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!

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!

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.

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.