Vegan and Soy Free Ranch Dressing

  So one of the biggest things Chris misses since going dairy free is ranch dressing. We bought some from Organicville and while I thought it was ok, Chris hated it, plus is wasn't exactly cheap. One of the things about it that really put Chris off was the fact that it was sort of a beige/grey color and semi transparant.

  Well I found a recipe (another awesome one from adventures of a gluten free mom) for vegan (and easily adapted to be soy free as well) ranch dressing that is not only white and not see-through, lol, but tastes just like the Ranch of our pre-dairy-free days! It was slightly thinner than regular ranch but Chris and I both agreed that it wasn't enough to be a problem. So without further ado, the recipe:

Vegan Ranch Dressing

1 cup Vegenaise (use soy-free Vegenaise if you are avoiding soy)
1/2 tsp dried parsely
1/2 tsp chives
1/2 tsp dill
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup "buttermilk"*

*To make "buttermilk", put 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice in a measuring cup. Add enough non dairy milk to bring the total amount of liquid to 1/4 cup. Allow to sit for 5 or so minutes until the milk curdles. If using rice milk, it will not curdle but it will still work fine.

Combine all ingredients except buttermilk and stir until well blended. Slowly whisk in buttermilk. This can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week in the fridge. Enjoy!

Homemade Ravioli - Gluten, Wheat, Egg, and Dairy Free

  Chris had a bad day today... he had to run a route he wasn't used to and his GPS died on him, he worked almost 12 hours and then when he got out to the truck it wouldn't start. He went looking for someone to help jump him but everyone else had left at a more reasonable time. Anyway, he finally got it started and came home. I am thankful that this was the night I chose to make pasta from scratch, because he said it was so good it really helped make his day a lot better <3

  I don't know why I got it in my mind that I should make ravioli or tortellini by hand but I searched high and low for recipes and ended up making a version of the recipe I found on adventuresofaglutenfreemom.com. I didn't have tapioca starch so I used potato starch, otherwise it's the same recipe. And it was FABULOUS! I won't say it was easy, but it wasn't hard, it was mostly just time consuming. It was nice though, I got into a little bit of a zone making the tortellini and it was actually pretty relaxing.

  Here's the recipe for the dough. You can make any type of pasta shape you want out of this, even noodles. I watched this video and learned how to make tortellini (a lot easier than it seems), and did a super simple ravioli by cutting a small square of dough, placing a tsp of filling in the center, then folding all the corners to meet in the middle like a little pyramid and pinching the seams. Everyone agreed the tortellini was better for catching the sauce, but of course they all tasted the same.

Wheat and Egg Free Pasta Dough

2/3 cup brown rice flour (plus more to flour your work surfaces)
1/3 cup potato starch or tapioca starch
1/2 tsp guar or xanthan gum
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup warm water
1 Tbs olive oil
*more water if needed

Combine flour, starch, gum, and salt in a small bowl. Pour into  bowl of stand mixer. Turn mixer onto the lowest setting and slowly add in the 1/4 cup warm water and olive oil. Gradually increase speed of mixer to medium and mix about 2 minutes. Evaluate the dough. If it is crumbly and not sticking together, slowly add 1 Tbs at a time of water. You want the dough to form a "ball" but not be sticky to the touch.
Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
For any shape you decide on, you'll have to lightly flour a cutting board, lightly flour your rolling pin, and roll 1/4 of the dough at a time (keeping the rest in the fridge). Roll the dough very thin, about 1/8 of an inch or less.
Wet the edges with a wet finger ever so slightly before pressing together.
After filling, add prepared pasta to salted boiling water. When they float (about 3 minutes) they are done!

Turkey Pasta Filling

1/2 lb ground turkey
1 small onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbl dried oregeno
1 Tbl dried basil
2 Tbl Daiya Mozzarella Cheese Shreds (optional)
salt to taste
1 Tbl flax meal mixed with 3 Tbl water (called flaxgel)

Over medium heat, brown turkey, onion, and garlic. Cook until meat is done, onion is soft, and no pan juices remain in the skillet. Remove from heat and stir in herbs, cheese and salt. Mix in flaxgel.
Cool before using to fill pasta.

This made way more filling than I ended up using, so I mixed the rest in with the pasta sauce.



And there you have it. After the pasta is shaped, you can either cook it immediately, or freeze it until you are ready. Eitherway, just throw them in lightly salted boiling water. When they float, they are done.

Dairy and Gluten Free Orange Chicken

  Ok ok ok, first of all I actually used turkey breast, but "Orange Turkey" is probably not going to get anyone excited. These are not as crunchy as Panda Express' but they taste very similar and were relatively easy. It did make quite a few dishes to clean up though, but well worth it!

Dairy and Gluten Free Orange Chicken

Marinade:
1 1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup sesame oil
1 1/4 cup orange juice
zest of one orange
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup GF soy sauce
2/3 cup sugar
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp ginger, grated
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Everything else:
1 1/2 lb boneless skinless turkey breast
2 Tbl cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water
Egg replacer for 2 egg whites (directions on packge)
2 cups cornstarch
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cups olive oil

Optional: Sesame seeds and chopped scallions (for garnish), 3 cups cooked brown rice.

 Add all of the marinade ingredients to a medium saucepan and stir with a whisk until blended. Transfer 1 1/2 cups of the marinade to a large ziploc bag and add the turkey to the bag. Marinate the turkey in the refrigerator for about an hour.

 In a shallow bowl whisk the egg replacer until foamy. In a second shallow bowl combine 2 cups cornstarch, salt, and cayenne seasoning. Take the turkey out of the refrigerator and discard the marinade. (I cut the turkey up into 1 inch peices a this point but you could leave them whole) Dredge in the egg replacer and then the cornstarch and set aside on a plate.

 
  Meanwhile, heat up the rest of the unused marinade (which should be still in the saucepan) on the stove and bring to a simmer. This will become the sauce. Blend 2 Tbl cornstarch and cold water together and add to the sauce. Simmer for at least one full minute until the starch dissolves and becomes clear. Then remove from heat.

 Heat oil in a large skillet. Fry the turkey about 3 minutes and then flip over and fry about 3 minutes more. You may need to work in batches depending on the size of your skillet, as you don't want the turkey pieces to touch each other (they will stick together). Once cooked, blot on a paper towel.

 Serve with brown rice and drizzle sweet orange sauce on top.

Serves 4

I forgot to take a picture, dang it! It was beautiful though, I promise. However, my stove top afterward was not so pretty. :/

Vegan and Wheat Free Peanut Butter and Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

  Wow, let me start this off by saying that these are the first cookies I have had since changing to this diet that are actually really good. Usually, wheat free anything means that there will be a bit of grittiness, but since these are oatmeal cookies I think that any grittiness is masked. These were really easy to make and they actually even stayed together without having to be a quarter of the size of a 'regular' cookie like others that I have made. Also I used a jar of baby food pears for the pear puree but half a banana that is well mashed, or any other fruit puree, pumpkin, or even squash could sub in and probably not have much of a recognizable flavor change. Here goes:

The boys enjoying their cookies at the zoo!

Vegan/Wheat Free Peanut Butter and Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

3/4 cup quick cooking oats (make sure you use certified wheat free, like Bob's Red Mill)
1/4 cup rice flour (I used brown but white would work too I'm sure)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup (packed) brown sugar
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons pureed pear
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup extra crunchy peanut butter
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate or vegan chips

Preheat oven to 375°F.
In a small bowl or ziploc bag, mix oats, rice flour, baking soda and salt.
In a medium bowl, stir oil and both sugars together. Mix in pear, peanut butter and vanilla. Add rice flour/oat mixture and stir until blended. Stir in chocolate chips.

Using about 2 tablespoons of dough, form dough into balls and place on ungreased baking sheet. Flatten slightly. Bake until edges are golden brown, about 11-12 minutes (longer for crunchier edges). Cool on sheets 5 minutes. Transfer to racks; cool completely.

Makes about 8 cookies.

I didn't flatten mine very much because I had a previous experience with vegan oatmeal cookies that turned into oat-puddles, so I was hesitant and ended up with pretty fat cookies. They are still super delicious but next time I will flatten them a tad more.



They can't all be winners.

First and foremost, it has been made fairly clear that Jack has a problem with coconut milk so from now on we will be avoiding coconut as well until we talk to the allergist on the 23rd. He started having a very hard time eating once I began giving him his weight gain smoothies. I've now just started giving him his regular hemp/soy/almond milk mixed with baby rice cereal instead because it's one thing he will consistently drink. *Sigh* EoE sucks. Thankfully though he has started eating without pain again since I removed the coconut milk.

  Anyway, Chris wanted pizza (again) but I'm pretty tired of it. I was craving something different and remembered the delicious white garlic sauce pizza we used to sometimes get from this yummy pizza place called Captain Tony's in Quartz Hill CA. Well, I searched the internet and only found 2 reasonable sounding dairy free white garlic pizza sauce recipes. I picked the one I had all the ingredients to make and while it was a yummy tasting sauce (tasted like a marsala sauce) it wasn't anything to write home about on pizza.
  I think that on grilled chicken and with mushrooms, it might actually be something really good though. Perhaps I'll try it and let everyone know.

  Tomorrow I am going to try to make vegan, gluten free oatmeal cookies. Hopefully I have something good to say about THAT!

Accepting limitations in a child with special needs

  Sometimes while being a stay at home parent, it feels like you are living the same day over and over and over again. I wake up at the same time each morning, get the boys out of their beds, sit in the rocking chair with them and sing them a song or two. Then I put them down in their play area (Ben cries while Jack gets right down to the business of playing), and make them sippies of almond milk. I hand them each a sippy at the exact same moment or else the one who got his first will be attacked by the other. Then I change their diapers, get them dressed, make breakfast, and we sit at the table. Jack eats, Ben throws all his food on the floor (I still am not 100% sure how it is he survives on the very few morsels that make it to his mouth).

That's just the first hour, but I assure you the rest of the hours are just slight variations of that last paragraph, and it is the same, day after day.

  My point is that it's sometimes very hard to keep sight of the BIG picture while drudging through the monotony of day-to-day parenting: Teaching a small human being how to ultimately be a big human being who is productive, compassionate, and self sufficient. Sure, we've all been guilty of putting a child in a time out simply because we are irritated by something they keep doing, but generally speaking you discipline a child because they are doing something that isn't acceptable in our home and probably out in society. We are teaching them the rules of a civilized world so that when it comes down to it, they can function without us there to tell them which path to take.

  But what if you know you aren't raising a child so that he can be self sufficient? Of course no one can see the future, and you never ever ever want to discount your own child's potential. But sometimes, parents of children with particular special needs need to accept what is and isn't in the cards for their children. This is an unfair comparison but imagine for a second that your 20 something year old son comes to you and says he's finally ready to admit what he's known for some time: He's gay. Depending on your own lifestyle and choices, it might take you awhile to come to terms with the fact that you may never have any biological grandchildren, that your son will be bringing his boyfriends home to dinner, and that you may have to travel to a different state to attend his wedding someday. But would you tell him everyday that he'll snap out of it, find himself a nice lady, and be 'normal'? Not if you want him to know that you love and accept him. You may still mourn the 'loss' of not getting to share your favorite recipes with your daughter in law, but you accept it and move on because your relationship with your child will suffer if you don't.

  To be sure, I am NOT comparing homosexuality to a disability of any kind. I am simply saying that as parents, we all have images of who our children will be from the moment they are born and they very rarely follow the path the imagined. Regardless, they are still our children and we accept them for everything that they are in order to love them unconditionally.

  In certain circumstances it is pretty apparent that, barring some sort of miracle, a child will not ever live independently. That is the case with out oldest son Jack. Right now, our goal for him is to be able to speak and if not that, at least be able to communicate through signs or pictures things like his needs and where it hurts. Looking forward, I hope that he will be potty trained someday, am hesitant but hopeful that he can put his own clothes and shoes on eventually, and sometimes when I am alone so no one is there to see me get emotional about it, I allow myself to imagine a time when he can do something complex like make himself a sandwich. The course that he is on now, living on his own is not on the table for him.

  Some may say, "How dare you give up on your son like that!" and my response is that if anything, I have finally fully embraced my son, and no one wants more for him or expects more from him than myself and my husband. However, spending our days dreaming about the things he will never do will only prolong the sense of loss in us. It's time to accept it, cry about it, then get over it and start living each day teaching him to be kind, to use his voice (or hands), to enjoy eating at the table and to look both ways before he enters the road, and for God's sake to stop pushing his brother. True, we don't know what the BIG picture is for Jack exactly, but we know what it's probably not. There is no greater disservice that can be payed to a child than to hold him to an unobtainable expectation. Then both the parent and the child will feel they have failed the other.

  Sure, I still mourn the 'loss'. My heart breaks when I look at the journal I started writing for Jack the day I found out I was pregnant. I planned on giving it to him when he and his wife were having their first baby and I fully expected him to be able to read and understand the words I was writing someday, to hug me and say "This means so much to me, Mom." Yeah, that stings. I am sad, but I am not ashamed, I accept my son for who he is and I love him unconditionally. I think that you have to be honest about what "full potential" means for your child before you can push them to reach it. If you are always trying to force them to be something that they just can't be, or if you are forever dreaming about the things you wish they were, you are totally and completely missing the beauty of the person that they actually are.

Wheat/Gluten and Egg Free General Tso's Chicken

  Traditionally dipped in an egg and wheat flour batter before frying, General Tso's is super tasty but off limits to us. UNTIL NOW! I came up with this last night and it was pretty spot on if I may say so myself, even without the breading! Go me! ;)

Allergy Free General Tso's Chicken

1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch pieces
4 Tbl cornstarch, divided
2 Tbl minced garlic
1 tsp grated ginger
3 Tbl light brown sugar
2 Tbl gluten free soy sauce
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 1/2 tsp EnerG egg replacer + 3 Tbl water, mixed
1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper
2 Tbl olive oil
serve with
2 cups cooked brown rice
2 cups steamed broccoli

In a small bowl, stir together 1 Tbl cornstarch and 1/2 cup cold water till smooth. Add garlic, ginger, sugar, soy sauce, and red pepper flakes. Stir well and set aside.

In another bowl, whisk egg replacer mixture, 3 Tbl cornstarch, salt and pepper together. Add chicken and stir to make sure chicken is totally covered.

Heat 1 Tbl oil in a large non stick skillet (non stick being key... I used a regular one and it was a BIG mistake) over medium-high heat. Lift half the chicken from the mixture and add to skillet. Cook turning occasionally, until golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate and repeat with remaining oil and chicken. Set aside.

Using the same skillet, lower heat and add the garlic mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, until sauce has thickened, about 3 to 5 minutes. Return chicken to skillet and stir well, heating chicken through. Serve over brown rice with a big plate of steamed broccoli.

Serves 4