Oooh!

I havne't tried this yet, but I can't wait!

http://www.eat-drink-smile.com/2011/04/cauliflower-crust-pizza.html

Navy beans and ham....mmmmm!

Mmm.

So I got yet another wonderful chance to try a new (well new to me) Enjoy Life product.




This time I got to try these Not Nuts nut free trail mix.

They are stinking awesome! Seriously.




The Beach Bash was a big hit with my kids. It has dried pineapple in it so it is very sweet. My 4 almost 5 year old came home from school to find the bag on the counter and he picked it up and brought it over to me.....with this sad look in his eyes. He's outgrown most of his food allergies, but he's very well aware that with a nut allergy he can't have most trail mixes. He handed me the bag and said..."I can't have this can I?" I was so excited to tell him that other than giving his mommy a few bites he could have the whole bag. His face lit up! Apparently someone in his class gets to have trail mix all the time and Gabe has been very jealous. LOL! (I was thrilled to send that bag into school the very next day) The mix is super yummy and I really liked it. It's got all the sweet stuff. This mix contains raw sunflower kernels, pineapple, roasted hulled pumpkin seeds, cranberries and apricots. The mix is top 8 allergens free (as always with them) vegan, kosher and sulfite free! Super yummy!




Now I have to admit I only let my kids have 1 bite each of the Mountain Mambo. It was so good I kept the whole bag for myself. (sadly not kidding, I kept it at my desk for my snack this week LOL!) This mix contains raw sunflower kernels, roasted hulled pumpkin seeds, raisins, dried apples, chocolate chips (dairy-free) and cranberries. OHHHHHH SOOOOOOO GOOOOOOD! Seriously I did not want to share any of it. There's not a lot of chocolate, just the perfect small amount to give each bite a small flavor of it. MMMM. Yea I will be buying this again for me. And I can eat any darn trail mix I want! LOL! Also now is where I'll admit I'm slightly allergic to sunflower seeds. I can eat some with no problems, but a large amount will make me sick. Yea.....I risked it. LOL! This was just too good to miss! (and luckily no reactions! LOL!)

These are great products, easy to grab and go and healthy. I mean how can you go wrong with seeds and fruit?!?!?!? Enjoy Life really is one of the leading companies in the food allergy field and I love the time, attention to detail, and love that they put into their products. :)

GIANT THUMBS UP!!!!

Strawberry Souffle

This recipe I found tonight is obviously not safe for people with egg allergies, but After some searching I found a recipe for vegan (egg free) meringue that should work awesome!

So the regular recipe goes like this

3 cups strawberries, process til smooth and add 1/4 cup sugar. Then in separate bowl whip 6 egg whites and 1/4 cup sugar until fluffy peaks form. Then mix with puree. Put into custard cups and bake 400 for 8-12 minutes til sides turn brown.....

For an egg free version Puree the strawberries by themselves. Set aside. In a new bowl mix
1 1/3 teaspoons agar powder (or 1 1/3 tablespoons agar flakes) mixed with 1/4 cup cold water
1/2 cup powdered egg replacer
3/4 cup cold water
1/2 cup sugar
4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract

Once mixed add pureed strawberries and bake in custard cups at 400 degrees for 8-12 minutes. Til sides are brown.


I found the egg less meringue recipe at this site which btw looks awesome for those of you with egg allergies!
http://www.theveganrd.com/2010/05/the-quest-for-a-vegan-lemon-meringue-pie.html

Using up the veggies!

In honor of my getting back into the posting I made an allergy free dinner tonight! (and used up the last of my zucchini and squash from my garden)

Peel and seed 1 large summer squash and 1/2 a large zucchini Chop into small pieces. In a LARGE pan (I actually used our large wok to give you an idea of how big) melt 1 stick of butter then add in 1 container of kitchen basics broth. If you have a corn allergy do not use vegetable broth!) Let this saute on med or med high a little while til the veggies are getting soft. Once they are almost soft throw in a cup or two of rice (if you want it like a peel-off do 2 if you want it more like soup then 1 or less) Stir and let it finish on med for 5-10 minutes til rice and veggies are all done. Serve. :) Takes maybe 20 minutes total and is Yummy and buttery! Can't go wrong there!

Calling all followers!

Okay guys. My crazy busy summer is over and I was just noticing that I've actually started getting a few followers. So this post is for all of you. What do you want to see me make? What foods are impossible for you to find allergy free? What foods seem too out of reach? (remember I have made corn bread corn free :P) We have been very lucky that Gabe has outgrown most of his allergies and so I haven't been running into any baking inspiration.....HELP! What do you want?

Found a totally corn free pectin today!

Pomona's Universal Pectin

back in the sadle perhaps?

Corn/wheat/egg/soy/nut free salt water taffy!!!


•2 cups sugar
•2 tbs. potato starch
•1 cup golden syrup
•3/4 cup water
•2 t tbs. butter
•1 tsp. salt
•3 drops food coloring
•1/4 to 1 tsp. flavoring, such as vanilla, maple, mint or lemon

Original recipe taken from
How to Make Salt Water Taffy | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2098894_make-salt-water-taffy.html#ixzz1TG4kAU8d


Put all ingredients except flavoring (vanilla or maple), baking soda and food dye in a large pan. Put the pan on the stove over high heat and stir the ingredients until all of the sugar dissolves.

Stir the mixture continuously. Stirring, until the temperature reaches the soft ball stage on a candy thermometer. (it is ok to go over a LITTLE, however we've found that going all the way to the soft crack stage makes the taffy too hard to work air into once cool)


Remove the pan from the stove and add any flavorings or food colorings that you desire and gently stir them into the hot syrup. Then add baking soda (this will create bubbles)

Pour into a greased metal bowl and use 1 or 2 wooden spoons to stir. The more you stir the more air you will work into the candy. Once the candy is cooled enough to handle it with your hands (slather in butter) work it like you would dough. Twist and pull and play with it for 10-15 minutes. Eventually after quite the workout you will have ropes of taffy! (it's fun to do 2 colors and then twist the 2 ropes together!) Let it rest half an hour or so and then cut into 1/2 inch pieces and wrap up in plastic.

A helpful hint for the dishes, let soak in hot hot water :) Melts all the stuck on taffy.

Crazy Summer!

I'm so very sorry all! I have neglected you all horribly! This summer has just been so very very busy! Plus now that Gabe is only allergic to mold and tree nuts I've found that I have so much less that I have to alter or change!

BUT We got to try some AWESOME cookies from Enjoy Life recently!




Now I decided to open the first box of chocolate, chocolate chip while we had our friends over. They have no food allergies (LUCKY!) Yea in about 3 whole minutes the 6 boys devoured the entire box! LOL! I BARELY got to have 1!!!! Not one person knew they were allergy free. Everyone LOVED them! The crunchy texture is like perfectly almost over cooked homemade cookies. You know the kind, not burnt, but cooked as close as you can get. So yummy.



These were the next box to be devoured. My husband even sneaked some! And if you've read my blog you will know this is the HIGHEST of compliments! He's picky and HATES anything that is allergy free. He really liked these. He didn't realize until later that they were allergy free! These were SO good! We really loved them!



Now these the boys really loved. I thought they were pretty good. Not blow me away good, but good. Very like store bought Pillsbury mix. But then again the boys devoured these so maybe I'm just not the biggest sugar cookie fan. LOL!



Now the Vanilla graham cookies I'm ashamed to admit were so good I hid the box from my kids and ate the whole thing myself! LOL! These were SOOOOO perfect. The best texture for a graham cracker and super yummy in milk.

Now for those of you who live under a rock Enjoy life just released these cookies.




They are Top 8 free, potato, corn (there has been debate about this with livecornfree.com she says some of their stuff has MINUTE traces so proceed with caution if you are UBER sensitive), casein, sesame and sulfite free! Whew! They are great about how they list stuff on their products and really boil it all down to the most simple terms for everyone! It's great!!!! I really love this company. They are the perfect quick run into the store and grab it item. :)

Our house gives all the crunchy cookies 2 big thumbs up!!!

Oh Enjoy Life How I love thee!

A short while ago I was asked to try 2 new products from Enjoy Life.




And




The Chocolate granola was great. A little boring though so I added in raisins. After I did that though EVERYONE ate them up! We had friends visiting and between my 2 (little one didn't get any) and my friends two the whole bag got eaten up!!!! I hardly got any!!!! So definitely a win! And great because you can add more if you want, raisins, craisins etc. Great grab and go treat!!!!!

The chocolate chunks I saved for my super fabulous chocolate, raisin, oatmeal cookies! TO DIE FOR!!!!!!!!!! EVERYONE loved them! The chunks were also great by themselves :) DOUBLE THUMBS UP!!!! Sorry no pictures of the cookies they got eaten to fast!!!!

Enjoy Life really is a great company and I love their products. They are easy, fast and free of so much!!!!! You really can't go wrong here! Also their customer service is GREAT! :)

breakfast!

Ingredients
1 cup sunflower butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup golden syrup
1/3 cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 1/3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (enjoy life is a great corn free)
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.In a large bowl stir together the sun butter, the butter or margarine, the brown sugar, the syrup and the vanilla until smooth.
3.Add all the other ingredients. Stir well.
4.Press the mixture into 13 x 9 inch greased pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool on wire rack before cutting into bars.

I'm in a desperate need to find a recipe for ritz crackers.

Coookies!

Brown sugar cookies

SOOO good! And I passed them out to people and got a 9 on a scale of 1-10. Then I asked what they thought if they were allergy free! Got a 10 and they were SHOCKED that it was allergy free!

Ingredients
2/3 cup shortening (if you are allergic to corn just sub this with butter same amount so it would be 1 and 1/3 a cup of butter when you add this line and the next)
2/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup applesauce or if your not allergic 2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups white rice flour
1 cup tapioca flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Directions
1.Mix shortening, butter or margarine, sugars, eggs and vanilla thoroughly. Stir in all purpose or unbleached flour, baking soda and salt.
2.Turn dough onto lightly floured board. Shape dough into ball with lightly floured hands, pressing to make dough compact. Cut dough in half.
3.Shape each half into a roll 2 inches in diameter and about 8 inches long by gently rolling dough back and forth on floured board. Roll dough onto plastic wrap: wrap and twist ends tightly. Dough can be refrigerated up to 1 month or frozen up to 3 months.
4.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

The pumpkin bars turned out super yummy, but a little too crumbly. Not good for easy grab and go eating! I think adding carrots will help with that too though. But anyways they are very good and will certainly not go to waste! LOL!

My next challenge is going to be muffins. :)

Breakfast or dessert?

Not sure what this will count as, but the batter was YUMMY!

Tonight I decided to try pumpkin bars. This is NOT the final recipe though. I didn't have any carrots and next time I'm gonna add a cup of carrots and try to cut some of the white sugar.

LOL!

2 cups white rice sugar
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
2 teaspoons baking powder sub (baking soda and cream of tartar)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oats
1/3 cup softened butter (I always just nuke mine for 10 seconds)
3/4 cup applesauce (original recipe calls for 2 eggs 2 egg whites which will make it fluffier if you aren't allergic to eggs)
1 cup pumpkin

Mix well, then spread in a well greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for 25 min or until knife comes out clean. Let cool then cut into bars. :)

Next time I am hoping to cut about half a cup of sugar (the applesauce adds sweetness so I don't think it will be missed AT ALL) and adding shredded carrots, maybe even dried rasins.

The recipe I stole this idea from also used a cream cheese sauce to make it even sweeter (that would push it into dessert for me) so I MAY try pouring a tiny bit of condensed milk on top when it comes out but I doubt it. The batter was really yummy.

breakfast?

So I'll admit, I'm NOT a morning person. So as I'm sure you've noticed, I don't have a lot of breakfast recipes! Normally I'll just make oatmeal.

Today I decided to switch it up though.

SMOOTHIES FOR BREAKFAST!!!!

2 avocados
2 bananas (the mushier the better!)
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon sugar
honey

Put everything but the honey in blender and blend. Pour into cup and then top with a drizzle of honey. MMMMmmmmmmmmm GREAT healthy fats, potassium, fiber, calcium AND other great vitamins! Can't go wrong! Also it kinda tastes like a banana vanilla shake LOL!

special not so special?

Okay so today I want to talk about how having food allergies makes you or your kid special in a not always so special way.

It can make you feel alone and singled out. Not only do you have the frustrations of the food allergies themselves, but then you have to constantly tell people no you can't eat the same thing as them, you can't do the same activity, you can't, you can't.

Did you know one of the main reasons diets fail is because it ostracizes a person from their peers....You can't eat out with them, drink with them(if you drink) you can't go get ice cream together...people don't want to be left out.

So what do you do when you have no choice? When being like everyone causes hives, itching, belly problems or even worse....risk of death?

First realize it's food and food does not need to define you.
Secondly find other things to do!
Thirdly find a way to make safe food that EVERYONE can enjoy.
Try being open with your friends and family so that they can find thing that are safe for you! Most people really will want to help!!!! And they might not be comfortable asking questions.

We do eggs with tiny army men in them for Easter instead of candy. I volunteer to make a food for every single class party and event. Gabe and another boy in his class LOVE that there is always something they can have and that no one else realizes is special for only them. I try my hardest to match anything the class does. (not always easy, but always inspiring!)

So basically what I'm trying to say is...it isn't always so special to be special. It can make you feel bad, but even when it's not always fun remember that it's making you a stronger person, it's teaching you to be responsible for what you do, for what you eat and to be considerate of others. It is making you a strong, intelligent, amazing person! And when all else fails, go pick up some treat that is pre made and that are safe for you to eat and enjoy like everyone else ;)

Sad news.

A lot of crazy and sad news in the world of allergies.

A sad mistake that could cost a girl her life...
14-Year-Old in Coma after Suffering Peanut Allergy
A very very weird allergy I've never heard of before....
N.Y. Girl, 9, is Allergic to Cold

Taco shells

Add vegetable oil (or your oil of choice as a corn sub) to a pot or frying pan until there is 3/4 to 1 inch of oil. Heat the oil up to about 250 degrees F.

Place one tortilla into the oil, making sure it is completely submerged momentarily. The tortilla will float to the top of the oil once it begins frying.

Use a fork to hold the bottom half of the shell down in the oil and use another fork to fold the tortilla in half. Hold the top half away from the bottom half and allow the shape to set as it cooks.

Turn the shell over in the oil after about 30 to 60 seconds. The half of the shell that was out of the oil is now submerged and the part that was in the oil is now out of it. Continue to use the forks to hold the shape of the shell as well as to hold the bottom half under the oil.

Test if the shell is done after another 30 to 60 seconds has passed. If it has not hardened yet, continue to hold each half of the shell under the oil for as long as it takes to become crispy. Make sure to turn the shell so that each half gets equal time in the oil. (Or else one half will be crispy and the other soggy!)

Remove the shell from the oil and place it onto a plate or pan covered in paper towels. This will drain the shell of excess oil and allow it to set to its final crispiness.

Repeat these steps for as many shells as you wish to make.


Recipe for tortilas if you don't have any that are allergy free for you.


•3 cups all-purpose flour ( for this I'm gonna use 2 3/4 cups white rice flour with maybe a teaspoon of flax seed meal to give it a more normal textrure
•2 tsp. baking powder sub (baking soda and tartar sauce)
•1 tsp. salt
•2 Tbsp. lard or shortening (I always sub equal parts of butter in baking it changes the textures, but taste wise is great or you can use bacon drippings)
•1 ¼ cup lukewarm water


Read more: How to Make Handmade Flour Tortillas | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2034682_handmade-flour-tortillas.html#ixzz1HQkSfokE

In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt together.

Using a pastry cutter or 2 table knives, cut the lard into the flour mixture. Keep cutting the fat into the flour mixture until the dough starts to look like cornmeal crumbs. Make sure that the flour and fat are evenly distributed.

Add the water to the flour mixture in ¼-cup increments. Using a large wooden spoon or your hands, make sure to thoroughly incorporate the water after each addition.

When you have added all of the water, the dough should come together in a fairly stiff and smooth dough.

Once the dough is finished, cover the bowl with a slightly damp towel and let the dough rest for 30 minutes in a warm place.

Once the dough has rested, evenly sprinkle a small amount of flour onto your work space. Spread a small amount of flour onto your rolling pin as well.

Turn out the dough onto the work space and sprinkle a little more flour on top of the dough.

Knead the dough for approximately 2 minutes to make the dough smooth and pliable. The dough should not stick to your hands.

Form the dough into a roll shape. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions and roll each portion into a neat ball.

Line the balls on a floured sheet pan and cover the balls with a few slightly damp towels. Set the sheet pan in a warm place to let the dough rest for approximately 10 minutes.

Once the dough has rested, sprinkle more flour onto your work surface (if you need more flour to keep the dough from sticking to the surface) as you roll the balls out.

Take 1 ball of dough and roll it out to a thickness of 1/8-inch. When rolling the balls out, roll 2 to 3 times one way, then turn the dough a quarter turn and roll an additional 2 to 3 times. This ensures that the tortillas stay as round in shape as possible.

Once you have rolled one tortilla out, store it under a towel so that the dough doesn't dry out.

Heat a large cast iron pan or tortilla griddle over medium heat. Heat the pan for at least 5 minutes before cooking a tortilla on it. This ensures that the tortilla will cook evenly.

When the pan has been pre-heated, place a tortilla onto the dry heated pan. Almost immediately, the tortilla will develop bubbles on the surface. Once you see these bubbles, flip the tortilla over and press down with a large spatula.

After approximately 15 seconds of pressing, flip the tortilla again and press again. The bubbles on the underside should have started to brown.

Once both sides of the tortilla have browned bubbles (and this should not take longer than 1 minute), take the cooked tortilla off the pan and store it under a kitchen towel. The towel will absorb the steam from the tortilla, but will keep humidity near the tortilla which ensures that the tortilla will not dry out.

Continue cooking the remaining tortillas.

You can store the tortillas under a towel until it is time to serve them.



Got the frying part from here
Read more: How to Make Homemade Taco Shells | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2054535_make-homemade-taco-shells.html#ixzz1HQgNzpH4

Tortilas recipe (before alterations)

http://www.ehow.com/how_2034682_handmade-flour-tortillas.html

Mmmm Noodle soup! (friends reference)

Soup.

Mmmmm. It's always good to have soup on a cold day!

Today I am making a bean and ham soup.

1 applegate farm ham (love this company!)
1 bag of mixed beans
1 kitchen basics broth (if you are allergic to corn you can't get the veggie stock! It has to be a meat broth)
4-5 cups water water
onion powder (or a small onion)
garlic powder
ground thyme
celery salt

Put it all in a crock pot (spices I normally do about a teaspoon of each but spice to your tastes) on high for the afternoon. It's yummy and super easy to make! Can't go wrong with something you can cook while you are not there!!!!

honey oat bread

MMMMMMMMMMMMm!

This is for a bread machine and super easy!

1 cup water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (or cocout or olive oil)
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 cups rice flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1 teaspoon active dry yeast

wet ingredients, then dry. Make a well in the dry ad pour in the yeast. Make on light 1lbs setting.

GIVEAWAY!!!!

So Enjoy Life and I are doing a giveaway! 2 boxes of their AMAZING cookies!!!

My boys and I were lucky enough to get to taste test their 3 new and improved soft cookies.



Double chocolate brownie (OMG YUMMY)



Snickerdoodle (which gets a hubby who hates allergy free thumbs up)


Lively Lemon

These are great. One day this past week my 3 boys (Oldest just turned 4) and I had a LOT of errands to run one day so we did a trade. For each office/store they were well behaved in, I REWARDED (if you make them earn it, then it's a reward not a bribe :P) them with 1 cookie. Somehow the double chocolate brownie cookies were good enough to get my older two to behave in 5 stores!!!! LOL! (youngest was good too, but too young to eat cookies)

So needless to say they are good! My favorite were the lemon ones! OHHH YUMMY! The boys fav was the double chocolate brownie (shocker! LOL) and My husband's fav was the snickerdoodle. Really you can't go wrong with these.

They are small (think about chips ahoy size), nice and fluffy on the inside (not too thick at ALL) The lemon ones have what are like tiny chewy lemon peels in them. Looks a little strange, but the flavor burst is amazing! I had to make my husband take the box away from me. LOL!

Now some great things about Enjoy Life!

Top 8 free for everything!!!! Also most are also potato, sesame, sulfites, and casein free! They use no artificial ingredients OR GMO ingredients! WOOT! Love that! When it comes to allergy testing they actually test more strictly than the FDA requires to keep us safe! How great is that? (You know testing is never cheap) They are not certified corn free, however Gabe NEVER reacted to them, so I'm gonna put them at a level 1. (some traces in xantham gum and probably the natural flavors) So if you are EXTREMELY sensitive then don't eat, but if you can tolerate the small traces you are fine.

Okay so now that I have you drooling! GO ENTER!!!!

Here's how.

You can get up to 4 entries!!!!
1. Go like my facebook page and then post on there that you did/or have already liked my page)
2. Go follow my blog!!! Then go to facebook (you have to like it to post) and post that you now/or already have followed my blog
3. Share this contest!!! Then go to facebook (you have to like it to post) and post that you now/or already have shared the link to the contest!
4. Go like Enjoy Life's facebook page!!!! (you can find them in my facebook's like box on the left hand side under friends) Then go to my facebook (you have to like it to post) and post that you now/or already have liked Enjoy Life's facebook page!

2 boxes of YUMMY cookies to the winner!!!! I'm gonna let this contest go until Sunday night at 8pm! (I'll then message the winner on facebook to get their address and phone number so that Enjoy Life can ship out their prize!)

Mold Free Cheese.

NOT the easiest thing to find! ALL aged cheeses have mold in or on them. It is a BIG part of the aging process. Gabe is anaphylaxis to this mold. So now that he is eating corn. (knock on wood MIRACLE OF MIRACLES) I've been looking into what cheeses he can have. This is my list.

Cottage cheese, cream cheese, provolone cheese, ricotta cheese, farmers cheese, and mozzarella cheese are all mold free cheeses.

Now for obvious reasons I will only use the FRESHEST cheeses. (bought same day and WAY before expiration date) Mold is normally white! It is VERY VERY hard to see on white cheese. I have a cousin who is like Gabe and last year spent a few days in the hospital after eating moldy cheese. (SCARY!)

:) Anyways I know at least 1 reader has a bad mold allergy so I thought I'd post this. :)

Got this list from http://www.dynamiclist.com/?node=76aa84a0-705f-41f5-941c-99c34fa327d1

A great site for those with mold allergies.

Winner!

Christine Carlson

Congrats!!!! If you didn't win, make sure to stay tuned because at some point this week I'm going to be doing a enjoy life cookie giveaway!!!!

Thank you SOOO much to Namaste for doing a give away!!!!!!!

Salmon & Green Beans

So the other day I was low on food so I did a random hunt to figure out what we did have. I found a can of salmon and a can of green beans and so I cooked them up in butter and then added celery salt, paprika, thyme, 2 cups of milk and let it simmer (stirring often) to make a thick sauce. Then I added in macaroni. Mmmmm. Turned out pretty yummy. Didn't reheat so well though. :(

Also in my hunt I came across Quinoa. I decided to make that for dinner last night. Yea......I didn't get it quite right. I dunno. The taste was just not great for us. Next time I think I'll slather it in butter and see how that helps. Anyone else ever cook quinoa?

What did you use on it?

Vday Namaste Cake

Soooo in honor of Vday I made up the Namaste spice cake in a heart shape! LOL (Gabe took it to school for their party)


I made it in a 9in round pan and then in a 8x8 square dish. Then I trimmed down the round part so that the length of the circle matched the length of the square. Then I cut the circle in half and laid it next to the square. Frost and decorate and VOILA!

I then got to serve the trimmed pieces as a snack for company. They LOVED it and could NOT believe that it was free of everything!


You can see the two circle halves on the top sides of the diamond!





For frosting I made homemade frosting

5 cups homemade powdered sugar
2 ts CLEAR vanilla extract (this will have small amounts of corn) Must be clear to make a perfect white, but you can use homemade or regular to get it corn free, it will just tint it a little.
1/2 cup milk
2 sticks butter

This frosting is SUPER sugary and perfect for kids, so I just frosted the top and then did a little heard shape in colored sprinkles. (these have food dye and most likely corn as well, but you can decorate with anything!)

It tasted like a perfect spice cake. (hubby's favorite and he loved it) I wish I had thrown in some raisins and carrot peels to make it a carrot cake! LOL! It would be to die for with cream cheese frosting. (no cream cheese in the house) The texture was great too. A lot of you know that sometimes allergy free foods just have a funny texture from the different flours. Not in this mix!

The teacher and aides all enjoyed it and the kids liked it so much they ate the whole cake!!!!!!!

So all in all I have to say that I am really impressed with Namaste as an allergy free company. Great foods, wonderful customer service, good communication skills, tasty, easy treats, and because of them I knew that Gabe got to have the same as everyone else and that NOT ONE of those kids knew it was allergy free because it tasted funny. :) I'd rate them 10 out of 10.

So after these 2 reviews I hope you are all as excited as I am about the give away!!!!!!! I really think you guys will enjoy them!

Namaste Pasta

Made the Pasta Pisavera yesterday for lunch.

Really good! The boys ate the whole bag in 1 sitting!!!! (and the 2 year old has been known to survive off of 1 hot dog bug for the whole day so that says something!) I tried it and really enjoyed the taste of the spices. My mom wasn't too sure about trying a spice pack (she likes her food very plain) so she just had butter on hers and still loved it.

My favorite part..Quick and easy!!!!!!
Gabe's favorite part..The noodles were different colors!
Link's favorite part..YUMMY!

So here are some things that I have learned about Namaste today! They don't use ANY GMO foods!!!! WOW! That to me is so cool. Their Xantham gum is NOT corn derived! (xantham gum often is, but very few people are that sensitive to corn, but they take care of ALL corn in the mix!) They really listen to their fans! In a questions page I got they often have turned to their fans to help other fans. And the pasta was good, not just allergy free good, but good.

Here is a price comparison I got from the company




Their costs aren't too bad and what I have found to lower their prices is to buy in bulk off amazon :) If you buy 6 bags of an item at a time they are cheaper AND you normally get free shipping :) Hands down the cheapest way to buy.

All in all I really love this company and am so glad that they are my first giveaway!!! You guys will enjoy the giveaway bag!!!!!

Family Pressure

So the other night we went out to dinner as a family. We've been VERY slowly adding in small amounts of his allergens that he recently tested negative for. VERY slowly. I am actually okay with the corn, wheat and egg ones. They were not life threatening and so in my thinking it would stink if he had a reaction to them, but it would not be the end of the world.

HOWEVER the nuts and soy (and def the mold so no trials on that one)allergies were bad. Horrible hives all over, swelling of his legs etc. Yes on the spt he came back negative, but we all know those tests aren't the perfect answer we would like. I'm VERY nervous about giving him these.

So we went out to dinner with my husband my boys and my mom. I of course ask for the allergy menu and start looking for something with no soy. My mom starts giving me crap. He tested negative, just take the plunge! Let him try it!!! Etc. Now yes, I do need to give in and eventually do it. BUT ON MY TIME!!! I'm the one who will have to take him to the ER, sit with him while he itches and cries that his legs hurt, and deal with the GI problems!!!!!

I just felt so pressured and harassed. I didn't give in, but seriously considered it. :( From what I've read on several allergy boards a LOT of people deal with this. WHY?!?!?! It just doesn't make any sense to me why anyone would pressure a parent about allergy foods! I know it's because most people just don't get it, but it stinks! LOL!

Have you guys dealt with this? Have you ever done it? When is it encouragement? When is it harassment? What do you guys think?

GIVE AWAY!!!!!

Okay folks it's time to do a give away!!!!!!

Here's how it works. To get an entry, you need to "follow" my blog, "like" my Oh My Facebook page OR share a link to this contest!!!!! (each person can have up to 3 entries!) Once you have done this then go to my Facebook page (you have to like it before you can do this) and tell me you have done it! For instance put "I like you!" Or "I shared this contest!" Or "I follow your blog!" etc. If you already like or follow me then just put that!!!! (of course you will get an entry for being a fan already!)At 9pm Next Thursday I will take all the entries and pick a random winner! (well a computer program will so I can't be biased!)

So now that you know how........wanna know what I've got for you?!?!?!

Namaste is doing an AWESOME giveaway for you!!!!!



A cute reusable bag, 3 of their wonderful items to try, Living Without (allergy magazine), a GREAT cookbook (I have it already and use it all the time!) and some other little recipe cards and such.

So now that I have you drooling! GO SHARE!!!!! :) In the next few days I'm going to review a few of their products to show you what you are in store for. (to give you an idea of how much I love them, I'm saving their spice cake for Gabe's school Vday party!)

I am so excited to be able to do Namaste as my first ever give away. This company really truly saved my life when Gabe was first diagnosed with allergies. I didn't know what I could feed him! Then I found them at the health food store. I very clearly remember crying when Gabe got to have their brownies. Something so simple was suddenly not taboo for him anymore! And I've talked with their customer service a few times and then are WONDERFUL, CARING and INFORMATIVE! Can't say enough good stuff about them.

So go share, like and follow! And stay tuned for the reviews! I plan on doing one this afternoon of the pasta!!!!!

!!!!!!

Well it's been a crazy crazy week and I have been slacking on my blogger duties! I apologize!

Lets see. Last Saturday Gabriel had corn for the first time in a year.....NO REACTION
Last Monday morning he had eggs for the first time........NO REACTION
Last Tuesday night he had wheat for the first time.........NO REACTION!!!!!

Also when we had dinner on Tuesday night his pasta MAY have had traces of soy. We haven't been brave enough to full on try it yet. Baby steps.

These are all little steps, but so far so good. :) He's over the moon. He was SO excited to eat jello the other day. He kept walking around grinning saying I NOT ALLERGIC TO JELLO!!! and dancing. It was so cute.

Still have to test peanuts, soy, strawberries and peanut butter. (this is what set him off so we will do a separate test for it) The allergist also said we can try tree nuts, but that Gabe is probably still allergic to those. Definitely still allergic to the feta cheese and need to keep an epipen with us for that. But 1-2 really bad allergies as opposed to 19? (he still has 2 mild tree ones, but they don't bother him too bad.)

All of the bloodwork came back negative for immune diseases, and blood counts are all normal. :) YAY! Not really sure what to think though. It's just bizarre to me that he would have so many allergies all of a sudden and then poof they are gone. Very weird. A miracle though, so I'm not going to complain! :) Just pray it doesn't come back!

The ped allergist

Today we went to the pediatric allergist.

We drove an hour and a half to get there. Get there and there's a problem with the insurance. Don't know all what happened, I made all my calls, but they didn't send the right referrals and such. We tried to figure it out, but couldn't. The dr. said he wanted to see us anyways since we drove all that way. Chances are our insurance will NOT cover this THEN as we left we tried to fix the insurance stuff but he told us that he didn't care if it didn't get covered, he'd make sure it didn't fall on us.

He HATES the dr. we have been seeing. Thinks he's an idiot (said in so many words) They've been pushing something called delayed reaction testing for a long time. I just didn't feel comfortable with it. I did my online research because insurance doesn't cover it and we didn't do it. They kept pushing it. Everytime I called with a question Oh you should do it. This dr. told me point blank it's a joke and to not do it. He couldn't understand the testing notes they did and told me in so many words that the guy is an idiot.

Then he spends OVER an hour and a half talking to me about all of Gabe's reactions and such. He doesn't think Gabe has many food allergies. The nuts and mold one yes, but the others no. He doesn't know what has caused the weird symptoms (he thinks it's something, but not allergies) but that according to him only the tree nuts and mold sound like real allergies. He then did testing and almost all the things came back negative!!! (a year ago he did test positive) Out of 21 there were 4 very minor ones. mold, almond, and some minor tree pollens. The reactions last time were much bigger! So that is so great! He really might have out grown them! (the histamine reaction was MAYBE 1/8 the size it was last test!)

He wants us to slowly introduce the allergens back one by one. He thinks Gabe will be able to eat everything except nuts!!! The feta cheese he is confused by. He's not sure if it's really a reaction to the mold or something else in it. According to him mold reactions very rarely act like that. It's normally a breathing issue from the spores, not a vomiting reaction from eating it. So he's not sure but obviously we just avoid it and keep the epipen around.

Oh he says he doesn't want to make us drive that far again unless he has to see Gabe so instead of making appts he'll call us with all results and stuff and do the appts over the phone. Seriously guy is a SAINT!

So that's all the really good news.

Semi bad news. He is running a lot of blood work. He thinks something has been causing the rashes, coldsores, belly aches, fluid in the ear, post nasal drip and aches and pains. Gabe lately is always saying his back hurts. Our ped says he's 4 and dramatic, never thought twice about it and didn't look at his back at all. The allergist wants to look into it. Said it could be joint pain, or inflammation, or auto immune. So he's testing for all of that to see if we can figure out where to look for a cause of issues. He thinks it's something, but not allergies.

So we start introducing corn in small quantities on sunday. Gabe was so happy. He's been talking about popcorn for hours.

I'm still kinda in shock. It's crazy.

So THANK GOD Gabe's allergies are getting better! (except the feta cheese mold stuff) and pray that the food challenges go well and that all the blood work comes back negative!

Bread

So I've decided tob attempt altering a bread recipe! (for bread machine) The mixes you can buy are okay, but something is just lacking in texture. The boys don't mind it, but I'm on a quest! LOL!

I got the original recipe from here http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Light-Oat-Bread/Detail.aspx

This is my allergen free version!


1 1/4 cups water
2 tablespoons salted butter
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/3 cups white rice flour
2/3 cups tapioca flour
1 teaspoon guar gum
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Put liquids, in then dry, make a well in the middle and pour yeast in there. I used a 1.5lb light setting for mine. Med setting is better though.

It turned out tasting AMAZING! However I think my yeast was bad. It didn't rise. :( BOO! Super yummy though. I'll have to try it again to see if it was because of the yeast or the flour type. Texture was perfect though! Next time I will use the med setting there was a tiny amount of doughy center.

I'm making coconut granola again.

This time I used 2 cups oldfashioned oats 1/6 cup coconut oil 2 tbls golden syrup and 2/3 a cup coconut.

MMMMMMMMMMM! Mix and throw in the oven at 375 and stir every 4-5 minutes to get an even bake. Take out when it all is browned.

MMM! I think this time I'm going to add in dried cranberries and then once it cools some chocolate chips. :)

V-day Ideas

Ahhh February is almost here! That means it's almost time for Valentines Day!!!

So what to do for Gabe's school party.....Hrm. I found some cute little heart molds for making suckers. (2 cup sugar 1/2 cup golden syrup 1/2 cup water) http://www.kitchenkrafts.com/product.asp?pn=MH1201&sid=CHAMP

OR I could make some lemon drops.....(not very lovey though)

Or I could do Meringue cookies in the shapes of hearts.....(I could make regular ones for his class and then duck egg ones for Gabe)I could use a TINY amount of beet juice to color them pink (we are talking like 2 drops LOL)

I want to make sure to do something candy wise, that way Gabe gets some sweets.

There's also homemade chocolate hearts. Get some enjoy life chips to melt down....Micheal's has chocolate molds too so I wouldn't have to wait for them to ship.......hrm...We may have a winner! LOL!

So Gabe had his 4 year today. The allergist wants us to go and see a peds allergist, because Gabe is so hypersensitive. I'm getting sick of hearing that term used for him It seems like since his anaphylaxix reaction suddenly everyone is so much more nervous about him. :( I like our allergist, but it will be nice to meet with someone who specializes in kids, but on the other hand I feel like we just did the allergist meeting! It's so hard to add in so many appts! This time of year is crazy.! LOL! IT"S INSANE!~!!! And to make it worse we have gotten 3ft of snow so a lot of appts have been pushed back and rescheduled. Luckily they were able to get us in quickly. Hopefully we can get some new insight or ideas.


I learned something new today. People allergic to eggs can't have the flu vaccine BUT they now say that the MMR is safe for people with egg allergies. (unless severely allergic) So Gabe got his MMR.

Soon we will start doing give aways! I know I've been MIA the past few days, but I've actually been doing a lot of behind the scenes work! So far I've heard back from 2 companies and they can't WAIT to share their product with you! I'm really excited because it's all stuff that we use and love. (I only contacted companies that we already love)

Anyways there's my random update~!

basics

In response to this weekend I've decided to go over some basics good ideas for when your kids have allergies.

1. Get a med alert bracelet!!! (kid just died at our hospital because no one knew he has severe asthma and he had an attack while at a friends house overnight.)

2. Once your child has been diagnosed make sure that your school has a standing order from the allergist or ped for benadryl and/or epipens.

3. An action plan handout is a great thing to give people who watch your child!!!!! http://www.foodallergy.org/page/food-allergy-action-plan1 I got this one from FAAN

4. Don't ever hesitate to go over your child's allergies with a care provider, even if you've done it before. Everyone forgets things and until they can quote them back to you verbatim it doesn't hurt to hear them again!

5. Make a small safety kit with benadryl, epipens a list of allergies, emergency numbers for your allergist, you, your spouse and 1 extra emergency contact. Also a note explaining when to give what med and when to go to the er. (or the action plan listed above)

6. Make little cards with a list of the allergies for dr. offices and such. (SO much easier than trying to remember and fit in everything if you kid has a long list)

7. Talk to your child. Make sure they are well informed! Gabe is barely 4, but he can list his allergies, tell you what an epi pen is for and when to use it and that he shouldn't eat food unless mommy says it's ok. Also since this last reaction, I've given him some responsibility. I've asked him to help me always remember the epipens. He takes this job very seriously and has been doing a good job of reminding me. :) It helps him feel safer and it helps me remember.

8. The day you get your epipens go and write down the expiration date on your calender or program it in your phone calender so you will remember to get them refilled. My allergist's nurse says that an expired one is better than nothing, but do your best to keep up on this!

9. NEVER store an epipen in the car! They can't handle heat or cold!

10. Remember preventing and fast action are the best things you can do for your child. Stay calm so they can stay calm. :)

Gabe

He's okay now. Has been. We were soooo lucky. He still has hives but the benadryl keeps them from bothering him. He's been asking me if there is an epi pen where ever we go, but other than that he seems to be handling it very well.

I'm getting better. I'm scared. :( Not about this time. I know he's okay. I'm just so scared about the next time someone screws up. The next time someone gives him food that has a tiny bit of mold or giving him cheese. What if next time his throat closes? (the doc said his throwing up probably helped a LOT) What if I'm not there? What if I'm a total loser and don't have the epi pen again? (I feel sooooo guilty about not having it with me. He never had a reaction that was more than hives before and we just got lazy) I feel so awful. I feel guilty and scared and so sad. Before I was scared it could get this bad. Now it is. What is this going to mean in reference to his other allergies? I mean obviously the mold is worse, what about the others? If he's now ana to one does that make him more likely to go ana to the others?



Part of me wants to brush this off as really not a big deal. There was nothing major that had to be done for him. We just pumped him full of benadryl and monitored him. It isn't much worse than before. This time really wasn't a big deal. Other kids go through much worse all the time! But how I feel is much different. Now I'm suddenly really truly afraid about this! Before I was overwhelmed, challenged, and worried. Now I'm really scared! I don't want to pass that to him! He's using his epi pen as a security blanket and I'm ok with that. It seems like a healthy response to this, but how do I hover without hovering? LOL. How do I stop this from ever happening again? I can't! That is terrifying!

Whew. Okay sorry. Just emotionally overwhelmed. Thanks for reading.

pizza pizza

Peter Reinhart just sent me this recipe to try for homemade pizza crust! Can't wait to try it!!!!

GLUTEN-FREE PIZZA DOUGH
(makes about 8-10 small pizza crusts)

Rice Flour (organic, brown rice if possible) 1# (approx. 4 cups)

Sunflower Seed Meal 9 oz. (grind 3 cups sunflower seeds into a flour)

Tapioca Flour 3 oz.

Salt 1/2 oz. (2 teaspoons)

Instant yeast 1/2 oz. (4 1/2 teaspoons)

Olive Oil 2 oz. (1/4 cup)

Honey or sugar 2 oz. (1/4 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons honey)

Potato Water 5 cups (1 potato, sliced and simmered in 6 cups of water for 5 minutes. Strain and cool--you can eat the potato or use in a salad. Measure the water to get 5 cups)

Combine all the dry ingredients, including the yeast. Add the liquid ingredients and whisk to make a smooth, crepe-like batter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and ferment 1 hour at room temp.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

For each pizza, spray a 9” or 10” pie pan (glass or aluminum) with pan spray, or grease it with olive oil. Ladle in enough batter to cover the bottom of the pan about 1/4” thick, or slightly thicker.

Bake at 400 degrees for approx. 15 to 20 minutes, or till the batter has baked into a golden brown color, and is crisp on the edges. Remove the pie pan from the oven and then remove the crust from the pan and allow it to cool. Use this as your pizza dough. Top it with your favorite toppings and bake at 450 degrees for about 8 - 10 minutes, or until the toppings are done and the dough has crisped further.

I think he's scared too.

Today at nap Gabe asked me to let his epi pen watch him sleep. :( I ended up taking our expired one and duck taping it to his wall (WAY UP high so he couldn't reach it even on a chair)

I think he's scared. He's had his epi pen all day (I'm such a looser and didn't have it yesterday and still haven't forgiven myself for it) He explains what it is and tells my husband and anyone else who will listen what it's for. He wants to make sure he has it for the next time his throat feels funny and he vomits. (his words)

What a loveable, smart, sweet boy. :)

I can tell you I will NEVER forget it again.

Scared.

Anaphylaxis is highly likely to be occurring when any ONE of the following happens within minutes to hours after ingestion of the food allergen:

1. A person has skin symptoms or swollen lips and either :

•Difficulty breathing, or
•Reduced blood pressure (e.g., pale, weak pulse, confusion, loss of consciousness)
2. A person was exposed to a suspected allergen, and two or more of the following occur:

•Skin symptoms or swollen lips
•Difficulty breathing
•Reduced blood pressure
•Gastrointestinal symptoms (i.e., vomiting, diarrhea, or cramping)
3. A person was exposed to a known allergen, and experiences:

•reduced blood pressure


I got this off the FAAN website. Yea Gabe is now anaphylaxis to mold. :*( My mom saw me give him homemade cheese last night (it was crumbled) and thought it was feta. So today she let him have some. Within minutes he told her his throat felt funny and that he couldn't breath. Then he vomited everywhere and got hives all over. We gave him benadryl and took him to the er. He's ok now. A little scared but he did fine and was playing at the hospital, then at bedtime he was overtired and crying because he was tired and he told me he didn't like feta cheese. Poor kid.

Also we've decided to get ride of our cats. Gabe has a level 1 allergy to them, but Sami is starting to show signs of being allergic to them so it's just time to say goodbye. Today was just a really sucky day all around allergy wise.

I have to admit I'm going through a lot of emotions about all this. When it first happened I just did what I had to do to make him ok. After it was over I was kinda numb for a few hours. Then I got so sad. I mean it's not really a big difference from what it was before. We were always scared it would get to this point, but now it IS at this point. My poor baby. And oh my gosh, what will happen the next time he has an exposure? What if someone has blue cheese at lunch? What if I kiss him after eating feta cheese? (will never happen now, but you get my point) I'm scared!!! I've always dealt with his allergies without being so worried, when we did the allergy testing last year I was overwhelmed, but never scared.

I'm scared now. What if my baby stops breathing?!?!?!?! That didn't happen today, but it so very easily could have. The dr. said that it was lucky that he puked everything up, she said it probably helped a lot. Thank you GOD he did.

Gabe update.

So we went to the allergist today to see if he would be able to test for flea allergies. (That last really bad reaction I worry it could be from a flea? The bite looked kinda like that.) So he thinks that there is a way, but he has to look into it. And he wants me to take the pictures to the dermatologist. WTF? And he will redo the allergy tests! Fingers crossed Gabe's out grown something. I'm hoping his cat allergy isn't worse. If it is any higher than a level 1 then we have to find new homes for our 2 furballs. :( The boys would be crushed and so would my husband.

So irony of irony. We leave the allergist and get home and Gabe starts having a reaction. His ear was red at the allergist, but he didn't touch anything! He was playing with moon sand after we got home, but that would have to mean that the ear was unrelated. All over his arms and his face. :( But not sure what caused it. He's never reacted to moon sand before, so I dunno. Maybe we can add in something new to the allergy list! Try to break 20 ;)

no go pasta! LOL

So last night I finally got to use a pasta machine. Yea....it wasn't easier, (looked nicer when it worked though) A very nice woman offered to come help me and to use her machine. It was very very kind, but she was thrown off by the different textures. Yea we worked through it, but the whole thing resulted in a lot of linguini mess. And when I cooked it up today it.....it sucked. LOL! Gabe ate it, but it did not look good.

BUT to compensate for my poor pasta skills I made this!




Spinach and cheese stuffed chicken baked in crushed tomatoes. MMMM!

I used 1 14oz can spinach
1 cup crumbled homemade cheese
oregano
pepper
salt
1 clove garlic
3 Large boneless chicken breasts
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes. (I hate using canned tomatoes, but was on short time today, make sure to get one without citric acid added!)






Slice the chicken on a long edge to make a pouch. In a bowl mix the drained spinach, cheese, oregano, salt and pepper (Make to your taste I did roughly 1/2 of salt and papper and then 1 tsp oregano) Then stuff it into the pouch leaving a small amount on the side. Put in casserole pan and pour the crushed tomatoes over it. Sprinkle remaining spinach mixture on top. (extra oregano never goes amiss either) Bake at 375 for about 45 minutes or until the chicken is done.

For making your own cheese








Heat 5 cups of milk to 180 degrees. (I love my candy thermometer) Add in 3 tbls lemon juice mix and let sit for about 10 minutes. Take a cheese cloth and line a strainer with it. Once you milk has set pour the pan into the strainer (make sure the cheese cloth doesn't slip!) Then grab the edges to make a bag with the curds in it. Squeeze as much of the whey (liquid part) out as you can. I add in a pinch of salt and mix well. Then I put mine in a small bown and I use a matching bowl to squish it down into a tight form and to get a little more whey out. Then put it in the fridge to cool. When it's crumbled it makes about 1 cup.

So last night I tried playing around with my egg noodle recipe. I used 1 cup rice flour, 1/2 cup amaranth flour, 1/2 cup tapioca flour. Yea it rolled out a lot easier, but the noodles were brittle, broke easily, and just didn't taste as good. :( So I have met a woman who is willing to make pasta with me AND bring her pasta machine!!! So I'm going to try another slightly altered recipe. This one is technically a ravioli recipe though. :) So I will have to make raviolis! LOL! I'm thinking beef and tomato. MMMMmmmm. I might even make some of my mozzarella cheese! (it would be perfect since it doesn't get to firm.)

Also today I emailed a pro pizza dough maker! LOL! Someone that follows on fb asked for some help finding a good dough. I wanted to rush in guns a blazing like normal, but I have a sneaky suspicion that if I did all I would end up with is a big disaster and LARGE amount of wasted flour. (which gets pricey!) So I figured since I know NOTHING about it, why not ask for help? See I can do it!!! LOL! I'm hoping to get an email back. Peter Reinhart. From what I've read all over the web, he's a pizza dough God! LOL! So hopefully he'll have some time to help me out or at least point me in the right direction. For those of you lucky people with no allergies, who just read this because you've been blackmailed, or guilt tripped in or just have interest in what you are eating, check it out! The man knows his stuff! I'm hoping to loan out his book from the library and make some for me and the hubby soon! http://peterreinhart.typepad.com/peter_reinhart/ Here's his blog.

Oatmeal

What is it with my kid and oatmeal? I love it because it's easy, cheap and good for him. He likes it more than is normal. The kid seriously ate 4 or 5 bowls today!!!!!!!! Breakfast oatmeal, snack, oatmeal, dinner oatmeal twice!!!!!!! It's crazy! But I guess there could be worse things he loves. LOL!

ahhhhh

I love a good roast. Comedic or food wise. Tonight I made a pot roast. I used carrot broth from a can of carrots we had for snack. I threw in LOTS of red and white potatoes, a bag of baby carrots, celery, some ground sage, oregano, basil and salt. I cooked mine on high for about 4 hours, but it could also be done on low all day :) MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM So good and Gabe ok!

Another one bites the dust.

Lawry's seasoned salt caused Gabe to have a reaction tonight. :( I had looked at the ingredients and thoughht it was ok. :( Bad mommy. I should have done some research. I found this on a random community page.

Hi Dawn,
Thank you for writing.
Common allergens, such as peanuts or eggs, would be listed in the ingredient section of our packages, and not included in "Natural Flavors".

"Natural Flavors" are unique flavors created for Lawry's by our flavor
suppliers, and we purchase the flavors as a single component. Since the formula of the flavor is proprietary to the flavor supplier, we do not have a list of the flavoring ingredients.

We do not operate Allergen Free manufacturing facilities, but after the
production of any product containing any common allergen ( such as peanuts) the
facility does what they refer to as a special cleansing process that is over
and above a normal cleansing process. With the intent to remove as much
particulate from the line as possible. Even though we take this extra step, it
is no guarantee that the product would be allergen free. So, based on the users
sensitivity they may or may not wish to consume any processed products.

We hope this information is helpful.

Your friends at Lawry's

Hot Dog Buns!

So today I went to get Applegate hotdogs and couldn't find any. :( But I found Shetland turkey dogs! They were good! And I finally made the hot dog buns!

Hot Dog Bun Recipe

•3/4 cup amaranth flour
•1/2 cup potato starch
•1/4 cup tapioca starch
•2 tablespoons flax seed meal
•2 teaspoons baking powder sub
•1 1/4 teaspoons guar gum
•1/2 teaspoon of salt
•2 duck eggs
•1/3 cup coconut oil
•1/2 cup milk
Bun Directions:

1.Preheat oven to 400°F.
2.Mix together the dry ingredients.
3.Mix together the wet ingredients.
4.Combine the wet with dry.
5.Grease a cookie sheet, then shape dough into hot dog bun shapes if it’s sticky, wet a spatula and your hands a bit to form them.
6.Bake for about 12-15 minutes, until they start to brown.



The recipe is pretty simple. Only thing I did differently was I used a 8x8 pan and just poured it in. Then I cut it into hotdog size rectangles. Think the stand up buns. :) It was really good. Because of the coconut oil it was a tad sweet. Really tasted like corndogs! LOL! Boys LOVED LOVED LOVED them! They both had 3! My picky 2 year old had 3 hot dogs!!!! (and all of the buns!) LOL They were so happy to have hot dogs. :) Really made them so happy.

Granola

Coconut Granola

1 cup oats
1/2 cup coconut
1/8 cup coconut oil
1 ts vanilla extract
1/8 cup golden syrup or honey. (I used syrup)
enjoy life chocolate chips.

Bake at 300 for 24 minutes stirring a few times, then let cool and add in chocolate chips. I like it without the chips because then I use if for cereal. OHHHHH MY SOOOO YUMMY!

Yummy!

I got this recipe from my friend Pam and then altered it a little to fit our needs. MMMMM!

Yummy Screw Up!

So after making the creamed peas and potatoes last night i thought why not try to make mini pot pies? So I attempted that today and my crusts totally fell apart and made like a crumble. Soooo screw it! Let's make it a casserole!!!!


LOL! Turned out good! Gabe had 2 helping! LOL!

1 lbs ground turkey
1 cup and 4tbls rice flour divided
1/2 cup 2tbls butter
1 tbls flax seed meal
4-5 red potatoes
1 can carrots
1 can green beans
2 cups milk
optional handful of black eyed peas
Salt and pepper


In a bowl mix 1 cup rice flour, 1/2 cup and 2 tbls soft butter, 1 tbls flax seed meal. Mix well then put in cupcake pan and thin out. Cook at 375 for about 10 minutes. When it comes out it will look like a bunch of crumbs. Set aside. Brown 1 lbs ground turkey put turkey in a casserole dish, leave juice. In a pot boil 4 or 5 cut up red potatoes til tender. In casserole dish, add 1 can carrots, 1 can green beans, handful of black eyed peas, and red potatoes. Take turkey juice and add 4tbls rice flour. Mix well. Add 2 cups milk. On a med heat stir until thick. Then pour over turkey and veggies. Top with crumbs and put into oven for 5-10 minutes for everything to get warm. Salt and pepper to taste. MMMM! Makes 1 large casserole.

Whirrled Peas

I've got a LOT of baked goods recipes so I've been trying to focus on dinners lately. Here's the newest one. :)

Creamed peas and red potatoes

half a bag red potatoes
2 cans peas
4tbls butter
4tbls rice flour
2 cups milk

Boil about half a bag of red potatoes cut into smaller pieces. Once they are done drain and set aside.

In pan melt butter, then add in flour and mix well. Pour in milk, and stir on a med high heat until it's thick. Remove from heat and add in potatoes and peas. Mix well. Salt and pepper for taste. Serve. Made enough for me and 2 preschoolers and enough to freeze 2 dinners worth in ziplock bags. (I love things like this on nights when I don't want to cook!)

Great people!

Have I mentioned how much I love allergy networks?!

Food Allergy Queen's facebook is a great spot to meet people with allergies and share info!!!! Today thanks to one of her readers I finally found a hotdog Gabe can have!!!!!!

Applegate Farms!!!!

I was hesitant at first because it's lists natural spices (and I kinda read it as natural flavors) but they listed what they are! So no unknowns!

Organic Grass-Fed Beef, Water, Contains Less Than 2% Of The Following: Sea Salt, Organic Spices, Organic Garlic Powder, Organic Paprika, Celery Powder, Organic Onion Powder, Lactic Acid Starter Culture (Not From Milk).

And the organic spices are: Cayenne Pepper, Coriander, Ginger, Mace, Paprika, and White Pepper.

I am so excited about this. It's so stupid, but we do a lot of cookouts with family and Gabe didn't get to have ANY hotdogs. :( It was so sad to have him look at them and get this brave but sad face and say. Mommy.....those have corn? Poor kid. now I can't wait for him to ask!!!!! NOPE NO CORN!!!

And for buns I think I can alter this recipe....:)

http://glutenfreerecipes.net/gluten-free-hot-dog-buns/

MEATBALLS!

MMMM just did an impromptu meatball meal. YUMMY! Boys ate it up!!! Even I ate a full plate. (I normally try to leave the allergy free stuff for the boys, but I couldn't resist!!! It was so good!) Sorry I don't have better measurements! I was working while the baby slept and didn't want to take too long and risk him waking up!

Sadly my camera cable has gone missing so I'll have to upload the pics later. Here's the recipe


About a lbs. of ground turkey
oregano
garlic salt
pepper
salt
onion powder
2 bags rice (I LOVE the success boil in a bag rice)
milk
rice flour
olive oil

Boil the rice and set aside.

Take the turkey and mix in oregano, garlic salt, pepper, salt, and onion powder. Form small balls about the size of a golf ball. In a skillet put about a tablespoon of olive oil and then put the meatballs in it and cover with a lid. Cook on med high til meatballs are cooked all the way through. Remove the meatballs and put on a plate LEAVE all juice in the pan!!! Sprinkle rice flour in. Start with half a tbls and then add in more til you have all the juices absorbed. Not a lot!!! Once you have that then add in milk. You can add in as much as you would like. (depends on how much gravy you want. I did less than half a skillet full. Let that heat up on med high stirring constantly!!! Once it starts to thicken add in salt and pepper to taste and then pull off the heat.

Put the rice down on the plates then top with meatballs and lastly the gravy. MMMMMMMMMMMM! Mine made about 2 adult plates and 3 preschoolers plates. It was really yummy!!!!!