Guest Blogger: Kathy Thornburg from Food Allergy Jams!

I have always enjoyed cooking, which you realize is a tremendous blessing when food allergies enter your family! I remember spending time in the kitchen with my mom as a child and learning by watching her and helping her prepare meals. She was always fearless with a frying pan! She wasn’t afraid of tackling a new recipe, which I have always admired.

Now that I have children of my own, it’s important to me to share my love for cooking and baking with them. I enjoy making memories with my son Milo (age 3) as we prepare dinner or a special snack together. He knows just what to do when I start to drag our long heavy bench up to the kitchen counter. Without missing a beat, he runs to his room, opens his dresser drawer, and grabs his oven mitts, apron, and chef hat.

As we cook together, we talk about the ingredients we are using, we read labels together, and we don’t worry too much if we make a little bit of a mess as we mix the ingredients together. 

My son loves to cook, but that’s not the only thing he enjoys. He LOVES music! When I was struggling to find an age appropriate way to teach Milo about his allergies, (peanuts, eggs, and dogs) I decided to try writing him a song. He loved our song, “No No Peanuts” and quickly memorized it and started singing it on his own. I continued to write, we continued to sing, and he continued to learn! Now, we are nearing the end of our journey on Kickstarter to fund a professional recording of our CD, Food Allergy Jams, with Kurt Heinecke (creator of VeggieTales music).

We have until Wednesday, November 19^th at noon to reach our $35,000 goal to make our CD a reality! If you would like to learn more about our project and make a pledge to help us reach our goal, I encourage you to check out the link provided below. With your pledge, you not only get to choose from some great rewards, but you also get to go with us on this adventure of making our music CD come to life!

A big thanks to Beth and The Allergy Safe Kitchen for allowing me to write on her blog and for supporting Food Allergy Jams with a pledge on Kickstarter!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/508784083/food-allergy-jams-music-cd-for-kids

Halloween and Food Allergies- What's a goblin to do?

Halloween time rolls around, and I get a lot of questions (and assumptions) about how we handle Halloween with food allergies. Most people just assume that we opt out of the whole shebang, but that couldn't be further from the truth! We have awesome Halloween traditions!  I want to share them with you, along with some practical tips, especially with you families that are facing their first Halloween with a food allergic child. 

For sure, Halloween can be a scary, and if we're being honest, a truly terrifying day!  The idea of someone putting a deadly substance in your child's trick or treat bag, or of the sticky candy -coated fingers of the neighbor kid next door coming just too close to your food allergic kiddo....these are enough to make any food allergy parent scream and run.  But you don't have to! Halloween can be fun, safe, and memorable for all the right reasons, with some advance planning and attention to detail. Here's how we do Halloween in our family! 

We usually start the day with a Halloween party with our home school group. Games, a costume parade, and non-food treats to share. After the party, we head home and take a rest in order to get ready for the evening's activities.  We have a nice dinner, get the costumes back on and head out for trick-or-treating.  Yep, we go trick-or-treating.  Because some of our children are still quite young, we only go to 10 houses or so.  Here are some tips I have about making it as safe as possible:

• Incorporate gloves into the costumes, reduce the possibility of exposure.  I use dollar tree knit gloves, and I just toss them at the end of the night.  
• Use a single use trick-or-treating bag, NOT a pillowcase, or an expensive cute bag that your child will want to play with again.
• Go up to the door with your child, and if you see a Payday candy bar headed into the bag, politely say "He's allergic to peanuts, do you have a different kind?"  (No one ever just gives out one type of candy, everyone has always responded positively to this...) 

Now, here's my big secret: the candy never enters our house! When we get home, the kids gather on the front porch, and they trade in their bags of candy to me for a clue.  Our tradition is to have a wild SCAVENGER HUNT once we arrive home! 

Here's this year's first clue.  Where do YOU think they should look for Clue #2? Tell me your answer in the comments section to be entered to win a copy of my PDF download: 12 Cookies of Christmas! (Giveaway concluded)

As my kids have gotten older, the clues have gotten more numerous and difficult, and the whole thing gets a little more wild and raucous, but they ALWAYS find the treasure!  What's the treasure? A cute Halloween bag of safe treats and non-food goodies!  This event is much anticipated every year, and honestly, it's the best part of our Halloween!  This year the goody bags will include:

• art supplies like crayons and colored pencils
• safe homemade cookies
• New earbuds for MP3 players for the older ones, coloring books for the little ones, and mini bags of Legos for the middle ones!

So, what happens to all the candy?  Well, my husband, who has a huge sweet tooth (don't tell his dentist), takes the bags straight into his basement workshop.  (The peanut candy gets thrown away, the other candy goes to my husband.) 

I hope that you have a wonderful and safe Halloween this year!  If you need ideas for safe baked goods to make for your children, get a copy of my ebook!  "Love Letters from My Kitchen," there are tons of delicious treats that everyone in your family will love, food allergies, or not!  Also available in paperback! 

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

Photo Credit: Pumpkins - Aidan Van Horn

Dessert Hobo Pies

Ok, ok...wipe the drool off your face, and start gathering up the firewood for this camp classic!

At least once a summer, we break out the pie irons, and make pizza hobo pies.  We use homemade sauce, Earth Balance to grease the irons, safe bread, turkey pepperoni or sliced Al Fresco chicken sausage, and Follow your Heart Vegan Cheese Alternative.  Delish!

This year, we really wanted to make dessert pies too, and here's what we came up with:

*This recipe is peanut-free, tree nut-free, dairy-free, egg-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!

"Not S'mores"  (we couldn't come up with a better name, it was late...)

Ingredients: (makes 2 dessert pies)

4 slices white sandwich bread
Earth balance bars
graham crackers
enjoy life chocolate chips
Sunbutter - creamy
Dairy-free mini-marshmallows
Cinnamon Sugar
Cast iron pie iron (ours is a double, so that's how I'm writing this recipe)

Directions:

1. Make a campfire!  Let it burn down a little.  You won't need a big flame, but you will need hot coals. Also, make sure you have a safe place to put the iron down when it comes out of the fire, and also a potholder or "Ove' Glove". 
2. Heat the pie iron in the fire.
3. Pull the iron out and open it.  Grease the inside of both sides of the iron with Earth Balance.
4. Place two pieces of bread in the cavity of one side of the iron.  
5. Place a graham cracker on each piece of bread.  Top generously with mini-marshmallows chocolate morsels.  
6. Spread a layer of Sunbutter on the remaining two slices of bread and top off the sandwiches in the iron. 
7. Carefully close the pie iron and place among the hot coals of the campfire.  Do not put the iron in the direct flames, it will burn the bread. 
8. After a few minutes, flip the pie iron.  
9. Cooking time will vary depending on how hot your coals are! Check after 5 minutes.  The pie is done when both sides are golden brown.
10. Remove pie irons to your heat safe surface.  Open the irons and slather just the top side of the pie with Earth Balance.  Then, sprinkle on a generous amount of cinnamon sugar!
11. Serve and enjoy!!!

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

Our Visit to Chipotle - Review

Go eat here!

We had an amazing experience the other day.  I took my four oldest children to Chipotle.  My son, 10 years old, is allergic to eggs and peanuts, and he carries an Epi-pen, and my 7 year old has behavior issues when he eats dairy.  I knew that some food-allergy friends of ours has successfully eaten at Chipotle, and I didn't have dinner planned, so we decided to try it out. 

I looked up the online menu for Chipotle, and it was pretty impressive how allergy-aware they are. They even have a tab on their website for special diet information. The chart of ingredients was very clear.  When we got to the head of the line, I did ask the server if there were any eggs, peanuts, or  dairy other than the sour cream and cheese.  She made sure to double check with manager, and she changed her gloves before working on our order.

My 10 year old was SO excited that he could order ANYTHING off the menu without fear. For food allergy families, this is truly amazing.  I had to hold back tears as my son kept repeating "I really can eat anything off the menu?!  I love this place!"

As an added bonus, the food was fantastic!  Everything was flavorful and fresh, and the chips and salsa were the best I've had in a long time at a restaurant!  We ate without incident, and we had a wonderful experience!  I highly recommend eating a meal at Chipotle! 

Whipped Potatoes

Oh, the silky, indulgent lure of smooth whipped potatoes with good gravy...sounds yummy, doesn't it?  Here are a few of my tips for making delicious mashed potatoes:

• Use gold potatoes (Yukon gold, butter potatoes, always organic if you can)
• Cube potatoes in pieces no larger than an inch for quicker, more even cooking
• Drain your potatoes REALLY well, return them to a the hot pot and let them give off that steam, the more moisture you let them   release before whipping, the better!
• Substitute a little chicken stock for milk and use Earth Balance Spread (not the baking sticks, the spread that comes in a tub!)  I use one full container of Spread for 10 pounds of potatoes. (Oh yes, 10 pounds...we are a family of 9 and we LOVE our mashed potatoes.)
• Don't forget to add a generous amount of kosher salt! 

Do the first round of smashing with a traditional potato masher and then....using a hand mixer, whip the potatoes to desired consistency and enjoy!

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

Superbowl Feast - Chicken Quesadillas!

Chicken quesadillas are a fairly frequent lunch in our home, and they make a great addition to a Superbowl Feast!  I always have tortillas on hand, both wheat and corn, and quesadillas are a great way to utilize leftover veggies, leftover meats...really, anything you want to put in there!

 I like that this is an easy meal to customize to each child's taste, just let your child choose what goes in and you'll eliminate any "picky eater nonsense"! (Or let them sprinkle it in themselves if they're old enough to be by the stove!) 

Possible Ingredients:
- chicken
- ground beef
- steak
- bell peppers
- scallions or red onions (we've used carmelized onions...so yummy)
- tomatoes
- salsa
- bacon
- cucumbers
- sliced mushrooms
- soy cheese
- dairy cheese (since we have only mild dairy allergies, we do allow our dairy in our kitchen - this 
                        was not always the case)
- shredded carrots
- ANY leftover veggie!

After getting your counter organized with the chopped/sliced/shredded items you want to incorporate into your quesadillas, heat a little oil in a cast iron skillet or a non-stick pan (use hard adonized if possible - no leeching chemicals) on medium-low. 

Place one torilla in the skillet and sprinkle your fillings over the whole surface.  Cover with a second tortilla and slowly heat through until the bottom is crisp and golden.  Flip the torilla carefully using a large spatula.  Heat second side slowly until golden brown.  (Heat on low to medium-low, you want any cheese/soy cheese to have time to melt!)

Let the quesadilla cool on a cutting board for a minute or two, the cheese/soy cheese will be HOT!  Using a pizza cutter, slice into 6 wedges and serve with small "dipper cups" of dairy-free sour cream, and salsa! Enjoy!

From "The Allergy Safe Kitchen", I wish you "Good Cooking, and Safe Eating"!

Roast Chicken - It's what's for dinner, and lunch, and dinner....

Go to youtube and check out my latest show, in three parts - Roast Chicken!

Learning how to make roast chicken can help give you plenty of raw material for many meals: chicken dinner, chicken salad, chicken stock, chicken gravy, chicken soup, chicken tacos...and the list goes on!

For all of the families just starting out in the "allergy world", this is probably the first roasting endeavor you should master, assuming that your family is not allergic to chicken.  (That isn't a joke, there are those who are allergic to the oils present in the chicken skin.)  But if chicken CAN be on the menu at your house, head on over to youtube and learn how to open up a world of safe meals for you and your family without having to break the bank with expensive "allergy friendly" products! 

"Allergy Safe Kitchen" presents:  Roast Chicken, part 1

What to do with an orange in "The Allergy Safe Kitchen"

Sometimes fruit gets treated a little differently in the kitchen of a food allergic family.  In our house, the oranges better look out.  They are a delicious fruit and so useful for juices, keeping poultry moist, and having on hand as a healthy snack.  But here's a secret about the bright and cheerful orange: it can be used to train people to save lives!  Yes, that's right!  The humble orange can help you teach care givers, grandparents, and even your children how to use an Epi-pen correctly. 

Epi-pens come with a needleless trainer, and we have used them to train others in the proper technique of administering the Epi-pen, but there's nothing like practicing with the real thing.  Before you throw away that expired Epi-pen, or the one you left in the car, (heat or cold - we've all been there), grab and orange and someone to train!  The skin and flesh of the orange are a good mimic for what it might be like to administer the Epi-pen through a pair of pants.  This little training experience has helped our babysitters, grandparents and instructors feel more knowledgable about Epi-pen administration.  When our son Aidan started carrying his own Epi-pen in a belt, we had him practice on an orange or two, and I think it has helped him to understand a little bit more about what the Epi-pen is and how it works. 

So the next time you find yourself ready to replace an unused Epi-pen with a fresh one, head to the store and get an orange!  Train someone to save a life! 

As always, I wish you "Good Cooking, and Safe Eating"! 

Oranges - training everyday heros in your kitchen!

Broccolini Basil Spaghetti

Head on over to my youtube channel to see the latest installment of our "in home" cooking show, "Allergy Safe Kitchen"!  We're making Broccolini Basil Spaghetti. 

"Broccolini" is the trademark name, and the actual vegetable is sometimes labeled as "baby broccoli" or "broccoletti".  Is is a hybrid of broccoli and Chinese kale.  If you cannot find it in your grocery store, feel free to substitute regular broccoli in this recipe! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRxnM8A8GQ8&context=C388e208ADOEgsToPDskL5cBzuVqvj3Xc4xBD_tqfY

Before and After - a cook in the making...

When my husband and I first married, I knew how to cook very few dishes from scratch.  I was always calling my mom to find out how to do this or that, and I depended on a fair amount of box/frozen meals to round out our dinners for the week.  I made spaghetti sauce from the jar, defrosted meatballs from a bag, and popped frozen texas toast in the oven,  and I really thought I was COOKING, baby.  And truly, for a newlywed, it wasn't bad! 

I went from defining "baking" as boxed mixes and canned frosting to from-scratch dairy free, egg free, peanut/nut free cake, frosting, and fondant. If I can evolve like that, so can you!  This cake was made at a beach cottage for my sister-in-law's baby shower!