Jam cookies

My friend gave me this recipe and it was a hit with everyone!

1 cup GF self-raising flour
4 tbsp sugar
1tbsp jam (we used raspberry)
80g Nuttelex

Cream nuttelex and sugar, then add jam and mix, then add flour and mix well.
Use teaspoon sized amounts and bake on a greased tray at 180 degrees for about 15 mins.
Allow to cool before removing from tray as they need to harden.
Makes approximately 16.

Devon

Polony, Balony, whatever you call it :)
It isn't a particularly healthy option but is an Australian favourite with kids, especially with tomato sauce. It is usually made with wheat flour but I have discovered that Woolworths now makes a pre-sliced and packaged Devon that is gluten free. It isn't as nice but it is great that it is there. I am pretty sure there is another brand in WA that is gluten free but Woolworths appear to do the only one available in NSW. There doesn't seem to be very much available at all these days. Ham seems to be the popular one these days!

Hurry Tuna, Please

From what I can gather from Google, this is a pretty well-known recipe in the US.

Serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil
1 apple, chopped and cored
1 small onion, chopped
3 tbsp GF flour
1/2 cup rice/soy milk
1 cup chicken stock (ensure gluten and dairy free if using store-bought)
475g can tuna (you can get away with less if you only have a smaller can), drained
1/2 tsp curry powder (ensure gf. I use Keen's.)
GF Pasta or rice for 4

Fry apple and onion in oil until lightly cooked.
Add flour and slowly stir in milk and stock to make a white sauce.
Add tuna, breaking it up well and sprinkle in the curry. Mix well.
Serve over pasta or rice.

The other night I served it with broccoli on the side, but if you want more vegies, I tend to use frozen peas & corn and a little fresh/frozen chopped spinach and put them in before the tuna to allow for a few minutes cooking time.

Muffins

I adapted this recipe from a Sunbeam Foods brochure.
I halved the amounts and it made 12 mini muffins.

1/4 cup rice bran oil
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 tsp No Egg made up with 2 tbsp water
2 cups GF SR flour
2/3 cup rice milk (or soy)
a few tbsp of fruit medley or fresh berries or whatever you like.
Nuttlex to grease the muffin tray

Mix all of the ingredients until just combined. Spoon into greased muffin tray/s and bake for 15min at 180C.

I really like the crust the muffin had once it cooled. Yum.

Pizza base

I adjusted this recipe from a sister-in-law who got it from a Super Food Ideas magazine years ago.

2 cups plain GF flour (I have discovered F.G. Roberts brand flour and it is working really well)
1 packet dried yeast
3/4 cup warm water
1/2 tsp caster sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
pinch salt

Put yeast and sugar in water and leave to become frothy.
Sift flour (I didn't do this - I think the flour might be a bit weird to sift but I haven't tried it) into bowl, add salt, oil and yeast mixture. Mix to combine.
Turn onto lightly floured surface and knead until it is 'playdough like' (the real recipe suggests til it becomes elastic, but you won't really get that with GF flour).
Add more flour if necessary. Cut in half and roll out to make two rounds.

I reduced the amounts so as to make one small pizza for my daughter. I found I had to add more water but maybe I got the math wrong.

I topped it with tomato paste, sliced mushrooms, diced red capsicum, sliced zucchini and cannelini beans and cooked it at 180C for 15min. Best to put it on baking paper so that it doesn't stick to the tray. I also cooked up a beef steak, planning to put it on the pizza in slices but ended up just putting it on the side since the pizza went in the oven before the steak had cooked enough.

Avoiding contamination

When you are continuing to serve allergens to other family members, you have to be careful not to contaminate your allergic child's meals. This means using separate utensils, saucepans and even different jars of jam etc if you don't dip a clean knife in every time.

Since my kids are still quite young, we still use face washers to clean them up after each meal. My husband and I have developed a 'code'. My son gets the darker coloured washer and my daughter, the lighter coloured one. This helps us make sure that we don't, for example, wipe dairy or wheat onto our daughter's face from our son's breakfast that we just wiped up on him. Trouble is, sometimes, like today, I do something silly like choose the same colour washer... had better do something about that right now :)

Macaroni with beef

Changing the type of pasta you use makes meals exciting!

San Remo GF (etc) macaroni - enough for 2 toddlers
100g beef mince
5 large cherry tomatoes, cut into eighths
3 tbsp Cannelini Beans
2 tbsp canned corn kernels
1 tsp olive oil

Cook the pasta as per directions.
Brown the mince with the oil in a frying pan, add in the other ingredients and cook until tomatoes are heated through.

Add cheese on top for those who can eat it.

Better Pikelet recipe

I have been making pikelets each afternoon for my daughter because she loves them and it's her biggest calcium intake for the day. Here is a better recipe that I adapted from the cookbook my husband's kindergarten class made!

To serve 2 toddlers and an adult for afternoon tea,

2/3 cup GF (etc) SR flour
tiny pinch salt
1 tbsp sugar
dash of oil (I use rice bran)
1/2 cup soy milk (or rice milk, although I haven't tried it yet)
1/2 tsp No Egg

Mix all together in a bowl with a whisk until smooth. It should be a thick batter.
Pour small amounts into a lightly oiled fry pan and cook until golden brown (bubbles have popped usually), then flip.

My daughter eats them plain and just wolfs them down. I think she would eat them all if I let her and wasn't concerned about her eating dinner! My son doesn't love them. I think I'll have to make 'normal' ones for him soon. He's fine with just fruit anyway.

Calcium rich foods

We have just discovered through a blood test that my daughter has a calcium deficiency. This wasn't surprising given her dairy allergy and her rejection of any other type of milk drink. So, with her doctor, we are considering calcium supplements. Children aged 1-3yr need 500mg daily.
I've just googled food rich in calcium that aren't milk drinks and here are some of the non-dairy ones.
- Calcium-fortified orange juice
- calcium-fortified tofu
- white beans
- almonds
- bok choy
- rhubarb
- red beans
- broccoli
- calcium fortified soy yoghurt

For us the orange juice isn't great because of the sugar content and the almonds are difficult because of my son's nut allergy. We know that he isn't seriously allergic to almonds specifically though so they could be an option for her when she's a bit older.
We'll be praying she starts drinking the soy milk (she didn't even like it when it was chocolate flavoured!!) but work with our doctor to make sure she is getting all she needs.

Things in the freezer

For an easy Sunday dinner tonight we gave the kids chicken nuggets from the freezer with baked shoestring fries, cauliflower, avocado, broccoli and carrot. On a trip to Coles the other day I discovered Bayview Seafoods' Gluten Free Range. I bought the Crumbed Chicken Breast Nuggets and the Fish bites. They will be good to have in the freezer for throw-together meals. The homemade ones were still better for my daughter because, with only 4 teeth, she found the crust a bit too hard to get through. I quite enjoyed the bits I had off her plate. I think they will be better once she is older and more into things like chicken nuggets. A great one to remember.

NB The website says that some are lactose free, but they are actually dairy free (the nuggets and fish bites at least), which is good news for us.

Potato Fritters

We had leftover chicken from our roast the night before so I decided to make potato fritters. I had never made them before so I used this recipe from Taste and modified it for my daughter. I made normal ones for the rest of the family and apart from having to have 2 lots of bowls, frypans, flippers etc, it wasn't too much more effort.

Here's the recipe for our allergen free potato fritters -
Serves 1

1 potato
1 teaspoon No Egg (or equivalent) mixed with 2 tablespoons water
salt
pepper
1/4 cup (or maybe lss depending on your frypan size) rice bran oil for shallow frying.

Place potato in cold water in a saucepan. Heat water until boiling and then remove potato to cool.
Peel potato and grate. Place in bowl. Mix in No Egg mixture and salt and pepper to taste.
Heat oil in frypan. Prepare 'patties' of potato and then place carefully into oil. Fry each side until golden brown.

We served with leftover roast chicken, peas and cauliflower. They could be a snack as well really.

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

 

To serve 2 toddlers (with extra just in case they are hungry)

4 chicken tenderloins, chopped into nugget size chunks
1/3 cup rice crumbs (we have Orgran - it's brown rice)
Equivalent of 2 eggs using "No Egg" or similar
1 tsp salt
pepper
Rice Bran oil (or another oil good for shallow frying). It has a high smoke point and no cholesterol and, as far as I am aware, no nasties that vegetable oil can have.

Mix rice crumbs, salt and pepper together in a small bowl. Prepare egg mixture in another small bowl.
Dip chicken fully into egg mixture and then roll in crumb mixture until covered. Place on plate and continue until all are done.
Shallow fry in oil over medium heat until golden brown and chicken cooked through.
Rest on a paper towel on a plate to take away excess oil.

Serve with vegies. Tonight my kids are having them with broccoli, boiled potato, carrot and baby tomatoes

Homemade Pikelets

They are never as good as the 'real' thing, but they are pretty yummy.

Serves 2 toddlers (with one or two for you!)
1/2 cup gluten free (etc) self-raising flour
drizzle of olive oil
tiny pinch salt
1/4 tsp sugar
dash of vanilla essence
then enough soy milk to make into a thick batter (we want pikelets not crepes) - probably around 1/3 cup but I didn't measure - will try to do next time!
Rice bran oil for cooking

Mix all ingredients together into a smooth batter.
Heat rice bran oil in pan. Pour pikelet size amounts into pan. Flip when browned.
Serve with Nuttlex spread or jam or plain or whatever your children like.