Recipe Review - Garfava Roll

Hello,

This is an exciting post! We have finally found a dinner roll that EVERYONE loves! It is the Garfava Roll recipe from "The Super Allergy Girl Cookbook." This recipe can also be used to make a gluten free pizza crust as seen on www.thesuperallergycookbook.com/recipes/RollsDanishPizza-20090404.pdf

The website states that I can post this recipe as long as I include the following copyright information. © Lisa A. Lundy, Author of The Super Allergy GirlTM Allergy & Celiac Cookbook, From a Mother Who KnowsTM, www.TheSuperAllergyCookbook.com.

Please try this recipe at home and enjoy!

Garfava Roll/Danish/Pizza Crust Mix

1 1/2 cup Garfava flour (or chickpea) (I used Bob's Red Mill GF Garbanzo & Fava Flour.)

1 1/2 tapioca flour

3 tsp. xanthan gum

3 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

4 tsp. Ener-G Egg Replacer (or 2 eggs if you can tolerate eggs)

2/3 cup oil (We used canola today.)

1 Cup DariFree milk or milk substitute of any type

1 + cup sparkling water or club soda until the batter is creamy

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Add liquid ingredients and mix well. Batter will be light and kind of fluffy. If necessary, add more club soda or water.

Recipe - White Frosting (or Filling)

Hello,

This is one of our many frosting recipes.


White Frosting or Filling

1/4 cup Spectrum Organic Vegetable Shortening (palm)
1 tsp. Westsoy Rice Milk
4 tbsp. gluten free flour
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 tbsp. hot water
5 tsp. Ener-G Egg Replacer
1 16 oz box of powdered or confectioner's sugar

Combine the hot water and the Egg Replacer and mix well. Add the shortening, rice milk, flour, and vanilla and mix well. Then add the powdered sugar and mix well.

Recipe - Strawberry Smoothie

Hello,

I asked a friend for this recipe when I was trying to find a way to get my daughter to drink rice milk. She absolutely can't stand rice milk, so we are sticking with the calcium supplements. Thank goodness for Kirkman labs. Here is the smoothie recipe for the rest of you.

Strawberry Smoothie

3 cups frozen strawberries
3 cups rice milk
1/3 cup sugar or honey

This smoothie is similar to a strawberry shake. Makes about 4 cups.

Recipe - Southern Cooked Green Beans

Hello,

When my daughter was younger she could not eat any beans because of her severe allergy to peanuts. Fortunately her allergen to green beans has disappeared even though her numbers for peanuts are greater than 100. We are just happy that she is able to eat a green vegetable without breaking out. Here is one of her very favorite dishes. She would eat cups and cups of these if she could.

Southern Cooked Green Beans

Green Beans
Nitrate/Nitrite Free Bacon (We use Nature's Promise brand (from Giant) or Wegman's brand.)

We alternate buying fresh, frozen and canned green beans. We have found that Hanover Foods has some of the nicest beans and they do not taste like they came from a can. Fill a huge pot with filtered water and pour your beans inside. You can decide if you would like to add your pieces of bacon uncooked or cooked. I prefer to cook them and then pour the drippings into the pot. If you have a very large pot you can add up to a pound of bacon. Bring everything to a boil and then simmer for 4 or more hours. These will taste delicious and your family will love them.

Recipe - Rice Krispie Treats

Hello,

Now obviously this recipe belongs to the Rice Krispie company, but hopefully they will not mind if I publish it again here just so you see how easy it is to modify things you probably ate pre-allergy diagnosis.

Rice Krispie Treats

3 tbsp. margarine - Fleischmann's Unsalted margarine (contains soy) *
1 10 oz package of marshmallows (Several, including Wegmans and Jet Puffed did not contain any egg products, but always check the label.)
6 cups Rice Krispies

Melt margarine over low heat. Add marshmallows; stir until melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat. Immediately add cereal; mix lightly until well coated. Press firmly into lightly greased 9"x13" baking pan. Cool completely; cut into squares.

* This doesn't seem to work with Spectrum Organic Shortening. I am having a hard time getting it to melt, but I am still working on alternatives.

Recipe - Oatmeal Jam Bars

Hello,

This is another recipe that was shared by a friend, and we used it often, especially when we needed to take cookies to special events. No one could tell that it was dairy and egg free. This recipe does contain gluten in the flour and the oats. You can also use this as a breakfast treat similar to Nutrigrain bars.

Oatmeal Jam Bars

1/2 cup margarine (Fleischmann's Unsalted Margarine (contains soy) or Spectrum Organic Vegetable Shortening)
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats (or regular oats)
1/4 cup water
1 tsp lemon juice
2/3 cup jam or jelly

Cream margarine and sugar. Add all other ingredients except lemon juice and jam. Spread half of the mixture in the bottom of an ungreased 9"x13" baking pan. Mix the jam and lemon juice in a separate container and then spread over the oatmeal mixture. Crumble the rest of the oatmeal mixture over the top and press down lightly. Bake at 350 º F for 20 minutes.

Recipe - Old Fashioned Cookies

Hello,

This recipe was given to me by a friend and I am not sure if credit is due anyone. This makes a nice, soft cookie. Again, this recipe was before our gluten free days so it is only free of dairy, egg, and nuts. I will test a gluten-free version soon and let you know how it goes.

Old Fashioned Cookies

1 cup margarine, softened (Fleischmann's Unsalted Margarine (contains soy) or Spectrum Organic Vegetable Shortening (contains palm))
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
Mix together 3 tbsp. oil, 3 tbsp. water, and 2 tsp baking powder and then place in bowl.
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 3/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Beat margarine at medium speed with an electric mixer; add sugar, beat well, set aside. Add wet ingredients; mix well. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to creamed mixture and mix well. Shape dough into two 16-inch rolls; wrap in waxed paper and chill at least 4 hours. Preheat oven to 375 º F. Unwrap dough and cut into slices. Place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 6-8 minutes (again start checking early especially if you are trying to make this recipe gluten-free). Cool on wire racks. Makes 8 dozen.

Note: This dough freezes well. Slice the dough while frozen and then bake immediately. You can also cook these cookies without putting them in the refrigerator first.

Tip: This is a very mild cookie. You can add all sorts of things like cran-raisins, cranberries, blueberries, chocolate chips, etc.

Recipe - Our Favorite Sugar Cookie Recipe

Hello,

This is our favorite sugar cookie recipe. It does not get too crunchy, it rolls out well, stays fresh for several days and freezes well. The children love cutting it with cookie cutters, icing the shapes and decorating them with sprinkles. Our cookies look just like everyone else's, but they are allergy-free. I have yet to try a gluten-free version of this recipe, but I will try to see if I can do it soon.


Sugar Cookies

1 cup sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup butter (Fleischmann's Unsalted Margarine (contains soy), Spectrum Organic Vegetable Shortening (contains palm))
1 cup oil (We use corn oil.)
1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cream of tartar
4 cups flour

Mix all wet ingredients together. Mix all dry ingredients together. Add to wet ingredients and roll to 3/8" thickness. Bake at 350 º F for 7-8 minutes. TIP - I always time the cookies for about 6 minutes and then add extra time as needed.

Recipe - Pork Roast

Hello,

You will notice that we use a lot of pork in our recipes. That is because my daughter was allergic to chicken, beef, turkey, fish and so on for five years. It was during that time that we ate mostly pork and ham. Here is yet another recipe for pork roast.


Pork Roast

1 - 2 lb boneless pork roast
1 tbsp. olive oil (We use corn oil.)
2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed (We sprinkle the pork with Garlic Powder.)
1 tsp. salt (We salt the roast on one side then the other.)
1 tsp. pepper (We pepper the roast on one side then the other.)
6 large carrots, peeled and finely diced
6 stalks celery, finely chopped
4 potatoes, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 º F. Pour or spray the oil over the pork and then add the garlic, salt, and pepper. Place the pork in the center of a 9"x13" baking pan. Place the mixed vegetables around the pork. Cook for about 1 hour, until juices run clear when pricked with a fork, or until the meat thermometer reaches 160 º F. If you would like a pale pink center, you should cook the pork until it reaches approximately 140 - 145 º F.

Recipe - Peach Sorbet or Smoothie

Hello,

I have no idea where I found this recipe, but we have been using it for several years. Katie used to take this sorbet whenever she was going to a party where they were going to have cake and ice cream. After I had made the sorbet, I would freeze it in small round containers so that it would be ready on the day of any party or special event. When we received a party invite, I would call the parents and ask specifically what would be served at the party and then I would bring duplicates of everything with Katie's name and Food Allergy printed on each label. I would also print a label for the small container of ice cream and ask the mom if it would be o.k. if we stored it in their freezer until cake and ice cream time. If it was a new friend or if the mom needed my help (or would accept it), I usually stayed for the entire party or just popped in at food time. There were a few friends that I trusted enough to let the parents serve Katie her snack, but I asked them to wash their hands prior to handing her the snack and mentioned that it would be better if Katie could take the snack (cupcake and ice cream) out of the container herself to avoid cross-contamination. This method has always worked well for birthday parties, but I will mention that we did have a problem one time at a fast food restaurant when the cashier handed Katie a bag of apples after having made a milkshake and Katie went into anaphylactic shock and had to use the epi-pen. I may go into more detail about this in another blog, but I just want you to remember to tell anyone handling your child's food that they need to wash their hands before handling even the packaging containing the food. O.k., now to the recipe.


Peach Sorbet

1 bag frozen peaches
1 cup of juice (We use apple juice or white grape juice.) ** (tip below)
1/2 cup sugar (to taste)

If you have a good blender that crushes ice, you may be able to put all the ingredients in at once and puree to the desired consistency. I had a Kitchenaid blender that I loved but sadly it died on me and now I have a pretty but cheap imitation and I have to let the peaches almost thaw before it can blend them with the rest of the ingredients. Either way, you can then put the sorbet into one quart-sized container or three or four small round containers. If you prefer, you can add more juice until the mixture resembles a smoothie. My children love this.

** My children used to drink lots of apple juice, but I noticed that two of my children have issues with salicylates and it can cause poor behavior, potty accidents, and zombie-like staring. This may seem odd, but if you have a child who is effected by salicylates, you will understand and appreciate where I am coming from. O.k., my TIP is to freeze the rest of the apple juice in ice cube trays (and then dump it into a larger plastic container or bag), in 1 cup servings (small plastic cups) or in a small plastic bag. That way, you will have the juice when you need it, but will not feel that you have to let your children drink it every time you make sorbet.

Recipe - Vanilla Vance's Ice Cream - Ice Cream Maker

Hello,

This recipe was borrowed from Vance's DariFree. It is an amazing potato-based product that I am just starting to incorporate into my baking and cooking. When I first looked into this powder, we could not use it because Katie was allergic to potatoes, but now that Katie can eat potatoes I can start trying all of the ice cream recipes I have been waiting to try.

Now, why you wonder would I want to make ice cream when I could just buy it at the store? Well, most ice cream contains soybean oil of some form. This makes Katie breaks out into itchy rashes, and we also linked it to her severe stomach cramps and night wakings as well. Rice Dream Ice Cream is o.k., but it also causes some discomfort. You will see that this "ice cream" will taste very similar to Rice Dream ice cream, but is not as good as Tofutti Soy Ice Cream.

Vanilla Vance's Ice Cream

9 tbsp. powdered DariFree (You can also use Chocolate DariFree for Chocolate Ice Cream.)

3 tbsp. tapioca starch or arrowroot

6 tbsp. sugar

3 cups filtered water

3 tbsp. margarine, ghee or healthy oil (Also Spectrum Shortening or Canola or Olive Oil.)

2 tsp. vanilla extract or grated vanilla bean

Mix dry ingredients in a pot. Add water and turn on medium to medium-high heat. Whisk the mixture frequently to prevent clumping or sticking to pan. When the mixture begins to bubble, add the margarine and vanilla extract. Stir until ingredients are dissolved, and remove the pot from the heat. Refrigerate the mixture until completely cold. (This may take up to four hours.) Add to ice cream maker per instructions. (Ours takes another 20 minutes.) Makes about 1 quart of ice cream.

You can purchase DariFree at Wegman's, Whole Foods, your allergy grocery store or at http://www.vancesfoods.com/.

Recipe - Salad Dressing

Hello,

This is the salad dressing that we use with spinach and greens. It's not perfect, but I haven't quite figured out what is missing.

Honey Vinaigrette

2 tbsp. white wine vinegar
3 tbsp. honey
1 - 2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil (Add more or less to taste.)
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper

Prepared Foods - Salad Dressing

I spent hours trying to come up with a salad dressing that Katie would like. I came up with one she sort of liked, but then we tried Bragg's Organic Healthy Vinaigrette and she was hooked. It is so great to be able to buy something pre-made at the store!

Recipe - Pancakes

Hello,

We have tried many different pancake recipes, especially since I do not like paying extra money for mixes. But I have to admit that the best recipe we have found is on the back of the Bob's Red Mill Pancake Mix. Here is a link to the site. Enjoy and don't forget to add things like Enjoy Life's semi-sweet chocolate chips for Chocolate Chip Pancakes, or Blueberries for Blueberry Pancakes or even mini diced apples for Apple Pancakes. Yum!

http://www.bobsredmill.com/gf_pancake-mix.html

Cookbook - The Super Allergy Girl Allergy & Celiac Cookbook

Hello,

This post is about "The Super Allergy Girl Gluten-Free, Casein-Free, Nut-Free Allergy & Celiac Cookbook From a Mother Who Knows by Lisa A. Lundy.

O.k., you have just got to buy this cookbook. If you only have money to buy one allergy cookbook, this is the one!! Now I have heard that some people have a hard time buying some ingredients, and since I live about 20 minutes from both Wegman's and Whole Foods I am probably at an advantage, but you can still order most of the ingredients from Amazon.com or even allergygrocer.com.

Just for a tease I want to list a few of my favorite recipes in the cookbook. I am NOT going to write them out for you because even one is worth the price of the entire book, not to mention the looks and hugs of gratitude that you will receive from your happy children. A few of our favorites (obviously spurred on by mommy's love of chocolate) are
Chocolate Pudding (It tastes like real pudding! Yum. I even sent it for school lunches.), Chocolate Chip Cookies (amazing), Allergy-Free Brownies (They taste even more like real brownies if you use Enjoy Life semi-sweet chocolate chips!), Yummy sticks (Bread sticks your kids will love.), main dishes, veggies, appetizers, soups, ice cream, desserts, you name it. This is a great book. (Thank you, Terry.)

Recipe - Gravy

Hello,

This is another "recipe" that I feel silly posting, but since I had no idea how to make gravy that did not come from a jar, I will post this for you. When we boil, steam or even bake meat we take the drippings and, if necessary, add a bit of filtered water and heat. We then take up to 3 tbsp. of Argo Corn Starch and mix it with a tiny bit of water, just enough to make a watery paste. We then add that mixture to the "stock" to boil. As the stock thickens you can add salt and pepper if you wish. If you, like me, were too generous with the corn starch you can run it through a strainer at the end.

We also make gravy by thawing frozen stock that we have put into small or even quart size freezer bags. It takes even better than gravy made from just the drippings or boiled water because it contains the flavors of the chicken bones, skin, and veggies. It also turns to gravy much more easily.

Recipe - Porcupine Meatballs

Hello,

Katie isn't as fond of these as Jimmy is. They are too spicy for her. I am working on creating something with Muir Glen Crushed Tomatoes and if I get a better recipe I will post it. For now, this is the Jimmy approved recipe for Porcupine Meatballs. I also have a few trial recipes that include dry mustard, more garlic and onion, oregano, basil, etc. Let me know if you want to try them. Your children may be more used to spices than mine are.

Porcupine Meatballs

1 15 oz can Hunt's or Muir Glen Tomato Sauce
1/4 cup rice, uncooked
1/2 tsp. minced dried onion
1 clove garlic, minced (We omit.)
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 - 2 lb ground beef
1/2 - 1 tsp. salt
4 - 6 cups of cooked rice (My family likes rice.)

Mix 1/3 cup of tomato sauce, 1/4 cup of uncooked rice, onion, garlic, pepper, vinegar and ground beef. Shape into small meatballs. Place in a large skillet and brown on the outside. Mix the remaining sauce, salt and 1/2 cup of water. Pour over the meatballs. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and cover. Allow to simmer for approximately 20 minutes or until rice and meat are both done. Serve over cooked rice. Makes about 5-6 servings. (We always have plenty left over.)

Recipe - Chicken Quesadilla

Hello,

When the rest of us are having tacos or quesadillas, we either make Katie her "pizza" (see recipe) or we use pre-cooked chicken or ham to make her own version of the quesadilla. We add a tiny bit of oil to a frying pan and toast or warm gluten-free, dairy-free corn tortillas (La Banderita Corn Tortillas) on both sides. We add the minced chicken to the middle and let it blend together. When it is warm she adds a mild salsa (which she just started being able to eat). She is happy.

Recipe - Katie's "Pizza"

Hello,

Pizza is served at so many events that we had to come up with something Katie could eat when she was invited to a pizza party. Because plain meat on top of a tortilla doesn't look all that appealing, we decided to fold the tortilla over on top of the meat similar to a quesadilla.

Katie's Pizza

La Banderita Corn Tortillas (or any gluten-free, dairy-free corn tortilla)
Spaghetti Meat (see recipe for spaghetti sauce)

Place a tiny bit of oil in a frying pan and toast or warm your tortillas on each side. Place warmed meat in the middle and remove immediately or cook for a few more minutes. Occasionally we double the corn tortilla to hold more meat. You can leave as is and it will resemble a taco, or you can cut it into triangles to resemble a quesadilla. Honestly, this is it. I heard of a mother who cooks polenta or buys cooked polenta in a roll and then grates it on a cheese grater to simulate cheese. We haven't tried this yet, but it sounds like a cool idea, especially if I can find a strong enough dough to make a flat, round pizza.

Recipe - Chunky Spaghetti Sauce

Hello,

My husband also came up with our spaghetti sauce. Seriously, I think he should just take over in the kitchen, don't you think? We make our own sauce because the only sauces we can find that do not contain soybean oil or dairy really don't taste all that great. We have two versions of spaghetti sauce, so please check out both.

Spaghetti Sauce

4 14.5 oz cans of Hunt's Petite Diced Tomatoes
1 14.5 oz can of Hunt's Tomato Sauce (The plain with no dairy (check label).

To Taste:
Sugar (c. 1/2 cup)
Salt (optional)
Garlic (light dusting over the top - minced or powdered)
Onion (Saute 1/4 cup or less for about 5 minutes in a little bit of corn oil.)
1-2 bay leaves
Squirt of Ketchup - maybe 3 tbsp.

We mix this all together and cook for 10-15 minutes before we add the ground beef with all its juices. It really tastes great. We usually double or triple this recipe and freeze what we have for quick meals or "pizza" night.

Recipes - Beef Stew

Hello,



This is another recipe created by my husband. Katie loves this and it is so simple!



Beef Stew



We buy stew beef, brown it in a pan, and add it to a big pot of water (or stock if you have it). Add golden yellow potatoes, bring it to a boil and then turn it to medium-low and cook for about an hour. When it is done we either serve it as is, over rice, or we take some of the beef stock or even a bit of cold water and mix it with about 3 tbsp. of water until we have a thick paste. Add the white paste to the broth to make a thicker stew. Add salt, pepper and any other spices you may life. Serve.

Recipe - Brown Sugar Pork

Hello,

Katie loves this recipe, but the rest of us do not like it as much (possibly because we ate it so many times when her diet was so limited).

Brown Sugar Pork

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup applesauce (We just pour applesauce over the top. You can also use cinnamon applesauce.)
1 1/2 tsp ginger (We avoid.)
2 lbs. boneless pork loin roast (We cut it into slices so the applesauce is over each piece.)

Preheat oven to 325 º F. I usually place the meat in a baking pan and cover lightly with aluminum foil. You can also use a lightly floured oven bag or even the Crockpot. In a small bowl combine brown sugar, applesauce and ginger. Place pork roast in pan, poke a few holes with your fork or slices with your knife, and pour the mixture over the pork. Cook for approximately 1 hour at 325 º F or until the meat thermometer reaches 160 º F.

Recipe - Pork Tenderloin on the Grill

Hello,

My husband came up with this recipe for making our meat more tender. Buy a large pork tenderloin, put it in a large container and soak it in water and a 1/2 cup of salt for about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. Wrap the tenderloin very largely and loosely in aluminum foil. If you have a two burner grill, turn one burner on as high as you can and place the wrapped tenderloin on top of the other burner that is not on. Close the lid. If you are using coals, move all the coals to one side of the grill and cook the tenderloin on the other side. Cook the tenderloin until it reaches 160 º F or for about 2 hours. (We always use aluminum foil with all of Katie's food on the grill to ensure it does not come into contact with any protein that could be there from another meal. She also used to be very allergic to garlic and onion which we mixed in our hamburgers.) You can also wrap lots of cup up veggies or ears of corn in aluminum foil and cook them on the grill. It will be delicious!

Recipe - Chicken and Rice

Hello,

There were many years when my daughter could only eat pork, rice and a few veggies. She was showing up allergic to chicken and beef because her egg and dairy numbers (allergies) were so high. We were so excited when we were able to add chicken to the menu. I know this sounds bland, but my daughter really loved this "dish."

Cooked chicken
Bits of bacon
Plain white rice (We tried to stop it when it was still very moist since we couldn't add anything.)

Sometimes we added corn or broccoli or safflower oil (until she became allergic). Seriously. That's it.

Recipe - Chicken Soup

Hello,

My husband came up with this one evening. It is actually very good, and tastes much better than any allergy/preservative filled soup you could buy in a can!

Chicken Noodle Soup or Chicken Rice Soup (You could used pork tenderloin as well.)

Chicken Stock (Store bought, homemade or even just the water you cook the chicken in.)
Chicken
Carrots
Celery
Rice Spaghetti Pasta (Tinkyada Brown Rice Pasta)
Salt and pepper to taste

1) If you have uncooked chicken, you can boil it for 20 minutes or so in water, or you can cook it in chicken stock you have bought or made at home. If you have left over chicken from dinner, you could boil it in water or chicken stock.
2) Dice carrots and let them boil with the soup.
3) You can add celery if you wish. For many years our daughter was allergic, so we only add a bit for flavor.
4) About 15-20 minutes before you are going to serve the soup just add rice noodles or pre-cooked rice.

It's so easy!

Recipe - Birthday Cupcakes

Hello,

These are the cupcakes that I made during the few years when my daughter was able to eat gluten containing flours. They were so light and fluffy and tasted so good that I was even willing to share them with adults and friends who did not have allergies. This recipe can really only be used for cupcakes or sheet cake because the cake is so light that it falls apart if you try to make any other kind of cake, especially layer cakes or shaped cakes. I have not tried to make this recipe as a gluten free cake, but I may try soon. I'll let you know how it goes.

Birthday Cupcakes

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 cup butter or margarine (Fleischmann's Unsalted Margarine (contains soy) or Spectrum Shortening (contains palm))
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs (1 tbsp. Ener-G Egg Replacer and 4 tbsp. water)
1 1/4 cup milk (We use Westsoy Rice Beverage with vanilla flavor)

For Cake

1) Grease and lightly flour a 9"x13" baking pan; set aside. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
2) In a large mixing bowl beat butter, margarine or shortening with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar and vanilla; beat till well combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating 1 minute after each. Add dry mixture and milk alternately to beaten mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
3) Bake in a 375 º F oven for 30-35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cool layer cakes in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove layer cakes from pans. Cool on racks. Frost. Serves 12.

For Cupcakes

1) Prepare cake as seen above. Put cupcake wrappers in cupcake pan. Fill each cup about 3/4 full. Bake in 375 º F oven for 18-20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. (I usually start checking after about 16 minutes.) Cool. Makes approximately 24 cupcakes.

Recipe - Apple Saute

Hello,

We use this apple saute as a dessert.

Apple Saute

1) Slice a few large apples (2-4).
2) Add about a tbsp. of oil to a pan.
3) Saute the apples until they are soft.
4) Sprinkle sugar on apples and serve warm.

You can also add cinnamon or lemon juice if your children can stand these tastes.

Recipe - Homemade Applesauce

Hello,

We like to make our own applesauce sometimes. It is a great treat, but I'm not sure we are saving any money!

Homemade Applesauce

9 peeled and cored apples sliced in half
1 cup of water
1/2 - 2/3 cup of sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon (optional) (We avoid.)

Add all ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer uncovered for 8-10 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes and then add to blender or food processor and blend to desired consistency.

Travel/Lunch - Food Containers

Hello,

I just recently found these small plastic containers that do not contain BPAs. Now honestly, I've been trying to cut down on using plastics, but these have been very helpful for lunchboxes and travel. They hold the perfect child portion of fruits, veggies and even cookies and nothing gets crushed. They do not pop open and you can use the ice pack if you are going to be gone all day. We use something larger when we pack chicken nuggets, meatballs, and salad.

Mixes - Cherrybrook Kitchen

Hello,

For the first few years that my daughter had food allergies, there were no mixes that we could have used even if we had wanted to. We were so delighted when Cherrybrook Kitchen came along. http://www.cherrybrookkitchen.com/ Even though I was delighted that there was a mix that was free of dairy, egg and nuts I was too scared to try it with my daughter. We had had so many minor and even anaphylactic reactions with items that were supposed to be free of her major allergens. When I finally got up the courage to try the mixes, there was still the issue of the price. When Katie loved the taste and did not break out, I finally decided to buy some boxes of the yellow cake and icing for emergencies (when someone told me an hour before an event that there was going to be cake.) and for our birthday or special occassion baking. The mixes were great because they tasted more like regular cake than any other mix available to allergic children at that time. They also were great for our birthday and special occassion baking because I could create designs or make layer cakes that would not fall apart due to the lack binding that eggs provide in a recipe.

Cherrybrook Kitchens not only has mixes free of dairy, egg and nuts, but it also has mixes that are gluten free. The company provides mixes for cake, cookies, pancakes, muffins, icing, etc. My daughter said that the gluten free yellow cake mix is so good that she does not even need icing. Now that's saying something!

Recipe - Easter Bunny Cake

Who says your child can't have a great Easter dessert? Now honestly I was in a hurry with this one and never even thought of posting the picture, so it's not the best, but I hope it will encourage you to try.

I used the gluten free yellow cake mix and white icing from Cherrybrook Kitchen. I added Spectrum shortening and water/rice milk to make it a bit more creamy and shiny. I made poofs of icing around the mouth and used Wilton's pink and black icing and one pink jellybean for decoration.

Recipe - Chocolate and Strawberry Dessert

For Valentine's Day this year I decided to create something extra special for the children. Katie has just started eating things that have a chocolate taste, so I came up with this idea. I used the gluten free chocolate cake mix from Cherrybrook Kitchen and poured it into a heart-shaped cupcake pan. I happened to find mine on sale at Wegman's, but if you do not have one, you could simply make a sheet cake and use heart-shaped cookie cutters. After the cake was done I sprinkled it with powdered sugar, surrounded it with cut strawberries in a glaze made from powdered sugar and water, and then placed the small heart shaped chocolate on top. I was able to make the heart shaped chocolate by melting approximately a cup of Enjoy Life semi-sweet chocolate chips with approximately 1/2 tbls. or less of corn oil. This was an experiment, so I do not have the exact measurements. I then placed the melted chocolate into some heart shaped silicone (or flexible plastic) ice cube trays. I put the chocolate in the freezer for about 15 minutes, popped the chocolates out and placed them on top of the chocolate cake. The kids were thrilled.

Recipe - Barbeque Meatballs

Hello,

This is a recipe I remember from parties when I was growing up. It is not the most healthy thing out there, but I have made it from time to time when we were going to parties where we needed to have some finger or toothpick sized items so that Katie's plate would look similar to everyone else's.

Barbeque Meatballs

1 lb ground meat (I usually use close to 2 lbs.)
1 8-12 oz jar of organic grape jam
1 12 oz jar Heinz Chili Sauce

To make the meatballs a bit more tender:
use fattier meat 80/20

Add bread crumbs before you make the meatballs:
Use a food processor to make tiny bread crumbs from Food for Life Brown Rice Bread
Crush a sandwhich bag full of Cascadian Farms Rice Crunch Cereal

In a slow cooker, set on high, combine the grape jam and chili sauce. Heat until the jam is melted. In the meantime, roll the hamburger meat (or the hamburger meat and crumbs) into balls and place in the crockpot. Lower the heat to Low and cook for about 4-5 hours.

Recipe - Beef Crockpot Stew

Hello,

This is a variation on Beef Stew.

Beef Crockpot Stew

2 lbs. stew beef
1 lb of carrots (about 5)
5 stalks of celery
3-4 golden potatoes (or red skinned potatoes)
1/2 cup quick cooking tapioca
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 1/4 cups water

1) Saute the meat in a pan until cooked. Put the meat and its drippings into the crockpot.
2) Peel the carrots and dice them.
3) Dice the celery
4) Cut the potatoes into small squares.
5) Put the meat, vegetables, tapioca, seasonings and water into a 3 quart crockpot and stir to distribute the tapioca.
6) Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or on high for 6 hours.
7) If you prefer a juicer stew, add some boiling water to it about one hour before the stew will be finished cooking.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Recipe - Brunswick Stew

Hello,

I borrowed this recipe from a friend. It has a lot of ingredients that Katie cannot eat, but I thought it might be helpful for someone else. I wrote the estimates for a smaller family in parenthesis at the end of each line.

Brunswick Stew

3 4 lb whole broiler chickens (1)
4 cups Chicken Stock (1 1/3) (We make our own.)
8 cups water (2 2/3)
Coarse Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 lb. thick-cut bacon, cut into 2" pieces and cooked (1/6 lb) (I just crumble up a lot and add the juices as well.)
6 large yellow onions, chopped coarsely (2)
6 garlic cloves, cut in half (2)
6 large ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and quartered (2) (Fresh, hot tomatoes peel easily)
18 Yellow Finn potatoes, peeled and diced (6)
6 cups fresh lima beans or 3 10 oz. pkgs. frozen (1 10 oz.)
8 ears corn, husked and cut into 1" rounds (2 2/3 cups of regular corn)
3 tbls. Worchestershire sauce (1)
6 tbls. (3/4 stick) unsalted butter (2)

In a large, shallow pot, simmer the chickens with the chicken stock, water and salt and pepper over low heat until they are tender, about 1 hour. Skim the broth often. (Allow it tastes better if you do not.) :)

Remove the chickens from the pot to a bowl to cool. Return the broth to the stove, increase the heat to high, and reduce the broth by one quarter. Return the heat to low and continue to simmer.

Remove and discard the skin and bones from the chickens, keeping the meat in pieces as large as possible. Return the chicken meat to the broth and add the bacon, onions, garlic, tomatoes, potatoes and lima beans and simmer for 1 hour, constantly skimming the pot.

Recipe - Katie-safe Chicken Cordon Blue

Hello,

Before I was introduced to the world of food allergies by my precious little girl, my husband and I ate pre-packaged frozen Chicken Cordon Blue quite often. It was mouthwatering when prepared with garlic mashed potatoes, southern cooked green beans, candied carrots, fresh bread, and salad, but I digress. Here is an allergy friendly version of the same thing.

Chicken Cordon Blue

1) Fry or microwave any type of bacon (We now use a nitrate/nitrite free bacon.)
2) Take a chicken breast and pound it flat, then place the bacon inside and roll or fold the chicken in half. (Or if you are really lazy or have a sleeping child, just cut the breast length-wise.)
3) Place the pre-cooked bacon in the middle of the chicken
4) Dredge the chicken in Southern Homestyle Tortilla Crumbs (available at Wegman's), and fry in hot oil (as little as possible) If you need other alternatives for breading, please check out the Chicken Nugget recipe.

This actually smells and tastes better than the frozen version, and I am sure it is much healthier for you (minus the frying, breading, bacon...) It certainly made my little girl happier. Enjoy!

Recipe - Chicken Nuggets, Strips or Pieces

Hello,

These are our very favorite chicken nuggets. Kids love them and no one can tell they are allergy friendly. I have listed several variations of the same general idea.

Chicken Nuggets, Strips or Pieces - Easy Version

Cut the breast to the size you wish and dip it in a bowl of Southern Homestyle Tortilla Crumbs (or Corn Crumbs - both available at Wegman's). Fry in a pan with a little bit of oil. Place on paper towels to absorb the extra oil and salt to taste. (This really doesn't work for baking because unless you have a margarine you can use (which we do not) the chicken comes out too dry.) (We also tried dipping our chicken in potato chips, tortilla chips, pretzels, rice krispies, etc. before we finally found our much loved Tortilla Crumbs. All of the above work well the day of, but are soggy the next day.)

Chicken Nuggets, Strips or Pieces - More Time Intensive Versions

Prepare two bowls, one with a mixture of rice milk and oil and one with a mixture of (opt 1.) just Southern Homestyle Tortilla Crumbs, (opt 2.) Southern Homestyle Tortilla Crumbs and any gluten free flour or Bob's Old Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour, (opt 3.) a mixture of gluten free flour, cornmeal and salt. If you use cornmeal, you will want a mixture that is equal parts cornmeal and flour or a mixture of 1 part flour to 2 parts cornmeal. (The thing to remember with cornmeal is that it can get pretty hard even on the first day you make it, and if you refrigerate it and reheat it, the breading can just fall off and make a big mess the next day.) Dip the chicken in the rice milk and oil mixture and then into the breading mixture. If you want very breaded nuggets, repeat the dipping sequence again. Fry the nuggets in oil and serve.

Recipe - Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Hello,

This recipe is not gluten free, but it was a staple during the 3 years after Katie "got over" her allergy to wheat and gluten and before we were told that she needed to avoid wheat and gluten once again. The thing I love about this recipe is that no one could ever tell that it did not have milk or eggs. Everyone loved these cookies.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) margarine, softened (Fleischman's Unsalted Margarine (contains soy) or Spectrum Shortening (contains palm))
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs (1 tbsp. Ener-G Egg Replacer + 4 tbls. water)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I miss those days!) (You could try Bob's Old Red Mill Gluten Free Baking Flour)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon (We avoid.)
1/2 tsp. salt (optional)
3 cups Quaker Oats (These contain gluten.)
1 cup raisins (We avoid. Do not use if your child is sensitive to Salicylates.)

Heat oven to 350 º F. Beat together margarine and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda and salt; mix well. Stir in oats and raisins (if using); mix well. Drop by rounded teaspoonfulls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet. Remove to wire rack. Makes 4 dozen. For bar cookies, bake 30-35 minutes in ungreased 13"x9" baking pan. These store and freeze well.

Recipe - Peach Cobbler

Hello,

I am still in the process of trying to make the cobbler in this Peachy Cobbler thicker, and more like the cobbler I grew up with. I tried doubling the cobbler portion, and I am still working out the exact Xanthan Gum proportions, but it still tastes good. It is especially good over ice cream which I will be posting a recipe for soon.

Peachy Cobbler

2 cups (29 oz can) sliced cling peaches, drained
3 tbsp. lemon juice
1 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon (We omit.)
3/4 cup flour (Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. Xanthan Gum
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup milk (We use Westsoy Rice Beverage, Vanilla flavor.)
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted (Fleischman's Unsalted Margarine, Spectrum Shortening, or oil)

Arrange drained, sliced peaches in a 9" or 10" square baking pan. Pour on lemon juice. Spread brown sugar over peaches. Sprinkle on cinnamon.

In a mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt. Add milk and beat until smooth. Batter will be very thin. (You can choose to double the cobbler portion, but you will need to bake the cobbler longer.)

Pour batter over peaches and brown sugar. Drizzle melted butter or margarine over batter.

Bake in preheated 350 º F oven for about 35 minutes. Makes 8-10 servings.

Recipe - Banana Bread

Hello,

This is a recipe for my Grandmother's Banana Bread. O.k., it used to be banana nut bread and I continued to call it that long after my sweet little girl was diagnosed with anaphylaxsis to nuts. She used to eat a slice of this every day for breakfast. Now at age ten her tastes have changed so I only make it occassionally for my other two sweeties. They have amazing metabolisms and can eat an entire loaf without even the slightest weight gain.

I will post the original recipe with my allergy substitutions.

Banana Bread

3 very ripe bananas (from spotted all the way to black and slimy)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup melted oil or butter (Fleischman's Unsalted Margarine, Corn oil, Spectrum Shortening)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg (beaten) (1 1/2 tsp. Ener-G Egg Replacer + 2 tbsp. water)
1 1/2 cups flour (Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour)
1/2 - 1 tsp. Xanthan Gum


Put bananas into a bowl and mix or mash. Add other ingredients. Grease and flour bread pan. Turn mixture into bread pan and bake for 1 hour at 350 º F. Bread is done when a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

NOTE: The picture above has 1 cup of chocolate chips added to the banana bread batter.

Recipe - Sorghum Dinner Rolls

Hello,

Since becoming a gluten-free family, I have avoided making dinner rolls. Any attempts at rolls have all been certifiable disasters. I keep trying to tell my children that we don't need to have rolls and that they really aren't healthy, but they aren't buying it. I finally decided to try a roll recipe from my FAVORITE allergy cookbook. Honestly, if you can only buy one food allergy cookbook, this is the one to buy. I have at least 30 different allergy cookbooks (shh! Don't remind my husband.) and this is the one I use the most, as it has the highest success rate. So, I picked the Sorghum recipe and tried it. You may not want to eat the rolls plain, but they do taste great with jelly which was what my children really wanted in the first place! Check out the book for more ideas. The Super Allergy Girl Gluten-Free, Casein-Free, Nut-Free Allergy & Celiac Cookbook: From a Mother Who Knows by Lisa A. Lundy - GO OUT AND BUY IT!

Check out the Garfava roll recipe that I posted from her site.

Recipe - Pork Tenderloin

Hello,

This is so ridiculously easy that it almost seems silly to post it, but honestly when your brain if full of all the things your child can't eat it is nice to see something easy that they can eat. Now when my daughter was little, ages 0-9, she could not tolerate any spice or condiment other than salt. Thankfully, and probably because of the help of our doctor and Liquid Zinc (which our daughter was deficient in and which the doctor claimed would broaden our daughter's palate and it seems to have done so), as she has become less allergic to things she has also been able to add a few things that used to taste funny to her to her diet.

Easy Pork Tenderloin

3-5 lbs of Pork Tenderloin cut into two long strips
1/2 cup or more of filtered water to fill the bottom of the glass pan and about 1/4 inch of the tenderloin

To Taste:
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder

Sprinkle salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder over the entire pork tenderloin, flip it and repeat on other side. Loosely cover the pan with aluminum foil so that steam can release from at least one side. You can bake at 350 º for about 40-50 minutes or until meat thermometer shows that the meat is done. This will be incredibly tender and juicy.

Recipe - Coffee Cake w/ Chocolate Chips

Hello,

I just tried a new recipe from Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. I hope she won't mind if I post just one recipe. I don't know what took me so long to start checking out Vegan cookbooks. They choose to avoid what we must avoid. This has opened up a whole new world of recipes to try. Please check out her book. It is awesome! By the way, I started using Bob's Old Red Mill All Purpose Baking Flour instead of mixing my own. It makes gluten free baking seem so much easier! (As always, I am going to post the original recipe in case you are able to use ingredients that we cannot.)

East Coast Coffee Cake w/ Allergy Free Chocolate Chips!!

For the Topping:

1 cup all-purpose flour (Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Baking Flour)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon (We avoid.)
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg (We avoid.)
1/4 cup canola oil, plus up to 2 tbls. more if needed (Corn oil works well too.)
0 to 1/2 tsp. Xanthan Gum

For the Cake:

3/4 cup soy milk (We use Westsoy Rice Beverage, Vanilla Flavor.)
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar (We use Bragg's Appl Cider Vinegar.)
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil (or corn)
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Flour)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 - 1 1/2 tsp. Xanthan Gum
1 or more cups of Enjoy Life brand semi-sweet chocolate chips (dairy, nut and soy free)

For serving:

2 tbls powdered sugar (I did this once, but I usually just up the brown sugar in the topping.)


1) Preheat the oven to 375 º F. Lightly grease an 8" round springform pan or an 8" square pan.

2) Measure out the milk for the cake and mix in the teaspoon of vinegar; set aside to curdle. Then begin preparing the topping.

3) The topping - In a small mixing bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Drizzle in the canola oil by the tablespoonful. Use your fingers or a pastry blender to swish around the mixture until crumbs form. Alternate swishing and adding canola oil until all the oil is used and large crumbs have formed. Some of the topping is still going to be sandy and that's fine (Allergy - I honestly find that it is wet, but it still cooks and tastes good.) You can add another tablespoon or two of oil if needed; it seems to vary for me how much I use and if there's a reason I can't tell you why.

4) The cake - In a large mixing bowl, mix together the milk mixture, sugar, canola oil, and vanilla. Sift in the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix until smooth. Add about 1 cup of Enjoy Life brand semi-sweet chocolate chips and mix well. Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan. Evenly sprinkle on the topping and pat it down just a bit. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a knife inserted through the center comes out clean.

5) Let cool for at least an hour before slicing and serving. (Allergy - We never wait.) Sift optional powdered sugar over the top once cooled.

6) She lists multiple variations for this coffe cake in her book.

This keeps and travels well. I send it as an on-the-go snack in a small plastic container.

Recipe - Corn Fritters

Hello,

In the past few days, we have tried a few special things that we do not usually eat. I would like to share a few of the recipes with you. The first recipe is for corn fritters. Now, they do not taste as sweet as those made with regular flour, but if you use Xanthan Gum to make them fluffy, and then dip them in powdered sugar before you eat them, they taste pretty good. They are not going to be as satisfactory to an adult's palate, but my kid's gobble them up.

We are currently avoiding wheat, gluten, soy (in any form including oil), dairy, egg, peanuts, tree nuts, seeds, etc. I am going to post the recipe as I found it and then put our substitutions in parenthesis in case you are able to use some of the ingredients which we cannot.

Corn Fritters

1 cup all purpose gluten free flour (Mix your own or check if you can use Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour or Arrowhead Mills (which in my opinion is not as good).)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs (1 tbsp. Ener-G Egg Replacer and 4 tbsp. water)
1/3 cup milk (We use Westsoy Rice Beverage, Vanilla Flavor.)
1 can (15.5 oz) whole kernal corn, drained (We always use 2 plus cups of frozen corn.)
1 tbsp. butter or margarine, melted (Fleischman's Unsalted Margarine works well if you can tolerate soy, or Spectrum Organic Shortening if you can tolerate palm. Plain corn oil isn't as good although you can try to add more Xanthan Gum.)
Salt to taste

Powdered sugar and/or maple syrup

In a bowl, combine flour and baking powder; set aside. In another bowl, beat the eggs and milk; stir in corn and butter, margarine or shortening. Stir into dry ingredients just until blended. Drop batter by heaping teaspoons into hot oil and fry for 2-3 minutes, flipping the fritters as needed. Drain on paper towels. Dust with powdered sugar and serve with syrup, or just let your kids dip the fritters in a little sugar on their plates. Makes about 2 dozen.

The purpose of this blog

Hello,

I am writing this blog to share what I have learned as the mom of a special needs, food allergic child. I will tell more of our story as I go along, but for now I will say that from birth my sweet child was sick and no doctor could explain what was going on. It was not until 14 months of age that she was finally diagnosed with severe food allergies and anaphylaxsis. You may think, "Is that it?" No, but that is where I am going to start. I hope to share recipes and resources for help on your journey to providing a joyful life for your child.