Pumpkin Doughnut Holes

It's been crazy windy/rainy here so C and I have not gone out since Monday morning. C has been entertaining himself sorting buttons by color and watching Thomas the Tank Engine. I finally was able to set some time aside to bake since I haven't really been able to update my allergy friendly recipes in a while. As these little treats were cooling on the counter, C spotted them and grabbed one off the counter. He looked at me and said "Oh, wow!" as if I had no idea they were there! I love being able to make my own allergy friendly treats so I don't have to worry about whether or not what we have is safe for him. These delicious little doughnuts would be perfect for Thanksgiving breakfast!

Pumpkin Doughnut Holes
 1 3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. all spice
1/3 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup natural maple syrup (such as organic grade B)
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup whole milk

Preheat oven to 350. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl with a wire whisk. Combine wet ingredients in a glass measuring cup (make sure to melt the coconut oil first and let it cool before combining it with a cold liquid or else it will solidify). Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir until just mixed (don't over mix). Pour batter into a greased mini muffin pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Makes 24 small doughnut holes.

This post will be linked up on the Allergy Free Wednesdays blog hop. http://wholenewmom.com/traditional-tuesday/vegan-pumpkin-cheesecake-chocolate-mousse-cake-grain-fee-chicken-pot-pie-more/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wholenewmomfeed+%28Whole+New+Mom%29

Food Allergy Travel Tips

It's one thing to travel with a toddler....it's a whole new ball game to travel with a child with food allergies!  As a general rule we don't take C out to eat unless it's for a special event, such as a family celebration or a lunch after church. It's just too risky, and plus we like eating at home better :) However, when you're on the road you really have no choice. There's only so many homemade muffins a kid can eat until they need a real meal! A few weeks ago we took a short trip to Kelly's Island and had a hard time finding food for C to eat. Thankfully I brought enough sweet potatoes, avocados and snacks and we weren't gone that long. He was really only able to order plain hot dogs at the restaurant -- even the pizza had egg in it! We're not taking any big trips this summer, but this weekend we are going a couple hours away for a graduation party and will be staying overnight in a hotel. I wanted to share my strategy for eating away from home because when you have a child with food allergies, you can never leave home without a plan!

First, there are a few food items I always bring with us when we travel. Sweet potatoes (if you will have access to a microwave), avocado (C will eat a whole avocado for one meal), packets of oatmeal to make in the hotel (you can't bring a child with an egg allergy into a breakfast restaurant!), dry cereal, homemade muffins/quick breads, cookies, healthy popcorn and bananas. That will typically cover breakfast and lunch for him so we don't have to worry about that. However, dinner is another story. C has always refused to eat those Gerber toddler meals, so (although I probably wouldn't give it to him anyways) that's not an option for us. After doing some research, I was able to find a list of allergy-friendly restaurants. These are restaurants that have special allergy menus, however you will still want to inform the chef of your allergies so they don't cross-contaminate with your meal.

Here's the list of restaurants (these are just the ones with specific allergy menus. There are some other restaurants that give basic allergy info and ones that have specific gluten-free info):
- Arbys
- Boston Market
- Chili's
- Cracker Barrel
- Chipotle (a family fav)
- Qdoba
- Macaroni Grill
- Ruby Tuesday

Most of these restaurants don't have the allergy menus available for you at the restaurant, you will need to look at the menus online ahead of time and make your selection before leaving home. As you can probably tell, the list is very limited and small. If these restaurants aren't available to you, then I suggest just choosing a restaurant ahead of time and calling to ask about ingredients in some of the meals. It's best to call in the middle of the day when they aren't busy so they're more likely to answer your questions.

Also, here's a couple egg and nut free recipes you can whip up to take along with you on the road. These were all adapted from the Food Allergy Mama's baking book to include dairy and make them slightly healthier. Happy traveling!

Apple Muffins

4 Tbsp. butter, melted (allow to cool a little)
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup milk
2 cups white whole wheat flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups diced, peeled apples, divided

Preheat oven to 375 and line a 12-cup muffin pan with muffin liners.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combined the melted butter, applesauce and milk. In a separate medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg with a wire whisk. Add the dry ingredients to the applesauce mixture and stir by hand with a spatula until just combined. Fold in the 1 cup chopped apple. Do not over mix.

Using a cookie scooper or spoon, fill the muffin cups with batter and top each with the remaining 1/2 cup diced apple. Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Blueberry Bread



1/2 cup butter, melted
3 Tbsp. water
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbsp. grated orange zest
2/3 cup orange juice
3 cups white whole wheat flour
1/3 cup maple syrup (organic Grade B)
1 Tbsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the melted butter, water, milk, maple syrup, orange zest, and orange juice until combined. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda with a wire whisk. Add the dry mixture to the butter mixture and stir with a spatula until just combined. Fold in the blueberries.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 55-60 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Cool completely before slicing.

Cinnamon Sour Cream Cookies



1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cups organic sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup sour cream
1 1/4 tsp. vanilla
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon

Combine butter, sugar, applesauce and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until mixed. Slowly beat in sour cream until incorporated. In a separate medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon with a wire whisk. Slowly add the flour mixture to the sour cream mixture. Chill dough in the fridge for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a spoon, roll small balls of dough in your hands, flatten and place on cookie sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes, but don't over bake.

Egg and Nut Free Strawberry Snack Cake

Hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day! We had a weekend full of family meals and fun. To top it all off we enjoyed this delicious strawberry cake with chocolate cream icing. This is a quick and simple little cake that anyone can whip up for their hard-working Mother :)

Egg and Nut Free Strawberry Cake
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sucanat, rapadura or sugar
1 Tbsp. water
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup milk
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cup strawberries, sliced

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9-inch glass pie dish and set aside (I just use coconut oil). In the bowl of a mixer, combine the butter and sucanat until light and fluffy. Add the water and vanilla and beat until combined. In a medium separate bowl, combine the flours, baking powder and salt with a wire whisk. Add the flour mix to the wet ingredients, alternating with the milk and combine but do not over mix. Pour batter into the glass dish and arrange strawberries on top. Bake 25-30 minutes or unit a toothpick comes out clean.

I know this sounds bad, but whenever I make icing I just sort of guess at how much for each ingredient and taste as I go. (Maybe that's just because I like eating the icing or maybe it's because I'm too lazy to ever figure out the ratio of ingredients. I'll let you decide). Here's my best guess at what I did for this recipe, but I suggest you just start with how much cream you'd like, add a little sweetener, vanilla and cocoa powder and then adjust if you don't like how it tastes.

Chocolate Cream Frosting
1 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 Tbsp. cocoa powder

Pour cream into a mixer bowl and beat until whipped. This will take a few minutes, but you'll get there! Add maple syrup, vanilla and cocoa powder and mix until incorporated. Taste and then adjust as needed.

Happy Mother's Day and enjoy this delicious fairly healthy snack! :)

Egg and Nut Free Raspberry Cream Cheese Bars

Today, while C was napping, I made some cookies to send to my younger brother to munch on while he studies for his finals. I set them on the counter, hoping to keep C from seeing them and begging for one once he woke up. Well somehow, even though he's only 2 1/2 feet tall, he spotted them on the counter as soon as he walked into the kitchen. He got super excited saying "cookie! cookie! coooooookie!" I knew I would have to make something separate so all the cookies for my brother wouldn't disappear, but I didn't have enough chocolate chips for another batch. So, I checked around to see what I did have and found some frozen raspberries and cream cheese. Perfect! Raspberry Cream Cheese Bars.

This is the perfect snack since we've been trying to focus on eating "real" food lately. No refined sugar, white flour, fake fats, chemical additives etc. Basically if we can't pronounce an ingredient, we don't eat it.  That actually includes a lot of "low fat" packaged foods you will find in the stores! This recipe uses white whole wheat flour (which is 100% soft whole wheat -- I've found it to be better for baking), coconut oil which has significant health benefits, and organic grade b maple syrup which is a healthier substitute for sugar. Cutting out processed and refined foods from our diets has been the only thing to help with my husband's headaches and minor stomach issues I've had in the past. And if it tastes this good, we're completely fine with it! 

Egg and Nut Free Raspberry Cream Cheese Bars

2 cups white whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp. coconut oil

1/3 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

3 oz. cream cheese, plain

1 Tbsp. whole milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup frozen raspberries

In a medium mixing bowl mix the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda together with a wire whisk. In a separate mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, mix together the coconut oil, maple syrup, applesauce, cream cheese, milk and vanilla. Beat until incorporated. Fold in the frozen raspberries.

Pour into a greased 8 x 11 glass baking dish and bake at 350 for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Egg and Nut Free Chocolate Cranberry Granola

My toddler is definitely a grazer. He goes from snack to snack and (sometimes) will eat a full meal here and there. He knows where the snacks are and likes to put his hands on the cupboard and scream until I come get him something to eat. Usually his snack is just fruit, yogurt, or one of these tasty treats from the blog :) This recipe is a spin on the granola recipe I posted a couple months ago. C and my husband are my taste testers for the recipes I post, and while C was eating the granola today he kept nodding his head up and down saying "mmmmmm! mmmmm!" So, I knew I should definitely post it...here you are! 

Egg and Nut Free Chocolate Cranberry Granola 

4 cups oats

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup dried cranberries

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup coconut oil (or butter), melted

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup maple syrup

Preheat oven to 325. Combine 1st 5 ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and mix together until fully coated. Place granola mixture in a greased 13x9 inch glass baking pan and spread evenly. Bake for 40 minutes and allow to cool for 15-20 minutes before cutting into bars*. Store in a tupperware container. 

*This version of the recipe didn't hold together as well, possibly because of the cocoa powder. I ended up crumbling most of it and it still tastes great by the handful or on top of yogurt :) 

Egg and Nut Free Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

These were originally supposed to be cookies. Then I decided to just make them into bars. And since they're made with wheat flour and no sugar, we decided to have them for breakfast! This is now on my "healthy breakfast" list for C since he prefers to pick things up with his hands instead of being spoon fed. They're also a great "on the go" snack. They won't be as sweet as most breakfast bars you'll buy at the store, but these are much healthier for you and really simple to make! If you don't have palm shortening, you can substitute butter.

Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
1/2 cup organic palm shortening
1/2 cup honey or real maple syrup
1/4 cup molasses
2 Tbsp. ground flax seed
6 Tbsp. warm water
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups oats
1 cup raisins (or other dried fruit)

Preheat oven to 400 F. Mix the flax seed and warm water together and let stand for 5-10 minutes. Combine the shortening, honey and molasses in a mixer bowl and beat until smooth. In another bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt with a wire whisk. Add the flour mixture to the shortening mixture and beat well. Fold in the flax mixture.

Spray a 7 x 11 inch glass baking dish with baking spray. Stir oats and raisins into dough with a rubber spatula. Spread dough into baking dish (the dough will be thick so do your best to spread it evenly).  Bake 15-20 minutes or until browned. Allow to cool and then cut into bars.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a picture until they were almost half gone. I guess that shows how good they are!

Egg and Nut Free Blueberry Cheesecake Cookies

Another random food that my toddler just loves is cream cheese. He loves it on toast, banana bread, or straight off the spoon. I never used to like cream cheese or cheesecake, until I met my husband and we went to Cheesecake Factory one too many times (and I ordered the peanut butter cookie dough cheesecake one too many times) :P Now I love cream cheese and I've replaced my beloved peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a cream cheese and jelly sandwich or a cream cheese and banana sandwich. You might think that's weird, but until you've tried a cream cheese sandwich with cinnamon raisin bread you don't know what you're missing!

I thought this would be a fun little cookie that's not only egg and nut free, but kind of different too. They're not too sweet and extremely soft and chewy. You'll notice that there's no sugar in these. Instead I've used real maple syrup - a great healthy alternative to sugar in baked goods! You can play around with the recipe and use strawberries, cherries, dried fruit or even chocolate chips. You could use frozen fruit that has been thawed, but just know that it will probably turn your cookie a blue-purple color. Enjoy!

Egg and Nut Free Blueberry Cheesecake Cookies
 2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp. butter, softened
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup applesauce
3 oz. cream cheese (regular)
1 Tbsp.whole milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a medium bowl with a wire whisk.  In a mixer, blend the butter, maple syrup, applesauce, cream cheese and vanilla. Slowly add the dry mixture until full mixed. Gently fold in the blueberries.

Drop by spoonfuls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Makes about 24 cookies depending on size.

Egg and Nut Free Cinnamon Crunch Muffins

Whenever C and I attend play groups, or if he's going to be in the nursery at church, I always try to bring a separate "safe" snack for him. I don't want to leave anything to chance or have someone accidentally give him something that's unsafe for him.  And I also don't expect others to go out of their way to make sure their snacks are egg and nut free.

 I made these muffins the other day and he LOVED them! Even though they are pretty good for you, he was calling them "cookies" because they taste more like a dessert than a healthy muffin. If you are looking for a safe snack to bring along for your child, this is a great choice. They actually remind me of the cinnamon crunch bagels from Panera. I figure if he's not able to have the snacks that the other kids have, I at least need to make mine taste the best! Maybe everyone will enjoy them so much they won't mind going allergy safe :)

Egg and Nut Free Cinnamon Crunch Muffins (Adapted from Food Allergy Mama's Cinnamon Bread Foodallergymama.com)

1/4 cup palm shortening*
1/3 cup honey
2 Tbsp. water
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup milk

Topping:
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 Tbsp. melted butter

*You can use any shortening, but I use palm shortening because it is allergy safe and much healthier for you than regular shortening. I bought a gallon from tropicaltraditions.com, and although it's expensive, it will last you a long time. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside. In a large bowl, beat the shortening and honey until combined. Add water as it mixes and beat until fluffy. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients with a whisk.  Add to the shortening mixture alternatively with the milk beginning and ending with the flour.

In a bowl, mix the 2 tsp. cinnamon, sugar and melted butter. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full with the dough and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Mmmm...enjoy!!

Egg and Nut Free Baked Blueberry Doughnut Holes

I have 2 distinct memories when I hear the word "doughnut". The first one is my grandpa because he used to buy us Dunkin' Donut Munchkins whenever he came to visit. The second one is ice skating lessons because I used to stop by Dunkin' Donuts on my way to skating every Saturday morning.  I used to get 2 doughnuts and a powerade....breakfast of champions!

Doughnuts are definitely on the very long list of "no no's" for egg and nut allergies. Although this recipe doesn't taste or look exactly like what you'd get from Dunkin' Donuts, it comes sort of close and is pretty delicious. You can fry these if you want to, but I didn't because there's nothing safe about a hot pan of oil when you have a toddler running around! I chose to make doughnut holes because I don't have a doughnut pan and I (unsuccessfully) tried to shape these into doughnuts. They expand....a lot. Plus, the doughnut holes are the perfect size for a toddler munchie!

Egg and Nut Free Baked Blueberry Doughnut Holes
2 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
7/8-1 cup milk
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp.baking soda
1 Tbsp. white vinegar
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen, thawed
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Add the milk, syrup, butter and vanilla and stir until combined. (Start with 7/8 cup milk, and add extra milk if needed to mix). Mix vinegar and baking soda in a small bowl and fold into batter. Fold in blueberries. Combine sugar and 2 tsp. cinnamon in a bowl.  Form batter into small balls and roll in cinnamon sugar. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

You can make these as big or small as you want. I recommend starting small because they do expand while baking. You should be able to get about 24 small doughnut holes. Bake 15 minutes and enjoy!

Homemade Nut-Free Granola Bars

If there's one thing I've missed since we began our allergy journey, it's granola bars. It was always a great healthy snack to fall back on and I've seriously been trying to come up with a recipe since last spring. I am pleased to share with you that I have FINALLY came up with one! I searched and searched for nut free granola bar recipes online, but if they were nut free then they had some sort of seed in them (which we can't have either). So after many tries, I have finally come up with one that stays together like a granola bar should and is pretty delicious as well. You can also substitute chocolate chips for the dried fruit if you'd like.

Nut Free Granola Bars

4 cups oats

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup organic raw sugar

1 cup mixture of raisins and cranberries

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup coconut oil, melted

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup maple syrup

Preheat oven to 325. Combine 1st 5 ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and mix. together until fully coated. Place granola mixture in a greased 13x9 inch glass baking pan and spread evenly.

                         

Bake 40 minutes. Cool for 15-20 minutes and then cut into bars. Store in a tupperware dish.

Egg Free Vanilla ("Nilla") Wafers

Prior to our son's allergies, our favorite snack was the "Nilla". It was not uncommon to have an open box of Nilla Wafers on our kitchen table in the evening, grabbing a handful whenever we passed by.  Shortly after we found out about the allergies, I came across a devastating discovery on a trip to the grocery store.

Ingredients: UNBLEACHED ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE [VITAMIN B1], RIBOFLAVIN [VITAMIN B2], FOLIC ACID), SUGAR, SOYBEAN OIL, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED COTTONSEED OIL, WHEY (FROM MILK), EGGS, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, SALT, LEAVENING (BAKING SODA AND/OR CALCIUM PHOSPHATE), EMULSIFIERS (MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES, SOY LECITHIN). CONTAINS: WHEAT, MILK, EGG, SOY.

No more nillas!!!!!

Sad.

That is, until last night when I finally came up with a worthy egg free vanilla wafer.

Delicious. While I had the opportunity to make an egg free version, I also took it upon myself to make them healthier than the original nilla. Whole wheat flour and just honey to sweeten, you'd never know they were better for you! We now have an open tupperware container of these homemade vanilla wafers sitting on our counter. They probably won't last long, so it's a good thing they're easy to make!

Egg Free Vanilla Wafers

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

Place 1st 3 ingredients in a bowl and combine.

Place butter in a stand mixer and beat until creamy.

Add vanilla, applesauce and honey and mix for another minute or until combined. 

It won't be completely homogeneous because of the applesauce, but will end up looking something like this.

Add the flour mixture and mix until combined. Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes or longer. Preheat oven to 350. Roll 1 tsp. of dough into a ball and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Flatten each ball into a disk and bake for 15 minutes. 

Cool and serve

With a glass of milk.

Sweet Avocado Hummus

C and I were out at the library and running errands all morning, so we were quite hungry when we got home. I wanted to make us sandwiches for lunch to use up these homemade bagels that I had, but I don't like giving him deli meat and peanut butter isn't an option either (of course). Usually I will just make him a cream cheese sandwich, but today I was inspired by a couple ingredients I had here at home that I hadn't used yet. One avocado and a can of chickpeas. Hmmmmm.....sweet avocado hummus.

Sweet Avocado Hummus
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 avocado, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
2 Tablespoons lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 garlic clove, minced
1 T. honey
water, if needed
optional add-in: fresh cilantro

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Add water if needed to help mix.

You can serve this as a sandwich spread or as a dip with veggies and crackers.

 Nutritionally, this is actually a good substitute for natural peanut butter because it has protein and good fats. He'll eat anything with avocado!

Mommy's Secret Smoothie

All parents go through the frustration of having to navigate through picky eating habits to get their kids to eat as healthy as possible.  If you throw allergies into the mix, it's even harder because there's already so much they can't have.  Here's a great smoothie recipe that is nutritious enough to fill in the gaps, but tasty enough that they'll think it's a treat.

Let me assure you won't even taste our little green friend who slipped his way into this smoothie

If you have a hard time getting your kids to eat their veggies, this is a great recipe for them.

Mommy's Secret Smoothie
1 banana
1/2 cup frozen raspberries
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 cup organic whole milk plain yogurt
handful of organic baby spinach leaves
splash of either orange juice, milk or water

Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.

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.

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.

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.