My Son's 5th Party Menu

Yesterday we held my son's 5th birthday party down at the park and am just so grateful for the perfect weather. We did discuss other venue options out of fear of rain, but the reality with venues that cater like McDonalds or an Indoor Climbing park is that they are unable to cater to our food requirements. Fortunately Cayden had his heart set on going down to the local park.... and it couldn't have been any better!

Preparing and arranging the catering for a kids party is always a balancing act. The kids expect lots of great and fun party food and the parents dread the after effects of the sugar 'come down'. A huge advantage for the food lifestyle we have to lead is the fact that normal types of party food aren't an option. I am forced to look for alternatives and the outcome seems to be a winner for all :)

Following is the party menu and recipes I used ...

Menu - (Gluten-Free-Grain-Free-Dairy-Free- Additive-Free)
Fresh Fruit Kebabs
Vegetable Sticks with Fresh Hummus
Sweet Potato Muffins with Strawberry Jam
Meatballs with Gluten Free Tomato Sauce
Macaroon Biscuits
Iced Vanilla Cupcakes
Chocolate Chia Birthday Cake

Fresh Sandwiches - mix of options including Gluten and Dairy.
Apple Slinkys http://www.appleslinky.com.au/

Party Bag - Iced Ginger Bread Men

Fresh Fruit Kebabs
Simply 'ball' seasonal fruit and tread onto a kebab stick. I used a plastic option from Spotlight. Todays version included Seedless Grapes, Rock Melon, Water Melon, Honey Dew Melon - so good on a sunny day and certainly consumed very quickly! :)

Vegetable Sticks with Fresh Hummus
Again simple and delicious. Today we used Carrot, Capsicum and Celery and my Hummus recipe. http://cooking4k.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/easy-hummus-yum.html

Sweet Potato Muffins with Strawberry Jam
... recipe write up being finalized, will post in the next few days.... they were fantastic!!! :)

Being limited for time and not using a lot of jam normally, I was able to purchase a lovely Strawberry Jam for Woolworths which seems to be very clean and well priced... http://www.bonnemaman.us/preserves-jellies/strawberry-preserves/

Meatballs with Gluten Free Tomato Sauce
I used my Chipolata Sausage recipe and simply made them into small balls instead. http://cooking4k.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/home-made-chipolata-sausages-my-way.html
Changes I made:
- I baked them in the oven on 180c instead of pan fry
- I rolled the mix into the size of a walnut, lined the oven tray with baking paper, placed the balls on the tray and gave them a very light spray of Coconut Oil.
- Cooked for 15-20 mins or until cooked through.

I actually used the Macro Organic Tomato sauce, it is really quite good!! :)

 

http://www2.woolworthsonline.com.au/Shop/ProductDetails?Stockcode=334782&name=macro-tomato-sauce-tomato-organic

Macaroon Biscuit
This is actually a recipe from Tania Hubbards cookbook - Food We Love http://www.glutenfreegrainfree.com.au/gluten-free-recipes-gluten-free-food/.
The recipe includes Desiccated Coconut, Raw Cocoa Powder, Coconut Palm Sugar, and Egg Whites. It will soon be published on her website  http://www.taniaspantry.com/... I will keep you posted!!!


Iced Vanilla Cupcakes
These cupcakes are so light and fluffy. Obviously I chose to omit the chocolate frosting for the Butter Cream as below. http://www.elanaspantry.com/vanilla-cupcakes-with-chocolate-frosting/

I was soooooooooo excited to discover Bundaberg Sugar offer a Gluten Free Grain Free Icing Sugar at a very reasonable price ($3?) - yeh!!
http://www.bundysugar.com.au/products/consumer/icing_sugar.

Using this icing sugar, I made a Dairy Free Butter Cream - 150g Nuttelex, 1 cup Icing Sugar, 1 tsp Vanilla Essence, Hoppers Green Food Colouring as required. I then topped the cupcakes with 'Edible Cupcake Toppers' ordered on line. I noticed nobody actually ate them (thank goodness) but they all loved the look of them!!

Lego Chima 'Mt Cavora' Chocolate Chia Cake
This cake recipe is the most perfect Gluten Free, Grain Free, Dairy Free option! We use this recipe all the time as either a cake or cupcakes. It is both easy to make and absolutely delicious! I always get fabulous compliments with this recipe... LOVE IT!!!
http://www.taniaspantry.com/gluten-free-grain-free-dairy-free-nut-free-recipes/cake/chocolate-chia-cake/


To decorate the cake, firstly I covered the cake in Ginger Bread Man Icing (see below) and then covered it in shredded Coconut. I then used the Butter Cream Icing from the cupcakes to attempt to create 'trees and vines', I then sprinkled 'hoppers sprinkles' for water http://www.hopperfoods.com.au/Products/NaturalSprinkles.aspx .... This cake was a difficult challenge as 'Mt Cavora' actually floats. This became quite a lengthy conversation with Cayden and fortunately ended with the fact we would just pretend this would happen - Pheeeeewwwww!!! I then just used actual Lego Chima figurines to help the kids see what the cake was meant to be....... hahahahaha!! It was a hit!! I love 5 year olds!!!

Party Bag - Iced Ginger Bread Men
This is a recipe I use quite a bit too. The trick with these is to make them thick if you don't like chewy, about 5mm works well. The other trick is to not over knead the mix. Unfortunately I don't think these 'tricks' ended up applying to all the biscuits made (about 90)... I think some were quite chey... sorry!! :) http://www.edibleharmony.com/paleo-gingerbread-cookies-cut-out/

I iced the biscuits with a very simple mix of one egg white beaten till forms peaks and then slowly add a cup of icing sugar until all mixed in and forms peaks -easy. You could also add colour if desired.

So there you have it, the menu for my 5year old party. It was a bit of work but the outcome made it sooooooo worth it..... Happy kids without crazy sugar highs, resulting in happy parents.... and a party menu that almost everyone could enjoy, despite dietary limitations!!! Perfect!!!

Home made Chipolata Sausages - my way!

With the exclusion of Gluten, Grains and Additives from our diet, sausages no longer were an easy meal option. There are certainly options available from specialized Butchers but they are not always accessible and can be very expensive! Not eating sausages hadn't really a problem for us, however recently we went to a BBQ where all the kids were having a sausage in a slice of bread with sauce and Cayden and Klaudia decided they wanted one too. The following is my version of 'Chipolata Sausages' (small sausages). Cheap and very simple Gluten-Free-Grain-Free-Egg-Free-Dairy-Free-Sausages for the whole family to enjoy! They freeze really well and so are easy to prepare ahead and also become a wonderful  quick go-to-meal for during the working week....!

Ingredients
500g Pork Mince
500g Beef Mince
1tsp Garlic Powder
1tsp Dried Basil
1tsp Dried Chives
1/3 cup Fresh Parsley, finely chopped
Good sized pinch of Himalayan Rock Salt
Cracked Pepper to taste
Fry Pan
Oil to cook with, I used Coconut Oil

- Mix all ingredients in a bowl and then continue to knead the mix so the meat binds together. The more you knead, the better the bind. I did this for about 5-10 mins.

- Break off the size of a desert spoon of the mixture and roll to form a sausage. Repeat this till all the mixture is shaped.

If you choose to add a liquid to your mix for flavor ie Coconut Amino Sauce, this process will still work however you may need to refrigerate the mix for about 20mins to ensure the bind holds. I believe this kneading process is about 'stretching' the proteins of the meat to bind, by chilling the meat you are then forcing the proteins to 'contract' into an even better bind.

- Heat a small amount of oil in the fry pan and simply add the required amount of sausages and cook as normal. Place the rest in a freezer-safe container and freeze till required! (I love ready meals!!)

If you are going to cook the sausages on a BBQ, remember the risk for 'cross contamination' when cooking with other sausages or meats with unknown sauces.... I find the easiest way to avoid this is to take and use my own 'BBQ Cooking Mat' and to be responsible for the cooking of the food. When I explain the reasons, nobody has had a problem. Another way of course would be to take the meat already cooked....

The following is our quick Friday night meal - sausages served with cheesy 'cauliflower rice' and simple sides.... YUMMO!!

Gluten-Free-Grain-Free-Egg-Free-Dairy-Free-Sausages

Chicken Salad Pancake Stacks

I would have loved to have gone out to dinner with the family last night but given the unusually cold weather and lack of close-by suitable options, following is my take on something creative. I always love involving the kids in the creation of their own meals and the best way to do that is put everything in the middle of the table and then discuss what would make a ‘yummy dinner combo’…..  we ended up with 'Chicken Salad Pancake Stacks'!!

Pancakes

6 Egg Whites

3½ tbsp. Coconut Flour

4 tbsp Milk or Milk substitute

½ tsp of Garam Masala

½ tsp of Cumin

½ tsp of Onion Powder

Good pinch of Himalayan rock salt

Fry Pan

Oil for the pan, I used Coconut Oil

Crumbed Chicken

2 Chicken Breasts (I used Free Range) Cut into thick strips

1 cup Desiccated Coconut (I used Sulphite Free, 220)

1 cup Almond Meal

2 Eggs

2nd Fry Pan

Oil for the pan, I used Coconut Oil

- Mix all the Pancake ingredients in a small bowl. Let the batter sit for 10 minutes so the coconut flour can soak up some of the moisture.

- Prepare salad items, we had the following: English Spinach, Grated Carrot, Grated Cheese, Sliced Avocado, Sliced Tomato and Sliced Cucumber

- Mix coconut and almond meal in a bowl and whisk eggs in a separate bowl. Dip chicken in egg and roll in almond meal and place on a plate. Once all the chicken is done, heat oil in fry pan and commence cooking chicken on a medium heat until golden brown and cooked through. Alternatively you could cook chicken in the oven for about 12mins (turning after 6mins) or until cooked through.

- Heat oil in 2nd fry pan. Whisk pancake batter again and then pour an amount into the pan, quickly thinning out with a spatula to the desired size of your pancake.

- Flip pancake when browned on the bottom and continue till cooked through, remove and set aside. Repeat with batter until all used. Remember to oil pan between pancakes. I got 4-5 medium sized pancakes from the above mixture.

I then placed everything in the middle of the table and everyone assembled their own pancake with the salad items and chicken pieces. Following is a photo of ‘one with the lot’ including a dollop of plain Greek Yoghurt…. Yummo!

Enjoy!

Breakfast Bruschetta - simple and delicious!!

So the family woke up this morning on our last official day of 'holidays' and decided we needed a special breakfast! We went through the usual thoughts of eggs on toast, fruit salad or a big fry up.... but I decided against it all when I noticed the bread I had baked the other day in a flatter mould and realised how similar it looked to bruschetta - the following is what we ended up with! Simple and delicious!!

Breakfast Bruschetta

Ingredients
 Bread. As previously said, I already had some 'Chia Seed & Almond Meal Bread' baked however I believe you could substitute with anything you have. Otherwise here is the recipe for the bread I used

  http://www.taniaspantry.com/gluten-free-grain-free-dairy-free-nut-free-recipes/gluten-free-grain-free-paleo-yeast-free-baking/gluten-free-grain-free-yeast-free-dairy-free-bread-paleo/

 Fresh Banana, cut into thin slices

 Fresh Strawberries, cut into thin slices

 Honey to drizzle. I like to use Raw Local Honey.

 Cinnamon to sprinkle. I use 'pure food essentials - organic cinnamon powder'

 Yoghurt. I used Jalna Honey and Cinnamon Greek Yoghurt
 Coconut Oil to fry in. I always use one that has been 'cold pressed'. It tastes worlds better and is better for you.

 

- Cut bread into thin slices and lightly fry in the Coconut oil. I used about a tablespoon of oil

- Remove bread from pan when ready and place on a plate. Dress with slices of banana, strawberries and drizzle with honey

- Add yoghurt to the plate and sprinkle everything lightly with the cinnamon!

 

Done!!!

Hope this gives you the great start to the day that it did for us!! xx

 

Tips for traveling with kids and intolerances/allergies

So excited!! The family and I are in Cairns for the week to watch my amazing husband compete in the Cairns Ironman!! Interestingly, he has also followed K’s diet and loves it (with the occasional use of bread and rice/quinoa due to not having enough of the other options at the time)… But how do you travel with someone who is so reliant on ‘home cooked foods’ due to numerous intolerances/allergies?

Living with a child that has so many restrictions in their diet, traveling adds a whole other layer, but it certainly isn’t impossible!!

The following are a couple of things I have done to ensure we can all have a bit of a break and still enjoy food and all the social things that go with it:

1)      When bookings your accommodation. Pick somewhere that has a fully contained kitchen. Give them a call to make sure it meets your needs. Basically we just need a working oven to allow us to cook bread for sandwiches, toast etc and some muffins for snacks on the go. By having the conversation and explaining my needs, the accommodation has said they will put us in the room with the best oven to help out – awesome!!

2)      Also when booking, check out the location for accessibility to a supermarket and ideally a health food/ organic shop. Give them a call to see if they sell the things you need. It’s really hard to get suitable bread for K so I have pre-mixed the dry ingredients and now know I can buy the ‘wet’ ingredients up there. In fact the organics shop is on the same street we are staying on! But to make things easier, I also packed a ‘bake@home’ cake mix from Gluten free Grain free, the dry ingredients to make a ‘chocolate glaze’ and some desiccated coconut with the plan to make ‘Lamingtons’ (our fav!)

(bickies for the plane, whisk/measuring spoons/ measuring cup for cooking, bread mixes, cake mix, chia seeds for easy breakfast, coconut and glaze mix for lamingtons)

 

3)      Research any suitable restaurants/cafes so you might be able to ‘go out’. So happy there is a ‘Paleo Café’ in Cairns. Gave them a call and explained our situation and they have suggested to just come in and they will work out some suitable options for her then – am so grateful for this!!

4)      Anyone who has travelled/flown with small kids KNOWS food is your best friend…. giving you the ability to negotiate tantrums, waiting in lines and covering long distances!! For us, the trusty lunch box has saved our sanity on numerous occasions. We keep them stocked with cut up fresh fruit and veggies, preservative free dried fruits, sandwiches, mixed nuts and muffins/bickies depending on the need. We may also use certain ‘squeeze pack’ yoghurts and fruit purees for treats if things really are getting tuff!! :)

 

 

 

 

5)      Make sure you have some ‘Multix Bake’ baking paper (buy from Coles, Woolworths etc). This is the brand I find that works the best! With this, you can obviously line a tin to bake, you can wrap a sandwich to then toast in any sandwich press, use it to line the BBQ to prevent contamination from previously cooked meats including sausages and marinades, you can also use it to cook fresh fish on the BBQ - squeeze some lemon onto the fish and then use the paper to wrap it into a parcel (then buy a packet of Sea Salt potato chips and you have your own version of ‘fish ‘n chips’)…. you can also use it as ‘tracing paper’ for the kids too!!

So just a couple of things that have (and are) helping us have a great time away. Would definitely love to hear of anyone else’s tips that got you through your holiday too!!

…. So the big race is on Sunday and won’t be able to help myself but share how he’s going! Stay tuned!

 

Tomatoless Spaghetti Bolognese - my way!!

 

Tomato's have become a real problem for K in the cooler weather, in particular creating eczema type symptoms around her mouth. 'Spaghetti Bolognese' is a staple in our house - easy way to hide vegies, simple to make into a big batch and freeze for quick meals.... and most importantly, the kids eat it!!!

 

I have been so worried about what I was going to do if I couldn't give K 'Spag Bol' anymore... until I saw a post by http://www.againstallgrain.com/ for 'tomatoless meat sauce' and thought.... I'm going to give this a go!! ..... So the following is my version! The outcome - the kids ate it and no reaction for K.... Spag Bol remains as the 'go to meal'!!! Phewwwwwwwwwwww

The biggest hurdle I had to overcome was not the taste, but the colour - purple, not red!! Straight away Cayden (4yr) spotted the difference... after a number of discussions about 'trying new things etc' he agreed to give it ago and then finished the lot!! K had already finished by this stage and was ready to move on (as toddlers do!!) 

 

So anyway, I had great success - HOORAY!! The leftovers have now been frozen into portion serves ... HOORAYx1,000,000!!!! (I love having things ready to go....!!)

 

Sauce

 2 tbsp Coconut Oil

1 medium Sweet Potato, peeled and grated

2 cups Beetroot, peeled and grated
1 medium Zucchini, peeled and grated

1 small Red Onion, peeled and diced
1 cup Broccoli

3 Garlic Cloves, minced

1 tsp Herbamare (herbed sea salt)

1/2 teaspoon (approx.) fresh Cracked Pepper

1 tbsp Mixed Herbs
1 tbsp Coconut Amino Sauce
1/2 cup of water

Meat
2 tbsp Grape Seed Oil
500g Lean Minced Beef
1 tbsp Tamari Sauce (gluten free soy sauce)

 

- Heat Coconut Oil, add Garlic and Onion and cook till translucent (3-4 minutes)
 

- Add Beetroot, Sweet Potato, Zucchini and cook till softened
 

- Add Salt, Pepper, Mixed Herbs, Water, and Sauce and turn heat down to low to simmer for about 10mins

(During this time I got the 'noodles' ready - Brown Rice Noodles for Cayden, Mung-Bean Noodles for K)
 

- Pour sauce into food processor and blend till smooth, set aside
 

- To the pan, heat 2 tbsp of Grape Seed Oil, add Mince and brown
 

- Add Tamari Sauce and Broccoli
 

- Add Bolognese Sauce back to the pan, mix through and continue until Mince cooked through

** I then put everything back through the blender to ensure EVERYTHING is hidden well and no lumps, it just works and I'm not game enough to challenge that yet!! :)

** The sauce was a bit drier than when I make it with tomato's, you may want to add more fats or liquid (stock?) to assist this...

Done!!

I then served with some grated cheese to make it look even more authentic.....didn't really need it!! Up to you!!

Enjoy!!

 

 

 

Tips for helping to control Eczema

Well… Winter is truly is on its way and with it brings the dry weather that can create so many problems for anyone who suffers from eczema!

Last year was a complete nightmare for us with poor K and her numerous skin rashes, infections and reactions. We implemented a number of measures in the house to try and assist with her skin management…. obviously we now know the primary cause for her skin was due to her extreme food intolerances, however the other reality is that we also learnt how sensitive K’s little body is. So due to this, we just can’t afford to take any chances…….
 

Following are the processes we have re-implemented this winter to help keep eczema and similar symptoms under control:

* completely wet dust the house using ‘clove oil’ and airing the house on a regular basis

* washing the kids stuffed toys and then leave them in the sunshine (when possible) as this helps to kill all the dust mites

* only wear 100% cotton as this doesn't irritate

* only bath her every few days (if possible) as water actually dries out the skin and when she does have one, use an oil like 'Alpha Keri' followed by a 'Sorbolene cream with 100% natural glycerine' afterwards to 'lock in' the moisture.

* I cover K’s face every day in an 'Alpha Keri' ointment - she looks like a 'glazed donut' but it stops the wind/sun drying it out! This is reapplied throughout the day as required. I actually get both kids to apply it themselves at night as part of their 'bed time' ritual 

* Not to over dress/heat  her. This is so hard as a parent in winter as you hate the thought of your child getting cold, but by over doing this it can add to the irritation and dry the skin out more

**A fabulous cream I use to help treat K's irritated areas is called 'Hopes Relief' http://www.hopesrelief.com.au/shop/ I bought it from a chemist.

 

If you or your child is suffering from eczema symptoms, other things to consider as triggers and irritators may include:  

• dairy and wheat products, citrus fruits (tomatoes impact greatly on K’s skin), eggs, nuts, seafood, chemical food additives, preservatives and colourings
• air conditioning  & heaters
• dust, mould, grasses, shampoo and conditioners, soaps, washing powders and toiletries

Good luck… hope this helps!!!