Apple Crisp

I got a fabulous recipe recently from Living Without magazine. I've made it three times already, twice with apples, and once with pears (it's good both ways)! I don't know what the laws/rules are regarding posting a recipe from a magazine, but I did modify three of the ingredients and I'm posting my modified version.

Apple Crisp
2 c. quinoa flakes (or GF oatmeal)
1/4 c. brown rice flour
1/3 c. agave nectar
2 Tbsp. coconut oil
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. unsweetened coconut flakes
4-6 apples
2 Tbsp. tapioca flour
1 1/2 c. apple juice
1 tsp. cinnamon

1. In a medium bowl, mix together quinoa flakes, rice flour, agave nectar, coconut oil, cinnamon, salt and coconut flakes. Set aside.
2. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil an 8x11 baking dish.
3. Peel, core and chop apples. Place fruit in prepared baking dish.
4. Dissolve tapioca flour in apple juice. Add 1 tsp. cinnamon. Pour mixture over fruit. Sprinkle fruit with quinoa flake mixture.
5. Bake for 35-60 minutes, until fruit is soft. Cover pan with parchment paper after baking for 10 minutes to prevent over-browning.
   

We like to serve it warm with a couple of scoops of vanilla "rice" cream over the top. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Waffles

I found a yummy pumpkin waffle recipe on a friend's blog today. It sounded so good I decided to convert it to gluten & dairy free. The conversion was a success and they were fantastic! Just wanted to share.

Spiced Pumpkin Waffles
1 1/2 c. brown rice flour
1/2 c. buckwheat flour
1 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
1 Tbsp. gluten-free baking powder
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. sea salt
4 eggs
1 1/2 c. rice milk
1 c. pumpkin
1 Tbsp. agave nectar
1/2 c. canola oil
1/4 c. coconut oil
1 Tbsp. vanilla

Mix together dry ingredients (flour, xanthan gum, baking powder & spices) in a separate bowl. Separate egg whites and beat with mixer to stiff peaks. Add egg yolks together with rice milk, pumpkin, agave nectar, oils and vanilla. Add liquid mixture to dry ingredients, mix well. Fold in beaten egg whites, mix well. Bake on a preheated waffle iron.

The original recipe included a caramel syrup which was butter-laden and couldn't be converted. We drizzled ours with pure maple syrup or agave nectar and they were wonderful. Enjoy!

Bacon Avocado Artichoke Dip

Football season has arrived. Even though I personally am not a football fan, my husband is and we are often invited to watch football games with others. These are the times where I need to be able to make something snacky and fast. Before going dairy-free I was a huge fan of my cheesy artichoke dip. I searched high and low for a yummy dairy-free artichoke dip recipe, I found one that I liked and after adding avocado discovered a masterpiece.

Bacon Avocado Artichoke Dip

1 can artichoke hearts, drained
2 Tbsp. onion, finely chopped
1/3 c. mayonaise
1/2 lemon, juiced (1-1.5 Tbsp.)
4 slices bacon, cooked, crumbled
1 avocado, finely diced
paprika
salt & pepper

Drain & mash artichoke hearts. Combine with onion, mayonaise, lemon juice and a dash of paprika. Add the crumbled bacon, and diced avocado. Add salt & pepper to taste. Top with paprika. Chill before serving. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

"Me Allergic To Allergies"

A proud day in the life of a mother of children with food allergies occured about a month ago. My two year old looked at a can of tomatoes and said "me allergic to tomatoes." I was, of course, thrilled as it is my hope that he can learn what he is allergic to so that he can say "NO" when offered. Attempting to build on this great teaching opportunity I prompted him to say what else he is allergic to, he replied with "cow's milk". I excitedly praised him and prompted him for further insights. To which he replied, in a very matter-of-fact way, "me allergic to allergies." Frankly, I couldn't agree with him more ;)

On My Bookshelf

What books/publications have helped us most during our journey? Here are some of my favorites.

The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook by Cybelle Pascal

• All recipes are free of wheat, milk, eggs, soy, peanuts, treenuts, fish, & shellfish. Unfortunately, the recipes are NOT gluten-free. But I've managed to convert them fairly easily to gluten free. She also has a lot of great tips for reducing sugars.

Living Without: bi-montly publication

• I always look forward to the release of this magazine! The recipes are predominantly dairy/gluten free. They also have great articles relation to food allergies & sensitivities. Check it out at http://www.livingwithout.com/.

The Food Allergy Cure by Dr. Ellen Cutler

• Written by the founder of BioSET. A fascinating book identifying some of the alternative approaches to coping with food allergies. It also identifies common ailments and complex disorders and their origins in food.
  
  

Micromiracles by Dr. Ellen Cutler

• A fabulous book identifying the powerful effects of enzymes. It details how enzymes can benefit us by fighting inflammation, slowing aging, accelerating weight loss, renewing our energy, combating depression, dealing with digestive problems, and other ailments plaguing us today.
  
  
  
  

Enzymes for Autism and other Neurological Conditions by Karen DeFelice.

• Digestive enzymes have been a very key part of the management of our food allergies. I love this book because it is an excellent no-nonsense book written by a mother of two sons who suffered from gastrointestinal problems and neurological challenges. She gives excellent descriptions of the elements at play with digestive disorders and enzymes and how they can help. She gives a fantastic analogy of six blind men and an elephant, which for me was a clear description of how doctors tend to view these conditions. We as our children's advocate are responsible for piecing together the six blind men (doctors) interpretations and declaring our "elephant".

Healing the New Childhood Epidemics: Autism, ADHD, Asthma and Allergies by Dr. Kenneth Bock

• I can't say enough good about this book. It is fantastic. Look at this data identified by Dr. Bock. Do you realize that Allergies have increased 400% in the past 20 years? Autism now affects every 1 in 150-166 births, an increase of 1500% - 6000%. ADHD has increased 400%. Asthma has increased 300%, and ashtma deaths have increased 56%. This book explores some of the root underlying causes of these increases and identifies a "healing program" to help undo some of the damage which so many kids have sustained.

Flying Saucers

I wanted to share a new recipe we tried this week which is stuffed sunburst squash. I received the sunburst squash from my co-op and was at a loss of what to do with it. So I looked up several new recipes and combined bits and pieces of them to create this allergen-free version. Also, when I pulled them out of the oven I told my sons that we were having "Flying Saucers" for dinner. This generated a lot of excitement!

They turned out to be much better than even I had imagined. The squash was nice and tender, and it was fun to create something new. The recipe is quite flexible, for our version we used cooked red & white quinoa and italian pork sausage. Enjoy!

Stuffed Sunburst Squash
8 sunburst squash
1/2 c. cooked quinoa or brown rice
1 lb. ground beef, turkey or sausage
1/4 c. onion, chopped
1/2 c. zucchini, chopped
1/2 c. tomato, diced
1/4 c. cilantro, chopped
1/2 fresh lime

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook quinoa or rice according to directions. Cook meat of your choice with diced onion. Drain off excess grease. Bring one-inch of water in a large saucepan over med-high heat. Add sunburst squash (stem & blossom removed). Cover and cook for 10 minutes, or until a fork can pierce the skin with little resistance. Drain and slice off the top 1/3 of the squash. Use a melon scoop to scoop out the center seeded section, while being careful not to dig through the bottom. Lightly salt the inside of each sunburst squash.

Mix together the cooked quinoa or rice with the meat, zucchini, tomato and cilantro. Top with fresh lime juice. Stuff the sunburst squash with the meat mixture. Drizzle the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish with olive oil. Add stuffed sunburst squash. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes or until squash are heated through.

Birthday Parties?

When your child has food allergies it can be awkward being invited to birthday parties. Most of our friends are already aware of our allergies, however I always call to find out what they plan to serve and I bring our safe alternatives with us.

To make life easier, I always bake a full cake mix into cupcakes (we like Namaste vanilla or spice cake). I then freeze the cupcakes, unfrosted, in groups of three. The day before the party I defrost the cupcakes and freshly ice them. Here's our favorite icing recipe:

1/2 cup palm oil shortening (we like Spectrum)
1 lb. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3 Tbsp. rice milk

Mix with a beater until well blended and creamy. We keep ours in the fridge and it will store well for several weeks. Because we avoid artificial colors, we leave our frosting white. However, we do use India Tree naturally colored sugar sprinkles.

We also trade our kids for the candy they receive in the goody bags from the party (also for Halloween and Valentine's Day). We either trade for naturally colored/flavored Yummy Earth candy, or money to visit the dollar store or football/baseball cards. Now get out there and have fun at all those birthday parties!