Eat Freely: A Food Allergy Struggle

Ever since I was a kid, one of my favorite cookies has been chocolate thumbprint cookies, which are sugar cookies with the Hershey kiss pressed in the center. Finding out I had food allergies was hard, knowing I had to eliminate chocolate... until I discovered Enjoy Life's rice milk chocolate. So these are a classic twist on the original Hershey kiss ones. Still a sugar cookie but with and indentation for melted chocolate in the center.

This recipe is from The Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook by Cybele Pascal, which is actually my handbook. I love love love it.

I also wanted to know what you guys thought of my "What I Used" section in each recipe, the one where I list the brands I used. Is it useful or pointless? I include the pictures of the ingredients I use, so is that enough? It just takes forever to type it all out. Just let me know what you guys think.

Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies: Dairy, eggs, soy, nut, fish, and wheat/gluten free.

Makes 24 2-inch cookies.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon Basic Gluten-Free Flour Mix (6 cups = 4 cups brown rice flour, 1 1/3 cups potato starch, 2/3 cup tapioca flour/starch)
• 1/4 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1/4 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons dairy-free, soy-free vegetable shortening
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 teaspoon Ener-G egg replacer mixed with 1 tablespoon rice milk
• 2 tablespoons plus 3/4 teaspoon rice milk
• 1/2 cup dairy-free, soy-free chocolate chips (Try Enjoy Life)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper (or cooking spray).
2. Whisk together the flour mix, xanthan gum, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the shortening, granulated sugar, and brown sugar, mixing on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes, and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the vanilla and egg replacer. Mix for 20 seconds.
4. Add the flour mixture to the creamed batter in three batches, alternating with the rice milk, mixing on low speed and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
5. Scoop out the dough by 2 teaspoonfuls and place on the baking sheets, 12 per sheet. Wet your hands with a little water and roll the doll into balls.

6. Bake in the center of the oven for 5 minutes. Put the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and melt. This will take about 1 minute; check the chips halfway through and stir. Once the chips are melted, set them aside.
7. Remove the cookies from the oven. Wet your thumb with cool water and, working quickly, make thumbprint marks in the center of each cookie. Fill the thumbprints with 1/2 teaspoon of melted chocolate.
8. Return the cookies to the oven and bake an additional 5 to 6 minutes, or until set.
9. Let the cookies cool for about 5 minutes on the baking sheets before transferring to a cooling rack.

Hey all! I wanted to say thank you so much for everyone's support, and if you know anyone with food allergies or just anyone who likes to bake/cook, send them my link!

I just figured out that I didn't have a follow button on my page! So it is now posted on the right or you can click the link in the previous sentence. You can also subscribe to me too.

Also, who knows a good gluten free bread? When I had my allergy test, I reacted to oats, though not enough to be considered allergic. But I started feeling kinda crummy so I've recently eliminated oats from my diet. Most gluten containing breads use oat flour and/or soy so I've switched to gluten free bread. And let me tell you.... it's disgusting! It's all crumbly, hard, and tiny pieces. So I was wondering if anyone has found a good one. I might have to start making my own!

Anyways, today I'm posting Curry Pork and Rice. I know a lot of my recipes involve baking and sugary foods. And well, being a nutrition major and baking is not a good thing. And I'm gaining weight! So I tried out cooking for a change. This recipe is from Allergy-Free Cookbook by many authors. It originally called for cauliflower couscous but I don't really like cauliflower so I used rice instead, but I'll post the cauliflower couscous if you want to make it. Also check out my Chicken Saltimbocca from this cookbook. Both of these recipes are amazing!

Pork Curry: Dairy, egg, soy, nut, fish, and wheat/gluten free.

Makes 6 servings.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 tablespoons mild curry powder
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 1/2 pounds pork, cubed (boneless shoulder, loin, or chops)
• 1 red or green bell pepper, diced
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups water
• 1 large head cauliflower (optional)

1. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add curry powder and garlic; cook and stir 1 to 2 minutes until garlic is golden.
2. Add pork; cook and stir 5 minutes or until pork is browned. Add bell pepper and vinegar; cook and stir 3 minutes or until bell pepper softens. Sprinkle with salt.
3. Add water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 30 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced and pork is tender, adding additional water as needed.

4. OPTIONAL: Meanwhile trim and core cauliflower; cut into equal pieces. Place in food processor fitted with metal blade. Process using on/off pulsing action until cauliflower is in small uniform pieces about the size of cooked couscous. Do not puree.
5. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat in 12-inch nonstick skillet. Add cauliflower; cook and stir 5 minutes or until cooked crisp-tender. Do not overcook. Serve pork curry over cauliflower.
6. OPTIONAL: Instead of cauliflower I made rice. I just put desired amount of white rice into boiling water and cooked until desired texture.

Hello everyone! I seem to be starting off my posts with this statement a lot lately: I'm sorry I haven't posted in so long! I've been super busy with school.
Also, GET THIS... I turned on my laptop the other day and the cord just went up in flames! Scared the crap outta me! So that's also a reason I haven't posted, because I was cordless. But I'm up and running now.
But don't worry, I've still been cooking up a storm!

I also wanted to say thank you to everyone for your support! I'm up to 530 views as of today.

Today I'm posting a recipe for yummy cinnamon sugar muffins out of The Food Allergy Mama's Baking Book by Kelly Rudnicki. It calls for all purpose flour but I used a gluten free flour mixture. I used 6 cups = 4 cups brown rice flour, 1 1/3 cups potato starch, and 2/3 cup tapioca starch/flour. You can also check out my replacements page for other gluten free mixes.

French Puff Muffins: Dairy, eggs, soy, nuts, fish, and wheat/gluten free.

Makes 12 muffins.

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup dairy-free margarine
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (Gluten free: see previous paragraph)
• 3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum (if using gluten free flour)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup soy/rice/almond/hemp milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and spray a 12-cup muffin pan with dairy-free baking spray.
2. To make the muffins, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the 2/3 cup margarine, water, and 1 cup sugar.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, and baking powder with a wire whisk.
4. Add the flour mixture and "milk" to the margarine-sugar mixture by thirds, alternating between each addition.
5. Using a cookie scooper, place the batter into the prepared muffin pans.
6. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until and inserted cake tester/toothpick comes out clean.
7. To make the topping, combine the 1 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon in a small bowl, and place the melted 1/2 cup margarine in a small bowl. Remove the muffins from the pan and dip each in margarine, and then roll each muffin top in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Hello! Happy February everyone! Valentine's Day is just around the corner, so make some Red Velvet Cake or Chocolate Maple Cupcakes for your sweetie!

Or some of this Blueberry Boy Bait to reign in those boys you just don't quite have yet! It's so good they can't resist. Honestly, this cake-like thing was gone within an hour at my house. My roomate Taryn literally asked me every five minutes if it was done cooling yet. I swear, my roomates and I each had three large slices (and some sneaked bites).

This recipe is from The Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook by Cybele Pascal.

Blueberry Boy Bait: Dairy, eggs, soy, nuts, fish, and gluten free!

Makes 8 servings in a 9 X 9 inch pan.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Basic Gluten-Free Flour Mix (6 cups = 4 cups superfine brown rice flour, 1 1/3 cups potato starch, 2/3 cup tapioca flour/starch)
• 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1 tablespoon double-acting baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup dairy-free, soy-free vegetable shortening
• 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 4 1/2 teaspoons Ener-G egg replacer mixed with 6 tablespoons rice milk
• 3/4 cup rice milk
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries tossed with 1 tablespoon Basic Gluten-Free Flour Mix
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar mixed with 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 by 9-inch baking pan and sprinkle with a little gluten-free flour mix, tapping out any extra.
2. Whisk together the flour mix, xanthan gum, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the shortening, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Mix on medium-high speed for 2 minutes, or until fluffy.
4. Add the egg replacer and mix for about 20 seconds.
5. Reduce the speed to medium and beat in one-third of the flour, mixing for 15 seconds.
6. Add half of the rice milk, mixing for 20 seconds.
7. Beat in half of the remaining flour, then the remaining rice milk, and finally the remaining flour mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
8. Add half of the batter to the pan, using a frosting spatula to spread the batter evenly across the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with half of the blueberries. Top with the remaining batter, spreading it as evenly as possible across the blueberries. Top with the remaining blueberries, then sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
9. Bake in the center of the oven for 1 hour, until the cinnamon-sguar mixture has begun to caramelize and the top is golden. Let cool in the pan for 30 minutes before turning out onto and serving platter (or just cut into pieces and serve out of the pan). Serve warm or at room temperature. This cake is even better on day two!