Blondies

My Dad found this recipe when my little sister started getting allergy shots. We were headed to our family reunion and while she could eat the burgers, the fruit and a select few types of chips, dessert was a big issue. My family was making turtle brownies to take along...her biggest two problems with this (and pretty much any) dessert: chocolate and corn.

While getting allergy shots her sensitivities to food have severely increased. Her tongue swells up and she gets big red spots all over it. Apparently this will subside when her shots finish up...in however many years that is. So for now she is in a similar boat with me.

Anyway...my dad, the great chef that he is (and don't let him tell you otherwise! he is seriously a genius in the kitchen) has really headed up our allergy cooking team. He scours the shelves and the Internet for ingredient lists and recipes, and comes up with miraculous goodies. If he can't use a particular ingredient, or simply doesn't have it...he improvises. This Blondie recipe should be pretty accurate but feel free to test it a little here and there.

Blondies
chocolate and corn free only

1 stick of butter (if you have a milk allergy you can use a substitute...i use smart balance)
1/2 cup of packed brown sugar
1/3 cup of granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract (check your labels here, you'd be surprised!)
1 cup of flour (substitute rice flour or bob's red mill gluten free here for wheat allergies)
1 tsp salt
1 cup of WHITE morsels (we used nestle, they have a yellow bag and blue label...these do contain milk!)
1 cup of walnuts is optional

Whisk butter and sugars until smooth, then whisk in egg and vanilla.
Add flour and salt and mix. Next add your morsels and nuts.
Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes until the top is golden brown.

If you have a milk allergy you may skip the morsels all together or may substitute carob chips (think mock chocolate chips, or faux if you prefer) be sure to check the label closely on these because many contain corn.

Unfortunately for us...the restaurants we went to while at the reunion weren't as certain what they used for cooking and seasoning...I have officially used an epipen on my little sister. That was my one heroic moment in my life and I'm going to make sure everyone knows! She's perfectly fine now thanks to my stabbing her in the thigh : )

and with that image in your head...

Happy eating : )

motherload!

I just ordered seven specialty cookbooks...yes, seven, on amazon. They had so many it was hard to even limit myself to that many. Hopefully they all come in great shape cause they are coming from all across the country and were all listed as new. They were all $12 and under, score for fitting my unemployment budget!

I will definitely try out new recipes as the books come in and share any that I feel are worthy. Maybe we can really get this blog rocking the recipes soon!

I also own the hungry girl cookbook and will have to work on adapting some of those recipes to fit the bill as well. Looks like I better get busy cooking up a storm. And as my favorite placard in my kitchen reads "nothing says lovin' like something from the oven"

happy eating : )

And so it starts...banana bread

(Had to taste test it!)

About four years ago I was diagnosed with food allergies. My story begins here. I had become inexplicably ill and was wasting away to nothing. Literally. I couldn't keep anything down. I rarely got hungry and was constantly nauseated. I went from a size six to a size zero. No one could tell me what was wrong. My family and I knew it had to be something because I had always had a voracious appetite AND a fear of throwing up. Suddenly I seemed to have no choice in the matter.

After seeing a gastroenterologist for several months (and being put on several medications...many of which I was allergic to) he sent me to an allergist on a hunch. Gastroenterological conditions I definitely had, and still have, but treating those didn't seem to solve my problems. After a several weeks and tons of arm pricks we found our answer: food allergies.

On the eve of my 21st birthday I had the list:

Milk

Wheat

Corn

Chocolate

Beef

Pork

As it turns out my diet consisted primarily of popcorn, candy bars, corn (cause its pretty much the only vegetable I like...even though I know it really is a grain), steak, a lot of buttered toast and crackers for my upset stomach. Oh and tons of pasta and ice cream. I know several of you will look at that list and cringe regardless of the allergies...but like I said, I love food and I was in college at the time!

On a daily basis I seemed to eat only foods to which I was allergic. Some people have a tongue that starts to swell hinting at an allergy (my little sister for example). Some people swell and can't breathe...pretty obvious sign. I have no obvious signs. It's all internal. My stomach and esophagus swell, my food sits in my stomach undigested for days. I feel inexplicably awful.

I once told my best friend that chocolate is my drug. Having never taken anything I can only guess, but I equate the high I get from chocolate as one similar to something illegal. Everything seems to slow, I get excited and I can't seem to think straight. It's not scary, I'm used to it, that's always been how I felt when eating it. Until someone else pointed it out I had no idea it wasn't the norm.

I have plenty of additional stories to tell but they can wait for another day. The closer I monitored and regulated what I ate the better I got. And yet after two years of strict eating...I couldn't take it anymore. Eating was a chore. I am back on my diet because I can't get healthy if I ignore my allergies...I get very sick with the strangest things. I have first hand experience of the painstaking measures you have to take in order to observe food allergies to very common ingredients. I scour the Internet and books to try and find things that taste as good as I remember the originals. Being healthy is worth the substitution and the extra time.

I'm going to try to share any good recipes that I come across, and feel free to contact me with questions regarding any other types of food allergies and different or inventive ways to work around them. My goal is to make food allergies seem a little more accessible. Hopefully if this all goes well I may be able to compile a recipe book someday. And for now per many facebook requests I am on to share my first recipe.

Banana Bread

WHEAT free

CORN free

DAIRY free

1/3 cup of Canola Oil

2/3 cup of Brown Sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. Vanilla Extract (or gluten free vanilla)

1 3/4 cups of rice flour or alternative (I used Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten Free Baking Flour)

2 tsp. Baking Powder (Be CAREFUL! read directions on your baking powder they typically contain cornstarch) - I use Hain Pure Foods Featherweight Baking Powder both Sodium and Gluten free

1 1/4 tsp. Cinnamon

1 tsp. Xanthan Gum (this is an extremely fine powder that helps hold the bread together) - refrigerate or freeze what's left of your Xanthan Gum! - I also used Bob's Red Mill brand

1/2 tsp Salt

1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (I found this to be about 3 large and 1 medium banana if you don't want to hassle with measuring it as you mash)

Optional:

You may also add any dried fruit and/or any type of chopped nuts you prefer.

about a 1/2 cup is a good amount but feel free to add more or less according to personal preference

Preheat oven to 350F

Grease 9"x5" loaf pan

Mix oil, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla extract with mixer

Combine flour, xanthan gum, salt, baking powder and cinnamon in a separate bowl and stir together

Alternate between adding bananas and flour mixture to the egg concoction while beating

Beat until smooth

Mixture will be extremely thick...don't worry!

Now add your dried fruit/nuts and stir well with a spoon

Pour into loaf pan and bake for 1 hour

- Most of this recipe was taken from the back of my Bob's Red Mill Flour Package -

Loaf will rise substantially, as it cools it will shrink in size. Bread will expand and crack across the top, also completely natural.

I like to spread Smart Balance on my bread and enjoy. It fits the dairy free bill and tastes great, I use it for everything. The big tub is the best to use...the smaller Light versions aren't as easy to spread.

I hope this helps for anyone who is having a difficult time with allergies, or for anyone who is choosing or needs to follow a gluten free diet! Again, please feel free to contact me with any questions, suggestions, ideas for recipes or recipe queries!

Happy Eating : )