Category: Articles / Featured Recipes

Tender and Delicious Waffles (Gluten-free, Dairy-free, and Bean/Soy-free)

Waffles 2

Homemade waffles, with a delicate texture and enticing aroma and flavor, make such a beautiful weekend breakfast. And these waffles contain very few additives that can detract from the flavor and texture. Most store bought gluten-free frozen waffles, especially, tend to contain soy lecithin and a legume-based flour. For those who suffer from soy, peanut or legume allergies, the store-bought gluten-free waffles are not an option.

Homemade waffles are surprisingly easy and budget-friendly. With a $10 dollar Rival waffle iron, we used a standard gluten-free flour mix and adapted a classic wheat recipe to omit several food allergens while retaining all the texture and flavor of a waffle that we agreed is superior to the frozen waffles.  This recipe is gluten-free, soy-free, peanut-free, treenut-free and dairy-free.

An egg-free version is still in testing. We attempted to make an egg-free version using applesauce as a replacement but applesauce is not recommended as causes the outer layer to caramelize and stick to the waffle iron (even with extra oiling). This article will be updated when a successful egg-free version is achieved.

These waffles are slightly sweet and perfect with our favorite Log Cabin All Natural syrup – made without caramel color or high fructose corn syrup. If you plan on adding a lot of sweet toppings, omit the sugar in this waffle recipe.

Note: Please be sure to double-check all of your ingredients to ensure you avoid your particular food allergens.

Tender Waffles (Gluten-free, Dairy-free, and Bean/Soy-free) 

Makes approximately 8-10 waffles

In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine:

1.5 cups (12 oz or 150 grams) Basic Gluten-free Flour Mix

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons sugar (optional)

1/2 teaspoon salt

Then add:

3 Tablespoons of canola or grapeseed oil

2 eggs

1 cup (8 oz.) water

Following the instructions of your waffle iron manual, heat and prep the surface of your waffle iron. TO AVOID SOY, do not use a spray cooking oil. Instead, use a brush to apply a light coating of canola or grapeseed oil to the iron.

Mix together the ingredients above with a fork until ingredients are well-combined and lumps are removed. You will notice that the mixture will bubble a little and take on a frothy texture. This is good and exactly what you want to make a tender light waffle.

Using a 1/3 measuring cup, ladle waffle mixture onto each waffle section of the iron. You do not have to fill every square entirely or else the mixture will spread and overflow during the baking time.

When your waffle iron light indicates that the cycle of baking is complete, lift the lid and use a fork to pull up a corner. The waffle should then come up very easily.

And just one more picture to show the tender deliciousness. Enjoy!

Waffles

Easy Weeknight Dinner Series: Potato & Beef Skillet with Simple Salad

Hamburger Potato and Simple Salad

Using 2 bags of the frozen cut-up potatoes (as per my previous article), I was able to relax in the kitchen and prepare something quick for dinner. I have not posted my dinners lately because they are not really anything that I feel would are really article worthy. However, I realized that some of these dinner ideas might be valuable for that are just now embarking on an ingredient-restricted diet. I sometimes forget how reliant I once was on wheat and how I was not used to making meals without wheat or dairy or other ingredients. So, I hope these ideas help. Recipes like this are straightforward, nutritionally balanced, taste good and accomplishes the goal of being both budget-friendly and top-8 allergen free.

I will refrain from adding exact measurements of ingredients in this article because I think it is important to learn the art of seasoning your food to your individual tastes. However, I will add measurements for known quantities (such as 1 lb. of beef, 1 onion, etc.). Also remember that a good cook taste tests their creations often. There is a reason that top chefs insists on this practice. If you don’t know what it tastes like, you don’t know how to adjust the seasoning.

A good cook is constantly tasting.

That said, seasoning things directly from the spice rack can be overwhelming. Indeed, it is not terribly intuitive the first year (or few years) of cooking to know exactly how spices complement foods and other spices. So, don’t fret, you will get there and will be cooking like an old pro in  no time. I will give measurements when I know what they are, but as for other items, definitely taste to determine your preference for how much garlic powder, salt, pepper, etc. that you’d like. Or maybe you want to try a new spice or spice combination? That’s always fun. And you’d be surprised at how hard it is to mess things up with different kinds of spices.

You can do this.

Potato & Beef Skillet with Simple Salad

4 cups frozen cut-up potatoes, boil for 10 minutes, drain and set aside

1 lb. ground beef (if you can, try to get grass-fed / humanely-raised beef) or use another protein

1 yellow onion, diced

1 large cloves of garlic, minced

salt, pepper, garlic powder and italian seasoning to taste

Saute’ onions and beef in a skillet, then add potatoes and seasoning. Add garlic at the end and turn the heat low to keep warm while you make the salad.

Simple Salad

Baby spinach or other lettuce of choice

Other veggies that you like.

Toss with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, cracked sea salt and fresh cracked pepper.

That’s it. Dinner is finished. My son likes ketchup on this. Enjoy!

Quick BBQ-Style Beans

Baked Beans

Beans support red blood cell function, support skin cell production, and support nerve function. Beans also contribute to preventing symptoms of osteoporosis, dementia, mental fogginess, irritability, depression and anemia. How do beans do this? With their awesomely high content of folate, containing around 180 micrograms of folate per serving. So, don’t knock beans. They are extremely good for you! They also happen to be very economical, while being an excellent allergen-friendly food (see peanut allergy comments below*).

(*Please keep in mind, however, that some with peanut allergies may react to beans. If you suffer from peanut allergies, speak with your doctor about whether or not you will react to other legumes. If you are cooking for someone with a peanut allergy, consider another dish and forgo making beans.)

That said, beans are pretty easy to work with. And though many are concerned about gas issues, work with dried beans as there seems to be less of an issue with dried beans vs. store bought canned beans. Every now and then, I make a large batch of pinto beans from scratch. I store them and use them over the next few meals with various seasoning combinations. Dinners vary from chili beans for tacos, italian pasta fagioli soup, three bean salad or a quick version of the traditional baked beans.

The secret to success for delicious BBQ-style beans is the sweet onion flavor. If you are out of onions, substitute with a generous amount of onion powder to taste. (I do this often if I’m feeling a bit lazy).

Ingredients

2-3 slices of turkey bacon from humanely raised source (omit if vegan or vegetarian)

1 yellow onion, diced

3-4 cups cooked pinto beans (or 3-4 14oz cans, drained and rinsed)

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup light or dark brown sugar, packed

2 Tablespoons molasses

1 Tablespoon yellow mustard

1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper

Directions

In a large non-stick skillet, fry the bacon and transfer the bacon to paper-towel lined plate. Pour excess grease/oil into a bowl to discard in the trash later.

With some of the flavored oil remaining, saute’ onion until tender.

Add the remaining ingredients and, if using, crumble the bacon into the bean as well.

Simmer on medium-low heat until the liquid has thickened.

Serve warm.

 

 

 

Green Chili Hushpuppies

Green Chili Hushpuppies

I was in the mood for baked beans and needed something quick to go with them. I generally make some cornbread, but that takes at least an hour of prep and baking. I had already started the beans and we wanted to eat soon. These hushpuppies were the perfect accompaniment for the beans. This is super fast, easy, and free of gluten, dairy, fish, nuts, peanuts and shellfish. If you have an egg allergy, the egg can easily be replaced with Ener-G egg replacer. I may try experiment without the egg altogether as the mixture holds together well.

Ingredients

1 cup gluten-free flour mix

1/2 cup corn meal

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper

1 egg (or use Ener-G egg replacer equivalent to 1 egg)

1 6-8oz can diced green chilis

1/2 cup water

Directions

Add all of the ingredients to a medium bowl and stir until well combined.

Heat 1 inch of canola oil in medium skillet to med-high heat. When a drop of water sizzles in the oil, you are ready to cook.

Drop spoonfuls of batter into the oil and cook approximately 2-3 minutes on each side, or until dark golden brown.

Transfer to a paper-towel lined plate and dust with a little more salt and pepper.

Serve hot.

What You Should Know About Wine if You Have Food Allergies

Wine Blog

Oftentimes, I see articles touting wine as a beverage that is safe for those with gluten intolerance and other food allergies, but you may want to read a little further, and if you are extra sensitive to gluten, milk, wheat, shellfish, possibly peanut/nut, and especially eggs, you may want to say nay to that offered glass if you are not aware of what exactly went into that particular wine.

As with everything you do, educate yourself and prepare yourself as much as possible to mitigate any events that will cause a bad night for you or those you love. Well armed with some facts, you will have a great New Year’s Eve.

But first, a little background about your conventional wineries. In America and many other countries, wineries are not held to the same labeling standards as some countries in the European Union (4) as well as food manufacturers to disclose allergenic ingredients used to make or refine their product. Almost all of the top 8 food allergens may be used during the making and refinement of the wine process. Also consider that the various pesticides used on grape crops typically do not get washed off. The pesticide-coated grapes go straight to crushing and processing (5) and thereby make every glass of conventional wine a potential equivalent of glass of wine plus pesticide cocktail. (I find it interesting that moderate wine-drinking is often lauded as a way to decrease cancer risk while this pesticide issue is rarely mentioned).

So, given this information, there is a potential for those with severe food allergies or sensitivities to harsh chemicals to suffer after having a glass of wine and not even know why.

So First, the Bad News  – Reasons That You May Have a Reaction to Wine

1. Wheat flour is often used to seal barrels and a little can get into wine. Also, hydrolyzed wheat gluten isolate may be used as a fining agent. (3) If you have Celiac disease or are extremely sensitive to gluten, you many want to pass on conventional wines and opt for a gluten-free beer (or gluten-free specific wine as mentioned below). Although vintners claim that whatever gluten is left should not be enough to be bothersome, there are no guarantees that the flour is completely removed from the final product. How much is left is not known to the consumer.

If you have your heart set on wine, don’t despair, there are some suggestions below. In the meantime, if you also like beer, here are some recommended gluten-free beers: Red Bridge, New Planet, and NGB brands indicate that they are also vegan. Omission uses traditional ingredients such as malted barley while indicating that they have removed the gluten (PLEASE DON’T CONSUME OMISSION IF YOU ARE VERY SENSITIVE as Barley contains gluten.)

IF YOU CAN TOLERATE 5-20 PPM of GLUTEN: We Insist that you try Omission. It is absolutely amazing!!!

We need more information on Bard’s and Estrella before we can make a recommendation.

glutenfree beers

2. People with migraine triggers, asthma and strong seasonal allergies (especially to mold) may want to stick with the white wines if no other allergies are present. The reason to avoid is that red wines are heavy in sulfites, tannins and histamines (same is true for dark beers) (2). All of these things can trigger a very bad headache, a full migraine episode, and (in some people) flushing, runny nose, swollen mucous membranes and – if allergic to sulfites or extra histamines – a life-threatening anaphylaxis reaction.

3. Conventional wine is not recommended for those with egg allergies. Those with egg allergies should be aware that egg whites (in the form of albumin or pulverized egg shells) are often stirred into the wine so that they will attach to the unpleasant-tasting tannins. This process helps the tannins drop to the bottom of the barrel and makes it easier for the distiller to remove as much of the tannins as possible from the final product. (1) How much of the egg powder that is left in the wine is not known to the consumer.

Also, egg allergy sufferers should be aware that Lysozyme, a substance derived from egg whites, may be used to inhibit lactic acid and bacteria during several stages of the wine-making process. It is typically not removed and remains in the final wine product. (3)

Lastly, egg allergy sufferers may become very sick, particularly from red wine if their allergy is specific to the sulfur in egg yolks. Red wines are very high in sulfites. Most who are allergic to sulfur will also react very negatively to the sulfites in red wine (and also to the sulfites and nitrites in cured meats and dried fruits).

4.  Those with milk allergy may find it important to note that casein is used to remove discoloration in white wines. (1)

5. Those with fish allergy should be aware that isinglass, a compound derived from the bellies of sturgeon fish, is used to refine both beer and wine. (2)

6. Shellfish allergy sufferers: chitin (pronounced “Kite-in”), a substance derived from crustaceans, may be used during the fining process of wine. (2)

7. Gelatin is also used during the fining process of wines. For those who are sensitive to animal proteins, this could pose a problem when consuming conventional wine. (2)

8. Those with peanut allergies that have cross-reaction to pea protein should known that pea protein isolate is sometimes used in the production of wine. But not always. Investigation is needed. (6)

9. Soy protein is sometimes used in the fining process. Ask your vintner if they use plant-derived proteins in fining and which ones. (6)

As with anything in life, risk lies in the unknown.  

We are still a long way from having the information we need at our disposal to make informed choices. Until you know exactly how your wine is made and processed, you take a risk. So, please be careful and do your homework. Hopefully, we’ve done some of the homework for you so that you don’t have to. There is some good news about wine. 

The Good News – Organic, Vegan and Gluten-Free Wines Exist (And So Does Labeling)

Disclaimer: After reading the information below, we recommend that you be extra safe and sure by contacting wine/beer manufacturers to ask about ingredients used during the making and “fining” process. 

1. Explore vegan and gluten-free biodynamic wines (usually in the organic wine section). There are some vintners that have established wine-making practices that are not only better for the earth, but also better for our bodies. They are called biodynamic wines. The grapes for these wines are grown according to organic farming standards that eliminate the use of pesticides and keep the soil and grapes healthy and disease-free using natural methods. Soil is fertilized with compost and manure instead of synthetic chemicals. Crop rotation is also used. Ultimately, with biodynamic wines, the production of wine is equivalent to the old-world wine-production standards we have established in our minds every time we take a sip of the pretty stuff.

Some wineries even go so far as to be certified by a standards organization called Demeter Association, Inc. More information about Demeter can be found by clicking here. (Note that the use of legumes are used to help with crop rotation. I am not sure if that poses a risk to peanut allergy sufferers). Their processing standards are available in pdf format and provide extremely detailed descriptions on what is allowed and what isn’t. The section that is specific to wine begins on page 38 (as of Jan 2014).

Biodynamic does not mean safe from food allergies, but it’s a start. Contact specific vintner for specific substances used. For example: Demeter Association encourages the use of bentonite (a vegan clay substance for binding during the fining process) but will allow organic egg products, some sulfites and some yeast products in the processing of their certified biodynamic wines. So, it depends on the individual producer what specific substances are used. Please call your specific vintner to ask.

As of January 2014, wine that is certified by Demeter may be safe for those with milk, fish and shellfish allergy (Always double check!), as Demeter prohibits the use of enzymes, tannin, casein, silica dioxide, isinglass, blood, gelatin, gum arabic, carbon, or copper sulfate. 

2. If possible, find wine that is biodynamic AND vegan AND gluten-free if you want to avoid all of the top 8 food allergens.

This may be a challenge, but take a close look at some wines from these vintners:

– Frey Winery meets all three criteria. It is biodynamic (organic), vegan and gluten-free.

– Our Daily Red also meets all three criteria. Organic, vegan and gluten-free. Let this wine breathe for 30 minutes before drinking for optimal taste (we loved it!).

– Four Chimneys  A producer of organic wines that do not use animal products in the fining process. It is unknown if these wines are gluten-free. Please call to check.

– Siduri indicates that their Sonoma County Pinot Noir 2012 is vegan and gluten-free. Not organic, biodynamic or sulfite-free, however.

3. The natural wine “experts” will laugh at you if you ask for gluten-free wine. Stump them with the questions below (for which they *should* know the answer!):

If you go into or call a wine store and ask them if they have gluten-free wines, they might laugh in your face and tell you that all wines are gluten-free. Hopefully your wine expert won’t be mean to you like the guy was to me. But I did experience this interaction – so fair warning to you. Just so you know though, if they tell you that all wines are gluten-free, kindly inform that person that they are incorrect. Use it as a teaching opportunity to let them know that some wines are still processed using hydrolyzed wheat gluten isolate during finishing and that some barrels are still sealed with a flour paste that ends up in the wine. While it may not be enough to cause a reaction in many who avoid gluten, this does not mean those who are extremely sensitive won’t have a reaction.

Remember, the medical treatment for Celiac disease is to completely eliminate gluten out of the diet. Even without a strong reaction, consuming gluten can still damage villi in the intestines and block nutrient absorption. Wouldn’t it would be best, especially if one has Celiac disease, to avoid wine where flour and gluten was used in the processing and/or fining? As of right now, acquiring information about whether wine is made without gluten remains the biggest challenge.

Or, if you don’t want to go into all of that, you may get a better response if you ask the over-confidant wine expert these questions:

Question 1: “I’m looking for wine aged in stainless steel casks, can you tell me which ones?”

Question 2: “Which wines were aged in barrels sealed with a flour paste and which ones were aged in barrels sealed with wax?”

Question 3: “Do you know which of your wines were finished with hydrolyzed wheat gluten isolate?”

There now, if they can’t answer you, at least they have some homework to do where they can be more of an expert than they already are (because I guarantee you that it bugs them not to be able to answer specifics). If they ask you why, tell them that you are curious about how gluten finishing substances might affect the flavor of the wine and that you want to make a comparison at a dinner party with friends. They can’t argue with that!

4. Look for European wines that have begun labeling for food allergens. Last bit of good news: Some countries, beginning with 2012 wines, are required to label food allergens. These include Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Canada. Start looking for 2012 wines with these labels to help you decide which wines would be safe for you. (4)

All that said, please be safe, responsible, designate drivers and have a very happy new year!!!

Resources:

1. Multi-allergen quantification of fining-related milk and egg proteins in white wines by high-resolution mass spectrometry. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, Volume 27, Issue 17, 29 JUL 2013

2. Hidden allergens and additives in beer and wine by Drea Knufken, Living Without, Issue July/July 2008

3. Proteomics in Foods, Food Microbiology and Food Safety, Volume 2, 2013, pp 285-304

4. Allergen labeling in wine: compulsory regulations imminent in the European Union – will the U.S. be next? by Bruce E. Copeland, Alison B. Torbitt, Beverage Alcohol Brief, June 26, 2012

5. Influence of the matrix in bioavailability of flufenoxuron, lufenuron, pyriproxyfen and fenoxycard residues in grapes and wine, Food and Chemical Toxicology, Volume 60, October 2013, Pages 419-423

6. Fining white wine with plant proteins: effects of fining on proanthocyanidins and aroma components, European Food and Research Technology, October 2013

Safe Eats Teams Up to Support FARE in the Nashville FARE Walk

No parent should ever have to live through the experience of worrying whether a small bite of something will kill their child, yet it is the reality of so many parents today – they worry through hundreds of meals. And imagine being a kid and relying grown-ups to tell you if something is safe or not while knowing that if it isn’t, it could make you extremely sick or even kill you?

We hope that one day, this problem doesn’t exist anymore. Until then, we hope and work and contribute toward solutions.

This Saturday, November 16th, the Safe Eats Team will participate in the FARE Walk in Nashville, TN! If you are a food allergy sufferer or a parent of one, you already know about FARE. If you don’t, I recommend you take a look at the FARE website for a wonderful array of educational information and research, as well as the amazing work they are doing toward solving the food allergy crisis. Consider donating. And at the very least, consider raising awareness by sharing this post with your friends and family.

We are thankful for the brave kids, and every person, family, community and organization that works toward making the world a safer place for our kids.

 

 

 

The Ideal of Hope

Broken Tree
Photo Credit: David Steele

Whether you have or haven’t noticed lately, the world is getting a little more interesting for some of us. Job loss (in my own home, job losses for both of us at the beginning of the summer for which the joblessness has not yet ended), increasing cost of living, a government shutdown, the further separation of family and friends as we move in search of economic stability for our families. In fact, the number of blows that life seems to punch at us these days is enough to hack a large oak tree into an unrecognizable branch-less trunk.

Pruned a bit too far, it is easy to wonder about how much worse it can get, and if the next blow will leave you a withering twig in sand. You ride the emotional ups and downs with a strength that you never thought you had. A possible new opportunity gives a whole new branch of hope overnight, but then the “yes” you need doesn’t come. You remain strong. Your intellect knows that it’s just another “no” and one day your “yes” will come. But then, as my fiance’ says, the hopelessness hammer seems to come out of nowhere, to hack down your new branch of hope with a swift and painful blow. It’s not easy to remain strong when you don’t know how you are going to continue to live.

This is the best way I can describe the turning of a new direction for Safe Eats: It started as a fun blog of recipes for a little boy who wanted to have pizza again. It then evolved into developing recipes that included not just him and his allergies, but that of his friends.

As my family learned more and more about the life-threatening severity and prevalence of food allergies among so many children, our hearts went out to the members in our online groups that would report of their long nights in the ER and who found the very depths of emotional strength for which I have never imagined trying to pull from. Mothers and fathers holding the hand of their child, strapped to machines, struggling to breathe, struggling to live, and not knowing if they’ll go home to a room full of toys and space-themed blankets with no child to enjoy the rest of his innocent journey into life.

child hand

While my son has suffered intense reactions and pain, I’ve never had to watch him dance the edge of the cliff of death as other parents do nearly every two minutes in hospitals across the globe. We are very lucky. Our problems are not as big.  But this is a pandemic that needs to be our problem.

When I wrote the article about my son wanting to help his friend with her peanut allergy, making sure we don’t even have it in our house so that he never has it on his clothes when he is in class with her, it warmed my heart. Now, just because my son is my kid, doesn’t mean I’m going to think he can do no wrong. He is human just like the rest of us, with some things he needs to work on. However, there is something that my fiance’ pointed out to me about him. He said, “Your son has a really strong moral compass. Have you ever noticed that he absolutely will not sell anyone out even if it gets him into trouble? He won’t tell me if you left the light on or if his friend left the toys upstairs. I never find out until you tell me. He is so protective.”

After he said that, I thought about other scenarios where my son  took the heat for his friends. While I always thought it was sweet, I had never given him due credit. As my child goes with me everywhere and quickly runs with all  his might to get ahead and open the door for me and for other people, and the way instantly and enthusiastically gets up to help me with anything, I wonder how this child came from me. As an adult, I am not as helpful as he is – and I should be. I think about what drives him and I watch him as he reads comic book after comic book. He wants to be a Hero.

Four years ago.
Four years ago.

He’s not the only kid that wants to be a Hero, so do his friends. Have you noticed this about kids? They love Heroes! Secretly, so do grown-ups! (I’m still a sucker for Super Man movies to this day). My son, and his friends, are reminding me about the best part of human nature that resides within all of us: the Hero. It is the Hero inside of us that keeps wanting to be.

The more we have watched my son want to be a Hero, it has made us want to be a Hero with him.

One might say, isn’t the Hero theme a bit of a trope for something like an emerging nonprofit? Yeah, sure, it could seem to be an ego thing but if you reflect upon your own life and that of others, you realize that everything we do is based upon our need to be a Hero in some way. All emerging and ongoing nonprofits should look to emulate Heroes. And so should every business, organization and individual.

As for being Hero-driven, most people are already doing it –  thinking about how to make life better for themselves and those they love. There is a Hero inside of you when you drive to work and think about how you are going to perform toward a hoped-for promotion and make a nice Christmas for your loved ones. There is a Hero inside of you when you go home and assess what you have accomplished and what you still want to accomplish. There is a Hero inside of you when you cook dinner for your family and try to give them the best nutrition. There is a Hero in you when think about how you can make it better. There is a Hero in you when you lie down at night and reflect on how you are going to solve your problems and that of those you care about.  Whether you acknowledge it or not, you are constantly striving for a better future for you and your family. YOU are a Hero, every single day. So is the very environment that encourages us to dare. From the trees that offer a branch with which to climb to the stars the light the path in darkness; and so on it goes – Heroism – to the very diligent and hard-working worms that feed the soil that makes the food that sustains us.

Kathys hero sunriseAs I write this long-winded prose to the dear souls that are still reading, I want you to know something, I just replaced every word ego in the previous paragraph with Hero .

I encourage you to look back up and see why I don’t like the misuse of the word ego anymore. And here is the explanation of why:

Ego became used quite frequently by the famous psychologist, Sigmund Freud. Ever Since he decided to attribute the word ego to the part of our brain that is cognizant only of itself and chose to define it as something that resides in total denial of what is outside of us, ego has been adopted in our modern cultural language as something that means only selfishness. It points the finger and makes a judgement about other’s egos. So, we all walk around with this ego that we’ve been told we have, along with the associative guilt that comes along with making sure that it does not get “out of control” with boastfulness and pride. If you think about it deeply, it does almost everything to our minds the way the word “sinner” does. Which is silly, really. There is nothing wrong with being proud of something GOOD that you do to benefit others.

If I ever start a linguistic trend in this world, it would be to ban the word ego altogether and call this thing inside of us, the one that helps us survive for our families and those we love: the Hero. I think this very word is what makes us Human.

 

we are better than this

Heroes are Humans, and Humans are Heroes. We are humble, kind, compassionate, giving and hard-working. We lift each other up and find ways to solve problems. That’s what we do.

If we are not solving problems,  we are wasting our talent.

In my journey to create and share recipes for people with all kinds of severe food allergies, I have met families who have been met with sarcasm and spite as they ask others in the community to support their efforts to keep their child safe or from hurting. We have experienced it ourselves. We have met families whose children are suffering from symptoms but who cannot afford to have the non-allergenic foods that would allow their children to participate in social gatherings and avoid the emotional pain of exclusion. We have watched children with food allergies, including our our son, sit and watch as their classmates enjoy cupcakes. These children no longer go to pizza parties, birthday parties and restaurants because it is too painful. It is easier to staying home with an enthusiastic parent trying to recreate a favorite treat to make it all better. These children have to give away 90% of the candy they get in their trick-or-treat bag. They have to choose between saving their social standing among peers or saving their own life, a particularly hard thing for preteens and teens to do, especially when it is so important to learn the social nuances of life and work.

child not included

So, this brings me back to defining the direction of Safe Eats. With the help of caring people both near and far, we have teamed up to work on the following things:

  • Help our son and his friends participate in social gatherings, rituals, festivals, dinners out and holidays around the world.
  • Help those who have been suffering too long finally receive diagnosis and treatment.
  • Raise compassion among the communities that need to support those parents who have held their child’s hand in the ER and wondered if they were going to have to bury him or her because of a simple, accidental bite of the wrong cookie.
  • Contribute to other organizations that are seeking a cure and contributing to education.
  • Educate where we can and do everything we can to make the world a safer place.

As my family struggles to make it economically, we realize how lucky we are and we realize that we need to be stronger for those that could benefit from what we’ve learned. We must exercise the ideal of hope we cling to. We must make the world a place where food isn’t a death sentence for anyone. We MUST make it more affordable for a child to have a safe cupcake and enjoy life. This is what Safe Eats stands for. We must all be Heroes.

If I would ask any reader to do anything after reading this article, it would be to ask yourself one question: What you would you say to yourself if you were your own child? What do you stand for? What does the Hero in you want to do?

missing the point

Can you ask both yourself and your real or inner child about the legacy are you going to leave here beyond your life? How will you hone the talents and strengths given and invested in you and make good use of them?

Lastly, How can we all inspire each other to add a new dimension to the Hero that already exists within all of us?

If you do nothing else, replace the word ego, with HERO. Inspire others to do the same.

And Then… OWN IT.

Sweet Treats Complete! Allergen-Free Campfire Chocolate Cake and Strawberry-Vanilla Cake

Campfire CakesI am really excited that these turned out!  I used to do regular baking before I started dealing with my son’s onset of Celiac and dairy allergy (about three years ago). But now I am getting back into baking – with a focus on the fully decorated cakes being free of the 8 common allergens. With these cakes, my client only wanted them to be vegan. But because I cannot work with wheat flour, these are also wheat- and gluten-free. So, in the end, these cakes ended up being without wheat/gluten, dairy, eggs, nuts and peanuts and partially without soy. The marshmallows have soy and the strawberry cake utilizing a gluten-free flour mix that used soy lecithin – I went ahead and used it because  the client was only focused on the cakes being vegan.
I did make myself available by phone, if for any reason, she had anyone with food allergies needing to ask questions. I kept the packaging of ingredients that I used so that they can be readily available for evaluation. I know how I am, and I want to make sure that others are absolutely 100% sure that it is okay.

There is a lot of trust in this business and I will take that trust as seriously as my own death. I will have ways of making sure that my clients know 100% what will be going into their cakes. I will use their requests and their experience as my guidance. My clients are my royalty, they deserve it.

That said, I have a lot of recipe to post here. And I will say that I did use one shortcut: a gluten-free flour mix. Specifically, King Arthur Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake Mix for the chocolate cakes and Betty Crocker Gluten-Free Yellow Cake Mix for the strawberry cakes. Now, the reason I did this is simple: I do not have a kitchen scale. And as I have learned that in gluten-free baking, precise weighing (not volume measuring) is needed, I relied on the companies to do that for me. Secondly, every ingredient in those mixes is exactly what I would have used to prepare my own mix, the only exception being that the King Arthur Flour has some emulsifying agents to help the cakes retain moisture longer.

So, onward with the recipe dispensing!

Campfire Cake

For the Chocolate Cake Layers

2 boxes of King Arthur Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake Mix (note that the box indicates that one mix will make two 8 or 9 inch round cakes. I did not find this to be true – unless I wanted really thin layers).

3 teaspoons of Ener-G Egg Replacer mixed with 6 Tablespoons of warm water

1/2 cup mashed banana (from a small to medium banana)

1/2 cup vegetable oil (instead of the 2/3 cup that the package calls for since the banana provides moisture and binding)

1 cup of water (instead of the 1 and 1/3 that the package calls for due to the extra liquid from using the egg replacer)

Prepare the cake according to package directions except omit the part about the eggs and add the replacer at the end and increase baking time to about 35 to 45 minutes. Use the toothpick test to make sure it is done.

Repeat for the second cake layer. I do not recommend mixing both batters at once as it could change the chemistry of volumes and ratios and affect the outcome of your cake layers.

I recommend making the cakes a day in advance so that they have time to cool properly. Cakes that are not fully cooled will release more crumbs when you are trying to frost it (and you don’t want that).

Chocolate Mock-Buttercream Frosting

I recommend that you make this when you are ready to frost. Although, you can make it in advance and put it in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. But do set out the frosting to bring it to room temperature for about an hour so that it will be soft enough to work with.

1/2 cup organic non-hydrogenated shortening such as Spectrum brand

1/2 cup soy-free earth balance buttery-flavored margarine

1 teaspoon of gluten-free vanilla extract

1/2 cup cocoa

1 32oz bag of powdered sugar (make sure it is fresh and has not been opened as powdered sugar can take on a stale taste very soon after opened. If you have a corn allergy, look for powdered sugar made with tapioca starch instead of corn starch).

*2-4 Tablespoons of hemp milk or rice milk (hemp milk has a creamier texture due to the fat content)

Mix together the fats and vanilla until blended. While the mixer is on, slowly add the cocoa and 1 Tablespoon of hemp milk. Gradually add powdered sugar and hemp milk, alternating so that it does not slow your mixer down.

*BE CAREFUL TO NOT ADD TOO MUCH LIQUID. You want the frosting to be very thick/stiff. If it is too wet, you will have a difficult time frosting your cake.

This should be enough for filling and frosting the outside of it. You may need to make more if you need more frosting for decorating.  Decorating tip: frost the sides first using a 16 inch icing bag and the icer tip. It helps to have a turning cake stand, too. Use a small frosting spatula to even out the sides. Then do the same with the top. Once it is frosted, refrigerate for 10 minutes to set and then use a piece of wax paper to smooth out the surface of the frosting.

Campfire Flames

Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

You will need about 4 large bags of dum-dum lollipops. These are the only hard candies that I could find that are made in a dedicated allergen-free facility and are free of the 8 common allergens.

Separate out the colors (strawberry, cherry, orange, peach-mango and cream soda flavors).

Put each color in its own ziplock bag and smash with a hammer (on a surface that is safe and will not cause any damage).

Arrange the crushed lollipops on a parchment paper with the dark colors being on the bottom and the lighter ones to the top.

Melt in the oven for about 10 minute or until all of the candies have melted and blended.

Take out of the oven and use a toothpick to blend (if you want).

Transfer the parchment to a cool table. Candy will quickly set in about 10-15 minutes.

Once cooled, break into triangles as best you can. Be careful not to hurt yourself and don’t let the kids help with this one. Once the flames have been put into the cake for the event, suggest breaking them back down again for kids to eat.

BE CAREFUL THAT NO ONE GETS HURT BY HARD SHARP CANDY FLAMES. 

For the Logs and Rocks

1 Bob’s Red Mill Shortbread Cookie Mix

1 package of Enjoy Life dairy-free, soy-free, nut-free chocolate chips

Prepare a package of Bob’s Red Mill Shortbread Cookie mix, except replace the egg with 1/4 cup of vegetable or allergen-safe oil.

Try not to eat all of this cookie dough at once because it is delicious!

Form the cookie dough into desired shapes and bake for 12-15 minutes. The color of the cookies will not change significantly.

Once cookies are cooled, brush with melted enjoylife chips.*

*Here is something that I learned the hard way:  if you add a tiny bit of liquid to the chocolate chips (like a bit of food color for the rock shaped cookies), the chips will harden back up into a clay mass while you’re trying to melt them. If this happens, add about 2-4 tablespoons of hemp milk to the chocolate and stir and blend. If you do this, you will have to put the cookies in the refrigerator to set the chocolate.

For the Strawberry Cake with Vanilla Frosting 

Strawberry Cake

Note: the pectin in the strawberries makes the chemistry especially tricky in this application. I have failed at several attempts at strawberry cake and finally found this version that was still a little dense but still cake-like in texture (rather than the ones that came out gummy or hard before) and finally had a balanced strawberry flavor that went well with the frosting. I had to use three mixes as these did not want to rise. Once I finally understand what is weighing this cake down, I will ammend this post with a slightly better version. But this recipe is still quite delicious, but do understand that it is about the same density as a pound cake.

3 packages of Betty Crocker Gluten-Free Yellow Cake Mix (use a different kind if you need to avoid soy such as the King Arthur Gluten-Free Yellow Cake Mix)

For EACH cake layer (which you must prepare separately), you will need to add:

1 cup of sliced fresh strawberries ————- (3 cup total)

2 teaspoons of lemon zest ——————— (6 teaspoons total)

1 teaspoon of gluten-free vanilla extract —————– (3 teaspoons total)

1/2 cup earth balance buttery-flavored margarine (or Spectrum brand shortening if you don’t have EB) ———- (1 and 1/2 cups total)

1/2 cup rice milk ————– (1 and 1/2 cups total)

4 and 1/2 teaspoons of EnerG egg replacer mixed with 8 Tablespoons of warm water ————– (haven’t figured out the total, just have enough to do this three times)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease pan.

In a mixer, combine all of the ingredients except the strawberries. Once everything is combined, add the strawberries and let the mixer run until the strawberries are all smashed up and the batter is pink.

Bake in one 8 or 9 inch pan until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (about 35-40 minutes).

Vanilla Mock-Buttercream Frosting

SAME AS CHOCOLATE MOCK-BUTTERCREAM ABOVE, JUST OMIT THE COCOA.

Neato: Stylish Cases from Epi-Essentials

 

 

epi essentialsWhat a neat product. I had to share. Here is their website: http://www.epi-essentials.com/The-Collection/The-Accessory-Case/

Vegan Peanut-Free Oat-Free No Bake Cookies (Super Quick and Easy!)

No Bakes 2By virtue of the powers that be: Earth Balance, Sunbutter, and Gluten Free Rice Krispies,  I bring you this classic no-bake cookie recipe. Now you can have your childhood back and enjoy this fun and easy-to-make classic treat. It’s so easy and so quick. Just melt, stir and drop onto waxed paper. It truly tastes like those old fashioned peanut butter, oat and butter laced no bakes you used to have.

The reason I substituted the oats with the  gluten-free rice krispie cereal is due to the fact that many people who cannot tolerate gluten, also cannot tolerate oats. As for flavor, I recommend that you go to the trouble of getting the plain gluten-free rice krispie cereal instead of using a sweetened Mom’s Best cocoa krispie cereal (I tried that and it came out too sweet).

If you have a Soy allergy, you will need to use the Soy-Free Earth Balance and find a different seed butter product (like pumpkin seed butter) as Sunbutter is processed in a facility that also processes soy.  Remember that avoiding peanuts and nuts saves lives, so if you can make a switch to a seed butter, you’ll be making the world a better place.

~As with any recipe, always double check your ingredients to make sure everything is safe and nothing has changed. ~

Vegan Peanut-Free Oat-Free No Bakes

2 cups of sugar

1/2 cup of cocoa such as Hershey’s Cocoa Powder

1/2 cup of Earth Balance non-dairy margarine

1/2 cup of rice milk

1/2 cup of sunflower seed butter (or soy-free pumpkin seed butter)

1 teaspoon of gluten-free vanilla extract

3 cups of GLUTEN-FREE rice krispie treat cereal

In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, cocoa powder, earth balance margarine and rice milk . On medium high heat, bring to a boil and boil for one full minute.

Remove the pan from heat and stir in the sunflower seed butter and vanilla extract. Make sure the seed butter is fully melted and incorporated into the mixture.

Stir in the rice krispies and coat all of the cereal. As you stir, the mixture will cool down. You may want to wait about 5 minute for additional cooling and thickening.

Then, drop mixture by spoonfuls onto waxed paper. Cookies will set in about 10-15 minutes. Let the cookies fully cool down before transferring to an airtight container. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Makes about 20 small cookies.

I Wasn’t Expecting to Cry Today. Then, This Touching Letter To Allergy Parents…

letter to allergy parents

To Allergy Parents by Rebecca x’s blog: (And Rebecca, thank YOU.)

http://www.peanutfreegourmet.com/2013/08/to-allergy-parents.html

Vegan Soy-Free Marshmallow Recipe

Credit for this goes to inhabitots.com So glad to have found this recipe and wanted to share it with you.

I needed to find this because I’ve got my first Nashville cake request (very exciting :-D) and my client wants the cakes to be vegan. Sticking with my mission as a baker that avoids all of the 8-common allergens – while making sure it is also vegan –  is a challenge I’m a bit excited about. The design I suggested calls for marshmallows and she loves it. Marshmallows are generally allergen-free but the gelatin in them makes them not vegan, as gelatin is sourced from animals.

The first thing I did was look at  the available manufactured vegan marshmallows. Unfortunately, the vegan marshmallows I can buy where available have soy protein isolate, which is of the 8-common allergens I want to avoid in all of my baking. Further cyber search led me to vegan marshmallow recipes that also call for soy. Finally, after some more specific search requests, I found this. I am going to try it. Let me know if you also try it, and what are your results. Enjoy!

Vegan Soy-Free Marshmallow Recipe

Tasty Macaroni and Cheese for the Dairy-Free Crowd (with Variations on a Theme)

Image

 

I’m overdue in putting this up on my wordpress page. So, here it is! A common weeknight staple in our house, this has a mild cheese flavor, like American cheese, and as most veteran dairy-free cooks know, the secret ingredient is Nutritional Yeast. You could add some Daiya cheese substitute to this also, but Daiya also uses nutritional yeast for their cheese flavor, plus pea protein and binders. So, to save my food budget, I just stick with the nutritional yeast and use a combination of a few ingredients in the recipe below that should be accessible to most, if not all, dairy-free cooks.

A little word about the credibility of this recipe (as I always appreciate it when others tell me that they actually make their recipe and that other people like it):

My son remembers having Mac n’ Cheese for most of his pre-school time. It wasn’t until he was 5 years old that his body started completely rejecting gluten/wheat and also dairy. He came up positive for dairy allergy at the doctor’s office with a deduction of celiac with regard to the wheat/gluten. I was vexed by living without diary. We lived in NJ where Italian food is prevalent. We usually had bread and pasta with cheese almost every night. Parmesan cheese became a flavoring of choice for a lot of my dishes. I made ricotta stuffed shells at least once a week. And aside from the Italian food, we loved grilled cheese and mac n’ cheese…. and rice n’ cheese. Oh, how we loved our cheese.

Trying to find ways to have “cheesy” things again is quite a challenge. After all, I’m still working on the non-dairy cheesecake recipe. In the meantime, this recipe is a big winner at home. My son, who recalls the real thing, really loves this. My fiance thinks its great and especially loves it when I add a little bit of meat sauce to it to make it a cheesy mac n’ beef. It’s decadent and satisfies our cravings for a hearty meal.

Here’s how to make it:

Cook a 16-oz package of your favorite gluten-free pasta, be careful to not overcook (I usually set the timer for two minutes less than the minimum recommended time as it will still cook a little on the stove while you are adding ingredients).

Drain the pasta and put back in the pot and turn the heat down to medium-low.

Add:

1 cup of your favorite allergen-free chicken broth

1/2 cup of Earth Balance dairy-free margarine (or 1/4 cup of light olive oil)

1/4 to 1/3 cup of Nutritional Yeast depending on how much cheese flavor you want

1 teaspoon of onion powder

1/2 teaspoon of dry mustard

salt to taste (very necessary for cheese flavor. Remember, the cheese making process involves salt)

pepper to taste (optional)

 

Stir and serve!

And, if you want to make it like a Hamburger Helper, or a full one-pot meal, here are some variations on the Mac n’ Cheese theme:

Sausage.

Meat sauce.

Chili meat or beans.

Baby spinach and sauteed onions and mushrooms.

Cubed cooked chicken and diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning.

Tuna, peas and hot sauce such as Louisiana Hot Sauce or a milder Cholula (I’ve always loved this combination).

My fiance just suggested using gluten-free beer instead of chicken broth to make the sauce. Hmm. Interesting idea. I might have to try that.

I have a friend that just makes the sauce (without the pasta) and uses it for nachos.

Do you have any more ideas?

 

 

Safe Treats Buffet. And The Kids Like Them, Too!

With Coriander Honey Roasted Chickpeas in the center, our dairy and gluten sensitive household can eat all the treats shown. I used an espresso cup to display the dum dums. Here are the ingredients for the candies and gum:

And my apologizes that this post won’t apply to the corn allergic. I will research corn-free candy soon. In the meantime, these are dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free, mostly soy-free (double check), peanut-free and nut-free.

Treats

Rock Candy: 

Sugar, water, flavor via extract or oil.

If you are sensitive to flavor extracts or oil, please check the full ingredients from the store where you purchased the rock candy.

Dumdum Lollipops:

Ingredients (from their website):
Sugar, Corn Syrup, Citric Acid, Malic Acid, Salt, Artificial Flavor, Color Added (Includes Red 40, Yellow 6, Yellow 5, Blue 1). Store in a cool dry place. This product does not contain peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, wheat, or gluten. It has been manufactured on dedicated equipment. There is a trace amount of soy oil in the lubricant that we use in our cooking kettles. This soy oil has been refined, bleached, and deodorized and all of the proteins have been removed. www.SpanglerCandy.com

Starburst Candy: (not for people with corn allergies) 

Ingredients (from their website):

INGREDIENTS:CORN SYRUP, SUGAR, APPLE JUICE FROM CONCENTRATE, GELATIN, FOOD STARCH-MODIFIED, CITRIC ACID, LESS THAN 1.5% – PECTIN, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, COLORING (RED 40, YELLOW 5). GLUTEN-FREE.

http://www.wrigley.com/global/brands/starburst.aspx

Double Bubble Gum: 

Ingredients in Dubble Bubble gum include dextrose, corn syrup, gum base, tapioca dextrin, titanium dioxide, confectioners glaze, carnauba wax, cornstarch, artificial flavors and colors. Based on the two ingredients in the top positions on the nutrition label, sugar makes up the majority of this product.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/278081-nutritional-information-for-dubble-bubble-gum/#ixzz2aYDzKO4R

The Popcorn is air popped and the Candied Honey-Coriander Roasted Chickpeas was adapted from a recipe I found here: http://www.getoffyourtushandcook.com/2013/06/roasted-cinnamon-sugar-chickpeas.html

I added coriander and used honey instead of agave nectar. I found that the chickpeas roasted unevenly, so I would recommend moving them around often and not taking them out until they are almost burnt. The lighter ones weren’t as crunchy.

The Easy No-Bake Allergen-Free Cheesecake that You’ve Been Looking For. Almost Perfect. Accepting Challenges.

Foodie Challengers: Can you bring this allergen-free cheesecake to perfection? I developed this today but the filling needs refinement. It needs a creamier texture and stronger “real cheesecake” flavor. For some reason, the flavor weakened significantly during the chill and set process. It tastes like a mild vanilla jello. It’s good on it’s own (maybe for flan?), but otherwise, the crust overpowers it.

As for the crust, it is absolutely perfect and should remain unchanged. It has a really great graham cracker flavor and texture. When I ate a slice of this, the combination of the crust with the strawberries made me feel like I was having a cheesecake experience. It is the closest thing to cheesecake that I’ve had in years.

The filling really needs the most help, it needs a richer texture and deeper flavor. Ready to take on the challenge? Here are the requirements of the challenge:

1. it must use products that you can get from a store (not special ordered online)

2. it must be no-bake. And it must be free of dairy, eggs, soy, corn, peanuts and tree nuts.

So, should a solid fat be added such as earth balance or organic non-hydrogenated palm oil shortening? What about more nutritional yeast for the distinct cheesy flavor? Would a homemade condensed unsweetened milk help? Pureed bananas? Corn-starch-free melted marshmallows? Maybe?  What are your thoughts?

Anyway, if you like a milder, lighter, flan-style filling, you might want to stick with this recipe as is. It’s not bad at all. I had two slices of it and feel happy. But it could be better. And I look forward to hearing what you do with this.

Here’s the recipe:
No-Bake Crust

Coat the bottom of a spring form or cake pan with wax paper or a little oil.

In a food processor, process gluten-free chocolate rice crispy cereal until you have 3 cups of very fine crumbs. The finer, the better.

Then add crumbs to a bowl along with 1/2 cup of maple syrup. Mix until crumbs are all coated and it sticks together. Then press into the bottom of the pan. Cover and refrigerate.

The Cheesecake Filling

Boil 1/2 cup of water.

In a bowl, add 2 envelopes of non-flavored gelatin. Stir the boiling water into the gelatin and stir until dissolved.

Then add 1/2 cup sugar and stir until dissolved.

Add 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast, 1 tsp vanilla, the juice of 1/4 of a lemon and stir.

Then add a pinch of salt and 1 15 oz. can of full fat coconut milk.

Pour into the prepared crust, cover and put in refrigerator to chill for at least 4 hours.

That’s it! What do you think would make the filling richer and creamier?

7 Easy Tips for Entertaining Guests with Food Allergies

cupcake wine1. Don’t Stress Out (aka: Don’t Feel Bad About Accepting Their Offer to Bring Something).

This is the most important thing to your guest with food allergies. Nothing makes them feel worse than causing unnecessary stress to the host. They are happy to be invited and spend time with you. If they offer to bring something, don’t feel bad about accepting that offer.

Also, realize that they will not question their own dish. Your guests might prefer having control and avoiding the awkward feeling of having to ask you what ingredients you have used to make something and if you took steps to avoid cross contamination. (And no joke, they really hate needing to ask). They know how easy it is to miss a hidden wheat ingredient in a broth, or a milk ingredient in hot dogs.  Or, how easy it is to forget old habits where one might accidently prepare gluten-free toast on a pan that still has wheat bread crumbs on it or dip a knife back into the butter that had bread crumbs in it.

So, if you don’t want to think about it, or worry about your menu items or cooking methods, know that your allergenic guest will appreciate you being flexible and allowing them to keep control to avoid a reaction.

2. If You Make an Allergen-Free Recipe, Save the Food Labels for Them.

Your guest will deeply appreciate the extra work you have done to include them in the food part of the celebration.  They may also worry that you may have missed something (see point 1). Do not be offended by this. Your guest has learned a lot about ingredients and what contains hidden allergenic ingredients – the hard and painful way. They have made the mistake of consuming it, suffering the reaction, and doing the detective work to figure out what happened.

Your guest knows that you don’t live like they do. Therefore, they don’t expect you to know that barley malt extract in a wheat-free sauce still has gluten; or that soy sauce is made from wheat; or that those hot dogs have casein milk proteins; or that soy cheese is still made with dairy (to name a few). So, be prepared to tell them how you made it. Not only will they appreciate that you have taken their allergy seriously, they will feel deeply cared for if you set aside the ingredients labels for them to evaluate.

Remember that it’s for their peace of mind. They trust you. They just don’t trust food manufacturers and the ingredients they use to make something that *should* be only what it says it is. Again, they learned the hard way that something wasn’t safe when they thought it was. It’s nothing against you.

3. Plan Ahead, Stick to the Basics and Forgo Buying Special Food Items  

Unless you enjoy learning about food allergies and want to spend an extra hour in the store reading ingredient labels, go take a look in your pantry for things you already have and that are already allergen-free such as beans, rice, potatoes and tuna. Also, look in your freezer for meats and your refrigerator and garden for fresh veggies and herbs. Proteins and starches are the most satisfying menu items at a party. You can easily make and serve deviled eggs (boil eggs, mix the yolks with a little mustard and sweet relish, scoop into the whites and that’s it!).

Here are some more quick ideas:

  • Cook some rice and turn into a beautiful rice salad with fresh minced veggies, fresh herbs, and homemade citrus vinaigrette.
  • Make some tuna salad with a vinaigrette dressing instead of a mayo dressing.
  • Chicken tenders can be coated with oil, dusted with salt, pepper, sage, garlic powder, onion powder and dry mustard, cook in the broiler until done and put in the fridge to get cold. Put them on skewers on a pretty platter with honey mustard and sesame dipping sauces.
  • Roll up slices of Hormel All-Natural Lunchmeat Ham or Turkey and stick a toothpick and an olive in each roll.
  • Cut up some potatoes, and toss them in olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper and bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Serve warm or turn into a roasted potato salad made with red wine vinaigrette and fresh herbs.
  • You could also roast and season fresh broccoli, mushrooms, eggplant, carrots or red peppers.
  • Offer plain tortilla chips and plain potato chips with salsa and hummus which are usually allergen-friendly.
  • Search the plethora of allergen-free recipes online, add “easy” and “simple” to your search. Also try “Paleo”, “Vegan” and “Raw” as your search terms.

You’ll be surprised that preparing for them can be an easy, stress-free experience.

4. Make a Simple Fruit Dessert Instead of Baking.

When you are not used to allergen-free baking, you will find that it can be a complicated, time consuming and expensive endeavor. While it may be fun to learn and try it, you will invariably have many other tasks on your to do list when preparing for a party. Almost all from-scratch allergy-free baking projects require a learning curve, a few special kinds of flours, leavening agents and binding ingredients that can’t be found at your regular food market.

I’m a bit hesitant to suggest a baking mix for brownies or cookies, but I will go ahead and suggest it, provided you are careful to know if your guest also needs to avoid dairy or eggs or nuts as many baking mixes don’t avoid multiple food allergens. So, if your guest is also allergic to eggs, you will have to figure out the best way to substitute for the eggs following instructions on the mix. My favorite mixes are from Bob’s Red Mill as they are good at helping the baker avoid multiple allergies.

That said, baking, in general, adds a bit of time and stress to your entertaining endeavor. And I’d hate to see you go to all that trouble and find out that your guest still can’t have it because you didn’t know that oats or certain kinds of starches are hard for some celiacs to digest.

My best advice would be to come up with a creative fruit dessert such as:

  • Sorbet or Smoothies made into popsicles
  • Poached pears in a ginger simple syrup
  • Cinnamon baked apples
  • Grilled pineapple slices with cracked-pepper honey
  • Grilled plums with balsamic reduction
  • Strawberries dipped in melted non-dairy chocolate chips such as the Enjoy Life brand.
  • Candy using melted non-diary chocolate chips, dried cherries and sunflower seeds, dropped by spoonfuls onto wax paper which will set when cooled.
  • Raw food websites are also a great place to find easy and creative fruit based desserts.
  • Popcorn balls (if no corn allergy) are great for any party, not just Halloween.
  • Gluten free rice krispie treats using Kellogg’s gluten-free rice krispies, regular marshmallows (if no corn allergy) and Earth Balance dairy-free butter.
  • Cracker Jacks are a great party fun food if no one has a peanut allergy.
  • Swedish Fish, Starburst, Skittles and Smarties are gluten-free and diary-free. (as of this writing, I only know that Smarties are vegan, so check candies for other offending allergies if needed).
  • Homemade vanilla or chocolate pudding made with arrowroot starch and topped with fresh fruit.

Those are just a few ideas, but whatever you do, keep it simple and you’ll save lots of time, money and energy!

5. If You are Going to Prepare Food , Be Very Mindful of Cross-Contamination.  

It would be great if no one had to worry about this but it happens every day that a person with allergies gets sick or is hospitalized due to cross contamination. It might have happened because their safe food was cooked on a pan that had allergens on it, or the cook’s hands weren’t washed after working with wheat flour. There are many ways that cross-contamination can happen. When in doubt, use another pan or get a clean knife or buy another jar of jam that hasn’t been used to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

I know you don’t want extra dirty dishes, or more jam than you need, but what would you rather have, an extra knife to wash or a really sick guest? If extra diligence is needed, you may want to go the extra mile and inform the other guests to avoid bringing peanut butter cookies or anything with tree nuts if your guest is prone to airborne nut proteins threatening their life.

6. Don’t Focus on Their Allergies if They Don’t Want to Talk About it.

This is one you’ll have to feel out.Your allergenic guest thinks about their food allergies almost all day, every day. They need to talk about and think about something else. They want to enjoy your company, listen to your stories, laugh with you and have fun. Some allergy sufferers appreciate the opportunity to educate others on food allergies, especially when they feel heard and not judged as being too careful about it. Being dismissed and treated as if they are “too protective” is a sore spot since they encounter that attitude a lot. If it seems that they don’t want to talk about it, move on to another subject.

Kids who are food allergic can be even more sensitive and don’t want to hear the adults talk about them. Kids worry that their friends will make fun of them (and some do). So, if the kids are within earshot, and you are going to bond about parenting, stick to subjects that apply to all of the kids such as their sports or piano lessons and the challenges of limiting TV and Nintendos.

7. Enjoy the New Entertaining Experience, and Celebrate Life

We live in a time where food allergies can kill the whole person in an instant via anaphylactic shock or via a destruction of intestines over time. People with food allergies may have a life expectancy much shorter than everyone else’s.  So, as the saying goes “Live and Let Live.”

Their allergy might be inconvenient, but it won’t hurt you to help them avoid it. But if they don’t avoid it, it will hurt them. Be patient, understanding, accommodating and celebrate the joy of who they are outside of the food allergy. There are worse things in life than food allergies but do treat it like a digestive disability, because it is. They may look good on the outside but they hurt on the inside.  And I dare say, it’s even a social disability because of the lack of ability to participate in so many social food events. Continue to be understanding.

And from the bottom of my heart, thank you for reading, sharing, helping and supporting organizations that research cures for food allergies. Wonderful people like you are the ones that make the world a better place to live.

Easy Chocolate “Doughnut” Cake

Simple Chocolate Cake with Icing

But with a much more lively milk chocolate taste. This recipe is adapted from a standard quick and easy chocolate cake recipe. The icing consistency was an accident. I was going for a thicker decorator icing but this actually worked very well and really reminded me of going to a bakery and getting a chocolate cake doughnut. If you have a doughnut shaped pan, this cake recipe would be perfect for that!

This cake is free of all eight common allergens. The icing is made of pureed beans, confectioner’s sugar and almond milk. If you are allergic to legumes, you could puree a fruit of your choice or use a mixture of jam and your favorite non-dairy milk. Ooo… that just made me think of doing a strawberry icing with this.

The Cake

I. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and lightly coat an 8-inch square or round cake pan (or your doughnut pan) with vegetable oil.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together:

– 2 cups of your favorite GF flour mix

– 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum

– 1/4 cup of cocoa

– 2 teaspoons of baking soda

3. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together:

– 3/4 cup of mashed banana or applesauce

– 1/4 cup of canola oil

– 1 cup of brewed coffee  (Note: coffee intensifies the chocolate flavor.  No coffee? No problem, use water or non-dairy milk)

– 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

4. Mix together the wet and dry ingredients until well blended and pour into the pan. Bake until toothpick or knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 30-40 minutes. With a doughnut pan, I recommend checking to see if it is finished baking after about 15-20 minutes.

After cooled, cake can be wrapped up and kept at room temperature for about three days.

The Icing

1. In a small food processor, blend until as smooth as possible: 1 cup of white beans such as cannellini or navy, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1/8-1/4 cup of non-dairy milk.

2. Pour the bean puree into a mixing bowl and add 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1 pound of confectioner’s (aka: powedered) sugar (example: about 1/2 of a bag of Dominoe’s powdered sugar).

3. Blend until smooth and thick but drippy.

4. Transfer to a small bowl. When you slice a piece of cake, drizzle the icing over the slice and enjoy.

The icing can be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for about a week. It also goes great on cinnamon buns or buttery cinnamon toast. Yum!

Chickpea Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chickpea Choc Chip Cookies

These cookies are totally free of peanuts, nuts, eggs, gluten, wheat, and dairy.

Why the chickpeas? I ran out of shortening and earth balance but had everything else to make chocolate chip cookies. I really wanted to experiment with an egg-free cookie recipe. But without the fat, I was a little stumped. Could I still do it? Most recipes call for so much of said fat, really, the fat only does two things: add volume and softness. I remembered seeing some posts in my Facebook feed from raw food pages about making chocolate chip cookies using chickpeas. So, I thought I’d try pureed chickpeas and canola oil to replace the fat and 1/4 cup of applesauce to replace the eggs.

After deciding on these replacements, and consulting volume of ingredients from two cookbooks, this is what I came up with: a thick, cake-like chocolate chip cookie that, when paired with a tall glass of non-dairy milk, makes for a very comforting treat. The family raved.

I made these very large because I knew my son would get a kick out it. But you can use this recipe for any size and thickness that you want since these don’t spread out at all like the traditional wheat and butter cookie.

Ultimately, there are five really great things about this recipe: 1. They taste great, just like traditional chocolate chip cookies (my fiance did not know I used chickpeas until I told him). 2. They are totally free of the eight most common food allergens. If there is a legume allergy, use silken tofu instead of chickpeas (do not use tofu if there is a soy allergy) 3. You can eat this raw without worry of salmonella poisoning from eggs. Idea: Stir the dough into your favorite ice cream! (Oh yum) 4. You have the benefit of having total control over the size, shape and thickness of these cookies. 5. You don’t have to buy  expensive fats such as shortening, earth balance or peanut butter, and thus a bit more economical.

So, here is the recipe. Enjoy!

Chickpea Chocolate Chip Cookies

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease two large cookie sheets.

In a small food processor, add:

1 15-oz can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained.

1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup of canola oil

2 teaspoons of vanilla

Blend until mixture is very smooth and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together these dry ingredients:

2 cups of your favorite gluten-free flour blend

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum (if your flour blend does not have it)

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 cup of dark brown sugar

1/2 cup of granulated sugar

Stir together the dry ingredients and then add the chickpea puree. Stir and then you may have to use your very clean hands to squeeze and mix the dough until it all comes together.

Add 1 cup of Enjoy Life or other non-dairy chocolate chips and mix.

Shape cookies and flatten to about 1/4 inch thick. Bake on a rack that is closer to the top as these cookies brown quickly on the bottom. Bake for 11-15 minutes depending on the size and thickness of the cookie. They are done when the edges are golden brown. If you want the tops of the cookies a deeper brown color, finish them under the broiler for just one minute.

Serve warm with a tall glass of cold rice, hemp, soy or other favorite non-dairy milk.

Fried Green Tomatoes

Fried Green TomatoesConsidered a Southern dish, it really doesn’t matter where you are from to enjoy this. Pluck some green tomatoes from your garden, fry these and it’s like having mild fried pickles with a fork. Oh, it’s so good. Not everyone likes these, but if you are looking for an allergen-free version, this is it.

Note that these are usually made with cornmeal, but the rice flour in your standard gluten free baking mix will add the sought after grainy texture.

How to make:

In a deep plate or dish, add 1/2 cup GF flour mix, salt, pepper and 1 teaspoon of onion powder.

In a large skillet, fry bacon and set aside the bacon

If necessary, add enough canola oil to the bacon grease to bring the oil up to about 1/4 inch of your slices of tomatoes.

Slice your green tomatoes in 1/2 thick slices and lightly coat each side with the flour mixture.

Gently set into the hot oil and don’t move it. Let it fry on a medium heat for about 5-7 minutes, or until golden brown. Flip and cook the same way on the other side.

Remove from skillet and keep warm in the oven if you like.

If you want to add a sauce, I recommend mixing 1 cup of mayo or veganaise with salt, pepper, onion powder, a little mustard, a dash of apple cider vinegar or louisiana hot sauce (or your favorite hot pepper sauce).

It’s that easy. Enjoy!

Salmon Fagioli w/ Sauteed Balsamic Tomatoes

One word: Delicious.

Additional words: Made entirely from ingredients purchased at ALDI, plus tomatoes from neighbor’s garden.

To make the Sauteed Balsamic Tomatoes:

In a large skillet, heat just a little olive oil or spray with a thin coat of olive oil. Cut up tomatoes in large chunks or halve cherry tomatoes, enough to fill the large skillet (about 15 large cherry tomatoes, or 4 regular sized tomatoes, or 2 pecks of grape tomatoes).

Saute tomatoes with a little salt, balsamic vinegar (not a lot) and a very tiny bit of sugar. Do this until tomatoes are wilted and the juice from the tomatoes becomes thick.

To make the Salmon Fagioli, add the following to a soup pot:

1 can salmon, undrained

1/2 of a 32-oz container of chicken broth

1 cup of water

1 white onion, chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

2 potatoes, diced into 1-inch bite sized pieces

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 10-oz can of mushrooms (or fresh if you have them)

1 14-oz can of white beans

1 Tbsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp ground sage

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp ground mustard

salt and pepper to taste

Boil and bring to hard simmer. Add 1 cup of gluten free pasta and cook until the pasta is done.

Take off of the heat and serve with the sauteed tomatoes. My fiance preferred this without the tomatoes but think the tomatoes would be great in a bruschetta application. So, I guess it depends on your taste (which is why I kept the tomatoes separate). My son doesn’t like tomatoes, but loved the addition of nutritional yeast to give this soup more of a Fish Chowder flavor.

“Just Peachy” Ice Cream

In the late summer, peaches, apricots, nectarines, plums and various stone fruits are in season. This is my favorite time of year because these stone fruits are my absolute favorite. I love peach pie, peach smoothies, peach sorbet, peach ice cream, peach jam. Yummmm.

In the days when I could eat real ice cream and frozen yogurt, I was always annoyed that I needed to work my way down into a pint to get another bite of a frozen peach encased in ice cream. And when I couldn’t eat ice cream anymore and I had to pay $7 or more for a pint of disappointing non-dairy ice cream, it was all good cause for me to respond with a sarcastic “Just peachy,” (if anyone were to ask how my day was going). Well, now that I’m in control of my own ice cream, I can say “Just peachy,” with a little happier tone in my voice. All it takes is a can of coconut milk for $1.79 blended with some inexpensive fresh or canned fruit, and the cost for a pint comes down from $7.00 to about $3.00. It’s so nice to afford this summer treat again.

“Just Peachy” Vegan Ice Cream

4 ripe apricots, peeled and chopped

1 14oz can of peaches in syrup (or the equivalent of fresh peaches)

1 14oz can of coconut milk (NOT cream of coconut) – always double check the ingredients

1 cup of corn syrup or 3/4 cup of sugar

1 tsp vanilla (gluten free)

In a food processor, blend all of the ingredients together. Transfer to an ice cream maker and run it according to your manufacturer’s directions. Freeze and enjoy the next day. Make sure you make more ice cream before you run out of that batch.

Cookbook Review: The Allergen-Free Baker’s Handbook by Cybele Pascal

Allergen Free BH

I have to credit my future sister-in-law for this gift. She gave me this book when we met about a year ago and it has been one of the most useful gifts I have received.

I have made several of the recipes in this book and the discovery of Socca de Nice was a huge hit in our household. We especially love it with fresh rosemary.

The chocolate chip cookies came out great!

This is an excellent resource for totally allergen-free baking and I commend the author for doing all of the testing and writing so that the home cook can quickly have a good go-to recipe for school functions, fundraisers, work functions, and other events.

The recipes work best when they are followed using the exact ingredients called for (at least until you get the hang of allergen-free baking), such as the egg replacer and agave nectar and gelatin. Those little ingredients make a difference, so I highly recommend that you follow the instructions. I did use real eggs in the cornbread and it came out okay. As does the almond milk or water in lieu of rice milk for most recipes.

The author uses relatively inexpensive flours to create a general mix for quick breads, cookies, etc. and then another general mix for yeast breads. I really like the convenience of preparing a flour mix ahead of time. This is a good approach when you are doing your allergen-free baking as it saves time on future baking projects. I recommend doing a double or triple batch and storing in a large container in your pantry or refrigerator.

The taste and texture is pretty good for most of the recipes I tested; very close to what you’d expect from your grocery store bakery. The chocolate chip cookies truly are outstanding. The cakes were also very good. Double the recipe for two layer cakes. The socca de nice was surprisingly novel and good! I still have to try some of the savory yeast breads but all in all, I still grab this book every single time I want to bake something.

This book is one of the very few baking books on the market that avoid the eight most common food allergens. Please don’t be overwhelmed by all the flours and alternatives. Once you have the items in your home, you’ll be anxious to start working with them!

If you’re on a budget, some of the recipes can utilize canola oil instead of the palm-oil shortening. You’ll have to test it out, but we had good luck with using canola oil in the quick breads. However, continue to use the shortening in cookies and cakes as it needs to coat the crumb for good texture. You can also replace the rice milk with water if you haven’t been able to get to the store.

I admire the work of Cybele Pascal and she deserves all of the praise that she has received for this work. I bring this book with me to my seminars and educational events to let others know that this resource is out there. For more about Ms. Pascal’s amazing work, please visit http://cybelepascal.com/

Delicious Pancakes

Behold. These are the ones. The pancakes. The IHOP/Waffle House/Jersey Hometown Diner (or whatever happens to be your definition of) oh-my-god delicious pancakes.

So far, the pancakes I have been making have not been worth really talking about on here, except the flourless banana pancakes, which taste more like bananas foster, than anything else. And I posted them for novelty sake. Some like them, some do not. We do. But still, they are not actual flour pancakes.

So, out of some frustration with being too broke to go to the store for the Bob’s Red Mill Pancake Mix (which is what I usually use), I decided to adapt my gluten free flour mix to a recipe in my Fannie Farmer cookbook. I adapted it even further to use oil to save on the cost. And these were born.

Surprisingly spectacular.

Here’s what the wheat eater in my household had to say about them: “Wow, I cannot tell at all that these are gluten free. And they have that nice eggy, fluffy, tender texture, like the pancakes you would get at a really good diner.”

WIN!

So, here they are

Make this GF Flour Mix: 6 cups brown rice flour, 2 and 2/3 cup potato starch, 2/3 cup tapioca flour, 2/3 cup sweet rice flour.  Mix all together and put in a large ziplock bag. (If you can’t find sweet rice flour, you can substitute it with more tapioca starch. If you do that, I cannot guarantee this recipe).

For the Pancakes:

Use 2 cups of the GF Flour Mix for this recipe and store the rest for other baking recipes.

1 and 1/2 teaspoons of xanthan gum

4 teaspoons of baking powder

4 Tablespoons of sugar

1 teaspoon of salt

Mix the dry ingredients well with a whisk.

In another bowl add:

2 eggs

4 Tablespoons of Canola or Vegetable Oil

2 cups of unsweetened almond or unsweetened hemp milk (Note: these milks have a creamier texture and are great for baking. I’m not sure how rice milk would come out. In my opinion, rice milk is so watery that there is no difference in baking with rice milk vs. water. So, I just use water instead of wasting my rice milk if all that I have on hand is rice milk. My recipes have come out fine that way).

Whisk the wet ingredients together. Then mix the wet and dry ingredients together with a wooden spoon. Add more almond or hemp milk (or water) if the mixture is too dense. It should be very pour able, like cake batter.

Then, make the pancakes how you would normally make them. If you are just learning how to make pancakes, see instructions below. Serve with a pat of Earth Balance spread and your favorite maple syrup (make sure it is free of caramel color. Caramel color in pancake syrup doesn’t seem to bother my son. But if it bothers you, use a mixture of light corn syrup and molasses to make an inexpensive syrup).

How to Make Pancakes:

Set your oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. (For keeping cooked pancakes warm).

Heat a large non-skillet skillet over medium high heat and, depending on the size pancakes you like, scoop 1/4 or 1/2 cup fulls of batter into the pan. Cook about 5-7 minutes or until dry looking around edges and you see bubbles throughout the pancakes and then flip over. Cook another 5-7 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.

Transfer pancakes to a plate in the the warm oven while you are making the 2nd and 3rd batch.

For the pancakes you have not eaten, put them in a large zip lock bag and put them in your freezer for up to 3 months.

Reheat 1-2 pancakes as you need them.

Reheating instructions for microwaves:

Put 2 pancakes on an oven safe plate and cover with an almost sopping wet paper towel (this steams the pancakes and keeps them from drying out). Cook on high for 1-2 minutes until heated through.

Reheating instructions for people like me, who have broken microwaves and can’t afford another one:

Set your oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Put your desired number of pancakes on a cookie sheet. Cover with about 2-3 sopping wet paper towels to keep them from drying out. Heat for about 5 minutes or until heated through.

Chicken Shepherd’s Pie

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I hope this savory shepherd’s pie, free of the eight common food allergens, is something you find delicious, comforting and satisfying. I want to tell you a secret about the mashed potatoes: keep the colander in the cabinet and don’t pour out all of the potato water. Leave about an inch of the potato water in the bottom of your stockpot as your liquid for mashing. There is a lot of flavor in that water (and also nutrients). Also, it’s easier and less expensive than using a milk substitute. As you know, I’m a fan of spending as little of my money on special ingredients as I can, so I used olive oil instead of earth balance, at least for the potatoes. Many of these ingredients are from ALDI. I shop there for many things so that I can save my money for things like the special ingredients I can’t do without. Okay, enough chit-chat, here is the recipe:

Peel, wash and put your potatoes in a large stock pot with boiling water. You only need about 6-8 potatoes but I make a whole bunch to save for leftovers. Start boiling your potatoes (Idaho potatoes work best for mashing but feel free to use what you have on hand). While those are cooking, prepare your chicken filling.

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In a deep skillet add:

One package of chicken tenders (about 2 pounds) – you can even put them in frozen, they’ll just have to cook longer until done. I do this all the time since I’m not a fan of using the microwave. If you have only chicken thighs or legs, or you’d rather do this with beef, lamb or pork, go for it!

1 yellow or white onion, medium diced

1 green bell pepper, medium diced

8 fresh mushrooms, sliced

4 stalks celery, small diced

10-15 baby carrots

water for simmering (the water will pick up flavor of everything, no need for broth)

1 tsp dried sage

1 Tbsp garlic powder

1 Tbsp onion powder

1-2 tsp salt

fresh cracked pepper to taste

Cover and simmer over medium heat until your chicken is cooked all the way through and your carrots and celery are tender. Watch and add more water if needed as you don’t want it to burn. When done, lower temperature and add:

1/4 cup of earth balance or olive oil

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1/2 tsp yellow or dijon mustard

If you don’t have the earth balance or nutritional yeast, don’t fret, this will still taste good!

Stir and keep warm while you prepare the potatoes as follows:

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Drain the potato water until you are left with about 1 inch of water at the bottom. Keep the water in there. Add 1/3 cup olive oil, 1 Tbsp onion powder, 1-2 tsp salt and cracked pepper to taste. Always taste and be sure you like it.

Set your oven to broil (or 500 degrees Fahrenheit) and then assemble the pie. Add the filling to an 8-inch or 9-inch pie dish, top with enough mashed potatoes to cover and then sprinkle 1/4 cup rice flour or your favorite gluten free flour blend on top. Using a pastry brush, lightly drizzle 1/8 cup of olive or vegetable oil over the the flour, getting as much of the flour oiled up as you can. Dust with paprika, salt, pepper, and ground mustard. I found a spice grinder at ALDI for poultry and I love it for this application (it has all of the spices I just mentioned and no bad additives).

Put your oven rack to the top of your oven, put in your pie and broil for 5-15 minutes or until golden brown on top. Depending on the type of oil and flour you use for your topping, this time can vary so keep a close watch on it to make sure it doesn’t burn.

Serve with chopped fresh rosemary. If you don’t have fresh rosemary, dried rosemary or dried Italian seasoning would also work.

If you have any questions, let me know. Happy Eating!

Chicken Nuggets

Again, all allergens avoided. And this is very simple and easy to make on a busy weeknight. I just made these for my son and his friend that I’m watching. She doesn’t have food allergies and absolutely loved these and wanted more. How cool is that? They kept eating these nuggets until I distracted them with the banana bread that I had just pulled out of the oven (see previous post). Lol. Enjoy!

Chicken Nuggets

In a bowl, stir together:

1/2 cup gluten free flour mix (see banana bread post for the gf mix I use but it doesn’t have to be exact like it has to be for baking because the gritty of whatever you choose will add to the overall crispy effect of these nuggets).

Then add 1 teaspoon each of salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika and stir well.

Add 1/4 tsp of back pepper if you like.

Then cut up 2 – 2.5 pounds of chicken tenders into 1 inch pieces. Toss into the flour mixture. No egg coating is needed.

Heat 1/4 inch of oil in a skillet over medium heat. When oil gets up to about 325 degrees Fahrenheit,  carefully add the chicken pieces. Cook in two batches if needed and do not crowd the pan. Cook the nuggets about 5 minutes on each side or until golden brown and cooked through. Before cooking the second batch, lower the heat a bit before adding the second batch as the second batch will not cool down the oil as much and may burn.

Totally Allergen-Free Banana Bread

Banana BreadThis tastes sooooo good. And I’m so excited about this accomplishment because I’ve been working on this for almost a week. This has zero allergenic foods, meaning it is gluten free, diary-free, egg-free, soy-free, corn-free, peanut-free and nut-free. No coconut, either. I promise you that I test my recipes before I post and the picture of this bread was just taken after we devoured a couple of pieces. My son’s friends are over and they begged for another. I will have to guard the rest for sweetheart since he’s been wanting me to make another banana bread for him and I need him to taste this. I think it actually came out better than the egg version I made last weekend. So far, the biggest challenge has been baking things without eggs. A friend suggested applesauce and upon reading more about it, the pectin in the applesauce helps act as a binding agent the way eggs do. Flaxseed meal mixed with water is suggested in some recipes as an egg replacer but if you are trying to avoid treenuts or soy, you may have to be extra careful with flaxseed meal. I have also used Ener-G egg replacer but that is just one more expensive special product to buy, and as you can relate, it is expensive enough to buy different kinds of flours. So, if I can use oil and applesauce instead of Earth Balance and Ener-G egg replacer, all the better.

Enough chat. Here is the  the recipe:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Coat an 8 inch loaf pan with a little bit of canola or safflower oil (do not use the spray if you are avoiding soy because most oil sprays use soy lecithin). If your applesauce is cold, warm the 1/2 cup of applesauce in a saucepan on low heat while you prepare the ingredients. (Warm ingredients help fats coat the flour and improve performance of leavening ingredients).

In a large bowl, mix together the following:

  • 2 cups of gluten free flour mix (either use your favorite one for quick breads or you can use mine as follows: 6 cups superfine brown rice flour + 2 2/3 cup potato starch + 2/3 cup tapioca flour or starch + 2/3 cup sweet rice flour OR an addition of 2/3 cup tapioca starch if you do not have sweet rice flour).
  • 11/2 teaspoons of baking soda
  • 3/4 cup of sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp xanthan gum

In the saucepan of warm applesauce, mix the following wet ingredients together:

  • 1/2 cup applesauce (warmed up if cold)
  • 1 cup of mashed bananas (about two very large ripe bananas or 3 small ones)
  • 1/3 cup of oil

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit in the center of the oven for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Enjoy warm with some soy free Earth Balance or cooled down – however you like, right?

I Have an All-American Food Dream

ImageI am not working twenty thousand hours a day now, thanks to the support of my sweetest and most wonderful love of my life. He is my partner in life, the one who encourages me and celebrates and supports who I am. I hope he feels equally supported and loved for who he is. I am so lucky and thankful. Together, we decided that I should quit my job and focus on building a better future for my son and his generation.

To start, we’ll begin the actions necessary to eventually build a restaurant that serves him and his friends where, according to a recent interview on NPR of a doctor in the depths of studying food allergies says, 1 in 13 of the kids, in the here and now, suffer from 1 or more of the 8 common food allergens. That is at least 1-3 kids per classroom across the entire nation that can’t enjoy a meal with their friends. I don’t know about the globe, but the numbers for the US are pretty stark. Here is the article/radio interview if you’re interested: http://www.npr.org/2013/04/15/177319365/the-doctor-trying-to-solve-the-mystery-of-food-allergies

Reading that, coupled with my experience in trying to live with my kid’s diet as a working adult (and failing miserably because I had a choice to stop eating gluten free and dairy free – see the previous article A Walk in My Kid’s Shoes) made me realize that the need for a restaurant for people with food allergies is very VERY high. Especially restaurants that treat the elimination of gluten and other allergens as a serious thing and not a food fad where cross-contamination is not a concern. And I want the food to taste damn good so that people who can eat anything, go because it’s good. It’s just that they no longer have to exclude people with food allergies.

What I want: good food – safe for everyone. Period. Where kids can gather together and have a birthday party and no parent has to have a special long talk with the wait staff and worry about cross-contamination in the kitchen (and embarrass their kid in the process). And where, after a nice meal, no child has to then suffer 6-8 hours of vomiting in the middle of the night (like my son recently did when we bought bacon from a butcher that also uses the same surfaces to prepare sausage with milk and wheat powders).

My dream is to build a place that has brand new kitchen equipment that never ever comes in contact with wheat, diary, eggs, soy, corn, nuts, peanuts, fish or shellfish. Where a whole class of kids can order a hamburger WITH a bun, french fries, a homemade soda and apple pie with ice cream. Or a milkshake if they want. Or maybe they want cookies or a banana split or a strawberry sundae or chicken fingers with fun dipping sauces. It’s my All American Food Dream. Imagine, families going out on the town and their allergy kid can have a hot dog and some ice cream. Simple as that.

And yes, I’m talking about this restaurant dream. I don’t care how many people know my dream or steal my idea because the more restaurants that are out there serving my son and his friends, the happier this world will be. It would be like trying to hide the idea of putting wheelchair access in my own building and not wanting wheelchair access in other buildings. I want my son to go out to eat everywhere, to try different foods, to try different chefs’ take on favorite cuisines. Why wouldn’t I want everyone I know to make a restaurant that is safe? Whether the bandwagon has started or not. I’ll be the one of the first ones on it.

Already, I’ve been questioned by people as to whether or not this is actually a good idea. But that’s normal. And understandably, allergy foods are not known for being good and tasty, which is pretty sad. All good ideas need some scrutiny and I welcome that. It is also a challenge and a warning to me: the food better be damn good from first sale to last. I also see it as a teaching opportunity to help others’ understand that food allergies are a really horrible horrible thing to live with and that I’m up to this challenge. Food allergies are exclusionary in so many ways, not just in not being able to partake but also in having to offer low-quality food. It doesn’t seem like a big deal to the outsider, but when you’re inside the food allergy circle, a whole world of living gets cut off and you’re stuck with sucky food or nothing. You can go places, but eating places you can’t go. Your class can have cupcakes but your teacher has to pat you on your back and feel sorry for you while you stand and watch your friends eat cupcakes, trying to hold in your 7 year old tears because you’re trying to be a big boy and not cry about not getting a cupcake in front of all of your friends. (Btw, I had no idea that cupcakes were being served so often until my son told me earlier today). So, yeah, I’m up to this challenge. My son’s cupcakes will be safe and better then theirs! And then all his friends will be going “Dude!! When are you going to bring those cupcakes that are way better than the crappy cupcakes from Kroger?”

I mean.. because…Right ON! Right?

I’m not even the one suffering and I’m tired of living with food allergies. I’m tired of packing a bag of the same ol’ things my son can eat. He’s tired of eating the same ol’ things. I’m tired of worrying about cross-contamination and deciding against taking him out to eat when I’d love for him to sit in an Italian restaurant and dip into a basket of breadsticks and appetizers and relish new foods with us. I’m tired of driving by Krispy Kremes and Dunkin Doughnuts and Pizzerias and Cafes and Bakeries and all sorts of fun restaurants because it’s just not worth it to try to find a safe thing off the menu or to get a foreign worker to understand the importance of disclosing whether the rice is made with butter. I’m tired of cutting off our weekend outings to go home to eat. I’m tired of saying no to him when I’d rather say yes.

So, to start… serving the kids who want to have an ice cream float with wait staff that sings happy birthday to them? It’s going to be priceless. And then when they start dating (it’s not that far off!)…Image…those same kids who will eventually become high-school/college aged and will want to start dating without having to drop off their date early to go spend the night throwing up (because, you know how teens suffer themselves to impress a date). And then those kids will then grow up to have lunch with colleagues and co-workers and not want to call attention to their digestive disability. Giving them the world we non-food-sufferers now enjoy is going to be priceless for them. Not to mention the many, other, various situations that call for socializing over food.

As the saying goes, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” I am a mother. That’s my son! It’s invention time.

Will there be challenges? Oh heck yes! How the hell am I going to come up with a hamburger bun that has no eggs, almond milk, corn leavener or soy flour that is way better than Udi’s? It’s not going to be easy. No offense to Udi’s, I’m glad they exist, but their give shit level, as with so many other gluten-free companies, is pretty low. Because 1. the hamburger buns are too small and 2. Six damn dollars?!  for 4 tiny ass rolls? C’mon. Throw us a bone, Udi’s and help us feel a “little” normal. Like, give me 8 rolls for the money. Seriously!

Ugh, I hate the allergy food companies treat allergy sufferers like crap with the smaller portions and sizes and charge two or three times the price as conventional… with a quality that is “ok” at best.

But I digress. This is all so unfair. The solutions is needed RIGHT. THE HELL. NOW. Food companies, environmental dumpings, bad air… I don’t know… whatever it is that has effed up our food supply so bad…all these kids’ bodies see them as toxins…it is a problem that isn’t going to go away or be solved anytime in the near future.

Our kids need us. They need our help and they need to be empowered to change the Imageworld, one menu at a time. Though it would be a long shot, it would be a great social lesson: that screwing with a global food supply (GMO, pesticides, etc.) does not increase profits but eventually decreases it to nothingness by rendering a whole society unable to digest the effed-with food items. How about those future profits now, Monsanto assholes?

Yeah, so screw them. I don’t want a single speck of their effed-up wheat dust to even enter the air vents of my future restaurant.

I don’t know if GMO foods can be linked (with any certainty) to my son and his generation’s food allergies but I think it’s safe to say that experimenting with GMO foods and using a whole population as guinea pigs is a really asshole fucked up thing to do. It is unethical and the results might be disastrous. The only power we have is to adjust our diet. The scary part of this is that if all of our food gets messed with, at what point will the entire human species see all food as toxic? It’s a scary thought and my son’s generation is bearing the first brunt of it. I’m mad as hell about it. And even though I can tolerate wheat, diary, etc., I’ll eat alongside my son and not give one red cent to the ones screwing with our food.

To my kid I say, “C’mon kiddo, to HECK with those freak foods – let’s make those hamburgers and milkshakes happen – OUR way! And BETTER, too!”

I’m mad. And it’s only going to get worse. Who’s with me?

A walk in my kid’s shoes and the reality of food allergies.

So, since the last time I posted here, I had been doing a lot of reading about celiac disease and about how it is walkinhisshoesinherited. I also discovered some information about how people are finding themselves suffering from health problems when ingesting wheat and gluten whereas they never have before. I even spoke to a new friend I met recently, who is in her thirties who said that she had been suffering from minor symptoms for years and suddenly, her symptoms became severe enough that she lost 20 pounds almost overnight and when they did a scope of her intestines, it showed almost no villi left in her intestines. To say that eating gluten can have life-threatening implications on some is not an overstatement in the least.

So, the more I read, the more I’m learning that there is something going on in the wheat/gluten world that is creating all this health damage. Nobody knows how or why. And I am certainly no doctor or nutrition expert. But my son’s pediatrician indicated that my son probably inherited his milk allergy from me and potentially the wheat allergy as well, from both me and his father.

I have suffered from some of the mild symptoms of gluten intolerance that have been listed on various sites (namely the dizzy spells, hormone imbalances, inflammation, borderline anemia and low energy) and with the support of the love of my life, decided to live like my son. And let me say that it is one thing to make sure your kid doesn’t eat things that will make him sick, but it certainly an eye-opener to try to live as a working/busy adult and follow the same lifestyle.

The first few days (even weeks) didn’t seem like a big deal to me. “I got this,” I said to myself. And I did. I was at least knowledgeable to know my GFDF world to know what I could or couldn’t order or eat. All I had to do was do what I do for my son: pack my lunch, be careful of ingredients, eat the safe stuff. Except, I’m not in the habit of it. And many mornings I’d rush off without grabbing anything. At that point, it kinda hit me how hard this is. I was hungry but I couldn’t just stop anywhere and get a hot biscuit and sausage sandwich, or a breakfast burrito, or an english muffin with egg, or anything, really. I had to get to work on time, so a stop at big grocery store was out of the question. Oh how I miss Wawa. At least they have veggie and fruit cups and a deli counter meats and gas station foodeven packages of boiled eggs. Not the TN Maapcos or the Thorntons or the Exxons or really, anything around here. It’s all southern food (hot dogs, hot sausages and other msg-laced horribleness). Right now, there just isn’t a market for boiled eggs and fruit cups at the stop n’ go stations. So, I was screwed.

I had a bag of tortilla chips at work that I snacked on. And some boxes of raisins that I brought with me. But, it’s not filling like a bagel is. Then, when my lunch hour finally came, I could run to a nearby Kroger to get things I could eat. Unfortunately, I discovered that the Lara bars and anything pre-packaged and allergy friendly was expired. I even ended up wasting $5 on a package of wholly guacamole that was one month past the expiration date. I ate some expired brown rice cakes one day (which I didn’t discover until after I ate them and didn’t feel so good). So, expiredunless I wanted to eat just fresh produce and tortilla chips, my options were extremely limited. And it wasn’t just the Kroger here that had expired stuff, so did the walmart market. In both places, I had to bring this to the attention of management. They were kind and addressed it, but still, if there isn’t a high turnover for this stuff, it makes me weary of freshness. If only I could get the 15 million other items in the store… nope, not me, the oddball out there, trying to shop for food in places filled with allergenic foods and normal people.

So, I started looking at raw options because there was a bounty of fresh mustard greens and kale and broccoli and other popular southern produce. But… how easy is it to prepare a salad in a limited break room at work? Not at all. I got creative anyway and felt pretty okay with myself. I was having pre-washed, pre-cut broccoli with hummus a lot. And the frozen Amy’s meals have been a decent go to for something more substantial.

Still, after a couple of weeks of this, I got pretty tired of it. And with baseball season practice and games, I haven’t been home and cooking… so, not much in the way of leftovers to bring to work.

So, I tried getting delivery from a local restaurant where my boss has me order his food from all the time. They’ve gotten to know me a little but this time, I ordered for myself. And this is where I thought about what life is going to be like for my son when he gets older. I had to spend about 15 minutes on the phone with them explaining myifudontwanttoeatlunch food allergies and because I have a serious problem with the use of styrofoam, I added the request that they wrap my plain cooked burger in foil and put the lettuce, tomato and pickled beets in a plastic container. They were wonderfully nice to me but I know I was a serious pain in the ass. They had almost nothing on their menu of side items to go with my burger. I couldn’t get fries because they use the oil to fry breaded things. I couldn’t get the apples because they were sauteed in sugar and butter. Pretty much everything they had had either butter or breading in it. So, I ended up paying $8 plus tip for a plain patty that was way too small to satisfy me, a leaf of iceburg, a slice of tomato and a disappointingly small side of canned pickled beets. I ordered this for breakfast (instead of lunch) because I was so hungry. It was enough to get me through until lunch but gawd, was that a dismal moment. The craving for a full-bunned burger with the works was really starting to set in. Then I realized that my son hasn’t had that in well over a year and a half. Poor kid!

Boring foodThe challenges, of course, didn’t stop there. My love and I both work in downtown Nashville and while my lunch hour is so limited, we still try to meet for lunch. He had to return a book to the library and I agreed to meet him there so we could have lunch at the library cafe. When I got there, not only was the parking absolutely confusing (the garage is split in two sides) but the cafe was a french bakery style place. There was nothing for me to eat there. Nothing but a small cup of roasted veggies. I couldn’t tell if it had been prepared with butter or not. Looked like an olive oil marinade though. But, if I were my son all grown up and having to do this, I’d have to ask one of the jaded hipster employees about the ingredients. I was in a crap mood and decided to just eat it. My now-very-limited diet was testing my love’s patience as well. But, he is a good sport, and patient. I watched him eat a delicious herb roll. I then thought about all the times that I ordered something not-so-fun for my kid, like the time we went to a pizzeria and they gave him some hamburger topping with a bit of tomato sauce and we sat there and ate the delicious pizza in front of him. My kid has been such a good sport about dealing with the limitations but … have I been kinda rude to him? Taking him along with me to out-to-eat places where he can order maybe one somewhat unappetizing side off of the menu while the whole menu was available to us to enjoy? What a sad thought. It made me cry a little bit. It made me realize that this life really makes you feel left out. Everyone is having fun and you can’t. Everyone can eat what is cooked, but you have to offend the cook to stay healthy. Your diet becomes a topic of sympathy, where it makes other people feel uncomfortable to deal with you when it comes to food.

I quickly learned that social and public dining was more miserable than dining at home. Dining at home has become our place of freedom and respite, where we can melt dairy-free chocolate chips (that I found FRESH at a nicer Kroger) and stir in some gluten-free rice krispies or nuts or dried cherries or marshmallows. Our home is where I make asian, thai, indian, italian and american cuisine that is SAFE. Safe from us being buttheads to other cooks and safe from feeling like outsiders to the world around us. Here is a picture of our wonderful Easter Supper of Roasted Pork , Sweet Potatoes, Spring Rolls, Pinapple Salsa, and Chocolate Marshmallow Bark: my cooking

Still, we still have to eat out there in the world. I started getting a bit better about making sure I made extra rice and chicken and yummy things to take to work. But again, I got busier and I stopped planning and making food. Work days became more and more stressful, commute was getting longer, and I would come home and not want to cook. So, this is another CON to having food allergies. I have a lot of cooking ingredients and just about every GF flour that can be purchased in my pantry. But at 7 pm and not a single desire to dirty a pan or wait more than 15 minutes to eat, I was envious of all the families in the world eating sandwiches or heating up a frozen pizza in the oven. So, not only do we have to plan and prepare more lunches, we have to plan and prepare for nights that I just don’t have it in me to cook. I think I ended up drinking wine and eating tortilla chips and sardines that night. My love graciously ate it with me. My kid was fine with a bowl of his chocolate GF krispie cereal and almond milk. So, we managed, but… a nice sandwich would have been great.

One night, we attempted to order chinese food. I thought that would be safe. Even though they put soy sauce and butter in almost all of their stir fries and sauces (soy sauce = gluten), I could still get steamed plain food. I tried getting steamed chicken and  cashews and thechinese food order very confused staff delivered breaded chicken instead. I ended up eating it because my love paid for it and he was exercising extreme patience with our lack of food options. I didn’t want to not eat perfectly good food, either. I was frustrated though, because this meal was essentially going to turn back the clock and all the weeks I worked on avoiding gluten to help heal my gut. Again, I thought about my son and how he might feel in the same situation – having only rice to eat because they brought breaded chicken and not steamed. He wouldn’t have had a choice to just eat what was brought. “Man,” I thought, “this sucks way worse for him still because I won’t get sick from this. He will.” It was clear that home-cooking was still better, by far, in both flavor and options. I mean, is ordering steamed chicken and rice even worth it? With the time we waited for it, I could have just made scrambled eggs that tasted better.

The last, and most note-worthy challenge was having recently attended a company seminar at a hotel conference where the lunch was provided by the employer. The only thing I could eat on that buffet line was some iceburg lettuce and canned black olives. EVERYTHING on that line was prepared with flour, breading or butter. Even the roasted potatoes were soaked in butter.

So, because I had to be back by a certain time, I rushed out to my car and drove to the nearest place that might have safe food, or where they could accomodate me quickly. I tried a Buffalo Wild Wings thinking it was more of a fast food place and discovered that it was a sit down slow restaurant. While they seemed willing to  nobody knowsaccomodate my dietary needs, they weren’t interested in helping me get back to the seminar on time. Luckily, there was a sushi place around the corner. Oh, the slow drivers tested my patience beyond my imagining but I got there. For Bowling Green, KY, it wasn’t a bad sushi place at all and they QUICKLY prepared two cucumber rolls for me. I got them, ran out to my car and devoured them as I drove back to the seminar. It was no hearty roasted chicken and potatoes meal (which I would have loved after picking on tortilla chips, raisins and a banana for the morning), but at least I wasn’t hungry anymore.

Again, wondering how my son is going to manage his work life, he’s going to have to be prepared for moments like this. And not do what I just did. I missed out on networking with fellow colleagues. I missed out on an opportunity to build professional relationships to chase down allergy friendly food. And did I hurt others’ opinions of me by disappearing for lunch? Did I seem like a really picky diva because I wouldn’t eat what they served and they don’t know why? Maybe.

And this is the life my son faces… unless the world becomes a more food allergy friendly place for him.

And where does all of this lead us? To a place of wanting to give up and be a part of the world. Two days ago, I was standing in line at Wendy’s because (yet again), I did not pack a lunch for myself in my quest to be on time for work. As I stood there and thought about how many times I have ordered the chili in the past few and didn’t want another damn chili, my mouth watered as I watched burger after burger being ordered and eaten by other patrons. Big cartons of delicious french fries. And again.. the burger… with the juicy pickles and lettuce and tomatoes and ketchup and mayo on a soft roll…

I caved. failed

It was like the words that came out of my mouth magically switched from chili to burger. I sat down, I ate it, and I felt happy and good and satisfied.

Except, I also felt like the world’s worst example of a mother trying to understand the world from her son’s perspective. I failed. I gave up. If I had done this right, I would have ordered another chili and would have tried not to think about all those delicious burgers on soft rolls. And maybe, when feeling like that, I just would have left Wendy’s. But, nothing around Wendy’s sounded appetizing either. I was getting tired of the Raw Bar and Soy Latte from Starbucks. I was weary of the three varieties of Amy’s meals from Kroger. I was tired of having the sardines and chips that I had on hand from ALDI. I was tired of not being able to just go out to eat and enjoy life.

I know that, right now, my child knows that he has me and my love as his personal food preparation specialists. He knows I can turn anything he might get outside the home and make a version of it that is safe to eat inside the home. (I really need to post the cheesy mac n’ beef recipe that he loved). But I needed to live life like he does so that I can prepare him for his future. And the word “prepared” is going to have to be a real big thing for him to focus on. What I’ve learned is that living this lifestyle is VERY hard when unprepared. Sitting in an office, waiting two more hours for lunch and nothing is available to eat or to order in. It sucks. He can’t do to himself what I just did. He is going to have to spend $7 on gluten free bread and another $10 on casein free lunch meat and get a few cool-looking lunch bags to have with him at all times. This sucks, but he doesn’t have a choice. He doesn’t have the option to give in and have a burger. He can’t just eat something and risk his health to keep from feeling like a major burden to anyone else. He can’t fail.

this sucks

What I’ve learned: Living like this really sucks more than I thought it did. And the sooner he can find way to make it suck less, the better. I think getting a cake ball maker is in order today. Thanks to this blog I discovered today and this Mom who talks about why it is so important to do some extra wonderful things for those living with food allerges: http://www.amazingandatopic.com/2011/10/allergy-free-cake-pops.html THANK YOU AMAZING AND ATOPIC for this inspiration! And…

CAKE POP READY!!!

baseball cake pops

Beets Kale Quinoa Citrus

quinoa kale beets

This is more of a grown-up dish. The boy was in bed by the time this was finished so I’m not sure if he would like it. The other person in the house raved over it. He said “They won’t understand until they taste it.” I assure you that I made this, took the picture and we devoured it. I wasn’t allowed to clean the kitchen as I had to hurry up and write down the recipe before I forgot it (which has happened a lot). So, here is what I did:

Wash and peel 3 large beets, cut into 1/2 inch strips, toss with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, a very little bit of ground thyme and roast in a 400 degree oven until fork tender (about an hour, or longer if needed). The beets shrink. Make sure you put them in a large baking dish so they are not in a pile. You want them to roast evenly.

Meanwhile, prepare 1 cup quinoa (either red or white) – you will have about 2 cups of quinoa after it’s cooked.

While the beets and quinoa are cooking, prepare your citrus sesame vinaigrette:

  • 3 Tbsp sesame seeds, toasted in a hot skillet (use  large deep skillet so you can use also for the kale – see below)
  • 4 scallions (green or spring onions), thinly sliced – you could substitute red onion for this
  • 1 tsp fresh grated ginger
  • the juice of 1 large orange (or 2 lemons or limes)
  • 1 Tsp lemon zest
  • 1/4 cup of honey
  • 1 Tbsp cider vinegar (you can substitute red wine vinegar if you like)
  • 1/4 cup of some berry flavored juice or 2 Tbsp of berry preserves (I used currant juice because I got it on sale).

Stir together all of the vinaigrette ingredients and set aside.

Set aside the beets and quinoa when they are done. (Add some dried cranberries or dried cherries on top of the quinoa and put the lid back on so they plump a little from the steam)

IWhile the beets and quinoa are cooling, get  the deep skillet you used to toast the sesame seeds and heat to medium high and warm up about 1/4 cup of vegetable oil. Then add enough cleaned and chopped up kale to fill the skillet. Saute until kale is warm, a little tender and a rich green color like in the picture (about 5-7 minutes).

Turn off heat.

Add the quinoa to the skillet and stir in  with the kale. Then pour the vinaigrette all over the quinoa and kale and stir to coat.

Serve on plates and top with some roasted beats and top with a sprinkling of chopped pecans.

That’s it.

It’s not super quick but it’s fun.

I was paid handsomely with compliments on this. So, try it and let me know if you agree. Here’s the thing, trust your own taste buds more than anyone else’s. I taste my sauces and cooked beets and things I am seasoning – while I’m cooking – to make sure they have been seasoned with balance. Please do the same. Don’t wait until everything is assembled before you ever take one bite of it. Make sure the vinaigrette tastes good to you before you add it to your salad. You may prefer a more tart or more sweet one. Or suddenly feel the urge to add bacon. I don’t know. But it’s  habit of every good chef to keep tasting. So, do it. You’ll thank yourself.

Oh, and never put your tasting spoon back into the food. That’s just wrong.

Last thing: this is also great cold for lunch the next day.