Orange Biscotti

This is an adaptation of an old Betty Crocker recipe. Biscotti has always been one of my favorites with tea, and here is an allergy-free version: no dairy, wheat, or eggs. It can be gluten-free depending on what flours you use. The biscotti does, however, have refined sugar (I couldn't bring myself to substitute everything). You could try maple sugar or date sugar if you needed to avoid refined sugar.

1 c. sugar
1/2 c. vegetable shortening or non-hydrogenated margarine (if you are allergic to soy, make sure it's soy-free)
1 T. grated orange zest
1 t. vanilla
2/3 c. water mixed with a scant 2 T. brown flaxseeds
Note: Heat in a small saucepan over med-high heat until boiling, only boil about 1 min until a slightly thickened gel forms - don't make it too thick or you won't be able to strain the seeds out. Strain the whole seeds out and cool the liquid gel. Use the gel in place of the two eggs.
3 1/2 cups of all-purpose (if you can have it) or any combination of flours (I used 1 c. brown rice, 2 c. oat, and 1/2 c. sorghum/milo)
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Make flaxseed gel to use in place of egg and place in an ice bath to cool if using immediately. Beat sugar, shortening or margarine, orange zest, vanilla and flaxseed gel in a large bowl. Stir in flour, baking powder, salt. Note: I had a hard time mixing it together, but just use a wooden spoon or your hands, adding a little water if necessary, to form a soft dough. Split dough in half and shape each half into a 10X3 " rectangle and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake about 20 minutes, cool for 15 minutes. Cut crosswise into 1" thick slices (the original instructions say 1/2" slices, but I did 1" with a sharp, wet knife. Using different flours, especially gluten-free like brown rice, tend to be a bit crumbly.) Bake about 10 minutes longer. You want them to be crisp, slightly brown but not too dark. From the initial cutting, I thought they would turn out too crumbly, but after the second baking they held together well.

Meal/Menu Planning

A new feature I've been using for all sorts of things is google documents. It particularly helps me with the arduous task of weekly menu planning. Menu planning is a must in our household, since we can't just drop everything and go eat out anytime we feel like it (allergies, kids, money, etc.). Even though I spend 1-2 hours every Saturday on menu planning, I have to believe it also saves time and money. It helps me use up what I have on hand and plan for the groceries I need. I never have to stop and think, "what will we have for dinner tonight?" My husband can also access the spreadsheet from work if he's curious.

While I don't plan everything - and sometimes I plan too much - at least I have a road map for the week, knowing that it can change spontaneously.

Here's my approach to menu planning:
(1) Make a list of what you have in the refrigerator/freezer/pantry you want to use up.
(2) Pick out 1-2 new recipes you want to try during the week.
(3) Make a list of the foods your family eats/can eat on a regular basis - dividing into vegetables (we do "starchy and non-starchy" from the Schwarzbein Principle), fruits, meats, and grains.
(4) Try to rotate the meals you eat on about a three-four day basis if possible (we have not been following a strict rotation diet, but I think it's still a good idea).
(5) Fill out a spreadsheet for the week (alternatively, I make one spreadsheet and list several options for a given meal, using the basic meal plan for several weeks. This also allows you to also make an impulse decision with some basic suggestions (i.e. quinoa pancakes or quinoa flakes?). You also don't have to start from scratch every week.
(6) Make your grocery list.
(7) Go shopping.

This is what one of our weekly meal plans looks like.

An Excellent Whole Foods Cookbook

My mom sent me an excellent whole-foods cookbook with lots of everyday, easy-to-prep recipes. While not allergy free and it does include refined sugar, I am able to use my list of substitutions and make most recipes in this book. The cookbook is from the "everyday food" magazine related to Martha Stewart Living and is called "Great Food Fast: 250 recipes for easy, delicious meals all year long". They are all wonderful "whole-foods" recipes (you will never see the ingredient 1 can cream of mushroom soup!)

So far I've made the Enchiladas with Pumpkin Sauce, Carrot Soup, Lentil Soup, Crispy Apricot Pork Chops and Salmon Steaks with Hoisin Glaze. The enchiladas were great because they were made with corn tortillas (I made my own out of yellow corn masa flour) and canned pumpkin puree instead of wheat and tomatoes. The recipe called for chicken, but we had shredded roast port tenderloin since my husband is allergic to chicken, and white sharp cheddar cheese (which I substituted soy cheese for my husband and regular cheese for my daughter).

The carrot soup was very creamy and sweet (no sugar, only the sweetness of the carrots and mild curry) - my kids could not eat enough. I substituted my vegetable broth for the chicken broth. I made the crispy apricot pork chops, not with breadcrumbs, but with Ryvita rye crackers and they also turned out well. Since I don't like fish, I used the hoisin glaze on my chicken and just left my daughter's chicken without the sauce. Instead of buying a packaged hoisin sauce, it was just as easy to find a recipe online - but it included soy and peanut butter.

If you're stuck on meal planning and need some new ideas to make whole-foods fast, try this book. A nice feature is that it is arranged by season!

Thai Mango Sticky Rice w/ Purple Potato

Having allergies makes you branch out to different cultures/styles of cooking to find foods you can eat. This was my first time making sweet, "sticky" rice. Also, it was my first time cooking "purple potatoes." I had them in sweet rice once in a Thai restaurant in Ann Arbor, MI and I finally found them at A. Russo's in Watertown, MA. I followed the directions on the package of sweet rice for steaming the rice in cheesecloth, and I also made some in the rice cooker. I thought the steamed rice turned out better; it was soft but still intact...whereas the rice in the rice cooker came out almost like a pudding. Maybe I used too much water. Anyway, if I made it again I would steam the rice.

Here are the directions:
Soak 1 cup of sweet rice in in water overnight. Drain. Spread sweet rice in thin, even layer in steam rack lined with cheesecloth. Steam covered, over rapidly boiling water 25 minutes. Sprinkle lightly with salt, steam 20-25 minutes more.

In a saucepan, warm 1/2 can coconut milk, 2-3 T. maple syrup, pinch of salt, and 1/2 t. vanilla. Add 1 t. arrowroot powder dissolved in 2 T. of water. As it thickens, turned heat to low and cook about 3 minutes.

I baked the potatoes and chopped them into cubes. Put cooked rice, potatoes, and cut-up mango in a bowl. Ladle hot coconut milk sauce over and enjoy! If you want the potatoes sweeter, maybe soak them in the coconut sauce longer. I've also seen this made with black-eye peas. I love that vegetables/beans are included even in dessert!

How can I get my kids to eat vegetables?

"Mommy, more carrots and some of that new special sauce please." These were the glorious words uttered out of the mouth of my 3-year old at dinner tonight. And all it took was a little homemade cucumber-ranch dressing from an old Martha Stewart Living magazine.

Lately I've been really into dips, recalling a Pampered Chef party I once went to where another mother quoted her daughter saying "no Mommy, I dip". Kids seem to have a fascination with brightly colored or milky white sauces and cute little dipping bowls.

So, here are my dip ideas...you can use whatever you like from crackers to carrots (or whatever you're trying to get your kids to eat) as the "dippers". I've included the dairy dips too in case your child can tolerate dairy...my daughter can have dairy and eggs, but tried some commercial ranch dressing when we painfully realized it had soy in it.

(1) Guacamole - there are recipes out there that are as simple as mashed avocados and lime juice to the full-fledged spicy version
(2) Hummus - a chickpea and garlic spread
(3) Roasted vegetable spread - eggplant or red pepper
(4) Pesto - any herb pureed with olive oil, cheese and nuts optional
(5) Salad dressings - we are partial to the carrot-ginger dressing in "The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook" by Cybele Pascal, and also Martha Stewart vinaigrettes
(6) Cybele Pascal has an allergy-free recipe for "avocado mayonnaise" similar I think to guacamole
(7) Plain sesame tahini, mixed with a little water or rice milk to make it into a dip

The dairy ones:
(1) homemade ranch
(2) yogurt dips
(3) spinach dips
(4) cheese dips

Quick Easy Breakfast Ideas

Even though I am a stay-at-home mom, time is short around our house too. I still try to fit in time to make allergy-free pancakes or a balanced breakfast meal (we try to make it the most important meal of the day). Here are some suggestions to make breakfast easier:

Try to make breakfast the night before:
-mix up a gluten-free pancake or muffin mix, combining all the dry ingredients and putting them in a plastic bag. Then you just have to add the wet ingredients. Get a large 2 burner griddle so you can cook a lot at once.
-make swiss oats (oats soaked overnight with rice milk or regular milk/water, honey if you want), then add dried fruit/nuts/sunflower or pumpkin seeds in the a.m. Bob's Red Mill makes a new GF rolled oats
-how about granola made the night before?
-Muesli made the night before (make your own with GF rolled oats, dried fruit, sunflower or pumpkin seeds)
-A fresh vegetable "salad" like fresh chopped zucchini, summer squash, and chickpeas with a little flax seed oil and lemon juice is also a good option to make ahead at night and keep in the fridge until the a.m. Also, coleslaw, a cold rice or quinoa salad with fresh vegetables are other good options (see the "Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook") You can pack these salads for lunches too.

Fast morning ideas:
-try Bob's Red Mill Mighty Tasty GF Hot Breakfast Cereal - it's like quick-cooking Cream of Wheat (without the gluten). Arrowhead Mills also makes "Rice n' Shine" another quick-cooking hot rice cereal. Cream of buckwheat is good too.
-A few frozen vegetables steamed in the micro or on the stovetop for 5 min. is a great way to start the day (broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, peas) If it's hard to get your kids to eat fresh or steamed veggies, try a wide variety of sauces/dips - hummus, a roasted red pepper or eggplant spread, homemade yogurt sauces if your kids can have milk, homemade dressings or vinaigrettes...you can stock your fridge with these sauces/dips ahead of time.

Try menu planning for the week or even for a few days so you don't waste time getting up wondering what you can cook or if you have the ingredients on hand.

Kid's Stir-fried Rice (no soy necessary, but I did use eggs)

The kids needed something fast and nutritionally decent one day, so I decided to make them stir-fried rice. They loved it!

1 crown fresh broccoli, broken into bite-size pieces
2 carrots, shredded or grated
3 scallions, chopped
2 cups of cooked brown rice
3-4 T. sunflower oil
2 eggs, slightly beaten (or you could use silken tofu with tumeric)
1 T. sesame seeds

In a wok, stir-fry broccoli in sunflower oil until soft enough for kids to eat (or crunchy if you like). Add carrots, scallions, and rice. Stir-fry a few minutes until hot. Make a well in the center and add the eggs. Note: I recently read that a lot of the proteins people are generally allergic to are found in the whites, not the yolks. My husband, who can't tolerate eggs, has just started eating the nutrient-rich yolks without any adverse effects. Slightly scramble the eggs, when they are no longer runny stir them into the rest of the rice/vegetable mixture. Then make another well in the center and add the sesame seeds. When they are toasted (a few seconds), stir them into the rest of the dish. You can put wheat-free tamari soy sauce on if you can tolerate soy, or my daughter had hers with a little white-wine vinaigrette.

Vinaigrette (from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food cookbook):
1/4 c. white wine vinegar
1 T. dijon mustard
salt/pepper
sugar (I used a little honey)
3/4 c. extra virgin olive oil