Mexican Chicken and Rice

There are nine people living in my house, and at dinnertime, they are all seriously hungry.  Life is busy and sometimes I need a quick, one-pot, crowd-pleaser.  This dish is it!  We have Mexican Chicken and Rice frequently, and everyone loves it! 


By ingredients, this recipe for Mexican Chicken and Rice is peanut-free, tree nut-free, dairy-free, egg-free, fish-free, soy free, wheat-free, gluten-free, and shellfish-free.  Top 8 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! 

Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

There have been many, many, many iterations of chocolate chip cookie recipes in our Allergy Safe Kitchen. I have one I use just for eating the dough, one for a cookie cake, and one for thin and crispy cookies. But this one...this one, is my favorite. Soft and chewy cookie goodness...I'm drooling in anticipation...

By ingredients, this recipe for Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies 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! 

Towering Taco Burgers

When I sit down to make the grocery list and meal plan for the week, I often ask my children if there's anything they would like to request.  The two most frequent responses are tacos, and turkey burgers.  And now...behold the meal that wins everyone's hearts, the meal that combines the two most frequently requested meals in The Allergy Safe Kitchen...The Towering Taco Burger!!!

Easter and Food Allergies - How to stay a Safe Bunny!

As Easter approaches, and family gatherings are imminent, I just wanted to share my encouragement to food allergy families.  This can be a difficult holiday...so much candy, eggs everywhere, and nearly every popular side dish for that traditional Easter ham is loaded with dairy.  Attending family parties can be like navigating a field of land mines. Take a deep breath, and read over these Easter tips!

Kitchen Tip Tuesday: Quickly Cool Soup

With lots of little mouths in our household, we've tried many ways of quickly cooling down hot soup. Stick the bowl in the freezer for a few minutes, pile in a few (or many) ice cubes, dish out those bowls 10 minutes before it's time to sit for dinner...there are a lot of ways to get to the goal of perfectly warm-but-not-scalding soup.  

Gel dessert Product Review

In our family, we have committed to avoiding artificial food coloring as much as is possible.  But, I'll be honest, I miss Jello, and so do a few of my children. It's such an easy treat to whip up, and perfect for sore throats.  One day, in the "natural" section of our grocery store, I saw "Jel Dessert" calling to me from the shelf! I purchased a box of strawberry flavor, and we tested it at home. 

Pros:  No artificial food coloring, gluten free, GMO free, kosher parve, and vegan!  (The vegan label is important to us simply because we know the product will be free from dairy and eggs!) The Strawberry Jel actually tasted like real strawberries!  There wasn't a chemical "fake" aftertaste. What an awesome bonus to give children fruit flavored dessert that actually tastes the fruit! There are only two steps to making the Jel, heat the water, stir in the powder. You can't get any simpler than that! The Jel also set very quickly, which is a plus when there are children anxiously waiting for it to be ready. 

Cons: No company phone number to contact, no website, no way to ask specific questions regarding allergens or manufacturing processes. There is an email for the distributor on the box, but no other contact information to be found on packaging or online.
Really, in this technological era, I can't imagine why this is! (If anyone can provided contact information, please share in the comments!) The only other con, which was a split vote in our house, is that the Jel dessert didn't set as firmly as it's artificial counterpart. Some preferred the softer texture and others wanted a firmer set. I am curious as to what would happen if I reduced the water, and I'll probably try that next time. 

Bottom Line: My 11 year old son, who is not usually a fan of gelatin desserts declared that this was "way better than regular Jello." The rest of the jury gave their thumbs up, and asked when we could have it again. We're all looking forward to trying the other flavors! I'll be stocking a few boxes in the pantry for special occasions and sore throats.

Don't forget to check out my cookbooks on Amazon!

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

Breakfast Sushi

We have become slightly obsessed (I like to think endearingly so), with a new kitchen gadget, the Sushi Quik!. You can read my official review HERE.  We have been making sushi for lunch, sushi for snack, sushi for dinner...but what  about sushi for breakfast?

Neither my 11 year old nor I are huge "breakfast food" fans.  We're not into cereal, toast, etc. We are an egg free home, so omelets are also a no-go. He and I are most likely to be eating reheated dinner for breakfast, so the two of us put our heads together to come up with a way to use our Sushi Quik for breakfast!