Pea & Proscuitto Risotto

1L chicken stock, heated
1 tbsp olive oil
6 slices proscuitto
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine/vermouth (optional but it really adds to the flavour)
1 cup frozen peas
salt and pepper
(and for those who can have dairy, you will like to have 1/2 cup parmesan cheese to add after removing enough for the person with an allergy)

Heat olive oil and add proscuitto, onion and garlic and fry slowly until softened. Add the rice and turn up the heat, stirring constantly. After about a minute add the wine/vermouth and keep stirring. The alcohol flavours will evaporate.

Once the liquid has cooked into the rice, add the hot stock and a pinch of salt. Turn heat down to a simmer so the rice doesn't cook too quickly on the outside. As the stock gets absorbed, add another ladle of stock. Keep this going until the rice almost cooked, adding the peas with the last ladleful.

Spoon risotto into bowls (if you are adding parmesan you could do it individually or just take out enough to feed those who don't have it and then mix it through the rest - but make sure that you take enough!) and serve, adding pepper as desired.

My recipe is an amalgamation of this recipe from Taste.com.au and Jaime Oliver's 'The Return of the Naked Chef' Risotto recipe p134
I think the sage (in the Taste recipe) would be a great addition if you fried it up in some sort of oil rather than butter (although the butter would probably be even better... :) oh well, let's not talk about that!)

Did you know?

My son's skin prick test for nuts. Even the specialist had a disbelieving chuckle. Poor kid.

A child does not inherit a specific allergy from either parent, but it does inherit the likelihood to become allergic and the allergy itself can manifest in any form (eg food, environmental, medical).

If neither parent has allergic disease, offspring have about 20% chance of developing an allergic disease.
If one parent has an allergy, the likelihood jumps to about 30-40%.
If both parents have some sort of allergy, their child has a 60-80% likelihood of developing allergic disease.

The severity of an allergic reaction cannot be inherited.

It is unlikely that genetics are to blame for the increase in rate of allergic disease.

I have medical allergies and my husband has asthma and a lot of environmental allergies such as dustmites. So not really surprising that we have 2 allergic children.

How do your chances rate? And, if you have children, do these percentages fit your family?

Reference - Managing Your Child's Food Allergies by Alison Orman. Harper Collins 2009, p12

Easter time

Photo from here

As we get ready to remember Jesus' death and resurrection at Easter time, it becomes all too obvious that my daughter will miss out on the sweet treats that Easter tends to bring with it. We normally prepare for Easter using Resurrection Eggs with the kids and this year my daughter will be old enough to sit and listen to the short bible readings. Last year we gave my son a mini chocolate egg as he sat and listened so this year he is looking forward to the same. I think that sultanas might be the way to go with my daughter since I don't think she will be that keen on faux-chocolate. Still, just in case, I have found some eggs that are made with rice milk and are even fair-trade so I will blog about them when they arrive and we've tried one.

In the mean time she will be eating Choices' Hot Cross Buns to celebrate Easter. Yummo!

Scones from the pantry

The one at the back wasn't done with the cutter since it was the leftover dough - you can't half tell!

I can't remember where I got this recipe from but I have just substituted allergen-free ingredients, added xantham gum and it worked well and they were very tasty with jam.

3 cups GF self-raising flour
1 tsp xantham gum (powder)
80g dairy free spread
1 cup soy milk

Add dairy-free spread to flour and Xantham Gum and rub in until bread-crumb-like. Add milk and stir until dough formed. make into a ball with hands and then flatten out. Cut out with scone/pastry cutter and place together/touching on baking tray (I use baking paper as well). Brush with milk if you like and then put in the oven for 15-20min. Keep an eye on them in case my time is different for your oven. I found that they didn't really go golden in that time but were obviously cooked. Maybe they could have gone for longer. I had hungry kids to feed!

Makes about 15. I divided the recipe by 3 and made 5 because I knew we wouldn't get through 15 and really scones should be eaten fresh.

Menu Plan Monday

Here's last week's menu (I tend to post before I plan the week to come!)

Monday - Beef Stir-Fry
Tuesday - Roast Chicken and Vegies
Wednesday - Adults - Lasagne and salad, Kids - fish fingers and vegies (I've yet to do an everything free lasagne and wanted to cook some normal lasagne to freeze for friends, so hence the split dinner)
Thursday - Mushroom and Bacon Pasta
Friday - Fish and Vegies
Saturday - Hamburgers
Sunday - Chicken nibbles using this recipe and vegies.

A pretty good week food-wise - a lot of their favourites on offer. It doesn't have to be new and exciting for the kids to eat it just plain and simple tastes that are easy to eat.

Did you know?

It is generally accepted that maternal diet (before or during pregnancy) does NOT influence the development or prevention of food allergy.

Reference - Managing Your Child's Food Allergies, Alison Orman. Harper Colins 2009, p14

Hog's Breath Cafe

Photo from here

My husband and I had a brainwave the other day and thought of a restaurant that we could take our kids to - Hog's Breath Cafe. Kid friendly and full of meat and vegetables rather than pasta etc. So at 5:30pm, after a weekend away and no desire to cook dinner, off we went to Hog's Breath Cafe (gotta love the early dinner option!) and ordered the steak and fries for our daughter and the fish and fries for our son as well as a side of corn for them to share (2 small cobs in one serve). The staff wouldn't guarantee that the fries were gluten free because they cook in the same oil as other gluten products but the fries themselves don't have gluten in them. That was fine for us. While we waited the kids coloured in with the provided crayons and colouring sheets.

My daughter didn't react to anything and she at almost the whole steak and all the fries (and all the tomato sauce!). My son could have the free ice-cream afterwards and we had brought some yoghurt for my daughter to enjoy.

I think we'll be back when the opportunity arises.

Menu Plan

This was last week's :)

Monday - Pea and Proscuitto Risotto (a mash-up of a Jaime Oliver and Taste.com.au recipe, will post soon)
Tuesday - Beef Stir fry
Wednesday - Roast Chicken with vegies
Thursday - Creamy Chicken Pasta (using leftover chicken)
Friday - night off - kids went on a sleepover!
Saturday - kids dinner - fish bites from Bayview with vegies
Sunday - dinner at a birthday party - sausages & salad

Vanilla Cookies

We made vanilla cookies from Friendly Food Cookbook last week. The kids enjoyed using the animal cookie cutters but ended up eating the 'round' cookies first!

I think the book is a very good purchase if you children have food chemical intolerances but we have had some good recipes for food allergies as well. It's just a bit more restricted than what my kids need to be.

I've made their marshmallow bithday cake recipe for my daughter's 2nd birthday today. Will post a pic and review next week. Can't quite believe 2 years have gone past already! Hopefully it also means we are closer to her allergies disappearing - can't wait!

Beef Stir-fry

This was one of the quickest meals I have cooked in a while and everyone really liked it! I just made it up on the run. Winner!

Serves 4

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (or whatever you use)
2 beef steaks (probably about 300-400g), sliced into stir fry strips
1 packet baby corn, broken in half
handful green beans, ends removed and cut in half
2 carrots, julienned (as much as you are able!)
2 tsp GF Hoisin Sauce
2 tsp GF Oyster Sauce
Sesame seeds (optional)

1/2 pkt rice vermicelli (enough for 4 ppl), prepared according to packet (normally just immerse in boiling hot water for a few minutes) and then chopped (I use scissors) to make it easier for young children to manage.

Fry meat until almost cooked. Add vegies, stir fry until almost cooked. Add sauces (more if you want it more saucy, I went minimal in case the kids weren't keen on the flavours) and stir fry until everything is cooked through.

Place vermicelli in bowls and top with stir fry. Sprinkle with sesame seeds (you could toast them if you have time).

Enjoy :)

Avoiding Contamination #2

I posted about this a while ago and here's another tip.

Fact: Gluten free bread tends to require toasting to improve it's enjoyment factor.
Another fact: Toasters are covered in crumbs
One more: If you put your gluten free bread in your toaster, you will risk contamination from other breads.

What can you do about it? Well, if you only have a small toaster, I would buy a cheap second, especially if your child reacts easily. For us, we have a 4 slice toaster and we have dedicated 2 slice sides to be gluten free. It works pretty well, gluten free bread tends to need a lot longer in the toaster, so we keep the timers set - so if you put your normal toast in the GF side - you will be 'punished' with burnt toast :)

If you keep using the same toaster it's worth thinking, as I read here, "Why don't you just sprinkle bread crumbs on your food?"

Apple Pie - featuring Rowie's Shortcrust Pastry

The Pastry Mix with my ceramic blind baking balls

The finished product

I have had Rowie's Shortcrust Pastry Mix in the cupboard for a long time now and finally got up the motivation to try a pie. The pastry was easy to make - you need dairy-free spread and No Egg (although they say you don't need to use it, just add extra butter), but after rolling it out I found it difficult to get into the pie dish. Maybe I let it get too warm but I solved it by turning the dish onto the pastry and then turning it up the right way. Then for the top I rolled it on baking paper to help with the flip - still got a bit of breakage though.


Here's the recipe:
1 box Rowie's Sweet Shortcrust Pastry Mix
Dairy free spread
No Egg (optional)

For Filling:
1 can sliced apples (or you could do your own and soften them by boiling)
1 tbsp caster sugar
1/4 -1/2 tsp cinnamon

Mix up and prepare pastry according to instructions (it includes blind baking the base).
Mix up filling ingredients and put into pie dish once pastry has cooled a little.
Cover with other half of pastry mix. Brush with dairy free milk or No Egg
Bake until golden.
Enjoy.

It's not bad for a gluten free option - certainly doesn't beat my Nan's apple pie but it's a good option.

Eat with others

Something that has really helped my daughter try new foods is eating with other children. Often with her cousins she has tried and/or eaten new vegetables! Just recently we had dinner at her uncle and aunt and they served green beans, something that I hadn't served in her living memory really (because I was sticking to ones I knew she would eat) and she proceeded to eat all of the beans inside the casing. Having other kids model eating other foods or even just having them on the plate in a different place can really make a breakthrough. Since then she has started eating peas as well because they come out of their skin too. Brilliant!

If you have a child with a limited diet who isn't keen on eating much inside their limits, this could be a great way of expanding those limits.