What's For Dinner?

Before the allergies, my husband and I loved eating things like mexican, lasagna, spaghetti, chicken parmesan, etc for dinner which of course always includes dairy and sometimes includes egg. Honestly, it was really hard to come up with flavorful meals without cheese, creamy sauces, butter, etc.  So what have I been cooking for dinner? Here's just a sampling....

Salsa Chili
1 lb lean ground beef
1 lb lean sausage
2 cans (16 oz. each) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 jar (24 oz) chunky salsa
1 can (14.5 oz diced tomatoes), undrained
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1/2 cup each chopped green, yellow and red peppers
1/2 t. dried oregano
1/4 t. garlic powder
1/8 t. dried thyme
1/8 t. dried marjoram
1 T. chili powder

In a large skillet, cook beef and sausage over med-high heat. Drain and transfer to a slow cooker. Stir in beans, salsa, tomatoes, onion, tomato sauce, peppers and seasonings. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Garnish with green onions if desired. Serve over brown rice.

Grilled Chicken Thighs with Sweet Potato Fries


8 chicken thighs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. cumin
1/4 t. chili powder
1 t. paprika
1 t. black pepper
pinch salt
1 t. crushed red pepper
pinch BBQ seasoning
1/8 c. worcestershire sauce
1 T. olive oil
1 T. lemon juice

Mix ingredients from brown sugar to lemon juice in a medium bowl. Pour half of mixture over chicken and marinade for 4 hours, turning to coat. Save the other half for grilling.

Prepare grill to medium high heat. Grill thighs, brushing with leftover marinade to keep moist.

For the fries:
5 sweet potatoes
Olive oil to coat
salt and pepper
garlic powder

Peel and cut sweet potatoes into thin strips. Place in mixing bowl and toss with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes or until lightly browned.

Chicken and Black Bean Burritos
4 chicken breasts
1 lime
1/4 cup water
1/2 t. chili powder
1/2 t. cumin
1/4 t. black pepper
1/8 t. ground red pepper
1/4 cup green onions
3/4 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup salsa
whole-wheat tortillas

Slice lime in half and pour over the chicken. Rub zest from lime all over the chicken as well and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until done. Cool and shred chicken. Bring water and spices to a boil in a small saucepan. Stir in chicken and green onions. Combine beans and salsa. Spoon bean mix and chicken mix down center of each tortilla and roll up. Heat a large skillet over med-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray and cook burritos for a few minutes on each side (pan gets very hot, so be careful not to burn). Serve with guacamole.

Guacamole:
3 avocados, diced
1 cup salsa
1 T. lime juice
1/4 t. kosher salt

Mash diced avocados in a medium bowl, leaving a little chunky. Add salsa, lime juice and salt.

Dairy, Egg and Nut Free Baking

One of the hardest things to stay away from has definitely been sweets. That's why I am so thankful for the wonderful world of food blogs that led me to Kelly Rudnicki's Food Allergy Mama Blog. http://www.foodallergymama.com/. It has been so helpful for C's birthday party, satisfying my sweet tooth, and other get togethers we've had to be able to provide a good allergy-free option. Now C can have his cake and eat it too!

Bringing Back the Granola

Granola is quite possibly one of the best energy boosters when you're chasing a toddler around all day. I was totally bummed when I couldn't have granola or granola bars anymore because they're always made with dairy, nuts and seeds. That is, until I discovered how easy it is to make my own! I found this recipe on 100daysrealfood.com and then tweaked it to fit our needs. Of course it won't be as busy and exciting without all the nuts and seeds, but it's still good for you and if you close your eyes you might not even know they're missing :) I'm still working to make this recipe better, but the first batch didn't turn out too bad.

Homemade Allergy-Free Granola
3 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup raisins
1 cup dried cranberries
(feel free to add any other dried fruit you have on hand!)
2 t. ground cinnamon
1 1/2 t. ground ginger
1/2 t. ground nutmeg
6 T. dairy-free margarine (I use Fleischmann's unsalted)
1/2 cup honey
1/2 t. salt
2 t. vanilla

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Place the oats, fruit and spices in a large bowl and toss to combine. Heat the margarine and honey in a small saucepan until the margarine melts. Stir in the salt and vanilla and remove from heat. Pour the liquid over the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until evenly distributed. Turn the granola onto the prepared pan and press firmly until even. Bake until the granola is lightly browned and firm to the touch, about 1 hr and 15 minutes. Cool completely and then break into chunks.

The Best Allergy-Free Snack

It took me a while to figure out what (besides plain crackers and fruit) I could snack on because almost everything I ate before these allergies included milk or some kind of nut.  I thought hummus would be a great idea because it's a good source of protein, but almost every brand of hummus I could find at the store was made with tahini (sesame seed paste). So, I came up with my own super simple recipe.

What you'll need:
1 can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained (also known as garbanzo beans. I use Giant Eagle Nature's Basket organic)
2 T. oil
4 T. Lemon Juice
1 clove garlic
salt and pepper
paprika (if desired)

Put all ingredients in a food processor. Blend until smooth.

Serve with pita bread, crackers, veggies or as a sandwich spread.

Why the Blog?

I started this blog for an easy and fun way to organize the recipes that I have come up with to fit the new culinary lifestyle we have adopted ever since we found out that our son has food allergies. We have high hopes that he will outgrow the milk and egg allergy, so in the future we may not have to make those adjustments anymore.  It is not so likely that he will outgrow the nut and seed allergy so a lot of my baking recipes will still apply. The reason why I have been forced to search for new ways to cook is because I chose to continue nursing him and therefore I had to change my diet. My favorite foods used to include: peanut butter, ice cream, yogurt, mexican, italian, almonds, etc. Now I just make simple adjustments to all my mexican and italian dishes and I've become very fond of rice milk, homemade hummus without tahini and Kelly Rudnicki's blog "Food Allergy Mama" for all my baking needs.  I was forced to think of new ways to get calcium and protein in our diets instead of milk, yogurt, cheese, eggs,  and nuts which was a lot harder than I thought! So, out with the dairy/eggs/nuts and in with the chickpeas and beans (and of course, plenty of meat!)

My recipes are incredibly simple and a lot of them can be made ahead of time so they are perfect for Moms with little kids who happen to always be needy right around dinner time. I hope this blog helps anyone with food allergies as much as it's going to help me stay organized!