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!!!!!!!

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!!!!!

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!!!!!

Don't want to eat at McDonald's? Come here!

I made the YUMMIEST chicken nuggets EVER!

Namaste Pizza crust
Thin sliced boneless chicken breasts.

Make up the pizza crust according to directions (water and ts olive oil) Bring a med sauce pan of olive oil to boil. Cut the chicken into small pieces. The using your hands coat each piece of chicken with the crust and toss in. (be VERY CAREFUL!) When it's nice and brown on all pieces pull pan off heat and using a fork put it onto a plate with a paper towel. Let cool. DO NOT use a fry basket! I tried that as well and all the stuff stuck to the bottom and fell apart! (still yummy, but not as good).

Brownies are YUMMY!

I made Namaste brownies and then drizzled Enjoy Life chocolate (2 pieces) all over it. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm! I am taking them to a dinner tonight. I don't plan on telling anyone that they are allergen free. See if anyone can tell.

Math problem

6.50/26=.25 (price of bag of pancake mix divided by how many pancakes I get) I got 13 4-5 inch pancakes per batch and each bag has 2 batches.
50/1.68=.04(oz per jar divided by price)
4x.04=.16(oz per 1/2 cup times price)
44/7.00=.15(oz per bottle divided by price)
1x.15=.15(oz per 2 table spoons times price)
8/3=2.67(price divided by how many servings we got per batch)
2.67/13=.20(price per batch divided by number of pancakes

So ladies and gentlemen for .76 cents a pancake we had breakfast today. That is using Target applesauce, Carapelli Olive Oil, Namaste pancake mix, and Full Circle Maple Syrup.

And let me tell you, they were GOOD! REALLY GOOD! The last ones we made (Pamela's) tasted good, but I had a hard time getting them to flip. They were just really thick and didn't' want to flip unless you let them start to almost burn. Plus those tasted good, but they didn't taste like regular pancakes. These taste almost exactly, if not better, than the ones I used to make before all the allergies. Although, hubby wanted me to mention that they are slightly thicker than the old recipe. (not a bad thicker just a bit thicker). They are soooo yummy! Gabe had 6!!!!!!!!!!!!

So for 9.88 we fed a family of 4 before drinks and if Gabe hadn't been such a piggy we could have easily fed 1 more. (we ended up with 1 left over even)

And for less than 10 bucks we get to keep an allergy free family tradition! (top 8 plus corn free) We've always been big on making pancakes on Sundays and that's been hard to keep with all the allergies and now it's back! And Gabe is so excited! LOL! His face just lights up when I tell him we are making pancakes! Then I set everything out on the table to make them. I pour into the measuring cups and him and Link pour into the mixing bowl. LOL! They love doing it! And it makes it so easy for me to bake while they are awake! LOL! Plus it's a great thing for us to do together, followed by some yummy pancakes.

Maybe in 20 years my boys will remember these Sundays as one of their favorite memories. Making pancakes with mom and then all of us sitting around the table to enjoy the fruits of our labor. :) I know I will.

Mmmm

So tonight I made a chicken & biscuit meal. OMG it was sooooo good! Me and Gabe both had 2 helpings! I used Namaste perfect flour blend for the first time. It turned out like I thought it would (a lot of the free foods don't!) LOL! It was very good though. I was proud. I'll have to post pics! The recipe is alredy in the recipe page!

Now in a little while I am going to try and make mazzarella cheese. :O Wish me luck! LOL!

I need that.

So for anyone who's kids have food allergies, they know that you HAVE to cook a LOT more. Especially with soy or corn allergies. I mean yea it's great no more evil processed foods and all, BUT lets face it, it's a LOT of work! There is a reason that frozen food companies do so well! People don't have a lot of time anymore!

All I can say is THANK GOD (and amazing wonderful hubby who supports me) that I can stay at home. If you are reading this blog and you have a kid with severe food allergies and you work, I bow down to you! Seriously, I don't know how to fit all the stuff into my very boring day. I don't know how people who work do this.

Any-who to the point of my tirade. I need to spend sooo much time in the kitchen now, but I am learning that having those random gadgets that most people buy and never use is actually nice. :) I recently got a crock pot again. (25 bucks for a HUGE one at walmart!) (someone stole ours when we moved, Karma will get them.) Then I got a new hand held mixer (10 bucks at target!), then an ice cream maker. (walmart clearance 15 bucks! WOOT!) Now my Grammy in law is loaning me her bread maker until the one my other grandma is giving me gets here! So now I will have a bread maker! (other than myself!) Wooo Hooo! Everyone it seems that I know, has bought these GREAT gadgets but then never uses them, because well who wants to spend all day in the kitchen? So I am slowly buying them off everyone I know, or buying them when they clearance! My next thing? Dehydrator! I figure I can make banana chips, apple chips, etc, and have a bunch of easy little fruit snack bags that I can just grab and go. That would be nice. So yea I need that! LOL! Seriously though, they are really a nice thing to have! They save some time and get my bread to rise just right!

Tonight I plan on making muffins (didn't I JUST make a batch?) and trying a new namaste mix for dumplings, then I'm going to try to make a chicken and dumpling meal of some sort. I don't have it entirely planned, but it's gonna have peas, carrots, chicken, and a really good buttery milk sauce. (sorry for you dairy allergic people) I'll post the recipe if it turns out any good!

baking and more baking.

Sigh. I remember when I used to put my boys down for a nap and then I would take one too. No longer. Now I do a lot of catching up on my cleaning, because I do all my baking during that time slot now. Sigh.

Oh one hand I'm finally figuring out what my 3 year old can do with me and it's been a blast baking with him. Plus he LOVES it. My almost 2 year old isn't really interested so as long as there's something else for him to do he's happy. So it's something nice that Gabe and I can share. But on the other hand, as much as I really do love to bake, it's a PITA to have to bake pretty much everyday. Today I am making my first Namaste bread. It's been easy. The only thing I worry about is my egg substitute. I use apple sauce and this recipe calls for 1 egg and then 3 egg whites. So I used my better homes cook book to figure out that 2 egg whites equal 1 egg. Then I use 1/4 a cup of applesauce to sub for each egg. So I ended up with 5/8 a cup of applesauce. Hopefully it turns out well. (I think all the math was there! LMAO!)

Also my boys finished off yet another batch of muffins today. (I freeze them and they seem to last about 3 days so 4 muffins a day, 2 for each boy) So I have to make those in a little while.

Freezing is my new best friend. I have to get one of those handy vac food bag things though! I managed to freeze half the pizza I made the other day and it's nice because I can just pull out one piece at a time or so. Plus I freeze brownies and since we aren't a huge sweets and candies house I only do 1 every few days. (I cut them big enough that the boys are content with half of one). Plus I've got the ice cream.

It's nice that I now know EVERY SINGLE thing that we put in our bodies. I always wanted to be that kind of a super healthy mom, but never got around to it. And I'm sure not having so many chemicals in our bodies is gonna be great, but boy is it work! But well I can feed my kids 3 meals a day and a snack and not have to worry about it causing another trip to the ER.

Lately we've been doing plain yogurt with frozen blueberries or muffins for breakfast (often both with how Gabe's eating) Then pizza or fruit for lunch and then for dinner we often do rice chicken and peas or some other veggie or I make plain hamburgers (now I have bread for them! Next I tackle ketchup) Followed by ice cream, or a brownie, (I'm gonna make cookies today maybe too to freeze)

It's not a huge variety, but it's balanced meals. Oh and I also found a pasta I have to order! Then we can add that in! First I have to find a sauce that's either really cheap and everything free OR a really easy recipe that makes large batches that I can freeze. (I like baking, but I'm not nuts, I don't want to have to make 5 things everyday. Freezing is my friend! LOL!)

Gabe's Safe Food List

These foods are all wheat, egg, corn, strawberry, peanut and tree nut free. I've either done a TON of research on them OR (this is most likely) called the company and they have verified that the foods are corn and corn derivative free. :)

Keep in mind the list is not huge, but this is a starter list! It will keep growing so keep checking it. Also please bear in mind that companies can change ingredients at any time so it's always a good idea to double check!!!!! I don't guarantee that they are free, but that we eat them without a problem and that my son is very sensitive. (He reacts to the vinegar in ketchup for heaven's sake!)

Price Chopper Tomato Paste
Price Chopper Plain yogurt (from what I've come to understand most plain yogurts are ok! They only use the corn derivatives for binding the flavors MOST of the time)
Stonyfield Organic Plain Yogurt
Fresh fruit except Strawberries
Del Monte canned fruit except strawberries. (I called and spoke to them and they said they will always label if they put in corn derivatives in their syrups.)
Fresh Veggies except Corn
Del Monte canned veggies except corn.
Most canned Veggies are ok as long as it's just veggie, water and salt.
Chicken
Beef
100 % Juice with NOTHING added! McDonald's apple juice is safe!
Milk
Elyon Marshmallows (made for passover ONLY!)
Rice
Plain Unsweetened Applesauce (target is great for cheap applesauce! It's 1.92 at our local one for a large jar! Just make sure the only ingredients are apples and water for any applesauce)
Butter
Specialty Chocolates. (Chocolate Emporium makes gluten, dairy free candies. Some are corn free call and ask! They are VERY helpful!)
St. Claire's mints and tart candies
Namaste ANYTHING (again can't tell you how much I LOVE this company!)
Frierich Corned Beef (I called and they don't use any corn derivatives in their natural flavors Woot! Erin Go Bragh!)
Yummy Earth Organic Lolly Pops
Crystal Light Hard Candies (I haven't called them yet!!! So it is not for sure, but my son has been eating them without a problem. They were a GREAT candy sub at St. Patty's parades!!!!)
Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

Tomato Spinach Pizza Recipe & Peach Ice Cream Recipe

Tomato Spinach Pizza Recipe (but you can sub with anything you like! Although your kids might surprise you and LOVE spinach)

Namaste pizza crust
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 can spinach (only spinach, water and salt)
1 can tomato paste (make sure it has nothing other than tomato puree and water. Price chopper brand is only puree!)
2-3 good sized tomatoes (rinse before use)
Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 450. Bake crust according to directions, pull out of oven and lightly coat with olive oil. Then in a small bowl mix the paste and oregano and garlic powder. Then spread it out over the pizza crust. Take half a can of spinach (or less or more according to your taste) and spread it over the pizza. Take tomatoes and slice them up and lay them on the pizza. Put back in oven for about another 10 minutes.


Peach Ice Cream

1 can of peaches (make sure it's just peaches and water or if it's light syrup you call and ask if it has corn derivative)
1/2 cup of sugar
2.5 cups milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I use flavoring that is cheaper)

Put the peaches and 1/2 cup of sugar into the blender and let sit for about 20 min. Then puree. Turn on your ice cream maker. I have the Hamilton Beach one and I LOVE it. Pour everything in and let it churn for however long your ice cream maker tells you to. Super yummy!!!!! When it's done put it in an airtight container for storage. (if there's any left that is)

Journey with me. PLEASE!?!?!

My name is Niccie. I have two beautiful boys and another on the way (boy as well and yes we are THRILLED not bummed at having all boys :P) My son Gabriel was recently diagnosed with severe food allergies to wheat, egg, strawberries and CORN. We orginally thought it might be peanuts. That scared the hell out of us. Then when cutting out peanuts didn't stop his reactions and they continued to get worse and worse and more common, we thought it was soy. Both my husband and I thought it was the end of food for us. I mean soy is in everything right? LMAO, boy I wish. Because it is a top 8 allergen they now list it on everything that has even trace possiblities, so where as there is sooo much you can't eat, atleast you know what you are eating. So then we did all of our testing and came back neg for soy. SHOCK Relief! And found out instead he had a corn allergy.

Corn however is a different demon. Corn is in EVERYHING and because it isn't a top 8 allergen, by law no one is required to list it. Actually the companies aren't even required to test for it. Yea I wish we had even realized it was a possiblity that someone could be allergic to corn because as a reward for being SOOOO brave with the spt (skin prick test) we fed him a whole box of gummy bears. We ended up in the ER that night for horrible horrible skin rashes and hives and swelling of his extremities :( So yea that has started my journey into corn free life.

We tried starting with a no nos list. Please for your own sanity don't do that. It will depress you, make you want to cry and drive you nuts! Start in the begining with a can can eat list!!!!! It will make you a lot happier if you KNOW something is safe. We started doing this by pulling everything off our shelves and looking at what we thought was safe. (LMAO boy were we naive) Then I started my campain to call every single company. To do this please have the ingredient in front of you, make sure you can find the barcode numbers and the experation date :) I know a lot of companies list stuff on their websites, but because corn is not a top 8 a LOT of companies don't post the info on it.

When you call ask about citric acid, vitamin c, white vinegar and natural flavors. Those seem to be the top culprits that are corn derived. (shocking I know) Also anything that has maltrodrexin don't even bother with :) If a company can't give you an answer (and there are a SHOCKING amount that can't) then if you are highly sensitive to it please don't risk it.

Make a list of things that are safe!!! And trust me when I tell you to find a health food store near you! And make sure that they carry Namaste brands. OMG I can't rave about this company enough!!!!! They are AMAZING!!!!!!!! Gluten, wheat, soy, corn, potato, peanuts, tree nuts, dairy and caisen free! (their entire factory is dedicated to being allergen free! WOOT!) The people in the company are absolutely wonderful! And the food tastes good!!! We are still trying them all, but I will rave to anyone who will listen about their brownies and muffins and pizza crust! Also I've heard great things about their chocolate cake!!!! (aren't you loving them as much as I do already?!?!?!) Also the health food stores if they are good ones will not mind you picking their brains all the time. (I'm a question asker and if I don't understand something I won't go away til I do and they still like me at mine!)

Well folks I hope you will jump on board with me for this crazy freaking ride I'm getting into! Maybe we can all find others who are struggling with this like ourselves!!