Kitchen Tip Tuesday! Double up

Convenience foods for food allergy families are expensive!  You name it - breakfast foods, snacks, main meals, desserts?  All pretty pricey.  One of my secrets to staying on a budget is to double up! Double the recipe you are making, and freeze the extra!  I have a kitchen cabinet dedicated to freezer containers.  I double everything I can (that freezes well), and it saves me time and money when time is short, and the budget is tight.  With seven kids, we are always on the go, and some nights I don't have the time to make a healthy, safe, dinner from scratch.  With a well stocked freezer, I know that I can get food on the table without a huge amount of time, or breaking the budget.

Here's what you need in order to become a "Freezer Diva!"

- Reusable freezer containers in ALL sizes

- Zip-top freezer bags

- Sharpie marker

- Roll of masking tape

- Advanced planning to double at least one recipe each week (two is better) 

I use these "Pen Pal" pencil holders to keep my Sharpie and a pencil always on hand in the kitchen.  The holders just peel and stick right to the door.  I love not having to rummage around a junk drawer to get what I need.  The masking tape is always tucked right in there too! 

On a "Double Up" night, after your family enjoys the sumptuous meal you've prepared, portion out the leftovers into containers.  Use masking tape as a label, and write in permanent marker, not only the contents of the container, but a "Use by" date, and anything you'll need the day you bust out the frozen leftovers.  For example, if I freeze the veggie and meat mixture from a stir fry, I write "Stir-fry: needs rice" on the label. 

Be strategic about your portions.  Is it something that might be nice as a hot lunch?  Save in 2-cup containers for individual sized meals. Is it something that you'll want to heat up for the whole family? Make sure that the freezer container isn't bigger than the vessel you'll be reheating in! 

I can't tell you how many times using the "Double Up" method has allowed me to get a healthy safe dinner on the table on a super busy day.  Here are 10 of our favorite "Double Up" foods:

Pancakes (recipe in "Love Letters from My Kitchen")
Waffles (recipe in "Love Letters from My Kitchen")
Zucchini Bread (recipe in "Love Letters from My Kitchen")
Apple Bread
Kicked Up Sloppy Joes
Chicken Soup (freeze without noodles)
Potato Leek Soup
Turkey Slop (yep, it says slop...turkey in gravy, and then we serve it over a scoop of mashed                                     potatoes) *freeze just the turkey in gravy
Meat sauce 
Cookies (recipe in "Love Letters from My Kitchen")


Get started and "Double Up" a meal this week!  For additional freezable baked goods, get my cookbook, "Love Letters from My Kitchen!" Available here, or on Amazon!  

 As always, from The Allergy Safe Kitchen, I wish you "Good Cooking, and Safe Eating"!

Tilapia with Lemon Dill "Almost Aioli"

My whole family loves fish.  The kids have tried a lot of different types of fish, and two of their favorites are tilapia and catfish. (These two varieties happen to be a little easier on the wallet, too!) Here's a simple preparation that lends itself to a quick weeknight meal! 

Chicken Pot Pie-less

It's Meal Monday!  Today's meal is "Chicken Pot Pie-less!" This is exactly what is sounds like, except that it's allergy friendly for our family, and hopefully yours!  I particularly like this recipe, because it's easy to adapt.  The veggies that I list in the ingredients are not the only ones that make a delicious pot pie-less, use whatever you have!  Think of this recipe as a flexible guideline, not a "set in stone" scientific procedure. 

Quick Stir Fry

It's 5 o'clock, everyone is asking me what's for dinner....I don't have a clue. (Every mom knows the feeling, right?) Our family has multiple food allergies, therefore we can't just "order out" in a pinch, so where do I go?  To the fridge!  I pull out some napa cabbage, scallions, oranges, leftover roast chicken, and bok choy. Dinner just revealed itself to be  Quick Stir Fry! Rice, soy sauce, garlic, and chicken stock round out the ingredient list, and now I'm feeling confident. 

*This recipe is peanut-free, tree nut-free, dairy-free, fish-free, shellfish-free, and egg-free. As always, check this ingredient list and your local products to make sure that this recipe is allergy safe for your family and/or friends!

Kicked Up Sloppy Joes

Who doesn't love Sloppy Joes?  This is an often requested dinner in our house.  Here's my original recipe for Kicked Up Sloppy Joes.  I replace the "pre-made" Manwich sauce with tomato sauce and spices for a relatively additive-free meal!  I also use organic ground beef for a more tender texture and frankly, better flavor.  (Ground turkey works well too.) Organic meats can be expensive, but buying organic ground meat is a budget conscious way to get a higher quality meat into the menu rotation, even for a big family like ours!

*This recipe is peanut-free, tree nut-free, dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free, soy-free, fish-free, and shellfish-free. As always, check this ingredient list and your local products to make sure that this recipe is allergy safe for your family and/or friends!


Ingredients:
2 pounds organic ground beef
1 15oz.can tomato sauce
1 15 oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes
3 Tbsp. Tomato paste
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 poblano pepper, diced
1 large sweet onion, diced
4 cloves minced garlic
chopped parsley
kosher salt

Directions:
1. In a large skillet, brown the ground beef. Remove from skillet,
    and set the beef aside.
2. Sauté peppers and onions until slightly softened.
3. Add garlic and sauté for 1 more minute.
4. Add beef back into the skillet.
5. Add 2 cans tomatoes, onion powder, garlic powder, and a
    hefty pinch of kosher salt.
6. Heat through, finish with parsley and serve! (Serve on top of      
    your family's favorite buns!)

 As always, from The Allergy Safe Kitchen, I wish you "Good Cooking, and Safe Eating"!

Can I make you a meal?

Food is a language.  We speak it in our family, our community, our culture.  We speak a language of celebration through food at birthday parties, holidays, awards banquets, date nights, graduation dinners, and any number of accomplishments that deserve a "special meal".  We speak a language of community through food in church potluck suppers, fundraiser pancake breakfasts and spaghetti dinners, neighborhood barbeques.  Every culture is loaded with food that speaks a distinctive language of spices, textures, techniques, and flavor profiles.   The tradition of breaking bread together is universal.  It strengthens the bonds of a family, or of a community, of a culture. 

So what happens when food allergies change the way we participate in that food conversation?  Well, a lot happens.  People may feel left out, put out, worn out, and decide to just sit it out.  I'm sure we could share countless stories of family members and friends who just don't understand, church or school functions that become a stressful maze of dangers to be navigated, and traditions that seem impossible to carry on and pass down in a safe way.  The honest truth is that the weight of food allergies is sometimes heavy and burdensome. Sometimes the weight of life events are heavy and burdensome too, or in other cases, happily unwieldy. When that happens, my instinct is to cook.  To nourish and feed the soul through food. 

I don't know about you moms out there, but nearly every "moms group" I have ever belonged to has a well oiled automatic "food brigade" that rolls into action with every birth, death, and major life event in the families of the member moms. "Judy had her baby?  I'll make her a meal!", "Norma's father died?  I'll make a meal for her.", "Susie's husband will be out of town for a month?  I'll bring her a meal while he's gone!"... does any of this feel familiar?  

When we had our twins, so many people  asked if they could cook for us, and truthfully, most of the time I turned them down. It's too hard to know if someone REALLY understands that "just a little", or even just cross-contamination could send us to the ER. Nearly all the women whose offerings I accepted and fed to my family have food allergic children of their own.  Unfortunately, the people who offer and get turned down get their feelings a little hurt, and that's not good either. So what's the answer?  Well, there are a few ways to handle this without hurt feelings, and without isolating yourself and your family in times of "big life stuff". 

First, get prepared for the people who want to help, but don't understand how to safely cook for your family.  Make a list.  Make a list of things that would be helpful that don't include cooking. The list might include things like:
- taking your kids to the park, to give you a break,
- coming over in the evening and folding laundry with you and
  keeping you company,
- ask if they would be willing to go to the grocery store for you,
- in the case of a death in the family - ask a few close friends to
  make phone calls for you,
- in the case of a birth, ask someone to come and hold the baby so
  you can take a shower!
- anything that would ease your burden or make life a little easier.

Then, get prepared for the people who want to help, and that you trust to cook for your family.  Have a file saved on your computer that lists your family's food allergies.  When someone you trust to cook, calls and says "Can I make you a meal?" say YES!, and send them the file as a reminder of the foods that need to be avoided.

Last, but not least, cook for others!  We all build up that network of food allergy families in our lives, so be sure to cook for them when the going gets tough! They are probably saying "no" to countless, well-meaning friends, so be the friend they can say "yes" to!

Here are my tips for making a meal for a food allergy family:

- Ask for a list of foods to avoid.
- Use new containers of ingredients if possible, to avoid the risk of 
  cross-contact.
- Double check the labels on all ingredients you will use.
- Make something freezer-friendly.
- Freeze in a family sized portion, and also in a few individual sized
  portions so a family member can grab a quick hot lunch.  (This is
  especially helpful for new moms, and nursing moms!)
- Use disposable freezer containers so no one has to get a dish back
  to you!
- Write out the list of ingredients (including brands), or the recipe,      and attach it to themeal, so the family knows exactly what's in the    meal.  During times of stress, what you say on the phone or at the    door about the ingredients might not be remembered when it's          time to make dinner.

 As always, from The Allergy Safe Kitchen, I wish you "Good Cooking, and Safe Eating"!

Crock Pot Stock

For years, I've been making delicious homemade chicken stock in my giant pot.  And, if I need a LOT all at once, I'll still do it that way.  But, recently, I've started making amazingly rich stock while I sleep.  Yep, while I sleep.  This isn't some kind of domestic diva transcendence, I'm just putting that workhorse of the kitchen to good use: the humble slow cooker, a.k.a. the crock pot. I make one or two whole chickens per week in the crock pot.  I use them for chicken salad, sandwiches, for chicken with pasta, to provide tender meat for the babies, etc.  I have done this for a long time, and I always got a little bit of concentrated stock in the bottom of the crock pot.  In the past I would save it, freeze it, and then add it to the "big pot" when making a big batch of stock.  No more, readers, No. More.  Now I have realized I can get a whole crock pot full of that amazing, concentrated stock with very little extra effort!  Here's how:

*This recipe is peanut-free, tree nut-free, dairy-free, egg-free, wheat-free, soy-free, fish-free, and shellfish-free. As always, check this ingredient list and your local products to make sure that this recipe is allergy safe for your family and/or friends!

Crock Pot Stock

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken (3 lbs-ish)
1 bay leaf
Kosher Salt
2 peppercorns
2 sprigs of thyme (optional)
1 large carrot, roughly chopped
1 stalk celery, roughly chopped
1 slow cooker
1/4 cup water

Stock bubbling away - I wish you could smell it! Yum!

Directions:
1. Place the carrots and celery in the bottom of the slow cooker.
2. Place the chicken in the slow cooker.
3. Add bay leaf, thyme, peppercorns, and water to the slow cooker.
4. Salt liberally with kosher salt.
5. Put the lid on, turn on the slow cooker to low and cook for 4
    hours.
6. Remove just the chicken from slow cooker and strip all the meat
    off the bones. Use this for chicken salad, sandwiches, fajitas, etc.
7. Place all the bones and skin back into the slow cooker and fill
    with water.
8. Cook on low overnight, up to 24 hours.
9. Strain solids out of the stock. 
10. Place stock in a container and refrigerate until the fat coagulates
    on the top.
11. Skim off fat and store it in a mason jar in the fridge for future
    cooking.
12. Now, your stock is ready to use or freeze! ( I usually get
    between 4-6 cups per crockpot)

 As always, from The Allergy Safe Kitchen, I wish you "Good Cooking, and Safe Eating"!

 

"Supermom Cinnamon Rolls", Sunday Mornings Will Never be the Same!

The welcoming smell of cinnamon, the feel of sweet orange icing oozing over fingertips, the decadent warmth of a cinnamon roll on a Sunday morning before the kids get up... Ok. Stop drooling, I'll share my secret to making this blissful scene a reality - without any dairy, eggs, or nuts!  My secret?