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!

Jack-Teal-Lantern's Halloween Safety Tips

Meet Jack-Teal-Lantern. He's a teal pumpkin who loves spreading joy and inclusiveness to all children, no matter what health conditions or dietary restrictions they have. And today, he wants to make suggestions for how to have a Fun and Safe time trick-or-treating when you have Food Allergies.

Jack-Teal-Lantern's Halloween Safety Tips

 

1. Carry your Epi with you when out trick-or-treating, going to parties, and everywhere else! And most importantly, use it if you need it!
2. Don't eat any candy while you are out trick-or-treating. Not at all. Not even things you've eaten safely before. Candies can change from year to year so you don't want to take any risks.
3. If someone tries to hand you candy that you know is unsafe, it is okay to politely say "I am allergic to that, may I have something else instead?"
4. Always be polite. No one is required to give out candy, so don't be rude if all they have is candy you can't eat. Either accept it with a "thank you" to trade with someone else, or politely decline. No one will appreciate you being rude about someone's candy selection. Not even your parents.
5. Look for teal pumpkins! Remember that houses with teal pumpkins will have something non-food to give out, which means you can score great toys or craft materials to enjoy! When you see a house with a teal pumpkin, be sure to ask for the non-food treats and say a great big Thank You for supporting kids with food allergies!
6. Print out a few small Teal Pumpkin Project fliers and take them with you while you trick-or-treat. Some people hand out non-food treats even if they've never heard of the Teal Pumpkin Project. At these houses, give them a flyer, thank them for having something that isn't food, and encourage them to put out a teal pumpkin next year.
7. When you get home, read all of the labels with the help of a trusted adult. Sort your candy into three piles: one for safe candy, one for unsafe candy, and one for candies you think are safe but which aren't labeled. If you or your parents have the chance you could check the labels on the "uncertain" pile before the stores sell the rest of the candy packages. (But if you can't find out, then don't eat those!)
8. Figure out a way to get rid of your unsafe candy. Remember that it is perfectly good food to other people. Whether you're handing it out to other trick-or-treaters, setting it out for the Switch Witch, trading with friends, or selling your candy to a dentist (who will then ship it to our troops), there are lots of ways to safely and efficiently get the candy you can't eat out of the house.
9. Don't begrudge your parents or siblings a taste of the candy you can't eat. Everyone likes different things, and everyone can eat different things. Just remind them to wash their hands and brush their teeth after.
10. Remember that you aren't the only kid with food allergies. Be mindful of the allergies of other people, whether they are your friends, your siblings, or your parents. Keep candies that they can't eat away from them, and remember to wash your hands. (This applies to taking Halloween candy to school with lunch, too.)
11. Don't take risks. No matter how much your friends or siblings like a candy you are allergic to, taking a taste isn't worth having a reaction. Chances are you won't like the candies you're allergic to anyway.
12. Don't forget Halloween safety rules that all kids must follow, including only going to houses with lights on, staying with a grown-up (or at least with your group of friends), watching for cars before you cross the street, etc.
13. Have fun! But always remember to be safe!

Pizza Sauce

I've been making homemade pizza a lot lately. I thought it would be fun to make my own crust, but that meant I also needed my own toppings as well. We had a few jars and frozen packets of sauce, but I thought most of those were too sweet. Then I remembered this recipe, which my mom used to make while I was growing up. I'm happy to report that it tastes just as good now as it did back then!

Pizza Sauce
(top 8 free)

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 16 ounces fresh tomatoes (or 16oz can tomatoes)
• 8oz can tomato sauce
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried basil
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Blanch your tomatoes: drop tomatoes in boiling water for 1 minute, then pull them out with a slotted spoon and plunge immediately into cold water. Peel off the loose skin and discard.

2. Mince your garlic. Drain the tomatoes and chop them.

3. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, oregano, basil, and salt and pepper to taste.

4. Cook until thickened, stirring frequently, about 20 minutes. Makes enough for two pizzas.

It freezes well, too. Eat half tonight, and save the rest for your next pizza night!

We do movie night every Friday, when we eat downstairs in front of the TV. Pizza makes a great meal for movie night!

Use on your favorite pizza crust and with your favorite toppings!

And the beauty of homemade pizza is each person's toppings can be personalized!

Proudly geeking out over our Enterprise-shaped pizza cutter! 

What toppings would you use with this pizza sauce?



Linking up at Allergy Free Wednesdays and Gluten Free Fridays

Too, too many

Can anyone explain what it is about this time of year? Nearly a year ago, I was lamenting that I wanted to crawl back under a food allergy rock and not pay attention to all of the deaths that were happening, one on top of the other. Now, here we are in mid-October and we've had three in the span of the last month. The summer months were blissfully sparse in news of food allergy deaths, and yet here we are, a few months into the school year and prepping for fall/winter holidays, and the deaths are piling up. And all of them teenagers. Can anyone speculate as to WHY?

We know teenagers are the highest-risk group, but even so, I'm beginning to dread this time of year. Is it because the beginning of the school year is a time when people to want to fit in? Impress their friends and new classmates, and admitting to (or properly preparing for) food allergies seems like a waste of time or, worse yet, uncool?

Or is it that with all the newness of a new school year, sometimes our safety precautions get forgotten? Even returning to the same school is new--new grade, new locker, new teachers, new clothes and backpack, new supplies, new classmates, newer and harder classes. Is this just too much for the teenage mind to manage?

Or could it be that with school celebrations and upcoming holidays, food is more prevalent and part of our celebrations, and when we're surrounded by so much bounty it's easier to slip up?

I don't know if any of my speculations are part of the big picture, but I do know that this seems to be a dangerous time. Please take care of your loved ones this year. Our kids may hate it when we constantly remind them of the same thing, over and over, but keep reminding them to bring their epinephrine--to school and when going out with friends. Make sure the school office has a backup, even if your teenager is (hopefully) self-carrying. Set alarms, download apps, post notes by the door, wait by the door with epi in-hand.... but do whatever it takes to make sure your kids remain prepared. And if YOU have allergies, don't leave home without it either.

Epi will save a life. Let's all take care of each other this holiday season.



Morgan Elizabeth Crutchfield
October 5, 2015
http://allergicliving.com/2015/10/09/north-carolina-teenager-dies-from-food-allergy-reaction/

Simon Katz
September 21, 2015
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_28864937/chatfield-high-student-dies-after-eating-smore-containing

Andrea Mariano
September 18, 2015
http://allergicliving.com/2015/09/19/first-year-college-student-dies-of-severe-allergic-reaction/

Sprouted Bean Potato Topper

I'll confess that I love a hot lunch. Just throwing a sandwich together at lunchtime fills my stomach, but doesn't satisfy me as much as something warm from the stove. Last week, I needed to use up some potatoes that were going to go bad, and also use up some of the monster kale plant in my garden. So I experimented and came up with this!

This is my Sprouted Bean Trio, from CostCo. It cooks really fast, about 5 minutes of boiling and 10 minutes to rest. Easy Peasy. For this recipe, I used 1/2 cup.

Usually I cook the beans in water and drain the excess, but I wanted a gravy, so I cooked it in Beef Better Than Boullion. I used about 2 cups of broth (2 cups water and 2 tsp Better Than Boullion.) This was a bit more than the beans called for, so I would definitely have broth left over.

I added three leaves of ginormous kale from my garden. After removing the thick stems, I cut the kale into thin strips and tossed in into the pot to cook with the beans.

After about 7 minutes of boiling (I think the beans need a little more time than the package calls for) I added a tablespoon of soy sauce and used cornstarch to thicken what was left of the broth into gravy.

Here it is after cooking and thickening.

I added this to the top of a baked potato and topped it with chopped green onions. It turned out to be really tasty, and I had enough for about three meals! (Hubby likes the simplicity of a sandwich or a potato with a can of chili, so I had this all to myself!)

What are you making this week?





Linking up at Allergy Free Wednesdays and Gluten Free Fridays

Snow Pea Salad

An old coworker of mine turned me on to this salad many years ago. Snow peas were one of the best things that grew in my (then) new garden, and I needed more ways to serve them. This recipe rocks, both in its simplicity and in its great taste!

Snow Pea Salad

Contains dairy

Ingredients

• Snow Peas, cut to bite-size
• Chopped red onion
• Chopped fresh mint
• Feta cheese (roughly 8oz)
• 4 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 to 1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions

Cut the ends off your peas, and string them if necessary. Then chop them into bite-size pieces (halves or thirds.)

Dice your red onions and chop your mint.

Mix your vegetables together. Proportions are eyeballed, but you want a majority of peas and not enough onion to overpower.

Add the feta and toss.

Mix olive oil, salt, and pepper (to taste) and pour over salad.

Toss and serve!

I love snow peas and am so sad that the season is mostly over. I was so glad to get a batch from my in-law's garden to make it one more time this year! Yum!

Linking up at Allergy Free Wednesdays and Gluten Free Fridays

Test Recipe

These are cool cookies. Still not sure on recipe formatting, help me out here.

Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Recipe by Eileen Rhoadarmer - 2nd Generation Allergy Mom

Contains wheat and dairy. Gluten-free flour and Earth Balance (or similar) "butter" substitute would easily correct this!

Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 6 min
Total time: 2 hours
Yield: 5-6 dozen cookies
Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 Tbsp Ener-G egg replacer
• 8 Tbsp water
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 4 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt

Cooking Directions

1. Cream butter and sugar.
2. Beat in Ener-G and vanilla. Stir in cocoa, baking powder, and salt.
3. Switch to a dough hook if using a stand mixer. Then gradually add flour and mix until fully combined.
4. Cover/wrap and chill 1+ hours.
5. Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Roll out cookies and cut. I cut the cookies on the plastic wrap I had used to refrigerate the dough, and I didn't have to dust anything with flour. It worked well!
6. Place 1 inch apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 6 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool completely.
7. Once cool, decorate with your choice of frosting.
8. Enjoy!

And here are the process pics:

I cut them out on the plastic wrap I had refrigerated them in. No need to use flour, so much less mess!

Give frosting to a small child and ask them to decorate. Then wipe their faces and finish the job after they get bored.

My helpers.

Football!

A party spread worthy of the Superbowl. (This was only about a third of our food.)

The bbq pulled pork I made to go with it.

(http://recipeseo.com/recipe/g4GEN)