Unfortunately, it fell flat for me for one main reason – she made everyone she was with eat the same as her when she was around them, and there was no blowback. At one point, a romantic interest brings by donuts and coffee for two for breakfast, and she refuses, offering to make him a real breakfast instead. Admittedly, eggs and whatever else she served would be more filling than donuts, however, there was no hint of resentment that the guy had just wasted his money. No mention of what happened to that food either, if it was thrown out and wasted or if they donated it to a homeless guy, so there was no guilt or embarrassment on Autumn’s side either.

Another reviewer also found the quirk interesting, but thought it was mentioned way too often, which I can definitely understand. Of course, people with allergies have to be scanning constantly for it, but Autumn’s thoughts weren’t so much “is this organic” as they were dwelling on the virtues of organic food and the emptiness of processed food.

Have you read any books where the character’s diet is a character quirk? How was it handled?

The Changes

Several reviewers said that it was bitter, due to the lemon rinds, so I just omitted those. Also, my husband hates green beans, so I substituted those for broccoli.

The Method

In a bowl, combine oil, lemon juice, and spices. Add broccoli and stir until coated. Remove with a slotted spoon into a 13″ x 9″ pan. Cut potato into bite-size pieces and add to the remaining lemon juice mixture. Stir to combine, then remove with a slotted spoon into a 13″ x 9″ pan.

Roast at 450 degrees F for 10 minutes. Layer chicken on top, then pour remaining lemon juice mixture on top. Roast for another 30 minutes or until chicken is done and potatoes are tender.

Pan Roasted Chicken with Garlic-Lemon Broccoli

Adapted from Real Simple

Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Nut-free

Ingredients

• 6 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 3 russet potatoes
• 7 chicken tenders

In a large bowl, combine olive oil, lemon juice, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Add broccoli and stir to coat. Remove with a slotted spoon to a 13″ x 9″ pan. Cut the potatoes into bite-size pieces, then add to the bowl with the lemon juice mixture. Stir to coat, then remove to a slotted spoon to the 13″ x 9″ pan with the broccoli. Roast at 450 degrees F for 10 minutes.

Remove pan from oven and layer chicken on top. Pour remaining lemon juice mixture on top of chicken. Return to oven for 30 minutes, or until chicken is done and potatoes are tender. Serve warm.

Makes 4 servings

What I Thought

The chicken was very under flavored whereas the broccoli was extremely flavored. To fix this, I would baste the chicken with the remaining juice instead of pouring it over the chicken and having half of it drop down to the vegetables. Also, I would have coated the potatoes before the broccoli. Since I added the broccoli to the lemon juice mixture while it was still frozen, the broccoli probably froze some of the lemon juice to itself, leaving very little left for the rest of the food. Still, I thought it tasted nice. My husband thought it was all right. My kids were only interested in eating the chicken, though Joseph was persuaded to eat a potato.

I’d forgotten that even though I buy Joseph-safe hotdogs, there are still many brands of hot dogs that have casein – a milk protein.

This Saturday, we went to a church barbeque where the bishopric was providing all the hotdogs for everybody. I didn’t read the ingredients. Joseph happily ate his bunless hotdog. But the next day, Joseph would not stop rubbing his eye, and it was all red. Thankfully Benadryl calmed it.

Now, I’ll admit, it could have been pollen that he reacted to. But it still pays to be careful.

Since Joseph is tolerating baked milk, I left the butter as-is in the recipe. The rest of it was already safe for him. I just cut it in half since I was only feeding four people. Although I didn’t take care to get GF oats, since Joseph has such a small reaction to it.

The Method

Combine rhubarb, strawberries, cornstarch, sugar, orange zest, and cinnamon in a bowl until fruit is well coated. Pour into a greased 8″ x 8″ pan.

In another bowl, stir together GF flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or two knives until the topping resembles pea-sized crumbs. Spread topping over fruit.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 40 minutes, or until crisp is bubbly. Let sit for 20 minutes before serving.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp

Adapted from Cooking Light

Gluten-free, Nut-free

Filling:

• 3 cups rhubarb, sliced
• 1 1/4 cups strawberries, halved
• 3/8 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 Tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon orange zest
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Topping:

• 1/3 cup brown rice flour blend
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup oats
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
• dash of salt
• 3 Tablespoons butter, chilled

In a bowl, combine ingredients for filling (rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, cornstarch, orange zest, and cinnamon) and stir until fruit is well coated. Pour into a greased 8″ x 8″ pan.

In another bowl, combine topping ingredients except for butter (brown rice flour, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, and salt). Cut in butter until the topping resembles pea-sized crumbs. Pour topping over filling.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 40 minutes, until crisp is bubbly. Let cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.

Makes 4-5 servings

What I Thought

This was tarter than I expected, but I shouldn’t have been that surprised due to the amount of rhubarb. I quite liked it, and happily had some for breakfast the next morning. My husband called it “soupy but good.” Sadly, the kids only picked at the topping. Ah well, more for me!

Joseph also likes to insist on pink & purple bowls, and princess plates at dinner. My belief is he does this because I always gave his sister first shot at these “girly” items, and he wanted a chance to have them too. He also plays with dolls and play food with his sister, though his favorite toys are still cars, trains, and balls.

With all this imitation he’s doing, I’m a bit surprised that he doesn’t complain more when his food doesn’t look like his sister’s. Or maybe he imitates her more because he understands he’s allergic to her food. I’m no psychologist. But I do know that if he recognizes that she has something that he CAN eat, he will often ask for some too. Or he’ll ask for his Joseph-safe equivalent.

Part of it must come from the fact that he’s always had these rules of what he can and can’t eat, and he’s accepted that we don’t bend on those things. Though now that I’m interested in giving him cheese to see if he can tolerate it now that he’s older, he won’t touch it because “I’m allergic” Still, I guess that’s the better problem to have than to have to take all these foods away from him after he’s developed a taste for them.

Now if I could only get him potty trained, just like his sister.

The Changes

I actually changed a fair amount in this recipe. Instead of measuring the coconut milk, I just used the entire can. And I omitted the dates because we don’t have them normally, and omitted the almond butter, since Joseph is allergic.

The Method

Put all ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth. Taste, and add sugar as desired. Pour and serve immediately.

Chocolate Coconut Milkshake

Adapted from Gluten-free Easily

Dairy-free, Gluten-free, Nut-free

Ingredients

• 1 13.6 ounce can coconut milk
• 2 ripe frozen bananas
• 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup sugar

Put all ingredients in a blender, and puree until smooth.

Makes 3 servings

What I Thought

This shake had a nice mouth-feel, but I felt the taste was a bit too rich. My husband thought the coconut taste was too strong, but he gladly had seconds. My kids said they liked it, but they were extremely slow in eating. Perhaps they were just having more fun playing with the straws. If I were to redo it, I’d experiment with using So Delicious coconut milk, or ice-cream.

Creamy Vegetable Chowder

Garlic Artichoke Dip

Swedish Meatballs

Cheese Sauce

Chocolate Chip Cranberry Bread

Coconut Strawberry Ice-cream

Blueberry Chocolate Pancakes

Pasta with Peas and Chicken

A is for Apple Salad

Golden Clam Chowder

Here’s to another year!

The Changes

This recipe was already mostly Joseph-safe. I just had to use gluten-free noodles. The only other changes I made were to accommodate what I had in my pantry instead of running to the store.

The Method

A bonus is that this recipe is quick and easy. Just dump everything into a dutch oven, bring to a boil, and then simmer until carrots are tender.

Minestrone

Adapted from Better Homes And Gardens

Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Nut-free

Ingredients

• 3 14 ounce cans beef broth
• 1 15 ounce can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 15 ounce can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), rinsed and drained
• 1 14 1/2 ounce can diced tomatoes in Italian seasoning
• 1 11 1/2 ounce can vegetable juice
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup each frozen peas and corn
• 4 carrots, peeled and chopped.
• 1 cup gluten-free shell pasta

Dump all ingredients into a dutch oven, or other large pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover until vegetables and pasta are tender (about 15 minutes).

Makes 6 servings

What I Thought

We quite liked the soup, and I was well pleased with how well the corn-quinoa pasta held up. We also had the missionaries over for dinner, and they enjoyed it. My kids only picked at the pasta though.

I understand that I’m preaching to the choir here when I say that Disney obviously misstepped here. But I do want to examine what exactly went wrong. Bullying is a common trope in fiction. So many movies and books start with the protagonist getting beat up or picked on. Bad things happen in life so of course bad things will happen in fiction. It’s the only way to see characters learn and grow, which is the exciting part of stories.

The problem with the Jessie show is that the viewer was not supposed to sympathize with the victim of the bullying. They were supposed to laugh at his reactions. This gives the message that it’s ok to do that in real-life, which its not.

I would one day like to write a story with characters with food intolerances. I just haven’t found the right plot for it yet. Part of the reason is that while I understand how life changing it is to deal with food allergies, it can’t carry a story. And if the food allergy becomes necessary to the plot, it tends to fall into the three clichés Beasley brought up in Don’t Kill the Birthday Girl 1 – the reaction as a sight gag, 2 – the allergy as the Achilles heel, and 3 – the allergy as an excuse for the protagonist to be heroic.

At this point, the best thing I can think of is to have the food allergy just be one of a well-rounded character’s many traits. Something that others are aware of, but its not a big deal. Not sure how to pull it off, but I’ll keep it on the backburner.

The changes
I substituted GF flour 1:1 with regular flour. And I decided not to go with any added xanthan gum.

The Method

Boil potatoes whole and unpeeled until tender. (This seems like it’s due to tradition, but in the future, I’d at least cut them in half for quicker cooking). Cool potatoes, then peel and smash with a fork.

Add flour, egg, salt, and olive oil and mix by hand until it comes together in a non-sticky dough.

Roll into several long strips and cut into individual pieces. I cut mine 1″ long, but my husband says that he was used to them being smaller. Then roll each piece over the tines of a fork to impress a pattern.

Drop the pieces into a pot of boiling water. When the pasta starts to float (about 1-2 minutes) remove to a plate with a slotted spoon.

Serve with your choice of sauce.

Gnocchi

Adapted from Scott Merrell

Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Nut-free

Ingredients

• About 2 pounds potatoes
• 2 cups brown rice flour blend
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• salt to taste

Boil potatoes until tender. Let cool, then peel and smash with a fork. Add flour, egg, salt, and oil, and mix by hand until it comes together into a soft, non-sticky dough.

Roll the dough into several long strips and cut strips into individual pieces. Roll each piece over the tines of a fork to impress a pattern.

Drop pieces into a pot of boiling water. After 1-2 minutes, the dough will rise. Remove with a slotted spoon to a serving plate. Serve with choice of sauce.

Makes 6 servings

What I Thought

Using a potato ricer would have been so much easier, but I don’t own one. So, my potatoes ended up with several large lumps after smashing, especially from the large potatoes that didn’t get fully cooked to the center. I also found them to be lacking in flavor, especially salt. I served them with spaghetti sauce covered chicken on the side, and it just wasn’t right. They were much better the next day when I cooked the leftovers in butter and Italian seasoning. A white sauce also would have been preferable, according to my husband. The kids only ate theirs after much persuasion, Joseph less than my daughter. My husband will probably still want me to perfect these, time consuming though they are.