans into the vodka and place in a cool, dark place for about a month. Shake about once a week to mix up and get the bean to release more vanilla-ness.

**I have recently come to realize that the Earths Balance Soy Free Margarine that we've been using contain corn products (insert sad face here) and maybe one of the reasons the littlest one is still reacting. So someone, don't remember who, but someone I'm following on Pinterest pinned a Vegan "Butter" that looks super easy to make at home. I have yet to make it, but its dairy, soy, corn and gluten free! I'm super stoked to make it and once I make my next trip to the health foods store to get some of the ingredients I will let you all know how it comes out and pass on the recipe.

Top 6 (actually more like 10!) Allergen Elimination Diet

I haven't blogged in a while, been feeling quite a bit overwhelmed the last few days. I got an email from the kids GI doctor at the end of last week. We had done a pH probe study on my almost 3 year old and the results were the usual, leaving more questions than answers. But that's just how it goes with these kids. The littlest monster did really badly with the probe in, it's placed down into the esophagus via the nose. That in itself is very uncomfortable but he was gagging, retching, vomiting, refluxing and reswallowing through the entire 22 hours he had it in place. Most of that is to be expected with this test, but not to the extent that he was doing it. Well lo and behold I found a sippy cup wedged in between his crib mattress and the rail that had the residue of curdled old cow's milk in it the day after his probe was removed, while I was changing the sheets after he vomited all over his crib. The night before his probe was put in the hubby and I went out to dinner alone, yes you read that right we were ALONE! We left the kids with the sitter, who happens to be 16 and super sweet. She knows all about the kids food issues, but for some reason she gave the little one a cup of the hubbys fat free cow's milk when she put him to bed.

So I ended up having to email the doctor as soon as I made my discovery. The little one had been reacting to the cow's milk and that explained all his increased symptoms while the probe was in place. So this unexpected food challenge proved yet again that he still cannot tolerate cow's milk. Once the GI had the results from the probe study in hand he emailed me to let me know that they didn't show a level of acid reflux that would explain the littlest ones on going symptoms, not to mention what he experienced while the probe was in place. So we are to do a top 6 allergen elimination diet. This "diet", along with it's sister the top 8 allergen elimination diet, are considered the "silver" standard in diagnosis and treatment of non IgE mediated food allergies, such as eosinophilic disorders.

What we will do is removed all dairy, soy, wheat/gluten, eggs, nuts, and fish from the littlest ones diet. On top of those we will keep out of his diet his other "known" allergens, corn, citrus, and berries. The "gold" standard in diagnosis and treatment in these types of disorders is an elemental diet consisting of an amino acid based formula like Neocate, Elecare, or Nutramigen AA. Since the littlest one cannot tolerate these formulas at all, we've tried them all many times hoping that he would be able to use them and failing everytime, we have to use the elimination diet approach instead.

Once the littlest one has been on the diet consistently for about 6 weeks we will reintroduce one food at a time to him, about one food a week, and watch for any and all reactions. If he reacts once the food has been reintroduced then that food is considered a "failed" food and will be kept out of his diet. If there is no reaction to the food then that will be considered a "safe" food and will be added back in.

This diet is going to present all sorts of issues for me and my cooking and being able to provide a balanced and varied diet to him, but I am up to the challenge, I think. First off I will have to find him a new "milk". After we took him off cow's milk I tried a few different ones and the one that he seemed to like the best was almond milk. I've found it easy to cook with and he drinks it well. But with the new diet nuts are out. So back to the alternative milk aisle at the health food store I will go and grab a few to try out with him. I'm going to see if I can find a vanilla flavored hemp milk, it is one of the alternatives milks that's nutritional profile is the most similar to cow's milk, the fat and protein content. I tried it with him before, but bought the chocolate flavor which I was to find out he doesn't like chocolate milk at all, even his beloved almond milk.

There are a few different diets out there that I can pull from to come up with recipes and meals that he should be able to eat safely. Paleo is one that comes to mind. Basically the belief is that its best to go back to how humans ate before we became farmers, you eat what man would have been able to hunt or gather. I've found some really interesting looking recipes and will be trying those out. I guess it will be back to basics.

My biggest concern is finding a pizza crust recipe that he will like. Pizza is one of the only foods that I can count on that the littlest one will always eat. He loves pizza, always has. Weather it was with real cheese, or with Daiya cheese, he will eat it and eat it well! Since I will not strictly adhere to the Paleo lifestyle finding a gluten and wheat free pizza crust will be one of my top priorities. Once I've found one that is up to his standards, and mine, I will share it with you ASAP.

The hubby and I have a get away planned so once I am back from that this diet will get going in full on mode (I am still waiting on all the specific directions from the GI doctor), I can't ask my parents, who will be taking the kids for us while we are out of town, to take on this challenge when I haven't even set it up or even tackled the first of the obstacles myself yet.

So stay tuned for even more restrictive ingredient recipes that are good!

Dairy and Soy Free Chicken and Broccoli Quinoa Casserole

I stumbled across this recipe on Pinterest, I think, and thought it was an interesting take on an old stand by comfort food. It's also nice since it can be made completely gluten free and also vegan (at least the way I make it).

I've made this as a meal by adding in some shredded chicken and as a side dish by removing the chicken thereby making it vegan. Both ways it came out tasty, but personally I liked it best with the chicken added in.

Chicken and Broccoli Quinoa Casserole (Dairy, Soy, and Corn Free)

1 Batch of Cream of Mushroom Soup** (see below)
1/3 Cup Canola Mayonnaise or Soy Free Veganaise
2 Tbls Unsweetened Original Almond or Rice Milk
1 Cup Daiya Cheddar Cheese Shreds
Pinch of Sugar
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
1/2 tsp Garlic Salt
2 Cups Steamed Broccoli
1 1/2 Cups Cooked Quinoa
Shredded Chicken (I used the canned chicken from Costco)

First cook your quinoa:

3/4 Cup Quinoa
1 1/2 Cups Water or Chicken Broth
1/4 tsp Salt

In a fine mesh strainer, rinse the quinoa in cold water. In a small to medium sauce pan combine water or broth, quinoa, and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and cover. Cook for about 20 minutes or until the quinoa is light and fluffy and you can see the white curly tail.

Preheat your oven to 350*. Spray your casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray, use canola or olive oil. Set aside.

In a large bowl combine your soup, mayonnaise, milk, cheese, sugar, pepper and salt. Mix well. Stir in quinoa, broccoli and chicken.
Fill casserole dish with mixture. Bake for 30-35 minutes until edges are bubbly and golden.


Now you're probably asking yourself about the cream of mushroom soup called for in this recipe. Its super easy to make your own cream of mushroom soup at home and you can control the ingredients making it fit any dietary needs you have. Of course mine is made dairy, soy, and corn free, but I plan on making it gluten free as well soon.

Cream of Mushroom (or any other Cream of....) Soup

(Makes equivalent to one can of condensed soup)

Ingredients:
1 1/4 Cups Unsweetened, Unflavored Milk Alternative (Almond, Rice, Hemp, etc.)
3 Tbls Earths Balance Soy Free Margarine
1/4 Cup of Canned Mushrooms Chopped (or Chicken, Potato, Celery, etc.)
2-3 Tbls Chopped Onion (or to taste)
3 Tbls Flour or Starch (All Purpose Wheat, Tapioca, Potato, etc.)
1/4 tsp Salt
Dash of Pepper

Microwave milk for approx. 2.5-3 minutes.
Saute mushrooms and onions in a small sauce pan in margarine until soft and onions are translucent. Whisk in flour or starch, salt and pepper. Keep whisking mixture until it looks lightly browned. Keep whisking while pouring in milk slowly, until a thick creamy texture is achieved. Season to taste once its cooled a bit so you don't burn your tongue!

I make this up a few hours in advance of when I know I will need it and store it in the refrigerator and it has the exact same consistency of the canned stuff.

Homemade Baby Wipes

I saw an interesting pin on Pinterest the other day and it caught my attention, Homemade Baby Wipes. Since I'm always looking for ways to save money in other areas so I can spend it on safe foods, I thought this would be a neat thing to give a try.  Here is the link that has a great tutorial and all the info you will need to make your own baby wipes. http://theehingers.blogspot.com/2010/10/homemade-baby-wipes.html

So I drug all 3 boys out of the house today and made a trip to Target to get all the stuff I would need to make my very own wipes. First up I needed to make sure I could find an air tight container to keep them in, this was the biggest investment for these wipes, but should pay for itself over time. I was really looking for a round one like the one shown on the blog, but no such luck. But I did find a square one. It's an OXO SoftWorks 2.6qt. It has a neat push button top that seals it and makes it airtight.

Next I needed to find a good, extra gentle baby wash to use in the solution. My youngest gets really horrible diaper rashes whenever he is having a reaction to something and when that happens the wipes we normally use irritate his skin and make him cry, so we usually end up using paper towels soaked in warm water or a soft washcloth. Boy do I hate doing the laundry on those. There's a reason folks why I don't use cloth diapers, the laundry! My first thought for a gentle baby wash to use was the Burt's Bee's line. Well I happened to take a look at the ingredients, I do at everything now days, and low and behold, hydrolyzed soy protein is used in it! What?! Why?! So I put that one back up on the shelf as quick as can be. Next I went over to the California Baby line and took a look at their stuff. Much more expensive. They have a super sensitive line so I took a look at the ingredients and they have corn derived ingredients. Nope, that one went back on the shelf as well. I was starting to think I was not going to find one that would work for what I wanted. Then I looked at the very bottom shelf and there was a brand I hadn't seen before, BabyGanics. From what I could read, nothing that should cause a problem and the bottle was half what the California Baby brand was.

Next I went and picked up the roll of Bounty Select-A-Size paper towels and made sure they would fit into the container. Yep, they would work so off to check out we went. This takes fronting some money in the beginning, but should pay me back over time.

The hardest part was cutting the paper towel roll in half. That definitely took some elbow grease, but I really need to sharpen my knives. It took a little bit of time for the paper towels to soak up the solution, maybe about 15 mins. But the center cardboard tube came out easily after that and it was very easy to find the end of the roll in the center and pull it up.

Dairy, Soy, and Corn Free Pizza and Cinnamon Sticks

Things have been extra crazy medically around here lately so I haven't had a chance to jump on here and post any new recipes in a few days. The littlest one just had a probe study done on Thursday and Friday and we had to travel 4+ hours round trip both days. My younger twin is still dealing with his kidney issues and we had an appointment with a urologist at our local children's hospital which I was not really impressed with. So after the holiday weekend this mommy's behind will kick into high gear and work on getting him into one of the top pediatric nephrology clinics in the country. Now the youngest little monster is having some serious GI distress, not sure if its from his probe study causing irritation or what, but I've been doing loads of laundry and scrubbing everything down that his "distress" has come into contact with just in case its not irritation and ends up being some bug or other that would love to make its rounds through our home. No thank you!

Ok, now that I've eluded to GI "distress" oh so nicely, aren't you hungry????? No, well too bad because if you skip these next few recipes you will be missing out big time!

When we discovered that we were going to have to have all 3 boys be on a restricted diet one of the first foods that came to mind that was out of the question for them was pizza. What little boy can have a "normal" life without pizza???!!! So I was determined to find a way to make pizza for my little guys at any cost! My first snafu came in regards to alternative cheeses. They are all so different from real cheese. They don't melt, look like plastic when they do melt, and taste pretty close to plastic period. I was venting to my friends on Facebook about how I was going to miss cheese and a couple of my friend who've been down this road before me mentioned a newer alternative cheese made from nutritional yeast called Daiya, http://www.daiyafoods.com/ . So I ran to the nutritional/health food store as fast as I could after taking a look at their website. I wasn't expecting much since all the other "cheeses" out there had left me with a bad taste in my mouth, literally. But boy was I surprised! This stuff is really good! It melts, stretches, looks like real cheese, a true alternative and great substitution!

Next I needed to find a good, easy to make pizza crust recipe since I have never made any type of bread in my life to this point! I searched and searched every store I could find for a premade or refrigerated pizza dough but all contained some form of dairy, soy or corn which took them completely out of the running in our house. I came across this recipe and it is super easy and tastes great and there are so many variations you can come up with. This basic dough is used in both my pizza recipe and in my cinnamon stick recipe. They are both so good!

Basic Pizza Dough

Ingredients:
1 packet active dry yeast
1 tsp Sugar
1 Cup Warm Water (110*)
2 1/2 Cups All Purpose or Bread Flour
2 Tbls Olive Oil
1 tsp Salt

Preheat your oven to 450*.
In a medium bowl dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water. Let sit covered in a warm spot for approx 10 minutes until it looks creamy and bubbly.

Stir in flour, salt, and oil and mix until smooth. Let rest for a minimum of 5 minutes. (I've made this up a few hours in advance and let it rest, covered, in a warm spot until I was ready to make my pizza and it comes out extra fluffy.)

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Pat and lightly knead for a few minutes, then roll into a ball and place on a greased pizza pan ( I use a foil lined cookie sheet since I don't have a pizza pan. Sometimes the pizzas don't come out completely round, usually a little lopsided, but they still taste great!) I like to sprinkle some granulated garlic down onto the greased sheet since we can't use corn meal. Pat and press into a round. Spread with pizza sauce, I use an 8oz can of Hunt's Tomato Sauce Roasted Garlic flavor, it is free of soy oil which most canned spaghetti sauce and pizza sauce are not. Top with your Daiya Mozzarella shreds and your favorite toppings. Bake for 10-15mins checking after 10 mins to make sure its not burning.

My kids love the pepperoni version as well as the veggie one with broccoli, mushrooms, black olives and tomatoes. I've even brought a couple slices to school for my boys when their class had a pizza party and their pizza looked better than the delivery and all the other kids wanted my sons pizza instead of their own!

To make your dough a little more flavorful I like to add in some granulated garlic and Italian herb mix into the dough while mixing.

Using this same basic pizza dough recipe you can make a tasty dessert to rival the big pizza delivery chains!

Cinnamon Sticks

Use the same basic pizza dough recipe listed above, I like to add into the dough:

1/4 Cup Sugar (about)
Sprinkle of Cinnamon and Nutmeg

Follow all the directions listed above. Knead out the dough and place on a greased foil lined cookie sheet. Pat out to the shape of the cookie sheet. Use a clean pizza cutter to score the dough so its easier to break apart after they are cooked. Brush dough with olive oil. Place in a 450* oven for about 15 minutes. When the dough is cooked through pull out of the oven and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

While the sticks are baking in the oven you'll need to mix up a glaze to top them with once they are done. This is optional, but makes them taste amazing!

Glaze

1/2 Cup of Corn Free Powdered Sugar**
1 Tbls Melted Dairy and Soy Free Margarine (Earth Balance Soy Free)
1-2 Tbls Vanilla Almond or Rice Milk

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl until smooth. Drizzle the glaze over the sticks that have been sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.

** I never knew that powdered sugar had corn in it until recently. It has corn starch to make the powdered sugar flow easily. When I found this out I was less than thrilled to learn another food had been taken off our list of "safe" foods. Actually I was pretty freaking bitter about it! But after some googling I found out that until pretty recently people used to make their own powdered sugar, they didn't buy it at the store. I was intrigued that I could make it myself. So here it is, the super complex recipe for:

Corn Free Powdered Sugar

1 Cup Sugar
1 Tbls Tapioca or Potato Starch

Place ingredients in your blender or food processor. Blend until powdery.

Yep, that's it!

Meat Loaf "Cupcakes" with Dairy and Soy Free Brown Gravy and Easy Potato Bread

Here are 3 recipes that are super easy and a big hit, and they look and taste so good!

Meat Loaf "Cupcakes"

You can use any Meat Loaf recipe you have, this is my favorite one and its pretty easy.

1 pound ground beef
1/2 Cup bread crumbs ( I use panko)
1/4 Cup Almond or Rice milk (original unsweetened)
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbls Kitchen Bouquet ( I use this in place of Worcestershire Sauce to avoid soy)
1/4 tsp Pepper
1 egg
1/4 Cup Loeb's Onion Crunch (these are a dairy and soy free version of French's French Fried Onions)

In a large bowl mix all ingredients together until combined, but don't mix too much or you will get tough meat loaf.
Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with no stick cooking spray, canola or olive oil (we are now switching from canola oil to olive oil in our house to get away from as many GMO's as possible).
Place a handful of the meat loaf mixture into each muffin cup until full. Press down.
Bake in the oven at 350* for about 30 minutes or until done. While the "cupcakes" are baking whip up some instant mashed potatos, or make some the good old fashioned way, from scratch.

When the "cupcakes" are done pull them out and using a cake decorating kit, if you have one, to pipe the mashed potatos onto the "cupcakes" to frost them. Pop back in under the broiler to brown the tops, this will take just a few minutes so keep an eye on them so they don't burn.

*I am experiementing with stretching my ground meat. I just made this same recipe but added in about a cup of cooked lentils to stretch out the ground beef. I am still working on the flavor, it seemed a little bland, so I am working on the seasoning and how much to tweak the recipe.

I also serve this with dairy and soy free brown gravy.

Dairy and Soy Free Brown Gravy

2 Cups Beef Broth (about)
1/4 Cup Flour
2 Tbls Shortening (I use Spectrum Palm Shortening)
Seasoning to your taste, salt, pepper, garlic powder

In a small/medium sauce pan melt the shortening over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook up until a beige color, more brown than yellow/white. Turn heat up to med/high and add in 1/2 the broth. It should sizzle, whisk fast until it starts to come together. Once this has happened, whisk in additional broth until you reach your desired thickness. Season to taste and serve warm.

If you  make your mashed potatos in advance, say in the morning, you can make a slightly bigger batch and use some of them to make the next recipe.


Easy Potato Bread

1 Cup Mashed Potatos
2 Eggs beaten
1/2 Cup Earths Balance Soy Free Margarine, softened (leave out for a few minutes on the counter)
3 Tbls Sugar
2 tsp Salt
1 pkg Active Dry Yeast
1/2 Cup Warm Water
5 Cups Bread Flour (about 4 for the dough, and additional 1 Cup for kneading)

In a large bowl mix together the mashed potatos, eggs, and margarine.
Stir in sugar, salt, yeast and warm water.
Mix in enough flour to make a dough that can be kneaded by hand.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic.
Spray a large bowl with cooking spray, roll dough into a ball and drop into bowl, turn over so that the top is greased. Cover with a towel and allow to rise in a warm location for approximately 2 hours, or until doubled in size.
After 2 hours punch down dough. Knead on a lightly floured surface again to knead out the bubbles.
Divide dough in half and shape into two loaves. Place inside 2 greased loaf pans. Cover and let rise again for about 40 minutes or until they double in size.
Bake at 375* for about 25-30 minutes or they sound hollow when you tap on the tops. Remove from pans and allow to cool.

** You can find Spectrum Palm Shortening at most health food stores. I've found the Loeb's Onion Crunch at Costco as well as at my health food store. The Kitchen Bouquet can be found in the asile where you find Worcestershire Sauce. I got mine at Target Supercenter.

How to Clean a Top Loading Washing Machine

Yesterday, during my homemade cleaning products making session, I thought I'd give a Pinterest find a whirl while I was at it. It was how to clean your top loading washing machine. We've had our washer and dryer since the twins were about 8 mos old, so almost 6 years now and I've never cleaned it, I didn't even know you were supposed to, let alone how!

So I looked at the instructions and did things a little bit my own way. I have to admit my washer had seen better days looks wise. It was also starting to make a squealing noise occasionally when agitating. But after doing this super easy cleaning it looks practically brand new! And the squeal hasn't happened again, and I've run 3 loads through it already today.

How to Clean A Top Loading Washer

Fill washer will HOT water on the largest load setting available. Add 1 Quart of Bleach. Let the washer agitate for 1 minute. Then let the washer sit for 1 Hour. This will kill all germs that may be lurking in all the little nooks and crannies. After 1 Hour, let the washer run through the longest wash and rinse cycle available on the hottest water setting.

Next, refill washer with HOT water again and add in 1 Quart Distilled White Vinegar. Let the washer agitate for 1 minute. Then add in a few squirts of Dawn dish soap. Swish around with a scrubby sponge. You're going to let the vinegar sit for 1 Hour to break down mineral deposits and the like. While that is going on take your scrubby sponge and dip it into the vinegar and Dawn solution and use it to scrub the exterior of the washer. I also broke out my cleaning toothbrush and got into all the cracks and really hard to reach areas by the door hinge. If, like me, your washer has built in bleach and softener dispensers pull those out, if removable, and let them soak in the water. After 1 Hour run the washer through the longest wash and rinse cycle again with HOT water and you're done!

My clothes are coming out cleaner as well. Super easy! Give it a try and see if it works for you!


Besides putting my super clean washer through its paces today with laundry, I'm making Chili and super easy Potato Bread for dinner. These are super easy recipes and taste great, as well as being dairy, soy and corn free. Recipes to be posted tomorrow with pictures! Stay tuned!

Today I'm making up my homemade cleaning products and giving the bathrooms and laundry room a good scrubbing down.

Since finding out the kids were having so many issues with food our grocery bill has gone through the roof. Before we went onto the current elimination diet, I used to save a lot of money on groceries  by buying most items generic or store brand, which is no longer an option for us. Most generic and store brands are full of dairy, soy, and corn (and wheat and gluten) as well as not being made and processed in dedicated facilities to reduce or eliminate the risk of cross contamination. Now most of the food I buy is ordered off of Amazon, in bulk (since I'm buying for 3 boys) and are allergen free (oh how I miss stocking up at Costco!), bought at various "all natural" or health food stores, and at various local grocery stores.

To make up for the money going into the grocery budget I decided to cut somewhere else, since most of our bills are fixed (we don't have very much if any credit card debt) I figured I'd try to make my own cleaning products since the ones you buy in the store are so expensive and I have to buy multiple different products to clean, say, just the bathroom, the most disgusting rooms in my home thanks to all the boys! I figured I give homemade cleaners a whirl and if I didn't like them I'd go back to my old habit of buying hundreds of dollars worth of the stuff at the store. Much to my amazement I actually liked the homemade cleaners better than any store bought stuff I'd ever tried, and believe me I've tried them all!

I have made my own toilet bowl cleaner, disinfectant all purpose cleaner, all purpose bathroom/ floor cleaner, and jewelry cleaner so far and have loved them all. Today I whipped up a new batch of toilet bowl cleaner and disinfectant all purpose cleaner with just a few basic items, many that you probably already have in your pantry.

Here are the recipes I've been using with a lot of success.

Disinfectant All Purpose Cleaner

1/2 Cup Distilled White Vinegar
1/2Cup Lemon Juice
2 Cups Warm Water
2 tsp Borax
A few drops of Tea Tree Oil

Mix everything together in a spray bottle and shake well to mix.

I've used this to clean the outside of and all around the toilet and it works really well. Gets rid of all the peepee smell left from boys that still don't know how to aim.

Toilet Bowl Cleaner

3/4 Cup Baking Soda
1/2 Cup Water
2-3 drops of Dawn Dish Soap
2-3 drops of Tea Tree Oil

Mix all ingredients in a large measuring cup and pour into an old dish soap bottle with a spout. Shake well to recombine all ingredients right before squirting under the rim. Allow to sit for a while and scrub with a toilet brush.

Some recipes I've seen call for Castille Soap with Teas Tree Oil, but I can never find it anywhere. I love Dawn dish soap for its grease cutting abilities, and hey, if its safe to scrub animals that have gotten covered in oil during oil spills, its good enough for me!

All Purpose Bathroom and Floor Cleaner

1 Cup Distilled White Vinegar
1 Cup Water
2-3 drops of Dawn dish soap

Mix all ingredients in a spray bottle and shake to combine.

This works great on glass shower doors in the bathroom. Another little tip for those pesky glass doors is to buff them with a soft cloth dabbed in baby oil after you've cleaned them. This will help keep them clear until the oil breaks down or gets washed off, but that normally takes close to a month to happen in my experience. I've also used this cleaner on my tile floors in the kitchen and bathroom with great success.

** Make sure you test all cleaners you use on an inconspicuous test spot before going all out with it. You don't want to ruin your stuff just to save money!

I'm also giving my top loading washer a cleaning with a tip I found on Pinterest. I'll let you all know how it went soon!

TIP- A great scrubby to use while cleaning the bathroom showers and tubs is used dryer sheets! They scrub really well and haven't scratched anything yet, so pretty dang safe and free since you were going to throw them out anyway! I save mine in a mesh lingerie bag in the laundry room after I pull them out of the dryer for use later in cleaning.

Soon I plan on making my own dishwasher soap. I found a couple of different recipes and I'm going to give those a try and will post the best one, if any are worth it. I'm really excited about this one since dishwasher detergent is sooooo expensive!

Recently, actually the last few days, we've spent quite a bit of time at the doctors office and urgent care center with 2 of the boys. One, because he started having kidney and urological issues on top of all his "normal" GI issues and the other because he's two and a half and thought swallowing a penny would be a good idea. This from a kid who normally refuses to eat any meal after a few bites because most food ends up giving him some form of tummy distress. Wonder what the thought process was on that one????

Anywho, so at the urgent care, where we spent many long boring hours in the waiting room, they have a TV tuned to the Food Network, constantly. I'm assuming this is considered a "safe" channel for everyone to watch since most adults don't want to be stuck watching Disney Jr. for hours on end without wanting to blow their brains out, and most parents, and their kids for that matter, don't want to watch Maury Povich asking "Who's the Daddy?" while couples duke it out for hours on end. (On a side note, is Maury Povich even on TV anymore? I'm one of those adults who wants to blow their brains out on a daily basis because my kids are watching Disney Jr so I have no clue what adults watch anymore, sorry.) Well, back to the Food Network, though the urgent care considers this a "safe" channel for the masses to watch, for my family it's any thing but "safe". I'm mean we're not "offended" by anything on the Food Network per se, just that everything they cook or bake on there would end up causing a reaction in all the kids that I'd rather not deal with. And seeing all the yummy butter drenched food in all its HD glory is torture sometimes.

But as I was sitting there with one kid or the other I started getting into my substitution mind set and thought that I'd give a couple of the recipes I saw that looked so good but were unsafe for the kids a substitution makeover. So when I actually had a late afternoon with no visits to the doctors office booked I thought I'd work on Chicken Picatta in an Artichoke sauce as well as some mashed potato popovers and I had made some safe sourdough bread earlier in the week so added that as a side. Here are the original recipes I used: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/chicken-piccata-recipe/index.html , http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Artichoke-Sauce .

Now my Chicken Picatta can't have a lemon butter sauce since we can't do citrus or butter so I had a jar of artichokes leftover in the refrigerator from a different meal. Since I don't like to waste food because our grocery bill is sky high due to having to buy allergy friendly foods I thought I'd better use those up.

Chicken Picatta

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts (We have a family of 5, use how ever many will feed your family)
Salt and Pepper

1/2 cup all-purpose flour (if you are avoiding wheat/gluten use flour of choice)

2 large egg (can use egg replacer if needed)

1 tablespoon water

3/4 cup panko bread crumbs (I use Progresso they are dairy and soy free)

Powdered garlic, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning mix (to season your bread crumbs)

olive oil

 

Place your chicken breasts between two pieces of Press and Seal wrap, I like how it will seal itself, place on a cutting board and then beat the chicken breasts, one at a time, with a rolling pin or other hard pounding instrument of your choice, until they are all a uniform thickness. They cook more evenly this way and get super tender!

 

Beat the eggs with water together and place in a shallow dish. Season your flour with some salt and pepper to taste and place in a shallow dish. Place the bread crumbs you seasoned into a shallow dish as well and line up with the dishes of flour and eggs. (Note: I like to run my panko crumbs through the food processor or blender to make them a finer texture when I am breading something, up to you)

 

Dip the chicken breasts into flour and shake off excess one at a time. Then dip into egg mixture and then into the bread crumbs making sure to coat both sides.

 

In a pan heat your olive oil over medium heat, once hot place breaded chicken in one at a time. Let cook until lightly browned on each side. Place onto a parchment paper lined shallow cooking sheet like a cookie sheet. While you are cooking the chicken in the oil preheat your oven to 400*. Once all the chicken breast are browned and on the sheet place in oven for about 15 minutes.

 

Potato Popovers

 

These are super easy. Just use some leftover mashed potatoes, or you can whip up a batch of instant mashed potatoes to use, do this in advance and store in the refrigerator to use later.

 

Season your mashed potatoes however you like, "butter" (We used Earths Balance Soy Free Spread), "cheesy" (use Daiya cheddar shredded nutritional yeast cheese), salt and pepper, whatever suits your tastes.

 

Spray a muffin pan with safe no stick cooking spray and fill each cup to the top with potatoes. Use a fork to scratch the top of each and put a dollop of safe "butter" or brush with olive oil. Place in the oven with the chicken. These will take a bit longer to set up. I had to end up putting them under broiler after I took the chicken out of the oven so they would brown up.

 

Artichoke Sauce

 

1/4 of a small onion chopped

2-3 garlic cloves, minced (I used jarred minced garlic)

1 tablespoon olive oil

14 ounces canned artichokes hearts, drained, rinsed, and chopped

2 tbls all purpose flour of your choice

1 can or 2 cups chicken broth

Sprinkle of Nutritional Yeast (adds a creamy cheesy flavor*) 

2 tsp dried parsley

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

In a pan heat olive oil over medium heat, add chopped onion and minced garlic and saute for approximately 5 minutes. Add in artichoke hearts and cook an additional 1-2 minutes. Add flour and mix it with the onion, garlic, and artichokes, cook until a light blond color, this helps to remove some of the floury flavor. Add in the chicken broth and stir constantly to break up the flour and to remove any clumps, heat to boiling. Turn down heat and add in nutritional yeast, parsley, and salt and pepper. Continue stirring to combine flavors. Serve over the chicken, Yum!

 

 

*Nutritional yeast is a vegan power house and adds a cheesy flavor to foods. You can find it online or in the baking/cooking aisle of your local nutritional/health food store.

 

** Make sure you are reading all labels on foods you use looking out for allergens that affect you and your family. Whats safe for one person may not be safe for you.

Hello everyone! My name is Heather and I started this blog to chronicle my families life of living and cooking with multiple food protein intolerance's. My 3 boys have all been ill since birth with GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) and food intolerance's to cows milk and soy proteins as infants, we thought they had outgrown their food issues and were told it was safe to reintroduced milk and soy into their diets at about 18 months old, but nothing really got better, a lot of stuff actually got worse. We stuck it out with our local children's hospital for almost 6 years with no real answers. Finally I got fed up and decided it was time to get another opinion. I took all 3 boys to a large research children's hospital over 2 hours away and we've finally started to make some real progress with growth, weight gain, and overall health! The key has been determining what foods are causing them problems and eliminating them from their diets. The foods we are currently avoiding are all dairy, soy (including vegetable oil, aka: soy oil), corn, citric/asorbic acid, as well as all berries for my youngest. Since all these foods are staples in the average American diet this has forced me to forgo many of the prepackaged and processed foods available in the grocery store. I visit many allergy websites and blogs on a daily basis but sometimes I want good old fashioned "normal" food! So I've determined to make whatever we have a craving for, but with safe ingredients for the kids. I do not make anything in my home if my kids cannot eat it. We can't go to restaurant's or fast food anymore, which is probably not a bad thing! But this makes it hard when we are out and about. So this means I have to cook and make (most from scratch) everything that goes into my kids bellies. I'm always on the hunt for safe foods at the store and travel a lot to visit different stores just to see if they carry anything safe that my kids can eat. If you ever run across me in the grocery store when I've found a safe food you will see me doing a happy dance in the aisle. (I can't be the only parent who does this, right?) Thank you for visiting! Stay tuned for all my kitchen experiments and loads of recipes to follow!