Sunday Morning Family Breakfast Meeting

On Sunday mornings during breakfast we have our weekly family meeting, something almost like a town hall meeting.  Basciallly, the idea is to come together to build social agreement as a family; it is a chance to make decisions all together.  We take turns discussing plans for the week, meals on the menu, what needs to get done and anything that needs problem solving.  I really like how these meetings allow for children to be heard and give everyone a chance to learn how to be a part of a team, in this case, the family is the team.  A close friend of mine, got me reading Alyson Schafer's books, I truly thank her for this! You can read all about why to have them and how to implement them in Alyson Schafer's: Honey I Wrecked The Kids. Big Brother's favorite part of the meeting is deciding what breakfast is going to be for the following Sunday family meeting.  Usually, he chooses waffles.  I am so happy to make them since they are way easier and less messy than pancakes.  They also freeze well, so I make a double batch to have extras during the upcoming week. Great for snacks and even sandwiches when I don't have time to make bread.  We have been trying out several gluten-free, nut-free, seed-free and dairy-free waffles. So far, we have these two favorites: Thermomix blender brown rice waffles and these gluten-free white rice, sorghum and buckwheat ones.  Both recipes call for soaking your grains overnight.  I prefer to soak and find that it is super easy to do before going to bed and actually easier to whip up the following morning.

Instead of wheat, we have been using a combination of rice, sorghum, buckwheat, oats and barley.  I get my grains either from Bob's Redmill on Vitacost, or I ask the guys in the bulk section at Whole Foods what grains they are putting out for the day and have them bag them before they reach the bins.  Attention, bulk bins are dangerous for me because I am allergic to nuts.  Have you seen how people take the scoop from one bin and put in in another!  This needs to stop! And have you seen how people sometimes stick their hand in to take a "sample".  This needs to stop too!  Anyway, too much risk of cross-contamination so just better not to take a chance.  

So, below is how we are making our waffles lately.  It is based on Quirky Cooking's awesome Thermomix blender brown rice waffles, linked above.  I'm sure I'll play with the grains regularly, swapping oats for sorghum, or switching buckwheat to quinoa. It's so easy to grind your own flour in the Thermomix, so no need to keep grain and flour in the pantry.  Just make flour as needed.  

sugar free waffles with maple syrup for dipping

What you need for one batch, we double this:
150 grams of brown rice 
80 grams of rolled oats
20 grams of buckwheat groats
330 g coconut milk, I use this kind (adding water=660 for doubling) if I haven't made in TM
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 egg (Quirky Cooking mentions that egg is not necessary)
1 tsp vanilla
30 grams melted coconut oil
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
*frozen blueberries/raspberries for either adding into batter or to saucepan after melting coconut oil to make maple syrup, cinnamon blueberry sauce

What to do: 
Place grains in TM bowl, grind speed 9 for 1 minute
Add coconut milk and 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar, mix 30 seconds on speed 9
Pour into glass bowl and top with kitchen towel and leave out overnight at room temperature
The following morning, weigh 30 grams of coconut oil in small saucepan on top of TM lid.  Melt coconut oil on stove top and then add to mixture in bowl.  
Add, one egg (which can be left out all together, or try flax egg)
Add in baking powder, baking soda and salt
Mix with wooden spoon, we have a specific spoons marked with washi tape to mark designated allergens
Drizzle with maple syrup and berry sauce.  How about some bacon or sausage?  

What Role Do We All Play In Keeping Allergic Children Safe and Included?

Reflection:
What should or shouldn't be
packed?

I just read a great blog post called Back To School and Anaphylaxis from Corrie at Retromummy.  She brings up an important point: we ALL have a role to play in preventing allergic triggers.  She includes good tips for packing safe school snacks and lunches and how to go about ensuring safe playdates.  Her expressed support feels like a thousand hugs.  I have enjoyed reading the many comments in response to the post.  Lately, I have been thinking a lot about the role we all have as parents in providing a safe and inclusive environment for our children, in this case, food allergies.  One posted comment highlights that food allergies are not a lifestyle choice, they are a "life choice".  And yes, as a parent, this can come across as overly intense; but in my experience monitoring my own food allergies along with my childrens' requires a high level of vigilance, precaution and energy.  Many people do not realize how serious allergies can be and what goes into keeping an allergic child safe.  At the same time, many people do offer support.  What has your experience been?

What do "safe" and "included" mean to you? What kind of dialogue is needed between parents and teachers at school and between parents for playdates? This article from a local Houston magazine examines how to have successful playdates with personal stories from allergic families.  

Weekly Happiness

Bringing home local and delicious produce and provisions brings me a lot of joy.  I love going as a family with Baby Brother in sling, something that won't last much longer. Today happens to be gorgeous, and the sunshine warming and invigorating.   I usually place everything out after lunch and then start prepping and menu planning for the week. Real food, real connections and real nourishment bring real happiness. 

Pumpkin

I love pumpkin and butternut squash and find a way to put them in everything.  I have been enjoying the process of roasting them, scooping out the flesh and blending in my Thermomix  Here are some of the treats I use it in.  I also buy this canned pumpkin on vitacost when they go on sale: $1.90 this week!


pumpkin chai bars
crustless pumpkin pie
pumpkin muffin donuts
persimon pumpkin smoothie
pumpkin gingerbread bars
quinoa pumpkin cookies
chocolate pumpkin bars
morning pumpkin pie oat and buckwheat porridge
pumpkin pie amaranth porridge
pumpkin pie millet porridge

Coconut Water Hot Chocolate

It's a rainy day. Big Brother is home sick.  Baby Brother's first tooth is popping through.  Both are napping at the same time.  Chicken stock is simmering and will be ready in a few hours.  What should I make right now?  I have a jar of coconut water in the fridge, or really what was left from separating out the cream on top to make the coconut frosting last weekend.  I could make a smoothie, but I prefer to eat the fresh strawberries from the farmer's market as they are.  And the frozen wild blueberries are best left to top our morning pumpkin pie steel cut oat porridge.  How about a new twist on hot chocolate?  I looked up coconut water hot chocolate and pulled up this recipe.  Below is how I'll try it out in my Thermomix.  With my Thermomix, nothing goes to waste, and playing in the kitchen is easy and fun since there is less to clean up :)

Add leftover coconut water to TM bowl, in this case what was left over from making frosting with two cans of coconut milk, along with 1/4 cup of  raw cacao powder (know of a allergy safe brand?), a dash of vanilla, a pinch of good salt, a heaping tablespoon of sucanat or maple syrup  some cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice to jazz things up.  That was how I made it today.  I'm sure I'll be playing around with the amounts. Now, 70 degrees, speed 1, 5 minutes.  Then blend on speed 6 for 30 seconds.  Enjoy!

*Fast-forward to following day, I took a sip of leftover hot chocolate.  Totally deliciously and creamy cold out of the fridge.  Perhaps I'll make double the amount and store in the fridge for hot Houston days?

Chai Coconut Milk Ice Cream

This is our favorite go-to ice cream.  Simple ingredients, great flavor and super easy to make. We served this ice cream along side chocolate layer cake for Baby Brother's 1st Birthday and it was a big hit.  We also enjoy serving drowned in hot coffee or Crio Bru in the form of Affogato.  We can't wait to try with this chocolate ganache or this hard chocolate topping.  See below how great it is scooped on top of our favorite brownies.  But really, it's great on it's own!

What you need:
2, 14 ounce cans of full fat coconut milk
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon each of ground nutmeg, cloves, and cardamom
a pinch or two of unrefined salt
1/2 cup pure maple syrup or combination of 1/4 cup maple syrup and 1/4 cup raw honey.  
*for vegans, make with maple syrup or check first if honey is permitted

What to do:
Blend or whisk ingredients until smooth.  
Follow instructions of your ice cream maker to freeze until smooth.  We churned for about 25 minutes and packed two pints. 

Click here for original recipe, and for a way to make without ice cream maker.  You could also make with Thermomix.

Happy New Year

Our New Year menu highlights how easy it can be to enjoy a dairy-free, nut-free, seed-free, soy-free, egg-free, gluten-free holiday.  Some early afternoon appetizers, followed by a braised meat dish.  This year it was Osso Buco (note: make your own pine nut-free gremolata on top as it may contain pine nuts in a restaurant). We enjoy braised meat and chicken dinners regularly with roasted potatoes, rice or polenta.  These also happen to be great dishes for sharing with others and celebrating special occasions.  They also provide leftovers!  I love to change up the veggies to go with the leftovers according to what we get in our CSA basket or Saturday Farmer's Market run. This week: sautéed garlicky spinach, roasted cauliflower/mash, steamed sweet potato moons, honey rosemary roasted turnips and carrots.  We always pick up purple grapes for the New Year's Eve Spanish tradition of eating 12 grapes as the New Year rings in.  This year, just like the past few with children, the grapes are now a morning snack tradition.  Serve grapes for dessert with some champagne; now that's easy and allergy-friendly! Just remember to check for a sulfite allergy with your guests.

challenging to chop herbs, plate without sauce
spreading everywhere and take photos while feeding Baby

Baby Brother's Birthday Cakes

We celebrated Baby Brother's First Birthday twice.  The Chocolate Layer Cake, as seen in my previous post, turned out so much better this time around.  I now really like this chocolate cake and will make for our Birthday celebrations.  I was so happy to share this cake today friends with dairy-free and gluten-free diets.  Below is the topping recipe I tweaked today from Quirky Cooking.  This is a dairy free topping, but includes honey so it not ok for vegan guests.  I wonder how it would turn out with maple syrup instead of honey?  Would it be less sweet?  More runny?  Do you have a go-to icing or frosting you really like?  

Coconut Topping
Stir in Thermomix, speed 3 until combined:

300-350 g cream from can of  two coconut milk (put in fridge overnight and scrape the cream from top!)
3-4 tsp or orange juice 
1 tsp of vanilla paste, I used this one. 
60 grams local, raw honey


Click here for original recipe. 

Yum!

We tried another cake last week with sweet potato frosting.  This is a baby-friendly Birthday cake.  Our Baby still not ready for it though.  So he had a roasted and stuffed squash with pears.  

This cake is from this Nutrition/Cookbook.  We drizzled some maple syrup on top for some added sweetness. The texture turned out dense, and a bit more like a scone.  Here is the recipe:

What you need: 
4 cups  all purpose gluten-free flour, I used King Arthur
2 tbs  baking powder
2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/ tsp nutmeg
1 cup vanilla milk.  I used coconut milk
1 cup apple juice or pear juice
1/2 sunflower oil.  I used coconut oil instead
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tbsp vanilla
2 cups grated carrots
1/2 cup raisins (soaked in hot water and drained)
1/2 cup walnuts or sunflower seeds, chopped.  I left these out!

What to do: 
Combine dry ingredients in large bowl

Combine wet ingredients in a medium bowl

Add dry to wet, then stir in raisins

Pour batter into two coconut oil-greased 9-inch baking pans.  Bake at 350 degrres for 30 minutes, or unitl toothpick comes out dry.  Cool on rack and then frost with sweet potato icing below.  

Sweet Potato Icing:
4 medium sweet potatoes. baked cooled and smoothed out in food processor or Thermomix
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp maple syrup

Chocolate Layer Cake

The cake is disappearing despite
the miserable top layer of frosting

For Papi's Birthday this year, we celebrated with a chocolate double layer cake.  This was my first attempt at a gluten-free, dairy-free and double layer cake.  Please note that this cake includes one egg; we adjust and adapt to our family's allergies. Both Papi and Big Brother both gave this cake two thumbs up.  The frosting on the top layer, as you can see in the picture, didn't turn out as I would have liked.  This is because I needed to double the quantity, but it is hard to get things totally right all the time. Especially these days that I am mostly concerned with cross-contamination hazards. I have since Pinned several coconut, dairy-free icing recipes for future reference, here , here and here.  The cake recipe is from Jude Blereau's Wholefood for Children.  I HIGHLY recommend this book to parents looking to nourish their children with whole and organic foods. The recipe for this cake includes variations notes for egg free, dairy free and "princess cake" with raspberries. The note for using coconut oil instead of the butter, the version I made, explains that the crumb will toughen and constrict after sitting or being in the fridge.  This is very true!  

What to use for one 8 inch cake:

You will need to double to make two layers.  
Weigh out ingredients using Thermomix scale.  And grind your own rice flour too.  You can even make your own coconut milk and save lots of money, recipe here. 

160 g (1 cup) brown rice flour
30 g (1/4 cup) true arrowroot
90 g (1/2 cup) desiccated coconut
40 g unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder (pg. 322 explains that it's less bitter)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
185 ml (3/4 cup) maple syrup
125 ml (1/2) cup coconut milk
1 egg!
80 ml (1/3 cup) melted coconut oil, plus extra for greasing

What to do:

I will probably mix in Thermomix next time around.  Here are the directions without machine.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease the base and side of 2, 8 inch round cake tins and line with baking paper.   I use this one.

Place the rice flour, arrowroot and desiccated coconut in a bowl.  Sift the coca and bicarbonate of soda into the bowl, then whisk through to combine.

Place the vinegar, vanilla, maple syrup, coconut milk and egg in a bowl and whisk to combine well.  Add to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.  Allow to stand for 2 minutes-the mixture will look wet but will firm up as it stands.  Pour into the prepared tin.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.  Cool in tin for 20 minutes, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.  Ice with our choice of frosting.  The un-iced cake will keep for 3 days in a airtight container.  In warmer weather, like in Houston most of the year, store in the fridge.