The Allergic Kid

"My (Food Allergy) Plate"

2012-05-23T19:51:00.000-04:00

Here is a photo of The Kid's just completed school project, a food collage based on the new USDA guidelines for a healthy diet. We modified it to show only foods he can actually eat. If you squint a bit, you can see we have a "dairy substitutes" food group, as well as only safe proteins.

I'm not sure why this project makes me giggle, but I really do love my son for showing some food allergy pride.

Butterfly Cookies and Silver Linings

2012-04-20T07:23:00.003-04:00

My son's trifecta of food allergies, environmental allergies and asthma really puts a crimp in his childhood. Forget the dangers of birthday parties and peanut butter in the school cafeteria, to my poor kid the real kicker is that he can't even have a puppy. Not only are real pets, the furry, snugly kind every child should have, out of the question, but even a fish tank is too dangerous because the food is made out of brine shrimp.

So in an effort to compensate, we innocently bought a few milkweed plants and started bringing home monarch caterpillars to raise and eventually release. It seemed like a good idea, though it has since gotten somewhat out of control. (At this time we have a screened in enclosure that my husband built with about a hundred caterpillars in it along with over twenty milkweed plants on our patio. We've successfully raised and released several dozen butterflies already.)

Two of our first caterpillars we raised "free range" on a potted milkweed plant sitting on newspapers that covered about half of our dining room table. As a result, the caterpillars were probably a little too comfortable with constant human observation and we were fairly attached to them, too. After successfully making the transition from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly, we took them outside to release. That's when we discovered our huge, gorgeous male monarch couldn't fly.

Not only were his fore and hind wings separated on one side, he couldn't close his wings completely. To top it off, he had a gimpy leg and listed to one side when he was at rest. We started him on a diet of melon Gatorade, and suddenly my son had a pet, which he promptly named Darth Butterfly.

Darth spent the nine weeks of his butterfly existence rotating between the patio and our living room. He was extraordinarily tame and would crawl onto my hand when I would bend over to pick him up after he accidentally fluttered to the floor. Darth sat calmly on our hands and perched happily on our shoulders. We were able to observe him close up extending his proboscis like a straw to drink his meals, then wash his polka dotted face like a cat with his two front legs.

Eventually the inevitable happened, but before it did, my son asked if we could make butterfly cookies. I decided to go ahead and attempt a complicated design on my usual egg, dairy and nut free roll out cookies. I was very happy with the result, except that the icing wasn't as smooth as I would have liked. (I'm not sure if it was because I made a vegan royal icing, didn't thin it enough, or if it was simply due to my amateur technique.) To match the colors, I changed the flavors to anise and orange, which was a surprisingly addictive combination.

Monarch Butterfly Cookies

Dry Ingredients:
2 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C corn starch
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients:
1 C nondairy margarine, softened
1 C granulated sugar
2 Tbs orange marmalade or orange juice concentrate, thawed
1 tsp anise extract
zest of one orange (optional)

Additional:
Vegan Royal Icing (recipe below)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Cut parchment paper to size of cookie sheets. Measure dry ingredients into a medium bowl and whisk together, then set aside.

Cream margarine with sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in marmalade or orange juice concentrate, anise extract and orange zest (if desired). Slow mixer and gradually add dry ingredients until completely combined.

Spread out one of the pieces of parchment paper on a flat surface. Place about a quarter to a third of the dough on it. Cover remaining dough with plastic wrap or place in plastic bag to keep from drying out. Flatten the dough on the parchment paper into a thick disc by hand, then cover it with a piece of wax (not parchment) paper. While keeping the wax paper in place on the dough, use a rolling pin to roll it out to between 1/4 and 1/2 inch in thickness. (If planning to make cookie pops, make sure the dough is at least 3/8 inch thick.) Peel off the wax paper and use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes with space between them, but leave them in place on the parchment paper. Use an offset spatula (preferred) or butter knife to remove the dough from between the cookies. Gently slide the parchment paper onto a cookie sheet. The leftover dough may be recycled as many times as needed to use all the dough, since additional flour is not added to roll it out.

Optional step for Cookie Pops:
Use offset spatula to arrange cookies on parchment paper so that lollipop sticks will not overlap. Gently insert large lollipop sticks into sides of cookies until at least halfway across width of cookie.

Bake cookies for 10 to 12 minutes and the edges just begin to lightly brown. Remove from oven and allow cookies to remain on sheet for 5 to 10 minutes to firm up before removing to rack to complete cooling.

Once cookies are completely cool, decorate with royal icing.

Vegan Royal Icing

(Adapted from The Joy of Vegan Baking.)

1 1/2 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer
2 Tbs water
1 tsp lemon juice
1 1/2 C powdered (confectioners') sugar
food coloring as desired

Combine Egg Replacer, water and lemon juice in a medium bowl and whisk vigorously until frothy. Add powdered sugar and continue stirring until smooth. Mix in food coloring. (The thickness of the icing can be adjusted by gradually adding very small amounts of either water or powdered sugar.)

To prepare to make monarchs, trace the cookie cutter on a piece of paper and draw the design you will be using. It helps to practice a few times on wax paper. Begin by outlining design in black icing using a very, very small icing tip. Allow to dry overnight, then flood inner areas with black or orange icing. Allow to dry overnight again, then decorate with white polka dots.

The cookies were quite a bit of work, but I think I'll make them again at the end of the school year as thank you's for The Kid's teachers and other school staff, including the school nurse. They truly are a sweet way to remember our pet monarch.

I'm sharing my winged cookies with:

Allergy Friendly Friday hosted by Cybele Pascal,
Allergy Friendly Lunchbox Love at Allergy-Free Vintage Cookery and
Allergy Free Wednesday at Real Food Allergy Free.

Breakfast for Lunch

2012-04-09T06:00:00.000-04:00

Here's another Sunbutter and jelly sandwich made from banana pancakes instead of bread. This time it's paired with lunchbox friendly curly turkey bacon. I posted instructions for making it several years ago in this tutorial. (Boggles my mind, really, how long this little blog has been going. Still have photography issues, though!)

On the side are grapes, a lemony jelly bean cookie basket and apple juice. The whole thing is packed up in an Easy Lunchbox.

I'm sharing this lunchbox with:

Allergy Friendly Lunchbox Love over at Allergy-Free Vintage Cookery.

Have a good week!

A Word to Fox News from the Radical Anti-Peanut Lobby

2012-04-05T14:39:00.000-04:00

I really didn't plan to post today. Unfortunately, I ran across an extraordinarily ugly piece of video, an incendiary fluff piece on Fox News with "public relations consultant Fraser Seitel" decrying the decision of Major League Baseball to create peanut free seating zones at some games as a bad business decision. Go ahead and watch it yourself, if you haven't seen it already. (Thanks to @AllergyEats for bringing it to my attention.)

If you're like me, you felt like you'd been punched in the gut after watching it. Host Shepard Smith did a good job of bringing up important points, such as the life threatening nature of peanut allergies, how making accommodations for other disabilities, like providing wheelchair access, is routine, and the fact that the peanut free sections sell out every time. Still, Fraser Seitel's mockingly delivered attack left more than an unpleasant taste in my mouth. It left me wondering what on earth prompted such a vicious assault on a reasonable accommodation that brings more fans to Major League Baseball stadiums.

Let's take a closer look at the segment. It begins with the obligatory reference to the song about "peanuts and Cracker Jack" and leads with a quote from this New York Post article by a Mets season ticket holder who is excessively distraught at the idea of baseball without peanuts.

Cue Fraser Seitel. (Transcript is my own and I apologize for any errors.)

Let me tell you something. This guy is a season ticket holder at the Mets, he's got more to worry about than peanuts. It's, it's heretical, you know? Buy me some tofu and bean curd pie?

So we're a bunch of vegan hippies who want to keep you from eating hot dogs, too? It's a quick jab, but it's there, delivered as a "joke".

I mean it's... here are the numbers. Consider the numbers. There are three million people who are, uh, unfortunately afflicted with allergies from peanuts. It can be horrible.

Sympathy for people with peanut allergies. Check.

Three million people, that's one percent of the population, many, presumably less of that number are baseball fans, even less than that go to baseball stadiums. Meanwhile there are 73 million people who attend baseball games. So you're kowtowing to a very tiny minority. It's a slippery slope and it's a bad idea.

Wait, now peanut free seating is kowtowing to the 1%? This time the insult is disguised as "reason" and appeals to a completely different demographic. Shepard Smith then makes a few good points and mentions that the Mets have had a couple games with peanut free suites available. Everyone agrees that peanut allergy deaths are bad, and Fraser Seitel is at it again.

Now that's right...and, and OK like the Mets did, if you want to devote a suite to it for several games, that's fine. The Mets, the Mets can do anything they want to get people to come to that stadium. For the Yankees to do it, to devote a section to peanut free attendance, that is a real slippery slope, because then I'm allergic to hot dogs, I'm allergic to beer or whatever.

So it's OK to make accommodations for people who can afford suites, but not anyone else, because the next thing you know, there'll be a beer free section! Besides, the only reason the Mets are doing it is because that's the only way they can get anyone to come to their games.

Plus the fact that the newest sponsor at Yankee Stadium this year is Goldenberg Peanut Chews, you know the delicious little candies? Can you imagine Mr. Goldenberg now hearing this? I mean it's the dumbest decision the Yankees have made since trading Jay Buhner for Ken Phelps.

Mr Goldenberg, I'm available for PR work. Call me.

[Cross talk.] There are eight teams doing it. It's a trend. The peanut, the anti-peanut lobby is very, very radical and very forceful and nobody can find out, it's a mysterious lobby, nobody can get under the skin to find out, so to speak, because they're hidden behind shell companies. [Laughter and more puns.]

Ba dum, ching! That's right, it's all in good fun, can't you parents of children with life threatening peanut allergies, i.e., mysterious and radical lobby, (nasty buzz words, if I've ever heard them) take a joke?

I'd like to thank public relations consultant Fraser Seitel for a vivid demonstration of why it's important to nip bullying in the bud when young children do it, because this is what it looks like when the really talented ones grow up to become highly paid professionals. I also now know who to call if I ever need and can afford a first rate hatchet job.

Honestly, I don't believe that he carries a genuine grudge against peanut free seating. I truly think he was handed a fact sheet and did his job as a Fox News consultant to gin up some controversy, because that means ratings. Seitel's remarks were clearly designed to provoke an over the top response from those of us in the food allergy community. I predict there will soon be a segment featuring an earnest allergy mom trying to explain how much it means for her child to attend a baseball game, and being told that, hey, we were just fooling around.

Speaking as a long time member of the radical anti-peanut lobby, I don't like being played. I would suggest that this kind of behavior should be beneath Fox News except, clearly, it's not. The appropriate response to Fox's segment is to change the channel. Permanently.

Lemony Cookie Baskets with Surf Sweets Jelly Beans

2012-04-04T08:30:00.000-04:00

I've been away from the blog for over a month due to a crashed hard drive and long delays in repairs and, oh, I'm so glad to be back! I have quite a backlog of recipes and reviews to share, but I'll try to space them out. To start I have these adorable little jelly bean basket cookies that came about because of a request from Surf Sweets Jelly Beans for a baked goody for their recent blogger recipe contest.

I'll confess I was almost as curious to find out who the other 15 bloggers were as I was to find out who won. Huge congrats to Charmaine of Yummy Allergen Free for her grand prize winning scones! She was one of the very few who didn't reach for a muffin tin or make a nest, and her creativity paid off. I was happy to see that some of my favorite food allergy bloggers were indeed among the other entrants, such as Sarah of No Whey, Mama, Lindsey of Frugal Food Allergies and Katrina, the Gluten Free Gidget. The entire list of bloggers and recipes is kind of awesome (if I may say so myself!), so just go ahead and scroll through this great list of recipes. All of them are allergy friendly and/or gluten free, so there's something here for everyone. (I discovered in the process of writing this blog post that there was an error in the recipe that I submitted, so if you decide to make these, please use the recipe below, rather than the one on the Surf Sweets site.)

For these dense, chewy little cookies, I decided on a tart lemon flavor to contrast with the sweetness of the jelly beans. I also tried a version using coconut oil instead of margarine, which The Kid actually preferred. Feel free to substitute it, but you may need an additional tablespoon to reach the perfect Playdoh texture for shaping the dough.

The recipe is very kid friendly if you have short people who would like to help make the dough, but I strongly recommend having an adult press the jelly beans and pipe cleaners into the cookies, because the muffin tin will be far too hot to allow little fingers near it!

Lemony Jelly Bean Baskets

(Click here for printable recipe.)

Dry Ingredients:
1 C all-purpose flour
2 Tbs corn starch
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients:
3 Tbs non-dairy margarine, melted (I used Earth Balance Buttery Sticks)
1/2 granulated sugar
2 Tbs lemon juice

Additional:
36 allergy friendly jelly beans (Surf Sweets Spring Mix, of course!)
pipe cleaners for basket handles (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a mini muffin tin with 12 liners. Measure dry ingredients into a medium bowl, then whisk together. Melt margarine and combine with sugar in a separate bowl. Once sugar is completely dissolved, stir lemon juice into wet mixture.

Pour wet ingredients into dry, then stir together until a dough forms. Roll dough onto a flat surface, such as a cutting board, and mold dough into a flat disk or "snake". (This is where the Playdoh skills come in handy!) Divide dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll pieces of dough between palms until a ball is formed, then gently drop each ball into a muffin liner.

Bake cookies for 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press 3 jelly beans into the top of each cookie. Insert pipe cleaner handles, if desired. Makes one dozen cookie baskets.

I'm sharing my darling little baskets with:

Allergy Friendly Friday hosted by Cybele Pascal,
Allergy Friendly Lunchbox Love at Allergy-Free Vintage Cookery,
Allergy Free Wednesday at Real Food Allergy Free and
Slightly Indulgent Tuesday at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free.

I love how there are so many food allergy and gluten free round ups now. I keep thinking I need to start one of my own, but can't quite decide on a theme. Maybe one that is specifically kid and allergy friendly? I'd really like to hear your suggestions!

Finally, I'm going to be at Techmunch in Tampa on April 21st. (I wish I could also go to Nourished, but, alas, it is not to be.) Hopefully I'll see some of my local Florida food bloggers in real life soon!

Valentine's Day Lunch

2012-02-14T10:57:00.001-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day! Recently my son asked me to stop kissing him in public, so I realized that this may be the last year I'm able to make him a theme lunch for Valentine's Day. I may have gone a little overboard...

The idea of making a turkey dog heart came from Disney Family Fun, but I used the same technique for securing it internally using spaghetti as I did with the carrots, which I found at Give Peas a Chance. Next to them is my very first onigiri, heart shaped of course. I followed the directions for making it from Just Hungry, but used a large, heart shaped cookie cutter instead of a teacup to shape it.

Despite the love of sushi that both my husband and I have, I've been extremely hesitant to let The Kid try nori seaweed because of the potential for shellfish cross-contamination. Instead of giving the onigiri a nori wrap to make handling it easier, I used a piece of red fruit roll up. (Unfortunately I didn't have a chance to go to the health food store to get the real fruit leather kind.)

In the side compartments of the Easy Lunchbox are grapes and strawberry hearts and a raspberry and lemon flavored heart cookie. Alongside is apple juice in a reusable juice box.

My husband took one look at it the lunch and, after wincing at the cute overload, suggested I pack a dose of insulin, too.

I'm sharing my son's sweet lunch with:

Allergy Friendly Lunchbox Love at Allergy-Free Vintage Cookery,
Bento of the Week at Bento Blog Network,
Thematic Thursday at Diana Rambles and
Wholesome Lunchbox at Coffee and Vanilla.

Valentine's Day Recipes

2012-02-12T10:47:00.000-05:00

Here's a few recipes from the archives for a deliciously sweet Valentine's Day!

These Creamsicle Cut Out Cookies make fantastic heart shaped treats, on or off a stick. They lend themselves to easy flavor variation, too. My personal favorite is raspberry lemon. Just substitute raspberry preserves for the orange marmalade and zest a lemon instead of an orange.

I originally made these Be My Valentine Cakes as a Little Debbie substitute, but they are a decadent treat that hardly compares.

They are still the closest I've come to making an allergy friendly brownie that I'm happy with.

As a final option, here is my old, reliable Red Velvet Cake recipe. They are wonderful as a layer cake or as a cupcake of any shape or color!

Here's wishing you a safe and loving Valentine's Day!

Pancake Sammy Lunchbox

2012-02-08T12:21:00.003-05:00

I got up early and made The Kid banana pancakes for breakfast this morning. He enjoyed them so much that he wanted them for lunch as well, so I made two of them into a sandwich with Sunbutter and my mom's homemade chokecherry jelly. I cut the sandwich into quarters, then tucked them into an Easy Lunchbox with some carrot slices (still trying to convince my child they're not a garnish), grapes and a couple of little oatmeal raisin cookies. I'm reworking my oatmeal cookie recipe and should have a new one posted soon!

I've just discovered the Allergy Friendly Lunchbox Love event over at Allergy-Free Vintage Cookery, so of course I'll be submitting this lunch to the round up, which is overflowing with ideas for allergy friendly foods that pack well!

Update: The Kid came home and announced "I only ate one carrot." I calmly told him that was fine as long as he tried them, but on the inside I was shouting "VICTORY!" and doing a happy dance, since I've been trying to get him to eat the things for years. Also, Kelly Lester mentioned her Pinterest page in the comments, and what an amazing collection of lunch ideas! Be sure to check it out.

Living with Food Allergies Blog Carnival

2012-02-02T17:22:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the newly rejuvenated February 2, 2012 edition of the Food Allergy Blog Carnival!

Living with Food Allergies:

Poker Chick reminds us all how important it is to "keep our kids safe AND included" in "Yes I'm neurotic, now please stop rolling your eyes: A plea from a food allergy mom" at [Mis]Adventures of an Ad Girl in New York. (And, no, none of us think you're neurotic, just appropriately cautious!)

As usual, Tiffany Glass Ferreira of Food Allergy Family Fun puts it all in perspective with her cartoon "Drama Queen". She says "I'm drawing a new cartoon every day, inspired by our experiences with food allergies." so be sure to go get your daily fix!

Jane Bowers begins her journey of discovery about her child's food allergies in "How Did You Know Your Daughter was Allergic to Milk?" at Finding Jane Bowers.

Colette Martin states the obvious in "Of Course There Should be Epinephrine in Our Schools" at Learning to Eat Allergy-Free. Amen.

The Food Allergy Assistant has a week's worth of links in "Seven Things to Do for Food Allergy and Intolerance Week". She shares some truly "[g]reat information about the differences between food allergy and food intolerance."

The Food Allergy Assistant also finds a silver lining in "Five Great Things About Food Allergies". (Being able to eat raw cookie dough makes my list, too!)

Anyone who's ever discovered peanut shells in stuffed animals or gluten in Play-Doh can tell you that allergens hide in unexpected places. Stacey Molter shares some valuable information about "Common Food Allergens Found in Vaccines".

Annaliese Lemmon revisits the Big 8 allergens and reminds everyone "Why Obvious Allergy Labels Are Useful" at The Rice of Life.

Thanita Glancey of the Loudoun Allergy Network has a great list of food free activities in "Valentine's Day 2012 - Ideas Everyone Can Love".

Homa wrote a heartfelt tribute to her mother-in-law to go with these "Vegan and Allergen Free Carrot Ginger Cupcakes with Orange Buttercream Frosting Photos" at Oh Mah Deehness. "I made these for my mother in law so the post is my thank you note to her for her constant support."

Food:

Liz takes us on a whirlwind, gluten free weekend tour in "Gluten-Free Travel - Philadelphia, PA". Her review at Misterbelly of the city's celiac friendly restaurants will have your mouth watering.

Chupie and J's Mama has more restaurant reviews that will make you smile in "Disney With Food Allergies: The Food". If you have any plans to visit the Florida Food Allergy Mecca, be sure to read her post at Our Story: The Good, The Bad and The Food Allergies. There's some important information about changes Disney has made.

Meghan Little at The Paleo Effect says "Gluten-free, Grain Free, Dairy Free Blueberry Muffins - Yes! It is possible!" in "Paleo Blueberry Muffins, A Fluffy Breakfast On-The-Go".

Here's another delicious recipe from the always creative Alisa of Go Dairy Free. I can't wait to try these "Roasted Carrots and Parsnips with Dairy-Free Shallot Herb 'Butter'"!

Ruth Smith of Best Allergy Sites shares her "Dairy Free Chocolate Syrup Recipe". She says "Just in time for Valentine's Day! Try this dairy free chocolate syrup recipe on treats and in drinks. It's also free from many other allergens as well."

Lindsey at Frugal Food Allergies brings one last lemon glazed treat with her "Valentine's Sugar Cookies: Dairy-Free, Egg-Free, Nut-Free".

If you are considering gluten free cookbooks, Jennifer Beardsley has an honest review of "Deliciously G Free, by Elisabeth Hasselbeck" at Teaching My Baby To Read. She says, "I've made about ten recipes from this book now, and they have all been pretty good. It's strange that this book seems to have some typos though. Was it rushed to press because the author is famous?"

Thanks so much to Jennifer at Food Allergy Buzz for allowing me to host! Posts for the next carnival can be submitted via the Living with Food Allergies Blog Carnival submission form.

Update: HUGE oversight on my part! I forgot to include this valuable post by Missy, The Marketing Mama, because the carnival submission form was down and I had her send it to me directly by email. In "How I accidentally injected myself with an EpiPen" she describes her own reaction to an inadvertent dose of epinephrine. This post is a must read for anyone who's ever been hesitant about using an EpiPen.

Food Allergy Blog Carnival

2012-01-31T23:23:00.000-05:00

There's still time to get your submissions in for the Food Allergy Blog Carnival! Posts may be submitted here until 11pm Eastern tomorrow night. (Just scroll down a bit to find the form.) Thanks to Jennifer B. of Food Allergy Buzz for letting me host. on Tuesday, February 2nd. I can't wait to share all of your amazing stories, valuable insight and delicious recipes!

Back from the Darkness

2012-01-18T22:24:00.002-05:00

Unless food allergy legislation is involved, I make a point of staying away from politics on this blog. I want my little home on the internet to be a place where everyone dealing with food allergies feels welcome, regardless of political philosophy or personal beliefs.

The news about the pending SOPA/PIPA legislation worried me enough that I considered taking my blog down today as part of a planned massive online protest. The idea of taking my blog offline was so painful, that I knew I had to do it, since I believe these bills present a very real risk of actually censoring sites like mine at the behest of corporate interests. So I did.

To be clear, I do not support theft of copyrighted content, especially since I have had my own recipes and photos stolen and posted on other sites. I began photographing and blogging my recipes because I want to share them, and do so under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License. You are free to copy and adapt my work here as long as you give me credit and don't attempt to profit from it. I was furious the first time I saw my cookies submitted as someone else's original creation to a recipe site, along with my photo with my watermark carefully cropped off. I really do understand the need to protect intellectual property.

SOPA and PIPA go far beyond that, though. They give copyright holders the right to block the I.P. address of a website that they deem to have infringed upon them. (By the way, the method is the same one China uses to block political dissent online.) Even more scarily, this includes content uploaded by a site's users and comments left by visitors, not just content offered by the owner of the website.

How could this potentially effect a little blogger like me? If a publisher decided, with or without justification, that one of my recipes was was stolen from their authors' copyrighted works, I could be shut down. This is not an unrealistic concern. For example, the Associated Press is already notorious for threatening legal action against bloggers who merely quote AP articles, even when the blogger scrupulously follows fair use guidelines.

These bills threaten free speech and the exchange of all information online. If you value the information you've found and the communities you've joined, the support you've discovered and the friends you've made, contact your congressional representatives and tell them to vote NO on SOPA and PIPA.

Stop SOPA/Stop PIPA image courtesy of Bloggers Alchemy.

Chicken Paella

2012-01-17T14:26:00.001-05:00

Chicken Paella, a very yellow chicken and rice dish.

I had some really lovely saffron left over from the Marx Food dessert challenge I took part in last month, so I decided to make an allergy friendly version of paella which is a traditional rice dish from Valencia, a coastal region of Spain. The original version is something between a gumbo and a risotto which is cooked in a special pan over an open flame and is stuffed with up to a dozen different kinds of highly allergenic seafood.

Since I don't own a paellera and prefer to avoid flames in my kitchen, I adapted Mark Bittman's technique for starting paella on the stove and finishing it in the oven from his book, How to Cook Everything. The resulting recipe was surprisingly easy to make.

Yellow chicken...

Despite paella's traditional roots and heavenly spices, it is really just a basic rice dish which can be thrown together on a weeknight with any meats or vegetables you have on hand. The oven finish has the bonus of giving you enough time to throw a salad together and ~~yell at~~ direct the kid to set the table.

...coordinating yellow "tablescape".

Chicken Paella

(Click here for printable version.)

1 qt chicken stock (homemade, if possible)
healthy pinch of saffron threads
2-4 Tbs olive oil, divided
2 lbs chicken, chopped into bite size pieces
2 tsp ground paprika
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 large onion, chopped (I like 'em sweet)
1 large red bell pepper, sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 C short grain rice
1 C frozen peas
1/4 C dry white wine (optional)

Heat oven to 450°F. Warm the stock and saffron threads in a saucepan over low heat until ready to use.

Use a large, ovenproof 12 to 14 inch skillet. (Cast iron is perfect.) Heat 2 Tbs olive oil over medium high heat. Combine chicken with paprika, salt and pepper, stirring to coat, then brown in hot skillet. Remove from pan after all sides are just browned. and set aside.

If needed, add additional tablespoon of olive oil. Cook the onion and bell pepper in hot skillet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Stir occasionally while cooking until the onion is translucent, then stir in crushed garlic.

Check again to see if additional olive oil is needed. If so, add last tablespoon and heat. Add rice to pan and stir until all grains are shiny. Carefully pour stock mixture into pan, then stir in chicken, peas and wine. Adjust seasonings as desired. (If you are using a commercial stock, additional salt will probably be unnecessary. If using homemade, add salt and/or pepper as desired.)

Make sure that mixture is spread evenly in the pan, and all of it is below the level of the stock. Transfer the skillet into the oven and allow to bake undisturbed for 15 minutes. At this point carefully evaluate the rice. If all the stock has been absorbed and the rice has cooked to tenderness, return it to the oven, turn off the heat and allow it to sit undisturbed for another 15 minutes. If the rice is dry but too hard, add a small amount of water or stock (about a quarter or third of a cup) and allow to cook for another 5 minutes. Reevaluate the rice after 5 minutes, adjust liquid and cook time again if needed, then turn off oven and allow to sit for 15 minutes before serving.

I'm sharing my golden paella with:

Allergy Friendly Friday hosted by Cybele Pascale and
Gluten Free Wednesday at the Gluten Free Homemaker.

Support the Emergency Access to Epinephrine in Schools Act

2012-01-08T17:09:00.000-05:00

Please sign this petition on Change.org in support of the Emergency Access to Epinephrine in Schools Act.

In honor of Sabrina Shannon, Megan Ayotte Lefort, Katelyn Carlson, and Ammaria Johnson who died of their allergies, children in schools should be given access to life saving epi-pen injectors in the event of an allergy whether there is an action plan in place or not.
Children with food allergies are at risk for anaphylaxis, a serious life threatening reaction that can rapidly close the airways of a child, causing death. Nearly 6 million American children have potentially life threatening allergies. Many families do not know that their child has a life threatening allergy until the first reaction, which can be deadly if not treated quickly.
This is why it is important to be certain that life saving Epi-pens can be made available at school to all children in the case of an allergic reaction. The lives of the above listed children, and many other children, might have been saved if an Epi-pen was available to them.

I couldn't have said it better.

Their Hour of Need

2012-01-05T22:41:00.004-05:00

No mother should have to bury her child. Laura Pendleton is faced with this horror, only to find the funeral expenses to lay her beloved Amarria to rest are greater than the family can bear. According to WWBT News, an account to accept donations has been set up at Wells Fargo under the name "Amarria Johnson Fund".

I found out today that the information was not entirely accurate, and the bank will not be able to look up the account without her mother's name. If you'd like to help the family, here's what you need to do:

Go to any Wells Fargo branch and fill out a counter deposit slip for Laura Pendleton, Chesterfield, VA, and whatever amount you would like to donate.
From this information the teller will be able to look her up on the computer. Let the teller know, either verbally or by writing on the deposit slip, that the account it should go into is the "Amarria Johnson Fund".
The teller WILL NOT be able to give you the account number, but will fill it in on the deposit slip and give you a receipt.

Wells Fargo does have free online banking and transaction imaging. I have no idea whether Laura Pendleton will ever pull up the online images of the deposits made into the account, but in case she does, I wrote a little note on the front of the deposit slip.

We can't bring Amarria back, but we can make sure Laura Pendleton knows she is not alone, and that the food allergy community grieves with her. Let's give her all the love and support we can.

Many thanks to Tiffany Glass Ferreira of Food Allergy Fun who lives in the Richmond, Virginia, area and has kept me up to date on this tragedy.

Update: More thanks to Thanita Glancey of the Loudoun Allergy Network of Virginia for sharing this link to Amarria's obituary and online guestbook, where messages can be left for the family.

No More Dead Children

2012-01-04T12:03:00.002-05:00

Photo of victim from NBC 12.

Last year was a tough one for the food allergy community. A fifteen year old died in Georgia. Within a week a twenty year old also died in the Atlanta area. A six year old died in Montreal.

Instead of a better educated and more compassionate public, one girl faced parents at an elementary school, who actually made picket signs and protested her food allergy accommodations. An airline refused to keep another boy safe by refraining from spreading airborne tree nut allergens.

I had cautious hopes that this year would be better. Then I saw the news yesterday about seven year old Amarria Johnson who died Monday from an allergic reaction on her first day back at school in Chesterfield, Virginia.

This unnecessary death is so horrific, I can't begin to describe it. Here's the story from WTVR of exactly how an allergic reaction should NOT be managed.

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, VA (WTVR) - Ammaria Johnson, a seven-year-old elementary school student in Chesterfield County, Virginia, died after suffering an allergic reaction at school.
According to Chesterfield police, the initial investigation revealed that the Hopkins Elementary School student, a first grader, died after she suffered an allergic reaction.
Johnson's family said it was a reaction to a peanut product.
Emergency crews were called to Hopkins Elementary Monday afternoon around 2:30 p.m. When the EMS crew arrived, the child was in cardiac arrest, according to a Chesterfield Fire Department spokesman.
The child was pronounced dead a short time later at CJW Medical Center.
The child's mother, Laura Pendleton was distraught and she has many questions.
"She has an allergy plan at the school," said Pendleton, which authorizes the school to give her Benadryl during a reaction. "They didn't do that," she said.
At the beginning of the school year, the mother said she tried to give the clinical aid an Epipen for emergencies, but she was declined and told to keep it at home.
Pendleton also wants to know how her daughter got access to the peanut.
She is also upset on how she says the school handled the situation. "At 2:30 they called my wife and said somebody needed to pick Ammaria up because her tongue was swelling. My wife told them to call 911."

Failure to give Benadryl, no Epi-pen on hand and the outrageous decision to call a parent instead of 911 when a child's airway is closing? I don't even have words for this school's heinous behavior. What part of "life threatening medical condition" did they not understand? These people shouldn't be entrusted with the care of a gerbil, let alone a child's life.

And what kind of self-serving, we're-not-responsible-for-the-death-of-the-child-in-our-care, preparing-for-a-lawsuit garbage was the school district trying to serve up with its statement that this girl died of a "pre-existing medical condition"? Here's the county's own guidelines for managing food allergies which the school failed to follow. (Thanks to @IknowTiffany for the link.)

If I were a parent in that school district, nothing would outrage me more than the knowledge that the school was aware of the "pre-existing medical condition", had an action plan in place and still did not keep her safe.

Let me tell you what I want from 2012: NO MORE DEAD CHILDREN.

Food allergy deaths are preventable. The steps are simple, but require compassion and common sense which, clearly, are in short supply:

Label all food, beauty and medical products accurately and completely.
Ban airlines from serving peanuts and tree nuts, so that food allergic travelers are not denied safe access to public transportation because of their invisible disability.
Train restaurant staff to safely prepare meals and avoid cross-contamination for food allergic customers.
Have a licensed nurse on site in every school.
Create an appropriate food allergy plan for school children, and follow it to the letter.
Keep food in the cafeteria and out of the classroom.
Pass the School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act. Do it now before more children die.

I'm fresh out of tact and diplomacy. I really don't give a damn about your child's "right to eat peanut butter" or some corporation's "proprietary information". I just want to keep my son alive.

Please, that's all I want from 2012. Don't kill my child.

My deepest, most heartfelt condolences go out to Amarria's family. You are living my worst nightmare, and my heart bleeds for you.

Post updated to correct the spelling of Amarria's name which was misspelled Ammaria in the original news reports.

Mac & "Cheese" Lunch

2011-12-13T07:00:00.030-05:00

I know that my son really loves a meal when he asks for the leftovers to be put in his lunchbox the next day. So it made me smile when he practically begged for a thermos full of the vegan baked macaroni and cheese I made from Daiya chedder shreds. To go with the warm, filling pasta, I packed some grapes, apple juice in a reusable juice box and a sticker.

This is probably the last lunchbox post before the school break, but I have more lunchbox ideas coming in the New Year!

Meatloaf Muffins

2011-12-12T07:00:00.005-05:00

. Comfort food.

If you do a search for "meatloaf cupcakes", you'll discover muffin tins and mashed potato toppings that reach a level of cuteness no ordinary meatloaf could aspire to. While my inspirations for this dish are, quite frankly, adorable, my goal was far more ordinary.

I wanted muffin sized portions that would bake more quickly than the standard loaf pan, so that I could get it on the table on a weeknight. Obviously ground beef and egg are out of the question at my house, so I wanted a ground turkey version that would hold its shape. Fundamentally, these meaty muffins are big honking meatballs, so I also wanted to make sure they weren't too dense. Finally, I was planning to use leftovers for packed lunches on the following days, so I wanted them to be moist and flavorful enough not to need a messy sauce or glaze without being too spicy for a child.

It took four attempts to make a version that made me completely happy, though my family had enthusiastically snarfed down all the previous ones. They are still a bit crumbly while warm from the oven, but firm up nicely when they cool down. One downside to the recipe is that the hue from the tomato paste makes it awfully hard to tell if they are cooked all the way through. (But they are moist, oh so moist!) You can either break out the thermometer or give them a few extra minutes in the oven. Since I like a little burn on the bottom, that's the option I use.

After trying a muffin tin with and without cupcake liners, I finally settled on my silicone cupcake molds. The muffin tin works just fine, but I like being able to just drop them into a lunchbox, without either extra paper to throw out or an extra pan to wash.

Meatloaf Muffins

(Click here for printable recipe.)

1 C fresh whole wheat bread crumbs
1/4 C ground flax seed
1 Tbs mixed Italian seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1 onion, finely chopped
1 lb ground turkey
6 oz can tomato paste
1 Tbs prepared mustard (any kind except the yellow stuff)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Either prepare a standard muffin pan by greasing it or placing cupcake liners in the cavities, or place 12 silicone cupcake molds on a baking sheet.

Combine bread crumbs, flax and seasonings in a large bowl. Stir in onion, then remaining ingredients. Divide into 12 muffins, rounding tops with a spoon. Bake for 30 minutes.

Corn Puppy Lunch

2011-12-09T10:03:00.000-05:00

Here's a late look at one of the lunches I packed from this batch of corn puppies. (Tutorial for making them can be found here.) The pups are turkey breakfast sausages stuck on little bamboo forks and baked in a corn biscuit dough. Accompanying them are honey pretzel twists, mandarin oranges with an elephant food pick/fork and Skittles (leftover from Halloween) in a footed silicon cup, which sits flush to the lid and keeps the candies from getting loose. The dark blob in with the Skittles is a reflective sticker. The entire thing is packed in an Easy Lunchbox.

The reusable juice box on the side is full of apple juice, though I may be looking for an alternative drink to pack for my child after reading this infuriating article from Consumer Reports about unsafe levels of arsenic and mercury in apple juice. I'll save the commentary for later!

Baked Fregola Sarda & Fruit Stuffed Apples with Coconut Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

2011-12-04T23:53:00.006-05:00

When I was asked by Marx Foods, purveyors of rare and exotic ingredients, if I'd like to take part in a recipe contest, my response was an immediate yes. I promptly received a package containing samples of Fregola Sarda couscous, Iranian saffron threads, whole star anise and vanilla beans, along with instructions to make a dessert from the Fregola Sarda and at least one of the spices.

The fragrance from the package was indescribable. I spent more time with my nose stuck into the little baggies of anise and vanilla than I care to admit.

The arrival of the vanilla beans caused a request from the rest of my family for a batch of coconut milk vanilla bean ice cream, which made me think it would pair nicely with some baked apples, a fitting home for the unusual toasted couscous. I did do a trial run with Israeli style (pearl) couscous, which will also work in this recipe, but it didn't have the lovely nutty flavor of the Fregola Sarda.

Baked Fregola Sarda & Fruit Stuffed Apples

2 C coconut milk
1/3 C honey
1-2 star anise
1 pinch of kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 C raisin sized pieces of dried fruit (I used dried cranberries and golden raisins)
1 C Fregola Sarda
zest and juice of 1 lemon
4 large, firm apples, suitable for baking

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine coconut milk, honey, star anise and salt in a medium pot. Heat over medium high while stirring, until mixture begins to bubble. Reduce to low and allow to steep for 5 to 10 minutes.

Remove anise, then bring mixture back up to a low boil. Stir in cinnamon, fruit, Fregola and lemon zest. Reduce to low again, cover and allow to cook for 15 minutes.

Prepare apples while the Fregola mixture cooks. Cut off tops about 1/2 inch from the top. Scoop out insides, leaving about 1/4 inch thickness on the sides and bottom. (A melon baller works well for this.) Use the juice from the lemon to coat the insides to prevent browning. When the Fregola mixture has finished cooking, place apples snugly together in a baking dish, and fill the cavities. Place tops back on the apples and pour 1/2 inch of water into the bottom of the baking dish. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes.

Serve hot or cold. They are especially good with coconut milk vanilla bean ice cream.

I'm sharing my darling baked apples with:

Allergy Friendly Friday, hosted by Cybele Pascale,
Sweets for a Saturday round up at Sweet as Sugar Cookies,
Sweet Indulgence Sunday at A Well-Seasoned Life and
Presto Pasta Nights, the long running event begun by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast and hosted this week by Jamie of Cookin' with Moxie.

Disclosure: I received free samples from Marx Foods to participate in this blogger recipe contest.

P.S. The poll is open at Marx Foods if you'd like to pop over and give me a vote!

From the Archives: Thanksgiving Recipe Round Up

2011-11-19T08:00:00.010-05:00

Here's a list of recipes from the archives for a delicious Thanksgiving:

Chicken Stock: Homemade stock makes everything better.
Grandma Annie's Candied Carrots: Easy yet uplifted side dish.
Thanksgiving Mashers: Only once a year do the all the elements fall into place to make these amazing potatoes.
Cornbread & Wild Rice Rice Dressing: Friends and family demand that I make this every Thanksgiving.
Buttermilk(less) Biscuits: Throw these little darlings in to bake in just 15 minutes when the turkey comes out of the oven. Then watch them disappear.
Pumpkin Bundt Cake: Who says it has to be pie?

For more ideas, be sure to check out The Biggest Gathering of Dairy-Free Thanksgiving Recipes by Alisa Fleming at Go Dairy Free. (There are lots of additional restricted diet options, such as vegan and gluten free, included in the list.)

I wish you a wonderful, family filled and food allergy safe Thanksgiving!

This post was written as part of NHBPM – 30 health posts in 30 days.

Food Labels: Reading Between the Lines for Cross-Contamination

2011-11-16T11:47:00.002-05:00

I simply adore sesame oil. I love the flavor it brings to Asian cooking, and the nuttiness it adds to other dishes. For the last few years though, I have essentially stopped using it, because of my difficulty finding a brand that wasn't at risk of cross-contamination. It seems every distributor of sesame oil that I've contacted is also bottling peanut oil in the same facility.

(By the way, an easy way to spot another allergy mom at the grocery store is to look for a woman squinting at an ingredient label with a cell phone pressed to her ear and a look of extreme frustration on her face.)

So imagine my excitement when my husband proudly brought home a bottle of Sun Luck Pure Sesame Oil. "All Natural" the label exclaimed. "No gluten" was featured in a little symbol on the side. And the ingredients? "Pure sesame seed oil" followed by "NO ALLERGENS, NO PRESERVATIVES ADDED."

It seemed like my lucky day.

Being fairly untrusting, especially when it comes to glib assurances regarding allergens with the potential to threaten my child's life, I still pulled up the web site to do some checking before cracking open the bottle. There I found another item in the Sun Luck product line, Thai Peanut Sauce. I immediately tried calling the company's phone number to find out if the items are manufactured in the same facility. Unfortunately, it was after business hours and I wasn't able to get an answer. Needless to say, I didn't use the sesame oil with our salmon that night.

The next morning I gave them another call, only to have my suspicions confirmed. The sesame oil is indeed being processed on the same line as the peanut sauce. The person I spoke to initially defended the label, saying that it only had to include the ingredients inside the bottle, not ingredients from other items in the facility, but became very sympathetic when I explained the severity of The Kid's peanut allergy. Although I take corporate assurances that feedback is being passed up the food chain with a grain of salt, the woman I spoke to seemed genuinely concerned. I explained that those of us managing food allergies read labels extremely closely and look for facilities and equipment warnings, so that the way that the label was worded was, well, somewhat misleading.

It's hard enough reading every label without having to suspiciously search for inaccuracies or unlabeled cross-contamination. One of these days I'm going to put Mad Eye Moody's words, "Constant Vigilance!" up on my kitchen wall. In the meantime, I'll be squinting at labels and gritting my teeth at my cell phone in the grocery store.

This post was written as part of NHBPM – 30 health posts in 30 days.

What I Ate Wednesday: Wish Fulfillment

2011-11-09T13:36:00.001-05:00

Baked corn puppies, plus a couple full sized dogs.

Sunday is the only day when The Kid and I are both free of school and work. So that's the day when we have big family dinners, baking gets done and I do some prep for packed lunches and other meals. (It's also the day I usually pick for What I Ate Wednesday, since I do separate lunchbox posts.) This weekend's meals turned into a series of my son's favorites. He didn't mind a bit.

I managed to sleep through breakfast, thanks to the time change and my husband's indulgence. We are allowing The Kid a little more self sufficiency in the kitchen, though still supervised, and he made himself breakfast of a bagel and soy milk. Unfortunately when he's left to his own devices, nutrition takes a beating, and he "spread" the bagel with non-dairy margarine (it's more of an enthusiastic flail with the butter knife) rather than the usual Sunbutter. The bowl of fruit on the counter also became completely invisible. Just like magic.

Darth Vader is no match for...KETCHUP!

For lunch I baked up a tray of corn dogs and puppies with both turkey dogs and turkey sausages wrapped up in a corn biscuit dough. The Kid snarfed up a corn dog and a half plus grapes and apple juice. (I barely managed to snag the other half of the second dog for myself!) The small sausages I baked with little wooden cocktail forks in them to pack for his lunch a couple days this week. One quick baking session made for three days of lunch happiness.

Vegan pizza with spinach lurking under the "cheese".

The night before I had mixed up a batch of pizza dough and tossed it into the fridge, where it developed a lovely sourdough flavor. The Kid's enthusiasm for the new Daiya vegan cheese continues, and I made his individual pizza with the mozzarella shreds with a pile of baby spinach leaves carefully concealed underneath them. (I don't usually hide veggies, but it was a last ditch effort to salvage the day's meals.) Despite their general awesomeness, the Daiya shreds don't brown particularly well, so I've started giving the pizza a quick spritz of olive oil to encourage it, and my son's pizza is now almost indistinguishable from one with full on dairy cheese. He ate the whole thing.

This blog post is joining up with:

What I Ate Wednesday hosted by Peas and Crayons and
National Health Blog Posting Month – 30 blog posts in 30 days organized by Wego Health.

Crock Pot Curried Chicken

2011-11-08T21:20:00.007-05:00

This easy meal was inspired by the recipe for 'Fragrant Chicken Curry' in Best Ever Recipes for Your Slow Cooker by Catherine Atkinson, which, truth be told, I picked off the clearance rack years ago and have never used. The original recipe required several additional steps at the beginning, but if I'm using the crock pot, it means I'm out the door in the morning and am not going to mess with it again until I crawl back home. So I've simplified it, as well as changed up the ingredients.

If you're not going to be able to give it the full 8 to 10 hours on low, bump the temperature up to medium, or else the lentils will not be cooked through. Also be warned that a crock pot that is too small won't be able to accommodate the big pile of spinach that gets dumped in at the end. (Mine is practically industrial size.)

Crock Pot Curried Chicken

(Click here for printable recipe.)

13.5 oz can coconut milk
1 C water
1 Tbs curry powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp salt
3-4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 C dried lentils
2 C baby carrots
1-2 Tbs olive oil
8 skinless chicken thighs (with or without bones)
8-10 oz bag pre-washed baby spinach leaves
1-2 C Jasmine or Basmati (white) rice

In a microwave safe bowl (or large measuring cup) combine coconut milk, water, curry powder, cumin, salt and garlic. Whisk together, then microwave on high until bubbling, stopping to stir every minute. Pour into crock pot with lentils and carrots. Cover and cook on high while preparing the chicken.

Heat just enough oil to cover the bottom of a skillet over medium. Brown both sides of chicken thighs, but do not cook all the way through. Add chicken to crock pot, cover and reduce heat to low. Allow to cook for 8 to 10 hours.

Half an hour before serving, add spinach to crock pot. Gently mix spinach into liquid to coat as much as possible with sauce. Replace lid and prepare 1-2 C rice according to package directions or as preferred while the spinach cooks. (Brown rice will take a solid 45 minutes to cook, so if you prefer it, plan accordingly.)

Serve chicken curry over rice.

I'm submitting this post to:

Gluten Free Wednesday hosted by The Gluten Free Homemaker
NHBPM - 30 health posts in 30 days at Wego Health.

Note: I've corrected the amount of water in the recipe from when I first posted it. Also, if you are unable to consume the coconut milk, feel free to substitute chicken/vegetable stock for it.

Burrito Lunchbox

2011-11-07T22:30:00.003-05:00

It's hard to get a decent food photo in the morning. We're in a rush to get out the door, so there's no time to set up a shot, and my kitchen has the worst light in the house. I just grab a piece of white posterboard I keep nearby, point, shoot and hope. Sometimes the results are better than others.

This would be an example of a lunchbox from last month that my son loved, but that the photo didn't turn out very well. Please don't hold it against the lunch, it's entirely the photographer's fault!

Inside is a tortilla wrapped around my Taco Filling for Wimps and Tofutti Sour Supreme. With the burrito are mandarin oranges with a little food pick (so I was probably out of fresh fruit), a chunk of Pumpkin Bundt Cake (that would be the vegetable serving) with Halloween stickers in an Easy Lunchbox with apple juice in a reusable box on the side.

The lunchbox came home empty.

This post was written as part of NHBPM – 30 health posts in 30 days.

Countdown to Thanksgiving: Smashed Potatoes and Gravy

2011-11-06T22:30:00.002-05:00

Only on Thanksgiving do all the planets align to make this amazing pot o' taters. I usually go through at least a gallon of chicken stock for this holiday, so I make it the week before, leaving me with some excess parsnips, one of two my two secret stock ingredients. (The other one's dried mushrooms, in case you were wondering.) It's also one of the few times a year I'll splurge on fresh herbs at the grocery store if my potted ones aren't producing. Finally, there's a bird camped out in my oven for a couple hours, giving me the perfect opportunity to toss a couple of bulbs of garlic in to roast, too.

Thanksgiving Mashers & Gravy
(Click here for printable version.)

Smashed Potatoes:
5 lbs Idaho or other mashing potatoes
1/2 lb parsnips
1 tsp salt
1/4 C nondairy margarine
2 C chicken stock
1 bulb roasted garlic
several handfuls fresh herbs (parsley, rosemary, sage, etc.), finely chopped
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

To prepare roasted garlic, early on Thanksgiving day take a bulb, and slice off top so that the inside of all the cloves are visible. Place the bulb cut side up on a square of aluminum foil big enough to wrap around the bulb with plenty of room to spare. If feeling fancy, drizzle with some olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt, pepper and or/fresh rosemary. (Don't worry though, the garlic will still be ridiculously good even if roasted naked.) Bring the foil up around the bulb while keeping it upright and twist the top closed. When placing turkey in the oven, place foil wrapped garlic cut side up on the side of the rack. Allow it to remain in the oven for 45 minutes, then carefully remove with oven mitts or a pair of tongs. Allow aluminum foil to cool before unwrapping and setting aside until ready to make mashed potatoes.

Peel potatoes and parsnips and cut into chunks. Place in a large pot, cover with cool water and add salt. (This can be done earlier in the day, then set aside until ready to cook.) About 45 minutes to an hour before the bird hits the table, bring the pot of potatoes and parsnips to a boil, then simmer for about 20 minutes. While they cook, combine stock and margarine in either a small pot or microwave safe bowl, then squeeze all the garlic cloves into the same vessel. Heat on stove or in microwave until margarine has completely melted and the mixture is just starting to bubble. Use a stick (immersion) blender to mix until smooth. Set aside.

When the potatoes and parsnips have finished cooking, drain the potatoes, then return to the pan, but do not put back on the burner. If stock mixture has cooled down, reheat, then add to it and the chopped herbs to the potatoes. Use a potato masher to combine until smooth, then add salt and pepper to taste.

Thanksgiving Gravy:

1/2 C drippings from the turkey
2 Tbs nondairy margarine
3 Tbs flour
4 C hot chicken stock
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper (optional)

I don't bother deglazing or defatting the drippings, I just pour off half a cup (minus chunks) and combine it in a saucepan or large skillet with the margarine and flour. Stir or whisk over medium heat until completely combined, and continue stirring until it just begins to bubble. Gradually add stock while continuing to stir until gravy is nice and smooth. The drippings will give the gravy plenty of flavor, but season with salt and pepper if desired.

This post was written as part of NHBPM – 30 health posts in 30 days.