Sugar Cookies

I make Tia sugar cookies quite often, between class parties, church parties, cookies for Santa, etc. These are my favorite among all the recipes I've tried.

• 1 cup Nucoa margarine
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 EnerG egg replacer eggs
• 4 TBS rice milk
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp Hain baking powder
• 4 cups flour

Soften the Nucoa slightly and cream with the sugar. Mix the EnerG eggs in a separate bowl, and add to mixture. Add remaining ingredients, except the flour and mix. Add the flour a half a cup at a time. Add as much flour as you can, until the mixture is almost too floury to use. Roll out and cut into shapes. Bake on an ungreased pan at 375 degrees until the cookies barely start to turn brown on top. If cooked any longer the cookies will be too crunchy.

Cinnamon rolls

My Mom's recipe for cinnamon rolls. So, so good!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup Nucoa margarine
• 2 EnerG egg replacer "eggs"
• 2 cups scalded rice milk
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 cup instant potato flakes
• 5 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 3 yeast cakes
• 1 TBS sugar

Instructions:

Combine 3/4 cup warm water, yeast, and 1 TBS sugar. (The recipe calls for yeast cakes. I had to google the equivalent, since I don't have yeast cakes. Each cake is worth 2 1/4 tsp of yeast. So the total amount of yeast is 6 3/4 tsp of yeast.)

Let the yeast mixture double in size.

In the meantime, scald the rice milk. Add the Nucoa margarine to the scalded milk to cool it down.

Put the EnerG "eggs" into a separate bowl and beat with a mixer, until it's fluffy. Add it to the milk and margarine mixture. Add the yeast, potato flakes, sugar, and salt.

Slowly add the flour a cup at a time until the dough becomes sticky, but almost workable. I added 4 1/2 cups of flour.

Place saran wrap over the dough, then allow the dough to double. Punch it down two times.

Roll out the dough with more flour. Layer the rolled out dough with melted Nucoa margarine, sugar, and cinnamon. Roll into a tube, then cut it into rolls with a string of thread.

Bake at 375 until just brown.

Mmmmmmmm!

Stuffing

Chantelle and I had Thanksgiving dinner together. Minus one salad, the entire meal was safe for our allergic kiddos. It was delicious! Thanks Chantelle and family! Here is our dinner and our Tia and Marix.

Stuffing:

Ingredients

• 12 slices white bread (or one loaf of Chantelle's homemade bread)
• 2 cups of veggie broth
• 4 TBS Nucoa
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/8 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp plus a few shakes sage

Directions

Break the slices of bread into pieces and put into a large bowl. Melt the Nucoa and pour over the bread pieces. Add all the other ingredients. Put into a well greased 9X12 pan. Add the last couple of shakes of sage. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until the top is turning brown.

Sweet Potatoes

Tia loves sweet potatoes. This year I boiled them then added a brown sugar glaze.

Boil the potatoes until just soft (I overcooked them this year. Oops!). In a separate pan, boil together 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup Nucoa, and 1/4 cup rice milk, stirring often. After it boils, let it cool to lukewarm, then drizzle over the cooked and drained sweet potatoes.

Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients

• one 15 oz can of pumpkin
• 1 cup rice milk
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 4 TBS potato starch
• 1 TBS molasses
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp each ginger
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp allspice or cloves

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare a pie crust. (Such as the one on the applesauce pie recipe)

Blend ingredients in a blender until smooth. Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake 60 minutes, covering the edges with foil if they begin to brown too quickly. Cool on a rack, then refrigerate before serving.

Original recipe

Apple Bars

This recipe is from the allergy blog, The Food Allergy Mama

DAIRY, EGG AND NUT FREE APPLE CINNAMON CRUNCH BARS

CRUST

2 c. unbleached all purpose flour

1/2 c. granulated sugar

1/2 c. quick cooking oats (PLUS 1 c. ADDITIONAL OATS TO ADD FOR TOPPING LATER)

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 c. dairy free margarine (I use unsalted Fleischman’s), cut into small cubes

2 T. water

APPLE FILLING

4 c. peeled and thinly sliced apples (I use any variety I have on hand, but love a mixture of different varieties like Braeburn, Cortland, Gala and Granny Smith.

1/4 c. unbleached all purpose flour

3/4 c. brown sugar (light)

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 13 x 9 glass baking dish with dairy free baking spray, set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, 1/2 c. sugar, 1/2 c. oats, baking powder and salt with a wire whisk. Add cubes of dairy free margarine and cut in with a pastry cutter or two knives. Once mixture is the size of peas (some bigger chunks are fine too) add the water and stir with a rubber spatula until incorporated. Press half of mixture into prepared baking pan using the back of a measuring cup or spoon, or use your hands but slightly wet them to make this process easier. Set aside. Add an additional 1 c. oats to the remaining flour mixture in the bowl and mix thoroughly using a rubber spatula.

In a medium bowl, combine apples, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. Pour apple mixture over the prepared crust in baking dish. Sprinkle remaining flour/oat mixture over the apples and bake about 45 minutes or until top is lightly golden brown. Cool and cut into squares.

Apple Butter

Ingredients

5 1/2 pounds apples - peeled, cored and finely chopped
4 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

Place the apples in a slow cooker. In a medium bowl, mix the sugar, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Pour the mixture over the apples in the slow cooker and mix well.
Cover and cook on high 1 hour.
Reduce heat to low and cook 9 to 11 hours, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thickened and dark brown.
Uncover and continue cooking on low 1 hour. Stir with a whisk, if desired, to increase smoothness.
Spoon the mixture into sterile containers, cover and refrigerate or freeze.

Recipe from Allrecipes.com

Homemade Peach Jam

Making jam is a little hard at first, but it gets easier with practice. With allergic little ones homemade jam is the best way to make sure it is not made with corn syrup or other harsh ingredients.

Homemade Peach Jam

Instructions.
Things You'll Need:
-5 pounds of fresh peaches (approximately one dozen peaches)
-5 cups of sugar
-3 teaspoons of lime or lemon juice
canning jars and lids
-1 box Pectin (it's a natural product, made from apples and available at grocery stores (season - spring through late summer) and local "big box" stores. It usually goes for about $2.00 to $2.50 per box.

Step by step HOW to do this;
1.WASH, PEEL, DE-PIT, and FINELY CHOP THE PEACHES: Wash the peaches. Remove the skins and pits. To have quality jam you must start with quality fruit. Remove any portion of the fruit that is spoiled. Finely chop the peaches into small pieces and mix in the sugar and lemon or lime juice. Set aside.

2. Sterilizing the canning jars, lids, and rims in boiling water. STERILIZE: Wash the canning jars, lids, and bands in hot soapy water. Rinse with hot water. Boil the jars and lids in water for 10 minutes. Carefully remove them from the water using a jar remover or a pair of tongs. Set them on a cookie sheet to cool while you cook the jam.

3 COOK: Cook the peaches and box of pectin in a large pot until they reach a rolling boil. Stir frequently to avoid scorching. Add sugar all at once and stir continuously untill it reaches a rolling boil again. ( A rolling boil is when the mixture bubbles even when you are stirring it.) When the mixture reaches a rolling boil, set timer for 1 minute and stir like crazy as it may boil over. Remove from heat when the 1 minute is up.

4.FILL THE JARS: Ladle the mixture into the sterilized canning jars. Fill the jars leaving half of an inch of headspace at the top. Wipe jam off the rims of the jars. Place the lids on the jars and seal with the screw bands.

6 KNOW YOUR ELEVATION. Processing time for canning depends on your elevation. If you are at 1 to 1,000 feet the processing time will be five minutes. If you are at 1,001 - 6,000 feet the processing time will be 10 minutes. If you are above 6,000 feet the processing time will be 15 minutes.

7 Filled canning jars in a hot water canner.PROCESS: Unless you have a canner you will seal the jars by a water bath method. Fill a large pan (you'll need one with a lid) with water to the half way mark. Put a rack in the bottom of the pan -- a round cookie cooling sheet works perfectly. Heat the water to a boil. Carefully lower the jars into the pan of boiling water. One to two inches of water should cover the jars. If too much water has boiled away add more boiling water to the pan. Leave the jars in boiling water for 5, 10, or 15 minutes, according to step 6 above. Turn off the heat. Remove the lid from the pan. Wait five minutes then carefully remove the jars and put them on a cooling rack.

8 TEST: While the jars are cooling you may hear a "ping" sound. That is an indication that the jars have sealed properly. If you don't hear the sound you can always test the jars after they have cooled. Take a look at the lid. It should be curved down. Press on the center of the lid. It should not move if the jar sealed. Finally, you can test the seal by trying to lift the lid with your fingers. Remove the band first then gently try to lift the lid. If the lids do not come up then you have properly sealed the jars. If you have a jar or two that did not seal repeat Step 7 to re-process or simply store that jar in your refrigerator.

9 Freshly canned jar of peach jam and a taste on a spoon. Yum! ENJOY!

Old Fashioned Fried Scones Allergy Style with whipped Honey Butter

Old Fashioned Fried Scones Allergy Style with whipped honey butter.

The whole frying part makes these not so good for the love handles, but are so delicious they make it worth it.

Honey Butter.
4 TBSP Nucoa
1 TBSP Honey

Soften nucoa, but to not melt it. Add honey and whip with hand held mixer for a minute or two till fluffy.

Scone Ingredients

3 TBSP yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup nucoa
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups rice milk
1/4 cup applesauce
2 substituted eggs
1 tsp salt
6 cups flour

Dissolve yeast in water with a little bit of the 1/2 cup of sugar. Let the yeast proof untill it doubles in size. Mix the rest of the ingredients. Chill in the fridge for half an hour. Roll all of the dough 1/2 inch thick and cut into squares with a pizza cutter. Fry in Hot oil till golden brown. Serve with Honey Butter, jam, or honey.

Baked Scones and Cream (well, vanilla ricemilk.)

Baked Scones and Cream (well, Vanilla ricemilk.)

Ingredients:
2-cups Flour
3 TBSP Sugar
1 TBSP Hanes baking powder
6 Tbsp Chilled Nucoa Margarine
1/4 tsp Salt
1 Mixed egg (substituted egg)
1/2 Cup unflavored rice milk
1tbsp Vanilla flavored ricemilk
2tsp Sugar

How to make these little beasties:

1.Combine flour, the 3 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, and 1/4 tsp salt. Cut in butter. Combine the prebeaten egg substitute and 1/2 cup unflavored rice milk; add to dry mixture. Stir till just moistened.
2. Turn dough onto a floured surface. Knead 12 to 15 strokes or till nearly smooth. Pat or lightly roll to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with a 21/2 inch to 3 inch cutter. We like alligators.
3. Place scones 1 inch apart on very lightly greased baking sheet. Brush tops with 1 Tbsp vanilla flavored rice milk; sprinkle with 2 teaspoons sugar. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden. Remove from the baking sheet and cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. These are very yummy served warm with blueberries or honey.

Chocolate Pudding

I have never made pudding from scratch, but wanted to try a safe version for Tia. It was easy and Aaron and Tia said it was really good. I didn't try it, because I really don't like chocolate pudding.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup potato starch
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups rice milk
• 6 Enjoy Life chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Combine the potato starch, sugar and salt in the top of a double boiler. Slowly whisk in the rice milk, scraping the bottom and sides with a heatproof spatula to incorporate the dry ingredients. Place over gently simmering water and stir occasionally, scraping the bottom and sides. Use a whisk as necessary should lumps begin to form. After 15 to 20 minutes, when the mixture begins to thicken and coats the back of the spoon, add the chocolate. Continue stirring for about 2 to 4 minutes, or until the pudding is smooth and thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

2. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a serving bowl or into a large measuring cup with a spout and pour into individual serving dishes.

3. If you like pudding skin, pull plastic wrap over the top of the serving dish(es) before refrigerating. If you dislike pudding skin, place plastic wrap on top of the pudding and smooth it gently against the surface before refrigerating. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 3 days.

Recipe from Smitten Kitchen

Granola Peach Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 can (16 oz) sliced peaches (be sure they are canned in pear juice and not corn syrup)
• 2 cups flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 tsp Hain baking powder
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 TBS cold Nucoa margarine
• 2 Ener-G egg replacer, beaten
• 1 cup granola

Directions:

Drain peaches, reserving 1/2 cup syrup. Chop peaches; set aside. In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cloves, and salt. Cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in egg replacer and reserved syrup. Fold in granola and peaches.

Pour into a greased 9X5X3 loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Original recipe from Regina Albright

Mock Krispy Treats

Ingredients:

• 3 cup rice cereal
• 1 cup Lundberg's organic brown rice syrup

Directions:

Boil syrup. Stir, remove from heat and add cereal. Form into pyrex dish and let cool before cutting.

Sticky, but a good substitute for Rice Krispy treats.

Applesauce Pie

One of my Mom's creations. Yum!

Crust

Ingredients:

• 2 cup flour
• 2/3 cup shortening (or nucoa margarine)
• sprinkle of salt

Directions:

Smooth with fork. Add TBS of water until all is moist. Roll out with a little more than half for the bottom.

Filling

Ingredients:

• 1 quart bottle of applesauce
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 TBS cinnamon
• 2 shakes cloves
• 2 shakes allspice
• 5 or 6 TBS of flour individually sprinkled and stirred in.

Bake at 425 for 25 minutes or until crust is brown.

Sugar substitutes

In Delicious Living, the free magazine from Whole Foods, there was an article recently, titled Natural Sweeteners by Kimberly Lord Stewart. The article included a chart for sugar substitutes. I'm listing it here, because although Tia's not allergic to sugar, we can all use a little less.

Tootsie Rolls

Ingredients:

• 2 TBS Nucoa Margarine
• 1/2 cup brown rice syrup
• 5 TBS baking cocoa plus 2 more TBS Nucoa
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup rice protein powder
• 3 cup corn-free powdered sugar

Directions:

Blend Nucoa, rice syrup, cocoa, vanilla, protein powder, and powdered sugar. Mixture will be crumbly. Keep kneading until blended and smooth. Roll in long tubes and cut into pieces.

On my mind...

I read Food Allergy Mama, a food allergy blog written by a recipe book author, and mother to an allergic son. Recently she and her son were featured in an article in the Sun Times because her son wanted to go see the Cubs play at Wrigley stadium. They and other allergy moms lobbied and the Cubs organization offered a Skybox where for one game, peanuts would not be allowed. The article featured them and how happy the little boy was to go see his favorite team play without worrying about anaphylaxis.

The article was published and people began commenting. Here are some excerpts:

• selfish people like this is why i bring my own peanuts on airplanes
• I am sorry and no disrespect toward this child and his family, but this story proves the once mighty America has fallen. What is next, no ice cream day for people who are lactose intolerant? We would not want to make lactose intolerant people uncomfortable by seeing people eat ice cream. How about a pollen free day where the grass is ripped up at Wrigley and the team plays on a dirt field?
• That's right lady, smother the boy until you turn him into a girl.
• In all honesty this is ridiculous to have this set aside for these people. It opens up all kinds of special interest groups wanting their day at the ballpark.
  If your allergies are life threatening than you should just stay home. And if they just give you the sniffles you should be ashamed of yourself for demanding special treatment.
• Are peanuts banned everyone this Crazy Mom takes her kid, i.e. Restaurants, Parks, Schools, High School Football Games. Another example of the majority having to cater to the minority. Get a Life!!
• It's the 3rd line of the Frick'in song!!! Buy me some peanuts!! Thanks Joyce Davis, now we change the song too.
• This is ridiculous, not that the cubs are giving up a skybox, that is nice of them, but lobbying for a peanut-free zone. There has been 100+yrs of baseball, I am sure there have been many people with peanut allergies that have found ways to attend games without being engulfed in peanuts. Instead of complaining about it, figure out how to deal with it.
• Next there will be a "Testicle-Free" Zone. "What about those kids who are allergic to tap water?" What about them huh?
  And the "Bubble Boys?" and the "Pasty White Kids Who Can't Stand the Sun?"
• stay home

Obviously some commenters supported the article and the peanut free skybox, but the majority were awful, mean, and ugly.

I read this article on Tia's second day of school, after she and the boys had went to bed. Earlier, I was making lunch for me and the babies when I got a call from Tia's school nurse. She said, "I have Tia in my office here. She has hives, with new ones forming, a flushed face, and a wheezing cough. I have given her Benadryl, and that seems to be helping." Before she could finish, I told her I was on my way, and I drove as fast as I could to her school, a place where she ought to be safe, but isn't completely. I picked her up and brought her home, where she will always be safe.

I have spoken with her teacher about what we could do. On the first day of school, she asked the parents to please try to avoid sending nuts, but she knows there are picky eaters out there, and understands if they can't find anything else. And that was it. Parents were asked, but in the same breath, given liberty to disregard the request. It will always astound me and hurt me to know that they choose to gamble with a child's life in that way, so that they don't have to be put out.

I honestly don't think parents of children with other diseases have such a battle. Why does the health problem my beautiful daughter happens to be given, cause people such a lack of empathy and impudence?

So, I stopped reading the article that night of the second day of Tia's school, shut off my computer, and went into my babies' room, picked up a screaming Luke, and rocked him and cried.

I just don't get it.

Powdered sugar

There is only one brand of powdered sugar I've found that is corn-free. I buy it at Whole Foods, and it isn't cheap. About six months ago, nobody had it in stock, and if it did, it wasn't a corn-free version. So, Chantelle and I experimented with making our own powdered sugar. It was really fun!

Ingredients:

• Sugar
• Potato starch (optional, but a good idea if you aren't using the sugar right away)

Instructions:

Put one cup of sugar in your blender with a teaspoon to a tablespoon of potato starch. Blend until the sugar is no longer granulated. It probably took us at least 5 minutes of blending. When you take of the lid, the sugar should send a mushroom cloud into your kitchen. That's how you know you did it right. :)

Brownies

I heard about black bean brownies, and wanted to give them a try.

Ingredients:

• 1 box brownie mix (read ingredients carefully)
• 1 can (15 oz) black beans

Instructions:

Open can of black beans and rinse beans well. Put beans back in can, and add enough water to cover the beans. Puree in food processor. Add puree to brownie mix, stir, and bake according to directions. Don't add the other ingredients, all you need is the brownie mix and the beans.

Verdict: Mmmmmmm!

Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 cup shredded raw zucchini (1-2 zucchini)
• 1/2 cup peeled and grated raw apple (about 1 large apple)
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp clear vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 Ener-G egg replacer eggs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 5 x3 loaf pan (if using a nonstick spray, read the ingredients to be sure it's safe.) Set aside.

Grate the zucchini, using a medium grater, then peel and grate the apple. (I use a food processor for both.) Set aside.

Beat the oil, sugar, and Ener-G eggs until well blended. Beat in the grated zucchini and apple. Add in the flour mixture, beating just until combined. Scrape the batter in to the pan and bake until the bread has risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out c lean, about 50 minutes.

Before Tia was okay with spices, we replaced the cinnamon and nutmeg with a little brown sugar.

Be prepared for the best zucchini bread you've ever eaten!

Original recipe from www.joyofbaking.com

Crepes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 2 Ener-G egg replacer eggs
• 1/2 cup rice milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 TBS melted Nucoa margarine

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and the egg replacer. Gradually add in the rice milk and the water, stirring to combine. Add the salt and melted Nucoa. Beat until smooth.

Heat a lightly canola oiled griddle or frying pan over medium heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each crepe. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.

Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is light brown. Loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side. Serve hot, with melted Nucoa and sprinkled sugar.

Original recipe from allrecipes.com.

Vegan sponge cake

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 3 tsp Hain baking powder
• substitution for 1 egg (see substitution page)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup plus 2 TBS canola oil
• 1 1/3 cup water

Directions:

Blend until dry ingredients are moistened. Add water and mix well. Pour into greased 9" pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

Not my favorite recipe, but it's my stand-by for an egg free white cake. I'm looking for a new one and might try this one from the blog Shmooed Food. She also uses her fluffy white cupcake recipe to make homemade twinkies. I may just have to try those.

Banana Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2 pureed bananas
• egg substitution for 2 eggs (see substitution page)

Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes

Pancakes or Waffles

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 2 tsp Hain baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 TBS sugar
• 1 TBS canola oil
• (as egg substitute) 1 tsp Hain baking powder, 1 TBS vinegar, 1 TBS water
• 1 cup rice milk

Combine ingredients. Mix well. Serve with pure maple syrup (others have corn syrup).

Another pancake recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup rice milk
• 1 egg replacer

Granola

This recipe is great, since there aren't many store bought granolas that are nut-free.

Ingredients

• 4 cups oats
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 TBS water
• 3/4 cup honey
• 3 TBS canola oil

Combine all ingredients. Bake on cookie sheet at 25o degrees for 30 minutes.

Tia's pizza

Created for Tia by her Grandma.

Breadsticks dough

• 1 cup warm water
• 1 TBS yeast
• 1 TBS sugar

Mix together in a bowl and let raise a little. Then add:

• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 tsp salt

Gradually add:

• 3 cups flour

Place on pizza pan.

Sauce:

Remember, if the recipe is made up, I don't have exact measurements. :)

In a frying pan whisk together:

• About 1 TBS melted Nucoa margarine
• About 3 TBS flour

Add rice milk, whisking until it forms a white sauce/gravy. Add salt and pepper. Put the sauce on the pizza crust.

Top with bacon and olives.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.

Biscuits

Family favorite recipes are easily adapted to make them allergy friendly.

Biscuits aka Bear Biscuits

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 4 tsp Hain baking powder (corn-free) (see products section)
• 3 TBS sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cream of tarter or soda
• 1/2 cup Nucoa margarine
• 3/4 cup rice milk

Directions

Combine dry ingredients. Cut in margarine. Add in rice milk until just wet. Press on to counter. Cut out into cute cookie shapes. We like bears. Use ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 475 degrees for 10 minutes.

Potato soup

Potato Soup

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup Nucoa margarine
• 1 quart vegetable broth (Whole Foods brand, see picture)
• 3 large potatoes, diced
• rice milk
• potato starch
• salt and pepper

Directions:

Put vegetable broth, margarine, and potatoes in a large pot. Boil until potatoes are soft. Mash potatoes with a potato masher. Put a 3 or 4 heaping tablespoons of potato starch in a separate container and mix with 3/4 cup or so of rice milk. Turn the heat off of the soup, and add the milk and starch mixture very slowly, stirring as you go, until the soup is the thickness you want it. Flavor with salt and pepper. Serve with add-ins such as peas, ham, steamed cauliflower and broccoli.

*Sorry about not having exact measurements. If it's a recipe I've really had to adapt, I usually just dump and pour without measuring ahead of time. :)

*I usually double the recipe, because this makes good leftovers. Mmmmm.

Homemade Flour Tortillas

Ingredients:
•2 cups flour
•1/4 cup Nucoa margarine cold
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•1/2 teaspoon Hanes baking powder
•1 cup warm water
•Canola oil for frying
Preparation:
With a pastry blender or back of fork, blend flour, baking power, salt and Nucoa Margarine, until it resembles coarse meal. When well combined, slowly add water until soft dough forms. Add additional warm water as neccesary. Knead for 5 minutes. Separate into 12 portions for small tortillas and 6 portions for large tortillas. Heat a griddle over medium heat.
Roll each ball of dough out into a round shape, approx. 1/8 inch thick.

Place each raw tortilla on the hot griddle or pan for about 1 minute. If it puffs up at all, you can poke a hole in the puffed area to release the steam. Flip the tortilla over and cook on the other side for about a minute. Cook it until it is no longer doughy. Remove from the griddle or pan and place onto a plate covered by a towel. Use the edges of the towel to pull over the tortillas as you cook them, to keep them warm.

Homemade Diaper Rash Cream

This stuff works like a dream.
It is very messy to make, but I love that I know what is in it and it is free of smellies and colors.
My friend Tory taught me how to make this recipe
*If you are a cloth diaper user, this is a good cream to use because it is more water soluble, and comes off in the hot water rinse. As a precaution though, I do use a paper liner in my diapers when I use rash cream.

Ingredients

-1 pound of Zinc Oxide Ointment USP (you can ask the pharmacist for this as they usually have it behind their counter, or they will order it for you)

-1 pound of Aquaphor ointment (the original kind without added scents or colors)
I have included a picture so that you buy the right kind. (Aquaphor has many varietied of their creams now.)


*********This is the Messy part********

With a rubber spatula, scoop out both ointments and put the mixtures in a large plactic bowl. Using a hand mixer, whip the creams together for about 5 to seven minutes, scraping the sides often.
When the creams are mixed together and are fluffy, fill the two tubs that the ointments came in with your newly made diaper cream.
You will need to soak the spatula, beaters, and bowl in very HOT and soapy water for a few minutes. It usually takes me a few washes to get the residue off.

Soy Free Laundry Soap

Marix was reacting to every laundry soap I tried, so with the help of his dietitian (go figure) I began making his laundry soap.


Water

1 bar grated Fels Naptha soap

5 gallon bucket

1 cup washing soda (Arm and Hammer you have to use washing soda not baking soda)

1 cup 20 Mule Team Borax

4 1/2 gallons water


Put grated Fels Naptha in saucepan and cover with water. Heat on low until dissolved. Fill bucket with hot water and add soap. Stir to combine. Add 1 cup washing soda and 1 cup borax and mix well. As it cools, it will thicken. If mixture becomes too thick, add hot water to thin it to desired consistency. May be used immediately. Mix well before each use. Use 1/2(normal) to 1 cup per load (heavy). Cost per load .04.

Sweet Potatoe Biscuts

Ingredients

1 C mashed, cooked sweet potato
1/4 c sugar
1 1/2 tsp Ener G egg replacer mixed with 2 Tbsp warm water
1 tbsp Nucoa margarine melted
1 c vanilla rice milk
3 c self rising flour
1 tsp Hanes baking powder
1/2 c Nucoa Margerine


Method
Combine mashed sweet potato, sugar, egg replacer and water, and the 1 Tbsp melted Nucoa in a mixing bowl. Beat with a fork until smooth. Stir in milk. Set aside. Stir together self rising flour and baking powder in a large mixing bowl. Cut in the 1/2 cup of Nucoa until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center of dry mixture. Add sweet potato mixture and stir just until combine. Turn out onto a well floured surface. Knead gently for 10-13 strokes. Roll or pat dough to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with floured 2-1/2" biscuit cutter ( I just use a drinking glass ). Re-roll as necessary. Place biscuits 1" apart on a large baking sheet. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes, or until biscuits are lightly browned. Makes 16-18 biscuits

Homemade Bread

This is my Mom's yummy family recipe for bread.
It is my all time favorite.
I have altered it so that I can feed it to Marix.
It makes 5 loaves of bread, so you can freeze some of them, or just cut the recipe in half.

Ingredients

-5 cups water
-1/2 cup sugar
-2 Tbsp yeast
*Mix these together and let rise until it doubles in size.

-2/3 cup canola oil
-1 Tbsp salt
-12 cups flour ( I like to use half Red Mill White flour, and half Red Mill White Wheat Flour)

*Add remaining ingredients to the yeast mixture.
The flour will need to be added one cup at a time. You know you have added enough flour when the dough leaves the sides of the mixer.

*Knead bread in a kitchenaid mixer for 8 minutes at speed 2.

*Let the dough raise in mixer for 45 minutes.

*Divide and shape dough into five equal portions and place into bread pans rubbed with canola oil (rub all sides and bottom so the bread will not stick.)

*Let the bread raise in the pans for 45 minutes or untill it rises two inches above the pans.

*Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes and the bread is golden brown.

Serve warm with Nucoa margerine.

Ice Cream

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups rice milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 3 TBS potato starch
• vanilla extract clear

Directions:

Pour 2 of the cups of rice milk into a pot and put over medium heat. Blend in the sugar and the salt. Heat gently until the mixture is steaming lightly.

In another bowl, mix the last 1/2 cup of rice milk and potato starch. Whisk until there are no lumps. Add this mixture to the sweetened milk, whisking frequently and heat until the mixture is almost boiling. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, whisking mixture as it thickens. Add the vanilla extract after the mix gets thick.

Remove thickened milk from heat and allow to cool. (Cool in fridge for several hours.) Once milk mix is cold, pour it into your ice cream maker and freeze according to the instructions.

-Original source unknown

Chocolate cake

Chocolate cake

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

Directions

Mix dry and wet ingredients separately, combine, and bake in 8x4 pan at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Tiaberry muffins

Amazingly Good Blueberry Muffins
Original source: Vegweb

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder (corn free)
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1 Ener-G Egg Replacer egg
• 1/3 cup rice milk
• 1 cup blueberries

Crumb topping

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/8 cup flour (over full)
• 2 TBS Nucoa margarine
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease 12 muffin cups. Combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Make the Ener-G Egg Replacer egg. Pour the vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup, then add the "egg" and the rice milk to fill the measuring cup. Add to the dry ingredients and mix well. Fold in blueberries, then put the batter into the greased muffin tin.

Crumb topping: Mix sugar, flour, cinnamon, and margarine until any large lumps are worked out. Sprinkle over the batter before baking.

Bake about 25 minutes, until the topping and the tops of the muffins are golden.

Enjoy the best muffins ever!