The Super Allergy Girl Blog

Gluten-free and Allergen-Free: Luke's Hawaiian Stir-Fry

Yesterday I posted on my facebook wall that my 15-year old son was making dinner and that I was reaping the benefits of getting my children in the kitchen at early ages and teaching them to cook and bake. Yes, all you moms of young children or the not-so-young children - there are definite perks to all for getting your children in the kitchen and helping them to learn to cook and bake! This, of course, I learned from my own mom! Thanks Mom! The request then came for the recipe, so here is Luke's Hawaiian Stir-Fry. This recipe is naturally gluten-free and is allergen-free (milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, wheat) with soy being the only allergen included, which could be deleted.

Luke's Hawaiian Stir-Fry

Sauce:

2 Tablespoons of acceptable thickener (cornstarch, tapioca, arrowroot, etc.)

1/4 cup Bragg Liquid Aminos or Soy Sauce

1 cup of orange juice

1 cup of broth

1 teaspoon dried ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tablespoon of cooking sherry

1/3 cup sugar or acceptable sweetener

To make the sauce, combine the ingredients in a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until thickened, then set aside.

Vegetables

1-1/2 to 2 cups chopped carrots

1 red pepper, chopped

3 cups broccoli florets

1 to 1-1/2 cups onion, chopped in large wedges

1 to 2 cups snow peas

2 cups pineapple, cut bite size pieces

1 Tablespoon oil

This dish is excellent served over rice. If you plan on doing so, cook your rice and set aside. In a very large frying pan, saute the onion in a small amount of oil until they are fully cooked and translucent. Add the red pepper and cook for 1-2 minutes. Then add the broccoli and snow peas cooking until desired crispness or tenderness. Lastly add the pineapple and cook only to heat through. Add the sauce to the cooked vegetables and serve over rice. This makes approximately five dinner entree size servings. Add more vegetables to serve additional people. Copyright Lisa A. Lundy, 2012.

Here is a picture of the stir-fry in progress:

Here is a picture of the entree plated:

This is a relatively fast and healthy meal! No food coloring, no food dyes, no preservatives! Fresh whole foods! And, yes - he did all of the food prep and cooking for this meal! Aaaaaah. The joys of having children that can make dinner while you fb...Let me know if you make this dish what you think! The sauce is not spicy. Enjoy my friends, enjoy!

Love,

Lisa A. Lundy

 

Gluten-Free & Allergen-Free White Cake Recipe: A Cause for Health & Wellness Celebration

Last night we had a gluten-free & allegen-free white cake with chocolate frosting to celebrate my daughter's 10th birthday! The gluten-free and allergen-free white cake recipe is below. It is not only gluten-free, it is dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free, peanut free and tree nut free! Why this birthday was a cause for health and wellness celebration is because my daughter was not expected to live to be 2, 3 or 4 years of age! If you have not seen the FOX 5 NYC News story on her health from 2006, you can see the FOX 5 NYC News video by clicking on this link:

Link to the FOX 5 NYC News Story, May 2006

OR, you can visit my YouTube Channel, and see it there along with my other helpful videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VpIsRiyIq4&feature=plcp&context=C3e65b7fUDOEgsToPDskLsM5ov15bZJizA0A3F1lK6

The FOX 5 NYC News story aired in May 2006, and now 5-1/2 years later she is healthy and well! To say that I have learned a great deal in the process would be an understatement! It has been an extraordinary journey from an extremely poor health prognosis to one of vital health and wellness! Is this possible for most consumers? Yes, in my humble and "non-medical" opinion - it is indeed possible with expert medical care and guidance from integrative medical practitioners using the medical testing and technology that is available! For Now, enjoy this gluten-free and allergen-free White Cake, which there is also a video about on my YouTube channel from a few years ago!

Gloria’s White Wedding Cake

The inspiration for this recipe goes to Gloria Tilley, a dear friend, and an amazing woman – hence the name!  I had given up on ever creating a white, egg-free cake until Gloria asked for help for her nieces wedding.  I created this recipe just for Gloria and I think of her every time I make it. If you change the flour mix, it will change the texture and result of the baked good.  It is a delicious cake that freezes well.

 

Preheat oven to 350°

Grease and flour two 8-inch round baking pans and set aside.  Measure all of the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl and set aside. 

1 1/2 cups white rice flour (I used a mix of white and brown rice flour - half each)

1 1/2 cups of tapioca flour

2 teaspoons of xanthan gum

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 Tablespoons baking powder

4 teaspoons of Ener-G® Egg Replacer (dry powder)

Pinch of salt

 

Picture of the gluten-free flours and dry ingredients mixed together

 

ADD: ½ cup or 8 tablespoons of non-dairy margarine substitute at room temperature

Cake flours with non-dairy margarine substitute added in pieces

 

Take your margarine and cut it into small pieces and add to the dry ingredients.  Cut the margarine into the flour mixture until it is very, very well incorporated into the dry ingredients. It will look like this:

 

Then Add:

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 cups rice milk

Rice milk and vanilla added pictured here

Start to mix the batter. The batter for this cake will be very thick.  It will not drip off of a spoon.  It will hold it's shape pretty well.  You may need a bit less milk if you are light on your flour measurements.

Cake batter: This is a very thick batter - not like your regular cake batter.

This is the cake batter before I added two Tablespoons of additional rice milk, which make it only ever so slightly more creamy. Not much creamier, but a little bit. With the addition of 2 more tablespoons of rice milk, the batter would now drip off the spoon, or more like slide off the spoon, but it was still very thick. Underscore thick.

Extra rice milk: 1 to 4 tablespoons, as needed (emphasize the as needed part)

Mix well, but do NOT OVER MIX your batter.  You will probably see small lumps of margarine in the batter, which is fine.  Place the batter into your prepared pans and bake for 27 to 35 minutes or until done.  Oven temperature is very important.  A hotter or cooler oven will change both the baking time and results.  This recipe produced a nice, moist cake.  Because we used organic sugar and organic vanilla (both browner in color than clear vanilla or bleached sugar), our cake was not a pure white color. For cupcakes, bake for 25 to 28 minutes or until done. This recipes makes 24 to 26 cupcakes if using about ¼ cup batter per cupcake.

A few more pictures, which may be helpful...

The cake batter in the 2- 8 inch cake pans

Here are the two baked cake layers. The shine you see on the top is the waxed paper that I used to line the bottom of the baking pans. It guarantees that the cake layers will slide out of the pans. Great baking tip for cakes if you are not aware of it. I then just peeled the waxed paper off the bottom. Actually, the kids did this for me...

Final cake all frosted with leftover frosting from the fridge...No, I did not get my cake frosting tool out to frost this...Nor did I get all my fancy Wilton tools out to make flowers and pretty leaves. Some birthdays are just this way.

 

Both cake layers were full size and nice texture. No gummy insides. Use a cake tester and touch the top of the cake to see that it bounces back if you are not sure if it is done on the inside. An oven thermometer is not optional - use one for accuracy or deal with the consequences.

Gluten Free and Allergen Free Dressing: Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette

One of the problems with salad dressings is that they often contain either gluten or allergens. In the allergen department the most common offenders in salad dressings are gluten, dairy, soy (soybean oil). Some dressings can contain MSG and other preservatives that some of us try to avoid. We tried a store bought salad dressing that was delightful, but it contained milk! Since my daughter has a life-threatening IgE allergy to milk, it was not something she could even try. After playing around a bit, I came up with this gluten-free and allergen free recipe for a Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette! We love it. To reduce the calories (and sugar), I used a dash of stevia, which makes it more diabetic friendly. If you don't have stevia, then you can use a little sugar to taste. 

Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette

1/2 cup pure water

1/3 cup of acceptable oil

1/2 to 3/4 cup roasted red pepper puree

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 tablespoon tomato paste

Dash of salt

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Dash of black pepper

Dash of xanthan gum

Optional: 1 tablespoon roasted red peppers, finely diced

For the roasted red pepper puree, you can either puree roasted red peppers that you buy at the store, or roast and puree your own red peppers. Blend all ingredients in a blender. This makes about 2 cups of dressing. Here is a picture of the dressing:

The black spec you can see is part of the roasted red pepper. Here is what the dressing looks like on the salad that we ate with the dressing:

It was simply delicious! And everyone in our family can eat this dressing! The irony is that my daughter didn't like it at all! O.K. this was not a big surprise since she really doesn't like red peppers! But my son who loves the roasted red pepper dressing and does not tolerate milk well is quite pleased to have this new recipe in our array of dressing recipes! Enjoy!

Love,

Lisa

Harvest Salsa

It is that time of year when the gardens are ripe with produce. I made salsa a few weeks ago, which we just loved. The recipe is easy and the perfect use for tomatos that are ripe. If you have never made homemade salsa, I highly recommend it. It is by far the best salsa I have ever had and my children agree. Here is the recipe for my Harvest Salsa along with some pictures.

 

 

 

 

Salsa Ingredients are pictured Above

 

 

Harvest Salsa 

 

Harvest Salsa

2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes

1/2 cup finely diced green pepper

1 cup diced onion

1 clove garlic, minced

2 teaspoons vinegar

3 tablespoons tomato paste

Dash of stevia OR sugar to taste

Dash of cayenne pepper or other hot peppers to taste

Salt to taste

Mix all ingredients together in a small to medium sized bowl. This makes about 3 cups. Enjoy!

Love,

Lisa

 

Gluten-Free & Allergen Free: Winter Warm Up Soup

I invented this soup recipe to use up our CSA winter root vegetables. I was actually taken aback that my children loved the soup! This soup has a unique taste and it simply will not appeal to everyone. It’s the best way that I have come up with to use up those winter root vegetables that are abundant with organic cooperatives. In the last year since I came up with this recipe, we have made it many, many times. My children will ask for it by name, which is interesting since I would not consider this one of my better recipes. If it were not for their insistence on having it again and again, this recipe would have ended up being tossed. Let me know your thoughts.

4 cups or 32 ounces of chicken or vegetable broth

6 cups of pure water

1-1/4 cups of chopped onion or 1 large onion chopped

4 cups parsnips, peeled and chopped

2 cups carrots, peeled and chopped

4 cups potatoes, diced (we leave the skins on)

2/3 cup shredded or grated celeriac (you could use celery instead of celeriac)

1-1/2 cups turnips, diced

4 teaspoons Celtic salt

2-1/2 teaspoons dill

2 teaspoons basil

1 teaspoon thyme

dash of marjoram

Combine all ingredients in a large stockpot and cook over medium heat until the vegetables are cooked through and the flavors well melded. Let the soup cool and then puree. Puree the soup and return to the pot. This makes about 11 cups of soup. If you simmer it for a longer time, you will want to add more water. This does thicken up as it stands, so add water to your desired consistency. We have made this recipe and not pureed it. My strong preference is for the pureed version. This freezes well.

Help with Getting Kids to Eat Healthier

This July I put out a news release on PRWeb with the same headline. You can read the full news release here: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/07/prweb2621614.htm

With skyrocketing obesity and dramatic increases in childhood health issues, there are more reasons than ever to make healthy eating for children a real priority. As a parent to three children (ages 7, 10 and 12), I know this can be challenging, which is why I put together my little tip sheet (with recipes) that is available FREE on my website. To download the FREE tip sheet, click on this link http://www.thesuperallergycookbook.com/articles.html

Once you are on the articles page, select the document titled "Getting Kids to Eat Healthier"! That will give you my top 10 tips along with some fast and easy recipes - that happen to be healthy! If you are having trouble getting your children to eat fruits and vegetables and healthy foods, by all means take a look at this document and the accompanying video. Let me know if you are helped by this information as that is my mission - to help empower other parents, educators and individuals.

Earlier this year the kids and I embarked on a "New Fruits and Vegetables Shopping Spree" - yes we went to the grocery store with the sole purpose of finding new fruits and vegetables to try! We went to Wegmans and there store employee Ann McCarthy, one of the experts in whipping up healthy foods, was giving out samples of Guacamole with gluten-free rice chips! The kids were delighted to try this organic and allergen-free product by the name of Wholly Guacamole. We purchased some Wholly Guacamole and as easy as that we were eating a new and reasonably healthy food! Here is our recipe for homemade Guacamole. You may want to kick up the spices with more seasonings, salt and or other ingredients, but for kids this plain version of Guacamole works well.

Easiest Guacamole

2 ripe avacados

2-3 teaspoons vinegar (or other liquid, as needed)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (more as desired)

1/2 teaspoon onion powder (more as desired)

Salt & Pepper to taste

Peel avacados, remove seed and place in a food processor. Add vinegar or other liquid and spices. Pulse until smooth and creamy. Chill for a few minutes in the freezer if desired (my children like it chilled). Guacamole turns brown when exposed to air over time. Place any unused guacamole in a plastic bag with the air removed and freeze to avoid the guacamole turning brown.

A Healthy Key Lime Cheesecake

Laurette Janak gave me the original recipe for this non-dairy Key Lime Cheesecake when I was looking for a recipe to make a birthday cake for my husband who has dramatically reduce the amount of meats and dairy that he consumes. I simply took out the ingredients we had allergies to and substituted other ingredients. Since the first time I made this delight, I have modified the recipe yet again to mellow the key lime taste, which we felt was a bit on the strong side. The good news - all the kids really enjoy this recipe! And the even better news - it's the healthiest key lime cheesecake we could ever make. To reduce the calories, you can skip the crust all together. We took this dessert to a party last month and it received excellent reviews.

1-1/4 cup sweet crumbs, graham cracker crumbs or cookie crumbs(optional, but nice for effect)**

2 bananas

2 ripe avacados (medium to large)

1 cup mango (cut in slices or pieces)

1/2 cup agava nector or other liquid sweetener

1 T. oil

1 cup key lime juice

(optional - 1 teaspoon vanilla)

Place sweet crumbs in a 8-inch round baking pan, or other similar sized baking dish. **You can add some oil to the sweet crumbs to make more of a crust or leave them loose. I add a bit of oil to make more of a graham cracker crust. My children have requested that I increase the crust on the next batch. You may opt to increase the crumbs to two or three cups as you see fit. Place bananas, avacados, mango, agava nector or other sweetener, oil and lime juice in a food processor and process until smooth and creamy. Pour the creamy mixture into your prepared pan and freeze until solid. Let thaw only slightly before serving. Serve cold. Enjoy!

Let me know your thoughts and comments about what you do to get your kids to eat healthier! I'll be back soon with Noah's recipe for a delicious fruit smoothie as well as his comments! Have a wonderful week!

Love,
Lisa

Eat Your Greens Soup

We participate in a CSA, which stands for Community Supported Agriculture, and at this time of year it means that we are getting plenty of greens.  Typically we use greens, like spinach, in a stir-fry or in salads, and even in burgers and in green smoothies.  Greens are so healthy and good for you in terms of nutrition.  But what to do with them other than the smoothies, burgers, salads and stir-frys?  What else are you doing with your organic greens?  This soup is gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, peanut free, tree nut free, which meets our allergy and celiac needs.  As I have noted in the recipe below if you are allergic to tomatoes or not eating them for other reasons, you could omit them and add broth in place of the water for more flavor and increase the spices, possibly even adding some additional ones.

This recipe I came up with in an effort, quite simply, to use up an abundance of Swiss Chard from our organic farmer.  Was it a hit with my kids?  In a word - YES!!!!!!  The two that tried it (one was under the weather) each gave it a 9 out of 10, meaning that they thought it was excellent.  And they even gave me coaching - to make it a 10, next time I needed to puree the greens a bit more!  I am quite excited and I can't wait to get feedback from you!!  So try it and let me know your opinion and the variations you come up with. 

Swiss Chard Soup

A soup that my two sons, ages 10 and 12, actually enjoyed and would eat again!  It has an unusual color with the greens and the tomato.  If you are allergic to tomatoes, you would obviously eliminate them.  I would use broth in place of the water and just add some additional spices for flavor.
1 medium onion, chopped

1 Tablespoon of acceptable oil
8 ounces of broth
15 ounces of tomato sauce
24 ounces of water
Large Bunch of Swiss Chard (or Spinach or other greens that are not bitter)
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Dash of crushed rosemary
Dash of sugar
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Saute the onion in the old until caramelized and soft.  Add water, tomato sauce and Swiss Chard.  Cook over medium heat until the Swiss Chard is cooked and soft.  Add all remaining ingredients.  Allow to cool slightly and then puree in a blender.  I left small pieces of greens in this soup and my children would like it more pureed the next time.  Overall, this is an excellent way to use up your greens and have a nutritious appetizer or main meal. 

Now, if I could just come up with a way to use greens in a dessert!!!  Just kidding.  Enjoy!
Love,
Lisa