The Gluten Lovers Gluten Free Waffles

My son has recently been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called Eosinophilic Esophagitis (called Eoe for short). I will write more about his diagnosis in another post. It has been tough, and it has drastically changed his diet and mine (due to nursing). When i first got the list of what he cannot eat, my first thought was "Well, what CAN he eat?!" We have not done further testing to see if he has even more triggers, but for now we are avoiding:
Egg 
Soy
Dairy
Wheat
Barley
Oats
Peas
Peaches
Beef
Chicken
Pork
Seafood
Shellfish
Rice
Corn

So! As you can see, this is pretty overwhelming. Wynn is in feeding therapy with a feeding aversion, so he already wouldn't eat many foods..but what he DID like was foods with wheat and corn. Yikes! Therefore, my first priority in making new recipes for him was to find a bread product that actually tasted good. Almost all Gluten Free products I have found use rice and/or corn flour which he can't do. ugh. so! I had a lot of trial and error cooking, and i finally created the PERFECT waffle recipe that tastes amazing!! Whether you are gluten free or not, you will love these!

Gluten Lovers Gluten Free Waffles

1 Cup Bettes Four Flour Blend
2 Tablespoons Earth Balance Soy Free Butter (or regular butter, softened)
1 Tablespoon Safflower Oil
1 Egg or 1 Egg Replacer Egg (ener-g brand- 1 1/2 tsp powder mixed with 2 warm tablespoons water and set aside)
1 1/2 tsp Hain pure foods baking powder (gluten free)
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp sugar
3/4 cups of Silk original (not vanilla or unsweetened) Almond Milk or regular milk if diet allows

Preheat Waffle Iron.
If using egg replacer, pour mixed replacer in a medium bowl and beat with a mixer on low for 30 seconds (if using a regular egg, omit this step and add with other ingredients). Add all other ingredients except for milk. Mix on low for about 10 seconds until combined. Add Milk and mix on low for one minute, making sure all ingredients are fully combined and mixture thickens a little.
Pour desired amount into greased waffle iron. cook until waffle iron says they are done (mine shows a green light). These waffles will not turn dark brown, however, if you cook them too long they will become hard. They should be golden and crispy on the outside and slightly soft on the inside. These are so so good, and they even freeze very well! After they have cooled, simply place them in a freezer bag and put in the freezer. When you are ready to eat them, just take them out and reheat in the toaster oven or microwave. Success!! My daughter even likes them better that Bisquick waffles. Yay!

The finished product :)

Products you will need:

Hain Gluten Free Baking Powder

 Ener-G Egg Replacer

 Bette's Gourmet Flour Blend -Its the BEST! 

This flour does Not contain Rice flour or Corn Flour either! Almost all GF Flour blends contain Rice Flour. I finally found this one that doesn't and tastes awesome!! Yay!

Earth Balance buttery spread- this stuff is amazing!

I find this at Walmart, Whole Foods, Publix

Now THIS is how you make amazing gluten free waffles!!

Grilled Teriyaki Chicken with Pineapple- Soy Free!!

Living without soy can be tough. It is in 65 percent of all processed foods (wow), and can be tough to avoid. When eating out, many restaurants actually buy their meat pre-marinaded..and the marinade usually contains soy. Ugh. But! There are restaurants that buy plain chicken, you just have to check! Speaking of eating out..I miss Japanese and Chinese food. Soy sauce is pretty awesome if you ask me! Recently I started experimenting cooking with a SOY FREE SOY SAUCE..yes, a soy free soy sauce..and its awesome! I wouldn't say it substitutes plain, but is fantastic when you cook with it!
I just made this Teriyaki Grilled Chicken with Pineapple, and I promise you wont miss the regular soy sauce. Now, if you CAN have soy sauce you may use soy sauce instead (i will list the amount in the recipe below).
I find this sauce at Publix, but also can be found at Whole Foods or be ordered from several distributors online.

Grilled Teriyaki Chicken with Pineapple (dairy free/egg free/soy free/nut free)

1 cup coconut aminos (or 3/4 cup low sodium soy sauce if you can have soy)

1 20 oz can of Pineapple Slices in 100% pineapple juice

2 1/2 tablespoons light brown sugar (reduce to 2 if you dont want as sweet)

1 teaspoon ground ginger powder 

1/2 cup light tasting olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder

1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

2 1lbs chicken breasts (i usually cut in half or you can pound out to uniform thickness for even cooking)

1 1/2 tablespoons corn starch

2 tablespoons chicken broth (i use swanson)

Open your can of pineapple. Pour all of the juice from the can directly into a medium sauce pan. Place pineapple rings aside in a container with lid. Add aminos or soy sauce, olive oil, brown sugar, ginger, mustard, pepper and garlic powder to your sauce pan. In a small bowl mix together your slurry of corn starch and chicken broth with a spoon (if you were to add your corn starch without this step you will get a lumpy sauce!) Set aside. Turn heat on to medium/medium high and allow sauce to come to a slight boil. Let mixture bubble slightly for about 3 minutes, add your corn starch slurry, then reduce to low/medium for another 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and remove pan from heat and allow to cool about 20-30 min.

Reserve 1 cup of your sauce in a container.

Place your chicken in a large plastic bag or shallow container that has a lid, pour the remainder of your sauce over it and store in the fridge.

Pour 1/4 cup of your reserved sauce over your pineapple rings and shake to evenly distribute.
Allow chicken to marinade at least 6 hours. Overnight is best!

Grill Chicken on medium, turning once. Brush with 1/3 cup of your reserved sauce last few minutes of grilling and add pineapple to your grill (not on top of chicken) last few minutes of grilling.
Serve over rice or cous cous and goes great with roasted or steamed broccoli. Pour your remaining reserved sauce over chicken and rice as you serve or use for dipping.

Chicken Salad, Chick!

Like many Southerners, I love chicken salad..especially in the Summer! 95 degree days and warm nights make chicken salad perfect for lunch, dinner or a snack! The problem for our household is that we can't have regular mayo (because we can't have eggs), and what is chicken salad without the mayo?! Well, I have found two mayos that do not have eggs that are actually great!

The first I tried was made by Follow Your Heart- Soy Free Vegenaise . It comes in different varieties, but we also cannot have soy so we use the Soy Free version. It is found at health food stores and Whole Foods in the refrigerated section.

The second egg free mayo that i recommend (definitely my go to and favorite) is made by Hampton Creek. It is called Just Mayo. It is thick, creamy, very affordable, and tastes fantastic. It is found in the non refrigerated condiment section at many stores- Walmart (yes, i know!), Target, Publix, and Whole Foods. It comes in a few varieties, but I just use the regular (although all are good). They are all soy free too!

Now, let's get to the Chicken Salad! Either of these egg free mayos OR regular mayo will taste great with this recipe. If you can have egg based mayonnaise, I recommend Dukes or Blue Plate brands..but whatever you like will work :)

Chicken Salad

2 1/2 cups of diced baked chicken (about 1.5 lbs) (I bake chicken breasts with olive oil and heavily season with salt and pepper, let it cool and chop or shred). A rotisserie chicken would also work if you are short on time 

1 1/2 stalks celery finely diced

1 1/2 cups of seedless red grapes cut in half (reduce if you want less fruit)

3/4 cup of mayo

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground pepper (sometimes I use more). Start with this amount and add s & p to taste after tasting

Place chicken, celery and grapes in a medium bowl. In a small bowl, add salt and pepper to your mayo and stir- this will ensure that your salt and pepper is evenly distributed throughout your chicken salad! Add mayo and seasoning mixture to your chicken bowl, and that's it!

Some other variations would be to reduce your grapes to 1 cup, and add 1/2 cup craisins. You can also add crushed almonds to either variety for nice crunch and added protein. If you prefer a smoother chicken mix, simply puree your chicken in a food processor then add the other ingredients. If you don't like a peppery chicken salad, simply leave it out.

I may or may not have just eaten some of this while writing this post. Its so good! I eat it plain, but is also great on toasted bread, croissant, or crackers. 

Happy Summer!

Leah

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