If you’re looking for healthy, sugar-free and gluten free dessert recipes and a delicious allergen-friendly Holiday Menu Planner this season, you won’t want to miss the 20% OFF pre-order offer that will be expiring tonight at midnight PST.

All of the recipes on both the Just Desserts for the Limited Diet recipe e-book and the Holiday Menu Planner are free of the following ingredients:

no gluten

no wheat

no grains

no starches or nightshade veggies

no refined sugar – only honey is used

no dairy – butter is used but coconut oil can be substituted

no soy

no corn

no peanuts

egg-free options and dessert recipes are on both the menu planner and dessert e-book

Some of the recipes that you won’t want to miss out on include:

Dairy-free Egg Nog

Egg-free Egg Nog

Gingered Cranberry Raspberry Relish

Dairy and Gluten-free Coconut Cream Pie

Gluten free Pecan Pie

Gluten free Pumpkin Pie

Gluten free Cookie Cutter Cookies

Gluten free Cookie Press Cookies

Spice Cake with “Butter” Cream Frosting

Walnut Torte with Lemon Whipped Cream Frosting

Almond Brittle

Almond Rocha

and many more!

Also, the desserts e-book and the holiday menu planner make great gifts for the holidays for someone who is limited in their diet.

To read more about the allergen-friendly Holiday Menu Planner and the Just Desserts for Limited Diets recipe e-book and to pre-order, click here.

I hope you’re having a relaxed and blessed holiday season!

Cranberry Raspberry Relish from Eatingwell.com

I had so much fun with the Thanksgiving Menu Planner that I am very excited about creating menu planners for the coming holidays as well!

So excited, that I am actually going to create both a Holiday Menu Planner as well as “Just Desserts” recipe booklet for people on limited diets.

I grew up celebrating Christmas, but if this is not the holiday you celebrate, these menu planners and recipes could most likely work for any festive celebration and holiday.

The Holiday Menu Planner:

I think for many families, having a nice breakfast on either Christmas morning or another special day during the holidays is very common.  So I decided to include a breakfast menu to the holiday menu planner as well as a dinner menu.

Once again, the menu planner is going to be free of the following foods, so that it can work for almost any limited diet:

no dairy -  (butter may be used in some recipes but there is always another option that is dairy-free)

no wheat or gluten – all grains and products containing gluten

no grains

no sugar - only natural sweeteners will be used, such as raw honey and maple syrup

no soy – no soybean oil, lecithin, and other soy products

limited starches

no corn

no beans and legumes

egg-free options

What kinds of foods will be used:

Chicken, eggs, vegetables (non-starchy), nuts, seeds, fruit, honey, coconut, and other whole food ingredients.

So far, this is the menu I have, but it is subject to change, based on feedback I get:

Breakfast:
Egg Frittata
Apple Clafoutis
Egg-Free Banana Muffins or Fig and Nut Spice Bars
Festive Fruit Salad with Almond Crème

Snacks:
Squash Fries
Holiday Pecans
Egg Nog or Almond Nog

Dinner:
Pomegranate Mandarin Salad with Creamy Poppy seed Dressing
Creamy Butternut Squash Soup
Rosemary Roasted Chicken
Cranberry Raspberry Relish
Steamed Green Beans with Sliced Almonds
Roasted Veggies with Honey Mustard Glaze
Coconut Rolls

Dessert:
Spice Cake with Butter Cream Icing
Egg-free option (TBA)

Just Desserts Recipe e-Book

I got a little carried away with the desserts on the Thanksgiving Menu Planner that I decided that for the holidays, I would create a booklet of holiday dessert recipes.

I think when anyone thinks of Christmas and food, sweets come to mind.  I grew up with my mom making peanut brittle, peppermint bark and lots of other delicious desserts.  These made great gifts for friends and family and we also really enjoyed them!

I already have a long list of candies and desserts that I want to include in the booklet.  And they’re all going to be free of refined sugar, wheat, gluten, grains, soy, corn, and dairy.  Most of the desserts will also be free of chocolate but I may include one or two for people who can eat chocolate.  Here are the ideas I have so far for the Just Desserts Recipe e-book:

Candies and Nuts:
Holiday Pecans
Rosemary Walnuts
Toffee Candies
Almond Brittle
Almond Joy Coconut Bark
Peppermint Patty Coconut Bark
Honey Caramels
Cinnamon Truffles
Almond Rocca
Fudge

Cookies:
Gingerbread Men and other Christmas Cut-out Cookies
Christmas Cookies
Cookie Press Cookies
Coconut Macaroons
Fig and Nut Spice Bars

Cakes:
Christmas Fruit and Nut Cake
Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes
Spice Cake with Butter Cream Frosting
Walnut Torte
Flourless Carrot Cake

Pies, crusts and toppings:
Berry Almond Pie Bars
Berry Pie
Coconut Mousse Pie
Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Pecan Pie
Almond Pie Crust
Coconut Pie Crust
Coconut icing
Coconut whipped Cream
Cashew Cream
Butter Cream Icing

Free Give-Away of the Holiday Menu Planner and the Just Desserts recipe e-book!

Last time for the Thanksgiving Menu Planner, I offered it free to people who offered ideas and recipes for the planner that I ended up using.  Thank you to all who participated and gave me your ideas!

For the Holiday Menu Planner and the Just Desserts recipe e-book, I am offering a FREE give-away to 5 people who would love to receive them for their holiday planning.  That means, five people will receive both the Holiday Menu Planner as well as the Just Desserts recipe e-book for FREE!

How to Enter the Giveaway

There are 7 possible entries

1. Take a look at the menus for the Holiday Menu Planner and the Just Desserts recipe e-book in this blog post and then leave a comment telling us what you think about them and why you’d like to win them.
2. Twitter about this giveaway. Link to (http://bit.ly/7lTKeh) and mention me @Heartofcooking so I can track it.
3. Follow me, Sarah Schatz, on Twitter: @heartofcooking.
4. Share a link to this give away post on Facebook. (http://www.heartofcooking.com/2009/11/coming-soon-limited-diet-holiday-and-just-desserts-menu-planners-plus-free-giveaway)
5. Send an email to a friend about this giveaway. Give them the URL to this post. (http://www.heartofcooking.com/2009/11/coming-soon-limited-diet-holiday-and-just-desserts-menu-planners-plus-free-giveaway)
6. Subscribe  to my blog via email or blog reader.
7. Blog about this giveaway. Refer your readers to this post: (http://www.heartofcooking.com/2009/11/coming-soon-limited-diet-holiday-and-just-desserts-menu-planners-plus-free-giveaway)

As you complete each item, come back here and leave a comment letting me know. You can also leave one comment saying everything you did.

Who Will Win?

Five readers will win FREE copies of the Holiday Menu Planner and the Just Desserts Recipe e-book .

Menu Planner Release and Free Giveaway Dates

The Holiday Menu Planner and the Just Desserts recipe e-book will be available for pre-order starting the first week of December.  People who pre-order will receive them in their email the day they are uploaded to my website, the 16th of December.  They will be complete and available for purchase on Wednesday, the 16th of December.

The deadline for the Free Give-Away will be Monday, the 14th of December. The winners will be announced by the 16th of December.  So, you have over two weeks to share and spread the message of the Holiday Menu Planner and Just Desserts recipe e-book for a chance to win a copy of each for your holiday planning.

So, let’s get going!  Have fun and Happy Holidays!

Sarah

Dreams do come true.  I’ve been dreaming about the ocean and the beach, literally, for the past couple of years.  I was pregnant two years ago and traveling wasn’t very easy so we didn’t go.  And last year, we went to the mountains in California but weren’t able to visit the beach on that trip.  But this year we took our 21 month old toddler to the beach in North Carolina and we had a ball.

We went with a beautiful family whom we have only recently befriended this past spring.  But with some friendships, doesn’t it seem like you’ve known each other forever?

My friends have three kids, ages 2, 5 and 8.  So counting all the heads, that made eight people to feed, breakfast, lunch and dinner.  To make things more complicated, Jana and I are both gluten-free and Elijah and I are dairy-free.  So before our trip, we did a little gluten-free and dairy-free menu planning and came up with the following ideas for our families:

For dinner:

Turkey Burgers and Sweet Potato Fries (one of my standbys)

Meatloaf (Made with Grass-fed Beef) and Steamed Broccoli (I used almond meal in place of breadcrumbs)

Chicken Burritos with Lime Guacamole (I use Food for Life Brown Rice Tortillas for the gluten-free people)

Lasagna with Ground Turkey (I use Tinkyada Brown Rice Lasagna noodles)

Pasta with “Cheese” Sauce and Green Beans and Peas (I use Tinkyada Brown Rice Noodles)

For breakfast:

Gluten-free pancakes (made one batch with coconut flour and one with buckwheat flour)

Grain and Gluten-free Apple Muffins (made with quinoa flour)

Omelets with Mushrooms, Onions and Tomatoes

Eggs and Toast

Smoothies

Fruit Salad

Lunch:

Chicken Salad with Celery and Raisins (I would have added chopped apples but they made faces at me when I mentioned this!)

Sandwiches and other snack items

Leftovers

Some kid-friendly tips that I learned on the trip:

I learned a lot this week about what a lot of parents struggle with daily – how to feed a children new and different foods they aren’t used to.  Luckily the toddlers are not very picky – my little one is used to my “weird” cooking and doesn’t question me about if cheese is real or not.  Jana’s toddler Zack is also a champ at eating unless he’s not hungry.

Jana’s middle child, Carly, also liked most everything that was prepared, while Kevin, her oldest, was the hardest customer to please.  And while Jana had said the menu looked good, some of the recipes, like the Chicken Burritos, were new to the whole family.  But this one turned out to be one of the hits of the week (maybe I was lucky).  Even for Kevin, after a little coaxing from his mom, he willingly tried AND finished a whole burrito.  Very impressive!

For the Meatloaf, Kevin didn’t want to try it at first.  But Jana asked me to tell him everything that was in it and they were all ingredients he liked but just hadn’t had together in one dish before.  He finally gave it a go and I think (possibly) he ended up liking it with ketchup.

I think probably the biggest hit was the Apple Muffins.  Everyone loved them and no one could tell they were gluten or even grain-free.  They were all gone (all 24 plus 1 loaf) within a day.

Some things didn’t go over as well with Kevin and sometimes Carly.  But even if they didn’t like something, they were always asked by their parents to at least try it.  This produced some grumbling at times but I agree that it is good to help our children broaden their horizons with food.

“Turn Picky Eaters into Kitchen Helpers”:

Driving home during the seven hour car trip, I was able to stop and think about and process the week of meals.  Something came to me that I wish I had thought of before the week (isn’t that always the case with hindsight?!)

I remembered reading an article recently about how to help your “picky eaters” eat and enjoy new kinds of foods or even homemade food.  The main premise of the article was to enlist your kids to help you with the cooking.  The article pointed out that when children are involved with making a meal, they become much more willing AND excited to try what they have just created.

Makes sense, doesn’t it?  But many parents are used to doing all the cooking and many kids are not used to helping.  But based on my own childhood experience, I know that the foundation that was laid while I was growing up created a place for me to feel free to create and have fun in the kitchen while I cook.  I was always helping my mom make baked goods and sometimes dinner, and eventually I started creating dishes of my own in my teens.

For whatever reason though, the kids weren’t a part of the dinner making this week.  Even Elijah, who is usually at my side saying, “cook, cook” while dragging a chair to the counter so that he can watch and “help” me, was busy playing outside in the sand most of the time.  So while it may have helped the children enjoy some of the meals had they participated in their creation, I am not sure if a week at the beach is the best time to do this.  I’d rather be outside playing if I were them!

I can’t find the original article that I read about this concept, but here are some links to some blogs and articles that talk about this idea of enlisting your kids help with meals:

Turn picky eaters into kitchen helpers

20+ Creative Lunch Ideas:  Ways to Get Kids Involved in Lunchtime

Raising Picky Eaters

Involve Your Family in the Kitchen

Regardless of whether everyone liked the food or not, we all had a good time at the beach.  It was great getting to know Jana’s family more intimately and enjoying our meals together.  The best part for me was watching Elijah play, run, dance and spin on the beach.  He was so at home, running and laughing on the sand and with the waves.  I pray these memories stay with me forever!

Here are some beach pictures.  Sorry no pictures of the food!  I wasn’t really planning on doing a post about our trip or the food!  Enjoy!

Elijah and the Castle

Jana and Kevin on the beach

Elijah

Exploring the sand

Exploring the water

Sarah and Elijah playing

Once again, I am submitting this post as part of the Tuesday Twister Carnival at GNOWFLINS.com.  Please visit Wardeh’s site to see the other “real food” blog posts.  enjoy!

Raw Zucchini Chocolate Cake

For whatever reason, many of the recipes I worked on this week ended up being raw or mostly raw.  In part, I was continuing my quest for some travel-friendly treats for my son and decided to try some raw fruit and nut balls, similar to Larabars.

I was also testing recipes for my menu planners for limited diets free of gluten, grains, dairy, eggs sugar and other common allergens.  Many raw recipes work great for people with a lot of food limitations.  The only drawback I find is that they use nuts extensively, which is a common allergen.  I find though, that seeds such as pumpkin, sunflower and sesame seeds can be used in place of nuts in some of these recipes.

As far as eating raw nuts goes, it is really best to soak them for a varied amount of time, depending upon the nut or seed.  This process is what releases their enzyme inhibitors and unlocks their full nutritional value.  In terms of soaking, you can either soak just long enough to germinate, or longer to sprout (however it’s difficult to sprout some nuts).

I have to admit that I didn’t soak the nuts and seeds in the recipes I tested this week.  This was partly due to the recipes not asking me to do this and in part laziness and impatience on my part.  However, if I were to do them again, I would soak the nuts and seeds in these recipes.

Here is a list of some new and yummy things I made this week:

Cashew Apricot Bliss Balls and Cherry-Walnut Bites

Cashew Apricot Bliss Balls (raw).  These turned out pretty good but if I made them again, I would use a different kind of dried apricot.  The ones I used were from Trader Joe’s.  They are unsulfured but I had forgotten how tart they are.  I also used lemon zest instead of orange zest, simply because I didn’t have an orange.  But they would be a lot better with the orange zest.  I also would up the cardamom and ginger powder as they were not that noticeable.  Also, like I said above, I would soak the cashews for 2-2 1/2 hours.

Cherry Walnut Bites (almost raw;  can be made raw with raw chocolate or leaving out the chocolate).  These are delicious.  If I made them again, I’d use raw chocolate or raw cacao powder.  Again, I would soak the walnuts – they require 4 hours germination time.

Seed Cheese from Rawvolution (raw).  This cheese if made from sunflower seeds so it is great for dairy-free and nut-free diets.  The original recipe for this raw and dairy-free cheese calls for a raw soy sauce called, Nama Shoyu.  But since many people I cook and plan for can’t eat soy, I left this ingredient out.  I balanced out the recipe by adding a little salt and water.  I also used only about 3 cloves of garlic, verses the 5-6 called for.  It was plenty garlicky for me and my husband really liked it.  We’ve been enjoying it on pasta and toast.  When I make this again, I plan on soaking the sunflower seeds – they require 2 hours germination time.

Curried Kuri Squash Soup

Curried Kuri Squash Soup (from the Kuri Squashes from our garden – not raw).  I didn’t write down this recipe as I made it this time.  But I normally cream this soup with ground up cashews and season it with curry, ginger, and salt.  I think I also added a bit of honey to sweeten a bit this time.

Raw Zucchini Chocolate Cake

No-Bake Zucchini Cake (almost raw; can be made raw with raw cacao).   This is a quick and easy, yummy dessert.  It may seem strange not to bake the zucchini but you really don’t need to!  It is rich, moist and dense.  But also so healthy, you could have it for breakfast.  When I make this again, I’m going to soak the nuts for 6 hours.

Raspberry Cream (raw) This is my new favorite smoothie or dessert.  Don’t let the avocado in it fool you – it is simply delicious and you wouldn’t even know the avocado is in there!  I made it as the recipe called for and also with dates instead of banana.  Both were yummy.  Sorry, no picture.  Both times I made it, it disappeared too fast!

Balsamic and Basil Salmon: cooked in a cast iron skillet, this was Monday’s dinner. Fast and easy, I simply cooked the salmon with a bit of lemon juice and olive oil.  Seasoned with salt and dried parsley.  When it was done, I drizzled a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar on top and garnished with freshly chopped basil from the garden.  Very fast and very good!

Raspberry Cream Recipe – adpated from www.WildHealthFoods.com

• ½ cup frozen or fresh raspberries
• 1 large ripe banana or about 4-5 soft dates
• 1ripe Avocado
• Pinch salt
• about 1/2 cup or so homemade almond milk

1) Blend all ingredients until smooth.

2)  If you want to make your own almond milk, soak 1 cup almonds overnight, drain the water, then blend with 5 cups filtered water and a bit of raw honey.  Strain through a mesh strainer or “nut bag.”  Yum!

And once again, I am writing this post as part of the Tuesday Twister Carnival at GNOWFGLINS.com. Make sure to check out the other wonderful and nourishing foods the other participants cooked up this week!

Our lovely cherry tomatoes

I have been enjoying the Tuesday Twister blog posts by Wardeh Harmon at Gnowfglins.com for the past few weeks or so ever since I found her website.   These blog posts have been a synopsis of her week in the kitchen and what has been twisting in her cooking.  I love reading them, mostly because she focuses on nourishing, whole foods!

Last week she announced her new Blog Carnival, the Tuesday Twister Carnival and her invitation to participate in the weekly postings.  I started thinking about doing this and then a couple days ago, inspiration struck I finally decided to give it a go.  I can’t promise I’ll do it every week, but we’ll see what happens.

My Meal Un-Plan

I started thinking about my week in the kitchen and what it is normally like during our busy days.  And what stood out to me the most was the fact that I hardly ever meal plan.

Okay, so I menu plan for my clients and I create different menu planners for different diets.  But I have to be honest with you.  Rarely do I plan my whole week in advance before I go to the store each week…which usually turns into 3 x a week visiting the store.

What usually happens is I look around in my refrigerator, freezer and pantry, think about what I’d like to make, then see what I can make with what I have.

Sometimes while I’m shopping I will get ingredients for something I have been wanting to make (like my tomatillo salsa) but oftentimes, dinner is a creative process of coming up with something new, yummy and healthy for the family.

Curried Chicken Salad with Coconut Milk

So this week’s menu which is gluten-free, dairy-free, legume free and I think soy-free…

Of course, the menu was created after the fact…

Tuesday: Garam Masala Lamb burgers and Sauteed Zucchini

Wednesday: Chicken Legs with Caramelized Onions, Basmati Rice and the Tomatillo Salsa I had made on monday.  My mom was having dinner with us and she loved it.

Thursday: We went to the Farmer’s Market and bought fresh produce.  But I didn’t much feel like cooking so I took some frozen dairy-free and gluten-free pizza out of the freezer that I had made.  We enjoyed it with fresh corn on the cob and watermelon.

Friday: I was craving Tortilla Lasagna, even though I knew the oven would heat up the house.  Made a special trip to the store for the ingredients, and made it with ground turkey, spinach, olives and tomato sauce.

Saturday: Made my first batch of Pot Pie muffins for Elijah.  We took them to Surreybrook Farms for an incredible outing.

For dinner:  Made Chicken Curried Salad and Baked Yukon Gold Potatoes.  I usually would add celery to this salad, as well as green onions, maybe even cherry tomatoes.  But I had none of these so I steamed some green beans, and cut them into 1-inch lengths and put them in the salad.  It was tasty.

Sunday: Made my second batch of Pot Pie Muffins.  I liked these much better.

Made the Chicken Salad again because my husband loved it so much and his parents came to visit.  Also finished off the last of the Tomatillo Salsa.

Monday: My husband made Wild Salmon and Sauteed Zucchini with Marjoram ( nice not to cook every now and then!)

Our first garden harvest (well besides the sugar snap peas):

Sunday was also a day of harvesting our first crop of potatoes.  My husband planted blue, yukon gold, and fingerling and he harvested some of the yukon and fingerling.

Yukon and Fingerling Potatoes from our garden

This week, our beautiful and big Kuri Squash plants became infected with a white mold.  We treated them with a garlic spray and some baking soda.  However, we don’t think they liked the baking soda because they started to wilt shortly after.  But at least we have received two beautiful Kuri Squash from the plants.  Here’s one with some wilty leaves:

‘

One of the two Kuri Squash

We ended up harvesting the squash on monday and getting rid of the dying plants.  We also discovered that our yellow (not red like we expected) cherry tomatoes were actually ripe and we enjoyed some of the first ones.  There was a few left for a picture with the squash.  (The zucchini is from my in-law’s garden.)

Kuri Squash with Yellow Tomatoes and Zucchini

I think that’s all I have to report for the week.  I’d love to hear about other people’s week in the kitchen!  And please do check out the Tuesday Twister Carnival.

I recently checked out the book, The Kid-Friendly ADHD and Autism Cookbook at my library to see what new recipes I might find for the GF and CF diet.  I haven’t completely finished perusing the book but for the most part I would highly recommend it.  One great thing about it is that it has many soy, nut, egg and corn-free recipes as well.

One recipe that caught my eye was the “Sensory Sensible Pot Pie Muffins.” This recipe is a muffin for kids who can’t eat gluten and dairy and who may not like to eat regular chicken or vegetables.   To solve this problem, they put the pureed chicken and veggies right into the muffin.

This, I gotta try, I said.  My son used to eat literally anything I put in front of him.  But with the toddler stage, he has become a bit more picky.  He still loves cooked veggies, especially green beans but isn’t too fond of chicken these days.

Also, since we’re on the go a lot, I was looking for a snack that was travel-friendly, healthy, gluten and dairy-free and high in protein.  These muffins seemed like the answer!

Pot Pie Muffins made with Namaste muffin mix

I really tried to follow the recipe for the first attempt.  But I have to say that although it looked easy, it turned out to be confusing.

Here’s the recipe:

• 1 box (14.8 oz) store-bought GFCF muffin or quick bread mix

• 1 cup pureed vegetables (one or more of the following:  carrots, squash, peas or green beans)

• 1/2 cup applesauce

• 1/2 cup pureed chicken*

Steps:

1. In a large bowl, prepare cake mix batter according to package directions.  Add pureed vegetables, applesauce and chicken and mix to combine.
2. Lightly grease muffin tin or line with paper liners.  Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, filling each about 2/3rds full.  Bake at 375 F for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.*To puree chicken, combine cooked, chopped chicken with a bit of water or stock in a blender and blend until desired consistency is reached.

Easy right?

Okay, so first of all I have to tell you that it’s a production to make these muffins.  If you want to make them, make the chicken the night before and make extra veggies when you make dinner for the muffins.  That way you are already half way done.

The other thing that was a bit of a challenge was finding a muffin mix free of sugar.  I personally don’t like using cane sugar in baking and every mix I picked up had this in it.  Also, I couldn’t find one that was exactly 14.8 oz and I didn’t have time to figure out mathematical calculations in my head with my toddler yelling at me, “down, down!”

So, I ended up grabbing the Namaste mix because I wanted to make it simple and follow the recipe as best I could.  It is also made of brown rice verses white rice flour and is free of most allergens.

When it came to baking, I measured out just under 2 cups which is about 14.8 oz.  So I have a bit of mix left because it was a full pound.

So when I went to prepare the muffin mix, I felt I should modify the muffin mix directions because 1) I wasn’t using the whole bag and 2)  I felt like these muffins were going to be way to wet when I added the chicken, veggies and applesauce.  So I decided to use one less egg than was called for in the mix (called for 2).

They seemed like a good consistency so I went ahead and baked them.  They were actually good, but still a bit wet.  They taste more like heavy cake than a muffin.  They also deflated a bit due to the heaviness.  I personally like my muffins a bit more muffiny than these turned out to me.  It may have been that the extra egg would have helped, I am not sure.

No matter what I think of the muffins, Elijah loved them.  So there you go!

I decided to take a new approach and sack the prepared mixes.  I started again with one of Elana’s recipes with coconut flour because I was interested in making them grain-free as well.  They already called for carrots since they were her carrot muffins so this was a good start.

Pot Pie Muffins adapted from Elana's Carrot Muffin Recipe

Here is her recipe and what I did to change the recipe is next to her’s:

Gluten Free Carrot Mini Muffins
¼ cup coconut flour (I used 1/2 cup)
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt (I used 1/2 tsp)
¼ teaspoon baking soda (I used 1/2 tsp)
1 teaspoon cinnamon, ground (I used 1.5 tsp)
3 eggs (I used 5 eggs)
¼ grapeseed oil (I used 1/2 cup)
¼ yacon syrup (I used 1/3 cup agave nectar)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (to tell you the truth I forgot to add this, but would do 1.5 Tbsp)
1 cup carrots, grated (I used just over a cup and I grated them instead of cooking and blending)
¼ cup currants (I used 1/3 cup)
I added:
1/2 cup chicken puree
1/2 cup applesauce

1. In a medium bowl, combine coconut flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon
2. In a large bowl, blend together eggs, oil, sweetener, (applesauce, chicken) and vanilla
3. Blend dry ingredients into wet, then fold in carrots and currants
4. Grease a mini muffin tin with grapeseed oil and then dust with coconut flour
5. Spoon approximately 1 teaspoon of batter into each greased mini muffin cup (I used regular sized muffins and it made about 15 and took 25 minutes in the oven)
6. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes
7. Cool and serve

I had a good feeling about these muffins as I was mixing them and as they were baking.  They smelled yummy with the added cinnamon and I felt like they were going to be better than my first attempt.

Besides them sticking to the pans a bit, they were much better than the first recipe – much more springy and muffin-texture-like than the first batch.

The only thing that my be a problem for people is they definately need eggs – I used 5.  With this amount of eggs in them, it would be hard to convert this particular recipe to be egg-free.  They also have coconut flour in them but if one is allergic to coconut, you could use a GF baking blend with rice, tapioca and arrowroot.

As far as making these little babies last, I wrapped each one in plastic wrap and then put them all (except a few to munch on) into a freezer bag and froze them.  That way I can just take out one or two when we need them and they will last a lot longer.

And what did Elijah think of the second batch?  He gobbled them up too!

Anyone else have some great travel-free healthy snacks for kids?  I’d love to hear about them!  Thanks so much!

One of my favorite homemade sauces is tomatillo salsa.  The green salsas you buy in the grocery store simply don’t compare with the fresh home made version!  The only tomatillo salsa in a jar that I like is the Trader Joe’s brand. There are however some great salsa verdes available at some Mexican and Spanish restaurants.  However, if you don’t eat pork, you’ll have to ask if they added pork to their recipe.

For me, I not only love eating this wonderful fresh salsa with chips, I love using it to make chicken casseroles or just smothering fish or chicken in it.  You can make it ahead of time and then add it to many dishes!  If you don’t eat meat, you can use it in vegetarian tacos or burritos or vegetarian Mexican casseroles.

The other day I was inspired to make this salsa and it turned out hotter than I really like, so I sauteed a whole onion until it was very sweet and browned, and then blended it into the salsa.  It toned it down and made it a bit sweeter.  Very nice!

So if you’re looking for a great Tomatillo Salsa recipe, here it is!:

8-9  small-medium tomatillos, husks removed, washed and quartered

2 cloves of garlic

1/2-1 jalepeno, seeded (depends on how spicy you’d like it and how large the pepper is – I wish I had used half!)

2 large handfuls of cilantro leaves and tender stems

1 small handful or parsley (optional)

3 green onions, sliced (also optional, I forgot this and it was still great)

1 lime juiced

salt to taste, about 1/2 tsp

1 Tbsp of olive oil

Steps:

1.  Peel and wash the tomatillos.  Cut into quarters, put into a saucepan and cover with water.  Bring to a boil, and then simmer for 10 minutes or until soft and darker green.  Drain and set aside to cool.
3.  In a blender, combine the rest of the ingredients and the tomatillos.  Sauce should be slightly spicy, tangy, garlicky and fresh tasting.

I receive a lot of emails from people who have found my site and are looking for ideas for their very limited diet.  Some of these people are at a complete loss as to what to eat because their diet is so limited.  I received one of these emails from someone last week inquiring about a diet for her daughter.

Here was her list of foods that her daughter was told to avoid:

gluten (wheat, barley, oats, spelt, kamut, tricale, and all products containing gluten such as soy sauce, etc)
grain (includes rice, millet, teff, and other gluten-free grains)
dairy
egg
soy
corn
banana
kiwi

This is a similar list to many of the people who come to me.  There are definite variations and more limited diets like those without any meat or fish, legumes, nuts, all fruit, etc.  But I thought I’d start with this diet to give you some ideas on where to start.

So what do you do when you get a list like this?  My hope is that in this post, I can give you my process for starting to come up with some foods and recipes you can eat when you receive a long list of foods you should be avoiding, even temporarily.

I am also working on compiling my recipes into menu plans for different diets such as this one so that people can have a menu planner for their specific limited diet.  I am also going to start writing some blogs about how you can start to do this for yourself!

1.  Focus on what you can eat, not what you can’t! Make a long list of all the foods available in your grocery store, farmer’s market and local health foods store.  Make categories for the main food groups and list all the foods under them that you can find.

Categories would include: meat, seafood, dairy products, fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices, glutenous grains, gluten-free grains, grain-free “grains,” condiments, nuts, seeds, legumes, and sweeteners.

The most difficult part of receiving a list such as the one from this woman for her daughter, is that you have to be very creative when it comes to having foods that resemble grains, baked goods and pastas.

As a little help in the grain and grain-free department, here is a list that you can start with.  There may be others on the list I haven’t thought of or forgot to include:

Wheat-free grains:
spelt, oats, kamut, rye, barley plus all gluten-free and grain-free “grains”

Gluten-free grains and flours:
rice, all varieties
brown rice
corn
gluten-free oats
teff
millet
sorghum

Grain-free “grains,” flours and seeds
buckwheat

quinoa

amaranth

chia seeds

potato starch

sweet potato flour

yam noodles

pumpkin seed flour

coconut flour

almond meal

pecan meal and other nut meals (made from grinding any nut very finely)

blanched almond flour

flax seed meal

hemp seeds (great as protein powder)

tapioca – this is made from the cassava root

arrowroot

besan or chickpea flour

sunflower seeds (can be ground)

sesame seeds (can be ground up as well)

As you can see the grain-free list is pretty long!  I could probably keep going but I’ll stop there.  It’s really just a matter of knowing what to do with these ingredients once you figure out that there is quite a bit of variety out there!

2.  Highlight all the foods you can eat on the list. Focus on these foods and what you can create from them.  This first step will help you immensely if you can get through it.

3.   Going  back to the example diet that I listed before, here are the things that her daughter can eat based on doing this process.

All meat and seafood - this is a huge plus if you’re in this boat.  The challenge with this is some kids just don’t like meat or won’t eat it.  But if you aren’t a vegetarian but have a limited diet, this helps a lot with meal planning.  Also, you can bread fish and chicken with almond or pecan meal and it makes it more appealing to children.

You can also make chicken puree and slip this into things like potato pancakes.  More on this in a future post.

All veggies and all fruit except for corn, banana and kiwi.  It’s also helpful that her daughter can still eat potato as this is in a lot of foods and can also be used as a starch in baking.  Vegetables and fruits are so versatile – a great opportunity for creativity.

All beans except for soy. Beans are hard to digest in general so this may be something that she would eat every now and then but it also depends on her health issues.  Chickpeas can be ground into a flour as well as others such as fava beans.  I personally don’t like the taste and find them hard to digest as flours but they are an option.

All nuts and seeds. This is extremely helpful that she can still eat nuts and seeds.  Peanut butter isn’t even on her list (though this is a legume).  Nuts can be used as nut butters, flours, nut milk ( which would be a good option for her for a milk alternative since she can’t have soy or rice), cheese (though commercial brands have casien in them), as breading on chicken or fish, dairy-free cheese sauces (cashews) or just eaten whole as a great snack.  They are most digestible however if they are soaked and then dehydrated.

Most condiments: mustard, ketchup, vinegars, lemons and limes, oils.  As far as mayo goes, you can find an egg-free version but it’s made with soy.  I have a recipe for mayo made from cashews but I haven’t tried it yet.

All herbs, spices, chocolate and carob: You can make a meal with a piece of fish or chicken, some garlic and onions, vegetables and some fresh herbs and spices.  Very simple but very good.  There are infinite ideas and recipes out there in terms of just using meat or fish, vegetables and fresh herbs and spices.

She can also still eat chocolate and carob as long as it’s dairy-free and grain-free.  You could make grain-free chocolate or carob muffins, cookies, cakes, etc (search for grain-free and egg-free dessert recipes).  Even make your own hot chocolate with some cocoa powder, nut milk and a sweetener.

All sweeteners: also another plus.  Try to stick to raw honey, agave, molasses and real maple syrup.

Some alternatives for what she can’t eat:

Eggs: This can be a tough one if you’re used to baking with eggs or having them for breakfast.  However, there are several egg substitutes you can use when you’re baking, as long as you’re not making a quiche.  There are egg-free quiches but they are made with tofu, and she can’t have soy, so that is out.

As far as some other breakfast items, this is going to be more challenging without the eggs, grains and dairy-products.  But here are some ideas:

turkey or chicken sausages
grain-free pancakes
amaranth bread
turkey bacon
quinoa or buckwheat muffins, made grain-free, egg-free and dairy-free
nut butter on grain-free crackers
fresh fruit – smoothies, fruit salad

Dairy-free alternatives: This is really a topic in and of itself, so I won’t go into this completely.  But as I mentioned earlier, her choice milk would be almond or another nut milk or hemp milk.  You can make your own nut milk very easily.  Coconut milk would also be a good option.

As far as cheese goes, here is a good dairy-free cheese that is also grain-free.

Some people can eat ghee in place of butter, which is clarified butter.  Also, coconut butter is a great alternative to butter.  It is delicious!

She can also eat coconut yogurt and coconut ice cream, great alternatives (and yummy too) since she can’t have dairy, soy or rice.

Cornstarch alternative: Arrowroot powder can be used part for part in baking recipes that call for cornstarch.  You will also need to find a corn-free baking powder for baking.

Soy-free soy sauce: One last tidbit I’ll leave you with.  Here is a recipe I recently came across for soy-free soy sauce.  It looks very good to me but I haven’t tried it yet.  A good alternative for someone who loves asian food but can’t have soy.

4.  Get organized: Once you have compiled a list of recipes you’d like to try that fit your new diet, the next step is to organize them for them week.  Print them out or make copies from cookbooks.  Then look through the ingredients to see what you need to add to your shopping list for the week.  Then, yes, go shopping, or order unusual ingredients online.

5.  Be brave and take baby steps: Take the last step and be brave to try something new.  It can seem daunting at first to use unusual ingredients you’re not used to using in cooking and baking.  But start with something most familiar to you and go from there.  Take baby steps.  Try one or two new ingredients a week so you don’t get overwhelmed by too many choices.

6.  Don’t get too discouraged: Expect to have some flops.  You’re learning something new and it may take some time to learn some new tricks of the trade.  But be patient and keep trying.  Pretend you’re on an adventure and your next meal is your next mission.  This may sound corny but if you can get excited about creating new and delicious foods, you will most likely have better results than if you think you’re making another disaster.

Good luck!  I’d love to hear from you so leave a comment about your own adventures in allergen-free cooking and baking!

All the best,
Sarah

A wholesome and simple meal

Tonight I made a simple but very yummy dinner, inspired by the potatoes and zucchinis in my fridge and the lemon balm in my garden.  I’ll make this post quick since it’s been a long day but I was inspired to give the simple and easy recipes for this meal:

The Menu:
Turkey Sausage Patties
Baked Yukon Gold Potatoes with Butter and Nutritional Yeast
Zucchini Lemon Balm Soup

The Sausage Patties:

Ingredients:
1 pound ground turkey meat (could also use chicken or beef)
salt – about 1 tsp or less
a generous amount of pepper – at least 1/2 tsp
a tsp or so of ground ginger
a tsp or so of ground sage
a dash of cayenne

Mix all ingredients well in a bowl and then make into small patties.  Fry in a cast iron skillet with a little olive oil, about 4-5 minutes on each side, or until slightly browned and cooked through.

The Potatoes (use sweet potatoes if you can’t have nightshades)

Ingredients:
how ever many potatoes you would like
salt to taste
butter or dairy-free alternative to taste
nutritional yeast flakes to taste

Preheat oven to 380.  Wash potatoes and poke holes in them with the point of a knife.  Cover in foil.  Place in oven and bake for about an hour, or until soft through.

Salt, butter and sprinkle nutritional yeast on them to taste.  Yum.
The Soup (could use asparagus, broccoli, summer squash or other veggies instead)

Ingredients:
1 cup or so of water
1/2 an onion, diced
2 medium zucchini, sliced
3 Tbsp lemon juice
a small handful of fresh lemon balm or fresh basil
1 tsp or so of marjoram
1 tsp or so of salt

Steam the onion and zucchini for 15-20 minutes until soft.  Use filtered water for the steaming water.  Remove from burner and remove the steaming basket.  Use a blending wand to blend the veggies into the water (or blend them in a blender).  If there seems to be a lot of water, drain some out before you start blending.  You don’t want it too watery.   Add the remaining ingredients and blend until thoroughly mixed.  Enjoy!

Turkey Sausage Patties and Baked Potatoes

Sliceable Dairy-Free Cheese

I found this recipe for sliceable dairy-free cheese a while back on a forum and finally made it the other day.  It seemed like every time I looked at it, it just seemed too complicated but I think that was just a first impression.  It is actually very simple and tastes pretty darn good. It is soft but still sliceable and resembles a white, mild cheese like Montery Jack.

The great thing about it is it is free of casein (milk protein), which many of the commercial dairy-free cheeses contain.  The only cheese I have found that is actually free of casein is from Galaxy Foods.

It does contain cashews, so it won’t work for people who are nut-free.  And there are a few changes I would make based on my first experiment with it.  It seems as though I can never follow a recipe exactly so I also made some changes as I made it.  I’ll add these changes below in the recipe.

I made chicken burritos the night I made the cheese and it was really great on them!  It really added some nice creaminess and cheesiness to the burritos!

I haven’t tried this yet but the recipe says you can freeze the cheese and then shred it for pizza cheese.

Another tip from the recipe is for making the cheese to resemble American or cheddar cheese:  blend in 1/4 cup pimentos and 1 tsp paprika to the recipe. (see tips below)

The original recipe is called Sliceable Cashew Cheese and it is from Best Gourmet Recipes from the chefs of Five Loaves Deli and Bakery by Neva Brackett.  This is the original recipe with my changes:

Ingredients:
2 cups cashew nuts

3/8 cup emes kosher gel (I used regular gelatin because this is what I had.  I only had 3 1/2 packs which was only a little more than an 1/8 cup – I still firmed up nicely but is still pretty soft.  I would like to try agar agar next time because I prefer this to gelatin)

1 ½ cups boiling water

2 Tbs. Lemon juice ( could use a hint more, you could also try balsamic vinegar if you don’t have lemon juice)

2 Tbs. nutritional yeast flakes (I would add at least 1 more Tbsp next time, maybe 2 because I would like a bit more cheesy flavor)

1 Tbs. Salt (I only used 1 tsp.  1 Tbsp seemed a bit much but now I think I would do at least 1 1/2 tsp. )

1 tsp. Onion powder (instead of onion and garlic powder, I added two cloves of garlic.)
½ tsp. Garlic powder

1 Cup Cold water

Steps:
1. Place all ingredients in the blender except the 1 cup cold water. Turn on and blend for 1 or 2 minutes until very smooth.

Hint: Place a towel over the lid of the blender before turning on. Hot liquids tend to splash out.

2. Add 1 cup cold water, blend briefly and pour into containers of your choice to chill and slice when firm.

Hint: This recipe makes a white cheese resembling Jack cheese. If you want half of it to resemble American cheese in color, pour half of it into a 1 pint mold and blend in ¼ cup pimientos and 1 tsp. paprika to the remainder. This can be frozen, so you might want to make a double recipe and keep it handy for future use, Frozen Cashew Cheese shreds very nicely if you do it while still frozen, and makes a great topping for Pizza. To thaw, set out at room temperature for an hour. Don’t try to thaw it in the microwave–it will melt and not be sliceable.

Prep time: 15 min Chill time: 4 hr or overnight. (It only took ours about an hour to be ready to be eaten with our burritos.)

I would love to hear if you make this and your thoughts about it.  I am going to freeze part of my batch and see how it grates.  I think this is what I am most excited about!