Enchilada, Hold the Cheese: Add Shaken Slaw and Pickled Onions

Enchilada with Pickled Onion

At one point in my life, I was making two meals each night, one specifically for my child with multiple food allergies and the other for the rest of us.  We were not quite ready to give up wheat and dairy, especially in foods like enchiladas.  Over a year ago, I finally said enough and started making one meal that everyone could enjoy, including enchiladas.

Since necessity is the driving force of change, I adapted my methods for making enchiladas and excluded cheese.  I added canned squash, beans, and tomatoes and topped it with a flavorful mix of vegetables and herbs.  If someone wants cheese, they can add it later.

I do not have endless time (who does?) so I just layer the corn tortillas in a large baking dish and skip the frying and rolling that are typical with an enchilada.  I will just call mine Enchilada Casserole.

Frontera is generally allergen friendly

 Here is how it goes:

Enchilada Casserole

½ to 1 large onion diced

1-2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 teaspoon of ground cumin

1 teaspoon of red chile powder

1 teaspoon of salt

1 pound of ground beef (optional)

1-2 cans of pinto or black beans, drained and rinsed.

1 can of pureed squash (pumpkin, butternut, or sweet potato)

1 can of fire roasted tomatoes

1 package of Frontera Red Chile sauce

12 corn tortillas

• Chopped cilantro and green onion
• Preheat oven to 350 Degrees.
• Brown the ground beef (if using), then add onion and garlic, spices and salt.  Sauté onions until soft.  Add the beans, squash, and tomatoes and cook over medium heat while you prepare the baking dish.
• Lightly oil the bottom of a 9x12 inch baking dish.  Layer 6 corn tortillas so the entire bottom of the dish is covered.  Spoon one half of the bean and squash mixture over the tortillas and spread evenly.  Add half of the red chile sauce to cover.  Repeat layer of corn tortillas, beans and squash, and chile sauce.
• Bake at 350 degrees, covered, for 45 minutes.  Allow dish to rest, uncovered, for 15 minutes prior to serving.  Top with cilantro and onions.

Suggested Side Dishes:  Who needs cheese when you have these?

Shaken Cole Slaw

My son loves this cole slaw…even after he found out it was cabbage and not lettuce that he was eating!

1 package of precut cabbage for slaw
½ cup Vidalia Onion Dressing from Sam’s Club (GF, Dairy Free, Egg Free)

Place half of the cabbage in a large Tupperware type container, pour ¼ cup of the dressing over cabbage.  Place the remaining cabbage in the container and top with the remaining dressing.  Place lid on container and shake vigorously.  Chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hours and shake well one more time prior to serving.

Quick Pickled Red Onion

Shaken Slaw

• 1 large red onion sliced thinly
• 1 cup of hot water
• ½ cup vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt

Combine water, vinegar, sugar, and salt and stir until dissolved.  Place sliced onion in a glass mason jar or a container with a lid.  Pour liquid mixture over onions.  Chill for one hour prior to serving.  Onions should last about one week in the refrigerator.

Be Wise

Be Wise

I had an embarrassing ‘duh’ moment a few weeks ago while in the allergist’s office.  I thought that I had been diligent about teaching my children how to avoid the foods to which they are allergic, cooking and preparing foods that were within their diets, reading every label-every time, educating others about their food allergies, and training others about how to use an epi-pen.  My ‘duh’ moment came when the doctor and nurse assumed that my son knew how to use his epi-pen.  He didn’t.  I hadn’t thought about teaching him. Duh.

All he knew is that the epi-pen belonged in my purse. 

This conversation started due to my request about how the new Auvi-Q epi pen worked and if my son would be able to self-carry an epi-pen in order to ride the school bus.  The first thing they wanted to see was his familiarity with his epi-pen.  Well, it was minimal and as it turns out, and he had a fear of the epi-pen. 

During the course of our visit, my son was able to use a trainer Auvi-Q as many times as he wanted, he watched a video of a boy his age talking about his experiences using an Auvi-Q, and his confidence grew about how to take care of himself in the case of an emergency.  The Auvi-Q is a talking epi-pen that guides the user with step by step directions for administering the epinephrine.

Talking Epi-Pen

Our visit to the doctor was very educational both of us.  He learned how to use an epi-pen and confronted his fear about using one.  We learned to be wise about being proactive when caring for yourself and food allergies.

Riding the bus is fun!

He is successfully riding the bus to school multiple days a week. The only frustrating part of being a bus rider is successfully finding a seat next to your best friend.

The Tried and True

A friend of mine is an overly talented person in everything she does from her work and gardening to crafting and baking.  The day I tasted her triple chocolate cherry pecan cookie, I had to have the recipe.  I figured that it came from Gourmet or Bon Appetite, but it was the standard chocolate chip cookie recipe from the package of Nestle Toll House baking chips. 

I cannot use the recipe from the Toll House package due to multiple food allergies, but I did have a cookie recipe that was void of eggs, butter, and wheat.  In an attempt to replicate that delicious cookie that my friend made, I came up with this recipe: Chocolate Chip Cookies+.

For Easter, I changed a few of the add in goodies and made white chocolate lavender cookies. Just like the stand by Toll House recipe, the Chocolate Chip Cookies+ can be your stand by cookie recipe.  The recipe takes additions, subtractions, and substitutions very well and is a simple and great allergy friendly cookie.  To make my cookies for Easter, I added 2 tablespoons of lavender buds and ¾ cup of white chocolate chips.

Since the white chocolate chips had milk as an ingredient, my son with the dairy allergy felt a little left out.  We decided to try the recipe for Blondies on the back of the Enjoy Life Mega Chunks package.  To our delight, the recipe worked like a charm.  

I must admit that I am hesitant to try new recipes, especially brownie recipes.  They usually flop!  It seems impossible to make a brownie (or Blondie in this case) that does not call for eggs, wheat, or butter.  These turned out great.

Enjoy Life Decadent Blondies per Mega Chunks Packaging

Makes 12-16 vegan gluten free blondies

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon GF flour mix

¼ teaspoon xanthum gum

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1/3 cup oil

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mega Chunks

Flax Gel (flax egg) 1/3 cup warm water combined with 2 tablespoons finely ground flax seed.

Blondies are Awesome!

• Preheat the oven to 350 deg.
• Prepare a 9 inch square baking dish with non-stick spray.
• Combine flax gel, vanilla extract, and oil in a large bowl.
• Add brown sugar to the wet ingredients and mix until uniform.
• Combine flour mixture with wet mixture and mix until well combined.
• Stir in the Mega Chunks
• Pour batter into a prepared pan and bake for 20-22 minutes until golden brown.  Allow to cool, cut and serve.

See for yourself!  Happy baking.

Easter Eggs

The balance between fear and freedom is delicate in the reference of food allergies.  As caretakers of those with food allergies, fear serves a purpose.   Fear can protect and prevent.   We experience fear in the presence of food allergens in classrooms, buses, and fieldtrips.  We experience it when we read confusing food labels.  We use fear to help others understand the serious subject matter of life threatening reactions.  But fear does something else…

Fear can also prevent us from enjoying simple pleasures.  Fear that is not rational is not purposeful. 

Two of my children are allergic to eggs and to any type of ingestion of eggs in foods like cakes, cookies, and candies.  They had a fear of eggs.  The sight of an egg caused anxiety.  Their fear was a result of my fear.

I never dyed eggs with my kids for fear of the egg.  A few Easter seasons ago, I just decided that my fear of an egg was irrational.  An egg is in a safe enclosure called a shell and that shell offers protection from the part to which they have an allergy.

So we dyed eggs…

We had fun…

We did not eat the eggs…(we had jelly beans instead)

Oh well.

Go ahead...enjoy some freedom!

Happy Easter