How to make fried chicken (nuggets) - Soy Free and Cow dairy free (goats milk)

Thanksgiving with food allergies

I know Thanksgiving is over, but I thought I'd share some recipes from my family's allergy free/gluten free feast.

I was in charge of the appetizers and everything I brought was not only soy and dairy free, but also gluten free.

Avocado/Tomato Dip

You'll need:
4 Avocados (diced)
3 Roma Tomatoes (diced)
1/2 A Head of Garlic (finely chopped)
1/4 Cup of Olive Oil
2-3 Green Onions (finely chopped)
About 1/4 of a bunch of Cilantro (finely chopped)
(For those not familiar with Cilantro - you cut the stems from the leafy portion, chop up the leafy bits and use them. Discard the stems, but don't worry if you don't get all the stems. They aren't coarse or bitter so they won't ruin the texture of the flavor.)
1-2 Pinches of Salt (to taste)

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and serve with chips.

I made my own chips with corn tortillas.  I chop them up into chip size pieces and bake for 10-12 minutes on 350 degrees. You can sprinkle with salt if you like them salty.  Or to give them a little extra flavor, add some from chopped garlic before baking. Yum!

Here are the results.

Stay tuned for more appetizers and short cuts.

Pancakes from scratch

I love pancakes, but often the store bought pre-made mix contains both soy and milk products.

Here is a really simple, super quick recipe that makes enough mix to have your own pre-made mix for quick, convenient use later.

To make the bulk batch: (to be stored for later use or if you have to make A LOT of pancakes)

6 cups flour (I used unbleached white whole wheat flour)
2 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup sugar

Additional Ingredients that would be needed to make the actual pancake batter.

For each 1 cup of above mix you'll need:
1 egg
3/4 cup milk (I used Lucerne GMO free Almond Milk)

Directions:

Mix egg and milk then stir in 1 cup of the pancake mix, cook and enjoy!

Corn Flower

Preparation

One of the hardest things about eating with allergies is convenience.  We’re all busy people and when you’re running a 100 miles an hour, juggling 17 different things with 12 people pulling you in just as many different directions, it can be nearly impossible not to go for what is quick and convenient and end up paying the price.

If life moved at a slower pace, maybe we could eat the way we’re supposed to.  But it doesn’t, so the next best thing is to be prepared.

Easier said than done, though.  Right?

Where is it that you get in the most trouble?  For me, it’s snacking.  I need to have things readily available or I’ll eat the quick easy snack food, like chips soaked full of oil (soy) or chocolate (soy and diary) or my very favorite – cheese (which I don’t keep in the house anymore).

So this weekend I spent the day playing video games with my boyfriend.  While cutting up fruit for breakfast, we decided to cut up enough for the whole day and found it only takes an extra couple minutes.  Then if you put it in a storage container and stick it in the fridge, you’ve got safe snacking for the day. 

My boyfriend, the chef, had to make it pretty for its photo shoot.

Any Ideas? Tips to help keep from snacking on bad stuff?  Please share.

SOy Sick of Food (allergies)!

I’ve talked about making this blog for a long time now.  I’m sure at this point, everyone knows someone who has a food allergy, if they don’t have one themselves.  In my office there are about 11 girls and of them half have food allergies.  Of those, two have life threatening, don’t you dare bring that food to work, allergies.

My own allergies aren’t quite that sudden, but I wouldn’t say they aren’t that dangerous or that desperate.  Whenever I see something yummy that I really want like a cheese roll, I refer to them as little bits of death.  Carrs Safeway in Alaska has these rolls that they fill will cheddar cheese and then bake – Oh so delicious, but seriously for me they are like a little slice of death bake into warm, flaky breading.

Going forward please know - I make fun because you can either laugh or cry about it.  I choose to laugh – or at least I try.  So if you suffer from these same symptoms/issues please don’t be offended.  The only person I’m poking fun at is myself.

My symptoms:  

- Swollen up monkey lips, tongue, face, eyes and esophagus - not to the point of being unable to breathe – though on occasion it has gotten a bit hairy.  

- Couple that with the allergy shiners and in essence, I look like a hyena.   

- Of late I get a general State Puff Marshmallow man swelling all over effect. 

- I get a raspy voice, and sometimes even lose it (do to the swelling). 

- Cough

- Hives, usually centered around - but not limited to - hot spots such as the backs of the knees and insides of the elbows, though lips and inside nostrils aren’t completely off limits either.  (Imagine that for a moment. Blek.) 

- And the most recent, and not the most unpleasant but most debilitating is when I eat something I shouldn’t my energy meter gets drained to fumes. 

The reason I finally broke down and decided to start this blog is that last week I ate a bagel and cashew butter (read the ingredients and there was no soy).  Usually, my reactions take about an hour or so, but not this time, my lips started itching immediately but I didn’t pay much attention.  Within 20 minutes of finishing the bagel my breathing was labored.

Reading the back of the cashew butter, it indicated that though there wasn’t allergens in the ingredients, it was made on shared equipment and could contain, peanuts, soy and wheat.  As far as the bagel goes, who knows.  I picked it up at the coffee shop.  For all I know they could have used soy flower, soy milk, soybean oil and textured vegetable product (which is code for SOY).

So, I’ve decided no more.  Previously, after a major reaction that had a similar unpleasant but more severe result, I started eating only foods that I prepared, made almost entirely of whole foods.  It’s time to get back to that.

Luckily, I have the benefit of a boyfriend who is professionally trained as a chef. (Like fancy, expense culinary college trained chef.)

Living with food allergies can feel very restricting and let’s face it, frustrating.  I would like this blog to be a place to share experiences, tips, recipes and anything that will help make living with allergies a little bit more convenient, healthier, and most importantly tastier.  

So, please join in the discussion and share your own experiences, tips and recipes!