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
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Tags: allergen-free, casein-free cheese, corn-free, Dairy-free, dairy-free cheese recipe, dairy-free sauce, Egg-free, Food Allergies, gluten-free, gluten-free menus, Grain-free, healthy food, limited diet, meal plan, menu plan, night-shade-free, nourishing foods, Soy-free, sugar-free, wheat-free, whole foods
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.
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Tags: allergen-free, cooking tip, corn-free, Dairy-free, dairy-free cheese, Egg-free, gluten-free, gluten-free menus, gluten-free recipe, Grain-free, healthy food, healthy menu, limited diet, meal plan, menu plan, menu planner, nourishing foods, recipe, side dishes, simple and easy recipe, Soy-free, sugar-free, wheat-free, whole foods
Like any mom with a child with food restrictions combined with a dose of pickiness, I have been looking for new recipes to feed my son who can’t eat dairy products. I am also allergic to wheat and gluten so I end up making baked goods wheat and gluten free so I can eat them too.
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
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Tags: allergen-free, cooking tip, corn-free, Dairy-free, Food Allergies, gluten-free, gluten-free recipe, Grain-free, healthy food, limited diet, nourishing foods, potato-free, recipe, Soy-free, sugar-free, wheat-free, whole foods
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!:
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Tags: cooking with fresh herbs, corn-free, Dairy-free, dairy-free sauce, Egg-free, fresh herb recipe, gluten-free, Grain-free, healthy food, nourishing foods, Soy-free, sugar-free, vegetarian meals, wheat-free, whole foods
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!
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Tags: allergen-free, casein-free cheese, Celiac Disease, cooking tip, cooking with fresh herbs, corn-free, Dairy-free, dairy-free sauce, Egg-free, Food Allergies, food issues, foods menu, gluten-free, gluten-free menus, Grain-free, healthy menu, limited diet, meal plan, menu plan, menu planner, shopping list, Soy-free, wheat-free
