My Story

Hi! Welcome to my blog for allergen friendly recipes!

Let me start off my saying that my son has milk, nut, and egg allergies so those will be the only allergens that I avoid. If you or your child is allergic to shellfish, gluten, soy or anything else, my recipes might not work for you.

I will also be posting foods that I have found are safe (in my area, it will always depend on where you live and what production factories that your foods come from, so always, ALWAYS, remember to check labels), allergen friendly companies that you can contact for coupons, and restaurants that I have found to be safe.

However, please, please, please remember, everything is always based off of your location, companies have different factories that ship to different areas, some of which may be cross contaminated, and some that may not be. The same goes for restaurants, one location may use dairy in their chicken or fries while the same restaurant in a different area may not. Always be sure to read the labels and speak with staff at the location in which you will be dining. If you are still unsure about a product, contact the company.

Now, my story. In early 2014, we were snowed in and my son, 14 months old at the time, was getting a bit frustrated with being kept inside all winter. I had fed him everything except fish before this day (dairy including milk and cheese, peanuts/peanut butter, baked goods with egg, scrambled eggs, etc). I decided to give him some apples with peanut butter and chocolate milk as a sweet treat. He ate a bit of the apples and peanut butter and drank a few sips of the milk and shortly after his bottom lip started to swell a bit. We quickly called a nurses hotline and they told us to give him some Benadryl since his breathing was not being affected. We immediately gave the antihistamine to him and the swelling went down. He had a pretty nasty rash on his body after that so we took him to the doctor and they gave us topical and oral steroids to help flush his system and get rid of the rash. After that, we decided to avoid peanuts, thinking it was the only possible allergen, which was extremely difficult because one of his favorite snacks was peanut butter trail mix.

A few weeks after this, we went out to eat. I got macaroni and cheese, bread and a soda. My husband got clam chowder, bread, a cookie and soda. We shared all of our food with him not thinking anything of it. He started to get fussy and antsy like he does when he’s been sitting too long. We finished up our meal and went to the car to head home. I buckled him in his car seat, shut his door, walked around the car to the passenger seat and when I sat down in my seat, he let out a terrible scream so I quickly turned around to see why. His lips were 3-4 times their normal size and he was scratching at them terribly so we rushed him to the ER. They gave him medication and it started to calm down but we had to stay in the hospital overnight to make sure there were no respiratory problems.

After telling several people the story. No one knew what he was allergic to, milk or peanuts so we just continued to keep peanuts out of his diet, thinking there may have been some in the cookie. After a week or so his rash from the reaction was still horrible so we bumped up our appointment at the allergy specialist. After running skin tests we were able to determine that not only was peanut a culprit , so were dairy, eggs. Because of the peanut allergy, we were also advised to avoid all tree nuts.

We had blood work done and the results stated that he was allergic to all parts of the egg, so he could not even have cooked egg, he was allergic to all parts of milk so no substituting for goats milk or any other animal milk, and because he was allergic to peanuts, we were also advised to stay away from almond milk.

Now he is 2 1/2 months and it’s been a bit of a struggle. There are milk and eggs in things you would never imagine. So, I’ve learned to get a bit creative with meals and recipes and now I will share them so maybe I can help out another distressed parent of a child with these allergies!

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Soft, Chewy, Vegan Brownies

One of the worst feelings in the world (and I know I’ve said this before) is going through the grocery store and seeing something that I’d really like to eat and knowing that I can either buy it and have my 2 year old ask for some and have to tell him he can’t have any, or just go without treating myself.
My husband is constantly asking me to make those boxed brownie mixes which call for egg, and even if I could use a substitute, the milk chocolate ones contain dairy and the dark chocolate ones are cross contaminated. It becomes very tiring very quickly knowing that we can’t all just sit down and have a nice, enjoyable treat or snack together.
I decided that I would give brownies from scratch a go and my first few times that I followed a recipe I found online, were a complete flop. The brownies were so dark that they were almost bland. My husband didn’t mind that much since he enjoys dark chocolate, but our son and myself, could not stand the bitterness of these brownies.
I started to get really discouraged because I just could not think of something to do to sweeten these brownies up. Then, one night while I was lying in bed, some substitutes hit me. I got up the next day and gave it a go and they turned out wonderfully! They turned out looking and tasting just like that box mix! Nice, moist, soft, and chewy with that nice flaky crust on the top!

You will need:

• A mixing bowl
• Whisk or electric mixer
• Baking pan
• Baking spray or something to grease your pan with
• 1-1/3 cups All Purpose Flour
• 3/4 cup Tablespoons of White  Granulated Sugar
• 1/4 Cup Powdered Sugar
• 1/3 Cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon salt
• 1/2 Cup plain soy milk
• 1/2 Cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
• Mix together the flour, powdered sugar, cocoa powder and baking powder until combined.
• Mix in the sugar, salt, soy milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract.
• Grease your pan
• Your batter will be extremely thick, almost fudge like, but that’s okay! Place the batter in the pan and spread it around evenly.
• Place in the oven at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
• Serve with powdered sugar sprinkled on top, or with vegan ice cream, or plain!
• Enjoy!

Sweet and Fluffy Vegan Pancakes

My husband loves breakfast food, but a lot of breakfast foods, in fact most, are centered around eggs and milk. I looked everywhere for pancake mixes that don’t have any egg or milk in them or aren’t cross contaminated or do not require eggs or milk but found absolutely nothing. After a bit of research and some alterations of my own, I’ve come up with this recipe.

You will need:

• A mixing bowl
• Fork or whisk
• 1-1/4 cups All Purpose Flour
• 2 Tablespoons of White  Granulated Sugar
• 2 Teaspoons of Baking Powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon of salt
• 1-1/4 Cups of water
• 1 Tablespoon of oil (Vegetable oil or any cooking oil will do, however, I use a butter flavored olive oil that has no actual butter in it that I buy from a local oil store)
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of vanilla or vanilla extract depending on your preference of sweetness
• 1/2 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
• Skillet
• Cooking spray
• Optional: berries or dairy free chocolate chips

Directions:

• Mix together all the dry ingredients, then add the wet ingredients, starting with the apple cider vinegar to start activating the baking powder and whisk together.
• Heat a pan to medium heat. Grease lightly. Add about 1/4 cup of the batter to your pan at a time. When the pancake is bubbling and dry around the edges, it’s ready to flip. Cook the same on the other side.
• Enjoy however you like!

I add dairy free butter and syrup to ours!

Dairy and Egg Free Dinner Rolls

We love bread around here. Seriously, carbs are huge! We always seem to be having some sort of bread or pasta but it can be difficult to find good dinner rolls for big meals that don’t have some sort of dairy or egg. But lucky for you I have a great, simple recipe for dinner rolls!

What you will need:

• Large mixing bowl
• Rubber spatula
• Kitchen towel
• Baking sheet
• Vegetable or soy based cooking spray
• Something to cut the dough (I use a pizza cutter)
• 1 1/2 cups Luke warm water
• 1 tablespoon (or a package) of instant yeast
• 2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
• 2 tablespoons softened dairy free butter
• 4 loose cups (don’t pack it, you’ll get too much that way) flour
• Extra flour for kneading
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Optional (for topping):
• 2-3 tablespoons melted vegan butter
• Salt

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (You will need the ovens heat to help the dough rise)
• Combine water, yeast and sugar in bowl. Let it sit for about 5 minutes or until frothy.
• Add butter salt and of your 4 cups of flour
• Mix until combined
• Add the remaining flour and mix well
• Knead the dough for a few minutes (Stop once it starts really sticking to you)
• cover the dough using a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm area (I put mine on top of the preheated oven) for about 20 minutes
• Punch the dough down and turn it onto lightly floured surface
• Knead it a bit more and roll into a large ball
• Flatten it out a bit, but not too much, you want to be able to easily cut it into even sized rolls
• Cut into equal portions
• Roll each portion into a ball and place onto lightly greased baking sheet
• Cover with towel and let rise again for another 20 minutes
• If desired, brush tops of rolls with melted dairy free butter
• Bake for 13-15 minutes or until the tops are golden
• If desired, after removing the rolls from the oven, brush them again with melted dairy free butter
• Serve and enjoy!
• Serve and enjoy!

Vegan Chocolate Cake

Cakes are so difficult, just like a lot of other things, you grow up knowing that they are made with eggs. However, I have learned that there are many things you can make with some knowledge and experimentation. I was determined to learn how to make things like cakes so that way my son would never be without one on his birthday. Here is a delicious recipe for a dairy and egg free chocolate cake!

What you will need:

• Bowl for mixing
• Whisk or electric mixer
• 8×8 baking dish
• Baking Spray
• 1 1/4 Cups flour
• 1 Cup granulated white sugar
• 1/3 Cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 Tsp aking soda
• 1/2 Tsp salt
• 1 Cup warm water
• 1 Tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 Cup vegetable oil
• 1 Tsp apple cider vinegar

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
• Mix together dry ingredients until well blended
• Add wet ingredients and mix together until well blended
• Grease pan with baking spray
• Pour mixture into baking dish
• Bake at 350 degrees F for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and dry or the tops spring back when touched
• Let cool and enjoy!

This recipe also works wonderfully with a cake pop maker if you have one. I went out and bought one so we could have a little bit of fun decorating them!

Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes

First, let me start off by saying I am a sucker for sweets and I like things that are simple enough that my little one can be right there helping me with and can lick the bowl clean after! I always have candy, cakes, cupcakes, brownies, etc in the house. These vanilla cupcakes are a huge hit in my house! (Even with my husband who tries to argue with eating everything dairy free that I give him!)

Here’s a simple, delicious recipe for vanilla cupcakes!

What you will need:

• 1 Cup flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• Just a pinch of salt
• 1/2 Cup granulated white sugar
• 1/4 Cup of oil (I used Canola oil)
• 3/4 Cup of non-dairy milk (I use soy)
• 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla (I use a little more in mine but it’s up to your discretion)
• 1/2 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• An electric mixer or whisk
• Cupcake pan
• Cooking Spray
• Bowl for mixing
• Optional: Frosting (You can make your own or some store bought one’s are dairy free, I use Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Chocolate)

(This recipe makes about 10 cupcakes)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 365 degrees F
• Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar until blended
• Add the oil, non-dairy milk, apple cider vinegar and vanilla and blend well until there are no lumps
• Grease your pan if you aren’t using liners (or your liners if you use foil liners)
• Spoon or scoop your mix into the cupcake pan (fill them about 1/2 to 2/3 full)
• Optional but fun: Let the little one lick the bowl!
• Bake in the oven for 20 minutes
• To test if they are done, put a toothpick in and if it comes out dry they are done, or lightly touch the tops and if they seem to bounce back, they are done
• Let them cool for a few hours before frosting

Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips

Having a child with  food allergies is difficult and to me the three hardest things about those allergies are:

1. Telling your child he or she cannot have whatever it is they are asking for in the store or that they cannot have what  you or someone else is eating and your child not understanding why. (It does get better as they get older though)
2. Trying to check the ingredients in every single thing you are buying at the store with the child getting antsy and frustrated that it’s taking so long.
3. The cost. Oh. My. Goodness. Replacements for egg and milk are just nuts. Vegan butter here costs me about $6 a tub. Then there is the coconut oil, coconut butter, egg re-placer and any of those other things that you may need to use for replacements in baking and such.

(Edit: I did find that where I live that Blue Bonnet light butter is dairy free, so you might want to check it out where you are at if EarthBalance is too pricey like it was for me)

So, because of that, I haven’t been able to do a whole lot of experimenting. But I have been able to come up with a few options that won’t break the bank and can be made with ingredients that you probably already have lying around. Here is one that’s nice and sweet:

You’ll need:

• A microwaveable container
• Another small bowl for the sugar and cinnamon
• Cookie Sheets
• Something to cut your tortillas with (I use a pizza cutter)
• A Basting brush (A couple of tablespoons should do it)
• Vegan Butter
• Flour Tortillas (I used 3)
• 3 tablespoons Ground Cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons White Granulated Sugar

Optional:

• Honey
• Chocolate Syrup (Hershey’s and Nesquick chocolate syrups are both dairy free in my area, be sure to check before using)

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Microwave your butter  in your microwave safe container until it is completely melted
• Stack your tortillas on top of each other and cut them into 8ths
• In another bowl mix together your cinnamon and sugar
• Lay your tortilla triangles on your cookie sheets
• Coat the tops of your tortilla triangles with the melted butter
• Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture on top of the buttered triangles
• Bake for 8-10 minutes or until they look golden brown on the edges
• Pour your honey and/or chocolate syrup over them
• Serve and enjoy!

(If you’ve got some allergen friendly ice cream lying around you could always serve it with that too!)