Lance and Allergies

I was starting another blog about kids and allergies, but Annie had other ideas and started jumping on the laptop keyboard. I handed Lance the laptop and asked him to blog. After a second of protesting, I suggested he share his experience with allergies and how he feels about them. You'll detect a little bit of frustration in his tone, but overall, he's taken it really well and done a pretty good job of adapting. We need to work a little on the menu reading skills and awareness of hidden gluten ingredients, but those are things we learn over time, sometimes by trial and error.


Since Annie decided to jump in Cami's lap and on the laptop as she was trying to blog, a guest writer has taken over. This is Lance, Cami's husband. As a kid, I didn't have to worry about allergies. Most of my adult life as well. In fact, since I run so much, I could pretty much eat anything I wanted whenever I wanted. I stuck with this strategy and ate a lot.

I'm not saying that I was eating nothing but ice cream, but I was unrestricted in my diet and never had to worry about the consequences of any foods. However, I started getting a red rash on both my cheeks, and it never would go away. I was gradually getting more tired then normal. So I went in for allergy testing. For the food portion this consisted of scratch tests to see how I responded, followed by three weeks without the foods I failed on before a retest to see which ones mattered.


This was a disaster. Testing nine different types of foods, I failed them all. Most of them, I didn't fail severely, but enough that I couldn't have them. Wheat, soy, milk, and eggs I failed with a four, but I also failed rice, tomatoes, yeast, and corn. Most surprising at that point, I failed potatoes. How does an Irish guy fail on a potato allergy???

So it was a long three weeks before I could try the foods again. I had it ten times better then anyone else would have been in this situation with Cami's knowledge on all the replacement grains and ingredients, and her making all the foods I had never heard of before meeting her. I was still eating well. I still dropped 10 pounds, which is pretty significant.


However, when I was waking up in the morning, I wasn't feeling tired and groggy. I wouldn't crash in the afternoons, and I started feeling better. Once I started testing things again, I started getting most of the foods back. Rice was key, and opened up many options, and I was able to get potatoes again. I had recovered everything except soy, with only the wheat test left.

For this test, I popped in a Frosted Mini Wheat. This was a favorite cereal growing up. I knew instantly that it did not go well. My nose stuffed up, my face tightened, as well as my forehead. Redness engullfed my face. Losing wheat is a tough blow. You know what's made with wheat? Everything. All the convenient foods, flour, all baked goods, bread, and beer.

Having the experience of all the other foods that were missing, however, I knew I would be OK. It turns out, there are a ton of people in the same boat I am, and just about all restraunts have options, some even with Gluten free menus.

In the mean time, I feel much better, am not as tired, and more productive. There are definitly times where it's hard. Like last week, when they announced that our new work offices were moving above a restaurant and brewery that has stellar beer. However, I still have options, and I'm not the last person this will happen to.

No Chicken and Dumplings

I watched the flu sweep through the office over the past few weeks and would cringe while I sat in meetings with coworkers who were coughing, sneezing, and sniffling. I managed to dodge the main wave. Those of you with children know that once they go to preschool or daycare, there seems to be several months of the child contracting and passing along cold after cold. Owen has started going to preschool and brought home a humdinger of a cold that got him the nickname "Typhoid Pookie." My grandmother, mom, brothers, and now husband have all contracted "Pookieitis." Now I have been getting the sniffles and have been making huge pots of soups. My favorite growing up was Chicken and Dumplings. I wasn't huge on the chicken, but I LOVED the dumplings. I decided to make it vegan and gluten free.

No Chicken Soup
2 large sprigs of fresh Rosemary
3 clippings of fresh Oregano
3 fresh Bay Leaves
1/2 cup rough chopped Parsley
1 tsp Salt
Pepper to taste
1/2 head Garlic
1 large Onion
6 stalks Celery
4 Carrots
3 quarts - 1 gallon Water
3-4 Tb Olive Oil
10 small Crimini or Button Mushrooms, quartered

Dumplings
1/4 cup Tapioca Flour
1/2 cup Brown Rice Flour
1/2 cup Teff Flour
pinch Salt
1/2 tsp dry Sage
3 TB Palm Oil
around 1/2-3/4 cup water

Cut the vegetables into one inch chunks. Mince the garlic and add all of the ingredients except the mushrooms into a large soup pan. Turn the heat up to a high medium, simmer for 20 minutes and bring to a boil. Put the flours, salt, and sage for the dumpling ingredients into a mixing bowl and combine. Use a fork to press the palm oil into the other ingredients until combined. Add the water until the dough combines well but is still easily handled. Form dumplings about half the size of a golf ball. Once the soup is in a rolling boil, add the dumplings one at a time, spaced apart from each other so they do not stick. Once the dumplings have been added, add the mushrooms. The dumplings will float to the surface once they are done - after about 20 minutes in the soup. Pick out the rosemary twigs, oregano, and bay leaves while serving.

Brownies

This weekend has been full of good things. Yesterday, I spent some time grocery shopping with my mom. We went to rawvegansource.com's store in Redmond. I enjoy speaking with the owners, and I picked up some liver support supplements, coconut oil, and some tasty dehydrated snacks. The owners have a large garden designed with the principles of permaculture in mind, and we picked up a couple suggestions for some locally run nurseries that emphasize sustainable and natural methods.

Mom and I also went by the Redmond Whole Foods on the recommendation of some friends. There is a really large "special needs" section! Their gluten free section was about the size of some specialty shops I've seen in Kent and Everett. I found some rice krispy-ish cereal to attempt vegan rice krispy treats! I also found some donuts and bagels Lance really enjoys on sale, so I indulged. My diet is actually very low carbohydrate and I don't eat a lot of sweets, so I raided the greens and picked up some nice looking almonds.

After a day of shopping, I came home and spaced out in front of the TV and had some sauteed Brussels Sprouts and olives before going to the Medieval Women's Choir at St. James Cathedral in Seattle with the girls. Usually musicals and operas are not my thing, but I really enjoyed this event. The music is a bit simple, which really allowed the soprano's voice to be on full display. Her voice was gorgeous and had a clarity that was just stunning. Closing my eyes and listening to the music transported me back to a time of pristine land, difficult living, and simple needs.

Today, Lance went skiing early this morning. He walked and fed the dogs, who were content after he left and let me sleep in until 9. We all got up and I had breakfast, cleaned the kitchen, and then worked on a business plan. My mom stopped by and we all went on a long walk in a slight drizzle. It was absolutely freezing here yesterday, but today was considerably warmer and the snow had turned to rain. We got inside right before the downpour and enjoyed a romaine and cucumber salad with a avocado pepper dressing that went well with almonds and capers. I had attempted brownies a few days ago and discovered that there IS such a thing as too much chocolate (no really - it was INTENSE), so with a few tweaks, we had a successful batch this evening. I will probably continue to fine tune the recipe (and add varieties like mint, raspberry, etc), but I haven't posted in a while and thought I would share what I have so far.

Gluten-Free, Vegan Brownies

These brownies are dense, which is how I prefer my brownies. I like them without frosting and Lance likes them with Coconut Bliss ice cream piled on top. This is a recipe that is best done ahead of time. A fine crust will form over the top over night, giving these brownies a classic, rich taste and texture.

3 oz cacao butter
3 oz coconut oil
3 oz cacao powder
1.5 oz sorghum flour
1.5 oz brown rice flour
1 oz tapioca flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 T chia seeds
3.5 sweet potato, cooked and mashed
7 oz maple syrup
3 oz agave

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt the cacao butter and coconut oil on the lowest possible stovetop setting. Combine all dry ingredients in one bowl and the mashed sweet potato, maple syrup, melted oils, and agave in another. Slowly add the wet ingredients into the dry while stirring. Line an 8X15 inch pan with baking paper, and pour the batter into the pan. Bake for about 25 minutes. The center will look a little moist, but it will quickly take on a cake like appearance as it continues to cook outside of the stove.

Holidays without the Food Hangover

Happy Holidays from Annie!

I know this is going to be a big surprise, but... I love food. I spend way too much time pouring through food magazines, cookbooks, and, of course, the FoodNetwork. I confess that even while I'm at my day job, I'm fantasizing about the next treat I'll attempt to transform into delicious vegan and allergy friendly sustenance. I suppose I don't consider myself to have much moderation, but I don't give myself enough credit. I haven't purposefully had gluten in 6 years. I haven't had corn, eggs, soy, milk, and many other foods for at least 4 years. Now, I am attempting to go low carb over the holidays! While continuing to create more gluten free goodies! Wish me luck....

Eating with friends and family is difficult at times. It is so important to make sure that cross contamination is kept to a minimum, but that can be difficult to do without hurting people's feelings if you aren't careful. People don't seem to realize how easy it is to contaminate food, and I know restaurants also fall into this category. The better restaurants/bakeries have separate ovens, fryers, and work stations dedicated to gluten free, but those who are celiac or extremely sensitive can become a little ill even from walking into the bakery with all of the flour in the air.

When sitting at a shared dinner table, it's really easy to forget which spoon is being used with which dish. I remember watching in horror as my sister-in-law beat me to the dinner table and proceeded to use the butter knife to help dig into EVERY other dish. I ended up helping myself to the refrigerator and making a salad from fresh ingredients. If you're worried about things staying allergy friendly (or vegan for that matter), the easiest way to go is to bring your own dish and/or help in the kitchen. It also helps cut down on the hurt feelings. My family wasn't too excited about me being vegan (they were great about allergies), but now they are comfortable with my decision and are happy when I offer to bring my own main dish.

Here are some low carb dishes I'm thinking about bringing to Christmas Dinner:

Vegan Cremey Spinach Dip

Made with sauteed garlic and spinach, combined with macadamia nuts, lemon juice, salt, and a little water. Great with celery, carrots, or other chopped vegetables.

Veggie Stir Fry
It is so easy to empty out the veggie crispers and make a delicious stir fry if you know how to use your spices. Last night, Lance and I enjoyed a chickpea coconut curry with spinach. Saffron stir-fry with peppers and ginger is also a favorite. I've linked to the peanut stir fry recipe, but it works just as well with almond butter if you are allergic to peanuts. My husband thought it was delicious.

Pesto on Zucchini Noodles

Pesto is so tasty, and there are more variations than one would think. Going 50/50 with basil and cilantro and adding lime, garlic, and olive oil is delicious.

Vegan Creamy Soup

Onions, garlic, and chopped zucchini combine to make a creamy base for a number of soups. Cream of mushroom and cream of broccoli are my favorite. Making these soups from scratch make me realize how "off" some of the canned versions taste.

Brussels Sprouts with Spaghetti Squash "Noodles" and Vegan Alfredo

It wouldn't be the holidays if I didn't bring cookies and pie. I will be increasing the amount of low carb, veggie dishes I bring to compensate for all the treats surrounding me. When I get hungry, I make really poor food choices. Please learn from my mistakes and bring at least snacks so you don't get hungry if something doesn't look trustworthy.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Holiday. Finding ways to stay allergy free and low sugar mean less New Years resolutions and less symptoms the next day. Standing your ground and bringing your own food means avoiding the bloating, headaches, wheezing, and stomach aches that often come with either purposefully cheating on your diet or accidentally getting a hold of something you weren't aware was contaminated.

I owe my readers more recipes. Tomorrow I'm testing some double chocolate cookies, pecan prints, sugar cookies (it's a classic!), and perhaps another. I should have at least one fabulous recipe to share. I've been a little greedy lately and have kept my pecan pie and chocolate chip cookies to myself....

Introduction and Allergen Free Apple Spice Muffins

Have you ever decided to try a new gluten/egg/soy/etc. free food at the store and wondered why you spent all of that money on something that resembles cardboard? It is so hard to find "allergen free" foods that have fantastic taste and texture. I've made it a personal mission to find new and creative ways to make foods that are safe for my husband, my family members, my friends, and myself that taste delicious.

This blog's content will vary widely. I am not restricting the content to a diet type because people with allergies are looking for a wide range of great tasting foods. I hope you enjoy my recipes! Most of my recipes are taste tested by my husband, nephew, and friends, and I try to only post the recipes that pass with flying colors. The biggest compliment comes when people can't tell I'm serving them something from alternative ingredients - or it's so unique and good they don't care what it is made out of.

These recipes are meant to be quick and portable. I prepare all of my own meals every day because of all of my allergies. It sounds like a lot of work, but I refuse to sacrifice my health for the sake of convenience. Lance packs his own meals now, and his coworkers are often jealous that he gets to have savory salmon cakes while they are eating cheap pizza!

My Allergies and My Family's Allergies

My mom figured out I had allergies at a very young age. I reacted quickly and severely to milk, and was also allergic to eggs, wheat, apples, and several other foods. I guess it's fairly common to outgrow foods for a short time during puberty, but they came back with a vengeance. I am now allergic to eggs, apples, yeast, wheat, corn, milk, strawberries, blueberries, cranberries, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, soy, pineapples, and I think the list goes on, but I'm not remembering the rest right now. My husband is allergic to wheat, soy, and tomatoes. My poor nephew takes after me and is allergic to much of what I listed for myself, and his reactions are very severe. We're quite the trio! My nephew is 16 months old, so it's been an enjoyable challenge to make him foods he loves that are age appropriate.

What do I mean by "Allergen Free"?

Any recipe has the potential to contain foods that people are allergic to. The only "Allergen Free" foods would be composed only of pure air and water. With each recipe, I will try to give alternatives to certain ingredients to make sure you know you have options.

And Now for the Recipe

Apples are in season right now, and they are so sweet and fragrant. I am actually allergic to them, but my husband enjoys them, and we had plenty to use up because my grandparents have trees that produce wonderful Gravensteins - cooking apples that are firm and on the tart side. I really enjoy cooking with them still - they remind me of when I was very young and "helping" grandma in the kitchen. She had a hand crank apple peeler, and I loved playing with the peels and chewing on them. She would let me help with the pie. Eventually, I picked up many of her tips and started changing recipes on my own. When I found out I was gluten intolerant, Apple Pie was one of my first attempts, and different apple based recipes followed.

Apple Spice Muffins

Muffins are a great way to start the day and easy to take to work. Lance enjoys these hot with vanilla coconut butter. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

2 cups apple sauce (recipe below)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
1 vanilla bean, scraped
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup agave
1/4 cup raw turbinado sugar
1.5 cup brown rice flour
1 cup sorghum flour
3/4 cup tapioca flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1--2 tsp coconut vinegar (can replace with apple cider vinegar)
1/2 tsp salt
2 small apples, diced
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

I use a fine sieve strainer to "sift" the brown rice flour, sorghum flour, tapioca flour, baking powder and baking soda. I don't use a regular sifter because they are far too difficult to clean, and I can't be sure the flours that have gone there are flours people aren't allergic to. In a separate bowl, I combine the apple sauce, olive oil, spices, agave, and sugar. If you are allergic to apples like I am, you could make a pear sauce and cut out the sugar or agave altogether. Pears seem much sweeter to me. Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Dice the apples and rough chop the walnuts and combine them into the batter.

Once the batter is combined, put cupcake liners in your muffin tins. This just makes for a much easier clean up. When the oven is ready for your muffins, add the coconut vinegar to the batter and stir vigorously to combine this ingredient thoroughly. You'll notice that the vinegar reacts with the baking soda and creates a fizz, which translates to a fluffier batter. This is a fantastic trick and makes it so the muffins have a wonderful cake texture. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tins.

Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes. You should be able to insert a toothpick and pull it out clean, but it's good if the muffins still have some bounce to them. If you leave them in the oven too long they will dry out. The apple chunks really give this muffin a nice texture, and the apple sauce helps it retain its moisture.

Special Note about Baking Powder: Most Baking Powders are made with Corn Starch. Please be sure to buy a brand that specifically says it is made with potato or tapioca starch if you are allergic to corn.

Special Note about Vanilla: I never buy "vanilla flavor" or vanilla extract anymore. Many of the vanilla "flavor" products have "natural flavors" which can be derived from corn or milk products. They are mystery ingredients and it's difficult to tell what it is actually made from. Vanilla extract is often diluted with bourbon or other grain alcohols. It's just safer to buy the whole beans and scrape them yourself, or buy the vanilla powder that has one ingredient: dehydrated vanilla bean.

Apple Sauce

5 Braeburn, Gravenstein, Golden Delicous, Pink Lady or other cooking apple
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of ginger
pinch of nutmeg
small pinch of cloves (optional)
agave or sugar to taste (usually around 1/4 cup)
Just enough water to cover the bottom of the sauce pan - between 1/4 and 1/3 cups of water

Apples are mostly water, and will cook down quickly. I peel the apples and then dice them. I use a potato peeler or paring knife if I'm feeling ambitious. I add a quarter cup of turbinado sugar or agave nectar and then judge the taste once that has cooked down. My husband loves the apple sauce hot with some coconut vanilla ice cream, plain, or over pork dishes.