When food allergies (dairy, wheat, soy, and eggs) were diagnosed in our household (baby was 10mos at the time), many people remarked, "well, at least he won't know what he's missing"...A very true statement, which gave me some comfort, but at the same time, it made me sad....sad that he wouldn't get to try things that many take for granted - french fries as a treat at the local drive-thru, ice cream on a hot summer day - and for the selfish reasons, sad that I would have to give up everything that he was allergic to immediately so that I didn't pass them on to him through the breastmilk that hubby and I had agreed to give him until he was 1 (at the time). Sad that we would have to radically change our eating and food shopping habits because mistakes could kill.
For me this meant, no more lattes on Sunday morning from our barista named Joe (yes his name is really Joe and he has been great trying to find ways to make drip coffee with no milk in it somehow exciting). No more "lets just grab chinese/pizza/burgers" on nights that we both work late and have no energy to cook. Meals take more planning, grocery shopping takes significantly longer, and God help me when my sweet tooth kicks in...
So...what do I do? Find substitutes...good ones and bad ones...but substitutes...and what are they???
Snacks and Dessert are easy...companies like Enjoy Life Foods make foods that are top 8 food allergen free: brownie bites, snickerdoodles, apple cookies...Cherrybrook Farms for pancakes and chocolate chip pancake mixes; hummus and guacamole with tortilla chips rather than chip and dip....
The entrees...those are the harder ones...I miss pizza, and grilled cheese, and eggs...boy do I miss eggs - fried, scrambled, and light fluffy omelets - there is no substitute for these...but the others...i'm starting to find substitutes
Eggs- there is no substitute...most mornings its oatmeal for breakfast...a treat would be to have sausage or bacon on the side. We used to do this scramble type thing that was eggs, sausage, and potatoes...we skip the eggs now - the baby really likes it too so we'll have that for dinner sometimes too
Pizza - I've managed to make an allergen free crust...i found it on another website which i can't find right now...but now that Bisquick has a gluten free version, i think this might be easier... Daiya is great company that makes a "faux" cheese that is amazing... when I want a more authentic pizza experience and have time, this is what i would do;
Pizza Substitute - for a quick fix, growing up i remember english muffin pizza....now it is corn tortilla ones...throw a few on a cookie sheet with some pasta sauce and toppings and my daiya "cheese" and broil it up...
We grill a lot the rest of the year and make enough for the week. Crock pots have become a staple for us too in the winter...we can control what gets mixed in but isn't a time killer...
We do pulled pork, mexican chicken, marinara pork, and tomorrow we're gonna try beef stew.
Pulled Pork
One pork butt
1 bottle of your favorite BBQ Sauce
1 Onion
Clean and quarter the onion. Place the pork and onion in your crock pot and pour sauce over top. Cook low and slow - Low setting for 8 - 10 hours.
When time is up, lift pork out of crock pot and place in a dish with at least a 1 inch lip. Use 2 forks to "pull" the meat into shreds. Spoon remaining sauce over pork
Serve on a roll with coleslaw if you can, or for me, over rice or mashed potatoes...
Sadly, the baby hasn't taken to pulled pork like hubby and i have, but it does create lots of leftovers for us for the week. We'll usually make something different for the baby
More next week...
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