You have the equipment. You have the ingredients. Time to put them together and make some well-deserved treats for your little one! I will include some links to helpful recipe sites at the end of this article, but I will mostly be discussing how you can put together your own recipes.
Dealing with PI in the kitchen can be daunting. Even cookbooks labeled “allergy friendly” do not exactly fit our children's needs and require much revamping.
So how do you adapt a recipe? The ingredient information from last week gives some ideas for substitutions, but the list is not exhaustive. Once you have your list of safe ingredients, determine what each ingredient can be used for (Do you have a flour? An oil?). Now that you know what building blocks you have available to you, you can start selecting recipes to fit your list.
Only one ingredient? No problem!!! If you have a flour, water and flour can typically be combined to make a flat bread (millet, corn, wheat, sorghum, rice, barley, oat and quinoa flours work well independently). For many flours (though not all-- you may have to do some playing around here) the ratio for water to flour is typically between 1:1 and 2:3. For a little extra softness, decrease the water to 2/3 cup and add in 1 Tbsp of oil.
If you have only safe fruits or veggies, you can roast or pan sear them for a different flavor/ texture. Brown sugar creates a lovely caramelizing effect for both fruits and veggies. Roasting them in foil packets with a dash of oil can be a great way to prepare those veggies as well.
Another single ingredient recipe is creating a nut or seed butter--- quinoa, hemp, almond, and their “friends” all make excellent butters. Simply roast the nuts/seeds on a cookie sheet, add a little salt and sugar (if freebies are safe), and pulverize in a food processor or blender. Adding oil will give a creamier texture.
Two ingredients? Great! If you have two safe ingredients and some freebies, you can make a muffin, a cookie, and other baked goods. If your two ingredients don't include a flour, you can do variations on the previously described fruit and veggie preparation. Maybe freeze some fruit chunks and make a smoothie with breast milk or formula!
I know I was so excited the day that I could finally make multiple ingredient recipes, and I really hope that we all can get to that point! Often, as more foods become safe, you can modify previous recipes to go from being one ingredient to multiple ingredient recipes. An example: I make a flat bread for B out of Masa (a type of corn flour), with a touch of oil and water. As she passed more foods, I was able to substitute hemp milk for the water, add in some beet or spinach puree for extra nutrients, and use a combination of flours (I use quinoa flakes and Masa now) instead of just one. As seen here, finding recipes that are easy to modify and easy to accommodate new safe ingredients can make life much easier when baking everything from scratch! Who wants to reinvent the wheel every time a new safe food crosses your kitchen door?!
This is a really brief overview, but I hope it can get the wheels turning. In a sense, I have found baking for B (as opposed to reading labels in search of safe prepared foods) to be extremely liberating. I feel like we are less restricted in the diversity of her diet, despite her small list of safe foods, because we can do more with the safe foods when we take control of the cooking. There is a short list of some helpful recipe links to get everyone started. 100% of the recipe links will not be safe for everyone, but almost all of them should have something for your little one after a few modifications. Good luck and happy baking!
http://www.babybeesfpiestestkitchen.blogspot.com/
http://cindalouskitchenblues.blogspot.com/2008/11/table-of-contents.html
http://www.egglesscooking.com/2008/11/20/egg-replacement-event-flax-seed-meal-round-up/
http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/recipes.html
http://www.cookingallergyfree.com/
http://www.spewdfree.com/
Dealing with PI in the kitchen can be daunting. Even cookbooks labeled “allergy friendly” do not exactly fit our children's needs and require much revamping.
So how do you adapt a recipe? The ingredient information from last week gives some ideas for substitutions, but the list is not exhaustive. Once you have your list of safe ingredients, determine what each ingredient can be used for (Do you have a flour? An oil?). Now that you know what building blocks you have available to you, you can start selecting recipes to fit your list.
Only one ingredient? No problem!!! If you have a flour, water and flour can typically be combined to make a flat bread (millet, corn, wheat, sorghum, rice, barley, oat and quinoa flours work well independently). For many flours (though not all-- you may have to do some playing around here) the ratio for water to flour is typically between 1:1 and 2:3. For a little extra softness, decrease the water to 2/3 cup and add in 1 Tbsp of oil.
If you have only safe fruits or veggies, you can roast or pan sear them for a different flavor/ texture. Brown sugar creates a lovely caramelizing effect for both fruits and veggies. Roasting them in foil packets with a dash of oil can be a great way to prepare those veggies as well.
Another single ingredient recipe is creating a nut or seed butter--- quinoa, hemp, almond, and their “friends” all make excellent butters. Simply roast the nuts/seeds on a cookie sheet, add a little salt and sugar (if freebies are safe), and pulverize in a food processor or blender. Adding oil will give a creamier texture.
Two ingredients? Great! If you have two safe ingredients and some freebies, you can make a muffin, a cookie, and other baked goods. If your two ingredients don't include a flour, you can do variations on the previously described fruit and veggie preparation. Maybe freeze some fruit chunks and make a smoothie with breast milk or formula!
I know I was so excited the day that I could finally make multiple ingredient recipes, and I really hope that we all can get to that point! Often, as more foods become safe, you can modify previous recipes to go from being one ingredient to multiple ingredient recipes. An example: I make a flat bread for B out of Masa (a type of corn flour), with a touch of oil and water. As she passed more foods, I was able to substitute hemp milk for the water, add in some beet or spinach puree for extra nutrients, and use a combination of flours (I use quinoa flakes and Masa now) instead of just one. As seen here, finding recipes that are easy to modify and easy to accommodate new safe ingredients can make life much easier when baking everything from scratch! Who wants to reinvent the wheel every time a new safe food crosses your kitchen door?!
This is a really brief overview, but I hope it can get the wheels turning. In a sense, I have found baking for B (as opposed to reading labels in search of safe prepared foods) to be extremely liberating. I feel like we are less restricted in the diversity of her diet, despite her small list of safe foods, because we can do more with the safe foods when we take control of the cooking. There is a short list of some helpful recipe links to get everyone started. 100% of the recipe links will not be safe for everyone, but almost all of them should have something for your little one after a few modifications. Good luck and happy baking!
http://www.babybeesfpiestestkitchen.blogspot.com/
http://cindalouskitchenblues.blogspot.com/2008/11/table-of-contents.html
http://www.egglesscooking.com/2008/11/20/egg-replacement-event-flax-seed-meal-round-up/
http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/recipes.html
http://www.cookingallergyfree.com/
http://www.spewdfree.com/
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