Cook IT Allergy Free Gingerbread Contest is up! Vote Now!

Cook IT Allergy Free's Gluten Free Gingerbread House Contest is up! You can vote for your favorite every day now through December 17th! 

My entry is #15! Here are the photos I submitted, so you can get a better look. :) 

In order to keep this entirely safe for my little guy the house is not only wheat free (had to be gluten free under the contest rules) but it's also dairy free, corn free, egg free, nut free and as made very obvious when compared to the others in the contest, dye free. It's not a true "gingerbread" because it doesn't have the spices, because we don't know that those are safe for him either. The only actual ingredients in the whole structure are brown rice flour, arrowroot powder, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, shortening, sugar, molasses, golden syrup and rice milk. But, nevertheless, he and my girls certainly did enjoy digging into it!

When I last posted about the contest I wasn't quite sure how I'd make it all work. Boy was I clueless!

I did indeed use our standby graham cracker recipe with the addition of an extra 1/2 cup of brown rice flour (and I used only rice milk). Also I didn't roll the dough out as thin as I normally do, I left it almost 1/4" thick. I baked it with all the scrap dough so it didn't warp.

The vegan corn-free "royal" icing was a total flop! It was a maple-colored glaze at best, no way could it hold anything together, no matter how much sugar I added in. (I did use it to pipe the railroad tracks.) The last resort was melting sugar a la Martha Stewart! It was bit hazardous to my fingertips, but it worked! The graham crackers are so fragile I do think they benefitted from getting a bit stale, as odd as that sounds. The railhouse entryway piece absolutely crumbled early on and I rescued it by glueing it with sugar syrup on to a piece of cereal box cardboard (also the little guy's, just to be safe). Then I set all the pieces aside for a couple days while my fingers healed and when I got back to construction, everything came together much nicer.

For decorating I made a "buttercream" out of shortening and homemade cornfree powdered sugar! I gave a dusting with powder sugar on the foiled board for the look of snow. I originally thought I might use a bit of chocolate to decorate but ended up liking the "winter wonderland" look of the all white decorations!

Everyone's submissions were to the Cook IT Allergy Free contest were great! I'm so happy that Kim inspired me to make this fun project this season for my kids to enjoy, no matter what the contest outcome. :) If you would like to vote for my entry, just click on over and leave a comment for #15 and say why you think it should win. Thanks!

Crisped Rice Treats - Take 2!

I tried making these last year with limited success but was determined to come up with something even closer to the originals for a school event this past week and I did! I used a variation of this recipe and was pleased with the results! I forgot to take a photo of the big plates I sent off to school but here were the leftovers. :)

Ingredients

1/2 cup 100% dark amber maple syrup
1/2 Lyle's golden syrup
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon Spectrum palm oil shortening
6 cups Erewhon crisp brown rice cereal

additional shortening for greasing
optional Enjoy Life chocolate chips

Prepare 9"x13" pan by lining with greased waxed paper. Grease additional wax paper sheet to use for pressing hot cereal mixture down into pan and set aside. Measure 6 cups of cereal and set aside in large bowl.

In a pan heat the maple syrup, golden syrup and sugar until the mixture starts to boil. Add tablespoon of shortening and stir until melted. Remove from heat and stir in part of the cereal. Then pour sugar - cereal mixture into the remaining cereal and stir until evenly mixed. Pour into prepared lined pan and press firmly into place using the greased waxed paper. Press in chocolate chips if desired.

Let cool on counter or in refrigerator before cutting.

Have you seen the Gluten-Free Gingerbread House Contest?

Cook IT Allergy Free is having a Gluten-Free Gingerbread House Contest! I really want to join in the fun and make a special gingerbread house for my little guy! I really don't think his will win - he has so, so many restrictions I just can't use all the fun colorful candy - but I think he will still enjoy the final result and I think it will be a fun process!

I'm blogging about the contest for two reasons! First, to let yu know about the contest so you have time to start crafting a gluten-free gingerbread house of your own! Secondly, I'm posting so that hopefully I won't forget about doing it myself! I've started planning....

I'll be using these graham crackers or something similar, baked in a large sheet then cut out according to paper patterns immediately out of the oven. 

Real royal icing is out of the question because of the egg whites so I found this vegan eggless royal icing recipe that I'm going to attempt to make corn-free by switching to Lyle's Golden Syrup and homemade corn-free powdered sugar.  Otherwise, I'll make a "buttercream" with Spectrum shortening and homemade no-corn powdered sugar hope it will be strong enough to hold up long enough for pictures! :)  

For decorations, I'll go with piped icing, sprinkled powdered sugar, sprinkled coconut and maybe even some Enjoy Life! chocolate chips.

Just Sugar Lollipops

In preparation for Halloween parties and trick-or-treating, I finally made the Just Sugar Lollipop recipe I'd discovered over at Kids With Food Allergies! I've been planning on it for ages, but it's just been one of those things that kept getting pushed to another day.

I'll let you hop on over to the full recipe at Kids With Food Allergies but all you need is lollipop sticks, plain old granulated sugar, golden syrup (I used Lyle's) and water! I also really suggest you use a candy thermometer and a silicone mat like Silpat. Maybe I just wasn't making as big of lollipops as the recipe intended, but I made 3 dozen and then had to toss the rest of the sugar because I burnt it. So if you only made 16, they would be really huge lollipops!

I think next time I'll just make a half batch because my problems arose when I filled up my 2 silicone mats with lollipops, they hadn't set up yet, and then my sugar mixture got too hot. You can see from the picture all the different shades of the lollipops. The lightest were made first, the medium golden were my 2nd pan and off in the far right you can see a really dark one. I made a few with the darken sugar but it smelled so burnt I decided to stop. I was glad I did after tasting a cooled one - the really dark ones tasted burnt too.

I've seen more professional looking plastic bags that would be great for giving these as gifts or party favors, but I didn't have any of those handy, so waxed paper squares worked just fine. :)

A website recommendation!

I am so happy I started up this little allergy section of my blog! Because of it, I've found so many other great resources for coming up with recipe solutions, no matter what foods need to be avoided.

Recently Sally, the founder of Tilth, left a comment here with a suggestion on how I might be able to trial a new green veggie by sneaking it into a safe-fruit and coconut milk smoothie! We've since emailed back and forth a bit and I'm so impressed with her work! Sally has a great knowledge of how to make tackling the matter of baking and cooking without the typical ingredients less confusing and entirely doable!

She is holding a giveaway right now for a slim kitchen scale! I've wanted one of these handy little gadgets for years! In just a few days one Tilth follower will win a scale for themselves or to give as a gift! You have several options on how to enter:

• ‘Like’ Tilth on Facebook and leave a comment on one of the questions on the wall or discussion board there (1 entry). (People who have already liked Tilth on Facebook need only leave a comment to get an entry.)
• Tweet about what you like about Tilth to your followers on Twitter, linking to Tilth(@tilthforhealth) at the same time so that Sally can record your entry (1 entry).
• Forward the Tilth September newsletter (with recipes, trouble-shooting, tips, and info on upcoming events–sign up to get it here) on to at least five friends whom you think might find it useful, copying me on it as well so that I can record your entry (1 entry). (I just need proof of you doing it.)
• Blog about what you like about Tilth and about this contest, including the methods of entry for others to see, and email me (sally@tilthforhealth.com) a link to the post (3 entries).

You can enter as many of these ways as you want. I’ll draw for the winner at 6 p.m. Pacific on Sunday, September 5th, so get your entries in before then!

Graham Cracker Revision and Chocolate Sauce!

Here's a peek at an extra special treat!

That's Purely Decadent Coconut Milk Vanilla Bean ice cream topped with corn and dairy free chocolate syrup and the latest variant of graham crackers!

I used a recipe I found on Tasty Kitchen for the Chocolate Syrup but just cut the ratio down for a small batch.

Chocolate Syrup
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 water
1 tsp safe vanilla extract

Mix cocoa and sugar and whisk into water. Bring to boil then turn heat down to a simmer, stirring often. Simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring often.

Serve while warm! The sauce thickens when cool and the kids had a lot of fun peeling the spiderweb-ish chocolate off and taking bites. It doesn't harden completely though, it stays a bit chewy.

I tried microwaving the leftover sauce with poor results. Next time I'll just reheat on the stovetop in a pan, which I expect would work much better!

Graham Crackers - Revised

While the original version I posted was a hit, I've played around with it a bit more since I've been making these about twice a week. The coconut oil created a softer texture which is fine but they crumble easier and I was tired of crumbs everywhere. Corn seems to be creating more of an issue for my little guy so my solution was to switch entirely to shortening. The addition of molasses gives these an extra boost in flavor and the darker color you'd expect from a graham cracker! I also decided to post my modified recipe instructions here instead of just referring you over to the inspiration recipe because those aren't showing up for me reliably, and I wouldn't want to that prevent you from trying these!

Dry Ingredients

1 1/2 cups brown rice flour
1/2 cup arrowroot powder
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon safe baking powder (see sidebar)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients

5 Tablespoons safe shortening
6 Tablespoons rice or coconut milk (or a mixture, I use 3 Tbsp of each)
2 Tablespoons Lyle's Golden Syrup
1 Tablespoon molasses

Additional white granulated sugar for sprinkling on just before baking.

Prepare a jelly roll pan (12"x16") by lining with parchment paper.

1. Stir together dry ingredients in a mixing bowl or food processor.

2. Add the shortening. Pulse or mix (or stir by hand) just until course crumbs form.

3. Add milk(s), golden syrup and molasses. Mix just until combined.

4. Turn out dough onto parchment paper. Sprinkle with brown rice flour and roll out the dough from pan edge to pan edge. Dough will be about 1/8" thick.

5. Using a pizza cutter, cut into whatever size rectangles you'd like. Use a fork to create the holes all over dough.

6. Sprinkle with sugar if desired. Cinnamon sugar would be fun too!

7. Place pan in refrigerator for 10 minutes while preheating oven to 350F.

8. Bake for 17-20 minutes. If crackers seem to have re-merged, score again with pizza cutter. Allow to cool in pan and store overnight lightly covered.



My little guy sure loved his special sundae!

Graham Crackers!

Yes, that's right! Safe graham crackers! I didn't think it would be possible, but it's true!

It's been a rough summer around here food-wise for my little guy. He ended up so sick he had to go on a round of prednisone and a week of a rice and apples only diet, and were only able to add in other foods after the week and very slowly. As a typical 2 year old he's into absolutely everything and that often gets him in to trouble. We had to change the knob on the pantry door to a keyed lock because he is so quick and sneaky! He'd quietly open the door, scale the shelves and grab his favorites - crackers. Mainly graham crackers and Ritz.

I found a recipe online months ago but it seemed so complicated I just kept avoiding it. Then a friend who's sister is on a gluten free diet pointed me to this recipe: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/06/gluten-free-graham-crackers-recipe.html

With just a couple switcharoos we now have safe rice-based graham crackers!

Here's the modified recipe:

Dry Ingredients

1 1/2 cups brown rice flour
1/2 cup arrowroot powder
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon safe baking powder (see sidebar)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients

3 Tablespoons coconut oil, solid
2 Tablespoons Fleicshman's unsalted margarine
6 tablespoons rice or coconut milk
3 tablespoons Lyle's Golden Syrup

Additional white granulated sugar for sprinkling on just before baking.

I won't write all the directions down here, just hop over to the original recipe. :) I've baked these 3 times now and do find I have to cook for about 20 minutes. I use a jelly roll roll pan and I think mine come out a bit thicker. Also, I usually need to recut the crackers just after they come out of the oven or they rejoin into 1 giant cracker. These aren't as dark as typical graham cracker using the ingredients I list above, and they don't taste exactly the same, but ALL my kid like them!

Simple Rice & Chicken Broth

One of my guy's new favorites is such a simple one!  White rice cooked in chicken broth with a sprinkle of salt - that's it!

I make a big batch and then warm up portions in the microwave with a tiny bit of added water so it doesn't dry out. Feel free to halve or quarter the recipe if you want a smaller batch.  I'm sure it would be tasty with another broth as well -- try vegetable broth for a vegetarian meal!

Simple Rice

1 cup uncooked long grain white rice
2 cups safe chicken broth
salt to taste once cooked

In a small pot, add rice to broth and bring to a boil. Then turn the heat down to a simmer and cover. Set a timer for 15 minutes and don't take the lid off. No stirring necessary!  When the timer goes off and you take the lid off you'll have a pot full of fluffy rice! Add salt (and butter-substitute if desired) to taste.


I'll have to try brown rice some time too for a healthier side. :)

Chicken Broth

I've been making my own chicken broth for the last year or so, it's another really easy thing to do! I'll give it a post of it's own one day with photos, but basically, just take leftover chicken bones (that haven't come in contact with any allergens from their first use), chop up carrots, celery and onions, and fill a large stock pot a couple inches below the top with cool water. Add peppercorns. Bring to a low boil, cover, reduce heat and let simmer for at least 2 hours, or as long as desired. Then strain out all the solids! I usually let the strained broth cool in a large pitcher overnight in the refrigerator and then separate into 2 cup portions to freeze.

Serendipity Biscuits!

My plan this weekend was to make my little guy another batch of coconut cupcakes/muffins (he prefers no icing). Since we've figured out that flax seed definitely IS a problem for him I planned to use 1/2 cup of soy yogurt in place of the flax seed and hot water mixture in the original recipe. But, I was apparently very distracted, because I only added 1/4 cup yogurt AND forgot to add the 2 cups of sugar! Surprisingly they turned out to be a different but still yummy treat! They are lightly sweet, don't rise up as well as the cupcakes, and are a handy snack!

Coconut Biscuits

1/2 cup safe shortening
1/2 cup coconut oil (room temperature)
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup soy yogurt
1 1/4 cup rice flour
3/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons tapioca starch (flour)
1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons arrowroot starch
4 teaspoons safe baking powder (see sidebar)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoon guar gum
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups coconut milk, hot

Preheat oven to 350F.

Beat coconut oil and shortening. Blend in applesauce and yogurt. In a separate bowl, mix together flours, baking powder, baking soda, guar gum and salt. Slowly mix in half the flour mixture, then half the milk, until blended. Then slowly mix in remaining flour and milk.

Place liners in cupcake pans, fill about 3/4 full and bake for about 20 minutes. Let sit in pans until cooled.

Yield: This recipe made 30 small biscuits.

The Ouch Pouch

A couple weeks ago I learned about the "Ouch Pouch" through a giveaway mentioned on Twitter. I didn't win that giveaway, but I had to order some of my own! Karen creates the Ouch Pouches with a wide variety of fabrics and in several sizes to sell in her etsy.com shop. I contacted her through etsy and described what I'd like, and she put together a custom listing for me. She whipped up the pouches and I received them in just under a week!

Aren't they cute! The 4"x8" size is perfect for carrying 2 EpiPens and the 5"x7" fits a small bottle of liquid antihistamine, a measuring spoon, some hydrocortisone cream. I need to stash a few cute bandages in there too! So now, instead of having all these necessary items tossed in the bottom of my purse, I have them in a handy, easy to grab spot that I can quickly move from purse to diaper bag, backpack or stroller without having to search for them. And, if someone else needs to quickly grab them in an emergency, they won't have to be frantically searching -- they'll be easy to find!

Good news!

This morning we had an appointment with my son's allergist. Just a check up and it gave some good time to sit and discuss his diet, how to proceed, and what the future holds.

The little guy isn't so little anymore! He's at about the 12% percentile for his age (27 months) and even better for his height! The doctor is so impressed with how he is doing (as are we!) and has given us the ok to trial a few new foods over the summer if we want to, or even retry one of the foods he's only had a delayed reaction to. I'm not sure what we'll try -- we've offered both spinach and broccoli in attempt to get some green in his diet but he wouldn't even try them. Any kid friendly green suggestions? He's gotten hives with peas, green beans and avocado before so I hesitate to try those yet.

The plan is to do RAST blood testing at our next appointment in a few months and see how things are going.  Since so many foods look safe with the scratch skin tests but then he still has a reaction, it's not a good predictor for him.

The doctor also eased my mind by sharing that he fully expects little C to outgrow many of these food allergies and intolerances in the next few years, which is a huge relief. I know it can't be absolutely predicted, and it's possible that he might not, but things would be so much easier if we only had a small handful of foods to worry about once he was school-aged.

I don't think I've ever shared here before, but one thing we and the doctors have suspected is an eosiniphilic disease. The only way to diagnose any of these conditions is with a scope of the affected area. C had a scope last summer and it was nearly clear, and not close to the level where they would consider an official diagnosis. However, he was on a very strict diet then, so it's possible that it was just in remission because he wasn't being exposed to any problem foods. So even though we got the all clear then, it's been something that's never left my head as a possibility. The doctor (who sees many eosiniphilic patients) said that while it is still possible, he felt that C is gaining weight so well, has such a good appetite, and is so eager to try foods, that it's not something they are concerned about at this time. If he does have it, I feel we are so fortunate to have it well under control with diet alone.

Recipes & a review of a neat allergy-friendly recipe app coming soon!

Crispy rice treats!

After searching high and low locally for some Lyle's Golden syrup unsuccessfully, I finally ordered some from Amazon. It arrived a few weeks ago, but somehow I never got around to using it until today.

I used this recipe with Erewhon Crispy Brown Rice cereal (gluten-free) and Fleischmann's UNSALTED Margarine. Little guy liked them but they were super-sweet! I think next time I'll leave out the extra Tablespoon of sugar (and maybe add a pinch of salt to make up for unsalted margarine). These also don't set up like the typical rice crispy treat since they don't have the marshmallows. It really did help to make individual servings in cupcake liners and a cupcake pan. They absolutely need to chill in the refrigerator, and for more than few minutes, or they won't hold together at all, and even after several hours chilling, they are still soft.

Crispy Rice Treats
1 Tablespoon safe margarine
4 Tablespoons golden syrup
3 cups crisped brown rice cereal

Place cupcake liners in pan. I needed 15 and didn't completely fill any of the liners.

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the margarine. Stir in golden syrup. Take off heat and stir in cereal. Quickly spoon into cupcake liners and press down with spoon.

Place pan into refrigerator to chill and firm up.

Guess we won't be buying Hebrew National franks anymore!

With the recent discovery of my little guy's oregano allergy I've had to reevaluate a few of the things we used to consider safe. Since many of his reactions are delayed (pain, GI troubles, eczema) and what had previously been a mild easy-to-miss reaction is a stronger one when he's already reacting to something else, it's hard to pinpoint what is causing it. Since he's a typical in-to-everything 2-year-old, it's not out of the normal for him to sneak or quickly grab a bite of something he's not suppose to have, so sometimes I'm really not sure what he's reacting to.

One of his favorite things for an occasional lunch is hot dogs. Conveniently the same hot dogs his sisters ate appeared to be safe for him(as long as his were cut into itty-bitty pieces). The package did include the always suspicious ingredients "spice" and "flavoring" on the nutrition label so I emailed to see if they included oregano.

I was less than impressed with their response:

Thank you for your email concerning our Hebrew National® Franks.

As consumers ourselves, we are very concerned about food allergies and want you to be confident in the safety of our products.  I can tell you a bit about the steps we take to address the needs of food-allergic consumers.

ConAgra Foods shows any of the eight Major Food Allergens (Crustacean Shellfish, Egg, Fish, Milk, Peanut, Soy, Tree Nuts and Wheat) on the ingredient list. We also include a 'Contains' statement in plain language on all of our products that contain any of the Major Food Allergens. This is how you know if any of these allergens are present. The 'Contains' statement appears in bold type directly after the ingredient list on the Nutrition Facts panel of our packages.  If a Major Food Allergen is included in a flavoring or spice blend in the product, we always show it in the 'Contains' statement.

Our product formulas may change from time to time, but please be assured that we try to avoid adding allergens to reformulated products whenever possible.  We encourage you to please check both the ingredient list and 'Contains' statement each time you buy a product in case the formulation has changed.
If a Major Food Allergen is not listed in the 'Contains' or 'May Contain' statements, you can be confident the product does not contain that particular allergen.

ConAgra Foods would like to help you with this request to the best of our ability. However, because the information you have requested is considered to be proprietary and a trade secret of ConAgra Foods, we are unable to supply this information.

If you have any allergen concerns outside of the Top 8 Food Allergens, we recommend you do not consume the product and consult your physician.

So, ConAgra foods, I guess I'll take your advice and simply not purchase your product anymore. I understand that a company wouldn't want to disclose their exact recipe, but I was asking only if a single ingredient was present. I can't take away a food my son loved only from him and still let him see other family members eating it, so we'll just have to not purchase it any more.

Turtle Mountain giveaway!

I intend to keep this blog mainly recipes, but I came across this giveaway yesterday and you might like it!  The winner and a friend will both receive 5 free product coupons for So Delicious products or Purely Decadent items!  My little guy drinks So Delicious coconut milk every day and absolutely loves a treat of some Purely Decadent Vanilla Bean Coconut Milk "ice cream." This is the only safe ice cream I've found for him. Most of the non-dairy ice creams have corn, potato or peas - all which he reacts to.

So, if you already love So Delicious and Purely Decadent products or would just like to try them, why not enter the giveaway?  All the rules are on the Heather Eats Almond Butter blog, and the main things you need to do are join the Turtle Mountain facebook page, invite another friend, and then leave a comment to tell Heather what you did!

Adding to the list

Unfortunately over the last few weeks we've discovered a few new additions to the little guy's list of unsafe foods.

My little guy LOVES chocolate. He comes by it naturally. :) And he's been on quite the cereal kick lately, so after some researching, I found that the Envirokids Koala Crisp cereal would probably be safe. It's got the warning that it may contain peanuts or tree nuts, but it is made only in the same factory, but on different equipment, so we gave it a try. As expected, he absolutely loved it! So did my girls and even my husband. But, soon after trying it his eczema really started to flare. So no more.

Last week I made this homemade taco seasoning recipe and substituted the corn starch for arrowroot starch. It was delicious and thinking only about it not including corn, I let the little guy try some of the taco meat. He loved it and begged for more! What I wasn't thinking about was the oregano. He'd had mild symptoms before after having small amounts of it, but I wasn't sure it it was the problem. That night he couldn't sleep unless he was being held, a sure sign that he's in pain, and he had GI symptoms for several more days.  I will make a new batch of the seasoning without the oregano so we have a meal we can all eat.

Just today his sister sweetly shared a grape from her bowl with him and I wasn't quick enough to stop him from eating it. Grapes are safe for him, and they've shared grapes before, so she didn't realize she shouldn't have shared. In her bowl were both grapes and sliced strawberries. We'd been avoiding all berries for him because I know they are common allergies and I was pretty allergic to strawberries as a kid. Within a few minutes he had hives on his cheeks, chin and neck.

I have more recipes to share, and even more things I want to try to come up with recipes for, just need to find the time to do it! After searching and searching locally for some golden syrup I finally ordered a case off Amazon. I want to make some marshmallows and lollipops with it, and I'm sure I'll find some more uses for it!

Coconut Cake & Frosting

* Update 4/8/11 - I first posted this recipe over a year ago and am planning to give it a bit of a makeover this weekend to accommodate my son's new allergies, so it's on my mind. I shared this recipe on Cybele Pascal's Allergy Friendly Friday today! Take a look at all the other allergy-friendly recipes! 

* Update 4/17/11 - Gum-free, soy-free adaptation finally posted here: Coconut Cupcakes Update: Gum-free

This past weekend the little guy turned 2! We had a little celebration at home, so I just made a small 6-inch round cake, and used the rest of the cake batter to make 24 cupcakes, and most of them went straight into the freezer for treats later. The cake is a variation of the White Cake I posted about a month ago. This version is denser and I think would also make a good crumbcake with a brown sugar and cinnamon strudel topping.  

Coconut Cake

1/2 cup (1 stick) safe margarine or shortening
1/2 cup coconut oil (room temperature)
2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 Tbls ground flax seed + 6 Tbls hot water, let sit
2-1/2 cups All Purpose Flour Mix (see sidebar)
3/4 cup coconut flour
4 teaspoons safe baking powder (see sidebar)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoon guar gum
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups coconut milk, hot

Preheat oven to 350F.

Beat sugar, coconut oil and margarine or shortening. Blend in applesauce and flax gel. In a separate bowl, mix together flours, baking powder, baking soda, guar gum and salt. Slowly mix in half the flour mixture, then half the milk, until blended. Then slowly mix in remaining flour and milk.

Bake cake layers in greased or parchment lined pans for about 30 minutes or in lined cupcake pans for about 20 minutes. Let sit in pans until cooled.

Yield: This recipe made 24 cupcakes and two 6" rounds. I think you could make three 8" circle layers and maybe even a few cupcakes.

Coconut Frosting

I'll update this next time I make the frosting, because I'm not sure exactly how much of anything I used, since I was just experimenting and didn't write anything down immediately.  The recipe below is an estimate, whip a portion of ingredients, adding a little more of each to reach the consistency you want.

1/3 cup coconut oil, room temperature
3 Tbls shortening or safe margarine
2 cups safe powdered sugar (see sidebar)
2 Tbls coconut milk

Mix coconut oil and shortening. With mixer off, add a portion of the powdered sugar. Start mixing slowly and blend in completely. Add more sugar until mixture forms clumps. Slowly add coconut milk and whip until frosting is light and fluffy.

Yield: This recipe makes enough frosting to cover a 2-layer 6" round cake and several cupcakes.

Sprinkle some shredded coconut on top of the frosting for decoration if desired!

I hope you enjoy this recipe! The birthday boy preferred the smash-it-into-your-mouth method of eating....

Chocolate!

I'm so happy share that we've found another safe treat! I bought a bag of Enjoy Life chocolate chips a few weeks ago and let my little guy try a few as a trial. The first two times he ate only a couple mini chips and then lost interest, which has been a sign with other foods that he's allergic to them, but he never did have a reaction.  I tried again yesterday and he loved them!

I found a great tip on the Enjoy Life foods Facebook fan page yesterday - melt the chips and dip other safe food in the chocolate!  The person suggesting showed rice snaps dipped in chocolate, little chocolate sandwiches made with two rice snaps and chocolate in the middle, dipped rice cakes and dipped apple slices!  This is a treat I will be trying soon!

Barley Oat Pancakes

I've tried a few allergy-friendly pancake recipes, but this is the most successful recipe I've found. I'm guessing that the gluten in the barley is what helps these pancakes hold up and not be so fragile.

This recipe is adopted from one I found on the bag of Arrowhead Mills flour.


1/2 cup barley flour
1/2 cup oat flour
1-1/2 tsp safe baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 Tbls maple syrup
1 Tbls canola oil
1/4 cup applesauce
3/4 cup coconut milk
safe margarine to coat griddle

Preheat a pan or griddle on low to medium heat. (On my electric stove I set it to 3 or 3-1/2.) Coat pan lightly with melted margarine.

Stir together dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix until smooth.

Pour batter onto hot griddle and cook until edges turn a light golden color and bubbles start to form on the surface. Flip over with a spatula and top with margarine. Cook other side until golden brown.

Just Sugar Lollipops

I'm so excited to try this recipe! We stopped in my kindergartener's Valentine party this week and my little allergic guy so desperately wanted a lollipop! Of course the only ones I had were made with corn syrup and I didn't feel safe giving them to him.

http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/allergy_free_lollipop_recipe.php

I just need to find some golden syrup and I will try this recipe and share the results!

Chicken Nuggets (or strips)

Fresh, additive free chicken breasts (I usually cook 1-1/2 pounds at a time.)
2/3 cup oat flour *
2/3 cup barley flour *
1/2 cup coconut milk
Salt
Black pepper
Canola oil

* For a gluten free version, replace the oat and barley flours with your preferred gluten free flour blend. I've used buckwheat, teff and millet.

Preheat oven to 425F. Prepare baking dish by pouring enough oil to coat the bottom.

In a bowl, stir together the flours and desired amount of salt and pepper. Pour milk in another bowl.

Cut chicken into strips or 1-inch square-ish pieces. Dip chicken pieces in the coconut milk, then coat in the flour mixture. Place in the baking dish and then flip over so both sides are coated in oil.

Bake until chicken is thoroughly cooked. Time varies with thickness.

I freeze all that will not be eaten in the next day on a lined cookie sheet, then transfer to a freezer bag or other freezer-safe container. Remove just the amount that will be eaten and cook in a preheated 400F oven for 5-7 minutes.

White Cake

Modified from a recipe posted at Living Without.

1 cup (2 sticks) safe margarine or shortening
2 cups granulated sugar
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
2 Tbls ground flax seed + 6 Tbls hot water, let sit
3½ cups All Purpose Flour Mix (see sidebar)
4 teaspoons safe baking powder (see sidebar)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoon guar gum
1 teaspoon salt
1½ cups coconut milk, hot

Preheat oven to 350F.

Beat sugar and margarine. Blend in applesauce and flax gel. Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, guar gum and salt.  Slowly mix in half the flour mixture, then half the milk, until blended. Then slowly mix in remaining flour and milk.

Bake in two 8" or 9" circle cake pans, greased or parchment lined,  for about 30 minutes or in lined cupcake pans for about 20 minutes. Let sit in pans until cooled.

Favorite Oatmeal

My little guy loves this oatmeal so much he often hugs and kisses his bowl. :)

1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Oat Bran
1/4 cup apple juice
1/2 cup Original So Delicious Coconut Milk

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

Mix oats, juice, and milk in a large microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 90 seconds at full power. Let cool for 1-2 minutes until it thickens, then stir in applesauce.

Hello!

This is my sweet little boy!

There are so many wonderful resources out there with recipes modified for multiple food allergies, but I still usually have to make some modifications to make them safe for my son. His current food allergy list include peanuts, wheat, egg, dairy, potatoes, bananas, pumpkin, peas, green beans, avocados, flax and strawberry. He is also sensitive to corn but can tolerate some small amounts of corn derived ingredients, such as corn alcohol (found in gluten free extracts such as vanilla), small amounts of dextrose. He can not handle corn starch or corn protein. I used flaxseed as an egg replacement for a while, but it became clear that it does cause a reaction.  We haven't dared to try tree nuts, fish, other berries or citrus, and at this point aren't trialling any new foods and are sticking with our known list of safe foods.

(Updated 6/15/2010)

Safe foods include:
Grains: rice, oats, barley, buckwheat, teff
Fruit: apples, pears, cherries, peaches, grapes, coconut
Vegetables: sweet potatoes(?), carrots, pinto beans, SOY
Baking ingredients: guar gum, arrowroot starch, tapioca flour, yeast
Seasoning: black pepper, cinnamon


Some of the recipes I will post are gluten free or can be easily modified to become gluten free, but gluten is ok for my little guy.