I feel like chicken tonight!

Do you cook a lot of chicken?  Sometimes I feel like that is all we eat: chicken wings, thighs and don't forget the breast... chicken nuggets, chicken oven roasters... it goes on and on... do you ever get "chickened out?"

Sometimes I dream of being a vegetarian, but truth be told, I don't like enough vegetables to survive and I do like a good juicy steak once in a while... and of course, chicken!  HA!  We actually had been eating burgers and dogs lately so tonight's meal is going to be .... come on... can't you guess?  CHICKEN!  We are having thighs and breast today, because that is what I had on hand.

When I have to work at night (which is Mon-Thurs) I usually put meals in my crock pot so I can just forget about it... don't have to worry about heating up the kitchen.  But today it's raining and cool and raw-- nice June weather in New England (can you feel the sarcasm oozing out here?)-- so I decided to just bake it.  I used some left over Newman's marinade (about half a bottle) and didn't actually marinade it because I'm not that organized.

Here is my "recipe"

ingredients:
1 package of chicken thighs
2 chicken breast
1/2 bottle of Newmans Sesame Ginger marinade

directions:
preheat oven to 350
place the thighs and breast in a baking dish
pour marinade over the chicken, cover and bake for about 45 minutes or so

I will have hubby serve with brown rice (from the pouch)

My computer is not behaving nicely or I would add a couple of pictures here of the marinade and the ingredients.


~ Pam

Shake it up! Tofutti Style!

It's been a while since I have posted a product or recipe.  So today I'll post both :-)

We LOVE Tofutti products in this house!  Their ice cream is reasonable in price and both kids really love it!  I can also find it easily at my local Market Basket Grocery Store--always a plus for this busy, working Mom-- one stop grocery shopping is huge!  Recently, I discovered a new Tofutti product-- these pre-made ice-cream cones!  Here's a pic of the box...

 Close up of the ingredients...

And 2 very happy kiddos enjoying them:

So why is this post named "Shake it up" you ask...well, because last week, I made shakes or frappes, or whatever you choose to call them.  Icecream + milk blended = 2 VERY happy children!  So Noah is 9 years old.  We have known about his allergies for almost 9 years and for some reason, JUST this past month I made shakes for the first time!  Not quite sure what took me so long!  But here is the "recipe" I used.  I really just eye-balled the ingredients so I'm guess here...

I have a hand blender, but you can use a regular blender if you have one:

ingredients:
1.5 cups milk free ice cream (whatever flavor you choose) I used tofutti vanilla
about 3/4 cup of soy milk (I used sunrich vanilla)

directions:
blend the 2 ingredients until you get the consistency you desire-- thick enough to still resemble ice cream, but  thin enough to suck through a straw...we like ours a little lumpy :-)  Add soy milk and/or ice cream as needed.
pour into cups, add straws and serve immediately

variations I want to try:
chocolate ice cream and vanilla soy milk
vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce and soy milk
frozen berries with vanilla ice cream and soy milk
...the possibilities are endless and summer is just beginning! :-)

Enjoy!


~ Pam

A taste of peanut butter... a first and hopefully last...

I haven't blogged in some time-- and no that doesn't mean we've been eating take out for the last couple of months!  HA!  We don't "do" take out for a lot of reasons.  I've just been so caught up in every day life... work, kids, cloth diapering (yup, cloth diapering), home-made baby food making, and the hustle and bustle of every day life.  But yesterday we had  a scare.  A pretty good scare and it has made me hit the pause button and reflect.  I wasn't sure if I was going to post this at first, but since it's a blog for food allergy recipes, I think it is appropriate.

Here is what happened from my point of view:
7:45am  morning rush after April Vacation-- (it was raining cats n dogs and we all just wanted to stay in bed)
I was getting the kids lunches ready while they ate breakfast (a usual routine for us).  I hadn't had the chance to hit the grocery store and didn't have any lunch meat in the house.  Hannah doesn't really like just jelly sandwiches, so I decided to make her pbj and made a mental note to really not do that any more because I know the school is trying to go peanut free-- and I of all people should be honoring that!  Pushing my guilty thoughts aside, I told Hannah to sit away from the peanut free area b/c she has a pbj for lunch.  I packed up their lunches, finished off the morning routine stuff and headed out the door for drop off.  I grabbed my grocery bags to grab groceries right after drop off.

9:30am
I got home from the grocery store, put them away and fed Sarah.  About a half hour later I put her down for a nap and busied myself making banana bread and put a roast in the crockpot for dinner.  I started cleaning, organizing and doing some laundry.  Sarah woke up about 11ish and I fed her a bottle.

About 12noon
The phone rang and I saw that it was from the town.  When I see this on caller ID it always makes me nervous that the school nurse is calling about Noah.  Tensely, I answered the phone and sure enough it was her asking if I gave Noah a peanut butter sandwich?  WHAT? NO!  She then clarified to make sure that I hadn't given him soynut butter (he doesn't like soynut butter).  I immediately knew what had happened.  I must have switched their sandwiches and put them in the wrong lunch boxes!  Damn it!  She said he said his mouth and throat felt funny and she was probably going to give him his epipen.  I told her I was on my way there.  I collected Sarah, grabbed her diaper bag, strapped her in the car and raced off toward the school.  Along the way I called hubby and told him what had happened and the nurse might give him his epi and I would keep him posted.  I hit a red light along the way.  It really must have been the longest red light in the history of traffic lights, I almost blew it.

About 12:15ish
I pulled into the school parking lot.  For an instant I considered parking in the firelane and just running in the school, but then dismissed that as a bad idea because if the ambulance came, I'd be in the way and would have to move my car.  I found a close parking spot; as I was pulling in, I saw the principal of the school waiting at the door.  When I got out of the car I could hear the sirens.  It put a sick, twisted feeling in the pit of my stomach, knowing those sirens were heading for us, knowing they were for my son.  I grabbed Sarah and ran to the entrance of the school.  The principal held the door open and assured me Noah was okay and that she had given him his epipen.  I absolutely HATE crying in front of people, but when something happens to your child, there is no way to control those emotions and I started to cry.  I walked into the nurses office and there he was, just sitting there.  He looked a little pale, but okay.  He saw me crying and he started to cry.  I willed myself to stop so that he wouldn't feel more upset and scared than he already felt.  I called hubby and told him they gave him epi, EMT's are on their way and we were going to the hospital.  The nurse said she gave him his epi and then a dose of benedryl because she saw some hives around his neck.  I hugged him as best as I could with Sarah on my hip and told him what a good job he did getting himself to the nurse!

Not sure about time frames from this point on...
When the EMT's got there, I had calmed down a bit.  Seeing him helped.  He seemed okay and said he was feeling okay.   They put him on the stretcher and wheeled him outside and into the ambulance.  I was so thankful they let both Sarah and I ride in the ambulance with Noah.  Just before we pulled away, hubby showed up and he followed us to the hospital.  Along the way the EMT's kept asking to make sure he still felt okay and checked his vitals.  On a side note, they had a built in car seat for Sarah-- something they didn't have when Noah was about her age and had his first ambulance trip-- a welcomed upgrade!

At the hospital they monitored his vitals and kept a good watch on him.  We were there about 3 1/2 hours total before discharged.  The doctor gave him a steroid to take for a few days to keep swelling at bay.  Thankfully, he didn't have any relapse reactions!
My dad came to get Sarah and then later picked up Hannah from school (who had seen the stretcher at school and worried it was for Noah, but never knew for sure until dismissal).

We gave him another dose of benedryl and the steroid last night before bed.  He woke up feeling good and I sent him off to school in good spirits.  I did make sure to open his sandwich and show him just jelly before packing it in his lunchbox this morning.  I feel like I owe him that much.  It puts a knot in my stomach thinking that he relies on me to provide him safe food and yesterday I probably put a long lasting doubt in him.  I hope that I haven't made him question every single piece of food that goes in his mouth-- but think that I probably have done, just that.

I am so incredibly proud of him for doing the exact right thing!!  I am so relieved that even though he is very shy, he didn't hesitate to tell a teacher what he needed.  I am so grateful to our school nurse and the school staff who understand the severity of food allergies and didn't hesitate to help him.

I know that, as much as we would like to, we can't keep him in a bubble!  I am so glad that when an emergency arose, everyone did what they should have done and that because of those actions, Noah was able to off to school happy today.

~ Pam

Banana Bread

I never used to be a fan of banana bread...until... I started adding chocolate chips to it.  Everything is better with chocolate!

Here is a recipe I use often

2cup flour
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1/2 cup apple sauce (to replace 2 beaten eggs)
1/2 cup softened dairy butter or margarine --I interchange the terms butter and margarine all the time(fleishman's unsalted)
1 or 2 very ripe bananas mashed --I've made this both ways and each time it comes out delish!
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup dairy free choc chips (optional) I always use "Enjoy Life"

Preheat oven 350
grease bread pan (I use baking Pam)
In a large bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon

In a separate medium bowl cream together brown sugar and butter (if your butter is in the fridge right before you decide to make this like mine always is, soften in the microwave for a couple of seconds and don't tell Martha Stewart)
Add applesauce and bananas

Add wet ingredients to dry until just moistened and fold in chocolate chips
Pour into bread pan and bake for about an hour.

~ Pam

Ode to my crock pot

There she is... isn't she a beauty?!  We got her as a shower gift-- going on 11 years.  Her knob came off last year, but I think it adds character to her look.  I think I should name her -- since she and I have such a trusting relationship!  Any thoughts on what her name should be?

This past week I made at least 2 crock pot meals-- that I can remember, since the days are kind of a blur lately.

I know I made this first one because I took pictures to prove it!
Ever get those pre-marinaded pork loins?  YUM!  Usually I make them in the oven, but this week I decided to throw it in the crock pot instead.
Here is the one I bought...

I put it in the crock pot with about 1/4 cup of water.  I put my crock pot on "auto" (which is the same as a low setting on other crock pots) for about 6 hours.  Took it out and made some brown rice to go with it.  I'd like to say there was a delicious and healthy vegetable too, but my kids don't like most veggies and sometimes it's easier to not fight at the table.  ;-/    Anyway-- another easy dinner for mid-week craziness! 

The 2nd crock pot meal was chicken drumsticks with Lawyers Balsamic marinade.  I threw them in and let them cook on high for about 4.5 hours.  They were also coupled with brown rice.  :-)

See, the convenience of my crock pot (Shelby, for her name keeps popping in my head) has made me post 2 meals in 1 post!  :-)

Enjoy!

~ Pam

French Toast-- without the eggs :-)

Who doesn't love french toast?  I loooove french toast, and was really sad when I thought it would be impossible to make for my son--since one of the main ingredients is egg and he's allergic to egg.  I experimented a few times with using only soy milk.  I tried dipping the bread in just milk.  It didn't matter how quickly I dipped, it was always too soggy --which caused it to burn the outside and not cook the inside--yuck.  Then I tried using a pastry brush to brush on the soy milk and that is what worked!  So here you go-- it's pretty easy, but here are some pics for your viewing pleasure.

Dairy free butter, MB french toast bread, soy milk and a pastry brush

Here are a couple of close ups of the bread and ingredients.  I am always psyched when I find a new option for Noah.  We use this bread for french toast and also regular toast.  It's YUMMY!

Here it is cooking :-)

Can't you just smell it?  hmmmmmmmmmm

And side by side can you tell which was made with egg (I made another batch of "regular" french toast for my daughter and hubby) and which was not?

A little powdered sugar for presentation. :-)
~ Pam

National Chocolate Cake Day?? Who Knew?

So on Friday a mutual facebook friend posted that it was National Chocolate Cake Day!  Whaaaat?  Why have I never heard of such a patriotic day?  So like any other good American would do, I baked a chocolate cake.  I used a fairly new recipe that I have come do adore!  I've been around and around with boxed mixes... tried Duncan Hines with a diet coke--works pretty well.  I've tried Cherry Brook Kitchen--and I like how the cake is, but it's a bit expensive.  Last May, when I was super preggo and super tired, I did a little research for my son's 1st Communion Cake (and future bday cakes if we found one).  I of course went back to the POFAK website because everyone there is super supportive and they did NOT disappoint.  There is a Wacky Cake recipe floating around on their website that actually originated in the 20's and 30's during the Depression when milk and eggs were hard to come by.  Score for us, because this recipe is now my go-to cake recipe.  I've made cupcakes (45 of them for my son's communion) and cake, and you really canNOT mess this recipe up!!  Here it is :-)

Dry Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup flour
1 cup sugar
3 tblsp cocoa powder (or more if you like)
1 tsp baking soda

Wet Ingredients
1 cup water
5 tblsp oil (this is equal to about 1/4 cup)
1 tblsp white vingar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven 350
Grease baking pan or line muffin tin
Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl.
Mix wet ingredients in a bowl (or in a large measuring cup)
Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix well
Pour into pan or muffin tins.

Bake cupcakes about 20 minutes --or use your nose; cake pan about 30 minutes--but they really will let you know when they are done.

Here's my tutorial pictures;-)

mixing bowl and measuring cup ready to go

Pouring all the wet ingredients into the dry...

baked, cooled and out of the pan-- it DIDN'T stick!!  :-)

A little frosting and...

2 Happy kids celebrating National Chocolate Cake Day :-)

~ Pam

Meatballs & Spaghetti (I know I wrote it backwards)

Okay, so this may not be the most helpful post-- mostly because I don't measure often when I cook so for those of you who need to measure everything exactly, I apologize up front.  BUT...here's what I hope you can take away from this post-- you CAN use applesauce to replace an egg in meatballs (and meatloaf for that matter).  Before cooking for FA, I used to boil my meatballs and then bake for a bit in sauce.  I'm preetttty sure if I boiled meatballs that didn't have the egg to bind, they would fall apart.  Here's what I have done with meatballs so far:

• I bake them in marinara sauce --lately I like Prego Smart Health Veggie (because it's the only way to get my kids to eat veggies)
• I use a little bbq sauce for some spice :-)
• Quite often I THINK I have breadcrumbs and I when I go for them, they aren't there. Does anyone else have this problem?  For some odd reason I do usually have stuffing mix (Stove Top & Pepperage Farm) and use this instead--another reason to love stuffing!! 

Sometimes when I have time, I like to grate onion and mince fresh garlic, but lately that isn't happening--on Sunday I didn't have time, and made them with out fresh onion and garlic and you know what?  They tasted just fine! :-)   I will "guess-ta-mate" my measurements here:

1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
1-2 tablespoons of ketchup
1-2 tablespoons of mustard
1-2 tablespoons of (your favorite bbq sauce)

2 teaspoon onion powder (or 2 tablespoons of grated onion)
1 teaspoon of garlic powder (1 minced garlic clove )

about 1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup applesauce (to replace 1 egg)

about 1 lb of ground meat of your choice (this time I used 1/2 ground turkey 1/2 beef)

Directions:
Heat oven 350
In a large bowl mix all ingredients except meat & breadcrumbs until well combined
Mix in the meat and breadcrumbs but
 don't over-mix (because Rachel Ray told me not to)
Roll your meatballs and place in a baking dish
Pour your favorite marinara sauce over the meatballs.  Cover with foil and bake for about 45 minutes.  Uncover to bake for another 10-15 minutes.

Allow to cool slightly and serve with spaghetti or your favorite pasta of choice.

~ Pam

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (dairy, egg free yumminess)

This is a tried and true recipe I've been using for a few years.  I will not brag that I thought it completely on my own... I took the oatmeal cookie recipe on the back of the Quaker Oats canister and modified it to suite our needs.  I made some yesterday for an afternoon snack for the kids.  I always feel that I too can eat a mountain of these because they have oatmeal, and therefore are "healthy" cookies.  Yeah, I know, I know...I'm ignoring the margarine and sugar content.  :-)

Ingredients:
2 sticks of softened Fleischman's unsalted margarine (it's dairy free)
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar (I've used both dark and light)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce (replaces 2 eggs)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups Quaker Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1 cup (or as many as you like and if you are like me--a whole bag) dairy free choc chips

Here are the choc. chips I use.  I get them at our whole foods.  I usually go into wholefoods about once a month and I always buy at least 2 bags to keep on hand in my freezer.

Directions for cookies:
preheat oven 350
beat together margarine & sugars until creamy
add applesauce & vanilla; beat well-- it looks kinda yucky at this point, but keep going--they will be delish!
add combined flour; baking soda & powder, cinnamon; mix well
stir in oats and chips; mix well-- dough will be fairly wet
drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper
bake 10-12 minutes or until they smell/look done-- golden around the edges and just on top
cool 1 minute on baking sheet and then remove to wire rack

yields about 4 dozen cookies or you can do what I did yesterday and make one baking sheet full and put the rest on plastic wrap in the fridge for another time.

I don't have any pictures of the finished products because I forgot to take a picture before I left for work and they were all gone when I got home.  :-)

BLT's? YES Please!

We actually had these on Sunday and I didn't take a picture, but I thought it would be a good post anyway.  With any processed foods/meats, you need to be diligent about reading labels.  I have found Oscar Myer Low Sodium Bacon to work for us (sodium and I are not friends).  I try to keep bacon in the freezer at all times.  Who doesn't love bacon?

I always bake my bacon in the oven for a couple of reasons. To me, it's easier than on the stove because I can cook the whole package at once and it doesn't spatter all over the place.  This is what I do:

Preheat oven to 375
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or aluminum foil if I'm out of parchment)
Place uncooked bacon in single strips on the sheet (I usually need 2 sheets for one package of bacon)
Cook bacon for between 15-20 minutes or until is smells/looks done ( I use my nose more than a timer when baking)
Let the bacon cool for a few minutes.
Toast bread, rinse lettuce of your choice and slice tomatoes (if your kids will eat tomatoes, mine won't so our BLT's become BL's)
For my son, I butter the toast with a non-dairy butter.  For my daughter, hubby and I, I spread mayo on the toast.
Arrange the bacon, lettuce & tomato on your bread as you like and dinner is served.

~ Pam

Frozen Foods for Busy Households...

I don't think that I mentioned that I am not a stay at home mom.  I have always worked at least part-time and more recently I picked up significant hours.  I'm in education and work about 32 hours at a local community college.  My job is 2nd shift.  Hubby works 1st shift.  I do school drop off, he does pick up.  We don't see much of each other M-Th, but we have avoided daycare this way.  On Tuesdays & Thursdays I head into work earlier in the afternoon and my mom (thank goodness for her) comes to watch the baby until Hubby gets home.  It really does take a village to raise a family.  :-)  Anywho...today is Tuesday and I have to leave early and didn't have much time in the morning to prep something fresh.  So... frozen it is for this busy house... there are a LOT of frozen food items out there that aren't too bad for you.  There are also a LOT that have many allergens, but we have found a handful we like.  Here's a standard in our house:

These are not the most nutritious things, but the 2 older kids will eat them and the are fast! :-)  For our fries, we will have these:

YUM!

Nothing wrong with Frozen foods once in a while! :-)

** A quick report on the pull apart cinnamon bread-- the kids LOVED it (hubby and I are avoiding carbs to shed some holiday lbs or we would have enjoyed some too)!!  It is just about all gone, so I'd say it's a success and I'm sure will be come a regular treat for us!

~ Pam

What's for dinner tonight? Monday Jan. 9th

A quick and easy dairy free meal that everyone will enjoy...

I threw (almost literally) a package of chicken thighs in the crockpot with about 1/4 cup of Lawry's balsamic herb marinade (I didn't marinade first at all).

That will cook for about 5 hours and then will make some Uncle Ben's microwave brown rice and a quick veggie for the sides.

Voila --quick, dairy free dinner is d.o.n.e.

:-)

~ Pam

Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread

Okay, so Pillsbury has become one of our favorite products.  There are so many options and variations you can make with their doughs (and no I don't receive a paycheck from Pillsbury).  There are quite a few of their products that do not list dairy, egg or nut in them.  SOME of the them DO list the ole, "manufactured on..." or "may contain."  Husband and I made the decision a long time ago to try certain products with these disclaimers in efforts to try to expand our son's variety of foods.  Pillsbury has been okay for us, but of course, that doesn't mean it will be for everyone.  With that in mind, here's a new recipe that SMELLS delish when in the oven!  Perfect for winter!  I JUST made this for my kids for an after school treat.

I lifted this recipe from the Pillsbury website and modified slightly to suite our needs.

I took their Grands dinner rolls but we MUST use the "Golden Layers" one.  The regular one has whey.  The package looks like this.

And here is a shot of the ingredients.  We have NOT had a problem with milk.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup regular sugar
3.5 teas cinnamon
1/3 cup non-dairy butter (I used flieshmans unsalted margarine)
1 can of the rolls

Directions:
Pre-heat oven at 375

It calls for a non-dark loaf pan, but I used a dark because that's all I had, grease it.  (I used baking Pam spray)

Melt the butter in a shallow bowl in the microwave
Mix the sugar and cinnamon together in another shallow bowl
Cut the rolls into quarters

Dip the quartered rolls in the butter and then into the sugar/cinnamon mixture to coat
Place each piece in the pan after you have coated in the cinnamon/sugar.

Here is what it will look like just before it goes in the oven

Bake for about 25 minutes and it comes out like this...

I can't wait for the kids to get home to try it out!  I will report on their responses!  :-)


~ Pam

Chocolate Pretzel Rods

Super simple.  Honestly, a lil time consuming, but really easy.  Here is what I did...

Using a double boiler, I took a bag of Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips (minis) and melted them until smooth.  Then I dipped a spatula in the chocolate and rolled the the pretzel rods on the spatula with chocolate.  While they were still hot I sprinkled some with colored sprinkles (allergen free of course).  I put them in up in a cup and set them to dry and harden for a couple of hours.  Voila!  Ready to eat and store for a couple of days.

I did the same thing for marshmallows and stuck them on bamboo skewers.  I coated some of them in coconut, sprinkles, and sometimes I used crushed oreos.

                                                This is NOT a great picture of them.

They were all a hit!  Hubby, kids, my sister-in-law and niece all enjoyed them :-)

~ Pam