Breakfast Birthday Party

A year ago if you had asked me about hosting a breakfast-themed party, I would have said "no way!". Breakfast can be a difficult meal for people with allergies, especially when making food for a crowd. But when Little Man was recently asked what food we should serve at his birthday, he replied "waffles and bacon". That sounds like the makings of a breakfast party to me!

Here's what we served for our party of nine people:

• bacon (made before people arrived and kept warm in the warming drawer)
• waffles (made to order)
• maple syrup
• blueberry sauce*
• Healthy Top "whipping cream" (this was really good!)
• large fruit platter
• banana bread (I made the delicious one from The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook)
• car-shaped cake (Agave Cupcake recipe from The Allergen-free Baker's Handbook)
• pina colada ice cream
• juices: apricot, guava and pomegranate

The cake was our first one that wasn't white (we don't use food colouring). The pink icing (I was going for purple) was coloured and flavoured by crushing raspberries and blueberries through a fine mesh sieve and adding the juice to the icing. The brown icing had molasses added to it. I made the cake in 2 8-inch round cake pans and cut them to form the car shape. The '3' was made of raisins.

*Blueberry sauce:

• 2 cups blueberries
• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
• 1 Tbsp maple syrup

1. Combine all in small saucepan. Cook at medium-low heat for 15 minutes, until sauce thickens a little.

The party was a big success and all the food was a hit. Our 3-year-old was very pleased with his special party.  And when it was all over, he predictably asked "Can I have more cake please?".

Cookbook Review: Allergy Free Cookbook for the Family

Allergy Free Cookbook for the Family by Brianna Monson is a charming little book that delivers what it advertises: family-friendly food that is free of allergens. The recipes in this book are simple, quick and budget-conscious. They are foods that are likely to appeal to children. The author is a mother of a child with life-threatening food allergies, and her personal experience with this challenge is apparent throughout the book. Each recipe has a little note about it being her childhood favourite to bake with her grandmother, a dish she serves to her inlaws, or a weekly meal at her house. I like this little personal touch that lets you know these are enjoyed so much by her family.

Some of the recipes that most interested me included:

• Breakfast burritos
• Country hash browns
• Sugar cookies
• Pie crust
• Apple crisp
• Graham crackers
• Raspberry pie
• Meatballs
• White sauce
• Honey ham
• Croutons
• Ham and bean soup
• Kale soup

The ingredients are not whole-foods conscious, which is the usual fare at our house. There is plenty of refined sugar, corn starch and corn syrup throughout the book. I simply made the recipes with replacements such as natural cane sugar or agave, tapioca or arrowroot flour, and rice syrup. For most people just venturing into the world of allergies, the ingredients in the book are likely familiar to them and easily obtainable. I also found that the baking recipes call for way more sugar than we usually use. For instance, the banana bread and muffins call for 3/4 cup of sugar, where my recipe (using the same amount of flour) calls for 1/8 cup. But in spite of this, I still like this book and have enjoyed several recipes from it, applying changes as needed for our lifestyle.

I had success with each recipe that I tried, but the one that was the biggest success was the sugar cookie recipe. They were delicious and tasted like a wheat and butter filled cookie. They flew off the cookie sheet as everyone wanted seconds (and thirds...). I followed the recipe faithfully, including all that sugar. They were wonderful for a special occasion treat, not something that we could eat every day.

This book uses rice flour, potato flour and tapioca starch for most recipes that include starch, with the occasional recipe requesting oat flour or cornstarch. Ener-G egg replacer is recommended as a substitute for eggs. Dairy-free margarine is used frequently, and sometimes shortening is used as well. A few of the recipes call for oats, oat flour, and soy-based cream cheese; we do not use these due to an allergy, so I avoided those recipes. The book advertises that "most" recipes are free of milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, fish and shellfish. As far as I can tell, the recipes are all free of those ingredients, with the recipes containing oats specifically listed as not being gluten-free unless gluten-free oats are used. Some recipes do contain soy and corn.

I like this book and would recommend it to families that are dealing with food allergies. I appreciate that the recipes I tried all worked successfully and were easy to make.

Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this book from the publisher. As always, this review is my own opinion of the book and is not influenced by anyone except my family of taste-testers. :)

Cookbook Review: The Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook

When I heard that Cybele Pascal had a second cookbook coming out, I was very excited.  I have previously mentioned her first cookbook, The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook, as it contains several recipes that we regularly prepare at our house.  The one downfall of the first book for me was that the baking recipes contain spelt, which we cannot have as it is a form of wheat.  So I awaited the new book's arrival with a bit of caution as to not raise my hopes too high.  When I opened the cover for the first time I was holding my breath in anticipation.... and... NO spelt to be seen!  And Oh, what lovely photographs of things I can bake!

The Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook starts with a very useful dry and perishable goods pantry list.  It outlines the various flours, sugars, shortening, chocolate, and other baking ingredients that are found in today's allergen-free kitchen.  Cybele gives information on companies that make some of these products, as well as useful tips on why these ingredients are used and how best to use them.  This is followed by a section on how to replace various allergens so you can learn what to substitute in your favourite baking recipes.

For the most part, the recipes in this book use a flour mixture consisting of brown rice flour, potato starch, and tapioca flour.  It is recommended that you mix up a big batch of this flour to store in your fridge or freezer so you have it on hand when needed in a recipe.  This makes it so much easier to bake -- you don't need a multitude of flours each time you want to make something.

In our family there is a one-month period where we celebrate three birthdays.  This book arrived just in time for the festivities!  My Mum borrowed the book and made Chocolate Layer Cake with Dark Chocolate Frosting for my birthday.  She loved the book and decided to also try making Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting.  Both were a success!

Next was Little Man's birthday -- and his first ever cake!  I made the Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting -- twice, as we celebrated on his birthday and then again a few days later.  I found this recipe very easy to make.  The icing recipe creates a lot of icing, so I needed to make it only once for the two sets of cupcakes.  It keeps well in the fridge.  The cupcakes stay good in the fridge for several days, but they also freeze very well.  This has become a staple baked good in our house. In just over a month, my Mum and I have made these FOUR times!  When you have gone such a long time without cake I think there is a grace period where you can eat as much as you like to catch up a bit. :)

For my Mum's birthday, I made Carrot Ginger Layer Cake with Orange Buttercream Frosting.  This is soooo good.  We couldn't taste the ginger, so we would add a bit more next time (and yes, there will definitely be a next time).  This cake was ok the day it was made, but it became outstanding the next day after it was refrigerated.  The icing is good enough to eat on its own!

I also tried the Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe.  The results on this one were somewhat mixed, but it was through no fault of the recipe.  In my area we are unable to purchase dairy-free, soy-free shortening.  So in my baking recipes I substitute 3/4 cup refrigerated coconut oil for 1 cup of shortening.  This worked fabulously on all three types on cakes and their icing.  But I didn't measure very well with the cookies (I added too much), and I didn't refrigerate the coconut oil as long as I usually would.  The flavour was divine -- but the cookies ended up flat and lacy.  Next time I will try this recipe with 2/3 cup coconut oil and I bet they will turn out perfect.

There is much more to the book than cake and cookies;  there are pies, cobblers, muffins, biscuits, and breads too.  Everything looks delicious.  There are lovely photos of baked goods that inspire you to try everything shown.  I am tempted to start at the beginning and cook my way through the book, but then I would have to wait a couple months before having a vanilla cupcake again -- and that is not going to happen!

This book is so much more than just a cookbook to me.  This book represents a way of experiencing "normal" foods in spite of all the allergies.  It's a guide to creating a birthday cake that doesn't have to have the label "allergy-free cake", because it is so yummy that the non-allergic crowd can enjoy it too.  It is a confidence booster in that you don't need to alter the recipes and hope they work out.  It is the first book I pick up when I want to bake.

I received a review copy of this book, but was in no way influenced to write a positive review.  I would have written everything the same if I had obtained my copy from the bookstore.  This is truly a breakthrough book for those of us living with allergies and I strongly encourage you to give it a try.  Cybele's web site gives the recipe for the flour mix, a red velvet cake with icing, and blueberry boy bait.  Give one of these a try and you will likely see yourself needing her book.  And remember, if you haven't eaten cake in awhile you have my permission to go a little crazy when you start baking from this book.

Happy Birthday Little Man!

The moment I waited a year for... Little Man got to eat birthday cake.  Last year we knew we were dealing with allergies before his birthday, but we didn't know what he was allergic to.  So no birthday cake for the birthday boy.  This year, we needed a special recipe for a two-year-old's first taste of cake.  I found what I was looking for in the Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting recipe from the Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook.  More on this book in a future post... but the cake was divine!  Little Man's opinion?  "Mmmmmm cake. Cake GOOD!"

What else do you serve a two-year old on his birthday?  All his favourites of course!  For Little Man, that meant baby corn, brown rice pasta, turkey meatloaf, and homemade crackers with guacamole.  A tasty and nutritious meal that he gobbled up.

Lamb Shanks with Lentils

This isn't the prettiest dish, but it is so tasty and rich that it could be served to guests. Sometimes I serve it as shown in the photo, with the whole shank on the plate. But usually I remove the bones after cooking, shred the lamb, then mix in brown rice and stir it all together. If prepared this way, you can get 6 servings from this recipe. Serve with a veggie side and a green salad for a complete meal.

I adapted this recipe to be cooked in a crockpot and made some changes for our allergies. The original recipe came from The Rest of the Best and More.

• 3 lamb shanks
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper to season
  
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 2 cups beef broth
• 2 cups red wine
• 1/2 of a 5 1/2 oz can tomato paste (about 1/4 cup)
  
• 2 small garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp molasses
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 Tbsp dried rosemary
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
  
• 1 1/4 cup mixed brown and green lentils, thoroughly rinsed
  

1. Heat oil in a large frypan over medium-high heat. Add shanks to frypan and season with salt and pepper. Cook 2 minutes per side, turning to get all sides browned. Add browned shanks to crockpot (mine is the 5 quart size).
2. Add onions to frypan and fry 4-5 minutes, then add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Scrape onions into crockpot. Add beef broth, wine, tomato paste, molasses, sugar, vinegar, rosemary, salt, and pepper to frypan. Stir to combine. Heat to boiling. Add lentils and stir. Pour mixture over shanks and onion in the crockpot.
   
3. Cover and cook over low heat 8 hours.

I'm looking forward to more crockpot dinners now that the weather has turned cold and we have been having blustery days. What crockpot meals are you looking forward to this season?

Pesto Pasta and Artichoke Dip

This recipe is two meals in one. You can just use the basic recipe to create a terrific artichoke dip, or you can add a few extras to make a scrumptious pesto sauce for pasta. Or you can do what I now do -- make a double batch, scoop out half at the dip stage and then add the remaining ingredients for the pesto sauce. Both freeze really well, so you can make double and save time another day. The dip recipe was adapted from one in the Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook. It is delicious with a fresh veggie platter, on crackers, or as a rich sandwich spread.

Blend all the ingredients together in a food processor.

For the dip:

• 1 14oz can artichoke hearts, drained (I remove outer leaves if tough)
• 1/2 cup rice breadcrumbs (you can use any breadcrumbs that work for you)
• 2 tsp capers with their juice
• 1/4 cup Manzanilla (green) olives (with or without pimentos)
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp fresh parsley
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• fresh ground pepper to taste

For the pesto sauce blend the above, then add and puree:

• 1/2 - 3/4 cup fresh basil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 - 1/3 cup olive oil (pour in a steam while running the processor until you get the consistency you like)
  

Cherry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

A couple of months ago I decided I needed an ice cream maker. Not "wanted"... neeeeded. After perusing the different options, I decided to purchase the ice cream maker attachment kit for my Kitchenaid stand mixer. Being summer, one would think this would be easy to find. But no! In our town there was not a single place that stocked this item. Thus began an ice cream maker journey that involved online shopping, shipping to friends-of-friends in another country, my parents meeting up with those friends while both parties were on vacation, and their efforts to cram it in the car to drive it home.

This story is told to highlight just how special this ice cream is. Aside from the fact that I didn't think I could eat ice cream again. After all, I can't eat cream... not even soy cream. And now I don't need to, because this ice cream is spectacular without it!

This recipe is inspired by one in the new cookbook Lick It!: Creamy, Dreamy Vegan Ice Creams Your Mouth Will Love. It is the first ice cream I've made that doesn't taste like the coconut milk that it contains. I am excited to try many more of the recipes from this book.

• 1 14oz can full-fat coconut milk
• 1 1/4 cups non-dairy milk (I used rice milk)
• 1/2 cup agave or granulated sugar (I used 1/4 cup of each)
• 1 Tbsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cherries
• 1/4 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips

1. Put first 4 ingredients into a bowl and whisk to combine.
2. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
3. Freeze in ice cream maker following the directions for your machine (I processed mine for 25 minutes).
4. Add cherries and chocolate chips and process a further 5 minutes.
5. Transfer ice cream to freezer-proof container and freeze 4 hours or more to obtain a hard ice cream consistency.
   

Thai Chicken Curry

This colourful dish is full of rich Thai flavours: coconut, lemongrass, lime leaves. If you are unfamiliar with Thai cooking, this may appear daunting at first. It took me awhile the first time, but it is now easy since I am more familiar with the ingredients. I adapted the recipe from one in The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook.

• 2 14oz cans coconut milk (be careful not to shake)
  
• 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes
  
• 4 kaffir lime leaves
• 2-3 red, orange or yellow sweet bell peppers, sliced
• 1 Tbsp safflower oil
  
• 1 inch ginger root, diced
• 1 stalk lemongrass, outer leaves discarded and remainder cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
  
• 2 Tbsp Thai green curry paste (I use Thai Kitchen brand)
• 3 Tbsp Thai fish sauce
• 2 tsp natural cane sugar (or brown sugar)
• 3/4 cup snowpeas (optional)
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro or Thai basil

1. Separate the thick coconut cream from the thin coconut milk by spooning the cream off of the top of each can of coconut milk. Put the cream into a medium saucepan and reserve the milk for later in the recipe.
2. Cook the chicken over medium-high heat in the coconut cream along with 2 of the whole kaffir lime leaves. After 10 minutes, remove chicken to a medium bowl and keep warm by covering with foil.
3. Boil the coconut cream until it thickens and starts to look curdled. Set aside.
4. Meanwhile, fry the peppers in the vegetable oil in a wok for 3 minutes. Remove peppers, adding to bowl with chicken.
5. Combine curry paste with 1 Tbsp of the reserved coconut milk and fry in the wok for 1-2 minutes. Add fish sauce and sugar and stir together.
6. Stir in remaining coconut milk, lemongrass, ginger, and snowpeas. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.
7. Add peppers, chicken, and curdled coconut cream and cook another 5 minutes until chicken is heated through. Remove lemongrass pieces.
   
8. Sliver the remaining 2 kaffir lime leaves very thinly and stir into the wok along with the cilantro/basil immediately before serving.
9. Serve over Thai jasmine rice.
   

Caramel Popcorn

Snacks have always been a tricky thing for me to think about in our allergen-free living. Everything seems to take a long time to prepare from scratch. It is so much easier to open a bag or a box and have an instant (and unhealthy) snack. What is odd is that I was never much of a snacker before I started the limited diet. We almost never ate dessert, and snacks were more likely to be cheese and pepperoni than potato chips or cookies. Nowadays though, I'm always foraging in the cupboards looking for a quick nibble.

My mother suggested I purchase a popcorn maker so I could whip up a yummy bowl of popcorn for a healthy snack. This turned out to be a great idea, and for the last week I've been enjoying popcorn with salt and Becel RSF. But today I have a new favourite -- caramel popcorn! And it was easy and quick to make.

My recipe inspiration came from a spiced popcorn and nut recipe in Super Natural Cooking. I have adapted the recipe to fit with our allergies:

• 10 cups popped popcorn (1/3 to 1/2 cup unpopped, popped any way you choose)
• 1/2 cup brown rice syrup
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

1. Place a large sheet of parchment paper on your counter (or on a baking sheet).
   
2. In a large pot over medium heat, mix the syrups and salt and bring to a boil.
3. Once boiling, swirl the pan over the burner for about 5 minutes, until the mixture starts to reduce. On my gas cooktop, I tipped the pan a little then let it rest again on the burner. Then I tipped it another direction and brought it to rest again. This was more gentle on my grills than a swirling motion. After 5 minutes of the swirling or tipping motion, remove pan from heat.
   
4. Add popcorn to the pot and stir gently to thoroughly coat.
5. Spread coated popcorn onto the parchment paper and allow to cool and firm (or not!).

This recipe will serve two only if my husband gets home soon.

Bacon and Tomato Sandwich

Your eyes do not deceive you! This is a gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free sandwich -- on REAL bread!! (And yes, those are orange tomatoes, not something funny with my camera).

After having great success with the Rhubarb Muffins from the Whole Life Nutrition blog (as well as their quick lentil soup recipe that I ate so fast I didn't get a chance to photograph), I decided to try my hand at baking their Best Gluten-Free, Vegan Sandwich Bread. Prior to our allergies, I have been known to bake bread on occasion. Flour, yeast, water, salt, sugar, milk -- done! The ingredient list for this gluten-free bread was a bit daunting. Five different flours/starches? Maple sugar and agave nectar? Xanthan gum? Yeast? -- Oh wait, that one I was used to. I had to go to four different stores to obtain all of the special ingredients. But armed with my many small bags of exotic flours, I set to work. Soon, my house was filled with the delicious smell of freshly baked bread that I have truly missed.



Isn't it gorgeous? It LOOKS like real bread... but what would it taste like? I really had low expectations going into this project as I have only ever heard negative things about gluten-free bread. From funny taste, to crumbly texture, to anaemic-looking loaves for sale on store shelves, gluten-free bread has a bad reputation. So a little apprehensively, I prepared for my first bite. And.... OH MY! If someone served this to me and I was unaware of the ingredients I would definitely know it was homemade bread, but I would never have realized it wasn't made with wheat. As I gobbled down the first slice I felt guilty, as if I was eating something I wasn't allowed to eat. By the time I toasted the bread and made a sandwich, I felt like I should be re-reading a label for hidden allergens. But there was no label, because I made this and knew everything that went into it! Needless to say, I am ordering the Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook so I can get more recipes like this (and no, they didn't pay me to say that!).


Now, back to the "recipe" for the sandwich:

• 2 slices gluten-free vegan bread
• 2 slices bacon
• 1 small tomato
• Renee's Light Poppy Seed Dressing
  

1. Fry bacon until cooked.
2. Toast bread until lightly crispy.
3. Spread dressing over toast, top with sliced tomato and bacon.
   

White Bean and Artichoke Dip

This recipe was adapted from The Rest of the Best and More, Volume 2. It is good served on a veggie platter, and also is an excellent dip with crackers, such as Food Should Taste Good Sweet Potato Chips. These crackers are super delicious all on their own too, and work with all of Little Man's allergies. There are several flavours available for these corn-based chips, and most should be safe for us so we will be trying more of these soon. Now back to the dip:

• 19 oz can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 14 oz can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 1/2 small garlic clove, minced
• 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary (or dill)
• 1-2 Tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper
• dash of cayenne

1. Combine beans, artichokes, garlic and lemon juice in a food processor.
2. Blend together, adding olive oil (while machine is running) until dip is smooth.
3. Stir in chopped herbs, salt and pepper to taste, and the dash of cayenne.
   

Rice Pudding

This is simple and so yummy. I adapted this recipe from the Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook.

• 1 cup cooked jasmine rice
• 2/3 can coconut milk (I use the rest for a chocolate ganache for other desserts)
• 1/3 cup liquid honey
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 plum (or other fruit) sliced
• handful of granola (I used Cranapple Crunch by Enjoy Life)

1. Mix together the rice, coconut milk and honey in a saucepan.
2. Cook over medium heat until thickened, stirring frequently (around 8 minutes).
3. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
   
4. Spoon into 3 dessert bowls and refrigerate to chill.
5. Top with plums and granola before serving.

Asparagus Leek Risotto

I recently checked The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook out of the library and I have been very pleased with the first two recipes I have made from it. The first recipe was Cherry Dijon Pork Chops (page 106). I didn't have cherry jam on hand, so I made my version with blackberry jam instead -- yum! Probably the best pork chops I have ever made -- tender, juicy and flavourful.

The second recipe we ate tonight -- Asparagus Leek Risotto (page 84). It was the first recipe I had read in the book, and it was all I could do to restrain myself from running to the store to purchase the ingredients. I'm not even a fan of rice, and I've never made a risotto before. But the ingredients are some of my favourites: asparagus, leeks, fresh basil -- what's not to love? I made a few adaptations as my stomach is not a fan of shallots. The results? Delicious!


The onions and leeks dissolved into a creamy sauce that even had a hint of cheese flavour (at least in my imagination). This recipe didn't feel like I was being deprived of anything or as if I were eating an allergy-altered recipe. The picture doesn't do it justice as I was so excited to eat it that I snapped the fastest photo I could get.

Of course I didn't read the part about stirring constantly for 40 minutes until I had poured the rice in the pan. This recipe has the added benefit of a good arm workout in addition to the winning taste.

Here's my adaptation of the recipe (serves 2):

• 4 cups chicken broth (vegetable broth for a vegan meal)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
  
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/3 cup onion
• 3 leeks, chopped
• 1 1/3 cups Arborio rice
• 1/3 cup white wine
• 1 1/3 cups asparagus, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces
• 2/3 cup fresh basil, chopped coarsely
• salt and fresh pepper to taste

1. Simmer broth in pan #1.
2. In pan #2, cook onion and garlic in olive oil, about 2 minutes.
3. Add leeks to pan #2, cooking until wilted, about 4-5 minutes.
4. Add rice to pan #2, stirring until coated in oil. Add wine and stir until absorbed.
5. For 20 minutes, add one ladle of broth to pan #2 at a time, stirring constantly until completely absorbed.
6. Add asparagus and two ladles of broth to pan #2, stirring until absorbed.
7. Continue adding broth one ladle at a time until broth is used up (approximately 10 - 15 minutes), stirring constantly.
8. Remove from heat, stir in basil, salt and pepper, and a small drizzle of olive oil.
9. Garnish with fresh basil leaves and enjoy!