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.

Sesame Beef Stir-fry

Here's a great family-friendly stir fry that we all enjoyed. Something that is great about it is that it doesn't need any allergen substitutes for my kids. My sister-in-law Soph has done a post with my recipe on her blog so click here to check it out. You can also read an interview she did with me the day before.

Menu Plan Monday

Yikes - I'm not ahead with my posting this week. Here's the menu:

Monday - Mushroom, Bacon and Spinach Pasta
Tuesday - Chinese spiced roasted chicken nibbles, rice and vegies
Wednesday - Kids had leftover chicken
Thursday - homemade pizza night!
Friday - out at sibling's house for dinner - kids had chicken and vegies for dinner (thanks K!)
Saturday - Fish, chips and vegies - I attempted crumbing the fish and frying it - bit of a fail - the crumb came off in the pan so we ended up with fish with crumb sprinkles - still yummy though - phew!
Sunday - Beef stirfry - Will give you this recipe on Wednesday :)

Hope you have a great week and maybe some sunshine!

Allergy Testing - what to take with you

image from here

An allergy test takes a long time. At a private allergy specialist you arrive, wait, meet with the Doctor and take a history, go out, wait for the nurse, have skin prick tests, wait for 10mins for the reactions to occur, go back into the nurse, she measures the reactions, then you wait for the Doctor again and then they see you and tell you what everything means. It's a long time for kids especially if they are the one with the itchy arm. You will need to take a good amount of food, special treats, comfort items and anything that will keep them sitting still or happy waiting. Here's what we took to our latest allergy test with Miss 2:

- morning tea snacks - corn thins, fruit
- special treats - itsy bitsy bears, mini chuppa chup lollypop
- comfort item - her muslin wrap that she likes to snuggle
- my iPhone with Dora episode and Justine Clarke on it

I knew that the Doctor's waiting room had a decent amount of toys and books so I didn't need to take any but if it's your first time, I would take a couple of books at least.

We had morning tea while we waited to see the Doctor the first time. The chuppa chup lollypop was the best thing for having while we waited the 10mins for the reactions to occur - it kept her hand busy and you could cope with keeping an eye on the other one and making sure she didn't scratch. Her wrap really helped her deal with the pain of the skin prick test. I used the itsy bitsy bears to keep her quiet while the Doctor explained the results to me.

I also took her out for a special lunch afterwards and that was something she could look forward to.
Do you have any allergy test tips?

Pizza Bianca

Miss 2's pizza bianca

This is an entree pizza that my husband and I love, especially when it was made at a fabulous Italian restaurant in Perth that we used to visit. Pizza bianca means white pizza so it basically means no tomato sauce. We make this version (not as skillfully!) at home regularly on a small pizza base and we make a separate one for Miss 2 and these serve as a starter (not the whole meal - not enough vegies for us! It's more of a garlic-bread-type side).  We use the normal base recipe (sometimes we add the chia seeds) and then here is what we put on top:

olive oil
garlic thinly sliced
fresh rosemary, removed from stalk (we have some in our vegie patch - it's so easy to grow - but you can use dried)
Salt

Drizzle the olive oil so that it is generous but not leaking off the sides, place your preferred amount of garlic slices and rosemary on top and then season with salt.

Place in the oven and cook until garlic is cooked and pizza is looking pale golden. Yum!