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!