Treats for the Trip

Tomorrow morning we are leaving for a small road trip to visit family in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. We have taken our toddler out there 3 times already, but he was either only breastfeeding or eating baby food purees so we didn't have to think too hard about his allergies. Here's what I've learned today -- planning a trip with a child with food allergies takes packing and preparing to a whole new level! I know it will be fine keeping his allergies under control once we're there because we'll just be eating at my family's houses and I can either check packages, labels, etc or make him something separate. What I was most worried about was the car trip since I don't trust most fast food restaurants to be completely allergy free and I also didn't want to have so many restrictions on where everyone else could eat.  I have two great recipes here that I made for Caleb to eat in the car that are filling and healthy enough for lunch. I will use the banana bread to make a cream cheese sandwich and I am also bringing applesauce, plenty of allergy friendly cookies, cheerios,  "happy tot" fruit and veggie mix pouch and fruit leather.  I think we'll be good to go :)

Egg and Nut Free Banana Bread
2 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
1 3/4 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup honey
1/3 cup coconut oil
1 t. vanilla
2 T. water

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a loaf pan. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the mashed bananas, yogurt, honey, oil and vanilla. Fold the banana mixture into the flour mixture and mix until blended. Add the water to moisten and be careful not to over mix. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 40-50 minutes.

Sweet Potato Muffins
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup honey
1 cup sweet potato puree *
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 t. vanilla

* For the sweet potato puree, cook about 3 medium sized potatoes on 350 for about 1 1/2 hrs. Let cool and then slice and scoop out the sweet potato. It should be soft enough to mix into a puree. Measure to 1 cup before using.

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a muffin tin. Place 1st 6 ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk together. In a separate bowl, mix together the remaining wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until combined, but do not over mix. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Recipe: Egg and Nut Free Snickerdoodles

These are the cookies that I brought to the play date yesterday. I knew right away they were a keeper.  After Caleb took his first bite he said "mmmmmmmmm!" and started nodding his head up and down as if to say "oh yeah, these are good!" He absolutely loves these cookies and I am going to make another batch to bring on our trip out east. Make sure you don't over bake them, they are so deliciously soft and chewy if you bake them for just 12 minutes.  Seriously, these are the softest cookies I've ever tasted!

Snickerdoodles
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 t. vanilla
1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. cream of tartar
2 T. sugar
1 t. cinnamon

Beat the butter and sugars until creamy. Add the applesauce and vanilla and continue beating until mixed. The batter will look a little lumpy at this point. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and add to the wet ingredients. Mix until incorporated. Chill the dough for 30-60 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 300. In a small bowl, combine the 2 T. sugar and 1 t. cinnamon. Take about 2 T. of dough and roll into a ball. Roll the ball into the cinnamon sugar, flatten it and place it on an ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat for remaining cookies. Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes and no more. Makes about 16 cookies.

Little Tooter's Chocolate Chip Cookie Balls

These are C's absolute favorite cookies!

Little Tooter's Chocolate Chip Cookie Balls

The Recipe:
2/3 cup organic palm shortening*
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup organic raw sugar
1/4 cup applesauce
1 t. vanilla
1 T. milk
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
3/4 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. kosher or sea salt
1 cup allergy free chocolate chips (I use Enjoy Life)

*Organic palm shortening is an allergy friendly and healthier substitute for regular Crisco shortening. If you enjoy baking, I highly recommend purchasing some.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, combine the shortening, sugars, applesauce, vanilla and milk.

In a medium bowl, combine the flours, baking soda and salt with a wire whisk. Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and stir until combined.

 Fold in chocolate chips.

Using a cookie dough scoop, or your hands, shape cookies into small round balls and drop on the prepared sheets.

 Bake 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Do not over bake.

Our Favorite Chili

My husband and I aren't big fans of the winter time. Brushing snow off the car, getting dark at 5pm, bundling up, wrestling C to the ground to get him in his snowsuit that he knows will inhibit his every move. However, there is one thing that gives us something to look forward to during the cold winter months...a nice warm bowl of chili.  I never liked chili until I met my husband, and it took some begging and pleading before I started making it on a regular basis and now I am hooked.  We've tried beef chili, turkey chili, white chicken chili and even loaded it with different kinds of beans. (Diaper duty was not fun the day after that meal so we're limiting the beans for now). Although we always like to try a new variety, this one is our absolute favorite.  It's your basic chili, full of flavor, a little bit of beans, and lots of colorful peppers.

Now THIS is something we can get excited about!

Beef Chili

1 lb. ground beef

1/2 cup diced onion

2 stalks celery, diced

1 1/2 cups peppers (combo of green, red, yellow or orange)

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 1/2 T. chili powder

2 t. oregano

1 t. cumin

1 t. basil

1 t. marjoram

1 14 oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 28-oz can diced tomatoes, undrained

3 T. tomato paste

1 T. lime juice

2 t. worcestershire sauce

1 cube beef bouillon

1 cup beef broth

1/2 t. sugar

salt and pepper to taste

Optional toppings: cilantro, cheese, avocado, sour cream

Cook beef and veggies in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add garlic, chili powder, oregano, cumin, basil and marjoram and sauté for 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes or longer to allow flavors to blend. Spoon chili into bowls and serve with toppings.

Pumpkin Bread

I've been testing out pumpkin bread recipes for the past month or so trying to come up with a good and relatively healthy one that is egg and nut free.  Coming up with an egg free version of various baked goods is quite a challenge because you substitute based on what you need the "eggs" to do....leavening, moisture, binding, etc. I had one loaf that was too chewy, one that was kind of mushy and one that was just plain gross (I think I dumped in too much ginger lol), but I think I finally found our "favorite" recipe.  You can add dried cranberries, raisins, chocolate chips, or you can even add a layer of cinnamon cream cheese in the middle. Either way, it's delicious :)

Pumpkin Bread
1 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. ginger
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/8 t. cloves
3 t. baking soda
1/4 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup honey
1/2 t. vanilla
1 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
2 T. warm water

Preheat oven to 350. Mix dry ingredients in a medium bowl with a wire whisk. Make a well in the center and add the wet ingredients and mix together with a fork (do not overmix). Fold in pumpkin.
For bread: Add batter to a greased loaf pan and bake for 30-40 minutes
For muffins: Add batter to a greased muffin pan and bake 18-22 minutes

What to do with Leftover Ingredients

I loved reading everyone's ideas for Thanksgiving leftovers: turkey sandwiches, turkey pot pie, turkey soup, etc. But what about leftover ingredients? For the past couple of months Marcs has been selling 29 oz cans of pumpkin for $2.50. And for the past couple of months it seems like I've had a half used can of pumpkin in my refrigerator.  I also found myself with some extra cranberries, so I spent some time this week recreating some of my favorite pumpkin and cranberry treats to be allergy friendly.  So now instead of too many leftover cans of pumpkin and bags of cranberries, we have too many pumpkin and cranberry treats. But at least they taste good :)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 stick butter
1/2 cup raw sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2/3 cup pumpkin
1 t. vanilla
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1 1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. allspice
1/2 t. cloves
pinch salt
1 cup Allergy Free chocolate chips (such as Enjoy Life)

Preheat oven to 350

Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add the applesauce, pumpkin and vanilla and beat until incorporated. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and spices with a whisk. Slowly add to the wet mixture and beat until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.  Drop by spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet and bake about 10-12 minutes or until browned around the edges.

Cranberry Vanilla Bread
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup raw sugar
2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup melted butter
2 t. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups cranberries
1 T. sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 375. Grease a loaf pan and set aside. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl with a whisk. Set aside. Melt butter in a bowl and add the applesauce, milk and vanilla extract. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry and mix until moist. Fold in the cranberries. Spread batter in pan and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes. Turn heat down to 350 and bake 25 minutes longer or until the top begins to brown. Keep an eye on it because oven temperatures may vary.

Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/2 cup butter
1 cup raw sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 T. orange juice
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. baking soda
1 cup allergy free chocolate chips
2 cups coarsely chopped fresh cranberries

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the milk, orange juice, and applesauce to the mixture and mix thoroughly. In a separate medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda using a whisk. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and blend well. Stir in the chocolate chips and chopped cranberries.

Preheat oven to 375 and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Use a cookie scooper to place the dough onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Tired of Turkey?

Between the Thanksgiving meal itself, the seconds you went back for later that evening (we all do it) and the leftovers, you might find yourself feeling a little tired of turkey and in need of a "lighter" meal. This is a great healthy soup that is cheap, filling and easy to make.  It makes for a great lunch or pair it with a grilled cheese sandwich or a salad for dinner.

Tomato-Lentil Soup

4 ½ cups water

2 medium carrots, sliced

1 leek, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2/3 cup dried lentils, rinsed

1 green pepper, chopped

1 can (6 oz) tomato paste

2 T. fresh minced parsley

½ T. brown sugar

1 T. white vinegar

1 clove garlic, minced

½ t. dried thyme

1 t. oregano

1 cup spinach

salt and pepper

mozzarella cheese for garnish

In a large saucepan, combine the water, carrots, leek, pepper, celery and lentils. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes. Stir in the remaining ingredients, return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Add spinach and heat until wilted.  Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over soup before serving. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Last year, my husband and I started what we hope will be a Thanksgiving family tradition in our household for years to come. We decided to keep a list of what we are thankful for throughout the month of November and then, no matter what our holiday plans are, have our own little Thanksgiving dinner the weekend before Thanksgiving where we'll share everything on the list with each other. Last year I just stuck a sheet of paper on the refrigerator and we added to the list as we were led. This year, being motivated by pinterest, I decided to get a little crafty and made a countdown calendar. We wrote one thing we were thankful for on a piece of paper and stuck it in the slot for that day. 

Here were some of the comments

Can you find C's contribution? For some reason "my wife" and "our son" didn't make it in the picture. But don't worry, they where in there :)

For dinner, I decided to do a little southwest spin on the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. We had chili-lime rubbed turkey breast with chipotle cranberry sauce, chipotle mashed sweet potatoes, green beans and cornbread. For dessert we had egg and nut free apple-cranberry crisp. 

Everything turned out great and we had a wonderful time looking through our thankful list and comparing it to last year's. I'm really looking forward to when C can write out his own comments :) Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Below are the recipes for the turkey, cranberry sauce, potatoes and crisp. The green beans were just sprinkled with lemon juice and salt and the cornbread I have listed in a post called "The First Flavors of Fall". 

Chili-Lime Rubbed Turkey Breast

1 skinless turkey breast (about 2 - 2.5 lbs)

1 t. chili powder

1 T. lime juice

salt

1/2 t. cumin

Place turkey breast in a roasting pan and rub the spices over the top. Drizzle lime juice over turkey. Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 1.5 - 2 hours or until done. Top with cranberry sauce (except for your toddler's).

Chipotle Cranberry Sauce

1 T. canola oil

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup port wine (or grape juice)

1/4 t. ginger

1 (12 ounce) package fresh cranberries

1 t. grated lime rind

1 minced chipotle chile, canned in adobo sauce

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté for 4 minutes. Add sugar, water, wine (or juice), ginger and cranberries. Bring to a boil . Reduce heat and simmer for 8 minutes or until cranberries are popped. Remove from heat and stir in lime rind and chile. 

Chipotle Mashed Sweet Potatoes  (the only way I've ever gotten my husband to eat sweet potatoes!)

6 medium sweet potatoes (unpeeled)

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 T. finely chopped chipotle chilies, canned in adobo sauce

1 t. adobo sauce

1/2 t. salt

3 green onions

 Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pierce potatoes with a fork and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until done. Cool slightly. Cut each potato in half lengthwise and scoop out pulp. Combine the pulp, butter, chilies, adobo, salt and green onions in a food processor. Reheat to serve. 

Cranberry-Apple Crisp

6-7 large apples, peeled and cut into 6 wedges

1 t. grated lemon zest

2 t. fresh lemon juice

1/3 cup sugar

2 1/2 t. ground cinnamon

1/2 cup fresh cranberries

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup quick-cooking oats

1/3 cup honey

1 t. ground cinnamon

1/8 t. salt

1/2 cup butter, melted

Spray an oval 14 x 9-inch casserole dish with baking spray. Combine the apples with lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, cranberries and cinnamon in a large bowl, and pour the mixture into the prepared dish. 

To make the topping, in a medium bowl, combine the flour, oats, honey, cinnamon, salt and melted butter. Stir until crumbly. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sprinkle the topping all over the apple-cranberry mixture and place the dish on a baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling. Serve hot with ice cream. 

Chicken Parmesan Take 2

I revised my chicken parmesan recipe because C had a reaction the the "flax egg" coating that I tried to substitute for egg in the breading. Apparently it is now nuts, eggs, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and flax seeds. (and possibly coconut?) The list seems to be expanding. His reaction was just a rash though so nothing big, but we will be staying away from all things flax from now on. Here's the new recipe. It's definitely worth trying!

Chicken Parmesan

4 Chicken breasts

1 cup bread crumbs

3 parts olive oil to 1 part red wine vinegar

1/4 t. basil

1/4 t. oregano

1/4 t. garlic powder

salt and pepper

1 cup flour

1 cup tomato sauce

¼ cup parmesan cheese

4 slices mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Set up 3 medium-sized bowls on countertop. In first bowl, place 1 cup flour. In second bowl, mix 3 parts olive oil to 1 part red wine vinegar. Stir in your spices and salt and pepper. In third bowl, place 1 cup breadcrumbs. Bread your chicken by first coating with flour, then with the olive oil mix and lastly with the breadcrumbs. Brown the chicken for a few minutes on both sides in a pan with 2 T. olive oil over medium heat. In a 9 x 13 inch baking dish, place 1 cup tomato sauce and sprinkle parmesan cheese over the sauce. Place the 4 chicken breasts on top of sauce and top each one with a slice of mozzarella cheese. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. 

Gyro-Sized Love

I love my husband this much:

Well, more than that. For the past two months, E has been asking me to make homemade gyros. It all started over Labor Day weekend when we were in New Jersey visiting my grandparents. We took them out to a Greek Diner for lunch and I told him that if he wanted to order a gyro (pronounced year-o) at a Greek Diner in front of my Yiayia and Papou, he would need to pronounce it correctly. He was quiet in the car on the way there (perhaps he was practicing?), but when we got there he ordered a gyro with bold confidence and smooth articulation. Perhaps that confidence was a bad thing, because he has not stopped talking about gyros and asking for gyros since he learned how to say the word.  

So, tonight I finally gave in and made gyros for dinner. Perhaps it was because I didn't feel like tackling the mess in the family room, so I decided to make a mess in the kitchen. Or I was just getting sick of him asking so I was hoping they would turn out bad and he wouldn't ask again. Or maybe I was just up for the challenge.  Whatever it was, it ended up being a lot easier than I thought. I didn't need some fancy spinning pile of meat in the kitchen or any strange spices. Typically gyros are made with lamb, but I made ours with ground beef because I'm not a huge fan of lamb.  So, here it is.

Homemade Gyros

1 pound ground beef (not too lean)

2 t. kosher salt

1/2 t. ground black pepper

1/2 t. dried oregano

1/2 onion, cut into chunks

1 clove garlic, sliced

1 cup greek yogurt

1 T. olive oil

1 clove garlic, finely minced

1/4 t. salt

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced

pita bread

chopped tomatoes

sliced onions

Combine beef, salt, pepper and oregano in a bowl. Mix with hands until homogenous. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour. 

Adjust oven rack to middle and preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place meat mixture in food processor with onion and 1 clove of garlic. Process until smooth. (I could have used a bigger food processor here)

Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Form meat into a rectangle on baking sheet about 1 1/2 inches high, 8 inches long and 5 inches wide (or your best guess).  Bake about 30 minutes. Allow loaf to rest for about 15 minutes or refrigerate until you're ready to eat. 

Meanwhile, make sauce. Combine yogurt, cucumber, finely minced garlic, salt and olive oil. Stir until mixed. 

Adjust broiler rack to highest position and preheat broiler. Thinly slice the meat, place on baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and broil until edges are brown and crispy (about 5 minutes but keep an eye on it). Warm pita bread in the oven while the broiler is on. 

Now you're read to eat. Spread the yogurt on the pita and top with a few slices of meat, tomatoes, and onions. Fold the pita up and wrap the bottom half with aluminum foil to hold. Enjoy. 

Looks just like the restaurants, doesn't it? 

Breakfast with The C-Man

Recently C has been refusing to eat his oatmeal for breakfast.  It ends up on his tray, on the floor, on my lap, in his hair, but not in his mouth.  This leaves me with very few options for what to feed him for breakfast because he can't have eggs or store-bought waffles, breakfast bars, etc. Since oatmeal is rather sticky and I don't like wearing it on my clothes, I started to work on a few breakfast options for him. Here's one that's similar to a chocolate chip oatmeal bar. You can substitute the chocolate chips for raisins or add nuts if you can eat them. To make your own oat flour, just grind 1 cup oats in a food processor.

Happy C-Man, happy Mommy!

Banana-Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Breakfast Bars

1 cup oat flour

3/4 cup rolled oats

1/2 t. baking powder

1/4 baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1/2 cup raw sugar

1/3 cup melted coconut oil

1/3 cup milk

1/2 t. vanilla extract

1/2 ripe banana, cut into small pieces

1/4 cup semisweet allergy-friendly chocolate chips (such as Enjoy Life)

Preheat oven to 350. Combine the first 6 ingredients (through sugar) in a bowl. 

Whisk together oil, milk and vanilla in a separate bowl. 

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir to combine. Fold in banana and chocolate chips.

Grease an 8x8 inch glass baking dish and spread batter into pan. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until golden brown. 

No Egg Italian Dishes

After some experimenting, I am pleased to report that I was able to come up with egg-free versions of two of our favorite italian dishes -- chicken parmesan and lasagna. Usually eggs are used in chicken parmesan in the breading and lasagna uses them in the cheese mixture. There are a couple of easy ways to get around using eggs though and it tastes just the same. I hope you enjoy these as much as we did!

Chicken Parmesan

4 chicken breasts

1 cup flour

1 cup Italian bread crumbs

2 T. flaxseed (or 3 T. chickpea flour)

3 T. water

salt and pepper

¼ cup parmesan cheese

1 jar tomato sauce

4 slices mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Line up 3 small mixing bowls. In the first bowl, put the 1 cup of flour and sprinkle some salt and pepper mixing well with a wire whisk. In the second bowl whisk together the 2 T. flaxseed (or 3 T. chickpea flour) and 3 T. water.  Put the breadcrumbs in the 3rd bowl. Take one chicken breast and coat it with flour, followed by the flaxseed mixture and then the breadcrumbs. Place chicken on a plate and repeat with the 3 other chicken breasts. Heat a frying pan over medium heat and add 1 T. oil. Heat chicken for 3-5 minutes on each side or until browned. 

Pour 1/4 cup of tomato sauce on bottom of a 13 x 9 baking dish. Place chicken in dish, sprinkle with parmesan cheese, and top with slices of mozzarella cheese. Pour tomato sauce over chicken and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Lasagna

1 T. olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

2 medium carrots, chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

1 cup chopped peppers (variety)

6 garlic cloves, minced

1 pound ground beef

3 T. tomato paste

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes, undrained

1 cup tomato sauce

1 ½ t. sugar

½ t. crushed red pepper

1 t. oregano

½ cup torn fresh basil (or 3 T. dried basil)

1 t. thyme

1 t. rosemary

salt and pepper to taste

32 oz. cottage cheese

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

½ cup grated parmesan cheese

2 t. dried parsley

salt and pepper

9 no boil lasagna noodles

½ cup water

Slice all your veggies.

 In a dutch oven over medium high heat, cook the onion, garlic and celery in 1 T. oil for 3 minutes. Add the beef, carrots and peppers and cook until the beef is browned. Drain. 

Add the ingredients from the tomato paste to the salt and pepper, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for at least 30 minutes (longer if you have the time). 

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the cottage cheese, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, parsley, salt and pepper. 

Spray a 13 x 9 baking dish with cooking spray. Spread 3/4 cup of the meat mixture on bottom of the pan. Place 3 lasagna noodles on the bottom of the dish, top with 1/4 cup meat mixture and half of the cheese mixture.

 Repeat the layers twice. Top with 3 noodles, remaining meat mixture, remaining mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese. Add 1/2 cup of water to the edges of the pan, cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 10 more minutes. Place a baking sheet on the rack under the lasagna to catch any dripping sauce. 

Mmmmmm.

Delicious Egg and Nut Free Fall Treats

We got little C's allergy blood test results back and basically our house will need to be an egg and nut free zone (at least for now).  The results were a little confusing for me to understand, but basically he has a pretty bad allergy to nuts and eggs and could have a severe reaction. He only showed moderate allergies to sunflower and sesame seeds, but he'll still need to stay away from those. He was negative for milk which is good! My main question is can he only just not eat a nut or can he not even eat anything that may have touched a nut in the manufacturing process? Obviously we will play it safe for now, but I'm hoping to get some clarity on that in the near future.

So, I guess it's a good thing I like to cook because it looks like our family won't be eating out much! I'm thankful for all these great recipes and websites I've come across giving us delicious egg and nut free options. Here's a couple that I got from foodallergymama.com. I tweaked the pumpkin muffins a bit to make them a good breakfast option. Speaking of breakfast, C has been refusing to eat cereal or oatmeal of any kind and since he can't have eggs that leaves me with having to make him muffins and pancakes. So expect a lot of new recipes up here soon!

Egg and Nut Free Pumpkin Muffins

1 c. butter
1 c. sugar
4 T. water
1 tsp. vanilla
1 15 oz. can pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
2 c. whole wheat flour

1 c. all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 c. raisins

1/2 c. dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray 18 muffin cups with baking spray, set aside.

In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugar, water, vanilla and canned pumpkin puree thoroughly.

In a separate medium bowl, combine the flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger with a wire whisk. Add to the pumpkin mixture and mix on low until combined. Stir in the raisins and cranberries using a rubber spatula.

Use a cookie scooper to divide batter among the 18 muffin cups.  Bake for about 18 minutes or until  lightly browned and a cake tester comes out clean. Cool and serve!

Apple Crisp

Apple filling:

6-7 large apples, peeled and cut into 6 wedges

 1 t. grated lemon zest

2 t. fresh lemon juice

1/3 c. sugar

2 1/2 t. ground cinnamon

Crisp topping:

1 c. unbleached all-purpose flour

1 c. quick-cooking oats

1/2 c. light brown sugar

1 t. ground cinnamon

1/8 t. salt

1/2 c. butter, chilled and cut into pieces

Spray an oval 14 x 9 inch casserole or 13 x 9 inch glass baking dish with baking spray. Combine the apples with the lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl, and pour the mixture into the prepared dish. 

To make the topping, in a medium bowl, combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Cut in the margarine using a pastry blender or your fingers. The mixture should clump into pea-sized pieces. 

Preheat oven to 375. Sprinkle the crisp topping over the apples, and place the dish on a baking sheet. Bake 50-60 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling. 

Taco Thursday and a Cooking Contest

I was never a big fan of mexican food until I met my husband.  He requested it all the time, so I started experimenting with different recipes for tacos, burritos, enchiladas, etc and now I'm obsessed. So far my favorite is slow cooker chicken soft tacos and I am currently trying to perfect my recipe so I can submit it to the most recent Taste of Home cooking contest.  I'm not expecting to win (most of the women who enter are older and more experienced), but besides the grand prize there are smaller cash prizes and opportunities for your recipe to be published in their magazine or on their website. You can submit as many recipes as you want, so I already submitted a banana cake with peanut butter/chocolate frosting that I made for my husband's birthdays prior to our son's peanut allergy and I am planning on submitting the pumpkin cake and a BBQ recipe that I'm playing around with. I'm sure they get a ton of entries, so who knows if anything will come of this but I thought it would be fun to submit some of my favorites :)

Here's what I have so far for the chicken tacos:

Chicken & Black Bean Soft Tacos

1 lb. chicken

¼ cup lime juice

½ t. chili powder

¼ t. ground cumin

¼ t. garlic powder

dash of black pepper, salt and ground red pepper

¼ cup green onions

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

½ cup salsa

1/4 cup water

Tortillas

Mexican shredded cheese

Lettuce

Avocado

Combine ingredients through salsa in a bowl. Place chicken in a crock pot and pour mixture over chicken. Add 1/4 cup water. Cook on low for 4-5 hours or until chicken is cooked through. Allow to cool, then shred chicken.  Place chicken back in crockpot and cook on low for another 30 minutes. Serve with tortillas topped with cheese, avocado and lettuce. 

So now I just need to add something special so it will stand out a little. I am considering adding some lime zest and chopped pineapple.  I'll probably try that for dinner next week, and if we like it then that will be the entry. Thoughts?

Also, I totally forgot to take a picture of the food. I'm really bad at this whole blog thing!