Teal Pumpkin Cake - Guest Post on Kids With Food Allergies Blog

The fabulous folks over at Kids with Food Allergies asked me to write them a guest blog post for Halloween. And what better way to embrace the holiday and its wonderful, inclusive movement than with this delicious Top-8-Free Pumpkin Cake?!

Head on over to their blog to find out how to make it!

http://community.kidswithfoodallergies.org/blog/teal-pumpkin-spice-cake-recipe-1

I hope you're all getting your teal pumpkins ready and are stocking up on non-food treats this year! Have a Happy Halloween and #KeepItTeal!

Cherry Tomato Salad

Last summer, I had a "Sweet 100" tomato plant that provided us with so many buckets of cherry tomatoes that we couldn't even eat them all before the fruit flies ate them too and made them rot. Suffice it to say, we had this salad a lot last year!

This year, I didn't purchase tomato plants in time. Not only were the Sweet 100s sold out, but it was late in the season by the time I even got my tomatoes in the ground. Unfortunately that means I haven't eaten a single tomato from my own garden this year. I may not get any. :(

This salad is so good, though, that I had to go out and buy cherry tomatoes just so I could make it before the season ended. It's quite simple, so you can easily whip it up without making dinner take too much time.

Cherry Tomato Salad

Top 8 free!

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp coarse salt
• 1/8 tsp ground pepper
• 2 pints halved cherry or grape tomatoes
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
• 2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley

Directions

Chop all veggies and then mix them together.

Whisk together vinegar, oil, salt, and pepper until combined.

Toss to combine all ingredients.

Enjoy with your favorite entree.

I told you it was simple!

Kudos to my Aunt Catherine for sharing this recipe with me in the first place.

How are you helping summer linger this week?

Linking up at Allergy Free Wednesdays, Gluten Free Fridays, and Corn-free Everyday

Honey Garlic Pork Chops

We've had uncharacteristically wet weather in Colorado this year, but the last few weeks have warmed up more like usual. And dry, hot weather is a perfect time to barbecue! I pulled out one of my favorite recipes last week and boy, it had been too long since I'd made it! I'm eager to share this one with you because we just love it so much!

Honey Garlic Pork Chops
contains soy

Ingredients

• 8-12 pork chops (remove bones, if any)
• 3/4 cup lemon juice
• 3/4 cup honey
• 6 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 3 Tbsp dry sherry or dry white wine
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• Cornstarch, flour, or other thickener of choice

Directions

In a glass baking dish or marinade dish, combine lemon juice, honey, soy sauce, sherry, and garlic. Stir carefully until thoroughly mixed and all of the honey is dissolved.

Add the pork chops to the marinade, coating completely. Cover and refrigerate overnight to marry the flavors, turning once.

Notice the My Kids Food Allergies apron!
Part of our bingo winnings!

Preheat your grill. Remove the chops from the marinade and grill them on medium until cooked through. My chops were very thin this time so grilling didn't take very long, but I've used thicker chops in the past without incident.

You could also cook these on the stove top or broil them, however, I never had much luck with either. There's a lot of natural sugar in this marinade, and I've found that makes it quick to burn. I've always had the best luck cooking this one outside.

While chops are cooking, put remaining marinade in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil--but beware boil over. Again, all the sugar will make it expand quickly once it gets going.

Lower heat and thicken with corn starch, flour, or other allergy-friendly thickener of choice. Allow to simmer for a few minutes.

Serve chops with marinade as gravy.

Delicious! What are you grilling this summer?

Linking up at Allergy Free Wednesdays, Gluten Free Fridays, and Corn-free Everyday

Crock Pot Ham and Bean Soup

Today's recipe is a variation on this recipe I posted back in November. We had the end of a ham in the freezer and I wanted to make soup, but it's summer and I didn't want to heat up the house. So I decided to try it in the crock pot! I consulted google and decided that yes, making stock in a crock pot would work and yes, you can cook beans in a crock pot too, so I gave it a whirl.

It turned out great! And while this recipe still calls for a lot of chopping, it was relatively easy, too! It worked great for me as an overnight recipe, because my stock was cooking while my beans soaked. It could be done in one day if you cook it on high and do a quick-soak for the beans. This recipe does take a while, but most of it is down time--your work comes at the beginning and then again in the middle.

Crock Pot Ham and Bean Soup
The best thing about this soup is that it is top 8 free! It's corn free too!

Ingredients (for the stock)

• 1 ham bone or the end of a ham
• 1 large onion, chopped (2 cups)
• 2 carrots, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 2 celery ribs, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 3 large garlic cloves, crushed
• 3/4 bay leaves
• 2 tsp dried thyme, crumbled
• 5 whole cloves
• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
• water to cover, at least 6 cups, replenish as necessary

Ingredients (for the soup)

• 2 cups (1 lb) dried black beans
• 1 leek
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp brown sugar, firmly packed
• Chopped red, yellow and green onions (optional)
• Tortilla chips (optional, omit for corn allergy)

Place all stock ingredients in your crock pot and cover with cold water. Set crock pot to low and allow to simmer overnight, or do it on high for several hours.

I chose the overnight method, and the house smelled lovely when we woke up the next morning!

Also make sure you soak your beans! After sorting, cover them by several inches with cold water and allow them to sit overnight.

Taste your soup before you're ready to move on. If any of the flavors seem weak, you can increase the heat and leave them in for a while longer.

Strain the stock. I did this by dipping a strainer into the pot and pulling out everything solid.

Remove the meat from the bone and shred into bite-sized pieces (or simply shred, if there is no bone.) Remove skin and fat as well. Return the meat to the crock pot.

About six hours before you'd like to eat (or three if you'd rather cook it on high), drain your beans and discard the soaking water.

Then add the beans to the crock pot with the stock and ham. Cook for six hours on low or three hours on high (these times are highly flexible.)

Cut off the root and and green stem of the leek (it should be about 5 inches long.)

Wash it, then cut on diagonal into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Prep your other onions now, too.

About 15 minutes before serving, heat olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. When hot, sautee leek, onion, and garlic for about five minutes, until they're slightly browned.

Add the leek/onions to the crock pot along with the salt and brown sugar.

Allow to simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve soup topped with chopped onions and tortilla chips, if desired.

(Sorry, forgot to put the onion garnish on when I took the pictures.)

I'm really not a big fan of beans, but this soup never ceases to amaze me! In fact, typing it up makes me want to go sneak a few spoonfuls of leftovers from the fridge! I'm glad it worked out in the crock pot and will definitely be making it this way again!

What's your favorite soup?

Linking up at Allergy Free Wednesdays, Gluten Free Fridays, and Corn-free Everyday

Eggless Donuts

I've posted donut recipes before, but so far, all have been for baked donuts. Hubby has gone to town with the new donut pan we received a few months ago, and so donuts have become familiar around our house.

But baked donuts still aren't quite the same thing as traditional fried donuts. Yes, fried are probably less healthy. Yes, they take a lot more time to make. But oh, they do taste wonderful as an occasional treat!

This recipe is not for the faint of heart. I made it for hubby (and the kids) for Father's Day breakfast, and even though I prepped a lot the night before (measured and mixed together the ingredients that wouldn't have a chemical reaction overnight) it still took me almost three hours to get breakfast on the table Sunday morning. Fortunately, we usually eat late on Sundays.

Normally, this is more work than I'm willing to do for a recipe, but when I discovered it two years ago Zax had never eaten a donut, and the time commitment was worth it to give him that experience.

This recipe calls for shortening, an ingredient I eliminated from our house about a decade ago, when I realized it is pretty much solid trans fat. However, once again I decided that using a bit of it in one recipe was worth the trade-off for Zax to taste donuts. You could try subbing something else, and eventually I will probably try too.

Eggless Fried Donuts

Contains wheat, soy, and dairy

Ingredients:

Donuts

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 packet (1/4 oz) Rapid Rise Yeast
• 3 Tbsp shortening
• 1/4 cup yogurt (I used lowfat plain)
• 1 heaping pinch baking soda
• 2/3 cup lukewarm milk
• Oil - to deep fry (I used canola)

Glaze

• 1 1/3 cup powdered sugar (corn-free, if necessary)
• 3 Tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. 

Once combined, add shortening and mix in with a pastry blender.

In a smaller bowl, mix the yogurt and baking soda. This will crackle and fizz a little, because just like baking soda and vinegar, it's an alkaline/acid reaction.

I use these measuring spoons to determine a pinch, and I use a heaping pinch. (I think technically it's 1/16 tsp.) The first time I made these I literally took a pinch between my fingers and it wasn't enough, they came out chewy.

Add this to the flour mixture and mix well. Again, you'll want to use a pastry blender.

Add warm milk to the flour and mix to make a sticky dough. If it isn't sticky or there's still flour that won't mix in, add milk by the spoonful until you get the right consistency.

Sticky!

Knead the dough on the counter for about 10 minutes, until it's soft, smooth and elastic. If you have a stand mixer with dough attachments, it might be able to do this mundane labor for you.

Don't worry about flouring the surface or about leaving sticky residue behind. After a few minutes, the dough sticks only to itself and will pick up any stray pieces that might first tarnish your countertops.

Mine didn't get perfectly smooth and elastic (it kept splitting upon kneading) but after I kneaded for a few extra minutes I decided I was done. It still rose well, at any rate.

Place the dough in a clean bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set it aside to rise for about 1 hour, or until it has doubled in volume

I do this in the oven--I turn the oven on for 1 minute, then turn it off, and then add the bowl of dough (on a tray) to rise in the warm, dry oven. I also turn it on again for 1 minute halfway through.

See how big?

After it has risen, deflate the dough, dust the ball with flour, and roll it out to about 1/3" thick.

Cut out donuts with a donut cutter or use an upturned glass.

If you use a glass, use a 1" cap or similar item to cut out the holes (I used an old, cleaned Airborne case.) Cut the remaining dough into strips or donut-hole-sized pieces.

Arrange the donuts on a tray or cookie sheet.

Cover with a kitchen towel and keep it aside until the donuts have again risen (30-40 minutes at room temperature, ~25 minutes using the "oven on for 1 minute" method.)

Meanwhile make the glaze. In a small bowl, mix powdered sugar and vanilla. Add the milk and mix well. Set aside.

A few minutes before you expect the donuts to be finished rising, begin heating the oil in a pan over medium heat--I used my wok. Use one of your smaller donut holes to determine when the oil is hot enough. The oil should bubble around the dough immediately upon touching one another--but don't let your oil get too hot or they will cook too fast.

Fry the donuts two at a time until golden, flipping so both sides will fry. For me, this took a count of 30-45 seconds per side--and less for small strips and holes. Be careful handling your donuts, they will be fragile and could deflate easily.

Remove fried donuts to a cooling rack so excess oil can drip off.

After donuts are fried, dip each one in the glaze and coat it well.

Place back on the cooling rack to allow excess glaze to drip off.

 Serve and enjoy!

They're very light and cakey on the inside, just like they should be!

I let Hubby have the first bite since it was Father's Day (much like birthday cake), and this caused much anticipation in the kitchen!

Not much left!

If you're lucky enough to have leftovers, store them in the fridge, but let them sit on the counter to warm up before eating.

Linking up at Allergy Free Wednesdays and Corn-free Everyday