Homemade Pancakes

The first several months after finding out my son had allergies I had tried several different pancake recipes and none of them seemed to have the flavor and fluffiness that I was used to. I finally tweaked a few recipes together and came up with the following. I usually make a double batch and freeze them so that I have a quick breakfast ready when I don’t feel like cooking.

2 Cups flour
2 Tablespoons baking powder
2 Teaspoons sugar
1 Teaspoon salt
2 1/4 Cups almond milk
2 Tablespoon Sunflower Oil

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl and then add the milk and oil. Let it sit about 5 minutes and stir again. Then cook them on a skillet. If you haven’t made pancakes before- you know that it’s time to flip the pancake when it bubbles up on top. It usually only takes a couple of minutes.

If you are going to freeze some for later- allow them to cool completely and then put them in a freezer bag. When you are ready to eat them: lay them on a plate and microwave for 30 seconds. Then flip them and microwave for 30 more seconds.

I have added blueberries and chocolate chips to my pancakes before as a special treat. I haven’t frozen those though so I don’t know how the fruit or chips would reheat.

Sunbutter & Jelly Sandwich

What kid doesn’t love a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? A kid that is allergic to peanuts doesn’t! But there is an alternative to peanut butter. Sun butter is made from sunflower seeds and spreads like peanut butter. My son loves his “jelly sandwiches” and would eat them everyday if we let him.

If you don’t have time to make your own bread then Kroger brand sandwich slims are safe. (They are made with soybean oil but most allergists consider that safe for those with soy allergies. Some people might not be able to have it though.) I have looked at other brands of sandwich thins (Sara Lee, target brands….) and Kroger is the only brand I have found to be safe. I have yet to find a brand of regular bread that is safe so let me know if you have any other suggestions!

Ingredients:

Sandwich Slims

Sunbutter:

Jelly:

Overnight Oats

My coworker recently introduced me to overnight oats. It’s a really quick and easy breakfast that will fill you up. It’s just 3/4 cup oats and 1 cup almond milk. Then add your extras and store in an airtight container.  I like it best with blueberries. I also add some chia seeds and flax seed because I guess those are good for you. I double the recipe above (1 1/2 oats and 2 cup almond milk) and it makes 3 of the small mason jars. Store in the fridge. This will keep for a few days (4-5).

My latest find

 

Earth Balance makes a mayo substitute that I recently found. It tastes very similar to mayo and has the same consistency. I currently have a batch of cucumber salad in the fridge using this. I’m excited to now be able to make potato salad, tartar sauce, and of course to have a roast beef sandwich with it!

Ingredients:

5 ingredient coconut milk ice cream

This recipe is so easy to make and it tastes so good. I find that I like the taste better than store bought coconut milk ice cream. It seems to have less of the coconut taste.

What you need: (besides an ice cream maker of course!)

2 cans full fat coconut milk

1/2 cup honey

1/4 teaspoon salt (I only seem to use sea salt for everything anymore)

2 tablespoons corn starch

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Step 1: Shake the cans of coconut milk really well. This will mix the liquid and the creamy parts together.

Step 2: Pour all but 1/2 cup of the coconut milk into a pot over medium heat (I keep mine at the 4 mark).

Step 3: Add the honey and salt to the milk on the stove. Heat and stir for 1-2 minutes until they dissolve.

Step 4: In a bowl combine the remaining half cup of milk and the cornstarch and whisk until blended together.

Step 5: Add the cornstarch mixture to the milk on the stove. Continue heating for 8-10 minutes. Do not let it boil. Once it thickens remove from heat.

Step 6: Add vanilla and stir.

At this point pour the mixture into a glass bowl and let it cool a bit. Then cover it with plastic wrap (let the plastic wrap lay on top of the mixture) and put it in the fridge for at least 4 hours. I sometimes let it stay there overnight. When you are ready to mix the ice cream, remove the plastic wrap (you will have some film stick to the plastic wrap. I don’t know why but we don’t want that in the mix anyway so throw it out!). Give the milk a quick stir. Or a slow stir. Your choice on how fast you want to stir it. Turn on your ice cream maker and pour it in. Let it churn until it is soft and fluffy. I usually let mine go for 25-30 minutes. You can add extras towards the end if you would like. I have done chocolate chips and strawberries so far. But I generally keep it plain and let everyone top it off how they choose. Store the ice cream in an air tight container. It is best to freeze for a couple hours before eating so that it firms up more. This will make about 4 cups without any extras in it.

It’s simple as that! I love how easy this is to make.

4 Things I need to have on hand

There are four items that I always try to keep in the house. Almond milk, cashew milk, Earth Balance butter and Enjoy Life chocolate chips. We use almond milk for drinking and for cereal. Cashew milk is creamier than almond milk so I use it in my coffee and for baking. The Earth Balance soy free butter is our butter substitute. Enjoy Life makes several products that are dairy, egg, nut, and soy free. The chocolate chips go in ice cream, pancakes, oatmeal, cookies and directly into mouths.

Ingredients:

Almond Milk:

Earth Balance Butter:

Cashew Milk:

Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips:

Why am I starting this blog?

When my husband and I first found out that our son had 6 food allergies at the age of 10 months, we were a bit overwhelmed. Food allergies were completely new to us and we didn’t know where to start. For the first few months I found myself getting frustrated and sometimes even crying at the grocery store when I realized just how much my son couldn’t have. It took a while before I started turning my attitude around and getting excited when I found new foods that he could have instead of focusing on what he couldn’t. The last couple of years I have discovered so many foods that he could have that I never would have expected to be safe (hello Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup!). I have also found recipes to make him and I have also tweaked recipes to make them “Parker Safe”.  I commonly get asked to share the recipes (not only for those with allergies but those that want to eat a bit better as some of them a healthier than the store bought options.)

I am not a writer by any means but I hope this blog will help someone else with similar allergies to discover new foods and recipes. Who knows- maybe no one will ever look at this blog and I’ll just be talking to myself- which wouldn’t be that uncommon. Feel free to leave a comment to let me know you stopped by!