Allergy Safe S'Mores Crispy Treats

Feeding a kid with food allergies can sometimes be a challenge. Finding safe desserts is a search more difficult than the quest for the Holy Grail! There are plenty of delicious gluten-free options available, but almost all of the ones I have found so far have either soy, nuts, egg, or dairy... or all of the above. So for Beaker to have a sweet treat it pretty much has to be homemade.

A few weeks back, G-man had some friends over. For dinner, we put up a fire in the backyard fire pit and let them roast hot dogs. And what follows roasted hot dogs better than S'Mores? Not much! So I picked up graham crackers and chocolate and marshmallows and let the boys roast them up. Delicious!

Except Beaker could only eat the marshmallows. Which is fine, he loves them... but he was clearly sad to miss out on the crunchy chocolatey gooey goodness that is S'Mores. I haven't been able to find a single brand of graham cracker that is free of all of his allergens, and no chocolate bars either. Mini chocolate chips are excellent, but they don't work so well for smushing on a cracker with a hot mallow. I knew there had to be a way to make a Beaker-safe version of this delicious camp classic, but how? I turned it over in my head for a little while, then hit the kitchen. And this is what I came up with!

Allergy Safe S'Mores Crispy Treats Recipe

2 cups rice cereal squares

2 cups corn cereal squares

4 cups crisp rice cereal

40 regular marshmallows

3 tablespoons coconut oil

1 - 1 1/2 cups allergy safe chocolate chips

Pre-coat a large baking dish or muffin tins lightly with coconut oil or cooking spray. Warm coconut oil in a large pan over low heat. Add marshmallows and heat until melted, stirring occasionally. Turn off heat and add cereal, tossing thoroughly to coat. Allow to cool for a few minutes (but not too long) and then add the chocolate chips. Mix in well.

Spread mixture over baking pan or scoop small spoonfuls into muffin tin. Allow to cool until set. Store in tightly covered container in the refrigerator.

Notes: The ingredients I used are safe for my son's allergies. They are free of gluten, soy, nuts, eggs, and dairy. When making food for someone with allergies be sure to take their specific allergies in to consideration. If you don't have to worry about allergies at all, you can substitute regular chocolate chips. This recipe could also be made vegan very easily just by using vegan marshmallows, but some alterations to the amount of marshmallow used might be necessary. For the pan, I like to use a mini muffin tin to make bite sized treats, just the right size for little hands.

Beaker was my little taste tester for this recipe.

He heartily approves!

To get a wider range of opinions, I took a big platter of them to a get together with friends. They were a big hit! I came home with a completely empty platter that had been nearly licked clean. The Dude said that if he hadn't seen them being made he never would have guessed they were made with allergy safe chocolate. A high compliment from him!

They also work great as a small sweet treat packed in lunches. 

For this lunch I packed Beaker some mini sausages with ketchup, GF pasta caprese salad, a peeled and segmented Cutie orange, and a bite-sized S'Mores Crispy Treat.

The caprese salad is made with gluten-free brown rice pasta, a bit of diced sweet onion, halved cherry tomatoes and shredded basil from the garden, and bits of mozzarella cheese. It also has a dash of pepper, and some olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It's a nice, light summery salad, and Beaker loves it.

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GF Mini Pizzas

The favorite food in our family is, without a doubt, pizza. It's the one meal that everyone in the house can agree on. Cheesy bready deliciousness topped with more bits of yum ~ what's not to love?! The only thing we can't agree on is the toppings. G-man prefers pepperoni with a garlic cream sauce. Bean likes sausage. Princess wants both sausage and pepperoni, and she won't turn down pineapple if it's an option. Brick is a big fan of multi-meat combos, while my favorite is vegetarian with garlic sauce. And the Dude likes his with sausage, mushrooms, and black olives. Beaker? He loves them all!

Since Beaker's allergies were diagnosed, we haven't had pizza here much. He can't have garlic, dairy, or wheat - pretty much the main ingredients in pizza. It took some thinking, but I finally came up with a great option for him!

To make these gluten free mini pizzas for Beaker, I used Udi's GF hamburger buns as the base. They are free of most of the main allergens, including wheat, soy, dairy, and nuts. They do contain egg whites though, so if you're allergic to eggs watch out for that. I used my hand to slightly flatten half the bun, then topped with the sauce. Since most commercial pasta and pizza sauces contain garlic, I used crushed tomatoes with a bit of dried oregano and onion powder mixed in for sauce. After lightly smearing on a bit of the sauce, I topped with a sprinkle of cheese. We have been challenging cheese this week and so far Beaker has been doing great with small amounts of cheese. No reactions! However, if you are dairy free you can try soy or rice based cheese ~ I have heard that Daiya works well for melting.

I topped his mini pizza with a slice of Canadian bacon, then toasted in the oven at 385 degrees for about 4-5 minutes, until the cheese was lightly browned and bubbly on top. While it was still hot, I placed a cheese star on top, for a little extra pop of flavor and decoration.

Beaker absolutely LOVES his mini pizzas, and he is super thrilled to be able to eat pizza again. We have also made these with broccoli, peppers, onions, and zucchini on top for a delicious veggie mini pizza. He goes back and forth on which is his favorite, but either way he loves them. The small size is just perfect for his little hands and tummy.

They travel surprisingly well, too. I packed up this mini pizza dinner for Beaker for an evening out and it worked out nicely. It was easy to pop the pizza in to a microwave for a few seconds to warm it up so he could eat his dinner hot. He also has lightly steamed carrots, pitted cherries, and apple pieces on the side. For dessert I packed a pair of GF lemon cookies and a few fruit gummies. Perfect night out dinner for a little guy with allergies!

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Gluten, Soy, & Nut Free Vegan Pancakes

Since finding out that Beaker is allergic to a long list of foods, we have gotten pretty good at keeping his food safe for him while also serving him tasty meals that he will eat. We have done well at finding alternatives for him for most of the foods that he loves best. One thing I have struggled with is pancakes. Especially since the test results came back with egg and dairy reactions! How on earth do you make pancakes with no eggs, dairy, soy, wheat, or nuts that are still edible and tasty enough to eat?

Like this!

Gluten, Soy, & Nut Free Vegan Pancakes

Ingredients:

2 cups gluten, soy, and nut free all purpose flour

2 cups coconut or rice milk

1 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

3 Tbsp coconut oil + extra for cooking

2 Tbsp ground flax

1 tsp GF vanilla

6 Tbsp water

First, measure water and flax meal into a small pan. Heat on medium, stirring well with a whisk. When water comes to boil, turn off the heat and keep whisking another minute or two. The flax will develop a thick consistency, similar to raw egg whites. Set aside to cool.

In medium mixing bowl blend together flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Add milk substitute, vanilla, coconut oil, and prepared flax mix. Whisk together well.

In a small pan or griddle heat a small amount of coconut oil. Add a small scoop of pancake mix and cook until air holes begin to appear on top. Flip and cook until done.

The number of pancakes you can make depends on their size. I made them on the larger side of medium sized and was able to make 10 from this recipe.

These were a HUGE hit in our home. Beaker ate four helpings! They were delicious topped with a handful of thawed out frozen blueberries and a few sliced strawberries on the side. Light, fluffy, and just the right amount of sweet! The kids loved them and are requesting them for dinner again very soon.

They also made a great take-along breakfast for an early morning appointment the next day!

This took about five minutes to make. I used our CuteZCute frog sandwich cutter to pop out the pancake shapes, with organic fruit leather for the facial features. Beaker also has a little cup of halved grapes, two whole strawberries, and a Mini Dipper with a bit of syrup on the side for dipping. Easy, fast, delicious, and allergy safe meal on the go for an active little guy. Perfect!

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Easy Homemade Clam Chowder

Easy Clam Chowder

4-5 cups diced potatoes*

1 small onion, diced

1/4 lb. bacon

pepper to taste

4 cups chicken broth

2 cups water

2 cups half-and-half

3 cans minced clams

Fry bacon in a pot. When bacon is done, remove bacon from the pan and add the diced onions to the bacon grease. Cook until softened, about one or two minutes. Stir in pepper and add potatoes. Toss to mix, then cover potatoes with chicken broth and water. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are cooked through and soft. In the meantime, cut up the cooked bacon. Add juice from the clams to the soup (but don't add the clams themselves yet ~ adding them too soon makes them rubbery) and half-and-half. Heat through, being careful not to boil. Add clams and cut bacon, mix in, and cook for another minute.

Serve with chives, sour cream, and malt vinegar.

* Potatoes note: Red potatoes give the soup a more chunky texture, while Russets make it more creamy and thick. Some of us prefer the thick/creamy and some prefer the chunky texture, so I compromise and use both. Either or both works! Add extra potatoes for a thicker soup.

This is an easy and pretty quick meal, excellent for nights when I need to cook something fast.  It takes about 25 minutes, but most of that is simmering time.

It's great for lunch, too! Reheated in the morning and poured into a Thermos to keep it hot. Perfect lunch for cool days!

Especially good with a nice salad and fruit on the side.

Like this spring greens salad with balsamic dressing, with strawberries and blackberries, Van's multigrain crackers, a piece of chocolate, and a few bits of beef jerky (special request from Bean). Delicious and hearty lunch for school!

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Delicious and Easy Minestrone Soup Recipe

February can go two ways. Either it is the cusp of Spring, or it's the tail end of Winter. This year it seems like Spring is on the verge where I live, but other areas of the country are still being buried in snow. Either way, it feels like soup weather to me!

This is a pretty simple and easy recipe I put together a few years ago. I had a bumper crop of zucchini and squash from the garden and needed a good use for them. I wanted a nice hearty soup, something that could be a meal by itself, and I remembered one of my favorite soups - the minestrone from the Olive Garden. With that in mind, I put together this recipe. It turned out great and quickly became a family favorite! It is perfect for warming you up on a cold day and is also a great use for veggies from the garden in Autumn. Every vegetable in the soup can be grown in a simple small backyard garden. The soup by itself is a balanced meal - lots of veggies, protein from the beans, whole grain from the pasta.

Measurements listed in this recipe aren't exact. I am an eyeballer - I tend to just put things together in amounts that look right and expect them to turn out well. I usually only measure when baking (and even then only if it is something delicate or a recipe I haven't tried before). This soup is very forgiving though, so feel free to experiment a little with recipe adjustments.

Plain text recipe follows the pictorial.

Step 1: Gather ingredients.

1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic

1 teaspoon black pepper

2 teaspoons oregano

4 cups of broth

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Minced garlic, black pepper, oregano, and bouillon or  equivalent broth. You will need to use vegetable bouillon/broth if you want a vegan soup, but chicken or beef will also work nicely.

For veggies you will need:

2-3 green zucchini

2-3 yellow squash

2 cups snap peas in pods

2 large carrots

2 cups raw baby spinach leaves

An onion would also be very good in this soup, but half my family hates onions so I left that out.

You will also need:

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes

1 29 oz can tomato sauce

1 15 oz can small red or white beans (or both, either way is good!)

1 box whole grain penne pasta

Step 2: Cut squash, zucchini, carrots, and peas into large bite sized pieces. Rinse spinach leaves and set them aside for later.

Step 3: In a large (LARGE! This recipe makes quite a lot and you don't want to make the same mistake I always make and use too small of a pot) soup pot, heat the vegetable oil. Add minced garlic, pepper, and oregano to the hot oil and allow to cook for about a minute. 

Step 4: Add vegetables to the hot oil and spices in the pan and toss to coat well. Do NOT add the spinach at this step! The spinach will be added right at the end. Adding the spinach too soon makes it soggy. You want to save it for the end to retain the minerals and flavor.

Allow the vegetables to cook in the oil for about 7-8 minutes, stirring frequently. 

Step 5: Pour the prepared broth over the vegetables and add 2 cups of water. If you like your soup a little more thin, add another cup or two of water or broth. I like my soups thick, but Bean prefers a lot more broth. Like I said, this soup is very forgiving and adjust nicely to taste preference.

Allow the veggies and broth to simmer for about half an hour, stirring occasionally, until tender. After fifteen minutes add the diced tomatoes, beans, and tomato sauce. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a separate pot according to package directions.

Step 6: When the pasta is ready and drained and the vegetables are tender, chop the spinach leaves and add to the soup pot with the pasta. Remove from heat and serve! The heat of the soup cooks the spinach leaves just enough without overcooking.

I usually serve this Minestrone with grated parmesan cheese and fresh baked bread with butter. The last time that I made it Brick requested meatballs on the side, and we discovered that meatballs are a tasty addition when mixed into the soup. He also usually adds hot sauce, and Bean likes hers with extra garlic. 

Buon appetito!

Delicious and Easy Minestrone Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic

1 teaspoon black pepper

2 teaspoons oregano

4 cups of broth

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2-3 green zucchini

2-3 yellow squash

2 cups snap peas in pods

2 large carrots

2 cups raw baby spinach leaves

1 onion

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes

1 29 oz can tomato sauce

1 15 oz can small red or white beans, or both

1 box whole grain penne pasta

Cut squash, zucchini, carrots, and peas into large bite sized pieces. Rinse spinach leaves and set them aside for later.

 In a large soup pot, heat the vegetable oil. Add minced garlic, pepper, and oregano to the hot oil and allow to cook for about a minute. 

Add vegetables to the hot oil and spices in the pan and toss to coat well. Allow the vegetables to cook in the oil for about 7-8 minutes, stirring frequently. 

Pour the prepared broth over the vegetables and add 2 cups of water.

Allow the veggies and broth to simmer for about half an hour, stirring occasionally, until tender. After fifteen minutes add the diced tomatoes, beans, and tomato sauce. Cook the pasta in a separate pot according to package directions.

When the pasta is ready and drained and the vegetables are tender, chop the spinach leaves and add to the soup pot with the pasta. Remove from heat and serve hot.

Crock Pot Chicken Tacos

One of my favorite recipes! It's simple, delicious, makes plenty, and very versatile. The recipe came to me from my friend Sunnie, who generously gave permission for me to share it here.

Crock Pot Chicken Tacos

3 - 5 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 jar salsa or picante sauce (I use Pace Picante, medium)

1 packet taco seasoning

Place chicken breasts in a crock pot. Mix together salsa and taco seasoning, then pour over chicken breasts. Cover with crock pot lid and cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 6 hours.

Shred with a fork and serve with your favorite taco toppings.

I like to serve these on flour or corn tortillas, with a delicious homemade pico de gallo, sour cream, guacamole or avocado slices, and shredded cabbage or lettuce. A Southwestern style rice and refried beans or black beans are excellent sides to compliment the dish. Chicken taco bar is a favorite meal in our family. It's delicious and requires almost no effort to make.

Mild Pico de Gallo

4 Roma tomatoes, diced

1 medium onion, diced

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

juice of 1-2 limes

Mix ingredients together and add a generous pinch of pepper. Allow to sit for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep ingredients well mixed. Add diced peppers and garlic if you want it spicy.

We LOVE this recipe for chicken tacos. It also works very well for beef (using a basic roast cut) and pork (with cheap carnitas or a loin roast).

My favorite part of this recipe is the versatility. Especially with the leftovers! The above recipe will make enough for 2-3 meals, and the shredded meat freezes very well. I've used the leftover shredded chicken to make enchilladas, quesadillas, taco salad, sandwiches, tortilla soup, and more. It's good on rolls or bread, tortillas, lettuce, pasta, even rice!

I used leftovers from our Chicken Taco Bar dinner to make lunches the next day.

For the Dude, I put together chicken taco salad. Lettuce forms the base, and is topped with the shredded chicken and pico de gallo, with black beans and a sprinkle of shredded colby-jack cheese, garnished with a few grape tomatoes. On the side he has a small container of guacamole and some crushed tortilla chips to mix in with his salad. He also has an orange slice and a few strawberries.

Brick's lunch was pretty close to the same, but with a few less toppings. 

He prefers his salads to be a little less fancy. His is just the lettuce and chicken with shredded cheese on top. He has pico de gallo and ranch dressing on the side, as well as the crushed tortilla chips to add a little crunch.

A couple of orange slices and strawberries add a little vitamin C to the lunch, as well as a bit of sweetness.

For Princess and Bean, I turned the leftover chicken into quesadillas.

Princess has a kitty cat chicken and black bean quesadilla with pico de gallo on the side for dipping and scooping. She also has grape tomatoes (her favorite) and an etched banana, with a small salad on the side.

I also put in a little bit of sweet strawberry yogurt topped with cranberry-raisin granola for a delicious dessert.

And what goes with a cat? Why, a squeaky little mouse, of course! Bean has pretty much the same lunch, with a little chicken and black bean quesadilla mouse.

Etching bananas is easy. I used a toothpick to scratch a message into the banana skin. By lunch time the message was nice and dark, very easy to read.