Rachel’s Recipe Box

If you miss the flavor of raspberries and blackberries but cannot eat them, consider trying gooseberries – they are their own food family (related only to currants) and are unlikely to cross-react with other foods.

The green gooseberries taste very similar to raspberries and blackberries when eaten raw. However, the red gooseberries are quite tart, and need another use. This syrup is great over pancakes, waffles, or ice cream, and has a wonderful sweet-tart flavor. Plus, it’s incredibly easy!

This is a delicious gfcf, gluten free, family-friendly recipe! It is also (if you double check ingredients!) a wheat free, dairy free, soy free, egg free, tree nut free, peanut free, fish free, shellfish free, corn free, top 8 allergen free, and vegan/vegetarian recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cane sugar

• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup gooseberries

Method:
Combine sugar and water in a small pan over medium heat. Whisk and cook until the sugar fully dissolves.

Meanwhile pull off the little brown or green bits at either end of the gooseberries. Cut gooseberries in half.

Add gooseberries to the sugar/water mixture.

Let cook over low heat for 1-2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Strain the seeds and fibers from the syrup, and pour into a refrigerator and microwave safe container.
Refrigerate syrup, then warm for a few seconds in the microwave before serving over waffles, or ice cream.

Our family has been living gluten-free due to Celiac Disease for over 6 years. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, barley, and very similar to the protein found in outs. This means that any food needs to be made specially – bread, pasta, cake, pizza crust, pretzels, cookies, etc. Finding the Betty Crocker gluten-free mixes was a wonderful surprise!

Over the past 6 years there has been a huge increase in availability of gluten-free products, but most of the GF products have been found in the health food aisle of the grocery store or in a specialty store.

However, gluten-free products are becoming more mainstream as the number of people diagnosed with celiac disease rises, as well as the number of people living gluten-free for other reasons. Last summer, General Mills introduced a new, gluten-free formulation of Rice Chex (they changed the sweetener from barley malt to another sweetener). In addition to becoming more mainstream, gluten-free products are becoming much more commonly available and found in most grocery stores.
Read the rest of the review

I love rice pudding, it is so incredibly soothing and delicious. It’s also very creamy, and it took me some time to get a rice pudding recipe that I thought was creamy enough without using dairy. This is the recipe I’ve been making for a while, and it’s one that my oldest daughter, Mackenzie, will sometimes make on her own.

I’m not a fan of raisins, but some dried cranberries can be a nice addition at times. Sometimes when I use coconut milk I’ll add some flaked coconut, too. There are plenty of variations possible, depending on your mood – my middle daughter puts chocolate syrup on top when she eats it!

This is a delicious gfcf, gluten free, family-friendly recipe! It is also (if you double check ingredients!) a wheat free, dairy free, soy free, egg free, tree nut free, peanut free, fish free, shellfish free, corn free, top 8 allergen free, and vegan/vegetarian recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups basmati rice (brown or white)

• 1 plain quart milk substitute, (2 cans of coconut milk is our favorite, but 1 quart of soy, hemp, rice, almond, etc milk works well too)
• 1 pinch kosher salt
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup white or brown sugar
• optional add-in ideas: 1/2 cup raisins, dried cranberries, other dried fruit, chocolate chips, slivered almonds, pecan pieces, flaked coconut, or 1 tsp cinnamon

Method
In a medium pot, combine salt, rice, and milk substitute. Stir well, and bring to a boil on high heat.

Stir well once it is boiling, bring heat down to low, then cover and set the timer for the cooking time recommended on the rice packaging.

Don’t leave the rice to simmer unattended! When using a milk substitute rather than water, the rice tends to clump, so stir it about every 5 minutes while it cooks.

When the timer goes off, test the rice for done-ness. You may need to cook it for 5-10 more minutes than usual.

When the rice has finished cooking, take it off the heat, and add the vanilla and sugar. Use a silicone spoonula or something similar to gently but completely combine. Once the sugar and vanilla is assimilated, stir in any desired optional add-ins.

Cover again, and let the flavors meld and the rice pudding cool for about 15 minutes, then spoon into a ramekin and eat warm. Yum! What a delicious, creamy, and soothing comfort food! This is also great for kids with a “crummy tummy”, or any day when you want food that feels like a warm hug. Refrigerate any leftovers, then warm individual servings in the microwave or on the stovetop. Serve as is, or with a bit of cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top, or with a bit of any of the suggested add-ins.

(This is a portion of a longer blog post at our “A Gaggle of Girls”, blog)

Happy Celiac Disease Awareness Month!
Happy Food Allergy Awareness Week!

If you are living with food allergies, Celiac disease, food intolerances, or any other dietary restrictions, you are already used to adapting your menu. But what happens when one person wants to be a vegetarian? or you move into a home where people eat dairy? or your children have opposing allergies? or you have one kid who loves peppers and another who hates them? You learn how to adapt your menus so you can make (almost) everyone happy with one meal.

For Mother’s Day, I made a double batch of quiches, and made them in individual sizes so each person could have the ingredients she wanted. This meant that those who like soy “cheese” could have some, and those who like bacon can enjoy without upsetting the new vegetarian. Individual pizzas, quiches, mexican pizzas (tortilla, refried beans, ground meat, salsa, soy or dairy cheese), and tacos are some incredibly easy ways of letting each child eat the ingredients she loves.

One of my favorite adaptation methods is “on the side”. I loved When Harry Met Sally, and I’m afraid I may sound like Sally when I’m in a restaurant! However, at home I have embraced that concept with my daughters. We make salads with dressing on the side, of course, but also make Pad Thai with the shrimp, limes, and peanuts on the side, a risotto with meat and/or cheese on the side, a vegetable curry with meat and some veggies on the side, or make a meal of pasta or polenta with marinara or White Sauce and sausages or meatballs on the side.

When you start to think about meals in a new way, a way where everyone can enjoy a similar meal, you can find new ways to deconstruct dinner. A buffet of choices for pizzas or ice cream sundaes becomes more fun, not just a way to accommodate food allergies and pickiness! Shifting your perspective to fun rather than a chore can help you enjoy your meals, too – not just feel like you need to get through them somehow.

I was recently at Starbucks, and when you don’t drink coffee or caffeinated tea, AND can’t have milk, there’s not a lot of choices. I was in the mood for something warm, though, and managed to spot the “Vanilla Rooibos Latte”. Since Starbucks has soymilk, I had it made that way. Yum! Sweet and creamy, but with no caffeine to make you jittery in the afternoon!

My 3 daughters had a little sip of the little I had leftover, and loved it. Thankfully I had some Adagio rooibos vanilla in the tea cupboard at home! I brewed a pot of the rooibos vanilla, using the awesome ingenuiTEA teapot I received from the lovely Nanny Ogg, then warmed up some vanilla soy milk, and combined. Big smiles on my girls’ faces, and for a fraction of the cost of the one I bought! Additionally, making it at home means that you are not limited to soy or cow milk, as you are when out. We’ve had this several times now, and I just restocked our tea supply to make sure we’ll have plenty.

Vanilla Rooibos Soy Latte Ingredients
(but it could be a vanilla rooibos hemp latte, almond latte, or rice latte..)

Ingredients

• 1 pot vanilla rooibos “tea”, I like Adagio rooibos vanilla.

• 1/3 cup vanilla flavored milk substitute (soy, rice, almond, hemp, etc)

Method

Brew one pot of the vanilla rooibos tea (it’s not real tea, it’s a reddish needle-like leaf of a plant found in South Africa)

Warm the milk substitute in a pot or microwave.

Combine the tea and the milk substitute in a mug, with a bit more tea than milk substitute. Enjoy!

(If you’d like to try the Adagio rooibos vanilla, or another flavor, leave a comment with your email address, and I can send you a $5 gift certificate)

I just received Passover by Design, by Susie Fishbein; a gorgeous cookbook of Kosher delights. Kosher laws require the separation of meat and dairy, so Kosher meals are very easily adaptable for allergic cooking. When Jews are celebrating Passover, they need to avoid most grains, unless they are in the form of Matzoh.  As a result, of the 160 recipes, 130 are gluten-free, and many of the other 30 could be adapted to be gluten-free, though perhaps not passover-safe. Watch for a upcoming book review.

The great folks over at godairyfree.org are hosting a gfcf (gluten & dairy-free) giveaway – a $50 gift certificate at Namaste foods. Go check it out and enter! Namaste foods has wonderful allergy-safe mixes, free of gluten, dairy, eggs, and the other top allergens, too.

It has nothing to do with food, but I have a fun book giveaway running through Monday 3/3 that will keep you laughing in between cooking meals!

Last week I had the opportunity to review a new juice called Froose. It’s a mix of whole grain brown rice and juice, and is gluten-free, kosher pareve, dairy-free, soy-free, and sweetened with brown rice syrup instead of corn syrup or sugar. Please check out our review and check out Froose for yourself. We really like the peach!

We were also lucky enough to receive a sample of some new gluten-free and dairy-free treats from Amy’s Kitchen! They sent us my favorite enchiladas, plus the new gluten & dairy-free pizza, ziti, cream-of-rice.  Yum!  They’ve added a delicious-sounding tamale, and a ziti kid’s meal to their product line, too. Check out the labeling at Amy’s Kitchen – it’s really easy to see what items will fit with your dietary restrictions.

I haven’t seen my kids looking forward to lunch this much for a while!  However, I doubt that when Amy’s Kitchen created their vegan and gluten-free pizza they intended for kids to dream of adding meat-filled pepperoni!

FYI – this week is Food Allergy Week! Check out the information from FAAN and the Check my Tag Community.

I have written up Our Story of food allergies, food sensitivities, and celiac disease. I hope having it written down helps someone! (and that I haven’t forgotten too many things) Enjoy your allergy-safe, delicious food this week!

You might want to check out this book review – there’s a great book called The Peanut-free Cafe, which would be a good read this week!

While we wait (im)patiently for the archives to re-appear, and I try desperately to cook without my recipes, I offer you proof of a wonderful gfcf, allergy-safe, gluten-free, celiac Thanksgiving!

We had:

• Ginger Butternut Squash Soup (small picture)
• Focaccia
• Stuffing
• Candied Yams
• Cranberry sauce
• Roasted Asparagus
• Roasted Broccoli
• Mashed Potatoes
• Gravy
• oh, and Turkey!

Don’t forget dessert:

• Apple Pie
• Chocolate Pecan Pie
• Pumpkin Bars

Soon this will have links to all the recipes, and even more pictures. We promise we’re working as fast as we can!

This is my favorite. It’s an adaptation of a few recipes, plus some twists of my own. The basic concept of adding Ginger Ale came from Alton Brown of Good Eats. Brilliant. Adding a little fresh ginger boosts the taste a bit, and the sauce ends up very yummy, but it is incredibly easy.

This is gfcf, gluten, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and wheat free. If you get the right brands, this could also be corn free. Cranberries (and blueberries) are in a different food family than strawberries, raspberries, and other berries, so they are safe for our berry-allergic child.

Ingredients

• 2 12 oz bags cranberries

• 1 cup orange juice
• 2 cups ginger ale (check ingredients)
• 2 pinches kosher salt
• zest of 1 orange or 2 clementines (depending on what you have in the house)
• 1 cup brown sugar (check ingredients – some add caramel color)
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 knuckle-sized piece of ginger, grated

Method
Put all ingredients into a large saucepan or small soup pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, and let simmer about 30-45 minutes, until it is significantly reduced and pretty thick. Cool, and either refrigerate until needed or serve.

The cooking will mash the cranberries a bit. You may want to puree some or all using an immersion blender, depending on your tastes, and the willingness of your family members to eat things with lumps.