Allergy- Friendly Snowball Donuts

It's that time of year again, when elves, or in our case Nordic Pixies, start to appear. (Think along the line of Elf on a Shelf, but Pixies can be touched and played with. . . . which. . . ahem. . . saves my momma sanity!!  ) 

 In our house our pixies always arrive somewhere around the beginning of December, and they always greet the girls with a breakfast of  "snowball donuts". 

Snowball Donuts, otherwise know as powdered sugar donut holes,  are easy to make, and always a big hit! 

For this recipe I used a cake pop maker that makes 9 donut holes at a time.  ( I got mine on sale on Black Friday a few years ago for around $10). 

This recipe makes about 24 donut holes. 

Pre-heat the cake pop maker, and give a spray with non-stick cooking spray. 

In mixing bowl #1, combine together the coconut milk (I like the Silk brand), and apple cider vinegar. Give a quick mix and allow it to sit while you combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. This gives the coconut milk a chance to curdle and create a type of buttermilk. 

In bowl #2, mix together the flour blend, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix these together and set aside. 

Now go back to bowl #1 and add in the sugar, melted butter substitute ( I use Earth Balance Soy Free),  and vanilla extract. Give this a stir and then add in your dry ingredients from bowl #2. Mix until it's all combined. 

Transfer the mix (this is one of my favorite Sandra Lee tricks) to a plastic freezer bag, cut off the tip to pipe them into the cake pop holes. Close the lid and let these little babies cook. I usually let mine cook a few minutes longer after the "read" light turns off. 

Once all of the donut holes are made, turn them into "snowballs" by rolling them through powered sugar. They should still be slightly warm, so the powdered sugar will stick right to them.  

These are a quick and easy way to add Christmas cheer to any morning. . . . or can be used anytime you're in the mood for powdered sugar donut holes 😜

Happy Baking! 

Allergy-Friendly Zippy Ranch Dip

"When some veggies come along, you must dip it!!" . . . . Ok that's not how the song goes, but that's always the tune I'm singing in my head as I make this dip. 

A zippy, allergy-friendly version of traditional Ranch, this dip is way to whip up! 

In a bowl, mix together vegan mayo (I use the soy free kind), garlic powder, onion, powder, dill, salt, and pepper. Add in a dash or two of Worcestershire sauce and a splash of rice milk. (Any kind of milk will do to help thin out the mayo, I just prefer rice milk because it doesn't alter the taste of the dip.) 

Chex Mix Chicken Tenders

Chex mix. . . . Yes, please! 

Chicken tenders. . . . You betcha!! 

Both are favorites for my little crew, so when I decided to use the left over Chex mix crumbs as breading. . . I was pretty sure I'd have a home run! 

These babies didn't disappoint!! 

This recipe will make about 12 or so tenders depending on how thick you cut your strips. 

In a microwaveable bowl, melt vegan butter (I use Earth Balance Soy Free), seasoned salt, garlic powder and onion powder. Mix in Chex and microwave 2 minutes at a time, for 6 minutes total. Stir the mix in between each round. Spread the mix out on a paper towel to cool and dry. 

Cut chicken breast lengthwise into strips. I get 4-5 strips per breast. 

Once the mix has cooled crush it up and mix it with the tapioca flour. 

Fill an additional bowl with water, dunk each strip into the water and then into the dry mix. Press the mix firmly on to the strips.

I switch back a forth between baking these and frying them. If you bake them, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and bake at 400 degrees for about 25-30 minutes. 

To fry them coat the bottom on a skillet with veggie oil and heat on medium heat. Once the oil has heated add in the strips (about 4 at a time) and cook for about 3 minutes per side. 

Allergy-Friendly Sloppy Joes

In my mind Sloppy Joes are a comfort food!! I love every messy, tangy, smokey bite of them, and I love that every family seems to have their own little twist on this classic dish. 

Here's my take on this American favorite. This makes a big batch that will easily feed 4-6 people.

In a large  skillet, heat the two tablespoons of coconut oil (or veggie oil if you prefer) over medium-high heat. Add the green peppers and onions and sauté until they soften and turn translucent. About 3 to 5 minutes. Add in ground meat and brown.

* At this point I like to flavor my meat with salt and pepper.

In a bowl, whisk together the tomato paste, water, Worcestershire sauce and apple cider vinegar until smooth. Then add in honey, mustard, liquid smoke, garlic powder, chipotle and cumin. Whisk together and pour mixture into the skillet, and stir. Pop on the cover and simmer together for 15-20 minutes.

We love to scoop our Sloppy Joes up with tortilla chips, but they are equally as good on Allergy-Friendly buns or bread . 

Allergy- Friendly Baked Donuts

It seems like every year around St. Patrick's Day, we a get a major snow storm. This year was no exception! 

To celebrate our snow day, we whipped up a batch of mini baked donuts. . . . and then at 4:00, when the first batch had disappeared. . . we whipped up another :) 

#sorrynotsorry #theyaremini

This recipe makes a dozen mini-donuts or 6 regular sized. 

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

In mixing bowl #1, combine together the coconut milk (I like the Silk brand), and apple cider vinegar. Give a quick mix and allow it to sit while you combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. This gives the coconut milk a chance to curdle and create a type of buttermilk. 

In bowl #2, mix together the flour blend, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix these together and set aside. 

Now go back to bowl #1 and add in the sugar, melted vegan butter ( I use Earth Balance Soy Free),  and vanilla extract. Give this a stir and then add in your dry ingredients from bowl #2. Mix until it's all combined. 

Transfer the mix (this is one of my favorite Sandra Lee tricks) to a plastic freezer bag, cut off the tip and pipe them into the donut forms. This little steps makes this process so much cleaner and easier!! 

** If you don't have a donut pan you can use a muffin tins, with aluminum foil tubes in the middle. Just cut the foil into long strips, roll into tubes, and place in the middle of each pan. 

Be sure to spray your donut pan (or muffin tins) generously to make it easier to get the donuts out. 

Bake for 15-18 minutes and then let cool. 

My family loves to top theses with chocolate frosting, but you also use vanilla, cinnamon and sugar, powdered sugar. . . . the possibilities are endless!! 

I used this recipe for our frosting. It takes a bit of eyeballing to get to the right consistency, so be sure to add just a tiny amount of liquid at a time. 

*This recipe contains powdered sugar, if you have a corn sensitivity please see note below.

Whisk ingredients together until smooth. I like my frosting to be a bit thinner so I can dunk my donut tops right into them. 

*Powdered sugars often contain corn starch. You can create your own corn-free powdered sugar by grinding 1 cup of granulated sugar, plus 1 tsp of tapioca starch in a food processor or coffee grinder. 

Turkey Ranch Burgers

A few years ago, during a round of Whole30, I was in a food slump and decided I needed to jazz up our routine turkey burgers. 

I wanted a Ranch taste, without all of the additives that come in those little Ranch packs.

This dinner is often on repeat at our house because we all love it.  I love the fact that it's quick to make, and can easily feed a crowd! 

The type of ground turkey my family likes comes in a big three pound pack. This recipe makes about 12 large burgers, so I often freeze half of them to pull out in a crunch. You can easily half this to make a smaller batch.  

In a bowl mix all of the ingredients together. I like to mix spices all they way through my burgers and then make a little mini batch of seasoning to add to the top of each patty. 

These Turkey Ranch burgers are awesome on the grill, but they're equally as great baked in the oven at 350 for about 30 minutes, or cooked on the stove top on medium high heat for about 4-5 minutes per side. 

Allergy-Friendly Chocolate Chip Scones

Give me a scone and a good cup of coffee and I'm a happy girl! 

I love the versatility of scones.  You can easily add and subtract a few ingredients to make them taste totally different. They're a perfectly acceptable breakfast item or a perfect snack, not as heavy as a muffin, more filling than a cookie. . . . I could go on and on. 

Anywho, when I was working on creating this recipe I wanted to create that same flavor and texture. 

So put the coffee on, these babies are quick to make and will disappear from your kitchen even faster!

Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. 

In a bowl, combine the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. 

Cut the vegan butter ( I use Earth Balance Soy Free) into small chunks and add it in.  I like to use my Kitchen Aid mixer for this recipe, but you could certainly mix it by hand, or use a food processor. Mix on medium speed until the butter is broken up into little pea sized balls. Add in the coconut milk and vanilla. 

Once this is mixed thoroughly, add in the chocolate chips and give it one last whirl to combine everything and evenly distribute the chips. 

On a floured surface, divide the dough in two. From the dough into two loaf shapes, and flatten them out so they are about 1 inch thick. Cut the loaves into triangle shapes. I usually get 8- 10 scones total. 

Place the triangles on to parchment lined baking sheets and cook for 17-20 minutes. 

Vola! Yummy, flaky, goodness that everyone can enjoy!! 

Corn Syrup Substitute

My daughter Edy and husband, love sweets!! The stickier, the better!! 

There were several recipes that my family enjoyed that called for corn syrup. It's sticky gooey goodness works perfectly in many sweet treats. We try and limit corn with Elli's allergies. Luckily, there is a quick and easy substitute. . . simple syrups! 

   

On the stove top combine the sugar and water over medium heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Let the syrup cool, and add the desired amount to your recipe. Extra syrup can be stored in a mason jar in the fridge for a few days. 

Allergy-Friendly Flour Mix

Even though Elli was only a few month old when we first learned about her food allergies, I set to work right away to arm myself with recipes that were safe for her, but also enjoyable for the rest of my family as well. 

I was feeling pretty darn good about my little recipe arsenal and collection of "safe foods" and products that I'd all lined up for her to eat once she reached that stage. 

And then came the blow that she was also allergic to potatoes! Potatoes!?! 

At first I didn't think that this would be that big of a deal. . . ok, we'll cut out potatoes, chips, fries, no biggie. . . . until I realized that many gluten free items and mixes and recipes I had contained potato starch. . .  Lunch meat has potato starch in it. . . Lots of thickeners have potato starch! So many things contained potatoes that I wasn't even aware of! 

Argh!! 

After a brief temper tantrum, and some tears, I pulled on my big girl pants and went back to work reworking my recipes. After lots of trial and error, I finally was able to create an all purpose flour that was allergy friendly, tastes good, works beautifully in all of my recipes, 

and was fairly cost effective to make.

* Any brand of flour works well, I just happen to like Bob's Red Mill and being able to grab all of them in one spot.

Allergy Friendly All Purpose Flour Mix 

Sift all of the ingredients together, and make sure that they are evenly distributed. This gives you about 18 cups of flour! Store in a large air tight container and enjoy!!