Tag Archives: nut free

dairy free gluten free mac-n-cheese

Posted on by

I wish I had a video of the dancing that ensued in the kitchen when my boys found out I was going to attempt a ‘safe’ mac-n-cheese. When you go your whole life allergic to dairy and wheat, you don’t get this as a dinner staple….or at all. My 6 year old had never had it, but when we ordered food and a local place accidentally delivered a side of mac-n-cheese that my 4 year old (not allergic kid) devoured. Their curiosity was peaked for this ‘kid’ food staple.

So I finally decided making a ‘cheesy’ sauce with no cheese couldn’t be that hard, right? While we usually try and change our diet rather than sub food, we have incorporated some shredded Daiya brand ‘cheese’ into a few dishes and the boys feel like they are getting something cheesy (quesadillas are their fav)

So for this Mac-n-cheese I started with a pack of organic gluten free rice/corn blend fusilli (who doesn’t love the spirals!!).

 Here is the recipe for the ‘cheese sauce’ though I apologize – I never really measure anything.

Start by melting the butter over med heat until liquified, then adding in the gf flour to make a rue.

Once this paste is formed, add in the Daiya shreds and let them melt and add in flax milk to cream it up. Whisk the blend until smooth and creamy.

 Add in salt to taste, the grated nutmeg (bc everything cheesy is better with nutmeg) and remove from heat. Stir in 2 drops of dōTERRA black pepper oil for an amazing flavor boost.

Drain pasta and drizzle on some Rosemary & Thyme infused olive oil. Top with cheese sauce and watch your dairy free kids smile with delight and gobble it up!

We kicked it up a notch my adding in some natural sausage – browned and crumbled into the mix. You can sneak in chopped spinach as well!

gluten free instant pot quinoa breakfast bowl

Posted on by

This is hands down my new favorite quick and healthy breakfast. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE our instant pot? 

For this breakfast bowl…

STEP 1: start your breakfast meat cooking (optional). We love the Jones Farm Natural Maple Sausage Links and cook up a batch of those while the rest is preparing

STEP 2: make quinoa in your instant pot (if you have the Bluetooth instant pot there is a recipe script on the app). If not, add:

  • 2 cups quinoa (rinse it first)
  • 3 cups water
  • A few shakes of sea salt

Close and lock the lid, select manual and drop it to 1 minute

Let it release naturally after 10 minutes

When pressure releases, fluff with fork and drizzle with rosemary & thyme infused olive oil

STEP 3: We routinely make soft boiled eggs with the instant pot. It is SO easy with perfect results every time!

Insert your rack into the instant pot. Add about 1/2-1 cup water and however many eggs you want to boil

Close and lock lid. Set to 4 minutes on manual. If you like them really soft boiled, cancel it when the cook time is done and manually release the pressure. Otherwise, let it naturally release in 10 min and they are more like medium boiled eggs (no runny yolk).

Once pressure is released, put eggs into cool bowl of water with ice to stop the cooking. The shells are a breeze to peel this way too.

Peel your eggs

STEP 4: prep your veggies. I love adding chopped spinach and/or avocado but you can do whatever you’d like

ASSEMBLY: scoop some of the rosemary & thyme flavored quinoa into a bowl. Add in a few peeled eggs, your sausage, chopped veggies and sprinkle with Parmesan or sharp cheddar (optional). Add in some fresh grated sea salt, lots of freshly grated black pepper and dig in!

 

Breakfast casserole

Posted on by

Our lives have taken a step in an exciting direction with the discovery that our oldest can have eggs as long as they are baked into something and thoroughly cooked! We LOVE eggs, and I feel like some mornings, breakfast just isn’t complete without them. For years we just made due, but I have recently been able to incorporate a breakfast casserole and my little one is ecstatic!

This is so easy and versatile – it takes about 45 min to bake so it’s great to get up and throw in early before they all get crazy and hangry.

Here’s a picture of our casserole today before it has been baked. It was a great way to clean out the fridge from the random meats, sides and veggies from the week!
Ingredients:

You can literally throw anything into this! Here is what we usually do:

  • Pre cook a roll of natural sausage or breakfast meat
  • Add chopped (pre-cooked) potatoes or even throw in a layer of frozen fries or tots
  • Chop in veggies you have in the fridge (mushrooms, spinach, zucchini and onions are our favorites)
  • Add cheese if you can have that. We aren’t quite there but sometimes I mix in some dairy free Daiya cheddar shreds
  • Mix about 8-12 eggs until they are whipped up, adding in some cream or milk of choice, salt and pepper (I love adding in 1-2 drops of dōTERRA Black Pepper essential oil)
  • Because we still need a binder with our eggs to make them safer, I add in about 1/4 cup gluten free bisquick to the egg mix

Grease a 9×13 casserole dish and grease the bottom. Throw in your meat, potatoes, veggies and then pour your egg mix on top to set it all!

Bake at 350 for appx 45 min or until egg part is thoroughly cooked! It’s a huge hit every time!

 

Allergen Free Pumpkin Spice Breakfast Cookies

Posted on by

So these look a lot like my 3 ingredient breakfast cookies, but have a flavor all of their own! It has finally dropped below 80 degrees here in Southern California and fall is in the air (at least in my mind) so time to pull out PUMPKIN EVERYTHING! WOOOHOOO!

I decided to try a pumpkin version of the oat cookies and since I am OUT of bananas (big problem in this house) I had to experiment with some other ingredients. Check out these yummy pumpkin spice breakfast cookies. They aren’t overly allergen free pumpkin spice cookiessweet, but my kids didn’t seem to complain (had to snap a quick pic before they were gone) and they were just the pumpkin spice flavor I was craving 🙂

Allergen Free Pumpkin Spice Breakfast Cookies (dairy, wheat, egg, nut free)

  • 2 1/2 cups Rolled Oats (recommend Bob’s Red Mill GF if you need a gluten-free version)
  • 1 cup organic pumpkin puree
  • 1/2 cup apple sauce
  • 2 tsp organic vanilla extract
  • 1 Tbsp cinnamon
  • appx 1/4 tsp each of ground ginger, nutmeg, cloves
  • 3/4 cup organic brown sugar

Throw all ingredients into a stand mixer and mix until a nice blended dough forms. Drop ‘dough’ onto greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Enjoy with a nice hot cup of coffee or a pumpkin spice latte (recipe coming soon)!

Dairy Free Chocolate ‘Milkshakes’ for Breakfast!

Posted on by

My little one is 2 today, and the birthday boy is so excited about chocolate ‘milkshakes’ for breakfast! When you’re special treat is sweetened with bananas and sunbutter while hiding kale and vitamin D, you can feel good about saying ‘YES’ to chocolate milkshakes!

photo(6)INGREDIENTS:

  • 3 large bananas
  • appx 1/2 cup Sunbutter
  • 1 tsp Organic Vanilla Extract
  • a handful of ice cubes
  • 2-3 Tbsp 100% cacao powder
  • leaves from 1-2 stalks of kale (stems removed) and/or 1-2 cups spinach leaves
  • 1/2 an avocado if you want to add in more good fat and make it creamier
  • 2 cups organic rice milk (or more depending on desired thickness)

Mix the following in a Vitamix or other high speed blender, pour into cups and enjoy! (per our pediatrician’s recommendation, I also add 1-2 drops of Carlson Vitamin D drops (2,000 IU) to each of our cups before drinking, and often add in 1 Tbsp of DHA/EPA Omega 3 fish oil for kids (message me if you want to know where to get this). The boys LOVE this dairy free, nut free treat and hopefully you will too!