Pizza

So the day finally has come, I got to make pizza for Jackson last week! He was so excited...Behold...the awesome GFCFSF mini cheeseburger pizza! Now you too can make pizza while on an allergy free diet. Here's what I did. Turns out that Bob's Red Mill makes a pizza crust mix that's diet friendly so I picked up a bag. I had tried other pizza mixes in the past with terrible results. One mix was so bad it made you spread the pizza dough batter onto a cookie sheet with an offset spatula. Not good pizza at all. So I gave up on the pizza till I could find a good cheese replacement. Once that was achieved locally (see my blog post from last month) I decided to try the Bob's and I was happy I did. The dough it makes was easy to handle and I actually made it into 12 mini pizzas instead of following the directions. These made puffy crusts so maybe next time I will pat them a bit thinner and get a few more out of it. Anyway I used rice flour to keep the dough from sticking and cooked them for a few minutes according to the package then took them out and topped them with sauce, cheese and seasoned burger. A few more minutes in the oven and he was one happy boy for dinner that night. I froze the rest of them on a wire tray for 30 minutes then put them all into a big bag in the freezer. If I have time I would cook them in an oven or toaster oven for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Usually its a minute and a half in the microwave and he doesn't complain.

P.s. For my pizza sauce I used tomato sauce and tomato paste equal parts with some garlic powder, Italian seasonings, and salt & pepper to taste. Bag up in tiny portions and freeze for the next time you make pizzas.

This is what I do about Bread

Here's what I do know about the search for finding a gluten free, casein free, soy free bread that your kid will eat...it'll take a few tries of expensive frozen store bought bread before you find one that will work. Then it'll require a whole other trip to a new store that charges way to e'ffing much for grain, water, and yeast that will go bad before your kid can finish it all. I did this dance for over a year until my mother gifted me a bread machine. Now I make it at home and it's easy, cheap, and makes really really good soft bread. It makes a big loaf so I cut it in half. Half for sandwiches and the other half into french toast sticks. Otherwise it goes bad before I can feed it all to him.

Be sure to use the Bob's Red Mill flours that are marked Gluten Free. They are available at many different locations. Holiday Markets, Orchard, and Walmart all carry some Bob's Red Mill flours. Carefully read labels of the Bread Mixes if you choose to use a mix because some contain soy but of course are labeled Gluten Free because they are. I stick to the basic single flour mixes and the all purpose baking mix that they have to make my bread with. I avoided baking for a long time after starting the diet thinking it would be too hard and I was so wrong. The investment of a bread machine will save you tons and tons of money and frustration in the long run. From start to finish including time to get the stuff all out it takes me less than 9 minutes to get this in the maker and the counter cleaned off. Here's the blend I use it's a heavily modified recipe from Bob's Red Mill:

Add to bread maker in the following order:

3 Large Eggs

1 tsp. Balsamic Vinegar

1/4 c. Olive oil

1 1/2 c. Water

2 Cups White Rice Flour or Bob's Red Mill AP Flour Blend

1/2 c. Potato starch

1/2 c. Tapioca flour

1/3 c. Cornstarch

1 Tablespoon Xanthan Gum (Also Bob's Red Mill)

3 T. Sugar

1 1/2 tsp. Salt

2 1/4 tsp. Active Dry Yeast

Select the heaviest loaf setting on which ever crust setting you enjoy and hit start. Just use this recipe added into your machine and bake according to your machine's instructions and you'll have yummy easy bread too that is sure to please your kids. Use only the rice flour if you want it to look more like white bread. The bread in the picture above was made with the AP blend because that's what I had on hand the other day when I made it. The bread machine I use can be inspected here.

http://www.amazon.com/West-Bend-41300-Electronic-Dual-Blade/dp/B002JM0ZWK

Pancakes

I have been meaning to post this forever so here goes. This is my most basic pancake recipe. For those of you who need to be egg free look into the Energ Egg replacer. Rice free too? Just replace the rice flour with your own blend of potato or sorghum flour and measure the same proportions. When using just the rice flour these bake up nice and fluffy and golden just like normal pancakes.

Mix 1 c. flour with 2 tsp. baking powder and 1/2 t. salt. Then add the egg and 1 c. almond milk or water and mix till blended well. If you mix in a protein powder for added nutrients then just add a bit more milk or water a tablespoon at a time till you get back to the desired pancake consistency. Cook on a griddle or non stick pan for 2-3 minutes per side over med-low heat.

I freeze these on a wire rack for 30 minutes then dump them all into a freezer bag and pull one out when I need it for breakfast on the run.

Product Review

I recently found this protein powder at holiday market in Cottonwood. I originally bought it for myself but it checks out and Jackson can have it too. The stuff tastes awful to me and I couldn't hack it as a drink or in a smoothie. Jackson didn't like it as a drink either but I wanted to use it somehow because it's so healthy and we already bought it so I got creative and added 2 scoops of it to his pancake batter and now his morning pancakes contain all kinds of vitamins and protein and fiber that weren't there before. It adds a sweet vanilla flavor to his pancakes that he likes too. When you mix it into your pancake batter it will turn green..but fear not they cook up looking like golden buckwheat pancakes. I'm thinking I can hide this stuff in all kinds of things now....heh. Oh and they make a chocolate version too.

Almond Milk and Cream Cheese On The Quick

Lately I have been making home made almond milk for Jackson. It's great for making cereal and french toast with. It can be used to replace milk in any baking or cooking you may do. It's cheap to make too and you get the "cream cheese" to use after you strain the milk so it's a total two-fer...LOL. I posted these recipes before but the milk recipe was a bit different and that one focused on using the milk to make yogurt and fermenting the cream cheese. These two will be focused on what I have been doing with these recipes lately.. which is just a quick milk and cheese that is making my life easier and my son's tummy happy. Here they are, enjoy!
Almond Milk

Combine 1 1/2 cups of almonds (unsalted) into a blender with 4 cups of water and 1 tsp. of vanilla and a tablespoon of honey(optional) to sweeten it up. Blend at highest setting for 8 minutes (or less if you have a kick ass blender) then strain through a layer of muslin or very fine cheese cloth and it's ready to serve.

**I'll work on making chocolate milk and post it when I get the recipe down. Haven't tried it yet so we'll see.

I use the strained out pulp to make "Cream Cheese" that's used for dips and all kinds of other things at our house. I mix it with salsa for a dip with corn chips, I use it as a sauce base for pizza, it can be stirred into pasta for a creamy dish, or it can be put on toast, or fruit, or veggies!


Cream Cheese

Take the strained out almond pulp and dump it into a bowl with about a tablespoon of olive oil and a teaspoon of garlic powder (McCormicks is guaranteed GFCFSF) and a teaspoon of dried basil (optional), 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Mix and use any way you would like.

This is good for a least two weeks in the fridge if well covered. If your kids don't do garlic then try adding your own blend of seasonings like taco flavored (cumin, chili powder, paprika, onion powder) or something you think will be more to their liking like a sweet version with honey and cinnamon. This really is a base for all kinds of easy foods and I love that it is so cheap and easy and healthy.