A break is in order

As my regular readers may have already guessed, I'm feeling the need for a bit of a break from blogging about food. So I will take some time off and reassess at the end of it. I hope this blog continues to be a resource for lots of people with food allergies.

We are currently back to wheat free because my daughter's lip started getting it's eczema again and her back was continually spotty so we are giving her body a break. Then we will start again. Probably just with irregular dinners with wheat in them rather than bread for lunch every day like we have been doing. Thankfully she hasn't put up a fuss going back onto the gluten free bread.

I hope you have a good few months.

BBQ sauce

Not many regular BBQ sauces are wheat free, but Woolworths Select's BBQ sauce is so that's what we have in the fridge.

Menu Plan Monday and cookbook review

A great resource!

Another week, another menu! How great was Kate's win on Masterchef last night?! We were very excited for her.

Monday - homemade pizzas - they are great when you have others over for dinner - easy to multiply!
Tuesday - Fish in Foil with vegies
Wednesday - Roast Chicken and vegies (leftover chicken used on sandwiches for next 2 days)
Thursday - Spaghetti bolognaise (using pork & veal mince)
Friday - Pea & Ham Soup
Saturday - Went out to an Italian restaurant with the kids - Miss 2 had a pizza with no cheese - amazing to think that we can do this every now and then - having wheat in the diet certainly makes it easier!
Sunday - Turkey burgers - fantastic - we all really enjoyed them - I'll blog about it soon.

I bought this cookbook a while ago and found it fantastic to browse and inspire me with different ideas. I especially like the section with cookies/ cakes etc because that is the area I tend to struggle with. Each recipe has a code at the top to tell you what it is free of and a lot of the recipes are free of most allergens. The author is a Mum of children with allergies and she found she was supplying recipes to lots of her friends and so the cookbook was a natural progression. She has sections at the back with information on all the allergies she provides for in the book as well as a shopping guide with allergen information for lots of regular grocery items like flours, stocks, margarines, processed meats, sauces and snack foods. Really helpful and worth buying especially with the price. She also has a website that you can check out for more allergy information.

Popcorn Chicken

mmmm popcorn chicken

I was inspired by this post by Our Gluten Free Family a while ago but it has taken me a long time to manage to do it. Here's my recipe for Popcorn Chicken. Enjoyed by adults and kids but definitely only a 'sometimes food'!

Serves 6
500-600g chicken tenderloins
salt
pepper
1/2 cup corn flour (maize not wheaten - check ingredients carefully)
1/2 cup potato flour (I think potato starch might work better, but this was fine)
1 teaspoon Morrocan Seasoning (this has wheat in it - so I would do a combo of spices for wheat free)
a shake or two of garlic salt
rice bran oil for 'deep' frying

Salt and pepper the tenderloins and sprinkle with some of the flours, cover and refrigerate for 30mins. Chop the chicken into 1cm cubes (approximately).

Mix all the dry ingredients plus some more pepper in a shallow dish. Toss the cubes of chicken through the flour and ensure good covering. This takes a while because the meat is so small (you can cut it bigger but make sure you cook it appropriately).

Heat oil in a pot (I used my cast iron pot and had the oil about 2-3cm deep) and when it sizzles around a piece of chicken, it is ready. Cook chicken in small enough lots so that the pieces can cook evenly and not be crowded. The flours don't colour very much so take them out when they are coloured and the chicken is cooked. Remove chicken to paper towel on a plate. Tenderloins tend to cope with overcooking better than chicken breast.

Serve with vegies or a healthy green salad (you will appreciate the health even more!!) or just as a hot snack for a party etc. The kids enjoyed the leftovers cold the next day.

Tip: Lower the chicken pieces into the hot oil with a heat resistant utensil. This will avoid splashing of hot oil.

Pea and Proscuitto Risotto

I love risottos and so am always trying to find ones that the kids like. I thought this one might work but they weren't too keen. But I'd say that other kids might enjoy it especially those who aren't fussed about texture and onion (my kids tend to reject anything made with onion... D'oh!)

I used this recipe from Taste.com.au but made quite a few adjustments so this was my recipe:


5 1/2 cups water
3 tsp Massel Salt Reduced Chicken Stock Powder
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 brown onion, finely chopped
1 large celery stick, trimmed, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup brown rice

230g (1 1/2 cups) frozen baby peas and corn

20g (1/4 cup) finely grated parmesan (be careful not to contaminate your working space or the portions for dairy-free people)
4 thin slices proscuitto (but in retrospect, pancetta probably would have been wiser because the kids really didn't like how salty it was and pancetta isn't quite so salty.)

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Boil water in kettle. Pour into heat proof jug and stir in the stock powder.
2. Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, celery and garlic. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until onion is soft. Add the rice. Cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes or until the grains appear slightly glassy.
3. Add 1/2 cup of stock to the rice mixture and stir until almost absorbed. Add a ladleful (about 250ml/1 cup) of stock to the rice and stir regularly with a wooden spoon until liquid is completely absorbed. Continue to add stock mixture, a ladleful at a time, stirring regularly and allowing the liquid to be absorbed before adding the next ladleful. Put in peas and corn when you think the risotto is just about ready and stir until rice is tender yet firm to the bite and risotto is creamy. Put risotto in bowls for those who are dairy free and then add the parmesan. Season with pepper. Leave for a few minutes
4. Meanwhile, place the proscuitto/pancetta on a large baking tray. Bake in oven for 8-10 minutes or until crisp. Set aside to cool slightly. Break into coarse shards.
5. Divide the risotto among serving bowls and top with the pancetta. Season with pepper to serve.
   

Menu Plan Monday and our wheat-eating girl

You had to be quick!

 Monday - My Mum made us a sausage casserole served with rice and corn chips
Tuesday - The children had chicken nuggets, chips and vegetables
Wednesday - Homemade Pizza night
Thursday - Beef and Mushroom pie - I used this recipe from Taste.com.au - so yummy but the pastry is puff pastry so has wheat in it. You could use an allergen free version like this one.
Friday - Beef and Sesame stirfry - we enjoyed it so much last week that we made it again!
Saturday - Pea and Proscuitto Risotto - stay tuned to get the recipe :)
Sunday - Popcorn Chicken and vegies - if this works out I will post the recipe!

Cookie - Butterscotch Biscuits - from the Failsafe cookbook done with GF flour. Very sugary and very yummy. They only have 4 ingredient so it was super easy as well.

Regarding Miss 2's wheat eating - she is eating some each day (she was very unhappy when I gave her GF bread for lunch today in an attempt to finish it off: "want normal bread!") and just has a couple of spots on her face that aren't normally there. I think lots of kids have spots on their face and parents wouldn't be worried about them but since she normally had a clear face, I know that they must be related to the wheat. Still they are very small and the eczema hasn't returned so we will continue. Usually I just do one meal with wheat and the other two are wheat free apart from every now and then (like having puff pastry on the pie!). We make sure that it is pretty plain wheat food - like white bread or things with little other ingredients so that we know if she gets another reaction it will be wheat related, not some preservative etc.