Allergy Friendly Food

by

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

img_0195-1It’s a sunny Saturday morning, so I decided to use up some of our apples from apple picking this fall to make some yummy Apple Cinnamon Pancakes.

Start with this base pancake recipe:

(This recipe makes a large batch which I refrigerate and eat on all week.)

4-6 egg yolks (carefully separated and rinsed with cool water to remove any egg white residue)
1/2 cup light olive oil
2 cups milk
2 tbl. white or apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt
Stir the above ingredients until combined. Then add…

1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tbls. cinnamon (optional)
2 tsp. baking soda

Combine all the dry ingredients and mix with the wet. Peel and finely chop 3-4 small apples (about 2 cups worth).  Fold into your batter mixture. Cook in small circles in your favorite cast iron skillet and serve. They are yummy with butter, syrup and even a layer of almond butter if so desired. Eat away. We saved some for breakfast tomorrow.

If you have food sensitivities, you could also use this Allergy-Friendly Recipe as your base and add apples to it as well.

fullsizerender-1

by

Fall Baking – Pumpkins + Apples = Pumplekin

So we decided to celebrate one of my favorite holidays today. Pumplekin! What? Never heard of it?

Well, let me tell you about this wonderful New England holiday. Actually, we made it up. Pumplekin was born with lots of laughter around a table full of friends. We took two of our favorite parts of fall – pumpkins and apples and we came up with Pumplekin. We pick a day in the fall, usually in November, to gather together play games and of course, eat wonderful food made of pumpkins and apples. There are even culinary contests and the competition is fierce sometimes. Well, we decided to do our Pumplekin baking today. Here’s what we made. Some recipes are old and some are new. Try some of them to spice up your fall. You could even make your own Pumplekin holiday.

img_1702

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

An old standard at our house: Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread! This has been one of my favorites for years. I can’t get through the fall without making this. Click on Family Favorites for the regular recipe and on Allergy-Friendly Recipes for the modified versions for those with food sensitivities (gluten, dairy, soy, nut and egg-white free).

img_1704

Homemade Toffee Pieces


Next on the list is a Pumplekin award winner! Apple Pie Cheesecake! This is an allergy-friendly version of a Kraft recipe.

The first thing we did is make our own toffee since the store bought toffee has ingredients that don’t work for us. We used this simple recipe from the Pioneer Woman which had only four ingredients. This was our first successful attempt at candy making. It worked great and is delicious. I made a half recipe and it made a lot. I think we’ll have enough crumbled toffee chips with just this half batch for the rest of our lives. Lol. Also, I didn’t do the chocolate part that they did. I just used the toffee recipe.

Then, once we had that ready the girls and I went to work on the cheesecake.

img_1700

Apple Pie Cheesecake

Next, we peeled, cut and cubed three small apples (you need about 2 cups). Sautee them in 3 tbs.of butter, 1 tbl. sugar, 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. of salt until the butter and sugar are syrupy. Set these aside to cool while you assemble the crust. Drizzle 2 cups of crushed gingersnap cookies with 4 tbls. of melted butter and press into the bottom of a pie pan.
Now for the cheesecake. Yay!

img_1710

Pumpkin Butter

Mix  2 – 8 oz. packages of cream cheese with 1/2 cup of sugar and 2 tsp. of vanilla. Then add 1/2 cup of sour cream and 6 egg yolks. Mix until all the eggs are combined with the cream cheese mixture. Then stir in 1/4 cup of toffee bits, 1/4 up of chopped pecans and half of your apple mixture. Pour into the pie pan with your prepared crust and bake on  325 for about 35-40 minutes or until the center is set. Once cooled chill for 4 hours and then top the cheesecake with the remaining apples, some of the chopped nuts and toffee. Yum!


Pumpkin Butter was next on the list. This is an old favorite for us too. You can find the recipe on the Allergy-Friendly Recipes page. It’s great on biscuits or toast. And it lasts a really long time in the fridge so don’t worry if you don’t eat it up right away.

img_1696

Pumpkin Cream Cheese

And last but not least – Pumpkin Cream Cheese! I saw a tub of pumpkin cream cheese at Trader Joe’s a few weeks ago and had to try it. As soon as I tasted it I knew I would have to make my own. It’s delish. My girl’s want to eat it by the spoonful. I looked at a few recipes online and ended up mixing 1-8 oz package of cream cheese, 1/2 can pumpkin, 3 tablespoons of brown sugar, 1/2 tsp. vanilla, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice. Mix and store in the refrigerator.

Other great fall recipes you might enjoy:

Spiced Chai Tea (I call it Christmas Chai, but it’s great for fall too.)

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
And if you know me. fall is my favorite time of year to cook and decorate for. Here are some of our fall decorations from years past complete with leafy twinkle lights.

This is how we get baking done these days. We got lots done while she napped don’t you think? 🙂

img_1691

img_1715

Pumpkin bread – make extra and freeze it.

img_1690

Toffee poured out to cool.

img_1709

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Spread

img_1701

Apple Pie Cheesecake

img_1714

Pumpkin Butter

by

Quick Breakfasts – Chocolate Quinoa Custard and Homemade Granola

These are cooking in my kitchen. Chocolate Quinoa Custard and Homemade Granola are two quick breakfast options.

Chocolate Quinoa Custard:

140127_0000This recipe is gluten, dairy, nut and sugar free. This recipe contains eggs.

I’ve been making this for breakfast lately. It’s delicious, filling and high in protein. Try it!

Start with 2 cups quinoa. Soak overnight. Drain and rinse. Add enough water to a saucepan to cover the quinoa by about 1/2 inch. Simmer over medium heat for about 15 minutes or until all the water is absorbed, the quinoa is transparent and the little curly tendrils can be seen on the side of each grain. Cool.

Next stir the following into your cooled cooked quinoa.
2 tbls. cocoa powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cloves

Mixture unset before it goes into the oven.

Mixture unset before it goes into the oven.

In a separate bowl combine
2 cups milk (substitute: goat, almond or coconut milk)
6 egg yolks (or 3 whole eggs)
1/2 cup maple syrup (or 3/4 cup honey)
1 tsp. vanilla

Add the liquid mixture to the quinoa mixture and stir to combine well. Pour into a greased casserole dish and cook at 350 for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the mixture is set.

It is best served warm. Add some extra maple syrup to taste and pour some cream over the top. It’s delicious!

 

130602_0009

Granola:

Everyone seems to ask me for my granola recipe. So here it is. This way I can just tell everyone, “It’s on my blog.”🙂

First mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

6 cups oats (I prefer regular, not quick-cooking)
1 cup coconut
1 cup chopped nuts (You can use any nut you like or have on hand. I usually use walnuts but almonds or pecans even work.)
1 tbls. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. salt

Stir the dry ingredients until mixed well. Then mix in following.

1 cup mild- tasting oil (whatever you’ve got – coconut (melted), canola, light olive oil, etc.)
1 cup honey
2 tsp. vanilla

Stir well until all the oats are coated. Put in a baking pan with sides and bake on 350 for 20 minutes removing at the 10 minute mark to stir. When you stir be sure that you are careful to pull it away from the sides as the honey burns easily along the edges otherwise. When it has cooled off, stir in 2 cups of raisins. Makes a yummy breakfast or snack.

by

Homemade Breakfast Cereal

WP_20160401_012I’ve been trying for a while to come up with a non-oat granola bar for my oat sensitive kid. I finally came up with a good one (see previous post). In all my failed attempts however I accidentally created a delicious breakfast cereal. I uses a base of quiona, millet, spelt and buckwheat which is delicious.

Here’s how to make it….

1 cup quinoa (soaked and cooked)
2 cups puffed millet
1 cup spelt flakes
1/2 cup creamy buckwheat cereal
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. salt

Mix the dry ingredients. Then add…

1/2 cup olive oil
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup honey (more if you like it sweeter)

Stir until all the ingredients are combined and all the grains are well coated. Cook at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

This is delicious as a stand alone cereal. To make it even better add a little cream, bananas and chocolate chips. Then it’s almost dessert worthy. Yum!

by

Quick and Easy Apple Cobbler

 

apple cobbler cast ironI’m making this tonight for our family visiting for the weekend.

 

Sugar-Free Apple Cobbler: 

This recipe is free of sugar, eggs, wheat, corn and nuts.

Ingredient List: apples, butter, white spelt flour, cinnamon, cloves, salt, heavy cream, baking powder.

First, grease a casserole dish, cake pan or pie plate with butter.

Peel, slice and chop 4 large apples. Choose a sweet, red variety like Fuji or Braeburn. No Granny Smith’s here please.

Sprinkle 2 tsp. cinnamon, a dash of cloves and 1/2 tsp. of salt over the apples and stir to coat.

Next, melt half a stick of butter in a large (cast-iron if you have it) skillet. Toss in the apple and begin to saute them over medium heat in the butter.

Sprinkle 2 tbls. of white spelt flour over the apples and stir until all the flour is combined with the butter and apple juices. This will make a roux which will thicken your cobber base.

After a few minutes of cooking pour 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream over the apples stirring and simmering until thickened. Remove from heat. The sweetness of the cream combined with the apple juices adds just enough sweet to make this naturally sweet and delicious without needing sugar. (Note: if you wanted it a little sweeter you could substitute 1/2 of apple juice for 1/2 cup of the cream.)

Now, for the topping. This is basically like making homemade biscuits.

In a large mixing bowl add 3 cups white spelt flour (you could use any flour of your choice here, but I think baked goods come out particularly well with this spelt flour), 2 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. salt. Stir to combine and then cut in 1/2 stick of butter using a pastry blender. Pour in 1 cup of heavy cream and stir quickly until it all just starts to come together adding a dash more cream if the mixture is too dry. Try to avoid overmixing. The cream here too adds a touch of sweetness so that you don’t need to add sugar to the pastry.

140128_0000Spoon your apple mixture into your greased casserole dish. Now, using a large spoon or cookie scoop add dollops of the dough. Don’t worry about filling in every space with dough as it will rise as it cooks and all the nooks and crannies will get filled in.

Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes or until your biscuit topping is golden. Serve with whipped cream if desired. It’s delicious! Enjoy!

Note: If you are diabetic and trying to avoid sugar, the fat (cream and butter) in this recipe will help you metabolize the carbs from the apples and dough.

All Done.

140128_0003

by

Alternative Granola Bars

image

So I’ve been trying to come up with a working recipe for this for a while. And I finally got one that is yummy and doesn’t turn into crumbs. Here’s what you need:

1 cup quinoa (soaked and cooked)
2 cups puffed millet
1 cup spelt flakes
1/2 cup creamy buckwheat cereal
1 cup whole wheat or spelt flour
3/4 cup olive oil
1 cup peanut butter
2 eggs or 4 egg yolks
3/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup heavy cream

Mix thee dry ingredients. Mix the wet and combine with the dry until there are no more clumps of peanut butter. Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper. Press the mixture into the pan up to the edges. Cook at 350 for 35 minutes. When just cool to the touch sprinkle chocolate chips on the top and press down with a rubber spatula. Cool completely before cutting. A pizza cutter works great for cutting. These freeze and travel well.

(For a dry cereal version of this recipe see this post.)

by

Fall Recipes: Pumpkin Butter

Pumpkin Butter on homemade spelt biscuits

Pumpkin Butter on homemade spelt biscuits

I used to make pumpkin butter all the time. But I got out of the habit and even forgot about it until I was browsing back through recipes on my own blog. I think I’ll have to head to the kitchen to make some. Want to try it? You’ll find the directions under my Allergy-Friendly Recipes.

by

Fall Recipes: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

Pumpkin Bread 001It’s my favorite thing to make all year long, but especially in the fall. You’ll find the regular version under Family Favorites as well as a modified version for those with food sensitivities under here Allergy-Friendly Recipes. The allergy-friendly version is  gluten, dairy, soy, nut and egg-white free. Enjoy!

by

Missouri Maple Syrup – how to make your own at home

IMG_0753

I used a little maple syrup that I’ve saved for years to store my Missouri Maple Syrup.

My great-grandmother Maggie lived on a farm in Missouri. I don’t know whether or not she had maple syrup. However, I know that she was frugal and creative in a pinch. Tonight was one of those nights for me. I had decided to make breakfast for dinner – eggs, sausage and waffles. Yum! One problem. I realized that we were out of maple syrup.

What to do? Do I turn the three burners off that were currently in the middle of cooking everything ,dress the kids and walk to the store for more? Then the moment of inspiration hit! I’ll make my own. I remembered my mom doing this in a pinch when we were little.

So, here’s how to make your own maple syrup substitute. The taste and texture is actually very similar to the real thing. Everyone in my family loved it and wouldn’t have even realized that it wasn’t maple syrup if I hadn’t told them.

Over dinner (breakfast actually) we decided that such an invention should should be named after Maggie and my husband called it “Missouri Maple Syrup” in honor of her. I think the name has stuck. Here’s how you make your own maple syrup – or something pretty close.

Missouri Maple Syrup: Mix equal parts dark brown sugar and water in a saucepan. I made a small batch using about 1/4 cup brown sugar (learn how to make your own brown sugar here) and 1/4 water. Heat to a simmer. While it’s heating, mix 1 tbl. corn starch and 2 tbl. cold water. When the brown sugar mixture is simmering, gradually pour in the cornstarch mixture and stir until slightly thickened to the consistency of real maple syrup. If you find the syrup too thick add a touch more water. If you can’t use cornstarch, then mix 1 tbl. of flour with a mild tasting oil. Blend well to make a thick paste and add to the mixture on the stove, stirring until thickened.

Everyone loved this so much I may start making big batches of it and storing it in the fridge. When money is tight it’s certainly cheaper than buying real maple syrup. That’s a luxury – an expensive one!

Yum! Waffles - made with my favorite cast iron waffle maker.

Yum! Waffles – made with my favorite cast iron waffle maker.

 

Missouri Maple Syrup on these waffles.

Missouri Maple Syrup on these waffles.

 

 

 

 

by

Vanilla Millet Pudding

IMG_0726

We dug right in!

This has become our new favorite afternoon snack. It’s pretty good for breakfast too.

Vanilla Millet Pudding:

1 cup whole grain millet, soaked overnight and cooked and cooled on the stove top in an oven-proof pan (I used a cast-iron enamel saucepan).

Once cool add 1/2 tsp. sea salt, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/3 cup brown sugar to the pan and stir to combine with the cooked millet.

In a separate bowl mix 3 egg yolks, 1 cup of milk and 1 tsp. vanilla. Add the egg/milk mixture to the millet mixture and stir.

Cook uncovered on 350 for about 40 minutes or until set. Best served warm with a dash of heavy cream.

by

Spelt Granola

5.8.14 013I don’t how I’ve never seen these before, but I just this last week saw these Shiloh Farms Spelt Flakes sitting on the shelf at the health food store. I never would have even notice them if they hadn’t been marked down to $2.00 a bag. I assume some were nearing the expiration date and they were trying to clear them out. Well, my bargain eye caught sight of the red clearance marker and I thought, “That looks like oats.” My next thought process was, “That’s spelt. Caleb can eat spelt. I could make him granola.” Well, I’m sure you can guess what I did next. I bought every sale bag on the shelf.

Today I pulled them out and made spelt granola. I used the regular granola recipe that I normally make for my husband and daughter, except that I substituted these spelt flakes for the oats. I also omitted the coconut for him since he reacts to that as well as oats.

I of course had to sample it when it was done. It is quite good. I think the spelt flakes are a little bit denser than regular oats and the flavor is not quite as nutty as oats, but it is quite delicious.

I’m happy to say that my boy had his first bite of granola today. It makes my heart happy to see him get to enjoy something that the rest of the family eats regularly and that he has never even gotten to try before now. He is in the unfortunate position of having reacted to oats since the first bite of his big sister’s cherrio at about 8 months old. I’m so glad to have found these spelt flakes. Bob’s Red Mill also makes Rolled Spelt Flakes too. (Note: These are affiliate links.) I’ll definitely be buying these again.

Note: Affiliate links are present in this post. If you click on one of them and make a purchase, I will earn a few pennies. See my full Disclosure/Disclaimer here.

Enjoying his first bite of spelt granola EVER!

Enjoying his first bite of spelt granola EVER!

by

Teddy Bear and Mickey Mouse Pancakes

5.30.14 032So I reverted back to my childhood this week. I woke up one morning thinking about how my mom used to make us teddy-bear pancakes. She would pour the batter in such a way as to create a tummy, head with ears, and arms and legs. She decorated the face of our pancakes with raisins for eyes and mouth. I don’t much like raisins, so I gave into temptation and used chocolate chips instead. Not the healthier choice I admit. But tasty. Growing up we always had such fun eating him in pieces. And I got to watch my kids do the same thing. “Oh no, I’m eating his leg. He doesn’t have any legs.” “Uh-oh, I ate his ears.” Such fun. I remember my brothers and I doing the exact same thing. And in the midst of cooking teddy bears my two-year-old, who has a thing for Mickey Mouse at the moment asked for a “Miss Mouse” pancake as she calls it. So we made a few of those too (pictured).

I have an allergy friendly pancake recipe which is gluten, dairy, egg-white, soy and nut free. Or if you don’t have any food restrictions you can just substitute 3 cups of your favorite wheat or spelt flour for the flours listed, use 2-3 whole eggs (rather than yolks) and use regular cow’s milk in place of the milk suggested.

Teddy bears sure do make for a yummy breakfast.

Cooking in the cast-iron skillet.

Cooking in the cast-iron skillet.

 

Molasses ears and a messy maple syrup face.

Molasses ears and a messy maple syrup face.

 

Garnished with bananas.

Garnished with bananas.

 

The Teddy Bear that started it all. :)

The Teddy Bear that started it all. 🙂