Gluten-free Ramen

April 21, 2014 kristenannLeave a comment

At this point in the year I’m pretty much souped out. Not eating it, just making it. So, I’m quite excited to have found this gluten-free ramen that takes all of 4 minutes to make and tastes seriously good. The one I like is by Lotus Foods and has a miso base and I’m pretty sure when my oldest tries it, he’s going to be hooked too because he loves miso, and noodles, and especially fast prep. Try it out yourself on a day when your missing dorm cooking, or more likely, just want some fast soup on a chilly Spring day:

children · dairy free · food · Food allergies · food sensitivities · gluten free · gluten free food · kids · vegan · vegetarian

Nut-free, Dairy-free ‘nutella’

April 16, 2014 kristenannLeave a comment

Back in the glorious days of my sons eating nuts and dairy, my oldest loved nutella on dinner rolls as a snack or lunch item. I decided to look for homemade nutella recipes online to see if there was something I could convert and oh my, there are scores of nutella fans out there, making homemade versions, making dairy free versions, making nut free versions~ I mean if you are looking to make your own nutella, by no means should you stop your quest here. There are hundreds of recipes out there, and most start with the raw seeds or nuts and are truly from scratch. After reading more than a few variations, I decided I didn’t want to go to the store a second time today to get the ingredients I lacked, so I’d just try a quicker, not-so-from-scratch way of making a chocolaty, nutty flavored spread. The sunflower butter I’d bought to replace my son’s peanut butter cravings never really satisfied him, so I grabbed that, the half bar of baking chocolate I had left over from something else, and a teaspoon of vanilla extract.

I melted the 2 oz of unsweetened baking bar on low heat while scooping 1/2 C of the sunbutter into the food processor. I added the 1 t of vanilla extract, and then the melted chocolate and processed until smooth, which didn’t take long. I really wanted to avoid the confectioner’s sugar most recipes called for in my research, but when I tasted the blend I knew it needed some sweetening, so I added 1 T honey and blended again. That was better.

My son tried it on a Maninis dinner roll when he got home from school and gave it a thumbs-up. (His mouth was full after all.) I will probably play around with this recipe a bit more, but for a quick fix, this works well.

celiac disease · children · dairy free · food · Food allergies · food allergy blogs · food sensitivities · gf foods · gluten free · Gluten free eating · gluten free food · gluten free foods · gluten free lifestyle · gluten intolerance · gluten intolerant · kids · vegan · vegetarian

Broccoli and Tofu

April 15, 2014 kristenannLeave a comment

You can’t really ever go wrong with tofu and broccoli, at least in my oldest son’s opinion. His favorite way to eat that healthy combination used to be wrapped in a spelt tortilla with garlic sauce. He even wrote an essay about that dish in third grade when asked about his favorite thing to eat, but sadly, he can’t eat spelt anymore and corn tortillas are just not the same. They are great for soft tacos, quesadillas, and ‘beandillas’, (a quesadilla made with refried beans instead of cheese) but corn tortillas just do not complement the broccoli and tofu like the spelt did. He missed that dish terribly, along with countless others, once his gluten intolerance was discovered, but now he’s found a new favorite way to enjoy broccoli and tofu. Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 package brown rice fusilli

½ yellow onion

2 crushed cloves of garlic

3-4 cups broccoli, cut into bite size pieces

1 package extra firm tofu, drained and wrapped in paper towels to get out extra water

Approx. 2 T. olive oil (1 for the stir fry and 1 for the pot of pasta)

1 T. balsamic vinegar (or to taste)

1 T. gluten free Tamari

Dried basil and oregano to taste

Salt and pepper to taste

For this dish, I start the water boiling for the pasta as I begin the cutting up process. Pour in at least one tablespoon of the olive oil in a large pan, and then add the onions, cooking until translucent. Next the garlic should be added in, with the broccoli following. Pour the vinegar over the broccoli while stirring the veggies. Add the tofu then cover the tofu with the tamari. While cooking, stir in the herbs, salt, and pepper, and cook until the broccoli is bright green and the tofu is warm throughout with a bit of browning. Meanwhile, make the fusilli according to the package directions, and when all is done combine into approximately 4 bowls. This is one pasta dish that doesn’t require parmesan, but feel free to add it if you prefer, or if you like just drizzle on a bit more olive oil. For my son and I, we do not add anything but our forks.

dairy free · food · food allergy blogs · gluten free · gluten free food · gluten free foods · health · vegan · vegetarian

Smoothie Recipe

April 13, 2014April 16, 2014 kristenannLeave a comment

This is the smoothie I’ve been making lately and I like it because it doesn’t use any fake milk products. When we want cereal or need milk for baking I do use coconut milk because it seems the closest to a real food product, but I like to avoid it when possible. I know some people make their own coconut milk without all the questionable additives like carrageenan, but really we just don’t use it that often enough to warrant making it myself. Picking battles I guess. Anyway, the recipe:

Smoothie for one:

1 cup water

1 T chia seeds

1 serving of protein powder ( a serving depends on what brand)

1 small banana

1 handful frozen berries

1 leaf of kale or small handful of spinach (optional)

Let the chia seeds soak in the water for about 10 minutes. Add in the other ingredients and blend until smooth. I also open up a probiotic capsule and pour in the contents for a little extra gut goodness. If you aren’t already riding chia’s wave of fame this is an easy way to jump on.

Chia provides fiber and omega 3’s and if you remember the old commercials for chia pets, you can consider eating them revenge for years of that terrible ear worm. Some claim health benefits from weight loss to sugar management also, but basically chia is having a moment just as CoQ10 and bee pollen did before. It’s all good stuff, I’m just saying it’s not a miracle worker. The smoothie is darn yummy though and it feels especially good to drink in that much nutrition in one glass.

baking · children · dairy free · food · Food allergies · food allergy blogs · food sensitivities · gf bread · gf foods · gluten free · gluten free bread · Gluten free eating · gluten free food · gluten free foods · gluten intolerance · gluten intolerant · kids

Gluten-free Sourdough Bread cont.

March 31, 2014 kristenannLeave a comment

Well, there it is. The first gluten-free sourdough bread we made. After stirring the ever-funkier starter for several days complete with cabbage leaves and apple skin, my son was not feeling too confident about actually trying the bread. To be honest, neither was I. I really had no idea if the starter we’d made was going to work because it wasn’t ever as bubbly as I expected it to be, but we both were pleasantly surprised. The bread is pretty good!

As you can see from this picture, it did not rise much though. I am guessing as the starter sits for a few more days there will be more yeast activity, and we will try again on Wednesday to make another loaf. My son thought the bread was more than “pretty good” incidentally, probably because he helped make it and felt ownership in it. That loaf is a blend of teff flour, millet, brown rice and tapioca and he pointed out that the hard crust tasted like cereal and he was right~ it really did. Next time I might do less teff and try gluten-free oat flour for a lighter loaf~ more trials to come!

baking · dairy free · food · Food allergies · food allergy blogs · food sensitivities · gf bread · gluten free · gluten free bread · Gluten free eating · gluten free food · gluten free foods · gluten intolerance · gluten intolerant · kids

Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter

March 26, 2014March 26, 2014 kristenannLeave a comment

My son needed a science project and I needed a reason to try to make the sourdough starter recipe I’ve been eyeing for months, so we decided to work together and see what happens. The recipe we are using is from Jennifer Katzinger’s Gluten-Free & Vegan Bread. I’ve wanted to make sourdough starter for a long time now, ever since I read about it being a more easily digested bread than other types with single strands of yeast, but the recipes I read always seemed too complex and involved too much planning. Once I read Katzinger’s version which was already gluten-free I started thinking I could do it. Except I didn’t. There was still that planning part that got in my way, until my son’s science fair came up and I thought, we could do this~ we have a week and a half, plenty of time to get the starter going and then to try to bake with it a couple of times, with enough time even for a failure or two. We will actually use the starter later today for the first time, but actually making the mother was easier than I expected, so in case you are feeling daunted by the idea yourself I thought I’d share the steps so far. First, get a gallon size glass jar and put in 1C teff flour and 1C water.

Stir well.

Then add two purple cabbage leaves and the skin of half an apple.

Mix well again and then let it sit in a warm spot for 12 hours before stirring and adding more teff and water. After 48 hours (with 12 hours in between stirrings and adding more flour and water) it should be bubbling with yeast activity.

It is then time to take out the cabbage leaves and apple skin and put it in the fridge. It is ready to be used.

Now it’s time to test if this has worked. There is starter resting on my kitchen counter right now warming up with fresh teff and water for 4 hours and hopefully creating some yeasty activity. Crossing my fingers that we will have fresh sourdough bread by tonight. We’ll see!

dairy free · food · Food allergies · food allergy blogs · food sensitivities · gf foods · gluten free · gluten free bread · Gluten free eating · gluten free food · gluten free foods · gluten intolerance · gluten intolerant · vegan

Some New Gluten Free Finds

February 28, 2014March 1, 2014 kristenannLeave a comment

I don’t know how long I’ve been overlooking this bread, but I have a feeling it’s pretty new to the scene, but boy has it made a splash. I’d say about half the time I go searching for it, there’s none to be found:

This is Olivia’s Super Free Baguette and that picture is from their site: http://oliviasuperfree.com/home.html. I’ve been making garlic bread with the baguettes~ olive oil, Tuscan salts, garlic, 425 degrees for 10 minutes, and it turns out really lovely. I can imagine making a big sub sandwich with these too. The texture is great, the flavor is good, and the lightness makes it easy to use in meals (as opposed to being so heavy that all you can do with it is slice and eat it.) The kids whole-heartily approved.

The other bread I’ve found lately is Flying Apron’s new white bread which tastes even better than their old one and they are actually finally making enough that you have a decent chance to buy one on white bread days, (bonus!), which at the Redmond location are Tuesdays and Thursdays.

This is a hearty loaf made with quinoa, oat, and I think sorghum flour though I could be wrong about that last one. It has the whole grain goodness of stand-out healthy grains which is so rare in a gluten-free loaf. I love this bread but surprisingly, my sons are not full-on excited about it, though my oldest adores the white rolls made from the same ingredients~ go figure. I think they have gotten so use to the fluffy lightness of gluten-free breads that this denser loaf seems strange to them, like a child who’s been eating regular white bread suddenly tasting a whole wheat loaf~ not exactly the same thing. That’s fine for now because it means more for me! I’ve been making veggie sandwiches with this bread~ one side gets hummus spread on it, the other gets avocado, and in between goes spinach and lettuce, tomatoes, red peppers and whatever else I can find. I haven’t had a fulfilling sandwich like that in so many years I can’t even begin to remember~ until last week that is, at which time I started having them almost every day. Seriously, if you are in the Seattle area and haven’t tried this loaf because you aren’t in the habit of buying a ‘white’ bread~ this loaf will surprise you.

Those two breads above are also vegan, soy, and nut free~ it can be done!

The last product is a granola bar from KIND. These are not the same bars that have been around for a long time, they are different~ flatter and wider for one thing, but the best part is at least one flavor, the oats and honey, is nut free.

This pic is from their website.

Trying to find a gluten-free, dairy-free protein bar that doesn’t have any nuts in it, especially almonds, is extraordinarily difficult. We eat some bars from Nugo and Enjoy Life Foods, but having a new one to throw into backpacks for snack time is extremely welcome at this point.

If you have any new gluten-free favorites, let me know~ I’d love to hear about them.

children · cleansing · dairy free · Food allergies · food allergy blogs · food sensitivities · gf foods · gluten free · Gluten free eating · gluten free food · gluten free lifestyle · gluten intolerance · gluten intolerant · health · kids

KISS

January 9, 2014January 12, 2014 kristenannLeave a comment

I’ve heard a certain expression all my life and never realized the acronym was k.i.s.s. until I just recently put it together. It was one of those moments when I thought, “does everyone already know this?” Anyway, if you’re like me and a little late to the party I’m talking about the expression, “keep it simple, stupid”. That line goes through my head a lot because I have a natural aversion to complications, which is a bit of handicap in this quickly complicating world. That is probably my least favorite part about our family’s food intolerances~ it adds a layer of complexity to what seemingly should be a very simple, straight to the point thing~ eating. When you add in eating while out, or eating while on vacation, the complications add up and complications mean stressers and stress and sometimes I just feel like saying, “let’s just eat whatever we want, shall we?” Actually, I know quite a few families who operate like that~ their children stay away from wheat and/or dairy while at home, but if they are at school and there is trigger food, they can eat it, or if they go out and there is not an easy option to avoiding it, they will just eat it and deal with the consequences. I can see doing that with my own kids once they have been off their trigger foods for a good year so it is totally out of their system and then maybe the bits will help to desensitize them, but for now it just isn’t worth it. They are so much healthier now, with better skin, brighter eyes, more energy, and happier outlooks it’s hard to imagine just letting them slide back into the funkiness of food intolerance~ I should know because I was funky for decades before realizing my own intolerances. It makes a huge difference, and in a way, it has it’s own simplification aspects that I appreciate~ the more natural the ingredients and the fewer the ingredients, the better. This time of year we hear a lot about food and diet programs, Paleo this and cleanse that, and again the idea of ‘keep it simple, stupid’ comes to mind. If something feels drastic, and difficult, and not doable for the long haul, it’s probably not the best option. I’m all for a cleanse every once in a while, as long as it involves real foods and helps to reset healthy eating habits, but it’s far more important to eat real food, mindfully, every day. I’ve mentioned how picky my youngest is, and in an effort in reinforcing healthy food choices we’ve started a sticker chart for him~ if he tries a new food he gets one sticker, if he eats the whole serving he earns another sticker. Once he reaches 50 stickers then I give him $10. So far it’s helped him with the trying part, though less so with the whole serving part~ but it’s a start, and this is a good time of year for new starts. Good luck with your own New Year’s resolutions, and remember to check in regularly with yourself and make sure you are being ‘kissable’.

dairy free · Food allergies · food allergy blogs · gf bread · gf foods · gluten free · gluten free bread · gluten free food · gluten free foods · gluten intolerance · gluten intolerant

Gluten-free Vegan Cornbread

October 30, 2013 kristenann2 Comments

I made these to go with some chili but they were all eaten before the chili was even ready. Now I know to make a double batch, and intend to do so later today. For now I thought I’d share the recipe which is an adaptation of Annalise Roberts’ recipe in her book, Gluten-Free Baking Classics. I changed a few things to make it vegan, and changed the flours slightly, and also eliminated the xanthan gum because I always try to eliminate the gums that gluten-free recipes call for, and most of the time I find they perform well without them. Xanthan gum and guar gum are often added to gluten-free recipes without thought, but they are one of those food-like items (not a real actual food) that I try to avoid in my own baking. Some people react to the gums adversely, and although neither my boys nor I seem to have immediate reactions to them, why eat them if they are not needed…? Xanthan gum sounds like an opening band for Metallica, not something that I want to ingest on a regular basis. So, here’s the recipe:

Cornbread (Gluten free and Vegan)

1 cup cornmeal

2/3 cup Brown rice flour

1/3 cup Tapioca Flour

1/4 cup sugar

3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt (I use Real Salt)

1/4 cup oil (canola, sunflower, whatever is in your cabinet)

3/4 cup coconut milk or other milk alternative (or you can use regular old cow’s milk if you are from hearty Northern European stock and can digest the stuff)

1 Tablespoon flaxseed meal + 3 Tablespoons of warm water (mix these together in a separate bowl and let them sit a moment)

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix the ingredients until just mixed, no need to overdo it. Pour into muffin pans that have been sprayed with oil, or oiled in the old-fashioned way because if you happen to be avoiding soy you shouldn’t be spraying your oils. (There seems to be soy lecithin in every oil spray I can find which doesn’t really surprise me.) I used small muffin pans in the shape of owls and they held together excellently, but I imagine if you try to make big muffins they might be crumbly, so keep them on the smaller side. Cook for 20-25 minutes. The above recipe made 12 small muffins and 3 happy bellies.

dairy free · Food allergies · food allergy blogs · gf bread · gluten free · Gluten free eating · gluten free food · gluten free foods · gluten free lifestyle · gluten intolerant · picky kids

Fall Weather = Good Food

September 25, 2013 kristenannLeave a comment

I’m officially out of my food-funk, thanks to the Fall weather which opens up the door to a whole new pantry of foods. Soups can be found stewing every Sunday once again, while old favorites like pumpkin scones bake in the oven. My oldest keeps bringing up food that summer had me out of the habit of making, like croutons, kale chips, and carrot cake muffins. Great ideas! My youngest is still enamored with garlic bread sticks made with Trader Joe’s flatbreads, and considering how often I go there and find nothing but a gaping hole, I can only assume he’s not the only one. In fact, each time I buy 7 or 8 packages (because I put them in the freezer too) the cashiers inevitably ask what I do with them, and then they always share what they do with them; one uses them for Panini’s, another toasts them, and they all love them. Here they are again:

Just be sure to leave 7 or 8 for me in the case, because I’ll be needing them again soon. In fact, they just might be my next crouton base. Back to the kitchen!