Allergy Free White Bean Chicken Chili

Here's another simple soup for when the weather cools.  I'm still waiting for ours to cool off but I'm starting in on the soups now!  Can you go wrong with a soup served with bacon?  I don't think so!

White Bean Chicken Chili

1 package nitrate free bacon cooked and crumbled (for the topping)

1 large onion, diced

3 teaspoons minced garlic

1 package of chicken breasts cooked and shredded (I threw mine in the crockpot with some water)

2 teaspoons smoked paprika (yummy!!!)

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon chili powder

4 cups chicken broth

1 can (15 oz) fire roasted tomatoes (I put mine in the blender)

4 cans (14.5 oz) white beans

2 cans (4 oz) diced green chiles 

salt and pepper to taste

Saute onion in olive oil until onion is translucent.
Add remaining ingredients and simmer for an hour.
Top with the crumbled bacon.

Allergy Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins

The kids have all been sick and one of the only things they will eat is muffins.  So, they've had quite a variety of muffins over the past week and I needed to try something new.  So here are some oatmeal chocolate chip muffins!  They are best served warm and the texture is wonderful!!!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 1/4 cups quick oats

2/3 cup applesauce

1 cup vanilla hemp milk

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons egg replacer whisked with 2 Tablespoons vanilla hemp milk

1 1/4 cups flour blend

3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400 and spray muffin tins.

In large bowl combine oats, applesauce, hemp milk, brown sugar, oil, syrup, vanilla, and egg replacer.  Stir well.

In a separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients.

Fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients.
Spoon into greased muffin tins and bake for 16-18 minutes.  Turn out on wire rack to cool.

Allergy Free Pea Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies

We have recently discovered golden pea butter as an alternative to peanut butter.  Since Bee cannot eat peanut butter, almond butter, sun butter, or any other type of nut butter we had despaired of ever eating anything that resembled a peanut butter cookie or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  While pea butter is not the same, (it is much drier and harder to spread) it tastes great in cookies!

Pea Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup olive oil

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 cups pea butter

4 1/2 teaspoons egg replacer mixed with 6 Tablespoons rice milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon xanthan

4 1/2 cups regular oats

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 package Enjoy Life chocolate chunks

Beat butter with olive oil.
Gradually add in sugars.
Add pea butter, egg replacer, and vanilla.  Mix well.
Add oats, xanthan, soda, and salt.  Beat well.
Stir in chocolate chunks.
Drop dough on parchment lined baking sheets using 1/4 cup.  Flatten slightly.
Bake at 350 for 14 minutes.  Cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before removing to cooling rack.

Allergy Free Taco Soup

I can get Ladybug to eat just about anything as long as it's in a soup.  So, here's another simple soup recipe that can be cooked on the stove or in the crockpot.

Taco Soup

2 pounds ground beef or ground bison (or you could use ground turkey)

1 large onion, diced

2 (15 1/2 oz) cans black beans

1 (15 1/2 oz) can kidney beans (or pinto beans)

2 (14 1/2 oz) cans stewed tomatoes with green chiles

1 (14 1/2 oz) can diced tomatoes

2 (4 1/2 oz) cans diced green chiles

2 Tablespoons taco seasoning mix  (my recipe is here)

2 Tablespoons ranch dressing mix (my recipe is here)

Brown beef with onions.
Drain any excess fat.
Add beef, onions, and remaining ingredients to a large pot and simmer for 1 hour OR add all ingredients to a crockpot and cook on low for 6 hours.

Sickness and the Allergy Child

I'll admit, when Bee is sick I am way more paranoid than when the other kids are sick.  If she ever has any type of cold or respiratory sickness, I get a little panicky.

Last week she came down with a cold, which progressed into a respiratory infection, which progressed into bronchitis, which started turning into pneumonia.  She ran a low fever for days, coughed without stopping, wheezed, and refused to eat.  She was beyond miserable and I was about to have a heart attack!

We had a visit to an urgent care clinic and after breathing treatments and x-rays, we left with more albuterol for our nebulizer, liquid steroids to keep her airways open, and an antibiotic to fight the infection.

Bee's wheezing was scary and I was constantly worried that her airways were constricting.  There was no better sound than to hear her breathing normally, even if she was still coughing.

Of course Ladybug was sick as well and then Tiger.  After several days of fighting it off, the infection took Curly down.  My week was full of breathing treatments, meds, humidifiers, and Vick's Vapor Rub.

Allergy Free Spaghetti and Meatballs

My grandmother used to make spaghetti and meatballs for us.  This is her recipe, just adapted to be allergy free.  It is a favorite of Prince Charming's!  The kids only eat the meatballs-no sauce.  They are missing the best part!

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Sauce

1 onion, chopped

olive oil

2 14 oz cans diced or stewed tomatoes

2 6 oz cans tomato paste

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 bay leaves

1 1/2 teaspoons oregano

1 cup water

Saute onion in small amount of olive oil until tender.
Add remaining ingredients and stir well.
Simmer for 30 minutes to an hour.

Meatballs

1/3 cup breadcrumbs

1 pound ground beef or ground bison

3 teaspoons egg replacer whisked with 4 Tablespoons rice milk

2 Tablespoons parsley

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon oregano 

1 teaspoon salt

Mix ingredients together well and form into small balls. (If the mixture is not holding well or feels too dry and crumbly, you can add small amounts of rice milk)
Cover bottom of skillet with olive oil and heat on medium.
Brown meatballs in oil until all sounds are browned.
Stir gently into pot of sauce and then serve.

Allergy Free Pumpkin Bundt Cake

Curly has decided that her favorite cake is bundt cake so we tried out a new bundt cake recipe for fall.  The cake was moist and yummy and the combination of pumpkin, cinnamon, and ginger was perfect!

Pumpkin Bundt Cake

1/2 cup Earth Balance

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 can pumpkin puree

4 1/2 teaspoons egg replacer whisked with 6 Tablespoons rice milk

2 1/2 cups flour blend
2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon xanthan

1 Tablespoon cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

Spray bundt pan with cooking spray.
Beat butter and sugar on medium speed.
Add pumpkin and egg replacer and mix thoroughly.
In separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix on medium speed.
Pour into bundt pan.

Streusel Topping

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 Tablespoons Earth Balance, melted

Mix together and sprinkle over cake batter.

Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes.  Invert onto a plate and let cool.  Then invert again so streusel is on top (to avoid losing it all).

OR, use the streusel as a middle layer to the cake to avoid the crumbly mess.

You can also top with glaze.

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

2 Tablespoons melted Earth Balance

1 teaspoon vanilla

rice milk

Mix first three ingredients with whisk.  Slowly add rice milk until glaze reaches a pourable consistency.  Then drizzle over cake.