Meat and 3 veg

You really can't go past meat and 3 veg for a healthy complete meal. I mean, we lived on it when we were growing up. It is perfect for my children because there is nothing they are allergic to. that being said, they both seem to react to tomatoes, so we are going to avoid them (how to make cooking even harder!) because they get an itchy rash around their mouth.

Last night for dinner I gave them steak with vegies (boiled potato, broccoli and crunchy carrot sticks). I cooked the steak (half a piece of blade steak, seasoned lightly with salt and pepper) til it was medium, rested it (for half the time it was cooked - thanks Masterchef!) and cut it up into manageable pieces. Yum.

Rice in stock

If you are looking to add more protein/goodness to your child's dinner, especially if they aren't keen on meat (or you don't have a meat to put in their dinner that night), you can cook their rice in chicken stock. To get the goodness, it really has to be real chicken stock, and given that allergies create limitations in what you can use, it's really your only option. I had 250ml in the freezer the other night and so I defrosted it and added some water and cooked the kids' rice in it. Makes it more tasty too.

Egg substitutes

Although nothing is ever able to totally replace the glorious egg, there's quite a few things you can use in different ways to still have a similar result. Here's what my research (google only) has brought up:

1. Synthesised egg replacer such as No Egg (by Orgran)
2. Milk/Soy milk
3. Bananas (good for baking cakes, muffins etc)
4. Applesauce (mixed reviews but use for cakes and muffins - won't bind as much I would think)
5. Tofu - good for more egg-dominant meals like quiche (I don't know if I could do it though...! Anyone tried it?). Silken tofu can be used in baking etc as well.
6. Flaxseed - 1-2tbsp ground, add boiling water until it's an eggy consistency and let stand for a little while, adding more water if necessary.
7. Sometimes just adding more water will be sufficient.

I tend to use the No Egg because of it's versatility and it is also a source of calcium (which is a good thing for us).

Rowie's Cakes

Rowie has created some fantastic products for people with allergies to eat. Qantas have taken on her little cakes/muffins and I enjoyed one the other month when I chose the 'vegan' meal (the closest I could get to allergen free - I was still breastfeeding my daughter). Woolworths stock her pantry items (shortcrust pastry and cake mix) - what a great thing!

Coconut Vanilla icing

This was the recipe I used for my daughter's 1st birthday cake a while ago. For her cake I used a Rowie's cake mix.

1/3 cup Nuttelex
1/8 tsp salt
2 cups castor sugar
3 tbsp coconut milk (canned)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Cream Nuttelex and salt. Add the sugar, coconut milk and vanilla extract and mix on high until icing is smooth and creamy. Add more coconut milk if it is too thick. You get about a cup of icing.
I added pink food colouring to mine :)

Curried Sweet Potato Soup

A great recipe from Julie's blog that we have tried a few times. The kids don't really like many orange vegetables currently but the adults loved it and it will be a good one for the future. I love how coconut cream makes things creamy without the dairy!

Curried Sweet Potato Soup
This recipe serves 6 people.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 brown onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 teaspoons curry powder
• 1.2 kg sweet potato, diced
• 5 cups chicken stock
• 1 large apple, peeled and grated
• coconut cream and crusty bread, to serve

Method:

• Heat oil in fry-pan. Cook onion and garlic 3-4 mins or un til tender. Add curry powder and stir for 1 min
• Add onion mix, sweet potato, chicken stock and apple to the slow cooker
• Stir to combine ingredients
• Cook on LOW for 6-7 hours or HIGH for 3-4 hours
• Turn slow cooker off and blend with stick blender until soup is puree and smooth
• Serve with 2 tablespoons coconut cream (per bowl) and bread.

(If you don’t have a slow cooker, you can simmer all ingredients covered for 30+ minutes, or until sweet potato is cooked, then blend and serve as above)

BBQ Sauce

BBQ sauce has so many ways of being made. It's really important to check the ingredient list and the allergy warning section to make sure your child can eat it. And even then, you need to be wary as you try it. We found one that looked fine for my daughter to eat and then she reacted to it. So we don't tend to give her BBQ sauce at the moment. We discovered one the other night that one brand even has peanuts in it (just as my son was about to eat it!) - so make sure you read the ingredients list and the allergy warnings (the peanuts weren't mentioned specifically in the ingredient list, but were in the warning section).

The main lesson I learnt from this is to assume nothing - read the back of every label if you haven't used that specific product before. Don't assume that because you've had one version of it, the rest will be the same.

Sausages

Sausages are such a kid-friendly food. They aren't particularly good for you (unless you know what goes in them or have a butcher make them for you).

We have sausages once a week, sometimes less. I just buy beef sausages from either Coles or Woolworths and make sure they are gluten-free. Coles has a larger range of gluten-free sausages but sources tell me that Woollies are working on it. Great for a BBQ or big family dinner where the kids eat first :)

I usually serve them with boiled potatoes, broccoli, corn on the cob and some 'crunchy carrot' (my son's favourite way to eat it) and have tomato sauce on offer.

BBQ chicken beware

So far we have been fine with BBQ Chickens, but today my daughter had a reaction. We can't be sure what it was - the seasoning, what the chicken was sitting next to at some point, or if it was cooked on the same rotisserie that cooks ones with stuffing (?? is that possible or does the stuffing go in afterwards?), or the person cooking mixed in something when serving it (the tongs to pick it up, the gloves etc). So, we will just have to take note of the store we bought it at, keep asking questions about the seasoning when we can and keep buying the plainest ones we can, making sure there's no stuffing.

Tonight I served it with corn, broccoli and my rosemary potatoes.

$$$

My husband did the shopping the other day and couldn't quite believe he was paying $6 for 750g of flour (gluten-free of course!).

The expense of having gluten-free, etc food in my home is something that we have had to reconcile in our minds so that we don't baulk every time I go shopping. We need it for our daughter's health, we have to buy it.

I just have to keep reminding myself that it is food, we need it, we are thankful for those people who developed the technology to make it so well, so forget about the price and look for other ways of saving money.

Lamb 'sausages'

I wasn't going to post this, because when I cooked them, they looked a bit suspicious... I think it is worth trying to get them long and skinny, or maybe make them into patties instead! Maybe also add a spice, like cumin and/or coriander. I will post about these again when I have another go.

300g lamb mince
1/3 small zucchini
1/3 small carrot
1/3 preparation of 1 egg, made with No Egg (I made up enough for 1 egg and used the rest in a pikelet batch)

Finely grate zucchini and carrot. Mix all ingredients together until well mixed.
Roll small handfuls into sausage shapes. Refrigerate until firmer. (I prepared this while the children were having their afternoon nap)
Cook sausages in a frying pan. You probably won't need oil (if you have a non-stick pan) because the lamb mince is quite fatty anyway.

Serve with vegies. I served mine with broccoli and potato

Savoury Pancakes

These were inspired by a friend who used to make them for her kids regularly.

1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup GF plain flour
Equivalent of 1 egg using No Egg
pinch salt
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup milk
1/2 zucchini, finely grated
1 small carrot, finely grated
small can corn, drained (or fresh cut off 1 cob)
tomato sauce

Mix flours, No Egg, salt, water and milk until you have a batter. Add in vegetables and mix until well combined.

Add oil to heated frypan and pour mix into fry pan. Brown each side and transfer to a plate.
Serve with tomato sauce.

For those who can eat cheese, add grated cheese to the batter before cooking.

Play with the amounts of buckwheat (maybe put less in, it is pretty bitter and darkens the mixture) and liquid (more milk, less water; less of all liquid to make them thicker). You could add meat on the side if you wanted to add more protein.

Travel food

It's difficult travelling with a child with allergies to mainstream foods.

Whenever we are going out for dinner or lunch, I tend to pack my daughter's meal and take it with us, rather than risk trying to find allergen-free food. For lunch I take a thick slice of her bread with Nuttelex to spread on it and some fruit. For dinner I pre-cook GF pasta and some veggies. Then for the lunch or dinner I take a Rafferty's 'spout pouch' (our allergen-free choices are 'Hearty Beef and Veggie Puree', 'Tuna & Rice Vegetable Puree' and 'Bangers & Mash Vegetable Puree') for her to have as well. She loves the spout pouches and those particular choices. We have tried a few in the lumpy range but she's rather specific on flavour. They are great to throw in the bag, you don't need spoons or bowls and you know it is organic and reasonably good for them.