Good news for our family= bad news for the blog

Poor neglected blog.

Must of the people who read this blog already know the good news that has caused me to leave this poor blog hanging in the breeze, but for the few of you who don't know I should probably share. :)

In late May of last year we got some super terrific news. After blood testing and a milk challenge in our allergist's office we discovered that my daughter has totally outgrown her milk allergy! Immune systems are pretty interesting and changeable things. This is true for everyone, but is especially true in children. She went from contract reactive and severe reaction at 11 months to out grown allergy in about 8 months. We feel very blessed and lucky.

She still has her egg allergy, but her numbers and skin test are tracking down for that also so we are hopeful that in time she will out grow that allergy as well.

So, since we are no longer vegans who eat meat, this blog has been pretty neglected. I am going to maintain it because I think there is some good information for moms just starting to go dairy/egg free but the updates will likely be few and far between.

Thank you to everyone who has been a help to our family as we navigated (and continue to navigate) allergy land.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup dairy free margarine
  
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 Tbsp milled flax seed + 6 Tbsp water
  
• 1 cup dairy free chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. In a bowl whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder.
3. In a small bowl whisk flax seed with water until cloudy.
   
4. In another bowl with an electric mixer cream margarine, peanut butter, and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in flax seed mixture. Beat in flour mixture and stir in chocolate chips.
5. Drop dough by level tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets and bake for 11-13 minutes.
   

Resulting cookie is soft and crumbly. Mmmm.

Sorry this blog is so neglected. I should probably write an update post with our good news as to why it has been a ghost town around here.

Mini Meatloafs

I adapted this from a Kraft Magazine. They are pretty tasty and freeze well so you could easily make a double batch.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs extra lean ground beef
• 1 package (12 oz) Brownberry stuffing
• 1 1/2 cups of water
• 1/2 cup dairy free BBQ Sauce (I use Kroger brand usually)
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Mix meat, stuffing mix, water and the seasoning until well blended.
3. Press evenly into 12 medium muffin cups sprayed with cooking spray.
4. Spread ketchup over the tops.
5. Bake 30 min. or until meatloaves are cooked through (160°F).

Chicken Fried Rice

Ingredients

• cooking spray
• 1/2 cup scallions, chopped, green and white parts
• 2 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 12 oz uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 cups cooked brown rice, regular or instant, kept hot
• 1/2 cup frozen green peas, thawed
• 4 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

Directions:

1. Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set pan over medium-high heat.
2. Off heat, recoat skillet with cooking spray and place back over medium-high heat. Add scallions and garlic; saute 2 minutes. Add chicken; saute until chicken is golden brown and cooked through, about 5 minutes.
3. Stir in cooked brown rice, peas and soy sauce; cook until heated through, stirring once or twice, about 1 minute. Makes 6 servings.

French Country Casserole

I make this a lot because it is super-duper easy. It makes a double batch and I usually freeze half.

Ingredients

• 1 lb kielbasa, cooked,halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4 inch slices
• 1 (16 ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15 1/2 ounce) can great northern beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 3 medium carrots, thinly sliced
• 2 small onions, separated into rings
• 1/2 cup red wine or beef broth
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme

1. Saute Onion and garlic til soft.
   
2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl; transfer to an ungreased 3-quart baking dish.
3. Cover and bake at 375ºF for 60 to 70 minutes or until carrots are tender.

Teriyaki Sticky Chicken

Ingredients

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 2 tablespoons light teriyaki sauce
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a small bowl, combine the ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, teriyaki sauce and mustard
3. Spray and 8X8 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
4. Place 1/2 of the sauce into the bottom of the baking dish.
5. Place the chicken breasts on top of the sauce and cover the chicken with the remaining sauce. Bake uncovered for 40 minutes, or until the chicken is done and the sauce has thickened.
6. Divide any sauce that is in the dish evenly over each piece of chicken.

New mom primer for dairy elimination 102- Eating out

So now your kitchen is stocked, but you have a lunch date with your best friend tomorrow. Where and what can you eat?

I suppose I should start with a disclaimer. Don't take my word for everything. I would never purposefully point you toward a dish with hidden dairy, but ingredients at restaurants have been known to change from time to time and today's dairy free hamburger bun could be tomorrow's epi-pen experience, should a supplier/recipe change. Double check me. I am providing links (when I can) for a reason!

My first advice is to inform the waitress you have an allergy. Some restaurants have an allergy chart that a manager will bring to your table. Regardless, the waitress needs to know so that she can inform the cooks.

I will start with standards for almost any restaurant. Out on a fancy date? The restaurant you picked does not have an allergy menu? Order a nice steak! Be very explicit that you want no butter on the steak. Sides can be tricky. You safest bet is a vegetable/potato with no butter, but that isn't exactly delicious. You can resolve this by either BYOfB(fake butter) or asking for a cup of salsa/ketchup/dairy free vinaigrette or vinegar and oil. If you are getting a potato be sure you request that the potato was not baked with butter in the foil.

A little lower in price would be a plain hamburger or plain chicken breast with no bun. Same options for sides. I would love to tell you that fries are usually safe, but I can't. Between seasoning salt and weird flavor enhancers and preservatives your best bet is to probably avoid them unless the restaurant brings you the bag they came in and you can read the ingredients label. There is also the issue of cross-contamination if a restaurant fries cheese and fries in the same fryer. Whether or not this bothers you would depend on how allergic your child is.

Lets move onto specifics... I am not listing every last thing that is dairy free, and as I said previously please double check for yourself! Below please find a short list of chain restaurants that provide allergy info online.

McDonald's- Hamburger (with bun), Apple Dippers (no sauce), Chicken Selects, side salad, balsamic vinaigrette. Note: fries have dairy!

Burger King- Whopper (no mayo for you egg folks!), Chicken fries, normal fries, onion rings, BBQ sauce, French toast sticks, syrup, hash browns.

Taco Bell- Spicy Chx soft taco, hard or soft shell w/ no cheese, cinnamon twists.

Culvers- Chicken Strips, Fries, Sweet and Sour Sauce, lemon ice.

Subway- Quite a bit. White and Wheat are both dairy free. Almost all plain meats are good. No cheese of course.

Papa Johns- Original crust pizza with veggies, pepperoni, and bacon.

Panera Bread- Smoked Turkey Breast Sandwich on Country, Low-fat Veg Black Bean, Low-fat Garden Veg Soup.

Chilis- Honey BBQ Ribs, Black beans, veggies with no butter. We go to Chilis a lot because they seem to have an awareness of food allergies that a lot of other restaurants don't. YMMV of course.

A good rule of thumb is when in doubt, don't eat it. Don't assume.

I will be honest, eating out dairy free is not always the most delicious experience in the world. Your table mates will likely not copy your order. However, even if it is something you only do rarely it is a good skill to have in your toolbox.

If you have any favorites I have missed post them!