OUR THANKSGIVING FEAST

THANKSGIVING, SO BLESSED AND THANKFUL

Homemade Halloween Chocolate Cupcakes

YOU CAN FIND THIS RECIPE LISTED UNDER 'RECIPES' LISTED UNDER 

'SHARED  RECIPES'

THIS IS A SHARED HOMEMADE DELICIOUS CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE RECIPE, WE TOPPED THEM OFF WITH YUMMY ORANGE ICING AND SPRINKLES, JUST RIGHT FOR OUR ALLERGY FREE WORLD.   :)

A cupcake, a small cake that is made to serve one person, often baked in small thin papers, and sometimes aluminum cups.  Frostings, cake decorations, ex., sprinkles are used to decorate cupcakes, one of our favorite toppings.

Did you all know that the cupcake was first mentioned as far back as 1796?  It was the early 19th century there were two different uses for the name cup cake or cupcake.  Before muffin tins were available, cupcakes were usually baked in individual pottery cups, ramekins and whatever the cake was baked in, this became the name of the type of cup the cakes were baked in.  During my childhood years, The Hostess Cupcake was a favorite dessert treat for me.

Today, there are many delicious cupcake recipes, if it's your own, a shared recipe or allergy free that is now part of our allergy free world, it is and will always be a very delicious treat!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupcake

Are You Getting Ready For Halloween?

Halloween, A Spooky Fun Time of the Year!

We really enjoy Halloween in our household.   The dressing up in costumes, the trick-or-treating, the passing out candy, making all sorts of different kinds of treats.  It's just an all around fun time of year!

Halloween is also know as All Hallows' Eve, it is a holiday observed yearly around the world on October 31st.  Different festive activities include trick-or-treating, costume parties, carving pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns, telling scary stories, etc. The word Halloween was first used in the 16th Century which represented a Scottish variant of the fuller All-Hallows-Even (evening) which is the night before All Hallows' Day.

Trick-or-treating is customary celebration on Halloween.  Children dress up in costumes and go from house to house asking for candy.  Halloween costumes are traditionally modeled after supernatural figures ex., monsters, ghosts, skeletons, etc.  Some dress up as ninjas and princesses.  The first mass-produced Halloween costumes first appeared in stores in the 1930's when trick-or-treating became popular in the United States.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween

We love decorating in our household for Halloween!

Supreme Pizza

Four Topping Supreme Pizza

                     YOU CAN FIND THIS RECIPE LISTED UNDER 'RECIPES' UNDER 
                                                                'MY RECIPES'

Pizza is a certain type of bread and tomato dish that's served with cheese.  It was the late 19th or early 20th century, this dish was considered to be sweet, not savory; however, earlier versions that were savory resembled the flat bread that is now known as schiacciata.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_pizza

We enjoy making home made pizza in our household, especially adding our favorite toppings to satisfy our allergy free world.  

Yummy 'Arthur' Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix

CHEERRYBROOK KITCHEN 

ARTHUR

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE MIX

YOU CAN FIND THIS RECIPE UNDER 'RECIPES' UNDER 'SHARED RECIPES'

The chocolate chip cooke, an all around favorite in our household.  The traditional recipe is a combination of dough, butter, including both brown and white sugar and adding some semi-sweet chocolate chips.  

Sometimes in our allergy free world I will take a short cut and make some yummy chocolate chip cookies from Cherrybrook Kitchen Arthur Cookie Mix. It's Peanut Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free and Nut Free, also All Natural.  This cookie mix is simple and easy to make with just three ingredients, just follow the directions on the cookie mix box.  Later I will add my own homemade chocolate chip recipe that satisfies our allergy free world.

Strawberry Banana Smoothielicious

This strawberry banana smoothie has some really delicious ingredients to satisfy our allergy free world. It is simply Smoothielicious!  

Smoothies are blended and sometimes a sweetened beverage that's made from fresh fruit called a fruit smoothie.  Some smoothies can have chocolate or peanut butter, but in our allergy free world... no peanut butter allowed!  Some smoothies can also have milk, which we replace with Rice Dream Rice Drink.  Some restaurants will add other ingredients such as soy milk, whey powder, etc., whey powder(a milk protein) which is also a no no in our allergy free world.

Did you know that Health Food Stores on the West coast of the United States started selling pureed fruit drinks in the 1930's.  Smoothies became available in the United States in the 1960's.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoothie

Ingredients:

Rice Dream Rice Drink

So Delicious Dairy Free Coconut Milk- Vanilla Bean

Bananas

Strawberries

Sugar or sugar substitute(optional)

Add small amount of ice in blender, add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth-smoothie!

This recipe is so easy, simple, just add more or less of each ingredient to satisfy one's own taste.

Enjoy!    :)

Stir Up Some Stir-Fry-

Chicken and Vegetable Stir-Fry

YOU CAN FIND THIS RECIPE LISTED UNDER 'RECIPES'  LISTED UNDER    

 'MY RECIPES'

Stir frying, the umbrella term that's used to describe two Chinese cooking techniques.  These two techniques is the amount of heat used and the amount of tossing the food while cooking the stir- fry in a wok. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stir_frying

We enjoy stir fry in our household.  In this recipe you will find just the right ingredients to satisfy our allergy free world.   Add some boneless, skinless chicken breasts to your favorite vegetables with your favorite stir-fry sauce without the certain food allergens and there you have it a really tasty classic stir-fry for the family to enjoy.

  

Was It Your Birthday? ?

Okay, so it was a May Birthday in the house.  Check out the party favors, it was a really beautiful day in May.  We enjoyed some hot dogs, hamburgers on the grill, all allergy free of course.  Now the birthday cake was homemade chocolate cake, with no eggs, no milk, with some store bought vanilla whipped frosting which was free of the food allergens that was just right for our allergy free world, also added some sprinkles on top of the cake   Sometimes I will make homemade frosting, but this time I decided to take the easy way out, the cake was simply delicious! 

   

YOU CAN FIND THE HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE CAKE RECIPE LISTED UNDER 'RECIPES' LISTED UNDER 'SHARE RECIPES'

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!   :)

Food Allergy Reminder Tips

Lets take a time out and reviw some very important allergy tips to help continue a happy, safe allergy free world life style.


1.  Always be aware of your food allergies.

2.  Please remember to always read ingredients even if you're use to buying a certain product.  Ingredients in a product can change overnight, so don't assume it has your allergy free ingredients.
READ THE INGREDIENTS!

3.  Try your best to avoid cross contamination.  In our allergy free world, the slighest contamination could cause an allergic reaction.

4.  If your are in doubt about an ingredient in a certain product, ask questions.  You can always call the company, it is worth the phone call!

5.  Have a plan when traveling with someone with food allergies.  It's okay to call a restaurant ahead of time and ask about the ingredients.  Tell your concern about food allergies.  (Tip:  I mainly travel with different varieties of food, that way I know it is completely safe.

6.  If your child is in school, teach him/her to only eat what is sent with them, to not accept food from a friend.  Tell the friend in a polite way  'I have food allergies'  sometimes that friend starts wanting your food.  ;)

7.  Practice keeping healthy snacks, they're good and good for you!

8.  Last but not least, if your doctor has prescribed an epipen, learn all about it, know how to use it, Do Not Travel Without It!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/epinephrine autoinjector


Once again, these tips have been helpful for us.

Our Memorial Day visitor.

I just had to take the time to share our little hopping visitor who hopped right over to see us. I wonder was bunny rabbit looking for carrots or something... some carrots was given to the bunny, guess what.... we saw bunny the next day, after that, no more visits, sure bunny rabbit will find it's way back someday! ;)

DID SOMEONE SAY FRIED CHICKEN?

THIS RECIPE IS NOW LISTED IN  'MY RECIPES'

Some Good Tasting Fried Chicken

YOU CAN FIND THIS RECIPE LISTED UNDER 'RECIPES' LISTED UNDER 

'MY RECIPES'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fried_Chicken

Fried chicken which is also referred to as southern fried chicken, a dish that's floured, or battered, pan fried, deep fried or pressure fried.  Chicken in general is not fried whold, instead, it's divided into white meat sections and dark meat sections. My family likes chicken fixed many different ways, fried, baked, grilled.

There are different types of oils used when frying chicken:  corn oil, peanut oil, canola oil or vegetable oil.  Of couse in our allergy free world, Peanut Oil Is Never Used  when frying chicken.  You will soon find in 'My recipes' the different seasonings that's used in my househould when cooking chicken to satisfy our world of allergy free cooking.

Strawberries Dipped In Some Homemade Chocolate

Delicious Strawberries Good By Themselves Or Drizzled With Homemade Chocolate Glaze

The strawberry is widely appreciated for its characteristic aroma, bright red color, juicy textur and sweetness.  Strawberries are mainly consumed in large quantities.  In our allergy free world, we like to eat them by themselves or dipped in chocolate.  This chocolate glaze is so sweet and so simple, just four ingredients and you have just created a taste of goodness! 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_strawberry

Ingredients:

1/4 c Hershey's Cocoa Natural Unsweetened

1 1/4 c Confectioner's Sugar

2 tbsp Water

1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Wash strawberries thoroughly, set aside.

In small to medium pot add cocoa, confectioner's sugar, water, vanilla extract.  Warm over low heat stirring constantly  until smooth and creamy.

Add more or less sugar, more or less water to satisfy one's taste.

Drizzle generous amount of chocolate glaze over strawberries and Enjoy!

JUST SOME DOWN HOME BAKING POWDER BISCUITS

These are homemade baking powder biscuits just right for our allergy free world.  The recipe is so simple, so easy, and so delicious!  We enjoy these biscuits with or without some preserves, jelly, jam, just pick your favorite flavor, we're enjoying these baking powder biscuits with some Smuckers grape jelly.  Also feel free to add some dairy free margarine, it is all so good!

 Make some and enjoy just some down home baking powder biscuits.

YOU CAN FIND THIS RECIPE LISTED UNDER 'RECIPES' LISTED UNDER

                                                                         'SHARED RECIPES'

FRESH FRUIT

Time for some fresh fruit, since Easter Sunday, with all the big Easter dinners, and lots of food I thought it would be a good time to start the week off with some fresh fruit.  Not only does fresh fruit tastes good, so good for you.  I try to always incorporate fruit in our allergy free world.  We love lots of fruits, here are some seedless grapes, bananas, apples, oranges, and strawberries. 

Whatever fruit you may like and enjoy, try to keep it in the household, it's always a good healthy snack for you.   Enjoy some fresh fruit today.

OUR EASTER DINNER TREATS

EASTER, A JOYFUL SEASON, A CELEBRATION!  REMBEMBER TO EMBRACE LIFE. REMEMBER TO HAVE HOPE. REMEMBER TO KEEP THE FAITH.

I always try to fix treats for the whole family to enjoy.  Here is a no-bake cheesecake topped with strawberries, Not Allergy Free, but simple, easy and delicious.

Here are some homemade rice crispy treats, for our allergy free world, no dairy, eggs, peanuts, decorated with jelly beans for the eyes and nose,Twizzlers candies for the mouth, all allergy free and delicious!

Last but not least the Traditional Bunny Cake.  I use to make this cake when my two older daughters were younger, at that time I bought a box of cake mix and made the bunny cake.  This time the bunny cake is a chocolate homemade cake from scratch, no dairy, no eggs, with store bought strawberry icing without the dairy and eggs.



This is a two layer cake, one layer I cut and made the ears, the left over piece is the bow tie, added the ears to the other layer and there you have your bunny cake. It is also decorated with jelly beans and Twizzlers candies everything for the allergy free world.  We really had fun making this cake, of course more fun to eat.

Hope everyone had a really nice and Happy Easter. :)



         No-bake cheese cake topped with strawberries

                                                          

     


                      



 Some Really really good Rice Krispies Treats
This was a easy simple recipe that was shared with me;
with just a few ingredients:  1/4 cup milk-free soy-free margarine, 1 package regular size milk-free, egg-free marshmallows, 6 cups rice krispies cereal.

First generously grease a baking dish.  (set aside) 

Then melt the margarine in a large pot, melt on low heat.

Add the marshmellows, continuously stirring until marshmellows are melted completed.

Pour the mixture into the baking dish, flatten it out with a spoon, be sure to wait until cool before cutting. 

We decided to decorate our rice krispies treats with jelly beans for the eyes and nose, twizzlers candies for the  mouth.  ;)

 (Hint:  I used Fleischmann's unsalted margarine, Kraft marshmellows- these ingredients I have found to be allergy free of the specific allergens in our allergy free world)

The recipe for this bunny cake is listed in  'My shared recipes'  it's the same recipe that I used to make 'A homemade chocolate birthday cake'.  For the bunny I took one cake layer and cut out the ears and the left over from that layer is the bowtie.  The other layer is the bunny's face, decorated with twizzlers candy for the mouth, cut some twizzlers for the whiskers, jelly beans for the eyes and nose.  Make sure the candies are allergy free of your specific food allergens.



















GETTING READY FOR EASTER DINNER

                                                                     
             Ham has always been a tradition in our household for the holidays.
                                      

    When growing up, I remember my mother cooking hams for the holidays, so I just kept that tradition going on for my family.  For Easter there was always a ham, this particular brand of ham, The Kentucky Legend Ham is already fully cooked and ready for your family to enjoy.  To ensure it's natural juices, you can cover tightly with a lid or foil and covering the bottom of the pan with a small amount of water. Bake your ham at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes per pound.

I always cover my ham tightly with foil and lid, and I base approx. every 30 minutes with some dark brown sugar, pineapple juice, some diet cola, pour over ham, adding more crushed pineapple as desired.  This ham for Easter turned out exactly the way I wanted, simple, easy and delicious!  Best of all totally allergy free for our allergy free world.  ;)

   This is the whole cooked Kentucky Legend Ham, with the crushed pineapple and the homemade dark brown sugar glaze drizzled on top!  Yummy!
   

   A few pieces of the Kentucky Legend Ham sliced and ready to eat!  Hopefully soon to be almost time for Easter Dinner!  Yummy!  Yummy!

HOW EGG-CITED ARE YOU ABOUT EASTER?

WELCOME TO MY HOME

IT'S EASTER TIME!

Time For Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken Noodle Soup, a classic comfort food that's enjoyed year round by millions of people.  It mainly consists of clear broth served with ones favorite vegetables with pieces of tender chicken.  It is considered to be one of many comfort foods, and most cultures have adapted their own version in relation to their own particular culture. In my allergy free recipe below, you will see I used the Egg Free Noodles.  This recipe will soon be listed under 'My Recipes' hope you enjoy! 

It seems that chicken soup was invented almost as soon as humans found out that dropping meat into some boiling water and from that boiling water made some great tasting broth.

Did y'all know that "soup" comes from "sops" meaning that this term once used to tell about any dish that had enough liquid in it would make a person want to 'sop' it up with some bread.  No wonder I use to always like to take that last little bit of biscuit or cornbread and eat that last bit of soup and eat it up or shall I say 'sop' it up.  I do remember when growing up that word  'sop' was used quite often, so yes I would 'sop' up til the very end, it was all so good! 

(chickennoodlesoups.com)

THIS RECIPE CAN BE FOUND LISTED UNDER 'RECIPES' LISTED UNDER 

'MY RECIPES'

Just Some Good Hot Chocolate

The weather can't seem to make up it's mind, cold, snowy one day, sunshine another day.  Waking up to five inches of snow today, 3/5/12 and it's March, what a pretty surprise.  Eventhough everyone is probably ready for spring, I have to admit, this snow was really pretty, here for half a day, then gone.  I just had to share a couple of pictures with you, probably the last snow of the season.  So anyway, I think it's time for some hot chocolate, so check below and see our oh so simple delicious hot chocolate. 

It's Cold, But What A Pretty Picture!

Just looking down the neighborhood street, doesn't it seem cold but yet cozy and saying go inside and get that yummy cup of hot chocolate.

Have a taste of hot chocolate, on a sun shiny cold day.It was sunny this day, snow the next day.

Since winter seems to be still sticking around in some places, how about some hot chocolate.  In our allergy free world, it's just as simple to make as it is to drink. Our Nesquik is easy and fun for us to make, in the ingredients it says just as plain as day: Made On Equipment That Also Processes Milk Wheat And Soy.  Of course for the milk allergy, Rice Milk is used. Eventhough milk is one of the allergens in our household, some things are tolerable and ok just as long as it's not one of the actual ingredients. Once again, like I Always Say: Read The Ingredients! You will see posted later in the products that I use the type of marshmallows that we have found yummy and tasty that are used in our allergy free world.  So here you have it, go get some:

Nestle Nesquik

Rice Dream Rice Drink Vanilla Enriched

Jet Puffed Marshmellows and

Add 1 cup Rice Dream(warmed in microwave) plus

2tbsp Nesquik and stir, add some marshmellows and

ENJOY!

Rice Dream Milk (Vanilla Flavor), on the milk you will notice different percentages of calcium, I was told and taught to buy the higher of the calcium which says 30%, once again this is to benefit my daughter's allergy free world, what works for one person may not work for someone else. This hot chocolate has been a favorite, it's easy and it's Good!  Oh, by the way, back away from those cookies, they're Not allergy free.

Welcome To My World Of Allergy Free Cooking!

When life gives you lemons, well, make some lemonade!  That's what I say anyway, I'm sure we all have said that before, you may have some food allergies, but guess what- you can have your cake and enjoy it too! 

Come on this journey with me and I will share with you some allergy free recipes, some tips on allergy free cooking, and some fun facts to just get through the everyday life style of living with food allergies.

My youngest daughter is allergic to peanuts, eggs, milk, fish and shellfish which are some major top allergens.  She has been living with these food allergies for the past 10 years, fortunately she did outgrow her wheat and soy allergy.  She is my little helper, and photographer, she imspired me to start this blog to share what we know hoping to make your food allergy world just a little more at ease.

Enjoy this learning journey with me, if you or your loved ones have any of these food allergies, sit back and still taste the flavors of your favorite foods, you just may forget you have food allergies.

Just Remember, Food Allergies Can Be Very Serious, Being Aware and Well Educated Of A Specific Food Allergy Or Allergies, One Can Still Live A Healthy And Happy Life Style.