Lunch Special

Do you know what kind of plate this is? Yep - it is an egg plate. I guess you know how much use this gets in our house now. Zilch. None. Zip.

Well, Julia saw it the other day and wanted to eat her lunch on it. Luckily, I hadn't decided what she was going to have. This made it super easy.

What you see is what you get with this one. Diced turkey lunch meat in some of the holes. Cheese in another. Bean dip in the rest. Sun Chips in the middle. She was thrilled. This lunch mirrored what I sent with the other two for lunch at school that day. It is an allergen free meal for us.

The turkey is something we have checked to make sure it doesn't have diary in it. A lot of lunch meat does. Didn't know that until we had to start checking labels.

We cook up a whole bag of beans whenever we do beans so that we can freeze them. These beans were leftovers from that big pot. I just got some and mashed them with a fork and some water until they were the consistency of bean dip. Then I added a bit of salt and garlic powder until I liked the taste for a dip.

The cheese is goat cheese, or chevre. It appears that Louisa can handle this. We have not done any big challenges to her system with it but she can have several slices with a meal and it doesn't bother her.

Sun chips are another thing that Louisa can eat. As long as they are not the flavored varieties. Most of the flavors have things in them we are trying to avoid. The plain ones are good, though.

So, just a quick and easy lunch. I thought it was cute, though, so I shared it, too. YES!

Chicken and Rice

I got a very good compliment tonight. Well, 3 actually. All the girls liked dinner. It was almost as good as the stuff Aunt Jenn cooks. That is a tough challenge to live up to but I am evidentally getting closer. I'll take that.

Dinner tonight was chicken and rice. (No pictures today - I forgot) It was based on a recipe that I grew up making. I think Campbell's puts this recipe on a lot of their soup cans. It is the one where you put water, rice, and soup in a dish and mix it up. Then put the chicken pieces on top and bake it. A good recipe, except for the cream soup part. Dairy products are not allowed for us. So, remake - here I come.

I used the exact same concept but I had garlic flavored chicken broth in the fridge. (Never would have bought it but it came in a meal deal during one of our shopping trips to HEB. Nice freebie!) I put the chicken broth and rice in and the chicken on top (frozen!). Bake and voila! The girls didn't stop talking about it until they were done eating it!

CHICKEN & RICE:
2 C garlic flavored chicken broth
1 1/4 C long grain/slow cook rice
4 - 6 chicken breasts (thawed or frozen, doesn't make too much difference except for cooking time)

Put the broth and rice in a 9 x 13 dish and stir it up. Place the chicken on top and cover with aluminum foil. Place in 375 degree oven for 40 - 60 minutes (40 for thawed; 60 for frozen), checking to make sure the chicken is baked thoroughly. If you want a little bit of color to your chicken, uncover and bake for another 10 minutes. You could even sprinkle a tiny bit of paprika over it. Serve. Makes 4 - 6 servings.

I served this with corn and broccoli (both frozen and cooked in the microwave). This was a good dinner with very little work involved. My kind of cooking. And it was all from the YES list!!!

Struggles

We have had quite a time with allergies lately. Beginning back before Christmas, the allergy season kicked in full force for most of the family. Louisa has had it the hardest though. Some medicine changes have helped but not to the extent we would like. Thus it leaves me back here. Food. What can we change? What can we not change? Are we missing something? Why the tummy aches again, often, after so much time without them?

I don't know what our answer is going to be but I do know that my first response is food. Food. Ugh. We all love food and we are doing really well managing the allergens but it is next to impossible to stay away completely.

Soy, for example. In Everything! And I do mean everything. Even lunchmeats can have soy in them. Luckily this is her lowest level allergen but...with everything else flaring we need to cut it out. I haven't figured out how. If only I knew. That might make a difference.

Milk is another. There are a million and a half names for milk products. Again, it is in everything except fresh fruit and veggies, it seems. And this seems to be an allergen that affects her quickly and easily. So hard to avoid.

Potatoes, eggs, peanuts, beef, pork and tomotoes are not a big hassle to avoid, as long as we eat at home. Now if there is something special at church, that is another story. We have several folks at church that try to bring something that she can eat. They are so thoughtful! But, as a 5 year old, she misses getting to go birthday parties without worrying about the cake or ice cream or pizza. And, she really misses eating out. We do go to Sonic or McDonalds some but have noticed her body not accepting these foods as easily lately. (BTW - These two places, last I checked, do not have milk products in their chicken strips or nuggets. And they offer apples instead of fries. Thus the reason we go there.)

How do you answer a 5 year old who sincerely cries "I just want to be normal again."? I don't know and my heart is breaking. Her sisters are super with her and can help her get over this but her mama is not doing so well.

This is not necessarily a helpful post but one I needed to get out there. Just for me. The positive will come back but for now, this is where I am. Searching each day for more answers and remembering, above all, that today belongs to God and His will. I was reminded this morning of something Becky Blackmon says: Give God today, every day, or satan will take it. May I always remember that and give God each day, every day.

Blessings!

Monkey Face

Even though I said I was going to post weekly, I let the holiday and time with family prevail. Not a bad thing but I did not follow through with my word. For anyone out there who actually pays attention to this blog, I apologize. I intent to do better.

We are starting again. This time with Monkey Faces. Sort of. These cookies taste amazing but don't actually look anything like I was expecting from the recipe description. We'll start at the beginning.

http://community.tasteofhome.com/community_forums/f/30/t/342014.aspx

This was the link to the original recipe I used. If you look at that recipe and remember anything about our food situation, you know that I did not follow the recipe to a T. Perhaps that is why my monkey faces turned out looking like this...

Little aliens, if you ask me. Still, they tasted good. So good that I am fending off the children as we speak.

Here's the recipe:

Mix together:

1/2 C shortening

1 C brown sugar

1/2 C molasses (I used cane syrup since that is what I had and the taste is similar. Another plus, it is cheaper than molasses.)

Add:

1/2 C almond milk (Probably any milk will do but this is what we keep for the allergenic child around here.)

1 tsp vinegar (I just used plain old white vinegar.)

Mix in:

2 1/2 C flour

1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Drop by rounded tsp. 2-12" apart on ungreased baking sheet. Place 3 raisins on each for eyes and mouth. Bake @375º 10-12 min. or until set. Remove from sheet in 1 min. Faces take on droll expressions in baking. Makes 4 doz. 2-1/2" cookies.                     

I made half of the cookies with raisins and half without. Here's the picture of the others.

I don't know why exactly, but the ones with the raisins are slightly more chewy and soft. The others still taste wonderful but I think I will use the raisins all the time now.

Happy baking and happy blessings. May all your experiences be full of YES.







Crock Pot again!

So, there are no pictures to go with this one but it was success!!!

I love my crock pot/slow cooker and with the temps at 105 and higher still, it is getting a work out. Last night, it was chicken. I am not putting this one in recipe format because it is so simple!

I got out the slow cooker about 3 PM. I poured a couple of tablespoons of canola oil in and them poured in about 1/4 - 1/2 C of red wine vinegar. I put in about 3 pounds of chicken breasts (bone-in) and sprinkled it over the top with creole seasoning (Tony Chachere's). That was it. Put it on 3 (medium) until 6 PM and it was done and yummy. The girls like it a lot and even asked if I would send it for their lunch today. I was more than happy to! Oh, and there was plenty of leftovers!

Hope you enjoy this sweet, flavorful, juicy chicken.

Vegetables and Grits

The grits were a hit! Yea! The veggies were not. Boo! I can't seem to hit a home run very often but I will keep trying.

Once again, I really liked these veggies. They had a sweet and creamy flavor, without being too sweet. I think I have to figure out how to hide the green and red bell peppers. I am guessing that is why two of the three girls wouldn't eat these. I enjoyed it and will have plenty of leftovers for a couple of meals for myself.

The recipe is what I think of as easy. I hope you do, too. Here it is...

VEGETABLES AND GRITS

• Grits - prepare as instructed on package
• 2 T total canola oil and/or margarine
• 1 onion - diced
• 1/2 green bell pepper - diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper - diced
• 1 carrot - cut into thin disks
• 1/2 C frozen peas
• any other veggies you want to include
• 2 T flour
• rice milk - about 2 C, more or less to consistency desired
• salt
• pepper
• garlic powder
• paprika
• parsley

1. In a large saucepan on the stove top, add the oil and/or margarine. Put in the onion and bell peppers. Cook for a few minutes and then add the carrots. Cook for 5 or 6 minutes, until the carrots are tender enough to stab with a knife or fork but not so tender they mash. Add the peas and any other veggies that need to go in. Cook for another minute.
2. Add the flour. Stir and cook for about 2 minutes. Slowly add the milk, stirring constantly to help avoid lumps. Continue adding the rice milk until the consistency you want is achieved.
3. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and parsley to taste.
4. Serve with grits. You could also substitute a rice or a pasta for the grits.

The menu for this meal was grits and veggies, baby oranges (mandarin oranges), and broccoli.

I hope you try grits. They are so much better than the reputation they get from so many of the old books. I really enjoy them and with the veggies they make a great main dish.

Grits

The grits were good served with a vegetable medley.

What do you think of when you think of grits? Me? I think of Grandma Terrell. Not because she made them for us that I can remember but because I seem to remember her talking about grits and milk. I may be remembering wrong but that is what comes to mind. I don't know that I ever had them growing up at all.

However, not long ago, my wonderful mother-in-law brought me a whole bunch of different grains from a gristmill they had visited. One of the things she brought was grits. I had no idea how to make grits so I just followed the directions on the bag.

It took 10 minutes in the microwave. The measurements were 1 C grits to 2 1/2 C water. I also added salt to taste and a couple of tablespoons of margarine when they came out of the microwave. I really like them. They can be cooked on the stove top or in the microwave. I served them with some veggies that I cooked on the stove top. I will give you that concoction in another post.

All in all, I would certainly recommend trying these. You should know that there are some rather large pieces of corn hull or husk or something in the grits that I had. Just be aware of how coarsely ground your grits are if you are serving them to small children. Also, if you have a corn allergy, these are not for you since most grits are ground up corn. But, this is allergy free otherwise.

At any rate, something new that the girls ate - a positive dinner.

Dinner Menu

Dinner the other evening was a success. Of course, when I choose sausage, it is seldom anything else. The girls all love sausage. Usually, I just cut up the smoked sausage links and brown the pieces in a skillet. I needed something different though.

I took the turkey sausage, about 14 ounces, and boiled it with the juice from a large can of pineapple chunks. It turned out sweet, with a nice citrus flavor, without being overwhelmingly pineapple-y. I just simmered it until the rest of the dinner was ready and the sausage was heated through.

So our menu was this:

• turkey smoked sausage boiled in pineapple juice
• canned pineapple
• sliced red bell peppers and cucumbers
• black beans (prepared ahead and frozen, then thawed for this dinner)
• carrots and broccoli (from a bag of frozen veggies)

That's all. It was simple and easy because much of the prep work had been done ahead of time. I seem to get bogged down in side dishes a lot of the time but these ended up being quick. I will have to remember this menu.

Snickerdoodles

Cookies are always a hit. One of my favorite things to make in the kitchen has always been cookies. I love cookies.

 

However, if you have food allergies in your family, you know just how few recipes are out there without something that your child is allergic to. Well, here is a good one that does not have milk or eggs. It comes from my childhood and my mother, who taught me so much. Actually, I modified the one from my mom so that it does not include eggs but she won't mind. So here we go.

SNICKERDOODLE COOKIES

• 1 1/2 C sugar
• 1/2 C margarine, softened
• 1/2 C vegetable shortening
• 4 T arrowroot flour
• 4 T water
• 2 3/4 C flour
• 2 t cream of tartar
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/4 t salt
• 3 T sugar
• 3 T ground cinnamon

Heat oven to 400. Mix sugar, margarine, shortening, arrowroot flour, and water. Stir in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Shape dough into walnut sized balls.

Mix 3 T sugar and 3 T ground cinnamon. Roll balls in mixture. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 - 10 minutes. Cook on rack. Makes about 6 dozen cookies.

Enjoy this treat.

Egg Substitutes

Did you ever get up and decide to work on a recipe only to read eggs in the list and know you didn't have any? Used to be that I would put that recipe aside. Now, I know better. Since DD number 2 has been diagnosed with an egg allergy, I have found out that there are actually a huge number of possible substitutes.

These Snickerdoodles were made with arrowroot flour.

I have used several of them. In fact, the cookies in the oven right now used the arrowroot flour substitute. You will do better if you have an idea of the taste of what you are making is like - mainly sweet or savory. I am going to be making cupcakes tomorrow using an egg substitute. I will let you know how that turns out.

For now, here is the list that I have compiled of possible substitutes for eggs.

Use one of the following bullets  for each egg, up to 3 eggs, paying attention to the type of dish you are making and the flavors that will compliment it.

• 1 tsp baking powder + 1 T liquid + 1 T vinegar
• 1 tsp yeast dissolved in ¼ C warm water
• 1 ½ T water + 1 ½ T oil + 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 pkg gelatin + 2 T warm water; mix just prior to use
• 2 T arrowroot flour
• 2 T applesauce + ¼ tsp baking powder
• ½ banana (medium, mashed) + ¼ tsp baking powder
• 1 T vinegar + 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 T lemon juice + 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 T cornstarch + 3 T water

These have worked really well for me. I hope they work just as well for you. Happy baking.

Homemade Pop Tarts

Who doesn't love a pop tart? But have you looked at that label!? Name an allergen and it is probably in there, not to mention all those non-healthy things.

My kids love pop tarts but we have hardly ever bought them. Add that to the food allergy diagnosis. Result: all of us cannot eat them so we will not buy them. Somewhere along the line, a friend had shared this recipe with me for making our own pop tarts. (If I knew where it came from, I would link to it. That cook deserves credit! I did have to change it for allergy purposes, though.) It is so good! It ranks right up there with homemade donuts. Make these ahead of time and they are better, though right out of the oven is good, too.

HOMEMADE POP TARTS:
2 C flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 C shortening
5-7 T ice cold water
jams or jellies of your choice
1 C powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla flavoring
1-2 T water
food coloring of your choice
sprinkles of your choice

Mix the flour, salt, and shortening in a bowl. Add the water and mix until well blended but don't over mix. This will make the dough tough. (Up to this point, this is just your standard pie crust recipe for a double crust pie. So, it is conceivable that you could just buy frozen or refrigerated pie crusts to use. I have not tried this.)

Roll the dough out thin and cut into rectangles that are about 3" x 5". Place about 1 tsp of jam or jelly on one end of each rectangle. Fold it over and seal the edges. (You can either wet the edge with water and press closed or use a fork to crimp the edges closed.) The directions said to place on a cookie sheet covered in foil and sprayed with non-stick spray; I put them on a baking stone. Whatever you have... Bake at 425 for about 10 minutes or until browned. If the edges aren't sealed well, the jelly will drip out so be prepared.

After they are cooled, mix up the powdered sugar, vanilla, food coloring, and water until you have a slightly liquid icing. Lay the pop tarts on a cooling rack and drizzle the icing over them. Add the sprinkles and you are ready to eat.

My only other bit of advice: be prepared to either make them again for the next day or be prepared to say no. These are yummy and addictive. Everyone will love them and want more.

Have a great breakfast, treat, or dessert!

Brownies...not!

"I like brownies." That is what I heard all through dinner tonight. The problem? It was most definitely not brownies. DD3, age 2, was referring to the turkey sausage crumbles in the spaghetti we had. I have no idea where brownies came from but she was not giving up that name.

Normally, when 2 out of 3 kids like what is for dinner, I am thrilled. Now, however, when the one who doesn't like it is DD2 with all the food allergies, it is not something I am happy with. I loved the dinner, though. And the other two girls ate like crazy! I guess we will just have to give this one another try because it was a hit with everyone else. So, here's the recipe that I used for spaghetti.

Spaghetti (for those with food allergies):

• 1 box spaghetti noodles (I used whole-wheat and it was a 13.5 ounce box)
• lots of veggies: use whatever you have; I had 1 yellow summer squash, 2 carrots, 1/2 onion, and 5 decent sized mushrooms
• 6 - 8 ounces precooked turkey sausage crumbles (you can use whatever you prefer but we have a pork allergy in our house and so we use turkey)
• 1-2 T oil (I used canola)
• 1-2 T margarine
• 2 large ladles of the cooking water from the pasta
• 2 T cornstarch
• salt and pepper to taste
• parmesan cheese, optional

Cook your noodles according the package directions.
In a separate skillet, heat the oil and margarine. I like the flavor you get when combining the two. Put in the veggies that take the longest to cook and saute for a couple of minutes. Add in the rest of the veggies, depending on how long they take, and the sausage crumbles. My order was onions, saute for a few minutes; carrots, saute for a minute or two; squash, saute for a couple of minutes; mushrooms, only leaving in for a minute or two so they don't get mushy.
After getting all the veggies in, add the cooking water from the pasta and let it simmer for a couple of minutes. Sprinkle the cornstarch over the top of all this and then stir it in good to let it thicken a bit.  Salt and pepper to taste.
Place a serving of noodles on a plate and top with the veggie and sausage mixture. If you want you can sprinkle a tad of parmesan cheese over the top.

I really enjoyed this. I felt like the flavor ended up very rich and full without too much stuff in it.  My 2 year old couldn't get enough of this. She ate until she found the bottom of her plate and I gave her too much. She was cleaning up everything around her to get more of this dish. I hope your family likes it just as much.

Yummy and Cool: Jello Blocks

With the heat like it is, we have to do something cool. Water play in the backyard only goes so far. To help cool us off, I went for something from my childhood. Jello blocks. Only now, they are officially called jello jigglers or some other name like that. I will call them jello blocks since that is what they have always been to me.

In my memory, my mom made these a lot. Whether that is true or not, I don't know. But I remember them often being in the fridge and they were always yummy. And even better, they are allergen free as far as I can tell. So, here we go...

JELLO BLOCKS:

• 2 small packages or 1 large package any flavor jello (I used sugar-free for this but any would work.)

• 2 C boiling water

• 1 1/2 C cold water or fruit juice (I like the fruit juice. It really adds flavor and makes use of the leftovers from canned fruit.)

Lightly grease a 9x13 pan. In a large heat-proof bowl, mix the jello and the boiling water. Whisk until the jello is dissolved. Add the cold water or juice. Pour into the  pan. Refrigerate over night or until well set. Using your choice of cookie cutters, cut shapes out of the jello. I always put the in-between parts in a bowl and serve like regular jello. If you don't want to do cookie cutters, you could always just use a knife and cut them into, get this, blocks!

FYI - Don't leave these out in the heat; they will melt.

I hope you enjoy this cool treat for this ridiculously hot summer!

Baked Beans Recipe

I learned to cook from my mother. She was, and is, a wonderful teacher. She taught me well. By the time I was a teenager, I could cook (and clean up) an entire meal. When I was able to drive, I could go do the shopping by myself, too. So, why in the world am I finding it so difficult to cook for my family now? One word: staples.

No, not the metal kind. The keep-the-pantry-full, go-to-meal kind of staples. Hamburger meat, potatoes, tomatoes, rice, tomato sauce, pasta, frozen veggies, etc. I have always stocked my pantry with those things and many more and relied on them for cooking. Due to the food allergy diagnosis, much of that has flown out the window so I have to reconfigure this. One day at a time.

Today, that looks like baked beans. We need a good source of protein. Our go-tos were milk, cheese or peanut butter. Now, I don't know what it will be but beans are pretty good. Baked beans, though, was a new one for me. It was a hit. Most recipes call for canned pork and beans as the basis of the recipe or included bacon. Due to a pork allergy, those were not great for us. So I created my own. Here is what I did instead.

BAKED BEANS:

1 lb bag of dry pinto beans
2 T mustard*
3-5 T Worchestershire sauce*
1/2 - 3/4 C brown sugar*
Prepare your beans according to the package directions, omitting any salt. (I did the quick soak method - boil for 5 minutes, turn off heat and soak for 2 hours, simmer until tender.)

Place your beans in a large pot and add the mustard, W sauce, and brown sugar. Start with just a little of the brown sugar, mix it up really good, and taste. You may want more, you may not. I was probably a bit shy of the 1/2 C mark but I know some folks like their baked beans nice and sweet. Bake them next. Put them in the oven at 375 for about 25 or 30 minutes, just to let the flavors blend. I skipped baking them because I didn't want to heat up the house and wasn't going to use them for almost another 24 hours. I decided the flavors would blend well enough and they did. Serve these hot or cold. This makes a ton! We have a couple of containers in the freezer but all 3 of my children loved these beans.

*I just guessed at these amounts but like the results that I came up with. Feel free to adjust them to whatever suits your tastes.

If you try this, please let me know how it turns out. I welcome feedback. Things that I put down are trials that worked out (or maybe not) for me. Every recipe is open to interpretation and substitution. That is how something good becomes better. Enjoy!