Mr. Krispers

I was cruising the grocery isle's and in the snack section of HEB I saw a bag that said Baked Rice Krisps. Since I had just been whining that I had wanted to serve some cracker like snacks for Thanksgiving this was great!

If you are like me and do not seem affected by cross contamination, these little crispy snacks are absolutely wonderful. Since my oldest son and I are avoiding wheat these were a great alternative for us.

Mr. Krispers are yummy and taste like thin crackers! They are perfect served with cheese, or cheese alternative. :)

Our fast food

A quick simple easy-fast food-meal in our house is a big pot of chili. In my part of Texas chili is generally made with pinto beans, ground beef and tomatoes. I am not one to mess with a good thing. :)

Sams club-Pinto beans, and Crushed tomatoes. These are the huge cans and are 111 ounces! (use the crushed tomatoes-for some reason they are brighter in color that the whole tomatoes and make the chili look more homemade)

Ground Turkey-Sam's club-2 packages

5 stalks of celery-I chop mine VERY small in the food chopper

2 onions-again chopped VERY small in food chopper

3 tbs of Cumin

1 cup of chili powder

1/4 cup of garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Cook Turkey with salt and pepper, add chopped onions and celery last 5 minutes to soften.

Open cans of beans and crushed tomatoes, put into pot along with cooked turkey and veggies

I let mine simmer 1/2 hour

Add all seasonings and re-season last 10 minutes to taste

This makes a HUGE pot of chili. I freeze half and also use the next day for baked potatoes.

Super easy, super good!

The taste of fall

When I think of fall I think of comfort foods, hot foods, foods cooking for hours in the oven while the delicious smells permeate the house...

While watching the Food Network I caught the show Tyler's Ultimate...man was I happy! I decided to do the featured recipe-only alter it to make it allergy free for me.

Braised Cabbage

Followed the recipe as suggested-left out chives because kiddos do not appreciate.

Pork with baked apples and cider gravy

Used a cheaper cut of meat and bought bone in pork chops. Baked for 18 min and broiled for 1 min.

Instead of hard cider I used organic apple cider and spiced it up beforehand by adding 1 juice of an orange, cloves, and a pinch of cinnamon-strain before using.

For the stuffed apples I added 1/2 lb pork sausage to a package of Bob's Red Mill-gluten free corn bread mix. This is a great mix!!

For the gravy I used Bob's Red Mill-all purpose flour

Busy Cook Tip: Do like me and cook the corn bread and sausage the day before to save time!

The whole family loved this and made me promise to make again.

A vent and some comfort food

I have never been really upset about my own allergies. I try to be grateful and appreciate that I can still still eat a lot of variety. I have kept my love for cooking and being in the kitchen.

This past Saturday though, my 11 year old son began having an allergic reaction. This is my child who is never sick and he ended up in the ER twice. Once to get the steroid shot and a second time after his face swelled so I could insist on an epi pen for him. I have no idea what his allergies could be since he had Halloween candy and we went out to eat.

He is seeing an allergist and will be tested when the antihistamines wear off. I am very upset on his behalf and feel so bad that I possibly passed this down to him. I hate that he now has to worry about his health every time he eats. I hate that he has to be different in this way and I find this all extremely unfair. I know we will get through this though and I am very glad I knew what was happening and responded so quickly. Thank goodness I had my good friend "D" to call. She has a child with allergies and is the founder of SAFER Houston an allergy support group. She kept me sane and answered questions as best as she could. Thank goodness for her!

Tonight I really needed some comfort food. I made Chicken pot pie, salad and apple spice bars. Pot Pie is a recipe I adapted-I found using the search engine and came up with one on the Bob's Red Mill site.

I used milk and cream in mine so you could adapt this recipe for your allergies to suit your needs.

Comfort Chicken Pot Pie

For the filling:

1 lb skinless cooked Chicken, cubed
1 cup chopped Carrots
1 small chopped Onion
2 chopped Celery Stalks
2 Tbsp. of garlic powder
2ups low sodium Gluten Free Chicken Broth
2 Tbsp. Tapioca Flour
3 Tbsp. Water
1 tsp. of dried rosemary

Heavy whipping cream

For the crust:

1-3/4 cups Beth's all purpose flour

2 tsp. of Baking Powder

1/2 tsp. Baking Soda

1/2 tsp. Salt
1 Tbsp. Sugar
1/2 tsp. dried Rosemary
4 Tbsp. of utter or margarine (room temp)
1/2 cup Milk

2 tsp. of honey

1 large egg, beaten

Filling:

1. Boil cubed chicken, chicken broth, carrots celery, onions, and garlic powder. Put salt and pepper to taste. Cook until chicken is cooked and veggies are tender. I used my chopper on the veggies and this cooked super fast.

2. Mix tapioca flour with 3 tablespoons water until paste forms, then stir into skillet slowly. Simmer until thickened. Add in whipping cream stirring until blended. Pour filling into baking dish-I used a large pie pan

Crust:

1. Preheat oven to 400º. Combine dry ingredients (flour to rosemary) in a large bowl. Add butter, milk,and egg, and mix together thoroughly.2. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto prepared filling. 3. Bake 25-35 minutes or filling is bubbling and topping is nicely browned. Serve immediately. Makes 12 Servings.

Apple Spice bars

I love finding new products! My local Kroger store starting carrying 1-2-3 Gluten Free products. They seem extremely allergy friendly and have a dedicated facility.

I bought the Sweet Goodness Pan Bars there is a recipe on the back of the box for apple spice bars. I added cinnamon for extra spices and chopped raisins just because it sounded good. They are so good but not really bar like. Cut it into squares and call it cake if you like :)

Do like I did and serve on paper plates for once-spend the extra time with your family.

Football and Preggo-allergy friendly dinner

It is probably time to say-we have a little one on the way! We are very happy but these past four months have been plain torture for this pregnant chick. I of course have been craving EVERYTHING I can't have. Not only that, but I have been having food aversions to to all meat- except for chicken wings. :)

Today is Sunday so it's football day for the hubby. My husbands favorite team-the Texans play today so I usually make an early dinner filled with little snacks and finger foods. This is my version of the football and preggo-allergy friendly dinner.

Menu:

sage and garlic grilled tomatoes-delicious and great in your salad the next day!

What you will need=

6 tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt
cracked black pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage, plus 12 whole fresh sage leaves

Instructions=

Brush the tomato halves all over with olive oil. Season them to taste with salt and pepper, then sprinkle the garlic and chopped sage over them. Press a whole sage leaf in the center of the cut side of each tomato half.

Cook the tomatoes, on an indoor grill-I use my George Foreman indoor grill but you can cook them on any grill. You could broil these in the oven as well but I like the grill marks for presentation.

Serve on a platter and drizzle with any left over olive oil.

Note: I have used dried sage as well, but you would use a lot less sage if it is dried.

Mr. Spice Hot Wings

What you will need=

Enough chicken wing pieces to feed your family

A bottle of Mr. Spice Hot Wing Gluten-Free Sauce-this stuff is good!!

Sea salt

Cracked pepper

Instructions=

Salt and pepper wings

I use my indoor grill and cook chicken pieces for 6 minutes on each side on high heat, I then dip or brush chicken wings generously with Mr. Spice Hot Wing Sauce. Cook wings for another 4 minutes on each side.

Serve with or without dressing of your choice!

Note: For a crispier texture use your outdoor grill or deep fry then dip in sauce. Cooking times vary according to thickness of wings and cooking method you use.

Ultimate Oven Fries

What you will need=

6 large baking potatoes(feeds my family of seven) cut into this wedges, small wedges will burn so be careful.

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 teaspoon of Chile powder

1/2 teaspoon of paprika

1 teaspoon of sea salt

1 teaspoon of cracked black pepper

Instructions=

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F for 10 minutes

In a large mixing bowls combine and whisk the olive oil with all the spices. Using your hands coat the potatoes in the mixture tossing several times.

Carefully transfer coated fried to preheated pans

Increase temperature to 450 degrees F and cook for 15 minutes. Carefully flip fries with a spatula and cook another 5 minutes.

Note: If you do not have dairy allergies these fries are great sprinkled the last 5 minutes with fresh grated Parmesan cheese.

Enjoy and GO TEXANS!!!

A hello and some favorite rice dishes

It's been so long!

Hurricane Ike destroyed our cable lines. A month an a half later and we just got our Internet two days ago.

It was rough after the storm but we are fortunate in that our home is fine and we are all safe. To donate to the hurricane relief fund click here.

To get back into the blogger mindset I am doing a blog today on rice dishes.

Rice is a side dish and main dish in our household. We eat it at least three times a week. I have three recipes that are my favorite that I thought I would share.

Parmesan Rice: Stir in 1 cup of chopped parsley, 1/4 cup each of sliced green onions and grated Parmesan cheese into 4 cups (this is for my family of seven) of hot rice. Salt and pepper to taste.

Spicy Rice: Saute half a small white onion, two cloves of garlic and two seeded jalapeno peppers To 4 cups of hot rice add 1 cup of chicken broth, 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin, and 1 tablespoon of fresh chopped cilantro. Salt to taste-use fresh ground pepper to really make this rice stand out.

Cucumber mint Rice: Make a dressing using 3 tablespoons white-wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Add 1/2 olive oil in a stream, whisk until everything in combined. Add dressing to 4 cups of cold rice. Toss in 3 seeded, chopped cucumbers with 3/4 cup of fresh minced mint leaves.

Enjoy!

Product Review: Allergaroo

I love to try things that are new to my grocery store, and picked up a couple of packets of Allergaroo. The package is what caught my attention. It is cute huh? The alligator with the chef hat and cute red shoes, plus the bright purple package is something kids would love to see.

Even better it is all natural and free of the eight most common allergens. So today for lunch I opened them. They open easy and microwave fast at just 60 seconds. The portion is a perfect lunch size.

I personally did not like them. Some of the noodles are extra al-dente and the others mushy. I also expected little bits of chicken but did not taste any. The tomato sauce is a little too tangy for my taste.

On the other hand my one and two, two year olds and six year old liked it a lot.
My ten year old was like me and did not appreciate them.

So for me I am giving them a 1 Star but my little ones give it a 5 for packaging and taste!

So kids like them and they are a better alternative to those other microwave meals-food allergies or not. I am thinking they could also be for very young toddlers who are just starting out on table foods. :)