Happy Easter!

I love holidays. All holidays. But Easter and Christmas are my favorites. I'm a huge fan of "The Bunny", egg hunts, the arrival of spring, time with family..but above all, I love the spirit Easter brings. It is always such a powerful holiday for me and my faith. Hearing the story of Christ's death and resurrection is just so moving. It is always such a powerful reminder that he died for each of us and to take our sins. By His wounds we are healed. I don't know that my human mind will ever be able to wrap my mind around this. He died for us as we are, not who we will become, not who we should be, but who we are right now. He loved us so much that he allowed himself to be beaten, spat on, tortured and nailed to a cross in agony. It is also such a needed reminder to me that he understands pain, doubt, fear.. and can always understand anything we ever feel.
Now that Collins is 5, she is starting to understand more about the true meaning of Easter. Sure, we still have tons of fun with all the Easter Bunny stuff, but I love that now she can also understand the true reason we celebrate!
Today after visiting The Easter Bunny, we came home and made Resurrection Rolls together (the Collins friendly version, of course). They were really simple and SO tasty (I may or may not have eaten 3). Making these rolls together is a great way to go through the story of the resurrection with your kiddos! This is what we did..

Resurrection Rolls 

1 can of original Pilsbury Crescent Rolls

8 large marshmallows

1/4 cup of Earth Balance butter (or butter of choice)

2 Tablespoons of Sugar

1 Teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

Separate crescent rolls into individual triangles, and lay out on counter or wax paper. Melt butter in a small bowl. mix sugar and cinnamon in a separate small bowl. Dip a large marshmallow into melted butter, then roll in sugar mixture. Place marshmallow into the center of a dough triangle. Carefully wrap the dough around the marshmallow. Pinch the seams together tightly to seal in marshmallow as it melts ( I recommend you wrapping them for your children if they are younger to make sure they are sealed).Place on a silpat or parchment paper on a baking sheet.

Bake in a preheated oven until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Allow to cool about 5 minutes before opening.

While you make the rolls, make sure you walk through the story with your kids!

1. the Marshmallow is Jesus' body (and it is white because Jesus was pure and without sin)

2. Dip Jesus' body in the butter, which represents the oils that he was embalmed with

3. Next dip the marshmallow into the cinnamon and sugar, which symbolizes the spices placed on his body to prepare him for burial

4. Place the marshmallow in the center of a crescent roll triangle, which is the tomb. Wrap the dough tightly around the marshmallow, sealing all edges, so that Jesus will be trapped inside (and you don't have a marshmallowy mess lol).

5. Place them in the oven for 3 Days (or 10 minutes ;0) and allow to cool a few min.

6. Now let your child open the tomb to see what is inside..The marshmallow is gone! (melted) And Jesus has risen!

Happy Easter everyone!!

Soup Weather is Finally Here!

I love soup- chicken and rice, potato, roasted red pepper, vegetable, broccoli cheddar.. I'm getting hungry just writing this! A few days ago I had some chicken that needed to be cooked but I didn't have anything planned for it, and with a fussy baby I really didn't want to go to the store to buy anything to go with it.. So I headed to the pantry to see what I could come up with. I had plenty of chicken stock and canned veggies and beans , so I decided to create a soup. It tastes great, is very healthy, and feeds a crowd!

Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup
(Dairy/egg/soy/nut free, low fat, no packaged seasonings!)

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs uncooked chicken breasts 

6 cups chicken stock of choice ( I use Swanson)

1 can fire roasted tomatoes

1 can cannelloni beans, rinsed and drained 

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained 

1 can chili beans in sauce 

1.5 cups of frozen sweet corn or 1 can corn, drained

1-1.5 cups finely diced onion (depending on how much you like onion)

1 tsp salt

2 tablespoons Penzeys Buttermilk Ranch seasoning  (it's dairy free, clean eating, and so good!) or ranch powder of choice

1 tsp garlic powder 

2.5 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

A pinch of crushed red pepper if desired

Directions: 

Spray inside of crockpot with cooking spray ( check label) or lightly coat w olive oil. Trim fat off chicken breasts and cut each breast in half. Season each side liberally with salt and pepper. Place in crockpot. Place all other ingredients on top. Close the lid and cook for 4 hrs on high or 7 on low. When there is 30 minutes left of cooking time, remove all chicken and shred with a fork (meat should just fall apart. If not it needs more cooking time). Add meat back in the cooker and allow to cook last 30 minutes. 

Serve with tortilla chips and any desired garnishes

Kicking the Can for Thanksgiving!

I love thanksgiving. Seeing family, the awesome traditional southern thanksgiving food, and my dad's famous wild turkey just tops it off! It is seriously amazing.
One food I miss cutting out dairy and soy of my diet is green bean casserole. Usually green bean casserole is a simple concoction of green beans, milk, crispy Onions and cream of mushroom soup. Not only is cream of mushroom soup not an option for us because of the dairy, but also.. Have you ever looked at the ingredients in it? Not too great. I think I've created a good green bean casserole without it! So whether you want to kick the can due to allergens or if you just want a cleaner version, this green bean casserole will be a hit!

Green Bean Casserole
2 cans French cut green beans, well drained
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 tablespoons earth balance or butter of choice
1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4-1/2 teaspoons pepper
1/8 teaspoons garlic powder
1/8-1/4 teaspoons Tony Chachere's seasoning (spicy so less if you don't want much kick. This is optional. adjust salt and pepper if you omit this)
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup regular rice milk or milk of choice
Crunchy onions

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 8x8 glass dish.
In a medium skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of butter on medium heat.
As soon as butter melts add in flour while wisking it all together for about one minute.
Add in broth and milk slowly, wisking constantly. Add seasonings. Continue wisking until no lumps and completely combined. Add WELL drained green beans (I hold a paper towel over can after draining to get excess liquid off). After a couple of minutes pour mixture into glass dish and bake in oven uncovered for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and top with crispy onions and place back in the oven uncovered for 10 minutes. Let casserole cool about 5-10 min before serving. Sauce thickens as it cools.
Happy Thanksgiving!!

A not so Tricky Halloween Birthday Party!

Halloween is one of the most stressful and frustrating times of the year with food allergies. Peanuts, Dairy, Egg, Soy.. you name the allergen(s) you are avoiding and Halloween is filled with them! And for many children Halloween isn't just one day. There are fall festivals, school parties, neighborhood parties, etc.

Can I be brutally honest here? Halloween seriously stresses me out, frustrates me, makes me sad during many moments, and I really don't look forward to it. There. I said it. Why you ask?
My spunky and precious little girl loves to dress up, loves games, and loves the idea of Halloween. But when she gets a note home from school saying they are having a "letter hunt" for Halloween, and all the kids will be searching for Tootsie Rolls, Twix, Oreos, etc.. For every other child this sounds great! But for my daughter, this means she will be running around hunting for treats she can't eat, and then have to give them back while she sees all the other kids eating and enjoying their finds. Makes me so sad. and frustrated. This is just one of many situations we deal with. It just breaks my heart for Collins..and all children with food allergies. We participate in the Teal Pumpkin Project, but not many people in our area do. So, usually about 95% of the treats she gets that night I have to take away from her :( I do have a trade out bag of "Collins Kosher" treats that I give her later, but I know its not as fun or exciting (but hey- I do the best I can!).

So this year we decided to just stare Halloween right in the face, and make Collins' 5th birthday party a...Halloween Theme! Can ya believe it?! The lady who gets anxiety just thinking of Halloween decided to have a Halloween themed party. Crazy, but brilliant if I do say so myself! We made her party full of Halloween fun and filled with treats and goodies..but EVERYTHING was safe for her to eat! It was awesome to see her just run around, be a kid, play games, eat whatever she wanted and never once have to worry if she will have a reaction and never once tell her she can't have something or hear her ask if she is allergic to the candy and food. It made all the work I put into the party 100% worth it!!

Here are some of the things we had at the party:

Cupcakes (Duncan Hines classic yellow and devils food made with Ener-G Egg Replacer for eggs and safflower oil instead of veg. oil)  with buttercream and chocolate fudge icing (Soy Free Earth Balance for butter and Silk Original Almond Milk for milk)

• Spiders! (publix greenwise golden round crackers, brown sugar, smooth almond butter, thin pretzel sticks, enjoy life chocolate chips). Mix almond butter and brown sugar. Place a spoonfull ontop of one cracker. break about 1/4 of the end of  6 pretzel sticks. place 3 sticks on each side of cracker (to make 'legs'). Place cracker on top like a sandwich. dab a small amount of almond butter sugar mixture onto a chocolate chip or a raisin (its easiest if you apply with a toothpick). Voila! Spider Snacks!

• Clementines or Mandarin oranges with faces drawn on
• Chips
• Utz Halloween Pretzels

• Turkey Dog Mummies (Pilsbury regular crescent rolls, Oscar Mayer Selects Turkey Dogs). 

Jack-o-lantern veggie tray (baby carrots, celery, hummus, 2 black olives, broccoli). I didn't get this set out in time, so I don't have a picture but this but I'm going to post a picture of a similar idea. I did carrots around, two small circular dishes to put hummus in for eye balls, then placed one black olive in the middle for the iris, broccoli stem and celery for the nose and mouth

• Candy Corn Cotton Candy- I actually found this at the Dollar Tree!

• Dum Dums and Yum Earth sucker ghosts (draw faces on facial tissue, place over the sucker, tie a string or thin ribbon underneath sucker)

• Jet Puffed Candy Corn Marshmallows

• Monster Hands:Orville Reddenbacher's Simply Salted Popcorn in plastic monster hand gloves from Oriental Trading ( you could also just use clear food service gloves)

• Witches Brew! fill plastic ice trays with any juice or punch of choice, and put a couple of allergy friendly gummy worms in each cube and freeze. Place a  a very large bowl or bucket for your punch inside an even larger bowl or bucket. carefully place dry ice around the outside of the inside bowl. Fill your inside bowl with punch and ice cubes. spritz water on your dry ice to create fog.

• Pinata what child doesn't love a good pinata! I purchased treat bags for the kids, spray painted a pinata shaped like a five black (to go with our halloween theme), and filled it will all kinds of Collins friendly treats- Surf Sweets gummies, Yum Earth gummy bears and worms and suckers, dum dums, bouncy balls, vampire teeth, bubbles, stickers, skittles, glow bracelets, pretzel bags, tattoos, tiny play dough containers, slap bracelets, candy rings, candy bracelets. 

The party was at a playground, so we didn't do a ton of other activites. The kids Painted little pumpkins (which they all seemed to really like). We Played wrap the mummy- each child got a partner and they received one roll of toilet paper. On the word "mummy!" the partner that was the wrapper would wrap the other child (mummy) as fast as possible. The first group done wins! 

Oh! And I had some Monster Repellent to spray on the kids to keep the monsters away during the party (aka temporary hair and body glitter)

 Food allergies can be tricky (pun intended) during the Halloween season, but I'm so happy Collins was able to celebrate her birthday AND Halloween this year with all of her friends!

Hope you all have a happy and safe Halloween!!

Leah

P.S

For anyone interested in participating in the Teal Pumpkin Project, it is so simple!! you don't have to paint a teal pumpkin, but i would print out a flyer from FARE. Non food treats can be found in the halloween section in Michaels, Target (they also carry yum earth and surf sweet allergy safe candy!!),  Dollar Tree,Walmart and Oriental Trading.

Here is the link for the free flyers to print for the Teal Pumpkin Project: TEAL

An honest talk...with an awesome sugar cookie recipe on the side!

It has been waaay too long since I have written! I was pregnant with our second little angel, Wynn (who just turned 4 months yesterday!), and I had Hyperemesis Gravidarum throughout my ENTIRE pregnancy. If you don't know much about 'HG' it is extreme nausea and vomiting in pregnancy that only affects .2-.5% of all pregnant women..and no it is NOT morning sickness! My favorite quote on comparing HG to morning sickness comes from Dr Jennifer Ashton (host and obgyn on The Doctors TV show): "This (HG) is like morning sickness like a hurricane is a little bit of rain."

I was in and out of the hospital throughout my pregnancy and even had to stay 10 consecutive days at one point. It was rough. beyond rough..especially dealing with being so sick and trying to still take care of a toddler. But now I have a precious little baby, and I'm so grateful he is here!

When Wynn was born, he was having about 10 bms (poops) a day while we were still in the hospital. yikes. When we got home, those increased to about 15-17 a day and were..well..bc we are about to talk food..lets just say they were far from normal. Anyway, he cried a ton and also became covered in rashes. My pediatrician told me to go ahead and cut egg, soy, and dairy out of my diet. I was REALLY hoping that would solve things but he then started having bloody diapers just like Collins even after cutting those foods out. Our ped thinks Wynn has allergies and a fat intolerance like Collins, so I am now on that diet and things are much better. They are definitely far from perfect-I won't get into details- but his skin now looks awesome, he is gaining tons of weight, and cries less. Wynn has horrible reflux (projectile) like Collins still and other issues still lingering, so I hope we can figure those out, but for now I am grateful for progress.

and now..

But through being grateful, if I'm honest, I'm still really struggling. Its really tough to be a mom to a 4.5 year old who is really on the go, has food and environmental allergies and a fat intolerance, and wants a ton of attention, a baby that that has the same dietary issues, is still crying a lot, who still wants to nurse every 2.5 hrs, is having a ton of relux, blowouts-omg the laundry, and now I'M back on the diet of no egg, soy, dairy, pork, beef, peanut, cashew, etc, and trying to cook all the time.

I feel like I just can't "get it together" these days. Wynn is four months old, I still haven't written most of my thank you notes from my BABY SHOWER (embarrassing), I haven't even started on birth announcements (maybe I'll send them out with his first birthday invite? lol), I look like I rolled out of bed most days..and probably smell like spit up, I have very little patience with Collins and my husband, my house is a WRECK (no exaggeration), I keep forgetting everything- calling people back, replying to messages, dates, you name it.

I see moms that just have these great pregnancies, have their babies who have zero issues and they skip right back into life..and honestly its tough to see sometimes! While I am happy for them, it is so incredibly hard not to allow the devil into my mind and feel jealous at times..or even angry! But, I am choosing to be grateful (90 percent of the time ;) ). I'm grateful for this little lovie that I'm holding as I type, I'm grateful for my sassy and smart four year old, and for husband that loves me. I also have to say a HUGE HUGE thank you to my good friends. I am beyond grateful for their support through all of this- visits in the hospital and always checking on me and helping me during my pregnancy, always checking on Wynn since he has arrived, helping me, supporting me..wow. I am blown away by them and will never be able to thank them enough!
I'm choosing to focus on what is going RIGHT, choosing to focus on our many blessings, focus on how amazing it is that Wynn and Collins are as healthy as they are! Its a choice. Its a daily moment by moment choice. And we all have that choice..no matter what we are dealing with. You choose anger, or you choose joy. You chose resentment or you choose forgiveness. You choose gratitude or you choose to be ungrateful.   

NOW! Since I haven't written in so long, I have so many recipes I haven't posted..so hopefully I can get to those sooner than later..but today, Let's talk about something SWEET!...like...COOKIES!!

Are you Dairy free, Egg free, Soy Free..or Vegan? These cookies cover all the bases, and no matter what diet you are on they taste great!! Husband and kid approved :)

SUGAR COOKIES with POWDERED SUGAR ICING

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar 
• 1 cup of Earth Balance butter (we use soy free), softened
• 2 1/2 tsp Ener-G egg replacer powder mixed with 4 Tablespoons of warm water
• 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp butter extract (check label to be dairy free)
• 1/4 tsp almond extract
• plastic wrap

Icing:

• 2 Tablespoons of almond milk or non dairy milk of choice (I prefer original silk almond)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
•  1 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Stir egg replacer powder and warm water in a small bowl or mug.

In a large bowl, mix both sugars, butter, egg mixture, and extracts together. Now add in remaining ingredients- baking soda, flour, cream of tartar. Your dough will be slightly crumbly but you should be able to shape it with your hands. Separate dough into 3 large balls..or blobs ha. wrap them in plastic wrap and flatten slightly. Put dough in the fridge for 2 hrs. 

When you are ready to bake the cookies- preheat oven to 350. Take out one section of dough out at the time (you don't want the dough to sit out and get warm). lightly flour your counter top. Rub a small amount of safflower oil (or veg oil) or spray with allergy safe cooking spray. Roll out dough and cut into shapes. Place cookies on prepared baking sheet (I highly recommend using a silpat liner, but you can also just grease your pan). you could add sprinkles at this point if you arent using icing. Bake for 7-8 min or until edges are slightly brown. Cookies will not be brown on the top. The cookies harden over the next few minutes after removed from the oven. 

Icing: simply stir together all ingredients, and feel free to add allergy safe food dye to color them. Spread on cooled cookies. Store in the refrigerator.

before they are baked..

Hard to see but some of these have sprinkles on top..

 This one is really misshapen, but you get the idea..

~ FALLing for Pumpkin ~

I LOVE Fall.. The smells, the beautiful leaves, and...PUMPKIN EVERYTHING! Everywhere you turn, people are experiencing the glorious taste of pumpkin- in pies, cakes, scones, coffee, the ever famous Pumpkin Spice Latte, and more..and I love it! One of my favorite pumpkin treats is pumpkin bread or muffins. It is perfect for a nice fall breakfast or as a mid-day snack.

Last week we were at Disney World for 5 amazing days, and before we left I thought I would try to create a pumpkin bread that was Collins friendly but that was also a little healthier than many varieties that we could take along for the trip. Now, if you are looking for no sugar, no oil, all wheat bread, this isn't it! But the white flour and sugar are reduced and I use unsweetened apple sauce for half of the oil. I think it turned out quite well! Collins is not a fan of trying new things (which is REALLY frustrating when you are already cooking with many restrictions), but I told her the muffin was a "gingerbread cupcake" and she ate and loved it! 

Now onto the recipe..

{Healthier} Pumpkin Bread

(Dairy, Egg, Soy Free)

Ingredients

• 1 can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling(
• 1/2 cup safflower oil (you can use vegetable oil, but safflower is healthier)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (I love King Arthur Whole Wheat Flour)
• 2 cups all purpose white flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda (not baking powder)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 4 eggs (or 6 egg whites to lighten it up) or  for egg free recipe use equivalent of 4 eggs with Ener-G Egg Replacer (6 teaspoons powder in a small bowl with 1/2 cup warm water. stir together. set aside)
• 1/4 teaspoon Vanilla Extract (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease two loaf pans ( I use Pam grilling spray bc it is soy free and most other sprays contain soy). You can also do one loaf pan and make the rest as muffins, which is what i normally do. 

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix on low for about 1 minute, just until most lumps are out.

Bake loafs for about 50 minutes (muffins take less time. I put 1 loaf and muffins in at the same time and removed the muffins about 15 minutes before removing the loaf). Bread is done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Keep an eye on these the first time you make them because using different loaf pan sizes and making them into muffins will alter cook times.

Want to 'spice' it up?

Here are some variations (don't do all at once):

1 cup chocolate chips (or enjoy life dairy free choc chips), 1 cup walnuts, 1 cup pecans, 1/2 cup raisins, orange juice instead of water, increase vanilla extract to 3/4 teaspoon.

NOTE: THIS BREAD IMPROVES WITH AGE. IT IS MUCH BETTER THE SECOND DAY!! If I plan to bring this to someone, I always make it the day before. I purchased these cute smaller disposable loaf pans from Michaels, and was able to get 4 loafs out of the recipe. I think these will be great gifts!

Pumpkin Love,

Leah

Happy Healthy Halloween!

Halloween can always be a little tricky (no pun intended), but it can be done! I am so excited about the Teal Pumpkin Project that people are starting to do. Its a great new tradition that those with and without food allergies can participate that can make Halloween a little less scary for kids with food allergies!I love that it promotes awareness, safety and respect for children that cannot eat many or all candies due to their allergies.

Participating is simple! All you do is paint a pumpkin teal, place it on your porch and provide some allergy safe options for kids with allergies. You can also print out a sign from FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education) to place on your door to alert parents and kids that you have this option for them. 

Here is the link for the flyer: Teal Pumpkin Project 

Need some ideas for non candy treats? I found many at the Dollar Tree, Michaels, Target Oriental trading and Walmart.

• small bubbles
• glow sticks, wands, necklaces
• Halloween pencils and erasers
• spider rings
• bouncy balls
• plastic princess jewelry
• whistles
• small crayon packs
• little slinkies
• bookmarks
• playing cards 
• notepads
• halloween cups
• allergy friendly play dough
• Stickers
• Chalk
• tattoos
• Balloons and punch balls
• cute bandaids (sounds weird, but my little one loves fun bandaids!)
• stamps
• pencils and erasers
• Oriental trading has some really fun things- lips with fang whistles, halloween mini rubber duckies, sticky toys, mini blow up balls, mini plastic pumpkins (idea of easter egg- they come filled with candy but you can remove candy and put a non food prize inside!, mini flash lights, and more! 

Here are some food ideas that are safe for many (not all)

• Yum Earth candy (suckers, gummy bears, gummy worms etc)
• clementines (you can draw a pumpkin face on them!)
• Enjoy life products (cookie packs, chocolate bars, snack mix)
• allergy friendly pretzels (gluten free if needed)
• dum dum suckers
• plain popcorn bags- we use orville red. simply salted
• Back to Nature juice pouches or other of choice
• raisin packs
• dried fruits 
• GoGo squeezes

Now this post wouldn't be complete without a recipe, would it?! I am a huge fan of Caramel Apples, but Collins has never been able to eat them because caramel is basically butter, cream or milk and sugar. After a lot of experimenting (and failing), I am excited that I have finally created a very tasty and dairy free caramel sauce that is perfect for making Caramel Apples! Eeek!

Here is what  you will need:

• Candy thermometer
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup cane sugar (white sugar is okay)
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1 cup of Earth Balance buttery spread (we use soy free variety)
• 2 cups of Almond Milk (regular-not vanilla. I prefer Silk original)
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar (found in spices and seasonings)*
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 10 Popsicle or cookie sticks
• 10 apples of choice

Line a cookie sheet with a silpat or parchment paper to prevent sticking. Wash and dry apples, remove stems and insert stick into the top of each apple.

Combine all ingredients except vanilla in a medium to Large non stick saucepan (you can use a regular sauce pan, this just makes it easier) over medium heat. Clip the candy thermometer on the side of the saucepan so that it is constantly reading the temperature of the sauce.Turn heat up to medium high and allow mixture to come to a boil. Stir frequently. Reduce heat to medium or medium low (caramel will still boil once heat is reduced). Stir your caramel every couple of minutes or so and keep on medium  (or med low heat) until thermometer reads 245 degrees farenheit. This will take around 30 min or so. Let caramel cool for about 2 minutes and begin dipping them! I also use a spoon to help the process. You will want to work fairly quick so that the caramel does get too cool and thick. 

Put each apple on the baking sheet, allow to cool for a few minutes and voila! Your apples are done! I like mine cold, so I usually wait a few min, pop them in the fridge for about 30 min and then eat them..but they are delicious either way!

Store any leftover caramel sauce in a container and use for other treats.

These will stay fresh and yummy for about a week  in the fridge.

Whether you have food allergies or not, these are sure to please! They are also much lower in fat and calories than typical caramel sauce because you aren't using cream and real butter! Another score!

* Why use Cream of Tartar? it acts as a thickener for your sauce and keeps the sugars from crystallizing!

I hope you and your families have a very Happy Healthy Halloween!

Leah