Birthdays and Food: When you have allergies

August 20, 2013PajamaLiving informational, lesson Leave a comment

“I’m sorry, but I can’t come.”

The general consensus is that December 25th is the worst date for a child to have as his or her birthday. I disagree.

Adults have sympathy for children who have to share their limelight with Jesus. While it’s true that the child’s birthday and Christmas present will most likely be rolled into one, the adults in his or her life usually try in some way to make the birthday special to compensate for having to share their special day. And because the birthday is a traditionally celebrated family holiday, the child is usually surrounded by relatives, wishing him or her a “Happy Birthday!” in addition to “Merry Christmas!”

The worst dates to have as a birthday are January 1st and around Memorial Day weekend. No one is available at either of these times to celebrate a child’s birthday. After the craziness of the holidays, most folks are looking for a quiet respite on January 1st, and Memorial Day weekend is traditionally the start of summer and when folks are opening up summer places or having family gatherings.

I know because my brother and I have those birthdays, and time after time our birthday parties were cancelled because the responses were “So sorry, but we have . . . already scheduled for that day.”

My parents were great about compensating, though, and we had the family tradition of going to a movie (which was a treat for us) and having pizza and ice cream cake (also a treat) on our birthdays instead.

As a child, though, whenever I was at someone else’s birthday party, I felt a little left out, because I was like that bridesmaid adage – always celebrating another child’s birthday, but never knowing the thrill of having my own birthday party celebration.

When you’re a child with food allergies, you can feel the same way. It’s awkward to be the person who can’t eat the birthday cake and ice cream with everyone else.

So what can parents do to help their children?

1. Take initiative on your child’s behalf: If the party is hosted by a relative, ask them if they’d like your help with the birthday cake. My relatives are always willing to let me bake an allergy friendly cake, because it’s one less thing for them to do for the party! If the party is given by a friend, ask if they’d mind if you baked some cupcakes to add to the cake choice. I’ve never had a friend say, “No.” And if the party is being hosted by someone you really don’t know, simply explain to them that your child has severe allergies and ask if they’re fine with you contributing some allergy friendly “ice cream” to the celebration. Once again, I have never had anyone refuse my request or not understand.

2. Educate people: I realized early on that most people simply are not aware of the types of food allergies children can have, and once they know, they are quite happy to do what they can to help a child feel included. Early on, as we were invited to other people’s homes, I would talk with them about my children’s food allergies and how difficult it can be at parties, and it wasn’t long before the invitations began to change. Included on them most often now is a little question about whether anyone has any food allergies that the host should be aware of, and when my children arrive at these parties, the host has made sure to provide food for all the food restricted children.

3. Start a new trend: The highlight of birthday parties always seems to be the cake, but it doesn’t have to be. Because of my own history, I’ve always tried to make my children’s birthday parties memorable, but we’ve always hosted parties where the children are busy creating their own pizzas (allergy friendly, of course!) or making crafts or doing a science experiment or playing creative games. And what I’ve found is that the children don’t really have an interest in the cake and ice cream part anymore. And what’s happened is that some of my friends have begun to do the same thing. So now, more often than not, even though cake and ice cream are served, once the “Happy Birthday!” has been sung, the children haven’t even stuck around to eat the cake but have gone back to the fun!

4. Be prepared: Sometimes “it’s just what it is”, and your child needs to be prepared for that reality. If it seems like he or she will be the odd man out, unable to partake of the food at the festivities. In that case, I simply make a special cupcake that I send with my child in a container, so he or she can enjoy eating with the rest of the children. Have your child help you make and decorate the “special” cupcake, and he or she will most likely be even more thrilled with his or her cupcake than what is being served — or at least my children were always boasting about the cupcakes they got to make themselves!

5. Talk with your child positively: It’s easy to feel upset ourselves that our children are being “left out”, so we need to remember to share with our children all of the reasons to be happy about attending another child’s party. Good feelings are contagious, and they’ll pick up on our positive attitude.

6. Educate your child: Children are bright. They understand a lot at even a young age. Make sure your children understands why they can’t eat foods at parties, and help them to think about their food allergies as just another part of what makes them the special people that they are. My children don’t see their food allergies as handicaps. They actually view it as an opportunity for mommy to continue to work on revamping even more recipes for them to taste test!

As I’ve become an adult, I’ve begun my own tradition of throwing myself a birthday brunch the week before Memorial Day weekend. I invite local friends and give myself the gift of some time off from the hectic busyness of life with three children. To make my cakes special, I use the following frosting which is enough to frost a three layer cake. It’s very tasty and not extremely sweet which is the way I like it. It’s a slightly revamped version of a couple of frosting recipes you can find at http://www.elanaspantry.com

Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients:

2 cups Enjoy Life allergen free mini chocolate chips

2/3 cup safflower oil

2 tablespoons Agave

1 tablespoon gluten free vanilla

Cooking Instructions:

1. Put all ingredients into a microwave safe measuring cup and stir.

2. Microwave for one minute, and quickly and vigorously stir until the chocolate chips are completely melted and the mixture is starting to be a little thick.

3. Scrape the chocolate mixture into your mixing bowl (a metal bowl is best), and put into the freezer for about 15 minutes. (You want the mixture to be hardening almost the whole way through with only the middle being slightly runny still.)

4. Take out the mixing bowl and with a mixer, mix the frosting on a medium to high speed, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl, until the frosting is completely whipped and creamy. (The mixture taken from the freezer will be a dark brown with a glossy texture. When it’s been whipped, it’ll be a lighter brown and a thicker, creamier, frosting-like texture.)

5. Use the frosting to frost cooled cake layers. Unused frosting will keep in the fridge.

Eating Out: Can We Do It?

August 13, 2013PajamaLiving informational, lesson Leave a comment

Where’s the shark? I want to see it!”

For several years gracious and generous friends of ours have allowed us to vacation as a family at their home on Cape Cod. We have come to relish our times there, swimming at the both the ocean and bay beaches in Eastham, watching movies at the old-fashioned drive-in theater in Wellfleet, biking the Cape Cod rail to trail paths, and walking along the shops in Provincetown. This past week, however, we had our first experience with a great white shark, which fortunately to my mind but to the children’s dismay, we did not see up close. The shark effectively put an end to our day at the beach as life guards blew their whistles and ran up the red warning flag, waving us all back onto the beach and out of harm’s way.

While we had remained safe from the shark that particular day, I unfortunately found myself in harm’s way later in the week due to my food allergies. Despite my vigilance about what I eat and where I eat, I had an anaphylactic reaction one evening, presumably to some sort of cross-contamination of food from the restaurant we had eaten our dinner at. I had ordered a dish which did not contain anything I was allergic to as its ingredients, and I had informed the server of my allergies and need for prevention of cross contamination. Despite being proactive, however, I still found myself at the mercy of my allergies once again.

Unfortunately for those of us with food allergies, it’s all too common that we have to refrain from enjoying some of the pleasures of life, like eating out at a restaurant, because doing so can put our lives at risk. For many, this can be frustrating. Who wants to have to cook all the time? Whom of us wouldn’t enjoy a night out with friends? And sometimes you just want a dish you would never make yourself. The reasons for wanting to eat out are endless, and to be restricted by food allergies can be downright depressing at times.

So what can we do?

1. Don’t lose hope: The times are “a’changing” as they say. More and more restaurants are getting on board with the program. Even this week at the Cape we discovered an ice cream shop (the Ice Cream Cafe in Orleans) which is now serving gluten, dairy, and nut free frozen dessert options. Granted, I only had three flavor choices as opposed to fifty ice cream flavors, but I had a choice. Yay! The number of restaurants that cater to allergies has grown just in the past five years alone. So as more folks begin to understand the need, our options will continue to increase.

2. Cultivate relationships: If you have a restaurant that you really like which you know you’ll frequent a few times a year, take the time to introduce yourself to the management and waiters when you arrive. Explain that you have food allergies but you really want to be able to eat at their restaurant because you enjoy their food. I have four places near my home where I know I can safely eat because they’ve gotten to know me and know that I will eat there as long as they accommodate my allergies.

3. Create your own recipes: Sometimes it’s not about going out but being able to eat a particular dish you really like. Nowadays you can find the recipe for most restaurant dishes online. Simply type in the restaurant name and add “recipes”, and you’ll find what you want. Then you can adapt the recipe to fit your dietary needs and enjoy the dish in your own home without the worries of cross contamination.

4. Practice being proactive: Research restaurants before you go. With online resources you can view their menus and ingredients without even leaving your home. For example, I know that as someone with a dairy allergy, I cannot go to Olive Garden. Every single dish except two (a garden salad and their meat spaghetti sauce) is made with some sort of dairy.

If you haven’t researched a restaurant ahead of time, ask your waiter if they have a sheet which tells you what ingredients are in their foods. Many restaurants nowadays have forms which highlight dishes which are gluten, dairy, egg, soy or nut free. If they don’t, ask the waiter to ask whether a particular dish has whatever you’re allergic to. Most waiters are more than happy to oblige.

5. Be prepared: Sometimes, despite all the above, things go awry when you’re eating out, so make sure you have your epi-pen or benadryl with you at all times. Though, you never want to have to use them while enjoying a meal out, it’s always best to have them if you do need to use them.

One of my favorite restaurants is Not Your Average Joe’s. They are always willing to work with my allergy restrictions, but some dishes I just have to make for myself at home. Their lasagna is one. Below is their recipe and my recipe, adapted for my particular allergies.

Their Ingredients:
Lasagna Sheet 1 each
Basil Pesto 2 tbsp
Ricotta Cheese 3 oz
Crumbled Goat Cheese 1 oz
Sautéed Spinach 3 oz
Grilled Summer Squash 3 slices
Grilled Zucchini 3 slices
Cooked Asparagus 2 slices

Shredded Mozzarella ¼ cup

Grate Romano cheese 3 tbsp

Marina Sauce 2 fl oz

My Ingredients:
One sheet gluten free noodle
4 tbsp chopped fresh basil
2 tsp minced garlic
4 oz silken tofu
Sautéed Spinach 3 oz
Grilled Summer Squash 3 slices
Grilled Zucchini 3 slices
Cooked Asparagus 2 slices

1/4 cup vegan mozzarella

1/4 cup vegan parmesan

Marina Sauce 2 fl oz

Cooking Instructions:
1. Spread pre-cooked pasta sheet the long way in front of you out on table.

2. Spread pesto on bottom 3rd of sheet and pipe ricotta and goat cheese over pesto. (I mix the basil and garlic with the tofu and spread half of that instead — you’ll use the second half when you “repeat the process below.)

3. Top with 1 1/2 each of squash and zucchini, 1 each asparagus and 1 1/2 oz of spinach. Fold over lasagna sheet and repeat process.

4. Place lasagna on a plate and top with mozzarella and romano cheeses. (I use the vegan versions.) Place in microwave for 40 seconds.

5. Place in an ovenproof dish and bake at 375 degrees for 6 minutes until heated through and golden brown. Remove from oven and drizzle with sauce around lasagna.

Going “Nutty”: Nut and Peanut Allergies

July 6, 2013PajamaLiving informational Leave a comment

Are we going to have to cancel our trip?

My husband and I didn’t get to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary because I was in labor with my third child, so a few years later, we decided we deserved a weekend away just by ourselves.

Unfortunately as our weekend approached, one night after a gathering with some friends, I was violently ill with GI symptoms. We figured I must have caught a stomach bug and prayed it was simply a 24 hour sickness. I did recover, and we were able to leave for our trip.

While away, though, one evening after going out to eat, I began to feel decidedly unwell again and once again had some not so fun symptoms. We chalked it up, though, to me not waiting long enough after the stomach flu before resuming heavier foods.

After we returned, however, I once again had the same symptoms, only they were even worse this time. So, being someone who’s had allergies her entire life, I decided to jot down all the foods I had eaten before I was ill, and I discovered that on all three occasions I had eaten something with dairy and almonds.

I made an appointment with my pulmonologist, and lo and behold, I had developed an allergy to both casein and almonds, as well as hazelnuts. Since I already cooked, baked and ate around an egg allergy and a wheat and sugar sensitivity, I figured it wouldn’t be too much of an issue to add dairy and nuts to the list of foods to avoid.

The Issues with Having a Nut Allergy

I hadn’t counted on the fact that so many foods I would eat — gluten free breads, soy milks, coconut yogurts, etc… –would be processed on machines that have been contaminated with tree nuts. Suddenly my eating “world” seemed to shrink and much more of my precious time was being “eaten” up by the constant reading of labels.

The good news for you, if you are only allergic to peanuts or nuts, is that the world acknowledges peanut and nut allergy these days. Most labels visibly have “may contain traces of peanuts or nuts” or “processed on machines using peanuts or tree nuts” written on the product.

The not so good news is that you really do have to become a label reader, because peanuts and tree nuts find their way into foods you wouldn’t even think of checking. While it makes sense that items with nuts are to be avoided, you might not think to check your salad dressing, that enchilada sauce you like, the cereal you’ve always eaten, or your favorite pudding, but all of those and more might have peanuts or tree nuts contaminating them.

Some sample phrases that might show up on a label which you wouldn’t know to be a peanut or nut are arachidic acid, hydrolyzed plant protein, mandelonas, marzipan and nougat. You can find complete lists by googling, and it would be best if you were at least familiar with what’s on those lists and used them to check the labels of anything you’re uncertain about eating.

Peanut Concerns

For folks allergic to peanuts, you should remember that peanuts are legumes, and sometimes people who are allergic to peanuts have problems with other legumes like peas, lentils, beans, soybeans, and etc… or develop an allergy to those items later. So always be sure to be careful as you eat those foods.

Nut Concerns:

For folks allergic to one type of tree nut, you need to know that almost all nuts processed these days are contaminated by other tree nuts. So even if you’re just allergic to almonds, the chance of the Brazil nuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, macadamias, pistachios, pecans, or cashews you want to eat being contaminated by almonds is quite high.

Peanut Oil

For all folks with either a nut or peanut allergy, if you’re going out to eat, make sure to ask your waiter about sauces and oils used, because peanut oil is a very commonly used restaurant oil.

Mexican Casserole

My middle daughter made this recipe tonight for dinner for the family with store bought peanut/nut free ingredients.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon safflower oil

1/2 cup frozen chopped onions

2 zucchini, chopped into 1/2 inch squares

2 carrots, finely chopped

16 ounces 93% lean ground turkey

one 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained

1/2 of a 15.5 ounce jar of salsa

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon ground cumin

2 tablespoons minced cilantro

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

multi-grain tortilla chips (my daughter used 3/4 of a 9 oz bag)

1/2 cup Tofutti sour cream

10 oz thawed frozen green chopped peppers

second 1/2 of the 15.5 ounce jar of salsa

Cooking Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Pour the oil into a large skillet and turn the heat to medium.

3. Saute the onions, zucchini, and carrots until soft, about five minutes.

4. Add the ground turkey and saute until browned. Drain the fat and put into a large bowl.

5. Add the diced tomatoes, 1/2 of the jar of salsa, oregano, salt, cumin, black pepper, and cilantro. Mix well.

6. Mix the green peppers with the sour cream.

7. Layer a third of the meat mixture in a 9 x 13 pan.

8. Drop a third of the sour cream/pepper mixture by spoonfuls in rows on top of the meat.

9. Cover the meat and sour cream with a single layer of tortilla chips.

10. Repeat the layer of meat, sour cream and tortilla chips two more times.

11. Drop the remaining 1/2 of the salsa by spoonfuls in rows on top of the last layer of chips .

12. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes until the casserole is warm.

Making the Changes

July 6, 2013PajamaLiving informational, lesson Leave a comment

Look how far I’ve come with my split, Mommy!”

My middle daughter is a dancer. Not only does she look exactly like a dancer with her natural rail thin length and long, muscular legs and arms, she walks and moves with the grace of a dancer, too. In addition, she acts like a dancer, always thinking in terms of music and dance moves. Since she also likes children as well, it’s no wonder that she wants to be a dance teacher when she grows up.

As such, at almost 13, she’s already begun taking the steps she deems necessary to accomplishing her career goal. She’s taking a variety of dance classes so she can be accomplished in different types of dance. She’s working on her splits and stretches so she can be as flexible as she needs to be to dance, and she’s making plans to be a student aide in the preschool dance classes when she begins her first year of high school.

Step by step, little by little, with achievable goals, my daughter is doing what she needs to follow the course she’s set out for herself.

Adapting to Dietary Changes

Learning how to cook, bake and eat healthier and/or within the confines of dietary restrictions or allergies is just as achievable in the same way through many little changes in habit along the way which lead ultimately to a different eating and cooking lifestyle.

Sometimes a health issue leads to a radical change in diet – a heart attack, a diagnosis of diabetes, a severe allergic reaction to a type of food – which can be a source of frustration, especially if you’ve been eating a certain way for a large part of your life. The instinct is to simply change everything all at once, which can just set you up for disaster.

What’s key to remember is that changing your eating and cooking habits should be viewed as another lesson you’re learning in life. Being able to balance and ride your first bicycle as a child didn’t happen overnight. Neither did you jump into a lake and swim its length your first time out. So, if you’re learning to eat gluten free or with less meat and fat in your diet or without sugar and you’re finding yourself struggling with the recipes, the tips, and desire, cut yourself some slack.

Tips for Changing Your Diet

Some tips to help you on your journey:

1. Make one change at a time. Maybe it’s swapping out olive oil for butter this week and waiting until next week to make a turkey burger instead of hamburger with the goal that by the end of the month you’ll try a salmon burger. Or maybe you’ll try one new gluten free recipe every week or two, learning this week how to make pancakes you can actually eat but waiting until you’ve made those successfully a couple of times before you try to revamp your favorite birthday cake recipe.

2. Seek help. There are so many online blogs and websites, paper cookbooks, and cooking shows these days to turn to for aid for just about every type of cooking that exists. Use them to learn tips and to find tested recipes. Ask a friend who’s a few steps ahead of you what he or she has gleaned from his or her culinary experience. There’s nothing that says you need to go the road alone. Maybe you’ll even find a friend or family member who wants to practice revamping recipes with you or is willing to be your guinea pig for taste testing.

3. If you don’t like it, don’t eat it. Unfortunately, there’s a myth out there that you need to just deal sometimes when it comes to eating food that is healthier for you or which fits into your allergy or dietary restrictions. It’s simply not true. If the texture or taste of the first gluten free brownies you try to make doesn’t appeal to you, don’t settle. Find another recipe to try. If you don’t really like the taste of olive oil in a recipe that calls for butter, try another healthy oil. If really and truly hate ground turkey, don’t use it. If you don’t like the foods you’re eating, you’ll never stick to eating healthier or within your dietary restrictions. Or you’ll force yourself to bear it, but you’ll be sad, craving the foods you’re really rather be eating. Neither is best, so make sure you actually like what you eat.

4. Practice, practice, practice. We all have those memories of failing at something and being riled when someone told us, “If you don’t succeed at first, try, try again,” but honestly, everything in life takes practices. Not just school lessons, sports and musical instruments, but relationships, exercise and cooking, as well. When my son was first diagnosed with an egg allergy, it took months for me to perfect a chocolate cake that the entire family liked. The practice batches weren’t bad. They just weren’t to the standard we wanted in terms of texture and taste. Now, though, I have a recipe that I go back to time and time again and which we all enjoy.

5. Start slowly. Unless you have a food allergy, you can begin a healthy diet by halves and work your way up, so to speak. If your goal is to eat 100% whole grains instead of white flour, but you’re unsure of the taste and texture appeal, try swamping out just half of the white flour in a recipe. If you aren’t quite ready to completely get rid of butter, don’t. Just limit yourself to a certain amount a week on something where the taste really matters to you while you swap it out in everything else. If you don’t think you can go from whole milk to skim, drink 2% for a few weeks, before drinking 1% for another few weeks until you’re drinking the skim and wondering why you were ever concerned in the first place about making the switch.

And if you do have a food allergy, you can still start slowly. If you’re suddenly allergic to milk, just try one type of a different “milk” this week and wait to try vegan cheeses. Though we often want to find substitutes for all our usual eating patterns, there’s no need to “fill” every niche of your diet in a short span of time. It may take months for you to discover which substitute products for milk or wheat or egg or whatever that you like the best.

6. Be willing to experiment. If you come across a recipe or an idea that you think sounds interesting, but you’re unsure, just go for it. What’s the worst that can happen? You don’t really like what you tried or made? Big deal. Now you know that there’s something you won’t do again. That’s a good learned lesson. More likely, you’ll discover something that you really do like and want to try to make or eat again. Or you may be inspired to figure out how to make the recipe better or to try the item again, just made by another company.

Fruit Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 cup frozen strawberries (or peaches or blueberries or mixed berries or mangos or bananas, whatever you like)

4 ounce silken tofu (this is 1/2 cup)

1/2 to 1 cup soy milk, depending on how thick you like your smoothie (you can also use another type of “milk” you’d prefer or a 100% juice of your choice)

2 tablespoons Agave

Preparation Instructions:

1. Blend all ingredients using whatever method you prefer or have: blender, hand blender, food processor, etc….

2. Scoop into individual cups and enjoy!

NOTE: You can also add yogurt to this if you’d like, 4 0unces of a dairy or nondairy type.

Tricks of the Trade: Owning Cooking Tips

June 28, 2013PajamaLiving informational, lesson Leave a comment

“Run, Paula, run!”

In middle school our gym year always began with a trip to the town park for a complete “physical”. Sit ups, push ups, a mile run around the track. As an overweight pre-teen this was not one of my favorite things to do in life. Unfortunately I had no choice in the matter.

Then came the September of my eighth grade year. During my seventh grade year I had suddenly and miraculously begun to grow once again and had completely thinned out. While I had realized this was doing wonders for my social life, I had yet to learn that it could impact my athletic ability.

You can imagine my surprise to discover that with the weight loss, I could actually hold up my thinner weight in a push up, pull in the smaller stomach into a sit up position, and run without losing my breath. It was an even greater surprise to discover that I was on my way to beating Stephanie, the yearly hands-down “winner” of the mile run.

I had simply been marveling in my ability to breathe and run at the same time as I went around the track the first time, but as I ran the track for the second time, the screams of friends telling me to “run” made their way into my consciousness. I looked around and discovered that Stephanie was a few paces behind me, which was simply unheard of.

A true confession: When I realized that I was actually ahead of Stephanie, a surge of adolescent competitive power surged throughout my entire being and all I could think was that I was going to beat Stephanie if it was the last thing I did. Unfortunately, Stephanie had years of running on her side, which I was all to aware of as she began to gain on me.

Since I was determined to win, though, I pictured my dad in my mind. He had run in numerous marathons, many of which I had watched him run in, so I figured I might be able to gain some tips from him. I could see him regulating his breathing, keeping his steps heel-toe, and focusing his vision ahead on the finish line.

As I adjusted my breathing, stride and vision, I began to feel like a runner, and I started to think that I actually was a runner. It occurred to me that I could actually beat Stephanie and before I knew it, a burst of speed had kicked in and I was leaving Stephanie behind by a quarter of a lap, which continued until I crossed the finish line.

New experiences can trump the old

Before that day I would have vehemently denied that I could run, let alone beat the fastest girl in our grade. That experience proved I was wrong, though, and in many ways changed the trajectory of the next few years to come as I took up long-distance running.

In the same way, too often I hear from people that they can’t cook, that they’ve tried in the past and it didn’t work, so they don’t want to try again. What I’ve learned over the years is that anyone can cook. They just have to learn the tricks or tips that will help them to be successful.

Searching out tips

The key is to actually seek out the tricks of the trade, though. Much of what I’ve learned about what works and what doesn’t in cooking has been through trial and error experience, but just as much has been people sharing their tips with me along the way and me searching out the best tips in cooking magazines, from cooking shows, and online. Disastrous recipes have miraculously come together once I’ve learned the right tips for those particular recipes.

So, below I’ll share a few tried and true tricks which I’ve learned along the way to get you started, so you, too, can discover that you can “run” when you thought you couldn’t.

Cooking tips

1. Ever been frustrated that your potato pancakes or crab cakes fall apart? Mix your bread crumbs or oatmeal or whatever dry mixture you’re using in with the eggs and let it sit for five minutes to absorb the egg before you mix them into the rest of your ingredients.

2. Been frustrated by a recipe that calls for buttermilk when you never have buttermilk in the house? Add one teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar to a cup of whatever milk you use and let is sit for five minutes. Then just add it to your recipe. Alternatively, invest in SACO powdered buttermilk which can sit in your pantry or fridge for months without going bad. You just add water when you need to use it.

3. Ever wonder why your hamburgers puff up on the grill? It’s because heat is affecting the cooking of the burger from all directions, making the center of the burger puff. If you simply put a dimple in the center of your burgers, the burgers will cook more evenly and not be puffed up.

4. Been trying to figure out how to make your thawed frozen fish taste like fresh? The key to good frozen fish is to thaw it completely, rinse it, and pat it dry with a paper towel before you cook it. Too often folks just thaw and cook which leaves too much of the watery residue which greatly affects the cooking, the taste and the texture.

5. Don’t want your pasta to be too soft after the sauce is added? Cook your pasta one to two minutes less than the package directions, drain, and then add it to your hot sauce so the pasta will finish cooking with the heat of the sauce. If you are cooking your pasta ahead of time, rinse it in cool water, drain, and toss with a tiny bit of olive oil. The pasta will keep until you need it later for dinner.

6. Never been able to roll out that pie crust without problems? Put the pie dough in between two pieces of wax paper and then roll out with the rolling pin. You’ll be amazed at how easy it is to roll that pie crust now.

7. Been trying to figure out how to actually get all of your honey, molasses or otherwise sticky substance out of the measuring cup and into your recipe? Lightly grease the inside of your measuring cup or line it with plastic wrap. The sticky liquid will just slide out.

8. Want to cut your small fruit into equal sizes? Use your egg slicer. It works wonders.

9. Want boiled eggs that aren’t green on the inside or over or undercooked?Cook’s Illustrated has the best method I’ve ever tried: Put your eggs into cold water, completely covering them up to an inch over with water. Bring the water to a boil over high heat. Remove the pan from the heat, cover, and let the eggs sit in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove the eggs to ice water for five minutes, and then peel.

10. Tired of your freshly baked quick breads sticking to your loaf pans? Line your loaf pans with parchment paper so that “ears” are sticking up from the pan, so that you can simply lift the breads out of the pans when they’re done.

11. Want homemade pizza crusts to be as crispy as the pizza from a brick oven? Preheat your oven to 500 degrees with your pizza stone or pan in the oven. Put your pizza crust directly onto the hot pizza pan and cook for five minutes before you add your tomato sauce, toppings, and cheese. Return the pizza to the oven for another five minutes or until the cheese is melted and the crust is browned and crisp.

12. Been sad that your mashed potatoes which were perfect when you made them are too thick when you serve them? Potatoes will continue to absorb the milk over time, so after you initially make your potatoes, let them sit for a few minutes before adding more warmed milk to the potatoes.

13. Ever had difficulty making those pudding recipes because they gum up when you add the cornstarch? No matter what your recipe tells you, if you simply whisk the cornstarch in from the beginning into your liquid and slowly warm the liquid up over low heat, stirring constantly, your pudding will thicken properly without gumming up.

14. Wonder how to keep your cheesecake from cracking? Wrap the outside of your cheesecake pan with aluminum foil and your cheesecake pan into a larger pan which you can add hot water to up to the center of the cheesecake pan. Bake the cheesecake as instructed. The moisture from the water will keep your cheesecake from cracking. Just be careful when you’re removing the pan from the hot water after it’s done!

15. Tired of trying to cut your cake layers to make enough layers for the cake recipe? Simply bake thinner cake layers. For example, I bake a multiple layer cake by putting about a cup of cake batter into a parchment lined 9 in pan and baking two pans at a time for about ten minutes. Then I have four, six, or eight nicely sized thinner layers without the effort of trying to “cut” the larger cakes into smaller layers.

16. Want to make great pasta salad? After you cook your pasta and drain it, transfer the pasta immediately to a large cookie tray so it can cool quickly and evenly. This will improve the texture of your pasta for your pasta salad and help your pasta marinade to “stick” to the pasta better.

Peach Shortcakes

Shortcake Ingredients:

1/2 cup vegan butter (or real butter if you can have it)

2 cups 100% whole wheat flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon dried orange peel

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 tablespoons Agave (if you want to use sugar, it would need 1/4 cup)

1/2 cup soy milk (or whatever type you use)

Cooking Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a food processor put the butter, flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, orange peel, ginger, nutmeg, and Agave. Pulse just until the dough is crumbly.

3. Slowly add the milk and pulse just until the dough clumps together.

4. Drop lightly filled 1/4 cups of batter onto the parchment paper and gently pat the dough into even biscuit shapes and sizes. (You may want to lightly grease your measuring cup if you don’t want the dough to stick. I don’t actually use a measuring cup. I just eyeball a 1/4 cup size.)

5. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the biscuits are lightly browned and cooked through.

Peaches Ingredients:

2 16 oz bags of frozen peach slices (you can always use fresh, too!)

4 tablespoons Agave

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/4 cup packed ginger mint and/or mint leaves

Cooking Instructions:

1. Thinly slice the ginger mint and/or mint leaves into strips.

2. Mix the Agave with the cinnamon and ginger.

3. In a large bowl, mix the gingermint/mint leaves and the Agave mixture with the peaches.

4. If using the peaches shortly, let the peaches sit out on the counter for 15 minutes or more until they are thawed. Be sure to stir the peaches every so often. If using the peaches later in the day or the next day, put the peaches into the fridge. Be sure to mix them well before serving. (You can also thaw the peaches in the microwave before mixing them with the other ingredients, if you need them more immediately.)

Cream Ingredients:

One pint soy creamer

1/2 cup soy sour cream

1/4 cup Agave

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

Cooking Instructions:

1. In a saucepan, mix the soy creamer, the sour cream, the agave, the cornstarch and the salt.

2. Slowly cook over a low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to thicken.

3. Remove from the heat and add in the vanilla.

4. Pour into a heat safe bowl. Place a piece of saran wrap directly against the cream to prevent it from forming a “crust”, and cool in the fridge.

5. When it’s completely cooled, you can simply stir it up with a spoon and serve over the shortcakes or you can whip them in a mixer or with a whisk if you want to incorporate some air and make the cream fluffier.

Assembling the Shortcakes:

1. Place one shortcake on a plate.

2. Spoons some peaches on top of the shortcake.

3. Put a dollop of cream on top of the peaches.

4. Enjoy!

“Herb”ivore: Using Herbs for Flavor

May 28, 2013PajamaLiving informational, lesson Leave a comment

“You can’t kill this. It’s a succulent.”

True Confessions: I am a plant killer. Since I have no malicious intent and do not deliberately intend to kill my plants, I am, however, only guilty of involuntary plant-slaughter at most and not actual murder or even voluntary plant-slaughter.

And since I know this about myself, I don’t ever buy plants to have in my house; and friends and family who know me well don’t buy plants for me as gifts. One day, however, a friend arrived for brunch with a plant in hand called a succulent. (If you’re not familiar with a succulent, as I was not, it’s what a cactus is, though there are other varieties of succulents which are not cacti.)

My friend, who is absolutely marvelous with plants, assured me that she had brought me a plant that even I could not kill. As you can imagine, with my track record, I was skeptical. But my friend was right. It’s a year and a half later, and the little succulent is still going strong.

It’s probably because you can basically ignore it, and it will still thrive on its own. As long as I remember to water it at least once a month, it’s good to go. Essentially it’s my type of plant, and if my friend had not given me the succulent I would never had learned that I could be free of my identity as a plant killer.

Why use herbs

For some people, they feel similarly about herbs and spices. They don’t know exactly what to do with them and haven’t used them a lot, so they don’t. They stick with salt and pepper and bottles of Mrs. Dash which just combine many herbs and spices together for use with anything.

Herbs and spices, however, are wonderful to use in cooking, because they can bring nuanced flavors to your food and allow you to cut back on your sodium use. Today, the variety you can find at the grocery store is remarkable. You can buy it dried, freeze-dried, frozen, packaged in refrigerator tubes, ground, pureed, as leaves, and of course, fresh.

Fortunately for me, my husband has a green thumb, and he grows wonderful herbs for me in small planters we keep on the back porch which I can just snip as I want. When I don’t have fresh herbs available, though, I freely use the dried, freeze-dried, and refrigerator tube versions as well. And I always have a variety of ground spices in my pantry for my use.

Tips for using herbs and spices

There are a few things to always keep in mind when using herbs and spices.

1. Fresh herbs are usually added near the end of your cooking time, because they lose their flavor if cooked for too long, while dried herbs and spices are added at the beginning because they need the heat to bring out their flavor.

2. Dried herbs have a more concentrated flavor so you use less than you would of fresh herbs. 1/2 to 1 tsp of a dried herb is usually equal to a tablespoon or two of a fresh herb.

3. Since the oils in a dried herbs are essentially “trapped” inside, before you add dried herbs to your dish, you should “crush” them a bit between your fingers to release their flavor.

4. Spices such as cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger are usually associated with baking and fruit dishes, but they add wonderful flavor to meat and seafood dishes and even to soups, beans, and macaroni and cheese.

5. Most herbs go well with just about anything from meat to vegetables to even fruit. Experiment to see what flavors you like with what.

6. When you really want to bring out the flavors in a recipe, creating a base aromatic is the best way to go. Simply put a little bit of oil in your pot and add dried herbs or spices, along with chopped onions or peppers or garlic, and slowly cook them over low heat for a little while before adding your meat or vegetables or fish or soup or whatever.

7. If you’re making something like a soup or stew or roast which needs a long time to cook, dried herbs are really better to use than fresh. If you want to use fresh herbs, you can add those at the end as a garnish.

8. If you buy fresh herbs in a package from the store and don’t use it all up immediately, wrap the leftover herbs in a slightly damp towel and put it in sandwich baggie to keep it fresh a little longer in the fridge.

9. If you buy dried herbs and spices, they will lose their potency after a while, but the length of time varies. Essentially, the rule of thumb is that if you can’t smell anything when you gently rub the spice or herb and/or they’ve completely lost all their color, most likely they should be tossed.

10. When using dried herbs, you should shake the herbs into your hands and then add them carefully to your dish. If you shake the container over the dish itself, the steam from the cooking gets into your container and can spoil your dried herbs more quickly.

11. Dried herbs should be kept in a dark, dry, cool place. Those little spice racks we buy are actually not very good for storing the herbs and spices, because usually those are put on the wall, near the stove where the light, heat and moisture all work together to spoil the herbs and spices.

12. If you want to buy dried spices or herbs but get that “fresh” flavor, buy whole dried spices which you can grind in a spice grinder just before using.

Herbed Shrimp and Vegetables

Ingredients:

1 – 2 tbsp olive oil (depends on how much you prefer to use)

1 cup frozen chopped onions (can use fresh if you have)

1-2 tsp dried herbs of your choosing (depends on how you prefer to use)

1-2 tsp minced garlic (jarred, tube, freeze-dried, fresh, whatever in the amount you prefer)

4-6 zucchini, 5-6 inches long, cut into 1/2 inch half moons*

2 yellow peppers, diced into 1/2 inch squares

1 14.5 oz can no salt added petite diced tomatoes, drained

1 lb thawed frozen deveined cooked shrimp**

4 cups fresh herbs of your choosing, chopped (will reduce to about 2 cups when diced)***

1/2 tsp coarse sea salt (you can add more or just omit altogether)

1/2 tsp black pepper

Cooking Instructions:

1. In a large stovetop skillet combine the olive oil with the onions. Saute over low heat, stirring occasionally, for ten to 15 minutes until the onions are caramelized, which essentially means they’ve turned darker in color and become a bit thicker in texture.

2. Add the dried herbs and garlic and saute for another five minutes over low-medium heat, being careful to stir so the garlic doesn’t burn.

3. Add the zucchini and peppers and saute over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes until the colors become a bit darker and more vibrant.

4. Add the tomatoes and saute another 3-4 minutes.

5. Add the cooked shrimp with the herbs, salt and pepper, and stir until well coated and shrimp becomes slightly warm, about 1-2 minutes.

6. Serve by itself or over pasta or rice or couscous or quinoa or whatever.

* I prefer to buy or grow and use smaller zucchini because the flavor is better and it’s not as seedy. If you purchase a larger store zucchini, then you should adjust your amount accordingly and scrape out the seeds from the zucchini before slicing.

** I love frozen deveined cooked shrimp because it’s cheaper and always ready when I want to use it. You can use fresh shrimp but you then need to add it after the vegetables with the tomatoes so they can cook during that 3-4 minutes. If yo use the frozen shrimp and forget to take it out ahead of time like I always do, you can just put the shrimp in a bowl of cold water to defrost them.

*** I use a lot of herbs for this recipe because my family likes it that way, but you can use reduce the amount by half. As for the types of herbs we use, we like to vary it every time, but we usually use some combination of oregano, basil, mint, ginger mint, cilantro, rosemary, thyme, dill, chives, and/or parsley.

Easy Does It: Cooking with a Crockpot

May 20, 2013PajamaLiving informational, lesson Leave a comment

“What’s for dinner?”

The yellow school bus had pulled up less than a minute ago, and my youngest had bounded into the car, dumped his backpack onto the car floor, and buckled his seat belt before asking the question he asked every weekday at the same time.

Before I could answer, he cast a hopeful look at me and threw out another one word question, “Pizza?” Then, he giggled, because he was already anticipating the answer which I gave most every day to this ritualistic exchange.

“Noooo, no pizza today, little pizza monster.”

If my son had his way, we’d have pizza every single night for dinner. And in some ways, it would make my life simpler if we did just eat the same meal every day.

“What’s for dinner?” is arguably one of the most frequently asked questions of a mom. And for many moms at the witching hour, it’s one that can cause considerable stress. Families today are pulled in so many directions, and getting supper onto the table for a family meal can be a daunting prospect, let alone trying to make it a healthy meal that also takes into account every person’s food allergies.

Crockpots or slow-cookers

If you’re like me, though, you do want to make family dinners a priority, and if you do, I’d like to encourage you to think about using a crockpot.

If you don’t know what a crockpot or slow-cooker is, it’s simply a pot in a warming element that cooks your food slowly over time. Today, there are many varieties, but the most used are the 4 quart and 6 quart sizes. They usually have a knob which you can turn to a low, high or keep warm setting. Some are programmable, though, and others have the settings by hours, usually 4, 6,or 8 which are the most used times on a crockpot.

You can purchase them for reasonable prices these days at any store, but you can also acquire them for very little money at second-hand stores like Savers or the Salvation Army or online at sites like Craig’s list . Whatever you spend, it will be one of the best investments you’ve ever made.

Advantages of a crockpot

I actually own four in different sizes, because you can cook just about anything in a crockpot – meats, stews, soups, vegetables, beans, cakes, puddings, fruits, quiches, etc….

The advantage of doing so is that you won’t be cooking during the most difficult time of your day. You simply put everything into your crockpot first thing in the morning, and the food is ready when you and your family are ready to eat at the end of the day. Also, because the crockpot can keep things warm, for those days when you simply can’t eat as a family, the food can stay warm in the crockpot for as long as you need so each person can eat when it suits their schedule. (I actually have a meal in one of my slow-cookers right now as I write: Thin and Trim chicken sausage mixed with zucchini, eggplant, summer squash, peppers, carrots, tomatoes, onions, and herbs. Doesn’t that sound delicious? And this evening when we’re rushing in from all the children’s after school activities, it’ll be ready for us to eat!)

In addition, crockpots are wonderful for those summer months when you want something warm but don’t want to make the house warm by using the oven. As well, for those times when you need to cook a lot (think Thanksgiving!) and your oven is full, you can use crockpots to cook your side dishes at the same time as whatever is in your oven.

Slow-cooking tips

Some tips for you to know when cooking with a slow-cooker:

1) Don’t stress about it! You can put together just about anything, and it will come out fine.

2) Whatever you need to cook the longest should be on the bottom. So foods like potatoes and carrots and other root vegetables which can take longer should be at the bottom if you were to make a meal like pot roast and vegetables.

3) If you like your meat to still moo when it’s done, you don’t want to cook it in a slow-cooker. Slow-cookers are for when you like your meat to be tender and falling apart when you put your fork to it.

4) Your crockpot should always be at least half full to 3/4 full for it to cook properly.

5) Foods cooked on the low heat setting normally take between 7-9 hours. If you use the high heat setting, the food usually cooks in half the time as the low heat setting.

6) If you make a single food like meatloaf or a whole chicken, you want to add some liquid like beef or chicken broth to the pot, or these items will be a bit dry.

7) If you’re cooking other foods like a stew or roast and vegetables, you want to limit the amount of liquid you add, because the process of slow-cooking will add liquid to the foods naturally.

8) Never put frozen meat into the crockpot. They will not cook well.

9) You can, however, put little frozen fruit or veggies into the crockpot like peas or blueberries if you’re making a mixed vegetable or fruit dish.

10) You should always cut off any extra fat from any meat before putting it into the slow-cooker because the fat will just drain into your food.

11) If you want to enhance the flavor of food you’re cooking, you can brown the meats or sauted your aromatics (garlic, onions, et…) before adding them to your slow-cooker.

12) Boneless chicken breasts only take a few hours, about three to four hours in a crockpot on low, but cuts of meat like a roast take longer, 8 to 10 hours on low.

13) If you want vegetables to be only lightly cooked, you should check them after two hours. Most vegetables only dishes will be done in three to four hours.

14) Crockpots are great for beans, because you don’t have to presoak them. Just wash them and put them into the crockpot with your seasonings, and after 6 to 8 hours, they’ll be done and ready to eat.

15) Don’t be afraid to experiment! There are so many online blogs and recipe sites, as well as crockpot cookbooks, that you could probably make a different crockpot meal every day of the year and not exhaust the recipes.

Crockpot Enchilada Casserole

Ingredients:

1 to 3 tsp chili powder (depends on how hot you like things)
1 cup low salt, fat free chicken broth
6 oz can of tomato paste
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tbsp ground cumin
One 8 oz can no added salt tomato sauce
2 tsp minced garlic
½ tsp black pepper
1 cup salsa

One 15 oz can of no added salt beans (ranchero, kidney, northern beans, black – whatever you like best or have on hand)
2 cups thawed frozen corn
1/2 cup diced red, yellow or green peppers
1/2 cup finely diced zucchini
1/2 cup sliced broccoli

4 chicken breasts (sliced into thin slices or diced into small squares and sauteed just until no longer pink)

10 corn tortillas
8 oz shredded reduced fat, low sodium cheddar cheese (can be omitted)

Cooking Instructions:

1. Mix the chili powder, chicken broth, tomato paste, oregano, cumin, tomato sauce, garlic, pepper and salsa together. Set aside.

2. Combine the beans, corn, peppers, zucchini, and broccoli. Set aside.

3. Layer two tortillas on the bottom of the crockpot.*

4. Follow with ¼ of the chicken slices.

5. Top with ¼ of the sauce mixture.

6. Add ¼ of the bean mixture.

7. Top with 1/5 of the cheese.

8. Repeat the layering three more times.

9. Top with the last two tortillas and remaining cheese.

10. Cover the slow-cooker and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours.

*NOTE: The two tortillas don’t completely fill the crockpot, so we layer the tortillas perpendicular to the layer beneath (i.e. making a cross shape with every two layers).

The Frozen Chosen: Eating More Fruits and Veggies

May 12, 2013PajamaLiving ingredients, lesson Leave a comment

“New Yorkers really ARE friendly!”

For my oldest daughter’s sixteenth birthday she asked if I could take her to NY city instead of having a sweet sixteen party. We stayed with a friend in NJ and took the train and subway in and out for five days of visiting.

Since my oldest is on the autism spectrum, I wanted to make sure she knew what to expect on our trip, and the first thing I did was to tell her that despite the stereotype, New Yorkers were actually friendlier than folks in Boston. She, of course, was doubtful — until she experienced their friendliness on our trip.

She learned that if she smiled at a New Yorker on the street, they smiled back, whereas in Boston if you smile at someone, they look at you funny and cross the street. She reaped the benefits of helpful pedestrians who pointed out when we were going the wrong way to Broadway as opposed to someone saying, “If you don’t know how to get there, maybe you shouldn’t be here.” (True response to me when I was lost in Boston once!) When I missed a curb and went sprawling across the pavement, purse and souvenirs flying here and there, she marveled as twelve different people came to our aid, helping me up and returning every item including my purse — all monies and credit cards in place — whereas the one time I tripped in Boston, three people walked over me! (Again, honest to goodness truth!) She even chatted with fellow travelers on the subway as folks made conversation with us on every trip in and out of the city.

At the end of our visit, her perceptions about the folks of NY City had changed, and I was glad.

Similarly, I hope to change perceptions about the types of ingredients people can use for their own healthier eating.

Using Frozen Fruits and Vegetables

One of the best things we can do for our health is to eat more fruits and vegetables, but with the price of groceries going up by the minute, especially fresh items like vegetables and fruit, people are actually cutting down on the amount they eat.

But you don’t have to do so. You can invest instead in frozen fruits and vegetables which are just as good as the fresh. Because the fruits and vegetables are flash frozen, they retain the nutrients you find in fresh produce, but they are cheaper and also have the benefit of being ready when you need them without going bad.

Frozen Vegetable Ideas

People are always amazed when I tell them that the roasted vegetables they are eating were frozen, but it’s true. If you roast frozen vegetables like carrots, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, etc… with a little bit of olive oil, garlic and herbs, you’ll have a dish delicious and pretty enough to serve to company. The trick is to roast the veggies from their frozen state, not thawed. Similarly, you can throw frozen vegetables into soups and stews. You can add thawed, frozen vegetables to dips. You can even puree thawed, frozen vegetables to put into your cake recipes.

Frozen Fruit Ideas

Frozen fruits are wonderful to use, too. You can replace fresh fruit in cobblers and crisps. (Simply make sure you coat them with a 1/4 to 1/2 cup more flour than your recipe calls for because the fruit will be juicier.) You can puree them into smoothies for a hot summer day. You can even chop them up while frozen to add to that favorite muffin recipe.

However you choose to eat your fruits and veggies, know that you’re not limited to fresh produce only, nor relegated to having to eat it canned.

Gluten Free Peach Cobbler

Ingredients:

4 16 oz bags of no added sugar frozen peaches

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 cup Agave

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour*

2 cups additional Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour**

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup soy free vegan butter (or another type you’d prefer)

2 beaten eggs***

1/2 cup Agave

1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum

Baking Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat the bottom of a 11 x 15 pan with an oil such as grapeseed or safflower oil. (You can use vegan butter or another type of oil or Pam spray if you prefer.)

2. Put the peaches into a very large mixing bowl and toss with the lemon juice.

3. Blend together the Agave, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Coat the peaches with the mixture.

4. Sprinkle the flour over the peaches and toss to coat. Carefully put the peaches into your prepared pan. Set aside.

5. Mix the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt.

6. Cut in the butter using a pastry blender or with a couple of forks or knives until the flour mixture is crumbly.

7. Mix the beaten eggs with Agave and add to the flour mixture, mixing just until everything is moistened.

8. Sprinkle the xanthan gum evenly over the batter and mix in well.

9. Drop the batter by small spoonfuls on top of your peaches. It will not completely cover the peaches, but don’t worry, because the batter will spread when it is cooking.

10. Bake for 50 minutes or so until the the topping has spread, is golden brown, and fully cooked through, which means it’ll be firm to your touch and not soft in the center.

* 100% whole wheat flour can be substituted if you don’t need it to be gluten free.

** 100% whole wheat flour can be substituted if you don’t need it to be gluten free.

*** If you’re not making it gluten free and need to omit eggs, you can mix 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed with 6 tablespoons of water. Let it sit for 5 minutes, and then add it in place of the eggs.

To Grease or Not to Grease: Thinking about the Question

May 9, 2013PajamaLiving informational, ingredients 5 Comments

The forest floor was a mess!

Broken branches littered the ground. Sapling undergrowth surrounded mossy stumps. Trees leaned against one another, their branches fighting for the sun’s rays. Vines encircled tree trunks and ran away onto the ground below. Tiny wildflowers grew in, under, and around whatever it could, and years of layered dead leaves blanketed everything.

Being a city gal, when my husband told me were going to visit the family forest, I pictured straight trees standing tall in neat rows with large spaces of manicured grass in between. Imagine my surprise to discover, instead, nature’s version of an unkempt house.

Current Thinking about Trees

Few folks these days think much about forestry. If we think about trees, we think about wasting trees by using too much paper. Air dryers in the bathrooms proclaim that we’re protecting trees if we use them. Schools and businesses send everything electronically so we can save trees. Children are taught to recycle paper to prevent the killing of trees.

Misperceptions about Using Trees

Protecting trees is a good thing. Misunderstanding what actually helps trees, though, can pose a problem. There’s an island in the middle of a lake in a state where the trees are “protected” by a law stating no trees can ever be cut. As such, it’s so overgrown that all the animals for whom that island used to be a natural habitat have left because there is no longer room for them to live. In what way does this make sense? Nature itself knows the dangers of overcrowding. Natural fires are forests way of clearing themselves of standing dead trees.

In similar thinking, we’re told that using paper products when we cook and bake is bad because it hurts the environment, but we freely and willing use propellant sprays which contain nitrous oxide, an ozone depleting gas, and whose containers add substantially to the problems we have with overflowing landfills. Again, where is the sense in that?

Advantages of If You Care Products

Personally, I’ve chosen to use many of the If You Care products for my cooking and baking. I like that the company is committed to creating environmentally friendly products and to using trees, which are both sustainable and renewable, as opposed to fossil fuels which currently are not sustainable and are definitely not quickly renewable.

As well, if you have food allergies as I do, using products like parchment paper and baking cups helps prevent contamination when you are using a cookie pan or muffin tin, because your food doesn’t touch the baking implement. Additionally, if you are trying to eat healthier and don’t want to grease with butter or oil, parchment paper provides a fat-free alternative which isn’t Pam spray.

Disclaimer

Now, about this point, some folks are wondering what sort of kick-back I’m getting, whether it’s from the forestry industry or the If You Care company. I can tell you that small family-owned forestry companies rarely make a profit. The owners are foresters usually because they love trees, and they care about the land. As for the If You Care company, they have no idea that I use their products or that I recommend their products, but if anyone happens to knows the owners and want to let them know that I’m a big advocate, I’d be quite happy to entertain any thoughts of a kick-back! (We have 12 straight years of college tuition stretching before us! We can use all the monetary help we can get!)

Upside Down Pumpkin Pear Cake

Ingredients:

2 tbsp vegan butter, melted (or whatever type you prefer)

1 tbsp Agave

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Two 15 oz cans of pears, drained (best to get the ones in 100% juice, not syrup)*

2 1/2 cups 100% whole wheat flour or 2 cups Authentic Foods Multi-Blend Gluten free flour

2 tsp gluten free baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp cloves

2 cups cooked pureed pumpkin (can use one 15/16 oz can)

1/2 cup grapeseed oil (or another type you prefer)

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (you can use another 1/2 cup of oil if you prefer)

1 cup Agave

1 cup liquid egg whites or 4 tbsp ground flaxseed mixed with 12 tbsp water (can use 4 whole eggs if you want)

Baking Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9 x 13 pan. (I would use “If You Care” parchment paper, but you can use Pam spray or oil or butter.)

2. Mix the melted butter with the Agave and cinnamon and spread over the bottom of the cake pan.

3. Cut the pears into fans and arrange over the bottom of the cake pan. (To make fans, simply put three to four cuts into the pear which only go about 2/3 down the pear. Hold the uncut portion and “fan” the cut pieces away from one another.)

4. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Set aside.

5. Blend the pumpkin, oil, Agave, and eggs.

6. Quickly mix the dry ingredients into the wet and mix just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Spread the batter carefully over the pears.

7. Bake for 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

8. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire cooling rack. Carefully flip the cake over onto a platter and remove the parchment paper. (You can also simply serve the cake from the pan and invert the slices onto a plate with your spatula.)

* If you do not want to use canned pears, you can use two ripe fresh pears. Wash and slice the pears into eight long slices. Coat a pan with 2 tsp grapeseed (or another type) oil. Mix 1 tbsp water with 1 tsp Agave or Truvia. Saute the pears in the Agave mixture until they’re softened. Arrange the pears on the bottom of the cake pan and proceed as instructed.

“Dairy”licious: Substituting Dairy Products

May 7, 2013PajamaLiving dairy free, ingredients Leave a comment

“It’s chocolate. How bad can it be?”

My oldest had been diagnosed as lactose intolerant, and I had purchased a soy yogurt for her to try. It looked and smelled like chocolate pudding, but apparently it did not taste like chocolate pudding!

Feeling a bit frustrated by the vehemence of her refusal to eat another bite, I grabbed the spoon, dipped it, and stuck some yogurt into my mouth. Let’s just say that my oldest is turning 17, and she still laughs today about the face that I made at the taste of that chocolate soy yogurt. To say it was unpleasant is a definite understatement.

For many of us who have grown up with the tastes and textures of dairy products, it can be an adjustment to have to switch from milk to almond, rice, soy, flax, or coconut milk or from milk yogurts to soy or coconut yogurts or from regular cheese to soy cheese. I myself have simply given up on cheese. After trying too many types to name, I’ve admitted that I will never like the taste of a non-dairy cheese.

Substituting for Dairy

I have, however, found yogurts, milk, and ice creams which I like, and I’m grateful that I have. I’m even more thankful that I can still cook and bake all the foods I love even without dairy. I simply make a one to one switch for all products such as milk, yogurt, cream cheese, or sour cream in any given recipe.

If you’re substituting with a soy product for dairy, you won’t often find much of a difference in your desserts or cooking. If you use a rice product, you will find that you may have to increase your dry ingredients by a tablespoon or two because rice produces a thinner, runnier milk, and you’ll need to increase your fats by a tablespoon or two because rice milk has no fat in it, unlike the milk you’ll be replacing. If you’re using an almond or coconut milk or yogurt, make sure you like the taste of either, because the subtle taste will underlie whatever you’re baking or cooking.

Substituting for Heavy Cream

The most difficult recipes to substitute for are if you want to make something which requires heavy cream. For soups and anything else you would normally thicken with cream, pureed cooked veggies work really well as a substitute. For cakes, whipped cream, mousses, and other such goodies canned coconut milk does the trick, providing you have no allergies to coconut and also like the taste of coconut. I know some folks who say that pureeing raw cashews with water is also a good substitute, but I haven’t tried that myself since I’m allergic to tree nuts. Another option is to use aquafaba which is the liquid formed from cooking chickpeas. You can purchase no salt, no sugar added canned chickpeas and use the liquid as you would heavy cream by putting it into your mixer and whipping it.

Replacing Liquid Dairy

If you simply want to replace the dairy produce altogether, though, you can also substitute with other types of liquids and foods. For baked goods calling for milk, substituting water or 100% fruit juice works excellently. Simply decrease the amount by 1/4 since milk tends to be a thicker liquid. As with rice milk, though, you sometimes need to add a tablespoon or two to your fat amount to compensate for the fat that would be in the milk.

Replacing Solid Dairy

If you want to substitute the dairy in something like a pumpkin pie or cheesecake, silken tofu works well. For pies, you’d replace the 14 oz can of evaporate milk with one package of silken tofu. For a cheesecake, if a recipe called for four packages of cream cheese and I didn’t want to substitute all four packages with soy cream cheese, I would substitute with two packages of the soy cream cheese and two packages of silken tofu.

Replacing Cheese

And if you really do need to use a vegan cheese, which I do in a lasagna, for pizza, and in a macaroni and cheese dish, there are the Daiya and Chaou brands. Their cheeses do tend to melt similarly to real cheese, and if you flavor them with your herbs, garlic and onions, the taste is similar to real cheese. My tip for you, though: After you bake your dish, broil the top for a couple of minutes to fully melt the cheese into that gooey-ness you like from a real cheese. Another tip, if you mix just a tiny amount of olive oil in with the cheese, when you bake it, it will become more crusty like mozzarella.

Dairy Free Dark Chocolate Snack Cake

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups 100% whole wheat flour or 3 cups favorite gluten free flour blend

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup Hershey Special Dark unsweetened cocoa (or regular unsweetened cocoa if you prefer)

10 oz package Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips

1 cup chopped dried cranberries (or another dried fruit like cherries or raspberries or blueberries — if you have a food processor, chop the dried fruit into even smaller pieces to more evenly distribute the flavor through the cake)

1 cup Agave or honey

3/4 cup your favorite plant based oil (I like avocado oil with anything chocolate)

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups water (or fruit juice if you’d prefer)

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (or another type you prefer like white or raspberry)

Baking Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 11 x 15 pan. (I would use “If You Care” parchment paper, but you can Pam spray it or coat it with oil or butter and flour.)

2. Mix together the flour, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder. Stir in the mini chips and chopped dried fruit. Set aside.

3. Blend together the Agave, oil, vanilla, and water.

4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet with the vinegar, and mix quickly just until the dry ingredients are moistened.

5. Pour into the prepared pan, and bake for 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

6. Cool in the pan on a wire rack, or if you’re like my children, dig into it while it’s still warm!

Sugar-Coated: Substituting for Sugar

May 4, 2013PajamaLiving ingredients, lesson, reduced refined sugar Leave a comment

“Zer,zer, zer, erk, I’m out of gas.”

My son stopped directly in front of me, his arms extended, a big smile on his face. This was my cue to give him a big hug – the “gas” he needed to continue with his playing. At eight, though, he actually requires very little “gas” to make him go. His energy is unbounded, and I very often wish I could bottle it and put it aside for those days when my own energy levels are low.

Unfortunately for many of us, long days and too much on our plates lend themselves too easily to being sapped of our “get up and go” just when we need it the most. And it’s in those moments when we’re most likely to reach for that five letter word – sugar. Most of us know enough these days to avoid the Snickers bar for our “quick pick me up”, but the abundance of “healthy” power bars on the market belies just how bad even those are for you.

The dangers of sugar

My husband is a history teacher, and he tells me that the new colonists were quick to realize the benefits of growing the four most addictive crops at the time: tobacco, sugar, coffee, and chocolate. When we think about refined sugar, we think about its taste and the quick burst of energy it provides us. We don’t often think about the fact that sugar, in many ways, is a poison that our bodies react to unfavorably. It provides nothing our bodies need, and in fact, it depletes our bodies of necessary nutrients as our bodies work to eliminate the refined sugar from our systems. Studies link refined sugar to the rise in diabetes, the increase in heart attacks, and even to thyroid problems.

What sugar does

In baked goods, though, sugar is priceless. It controls the temperature of our ingredients for timely baking; it causes fermentation so our desserts can rise properly; it helps with the “browning” necessary for tasty baked goods; it absorbs liquid to keep our cakes moist; and it even breaks up gluten to yield those tender, flaky desserts we crave. To think of replacing sugar with something else can seem almost like a sin to many people, and I know folks who won’t even try a dessert made without sugar, because they’re convinced the dessert simply can’t be as good.

I can tell you, though, that cooking without sugar is not as difficult as it seems, and the desserts are definitely worth trying.

Replacing sugar with fruit

There are many, many different substitutes on the market which people can try, but I confess that I prefer to use one of three options: Ripe, sweet fruit or vegetables; Agave; and Truvia (Stevia). Whenever possible, it really is best to simply use fruit. With fruit, you can get all of the nutrients and fiber that your body needs, along with the sweetness derived naturally. When baking, simply replace half of the sugar called for with a fruit puree of your choice. Milder purees like applesauce work well in just about anything. Pureed bananas, peaches, mangos, prunes, pumpkin, figs, etc… work well in recipes which require stronger or similar flavors.

Replacing sugar with Agave or Honey or Truvia

If you want to eliminate the sugar altogether from a recipe, though, I like to use Agave or Honey or Truvia. Don’t be fooled, though – simply because they’re less refined than sugar does not make them absolutely better. What they do have going for them, though, is that you can use substantially less of them than sugar, reducing how much “sugar” you’re putting into your body. For most recipes replacing the total amount of sugar with half the quantity of Agave or Honey or Truvia is a good place to begin. For many recipes, you may even find that you can reduce by even more, depending on how sweet your sweet tooth is.

Tips for Agave or Honey

Here are the tips you need: Because Agave or Honey is liquid, you need to make sure you’ve balanced your wet to dry ratio. For baked goods like cakes and breads which use a lot of sugar, two options work best: Either increase your flour amount by ½ cup or decrease your liquids by ½ cup. If you’re making something like muffins or pancakes, though, where the sugar amounts are actually quite small, you don’t need to make any adjustments at all.

Tips for Truvia

Working with Truvia is a little bit trickier. Most folks like to simply use the stevia/sugar blends because you can just substitute a one to one ratio for the full sugar, which reduces how much sugar you’re putting into your baked product. If you want to completely eliminate the sugar, though, you can use half the amount of Truvia as the sugar called for, but you’ll need to increase your dry ingredients (usually the flour amount) to compensate for the missing sugar. This isn’t necessarily a straight ratio, though. Usually, you’ll only need to replace about half of the missing sugar to compensate.

A trick I like to use: Use identical bowls of the same shape and size, one for your dry ingredients, and one for your wet. If you’re making cakes or cupcakes, you’ll find that the two amounts will normally match in depth and amount. If you’re making muffins, cookies, or breads, the dry ingredients will usually be slightly more than the wet. After you’ve experimented a few times, you’ll become quite adept at “eyeballing” and knowing whether you need to add or subtract from one bowl or the other before mixing them together.

If you’re cooking with Agave or Truvia or Honey, it’s always best to start with a small amount and add as necessary. For example, my children like their Brussels sprouts to have a little sweetness to them. Simply adding half a teaspoon of Agave to an herbed olive oil marinade is more than enough to satisfy them. The mantra to remember is: Less is best.

Replacing sugar with Coconut Sugar

On the market these days is coconut sugar which has a low glycemic index because it’s from coconuts. What’s nice about coconut sugar, if you’re not allergic to it, is that it works the same as brown sugar in a recipe so you can simply substitute one for one. I often will decrease the amount because I don’t like things overly sweet but you can experiment and see what taste preferences you have.

Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

Ingredients:

10 oz Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips (or another type if you prefer)

1/2 cup Agave

2 cups 100% whole wheat flour or favorite gluten free flour blend

6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp coarse salt

1 cup soy free vegan butter, at room temperature (or another type if you want)

1/3 cup Truvia

4 eggs, at room temperature or egg white equivalent or fruit puree equivalent

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup chopped Craisins (if you have a food processor, use it to chop the craisins; you can also just add them as is but the cookie will be “chunkier”)

1 cup Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips (or another type if you prefer)

Baking Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare your cookie pans. (I would use “If You Care” parchment paper, but you can Pam spray or coat the pans with oil or butter.)

2. Melt the mini chips with the Agave over a pan of simmering water. (I put a small pan of water on the burner and place a large pan with a handle on top with the chocolate in it. Works well.) Set aside.

3. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

4. Beat the “butter’ until light and fluffy (if you have a mixer, use it). Slowly add in the Truvia, mixing well an using a rubber spatula to scrape the sides as necessary. Add the eggs, one at a time (or whites or puree) and blend well.

5. Slowly add the melted chocolate and vanilla, scraping the sides with a rubber spatula as necessary.

6. Add the flour mixture, and mix just until the dry ingredients are moist. Fold in the chocolate chips and craisins.

7. Drop the cookie dough by 1/4 cupfuls, leaving about 2 inches of space in between. Bake for about 15 minutes, rotating your cookie sheet halfway through. The edges will be slightly dry and the tops cracked a little.

8. Cool for a couple of minutes on the sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

“Whole” hearted: Substituting for White Flour

May 3, 2013PajamaLiving gluten free, ingredients, lesson Leave a comment

No one volunteers to have a chest x-ray, an EKG, a stress test AND an echocardiogram, all at the same time!

I certainly hadn’t. As a young woman in her thirties (at the time), chest pains were the last thing I expected to be experiencing. Yet, I was – intermittent pain over a period of a few months. They weren’t regular or consistent enough for me to give much heed to them at first. After a while, however, I realized that, though they were few and far between, the pains occurred whenever I became stressed or angry. Still, however, I rationalized the pains away.

Then came that fateful day when I became angry during a spat with my oldest teen-aged daughter. (Can anyone relate?) Not only was my blood boiling figuratively, but it was literally wildly pumping through my veins and into my heart chamber, so much so that the pains in my chest became unbearable, and hence the x-ray, EKG, stress test, and echocardiogram.

I’m happy to report that, no, I didn’t have a heart attack, but I did learn that I have a minor congenital heart defect which over time can cause some issues. The prognosis was that I would be fine, but the advice I was given was to slow down, stress less, and think more about my heart.

So, I did what I usually do in these situations: First I prayed. Then I read. As I read, I learned that I was already doing what I needed in the way of food – mostly eating whole grains, fruits, vegetables, beans and fish with everything else in moderation. What I was surprised to discover was all the new research about gluten and the many people who have issues with wheat and other such products.

What flour and gluten does

Folks don’t normally give flour and gluten much thought, but in reality flour and gluten are an important, dynamic part of our baking and cooking. In baked goods, flour – and essentially the gluten in flour – is what actually provides the “framework” for the cake, cookie, or bread. It absorbs the moisture and provides the protein strands necessary to give our baked goods a proper structure and a proper consistency. So, when you replace gluten flours with gluten free ones, your baked good loses its ability to properly regulate its moisture content and its rising capacity, which is why many gluten free breads are denser and heavier than wheat breads.

You can substitute whole grains for white

For most people, flour and gluten is not actually an issue. What is at stake is eating the right type of flour, which essentially means ditching the white, all-purpose flour and switching to a100% whole grain flour which has the fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals lacking in its white, all purpose counterpart. Many people are hesitant to make the switch, though, because they think their food won’t taste as good.

The trick to remember is this: For baked goods, always lightly spoon your flour into your dry measuring cup and level it off without packing the flour down. If you do this, you can substitute your whole grain flour in a one to one ratio without fearing for the density of your favorite dessert. For your cooking, simply use less of the whole grain flour for that roux you’re making or those potato pancakes you’re forming. A rule of thumb is to measure out one cup of whole wheat flour and then take out one tablespoon. This will be closer to what you’d use with white flour. Because the whole grain flour is slightly denser, you can use less to get the same consistency. And for those of you who still are reluctant to attempt a change, you can compromise with the white whole wheat flours which have begun to flood the market. It’s a white wheat instead of the red wheat and is closer in consistency to the white , all purpose flour, while still retaining many of the same benefits of the red, hard wheat.

If you need to omit gluten altogether

For folks who do need to refrain from eating gluten, though, you can still have your just desserts, as well. It used to be that you needed to buy an umpteen number of different flours and starches, as well as xanthan gum, to make up your own flour mix in a specific ratio. Today, however, we are blessed with an abundance of companies just dying to take our money in exchange for saving us time and reducing our stress. You can get some of these gluten free flour blends at the grocery store… Hannafords, Shaws, Market Basket, Stop and Shop, Price Chopper, Wegmans…. At the grocery stores, Bob’s Red Mill, King Arthur, and Pillsbury blends are the ones you’re more likely to find. You can also go online. Some brands you’ll find online are Authentic Foods, Cup4Cup, Better Batter, Jules, Namastes…. For folks looking for a one to one substitute, there aren’t too many options when it comes to baking. For other types of cooking, you can substitute any high protein/high fiber flour because the flour is usually just for coating or thickening. For baking, sorghum flour can be used in a one to one ration in some baked goods but sorghum flour absorbs more liquid so be sure to increase your liquids by 1/4 cup or so. Some folks like to use spelt flour, but spelt is only a substitute for folks who can’t eat wheat. For folks who have gluten issues, spelt has gluten. If you do use spelt, it tends to usually need just a bit less liquid than regular wheat.

How to use the gluten free mixes

The benefits of the flour blends are that everything is mixed in the proper ratio for you already, and you can easily substitute them into your favorite recipes. Read the information on the packaging carefully because some are one to one replacements and others are not. Always remember to whisk the flour in a bowl after measuring, though, before you add the other ingredients. This helps to lessen the density of the flour by breaking it up and incorporating some air into the flour.

If you want to make your own gluten free mix

Every day, however, there are new flour mixes coming on the market, so folks should experiment and see what you prefer. If you decide you do want to make your own mix, however, there are sites such as http://www.allergicliving.com/gfblend where you can find some great “recipes” for flour blends. As a general rule to make a gluten free flour blend requires mixing a couple of types of gluten free flours with a couple of types of starches to get the same consistency of wheat flours. Some combinations I make are below.

All Purpose Recipe (Makes 4 1/2 cups):

1 1/4 cup brown rice flour or sorghum flour

1 1/4 cup millet flour or gluten free oat flour

1 cup sweet rice flour or potato flour

1 cup tapioca starch or potato starch

2 tsp xanthan gum

Pie Crust Recipe (Makes 3 cups):

1 cup brown rice flour or sorghum flour

3/4 cup garbanzo bean or fava bean or chickpea flour

3/4 cup potato starch or cornstarch or arrowroot starch

1/2 cup 1/2 cup tapioca starch

High Fiber and Protein Recipe (Makes 3 cups):

1 cup brown rice or sorghum flour

1/2 cup gluten free oat flour

1/2 cup millet flour

2/3 cup tapioca or arrowroot starch

1/3 cup potato starch or cornstarch

Paula’s Gluten Free Pumpkin Pancakes

Ingredients:

2 cups “milk” (use what you prefer; I like to use flax milk or oat or soy milk)

2 tbsp lemon juice

3 tbsp melted Earth Balance “butter” (or whatever type you prefer)

2 tsp oil (use a plant-based oil you prefer; I like safflower or avocado oil)

2 cups your favorite whole grain Gluten Free Flour Blend*

1 cup ground flaxseed

2 tsp gluten free baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cardamom

1/2 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup pureed cooked pumpkin

2 tbsp Agave

1 egg or 1/4 cup egg whites or 1 tbsp ground flaxseed mixed with 3 tbsp water

Cooking Instructions:

1. Preheat your griddle or pancake pan on the stove, preparing either as necessary.

2. Mix the lemon juice into the soy milk and let it sit for at least five minutes.

3. Mix the melted “butter” with the oil, and set aside.

4. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, ginger, allspice, cloves, and salt. Set aside.

5. Mix the pumpkin with the Agave and egg or egg whites or flaxseed mixture. Add the milk and lemon mixture, along with the cooled “butter” mixture.

6. Quickly mix the dry ingredients into the wet, blending just until the dry ingredients are moist. Let the batter sit for a few minutes. (I like a thick batter for pancakes, but if it is too thick for you, add some more milk, one tbsp at a time until it’s the consistency you’d rather it was.)

7. When your griddle or pan is ready, drop 1/4 cup-fulls of batter onto the griddle and cook until the edges are getting a bit dry and little bubbles pop in the center of the pancake batter. Flip and let the pancakes finish cooking for a minute or two on the second side.

* If you don’t need to be gluten free, you can always make these with 100% whole wheat flour instead. They’re good either way! If you use whole wheat flour, though, omit the flaxseed unless you like really, really thick pancakes.

Pajama Living

Navigating Food and Life Challenges

Tag Archives: egg free

Birthdays and Food: When you have allergies

Eating Out: Can We Do It?

Going “Nutty”: Nut and Peanut Allergies

Making the Changes

Tricks of the Trade: Owning Cooking Tips

“Herb”ivore: Using Herbs for Flavor

Easy Does It: Cooking with a Crockpot

The Frozen Chosen: Eating More Fruits and Veggies

To Grease or Not to Grease: Thinking about the Question

“Dairy”licious: Substituting Dairy Products

“Whole” hearted: Substituting for White Flour

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: