Pizza Sauce: Dairy-free, Gluten-free, Soy-free
Unlike my First Try Fridays, this is a recipe I’ve tested until I liked it.
We eat a lot of pizza at our house. Usually, this involves a frozen pizza for those of us who don’t have allergies, and an individual pizza for Joseph. I use Udi’s pizza crust, and Daiya cheese. He didn’t seem to care for pepperoni, and since I am worried about what ingredients could be in it, I’m happy to leave it off. But I still felt like his pizzas were a bit plain, especially when I was dumping plain tomato sauce on the crust. So, I adapted Our Best Bites’ pizza sauce recipe to be dairy-free, and have been quite happy with it. In fact, I’ll even use this sauce on our own pizza on the occasions when we’re having homemade pizza.
I love that this recipe is one step – just combine all ingredients in a bowl. It means I can whip it up while the oven is preheating.
I found that 1/4 cup of sauce is enough to cover an Udi pizza crust. I’ll freeze the rest in ice cube trays for easy serving portions the next time I make pizza (2 cubes = 1/4 cup sauce).
At some point, I’m sure I’ll combine most/all of these spices into a container labeled “pizza seasoning” so I can save time in grabbing spice containers.
Pizza Sauce
Adapted from Our Best Bites
Dairy-free, Gluten-free, Soy-free
Ingredients:
- 1 8oz can tomato sauce
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- ¾ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon basil
- ½ teaspoon marjarom
- ½ teaspoon parsley
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine.
Makes enough sauce for 4 Udi’s pizza crusts, or 2 average size pizzas.
Shared on Allergy-Free Wednesdays
Gluten-free Homemaker is featuring lemon recipes this month on her site. As I went through my cookbooks to find something to fit the theme, I came across this recipe for lemon and garlic potatoes from Taste of Home. It looked easy, and sounded yummy, so I whipped it up.
The Changes
Omitting the cheese was the only thing I needed to do to make it safe for Joseph. I did cut the potatoes to allow for nicer browning.
The Method
Halve or quarter the potatoes. Place potatoes in a large pot, cover with salted water, and boil for 10 minutes, or until tender.
Drain potatoes in a colander. In the same pot, heat oil on medium-high heat. Add potatoes and cook for about 5 minutes, or until browned. Add garlic, cook for another minute. Remove from heat, and add lemon juice and pepper.
Lemon & Garlic New Potatoes
Adapted from Taste of Home
Dairy-free, soy-free, gluten-free
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 pound baby red potatoes
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, pressed/minced
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Cut potatoes into large bite size chunks and place in a large sauce pan. Cover with water, add a teaspoon or so of salt, and bring to a boil. Cook for 10 minutes, or until fork tender.
Drain potatoes in a colander. In the same pan, heat oil. When hot, add potatoes, and saute for about 5 minutes, or until browned. Add garlic, and cook for another minute. Remove from heat, add lemon juice and pepper, and stir to coat evenly.
Makes 4 servings.
What I Thought
I used concentrated lemon juice, and really regretted it when we sat down to eat. The taste was way too strong and tart. I couldn’t detect the garlic at all. I was also disappointed that the potatoes all mushed up when I was trying to cook them in the oil. I think I overcooked the potatoes during the boiling, or should have let the oil heat longer before adding the potatoes back in. Though when I saw the picture on the Taste of Home site, I was glad to see that the pictures looked similar, lack of cheese notwithstanding. My husband agreed with my on the taste of lemon being too strong. My kids didn’t even try them – they just whined for more fish sticks. My niece and nephew did eat them, but didn’t seem eager for more.
So, we’ll probably not make these again.
Shared at Gluten-free Wednesdays
Special Lessons
A couple weeks ago, we listened to talks by our church’s prophet and apostles. My favorite talk was by Elder Rasband of the presidency of the seventy titled Special Lessons. In this talk, he described the birth of his grandson Paxton, who has a chromosomal deletion, which has left him in the NICU for some time. Then he said:
To all of you who have challenges, concerns, disappointments, or heartaches with a dear one, know this: with infinite love and everlasting compassion, God our Heavenly Father loves your afflicted one, and He loves you!
Some might ask when faced with such suffering, how could Almighty God let this happen? And then that seemingly inevitable question, why did this happen to me? Why must we experience disease and events that disable or call precious family members home early or extend their years in pain? Why the heartaches?
At these moments we can turn to the great plan of happiness authored by our Heavenly Father. That plan, when presented in the pre-earth life, prompted us all to shout for joy. (Job 38:7.) Put simply, this life is training for eternal exaltation, and that process means tests and trials. It has always been so, and no one is spared.
This definitely applies to those with food allergies. I don’t understand why God chose to allow Joseph to be unable to eat so many foods. But I trust that God has a plan for him. I don’t know all the changes this will make in our lives, and in the lives of others, but I have found a greater empathy building within me. I’ve found myself growing socially, as I’ve “met” other bloggers who have food allergies. I’ve also found these words from John to be true.
I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. …
My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:18, 27)
As I have prayed over Joseph, I have felt that peace. I feel so blessed to have found so many resources to learn new recipes and techniques. I have been able to find so many products to be able to feed him.
There is a blog post some other allergy sufferers have passed along about how food allergies is worse than cancer. I can’t believe that. Yes, it’s hard to monitor every single food he eats. It’s hard to listen to his screams as I tell him he can’t eat something his sister is eating, because he’s allergic to it. But I choose to focus on our blessings. He is healthy and happy. And while it seems that food is everywhere, I’ve learned that there are plenty of activities that don’t involve food.
What special lessons have you learned as you deal with the challenge of a limited diet?
Shared on Allergy-Free Wednesday
When we got married, my husband gave me a list of recipes that he told me I needed to master, since they were traditions in his family. Among them was a fruit filled Jell-O salad. Fortunately for me, it was easy to put together. Unfortunately for Joseph, it calls for sour cream. So I decided that we needed to change the recipe so Joseph could participate.
The Changes
The only thing I changed was to substitute plain coconut yogurt for the sour cream.
The Method
Thaw the strawberries and mash the bananas.
mashed bananas
Bring two cups of water to a boil, then stir in the Jell-O until it’s dissolved. Add in the strawberries with its juice, the mashed bananas, and the pineapple with its juice. Pour half of the fruit mixture into a 13″ x 9″ pan.
Put the pan in the fridge to set (about 2 hours). Leave the rest of the Jell-O mixture out at room temperature.
When the Jell-O in the fridge is set, scoop the yogurt into a bowl and stir it to soften it. Take the Jell-O out of the fridge, and spread the yogurt on top of it in a thin layer.
Pour the remaining Jell-O mixture on top of the yogurt. Refrigerate at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight.
Holiday Jell-O Salad
Dairy-free, Soy-free, Gluten-free
Ingredients:
- 1 6oz package strawberry or strawberry-banana Jell-O
- 2 cups water
- 3 bananas, mashed
- 1 20 oz can of crushed pineapple
- 1 lb container frozen sliced strawberries (should have juice), thawed
- 2 6 oz containers plain coconut yogurt
In a large saucepan, boil the water. Dissolve the Jell-O in the boiling water, then add the mashed bananas, pineapple with its juice, and the thawed strawberries with their juice. Stir to combine.
Pour half of the Jell-O mixture into a 13″ x 9″ pan. Refrigerate for 2 hours, or until set. Leave the other half out at room temperature.
Scoop yogurt into a bowl and stir to soften. Remove Jell-O from the fridge. Spread the yogurt over the Jell-O in a thin layer. Carefully pour the rest of the Jell-O mixture over the yogurt layer. Refrigerate until set (2-8 hours)
Makes about 12 servings
What I Thought
This version doesn’t have the full tang of the original, however, the coconut taste of the yogurt really makes this dessert taste tropical. I quite liked it. My husband gave it 4+ out of 5 stars, and said this was a good change to the traditional Jell-O salad. Joseph quite liked it too, and ate down two helpings in rapid succession. My daughter somehow only ate the yogurt layer. Still, I’ll definitely be making this again.
Shared on Allergy Friendly Saturday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Allergy-Free Wednesdays and Gluten-free Wednesdays
Ever since I saw the book trailer for The Complete Allergy-Free Comfort Foods Cookbook
It’s interesting to note that for the baked goods, Gordon uses a variety of flours. The most common combination is Chinese/superfine rice flour, potato starch, and sorghum flour. The ratios vary slightly from recipe to recipe, so there is no big batch of all-purpose mix you can make the recipes from. She also occasionally uses a couple storebought all-purpose baking flours, masa harina, and millet flour. I’ll most likely stick to my usual brown-rice flour mix instead of adding chinese rice flour to my pantry, so we’ll see how those recipes turn out.
I have been planning to make her empenadas ever since I saw them in the recipe book. I’m also excited to try out her corn chowder, since it looks the best out of the allergy-free recipes I’ve seen for it. In addition, I’m excited for the variety of salad dressings, should I be able to convince Joseph that raw vegetables are worth eating. Currently, he doesn’t believe me. However, I’m sure he’ll enjoy the Double Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, which I think will be the next ice-cream I make for Joseph. The pupusas also intrigued me.
Elizabeth Gordon blogs at Allergy-Free Delights where she’s posted additional recipes that also look good. Have you tried any of her recipes? What do you think?
I very rarely cook breakfast. We have a wide variety of cold cereals, including a few Joseph-safe ones, for everyone to eat pretty much every day. And since this produces a very small amount of dishes, it’s ideal for me. One of the exceptions to this is general conference weekend. On this weekend, which happens twice a year, we plug our computer into our tv to listen to the talks that the prophet and apostles of our church have prepared for us. So to make these days special for our family, I’ll cook breakfast while we wait for it to start at 9am. This time around, I chose to make Apple Puff Pancakes from Cook it Allergy Free.
The Changes
This recipe is already Joseph-safe, since I followed Kim’s option for a nut-free puff pake. I did, however, swap out the coconut sugar for regular granulated sugar, since that’s what I had in my pantry. I also omitted the coconut flour, since I didn’t want to buy a whole bag of flour for a Tablespoon. I also opted to use canola oil instead of coconut oil.
The Method
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Pour oil into the bottom of a 9″ x 13″ pan. Top with apples and half of the sugar.
Put apples in the preheated oven for five minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare batter. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs well. Add in coconut milk, gluten-free flour, the rest of the sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Mix until well blended.
When the apples are done baking, pour the batter over them.
Put the pan back in the oven for 20 minutes. Remember to use panholders, because it is still hot! Yes, I burned myself so you could learn from my mistake. Puff pancake is done when it starts to puff up and is brown.
I probably could have left mine in the oven for a little bit longer. It really looks nothing like Kim’s golden brown puff pancake. I’m not sure if that’s because her apples didn’t float to the top, or if hers was just more well done, or if it was the almond flour she used.
Either way, the pancake will settle down as soon as it starts to cool, so serve immediately.
Apple Puff Pancake
Adapted from Cook it Allergy Free
Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Soy-free, Nut-free
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 2 apples, peeled, and very thinly sliced
- 6 Tablespoons sugar, divided
- 6 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups coconut milk
- 1 cup King Arthur Gluten-Free Multipurpose Flour
*
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
Pour oil into a 9″ x 13″ pan. Spread sliced apples on top of the oil. Sprinkle the apples with 3 Tablespoons sugar. Bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Add in coconut milk, gluten-free flour, remaining 3 Tablespoons sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Mix well.
When the apples are done baking, pour the batter over them. Return the pan to the oven for 20-30 minutes, or until pancake is puffed and browned. Serve immediately.
Serves 4
*To make your own flour mix, follow these instructions from King Arthur: Whisk together 6 cups (32 ounces) King Arthur stabilized brown rice flour; 2 cups (10 3/4 ounces) potato starch; and 1 cup (4 ounces) tapioca flour or tapioca starch. Store airtight at room temperature.
What I Thought
My pictures don’t show it very well, but the pancake part of this meal had a grayish hue that wasn’t very appetizing. I’m not sure what caused the hue, maybe the large amount of vanilla? However, it was quite tasty. My daughter even ate a significant portion of it. Joseph wolfed it down, though he ignored the apples. My husband enjoyed it as well. So, I’d consider doing this again.
Shared at Allergy Friendly Friday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Allergy-Free Wednesdays and Gluten-free Wednesdays
Easter Dinner Menu
I didn’t grow up having huge dinners for Easter. But I like to have a special dinner in honor of the holiday. I also need an excuse to get my fancy plates and tablecloths out more often. Here is my plan for Sunday:
Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Soy-free
- Lamb – this is the one time of year I splurge on lamb. It’s a really nice meat, and it has great symbolism with Passover and Easter. I’m not sure exactly how I plan on roasting the leg of lamb currently sitting in my fridge, but allrecipes.com has a great article on how to roast lamb.
- Crescent Rolls – the rolls I made for Christmas dinner were extremely dry. Joseph didn’t mind eating them all though. So, this time, I’m going to experiment with making this cinnamon roll dough savory.
- Deviled Eggs – I’m curious to see if Joseph would even eat these, as he barely touches scrambled eggs. Hopefully they won’t cause him to break out in hives.
- Garlic Rosemary Roasted Baby Potatoes – naturally Joseph-safe recipe from Our Best Bites
- Baby Carrots – Joseph can dip these in Salad Cream
while the rest of us use ranch. If he even chooses to eat carrots, which I suspect he might not.
- Peas – boiled in salt water
- Lemmon family Jell-O – this normally contains sour cream, so this is going to be my first time attempting to make it Joseph-safe. Look for my report on April 13.
- Martinelli’s sparkling cider
Non Joseph-safe
- Buttery dinner rolls – I can’t leave out this Lemmon family staple.
What do you plan to eat for Easter?
Chocolate Bunnies: Recipe Fail
Finding chocolate that is free of both dairy and soy is a real pain. The best I’ve found is Enjoy Life’s semi-sweet chocolate chips. They’re decent in cookies, but I have always been partial to milk chocolate. And I wanted Joseph to at least have a close equivalent that he could eat. So when I was recently at Target, I bought a candy mold of bunnies and set about trying to enhance the chocolate chips so he could have yummy chocolate candies.
I started out by melting the chocolate chips and cream of coconut in the microwave. It immediately started to seize up.
So I added some coconut milk.
It still didn’t taste sweet enough, so I tried adding sugar (since I wasn’t heating it very much, the grains didn’t dissolve) and more cream of coconut. Finally, I spooned the chocolate into the molds.
I put them in the fridge overnight, but in the morning, the chocolates weren’t hard, so I stuck them in the freezer for a few hours. They still came out soft – like rich truffles. Though I suspect that if left at room temperature, it would turn into a syrup.
I’m not sure what I’ll do with these bunnies. Maybe I’ll let Joseph spoon some out. I’ll probably throw most of it away. I don’t know if I’ll try again before Easter. Either way, I should research a bit more into chocolate making before trying to add creaminess to Joseph’s chocolates.
Have any of you had experience with allergy-free chocolates? What recipes have you made recently that went badly?
Allergy-Friendly Things to Put in Easter Eggs
I’ve been thinking about what to put in Easter eggs when we do an Easter egg hunt in our house this year. I considered filling some with chocolate for my daughter, but decided I didn’t want to risk Joseph finding one of those eggs and needing to take it away from him. So, while I still bought chocolate for the rest of the family to enjoy, it’s going to be separate from the eggs.
So what will I put in the eggs? So far, this is what I have:
- gummy bears
- jelly beans
- coins (Though it seems odd for Joseph to receive money when we didn’t give any to his sister until she was four. I’ll probably just get over this.)
- balloons
- stickers
There are a few more things I’d like to get. I was frustrated by my first look through the store, since the cars wouldn’t fit in the eggs, and the things that would fit, my toddlers wouldn’t be interested in (not to mention be choking hazards). But I can probably find the following at a dollar store or a bigger store.
- bouncy balls (I just want to get a few, since we already have some. Hmm… maybe I could sneak those from their toy box and re-gift them?)
- mini containers of bubbles (these would be a HUGE hit)
- hair bows (though I don’t know if I want to keep things gender neutral or not. I suppose I could steer Joseph away from the pink/purple eggs or just have them trade)
- cars
- toy animals
What are you doing to make Easter safe and enjoyable for your family?
Shared on Allergy-Free Wednesdays
Chicken Pot Pie Trial: Dairy-free, Gluten-free, Soy-free
My previous experience with pot pies has been limited to the individual pot pies you can get for $.50 (ok, more like $.80 now). While they tasted ok, we never had them very often because they would take so long to cook in the oven, and if I was looking for a convenience meal, I wanted something that could be done in five minutes, because I was wondering what to make for dinner at 6:00.
So, I never had the desire to make an allergy-friendly pot pie until an article from Living Without sparked my imagination for what could be made from a homemade dairy- and gluten-free cream of x soup. So I hopped over to Our Best Bites, and started planning how to make their chicken pot pie (originally from Domestication in Progress).
The Changes
Besides a gluten-free pie crust (I’ll admit, I used a mix instead of following one of the from-scratch recipes I have) and a homemade dairy-free, gluten-free cream of chicken soup, I switched the vegetables around a bit and cooked them in canola oil instead of butter.
The Method
Dice potatoes, then place in a pot of water to boil for 15-20 minutes, until tender (I would err on the side of under cooking). Mince onions, and slice carrots. Then saute in canola oil for a few minutes until onions start to turn transparent and carrots are crisp tender.
In a large mixing bowl, combine cooked vegetables, thawed peas, diced cooked chicken, and cream of chicken soup. This part would be a good time to add in the extra salt and pepper, if I’d actually remembered to do so. Oops!
Prepare your pie crusts according to the directions in your recipe/mix. I chose not to prebake my bottom crust, and it ended up disappearing when we were dishing it out. So I recommend to bake the bottom crust for less than ten minutes, then add the filling, then top with the top crust. Pinch/flute edges to seal, then cut slits to allow it to vent. My crust was pretty fragile, so I chose to mess with it as little as possible.
Bake at 400 degrees F for 40-45 minutes until crust is golden. Boiling filling seeping out the slits/cracks in the side is a good indication of doneness too. Let stand for a few minutes before serving.
Chicken Pot Pie
Adapted from Domestication in Progress
Dairy-free, Gluten-free, Soy-free
Ingredients:
- Pastry for a double-crust pie (I used ‘Cause You’re Special Pie Crust Mix)
- 1 1/2 – 2 cups diced cooked chicken
- 3/4 cup frozen peas, thawed
- 2 medium russet potatoes, diced
- 1 onion, minced
- 3 medium carrots, sliced
- 1 Tablespoon canola oil
- one recipe dairy-free, gluten-free cream of chicken soup
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- pepper to taste
Boil potatoes for 15-20 minutes, or until tender. Heat oil in a skillet, then add onion and carrots. Saute onion and carrots for a few minutes, until onion is translucent and carrots are crisp tender.
In a large mixing bowl, combine chicken, peas, cooked potatoes, cooked onion and carrots, cream of chicken soup. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Pre-bake the bottom crust in a pie plate for less than ten minutes. Pour filling into pre baked crust, then top with remaining pie crust. Seal edges, and cut slits for venting. Bake pie for 40-45 minutes until crust is golden brown.
Let sit for a few minutes before serving.
Serves 5-6
What I Thought
This recipe is a lot of work, but it turned out really good. I have a few tweaks to make next time, like adding a little extra seasoning to the filling, pre-baking the bottom crust, and adding an egg wash, or brushing the pie crust with oil before baking to give it an extra shine. In the future, I would probably double the recipe to make two pies, one for now, and one to freeze for later. My husband said this was definitely a keeper. My daughter, however, couldn’t even be enticed to eat the “pie bread.” Joseph ate the chicken, crust, and a few vegetables before asking for more chicken.
Shared on Allergy Friendly Friday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Allergy-free Wednesday and Gluten-free Wednesday
