Allergy-Free Strawberry Cupcakes

Cybele Pascal's recipe for Allergy-Free Strawberry Cupcakes looks delicious! I'll be making these soon.
Allergy-Free Strawberry Cupcakes
© 2011 by Cybele Pascal

What the heck do you feed your kids?

Whenever someone finds about my girls' food allergies, one of the first questions they ask is 'So, what the heck do you feed your kids?'

Rylie has to avoid anything containing milk and peanuts/tree nuts...which also means avoiding anything that could be cross-contaminated with these ingredients. Believe it or not, she's the 'easy' one, and I feel like there are tons of foods she can eat. She can eat pretty safely at restaurants and we make sure to ask all the right questions about food preparation.

Rowan is the challenging one, so I will talk about the foods that she eats. She has to avoid anything containing milk, egg, peanuts/tree nuts, wheat, soy, chicken, turkey, pork, and citrus. She cannot eat anything at a restaurant due to cross contamination. When we eat out, we always bring her food.

So here are the foods she eats ALL the time. There are other foods that I prepare, but these are our regular safe foods:

Allergy-Free Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

This is a really easy recipe and makes a great after-school snack. I have a batch baking in the oven as I type. They're allergy-free (of course), but I also like that the ingredients are simple and it's not a processed snack with tons of sugar.

Ingredients 
2 cups uncooked rolled oats
1 1/2 cups oat flour
1 cup (packed) currants, raisins, or other dried fruit
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I use canola or safflower, to eliminate soy)
1 cup apple juice (I prefer Mott's Natural)

Instructions
If fruit pieces are hard, set them in a bit of hot water to moisten.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9x13" pan, or two 8x8" pans. Combine all ingredients in bowl and mix well. The mixture should be moist enough to form a ball, without extra liquid.

Put mixture in prepared pan(s) and spread evenly. Bake for 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and cut into squares while still hot. Wait until the bars cool before trying to remove them from the pan.

Side notes: I use cranberries and raisins for the fruit. My mixture never quite seems to fill a 9 x 13 pan. I think 11 x 7 would work well.
It also helps to use a large piece of parchment paper to press down on the mixture in the pan, to spread it evenly.

Recipe created by Devyani at kidswithfoodallergies.com

Strawberry Cake Recipe (Dairy-free)

A friend of mine emailed me yesterday and asked if I had any dairy-free cake recipes. Her neice is turning one and is allergic to milk. Most of the recipes I use are a little more extreme: free of dairy, eggs, wheat, soy, peanuts, and tree nuts - because Rowan has to avoid all of these foods.

I happened to have a recipe for strawberry cake, that is dairy free. (I think I found this in the recipes section on Whole Foods website.) It sounds delicious, but I haven't tried making it yet because Rylie would be able to eat it, but Rowan would not.

Dairy-Free Strawberry Cake
Ingredients
2 cups unbleached flour *
1 cup natural cane sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
4 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup puréed strawberries, fresh or frozen, thawed
1/2 cup soy milk or almond milk

Icing
1 box powdered sugar
4 tablespoons non-hydrogenated dairy-free margarine, softened
4–6 tablespoons puréed fresh or frozen strawberries
Fresh strawberries for decoration

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter (or spray) and flour 2 9-inch round cake pans or one 9x13-inch cake pan. Set aside. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, beat remaining ingredients together. Add to dry, beating with a wire whisk. Pour into prepared cake pans. Bake the cake for 30-35 minutes or until done when tested with a toothpick.

To make the frosting, sift powdered sugar into softened margarine. Add strawberry purée to spreading consistency. Frost the cake and decorate the top of the cake with fresh strawberries just before serving.

*If desired, you may substitute part of the unbleached flour with whole wheat pastry flour or white wheat flour.

Pot Roast - easy and delicious!

Fall is here and it's starting to get chilly - it's the perfect time a year to start making pot roast!

This is one of the few meals that our entire family can eat together. The girls love it and it's free of the top 8 allergens. The house smells delicious while it's roasting, and we have leftovers for the next few meals.

Prep: 25 minutes

Total: 4 hours 25 minutes

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I use canola oil)

1 5-pound beef chuck roast

Salt and pepper

2 cups beef stock or reduced sodium canned beef broth*

3 onions, cut into large wedges

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 dried bay leaves

1 teaspoon dried thyme   

2 pounds carrots, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks

2 pounds potatoes, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks

*I use Kitchen Basics Beef Stock. They test for allergens and their beef stock doesn't contain soy, gluten, yeast, or MSG. They also have an allergen statement on the package.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a Dutch oven (or roasting pan), heat oil over medium-high heat. Sprinkle roast all over with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Place in pan, and brown on all sides, about 10 minutes.

2. Turn meat fat side up. Add stock, onions, garlic, bay leaves, and thyme. Bring to a simmer, cover; put in the oven, and roast for 3 hours. Add carrots and potatoes, and cook until vegetables are tender, about 1 hour more.

3. Transfer the roast, carrots, and potatoes to a platter. With a spoon, skim the fat off the surface of the cooking liquid. Cut the roast into thick slices, and serve with the vegetables. Pass the pan juices separately.

Note: Browning the meat makes the whole dish tastier and gives the pan juices an appetizing deep brown color.

Serves 8.

Looking for new allergy-free recipes? There's an app for that.

If you have an iPad or iPhone, and a kid with multiple food allergies, you need to get Cook It Allergy Free. I downloaded this app to my iPhone a few months ago, but didn't have the time to really check it out. I finally took a closer look and realized how great it really is! There are 200+ recipes and with a simple tap, trade out your allergen(s) in any of the recipes with safe substitutions. Then save your customized recipes to your category-organized Recipe Box

As Featured in the App Store's "What's Hot" Section in May:
This is the essential tool for anyone dealing with food allergies. If you are allergic to Gluten, Dairy, Eggs, or Nuts, you no longer have to search for a recipe that does not contain your allergens. Cook It Allergy Free will take any of these great gluten free recipes and make them safe for you.

Only $4.99 and totally worth it. I love baking safe treats for my girls and can't wait to try some of these recipes.

Allergy-Free Soft Pumpkin Cookies

We'll be trying this recipe as soon as I find xanthan gum.

2 cups flour (can use gluten-free blend)
1/2 cup oat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup shortening

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin
1 Tbsp Egg Replacer mixed with 2 Tbsp water

1 tsp vanilla

In large bowl, combine all ingredients. Stir until completely mixed.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Place spoonfuls of batter on ungreased cookie sheet, 12-15 to a sheet.
Bake 18-20 minutes

Use wheat and/or gluten free ingredients as needed.
Created by Amy Hugon