Home Girl Blog

Pizza Recipe For Kids With Allergies

No wheat, gluten, soy, casein, egg, dairy or preservatives!

*cue violin music* I have a kid with allergies. Not just an allergy here or there, but all the allergies. On top of that, he's sensitive to food preservatives, food dyes and salicylates (a natural pesticide found in some fruit and vegetables)—those things make him super hyper and emotional. If you have a child who is particularly hyperactive and emotional, I highly recommend checking out the Feingold Diet (aka ADHD diet). About three days after I made adjustments to Zack's diet based on the Feingold list, I had a brand new 4 year old. At first, it was difficult telling my son he couldn't have grapes anymore, but now he's perfectly content with just having pears, pear juice and occasionally a strawberry or two. Feeding a tiny human to keep him alive and growing with all those restrictions is hella stressful. Add to that the repeatedly taking him to birthday parties where he is not able to eat anything including the grape and apples, and you get a major first-world problem, my dear.

*still the violins, bring in the piano and cue the horns, crescendo* However, with all the natural and organic food alternatives available to us these days, there is hope. No more music references, but I enjoyed that--hope you did too.

Normally I bother people with the much shorter list of what my son CAN eat, rather than the list of foods he cannot. Here, I will list his allergies and I think you will understand why finding a pizza recipe (or any other recipe that is not rice, meat, raw greens, bean chips and flax milk) is blog-worthy.

So, yeah. I found dairy and soy-free pepperoni and cheese and wheat/gluten/egg-free pizza dough. While my son is sensitive to the salicylates found in tomatoes, after adding it back to his diet, I found that he can have small amounts of tomato ketchup and not be reduced to a puddle of emotions later. So there is sauce on this pizza recipe. However, the dough tastes so yummy alone, and the cheese melts so smoothly that a sauce-free pizza would still taste really really good.  

I scoured the shelves of several natural food grocery stores and read lots of labels and after doing a little happy dance when I had all the ingredients in hand, my son and I made our first pizza. I was fortunate to find all the ingredients I need for pizza in my neighborhood's Natural Grocers. Both Whole Foods and Natural Grocer change their alternative cheese and pepperoni options frequently, I have learned, but the replacements so far have been great allergy-proof options. Also, you'll be surprised how many non-perishable food items you can find in bulk on Amazon.com. Without further adu, I give you...

Every Allergy & Preservative-Free Pizza Recipe of Your Dreams

Ingredients 

Namaste Foods Gluten Free Pizza Crust Mix. It's also sugar free, and made in dedicated facility free of gluten, wheat, soy, corn, peanuts, tree nuts, dairy and casein. It's made from brown rice flour, tapioca flour and arrowroot flour primarily and is seasoned with garlic, onion and italian seasoning. Yep--there's rosemary in there. 

Organic Prairie Uncured Pepperoni. It's preservative, nitrite and nitrate free and contains certified organic and pasture raised beef and pork. I normally use Applegate brand, but Natural Grocer didn't have it the day I went in. Instead I found this Organic Prairie one and it's great. 

Daiya dairy, gluten, casein and soy free mozzarella shreds. 

Eden Organic Pizza and Pasta Sauce

Directions

Set oven to 450 degrees. For the dough, follow instructions on the box. Basically, combine 1 and a half cups of mix, 1 teaspoon oil of choice (I use avocado) and 1 and a fourth cups water and mix for 3 minutes with an electric mixer. Then spread the cake batter textured dough in pizza pan and bake for 20 minutes. 

It goes in looking like this...

And comes out looking like this...

Add whatever toppings you want. For us it was sauce and pepperoni, but do what you like. Return the pizza to the oven for 10-15 minutes to cook up and pizza's ready! 

Before...

After...

My five year old son loves it, definitely way more than his usual plain rice, meat and raw veggies, and he eats the whole pizza--every time, my husband and I are lucky to get one slice. 

Are you dying to try this recipe? Do you have a favorite everything-free pizza recipe that's different from this one? Tell us in the comments! 

Mangia! 

Reel Inspired Meals: Different Oatmeal a la The Women of Brewster Place

The Film (based on book by Gloria Naylor)

The Women of Brewster Place (1989)- A TV mini-series (back when network TV had those) starring Oprah and a bunch of other people. It's about an ensemble of strong-willed female characters who live in an east coast project housing development and ride the ups and mostly downs of life in the projects. 

The Scene

The Women of Brewster Place is one of those films from the 80's (like The Color Purple) with many memorable quotes and scenes. I haven't watched it recently but, like The Color Purple, it makes frequent appearances in my brain world. 

The Inspiration

The conversation about beige bras and oatmeal between lesbian lovers, Lorraine (played by Lonette McKee who looks like Lena Horne 2.0 if you ask me) & Theresa aka "Tee" (played by Paula Kelly). 

Lorraine is trippin' because she's closeted and in denial about being "different". She tries to illustrate this in a monologue about how she wakes up every day, puts on a beige bra and oatmeal same as the day before she first kissed a girl and the day after. Tee points out that the fact that Lorraine didn't go to school the next day gushing about it in the girls lockeroom shows how different she indeed is, inspite of her life-constants, beige bras and oatmeal. 

 I found  a youtube clip! The link is cued, but just in case, it starts around 4:58. Watch it here. 

Also, I should note, oatmeal shows up in another scene where Tee spots the nosey old neighbor lady spying on her through the window as she makes meat loaf. During her angry screaming rant through the window she says something like, "Wanna see something really freaky? I put oatmeal in my meatloaf!" Because we're strange and awesome, me and my brother quoted that line all the time after we saw it. We still do at random moments. Also, that was the first time I found out there was even oatmeal in meatloaf. Clearly it made an impression because the one or two times I've ever made it in my life, I look for the recipe with oats in it rather than breadcrumbs. So yeah, The Women of Brewster Place and oatmeal are kind of married in my brain so it naturally inspired this recipe. 

The Eats

Ingredients:
1 cup old fashioned oats (If you prefer steele cut oats, fine, but it will need to boil longer)
3-4 cremini mushrooms chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 of a red onion diced
3/4 cup water
salt and pepper to taste 

Directions:
In a pot over medium heat, sauté the red onions in olive oil until they start to carmelize a bit then add mushrooms. Salt and pepper them as desired.

Once the vegetables are soft, add the water and increase heat to bring it to a boil. This will create a kind of broth. Add the oats to the boiling water and cook according to directions. 

While that cooks, you can slice and sauté red onions and mushrooms to top the finished dish like this...

When the oatmeal is done, bowl it up and top with shaved cheese, or additional stir-fried vegetables like I did. Add a side of kale or even eggs and you got yourself a pretty healthy, savory meal. 

Oatmeal with red onions and mushrooms. That's Different!

Reel Inspired Meals: Spaghetti Carbonara Inspired by Heartburn

The Film (based on book by Nora Ephron)

Heartburn (1986) starring Meryle Streep (Rachel) and Jack Nicholson (Mark). Two divorcees meet, fall in love, get married, have babies and hit the rocks because Mark couldn't keep it in his pantalones.

The Scene

I was home alone and took advantage of having the TV to myself. Netflix suggested Heartburn because I LIVE for romantic dramadies and I couldn't resist watching young Jack Nicholson (hot much?) and Meryle Streep. I love 80's movies because the fashion feels like home and they make me feel nostalgic for things like phones with coily cords, 80's love songs and shoulder pads. So I clicked play.

The Inspiration

During post-coital TV watching after their first night together, Rachel leaves Mark in bed to go into the kitchen for a snack. She returns with a huge serving bowl of spaghetti carbonara with two forks and two spoons for properly spinning the perfect pasta bite. She can't believe she cooked for him after their first romp, with a full mouth he raves about how he has never had a better spaghetti carbonara, I google to see what's in carbonara and the rest is the Homegirl Blog history.  

The Eats

After browsing through a few recipes online to get a great feel for how to make spaghetti carbonara, I headed to my neighborhood grocery store to gather my favorite of all the ingredients from the recipes I had read. 

Ingredients:
1 lb spaghetti
4 oz panchetta (Italian cured pork belly, but some recipes call for slab bacon)
2 tbsp olive oil
4 eggs
4 cloves of garlic
1 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano
parsley and pepper to finish

I bought pre-chopped pancetta and pre-chopped garlic in a jar because why not. 

Directions:
In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil and cook spaghetti according to directions. While the spaghetti cooks, mix the eggs and cheese in a bowl and set aside. Then, in a deep frying pan or shallow pot, sautee the pancetta in olive oil until crispy. Add garlic.

When the pasta is done, drain it but don't rinse it. Save about  half cup of the pasta water in case your sauce needs more liquid. Remove the pan with the other ingredients in it from the heat and add the spaghetti and mix. Last, pour the mixture over spaghetti and panchetta mixture.

The hot pasta will cook the egg and melt the cheese creating a creamy coating on the pasta. Add parsley and pepper to taste.

Mangia!

Savory Fig Delight

Y'all, my sister is here! I love when she comes to visit because she unleashes my inner chef. I have never had a savory dessert, but this one was inspired, and will definitely be in rotation in my home now. We haven't come up with a real name for it yet (if you can think of one, feel free to share it), but for now, it will simply be Savory Fig Delight. Here's what's in it...

• 2 small scoops of sweet cream ice cream (we got ours is from Marble Slab)
• 2 fresh figs, quartered
• 1/4 cup raw, unsalted cashews (but salted would be awesome)
• Balsamic vinegar to taste (I like a tart kick, so one tablespoon was plenty)

There are no special instructions, just pile it all into a bowl and enjoy it. Slowly. 

Sweet cream is not too sweet--paired with balsamic vinegar, it is perfecto!

Try it! Your palate will be surprisingly satiated.

Wordless Wednesday (with words): My Son, His Radishes and God

"This is SO awesome!"

My son picked radishes from our garden today. He ate all three. 

Zack: Mom? Why are radishes so spicy?

Me: That's how they grow, son.

Zack: I'm gonna ask God why he made them so spicy. *bows head* Dear God, why did you make radishes so spicy? *waits, opens one eye and looks up at me* Did he say anything?

Wordless Wednesday: His First & Last Bite of A Cheese Sandwich

Mom Fail: I Fed My Son Food He Is Allergic To

My son is allergic to everything. Except fruit, vegetables, meat and rice. He has the protein allergy that causes him to be allergic to all nuts, dairy, eggs, seafood and soy. So he's never had a sandwich. I hadn't found a bread or bread mix that were free of everything until yesterday. After reading all the boxes of bread mixes on the shelf to make sure they were allergen free, I chose one. When we got home, I mixed it using rice milk where the recipe called for cows milk and apple sauce and baking powder where it called for eggs (1 egg= 1/4 cup applesauce + 1/2 tsp baking powder). The bread turned out perfectly. When it cooled, I sliced it and put it in the freezer per the instructions, but I kept a few slices out for my son to eat when he woke up today. 

Isn't it perfect?!

 He was so excited to try his new bread--he had been asking for bread and cheese to eat like his friends at school. He and my husband took their first bites and there were happy dances and a mini celebration that Zee could finally eat sandwiches now. My husband asked me if I was sure it was allergen free and I recounted my thorough package-reading at the store while reaching for the box. It was then that I realized I had bought the wrong box. That mix had whey in it--a milk protein. 

While I was reading in bold print "Contains Milk", my son had already fallen in love with the slice of bread in his hand and exclaimed, while giggling, "I'm eating my special bread like the big boys at school." *sigh* I had a choice to make. His allergy to milk is second to the bottom of the list in terms of the reaction we could expect. I had to decide if I wanted to send him to school upset and deflated just to save his skin, or allow him to bask in the joy of his new-found big-boy-food-eatingness that he couldn't wait to show to his teacher and friends at lunchtime, and deal with the inevitable eczema flare-up over the weekend. I chose the latter. Then I beelined to Whole Foods after dropping him off at school and he will have a new loaf of "special bread" (and vegan cheese slices that will cause him no harm) when he gets home from school. 

He will have a glorious day at school and an itchy weekend, but it will have been worth it. The Applegate hot dog era may be coming to an end soon, as the cheese sandwich will soon rule his lunchbox. 

Here's the new bread mix and cheese that I found for him...

I Totally Made This: Banana Bread

Isn't she lovely? 

My dreams of becoming a domestic bakerist goddess are within my grasp. My husband, who is from the Caribbean, eats bananas in large quantities. I always buy too many on my trips to the grocery store and inevitably, two or three bananas go bad and I throw them out. He has tried freezing them, but I always end up throwing out frozen bananas to make room for other things in the freezer. 

Since yesterday was Valentine's Day, I thought I'd do some extra special things for him that I had never done before, that I thought he would like. I spotted four over-ripe bananas on our breakfast table, I recalled the two bread pans I bought a while ago to attempt to make everything-free bread for my son who is allergic to everything, and I figured banana bread was a cheap and excellent way to spoil my Island Boy on the Day d'Amour. It was SO easy...

With a fork, I mashed the 4 bananas with 1/3 cup of melted butter, added  1 cup of sugar, 1 beaten egg and 1 teaspoon of vanilla, followed by 1 teaspoon of baking soda and a dash of salt, and added 1.5 cups of flour last. One hour in the oven at 350 and BOOM- banana bread. 

My Stove Died. My Whole Cooking World Opened Up.

A few days ago, we—by "we" I mean my dear husband— left an eye burning on our stove. This caused the stove to shut-off. Awesome safety feature, right?  However, after following all the troubleshooting instructions from the manual, we have not been able to get the stove to come back on. Since our service technicians don't work on weekends, I have had to dust off my crock pot and rice cooker and step my microwave game up.

I have managed to scramble eggs and make bacon in the microwave. I have boiled water for tea and even boiled my son's hot dogs in there. Full Disclosure: I boil his hot dogs in there everyday anyway. Don't judge me. The hot dogs are grass-fed and organic and…never mind, go ahead and judge me if that makes you feel good. I don't want to put you off or seem ungrateful as I am happy you are reading my blog. So yeah, hot dogs in the microwave.

For the first couple of days, I made the most obvious choice of seasoned chicken with vegetables in the crock pot and Basmati rice in the rice cooker. Then I found Pinterest. And my whole crock pot world opened up. I found recipes for crock pot meatballs, crock pot cookies, crock pot candy, and crock pot cake! There is a theme here. I don't have a crazy sweet-tooth, but I was surprised and impressed by what people are making with slow cookers. 

Amidst all the recipes, I saw this image of zip locked bags filled with ingredients for crock pot dishes.

Source: mamaandbabylove.com via Michelle on Pinterest 

This appealed to the part of me that enjoys organizing things  as well as the part of me that enjoys not having to be in the kitchen. Don't get me wrong, I love the process of preparing food, but I seriously have to be in the mood to do it. So when I saw this pin of bags, I knew that I must have somehow been led to Pinterest by my happy-stay-at-hom-mom-but-reluctant-housewife guardian angel. And, to quote Sofia from The Color Purple (Because how am I supposed to ever not quote somebody from The Color Purple?), "I knowed there is a gawd." 

Here are a few recipes (including lasagna, ribs and mac & cheese) that I will definitely be putting into heavy rotation, starting with oatmeal. Oatmeal. I'm going to buy a special little slow cooker just for this. To wake up in the mornings and not have to make breakfast? I'm verklempt... 

Soular Foods Community Garden Winter Planting

Last Saturday, my husband son and I joined RawBella, Mr. Hoover (of Hoover's restaurants) and helpers at the GMZ Soular Foods Community Garden in East Austin. We planted winter vegetables and strawberries and had a great time during the process. My 3.5 year old probably had the most fun. Here are a few pictures of him and others hard at work...

Zack,  "I like planting SOOOOOO much."

WINNING as a Stay At Home Mom Today.

My son's school was closed today, so he was home with me for a change. I had planned our day ahead, but had no idea how much extra stuff I would get done. I swear there is something  about actually having my child home, as a stay at home mom, that makes me super productive.

On a normal day, after I drop him off at school, I'm constantly moving from one to-do-list item to the next, but never really completely crossing anything off it. I'd start one thing, then check Facebook, then start another thing, then paint my nails while checking Facebook, then start something else, then eat, then it's time to go pick my son up from school. Today though, I got things done that weren't even on my list.

We woke up at the same time we normally do. I made breakfast and actually ate it at the table with my son. I showered and dressed for the gym and we were off. On the way out the door, I grabbed two scraps of yarn that I'm running out of and needed to match and buy more of to complete some projects I'm working on. We went to the craft store for the yarn first, then to the gym and finally the grocery store (where I got my son to sound out "asparagus" on the label when he couldn't recall what the vegetable was) before heading back home. We got home 45 minutes before my boy's nap time. He watched PBS while I made his lunch. Then we ate lunch together, read a book, and he was down for his nap on time. 

During my son's 3-hour nap, I managed to nap for about an hour myself, bake vegan, gluten-free quinoa muffins for my son (and drafted a blog post about it) and edit & post two vlogs for one of my other blogs, (http://www.girldidyousee.blogspot.com). While he ate his post-nap snack, I put a one-pot dinner dish on (veggie stew consisting of fresh okra, corn, red & green peppers, onions, celery, carrots & canned whole tomatoes all seasoned with a glorious beef neck bone). He's in the bath tub now and I'm writing this blog post. 

And my day isn't even over. I still plan to go back to the gym to log some miles on Nike+ tonight to ramp up my 5k training. 

Oh, and I cleaned the house here and there all day and the place looks right spiffy. 

Y'all if I come home after the gym, read something, and give my husband some (I will not be blogging about that), this day goes down in history as a certified, Homegirl SAHM WIN. 

 

My Treadmill & Food Network TV: The Perfect Marriage

I watch all my Food Network shows on the treadmill at my gym. There is no calculated reason behind it. Psychologically, maybe it makes me work harder in anticipation of eating awesome-tasting food post-workout? Although that never happens--I usually eat pretty healthily right after a workout. The real reason may be that I simply love Food Network TV. Since I do not usually have take the time to watch TV, or to read my ever-growing stack of unread books and magazines during the day, I get guilt-free daytime TV in when I can. I also watch it on the rare occasion I go to the gym at night. The other night, I met my new Food Network boo. I didn't pay attention to one thing he was cooking, because for me it was all about how he cooked it. But we're talking about daytime FTV watching right? So anyway,  I cook everyday and Food Network is perfect for fresh cooking ideas. I do not follow recipes often, but I do tweak my kitchen repertoire with new twists on our favorites. For example, I learned how to use peanut butter to liven up a spicy chicken stir-fry, and how to make savory oatmeal with green onions and scrambled eggs, and how to cut, peel and seed a cucumber for a super-pretty salad.  So Food Network TV helps make every minute at the gym count...and it makes every homemade calorie consumed after the gym taste awesomer.

This is How I Mate (mah-tay)!

I made my first how-to video on Youtube! Remember when I covered that Guaryaki Yerba Mate event at SXSW this past spring? Well, I received a giftcard afterwards and loaded up on Guaryaki loose leaf Yerba Mate tea and accessories. My favorite thing ever is the gourd and bombilla (filtered metal straw). Impossible to sip yerba mate from a gourd and not relax. You're supposed to prepare a gourd in the morning and continue to add hot water and reuse the leaves to sip from the gourd throughout the day for sustained natural energy and nutrients. I'm aiming for three gourds a day. Check out my video to see how I steep and sip.

Brown mate gourd, brown mate sippin'....

Sam-I-Am Is My Homeboy

Green Eggs and Ham is one of my three year old's favorite bedtime reads at the moment. He picks it about three or four nights a week. Each time, I oblige him...even though the book is like a million pages long. It's amazing how many times I can re-read the longet books and re-watch Disney movies without getting too tired of it. I do not necessarily love it, but he enjoys every time like it's the first time, and I do my best to not be a buzz-kill. 

My son is a picky eater. It's a general toddler pickyness born from a limited diet due to food allergies and texture aversion. When I spotted Green Eggs and Ham on the shelf at my favorite kid's resale store, Kid to Kid, I remembered how persistent Sam-I-Am was in wearing down that fuzzy man until he tried those eggs. Figured I could learn some things from Sam...and learn I did. 

A few days ago my son ate half of a chicken thigh, which we celebrated, as we do anytime he actually swallows anything he's had to chew first. I knew I was one step closer to sending him to school with a non-pureed lunch. So I offered him some stewed potatoes. This is how it all went down:

I went to Gypsy Picnic Food Trailer Festival 2010 and all I got were these stupid pictures

I went. I saw. I SO did not conquer. For me the Gypsy Picnic was all gypsy, no picnic. But me and my guys still had a great time! 

Wow @ The Chicken Song...

This boy can sing. I was not ready for his his rap verse...which was not that bad. "I love my chicken, cluck, cluck, cluck..." Hilarious. And I can't even front, I do love fried chicken. The second or third time I watched this video, I was jammin'. lol He is so silly.

Happy Friday, y'all!

Beer & Pretzel Caramels

 Liddabit Sweets. Yes. Please. And thank you.
 

Day one of RawBella's Green Smoothie Challenge

So a friend of mine who is a raw foodie, her website is http://www.rawbella.com, has challenged me and hundreds of others, to drink one green smoothie a day for 10 days. She's a hard core raw food way-of-lifer, so her smoothies are incorporated into full days of eating raw food. Although I can see the benefit in a raw food day here and there, I can't imagine and don't want to know how I'd give up hot food altogether. Cooked food is what's helping me through this first challenge day. Apparently, I'll be so pumped with energy and...um...flowing freely...flowing...freely... after ten days of drinking one green smoothie a day, that I will make green smoothies a way of life. After my first day I'm not so sure, but remain hopeful.

I thought I'd start simple: banana, spinach, icy water. So I made the smoothie. Yuck. But, because it's a challenge and because I'm determined not to be wasteful, I sipped it and placed it in the fridge between sips. By the time I made it to the last sip, after about 4.5 hours of sipping, it started to taste ok. I imagine with a little more experimenting and adding ingredients like dates, mango, berries and apples to the green stuff (spinach and collards mostly), I could actually get into the green smoothie thing. The benefits seem harmless...actually helpful and it's a great way to cut calories and increase nutrients, antioxidants and fiber, which is a huge reason why, after sipping on spinach for 4.5 hours, I'm looking forward to day two. I won't be posting daily updates, but do wish me luck!

Coffee with coconut milk is my new jam.

I brewed some coffee this morning then realized I was out of canned milk--my creamer of choice. I use to drink regular milk in my coffee, but my husband uses canned milk in his tea (I think it's common in the West Indies where he's from), and eventually I started using it in my coffee. It's a staple in our pantry right alongside coconut milk, which we use for cooking. I have tried soy milk with my coffee, but am not a fan. So I tried the coconut milk because I was not going to not drink my coffee and I could not drink it black.

Y'all, fresh, hot coffee plus raw sugar plus coconut milk equals pure awesomeness. It's not pretty though. Coconut milk is kind of grainy and it separates in the coffee so it does not make a creamy blend, unless maybe you use a little cow's milk, which I might do the next time.

While happily sipping away, I googled to see if other people are drinking coconut milk in their coffee and of course they are. I ran across a few good recipes worth trying. I'm looking forward to trying this recipe, which I found it on grouprecipes.com, especially now that it's cold outside.

Chicken With 40 Cloves of Garlic

Get some in your life. I made this the other night.  I served it with sauteed mushrooms and onions over mashed sweet potatoes and sauteed spinach. Y'all, I have never experienced a delectable a mix of flavors in my mouth--from my own cooking. Sorry no picture this time (that's one from the recipe website). I was too eager to eat it and didn't even think to grab my camera. 

I bought this huge container of peeled garlic cloves from Sam's and mentioned to my sister that I needed to use it all before it went bad and she mentioned this dish. I googled it and saw Ina Garten's  (aka Barefoot Contessa) name and looked no further. I followed all the steps, except I only used one whole chicken and 20 cloves of garlic instead of two chickens and 40 cloves. Love this. It is officially in rotation in my house now. I bake a whole chicken every week--now I'll hook it up with garlic in my Dutch oven.

Ingredients

    * 3 whole heads garlic, about 40 cloves
    * 2 (3 1/2-pound) chickens, cut into eighths
    * Kosher salt
    * Freshly ground black pepper
    * 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
    * 2 tablespoons good olive oil
    * 3 tablespoons Cognac, divided
    * 1 1/2 cups dry white wine
    * 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
    * 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
    * 2 tablespoons heavy cream

See very important cooking directions over on Food Network's site <<HERE>>. Enjoy!