Avocado and Raspberry Pie...Perfect for Valentine's Day!

Oh my goodness...I have a dessert that I feel confidant that you will love and the ingredients are ones that you might not have ever thought about putting together.

My husband and I have been following a strict Vegan "diet" for the past 28 days and we have been experimenting with some new plantstrong recipes. We are doing the Engine 2 Diet, not as a diet, but more for a lifestyle. Whole Foods Market has been supporting us through this journey with weekly check-ins and letting us sample wonderful new recipes. Tonight, they made this dessert and I think I could have eaten the entire pan. Who knew that chocolate and avocado could be so creamy and decadent? Plus, I felt a whole lot better as I ate it, knowing that it was full of heart healthy fats. My boys will LOVE this and I will love knowing that I am sneaking in avocado. I know if you are like me, you might be wanting a yummy dessert for Valentine's day....ENJOY!!!!!

Avocado & Raspberry Pie

This recipe is free of milk, eggs, wheat, peanuts, soy, tree nuts, fish and shellfish

Mash two ripe avocados and splash 2T of orange juice over the top

Melt 14 oz vegan chocolate chips in a double boiler with: (example: enjoy life is free of the top 8 allergens)

1 T vanilla extract

1/3 c “milk” — try 365 Soy or Almond (or other milk alternative; rice, etc)


When melting chocolate, mix in milk alternative and vanilla extract.

Once melted, mix with the avocado — with a food processor (or blender) to make smooth,

Once combined, pour over fresh raspberries in a pie pan. Put more fresh raspberries on top and refrigerate until it hardens.

Tip: I used frozen raspberries because they were cheaper :) I layered some on the bottom, then added the "chocolate" mixture and then added more on top. YUM!

It comes out super firm. Cut into small wedges because it is so dense, firm and yummy!

Recipe by Renee Mahon

Avocados...The Perfect Game Day Snack!

Today ONLY: February 4th, Organic Avocados are on sale 5/$5 at Whole Foods

*Call your local store to make sure they are participating

Here are two great recipes for your delicious, healthful avocados!

This recipe is free of milk, eggs, wheat, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish

Guacamole
4-6 ripe avocados
1/2 red or yellow onion, minced
1-2 serrano chiles, stems and seeds removed, minced
2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon of fresh lime or lemon juice
coarse salt to taste
A dash of freshly grated black pepper
1/2 ripe tomato, seeds and pulp removed, chopped (optional)
*if you want, omit the onion, serrano chiles, and tomato and just add some fresh salsa (about 1/4 cup). Doing this makes this recipe SO easy!

Directions
1. Cut avocados in half. Remove seed. Scoop out avocado from the peel, put in a mixing bowl. (See How to Cut and Peel an Avocado.)
2. Using a fork, mash the avocado. Add the chopped onion, cilantro, lime or lemon, salt and pepper and mash some more. Chili peppers vary individually in their hotness. So, start with a half of one chili pepper and add to the guacamole to your desired degree of hotness.
Keep the tomatoes separate until ready to serve.
Remember that much of this is done to taste because of the variability in the fresh ingredients. Start with this recipe and adjust to your taste.
3. Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the guacamole to prevent oxidation from the air reaching it. Refrigerate until ready.
4. Just before serving, add the chopped tomato to the guacamole and mix.

Serve with tortilla chips

Black Bean Salsa

This recipe is free of milk, eggs, wheat, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, peanuts, fish and shellfish

Ingredients

2 cans of black beans drained and rinsed

*I like to use organic black beans or whole foods 365 black beans (they are only .89) and they do not have preservatives or added salt.

1 small bag of organic frozen corn, drained

1 lime OR lemon (for juice)

1 Haas avocado cut into pieces and soaked in fresh lime or lemon juice to preserve its color

*You might want to do this right before you serve this dip so the avocado is at its freshest

1 small onion, diced

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 mango, diced OR pineapple, diced 

4 tbsp olive oil

4 tbsp white wine vinegar

fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Cover. Let refrigerate at least 30 minutes or until ready to serve. Stir before serving.

Serve with tortilla chips

Lori Sandler (Divvies) will discuss food "Navigating Food Allergies" TODAY at 12pm Central

"Navigating Food Allergies"

CLICK HERE to Register for the live talk and cooking class

Where in the World is Children's Benadryl Dye-Free Allergy?

Has anyone else been looking everywhere for Children's Benadryl Dye-Free Allergy?

I have been on a search for Children's Benadryl Dye-Free Allergy for a couple of months now and cannot find it anywhere. Yesterday, I decided to call the company and see if I could get some answers.

In September 2010, Tylenol, Motrin and Benadryl were recalled. If you have any of these medicines sitting around your house and you bought them awhile ago, they might be part of the recall. Call this number, 1-877-717-2824 and they can tell you if it has been recalled and if so, they will send you a refund.

As of now now, the company is having a hard time distributing the Children's Benadryl Dye-Free Allergy after the recall, and they are unsure when it will be back on the shelves.

Would I give Brody the regular Benadryl with dyes if I had no other options? Absolutely, but if I can find an alternative that is dye-free, that would be my first choice.

Since Dye-Free Benadryl is not an option right now (and we do not know when it will be available), I spoke to a pharmacist at Walgreens, and he recommended the Children's WAL-DRYL Allergy Dye-Free. He personally has food allergies uses it.

I bought it, but wanted to call my allergist to confirm that is was alright to give. My biggest concern was that on the Children's Benadryl, it said do not give to children under 2 and on the Children's WAL-DRYL Allergy , it said to not give to children under 4. My allergist said that it was fine to give and the most important thing to look at was that the Diphenhydramine HCl (which is the antihistamine/active ingredient) was 12.5mg per teaspoon, which it is.

If you are like us, we do not go anywhere without "Benadryl" because there have been many times that it has saved us from going to the Emergency Room (too many times to count). If you do not take it with you and you have children with food allergies, I recommend getting some to take with you. We even keep it at the grandparents' house that live close by, so that we are never without it. So, until the Children's Benadryl Dye-Free Allergy comes back onto the shelves, the Children's Wal-Dryl Allergy Dye-Free would be a great replacement.

Aunt April's Bakery

Aunt April's Bakery is Nashville's very first ALL gluten free bakery. In addition to being gluten free, the products are also soy and dairy free. Some of her options are also vegan. April's heart is to be able to make allergen free treats for any food allergies and is more than willing to accommodate them.

Aunt April's gluten free, vegan (no egg, no dairy) and soy free Heaven Cake is available to purchase at The Wild Cow in Nashville. It is an extremely moist chocolate cake with a creamy, decadent icing.

We had April make the Heaven cake for Brody's 2nd birthday. We ordered a sheet cake so we could cut it up into smaller pieces for the adults and bought cupcakes (also Heaven cake) for the kids. It was a big hit! The adults were going back for seconds and my husband and I had to hide the rest of the cake so we had leftovers. Everyone couldn't believe how many things the cake "didn't have in it", yet it was delicious! Aunt April's also offers seasonal gluten free, soy free, vegan cupcakes at The Wild Cow if you are not in the mood for chocolate or are allergic.

You can also find some of Aunt April's Bakery baked goods (muffins, brownies and cookies) at the Edgehill Cafe.

When you buy Aunt April's baked goods from one of these places, you will find that they are clearly labeled with what is not in it (gluten, dairy, soy, vegan (no milk or eggs), etc.) and you will find a detailed list of ingredients (which I love).

For Thanksgiving, Brody was able to have his first pumpkin pie. April baked a gluten free, egg free, milk free, crustless pie. I was so thrilled that he was able to enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving treat.

Aunt April's Bakery is going to be opening (hopefully the end of February) inside The Green Wagon near East Nashville. April will offer her delicious baked goods, and will serve lunch, which will include homemade soup and sandwiches. I am so excited about this! How nice to be able to go and grab some yummy treats when you are out and about, or meet up with some friends at a place that really "gets" food allergies.

If you would like Aunt April's Bakery to make something for you special order, give her at least 48 hours to be able to make it just the way you need it!

You can sign up for Aunt April's Bakery VIP Program by sending a text to 56687 and put Aunt April in the body of the text. When you spend $100 over a period of time, you will get $8 back. Also, 5% goes back to a non profit.

Thank you Aunt April's Bakery for sponsoring our January F.A.C.T. meeting! The Heaven cupcakes were fabulous and we loved the baking tips.

Here is one of April's tips for baking egg free:

Substitute for one egg:

2 tsp of flaxseed meal

3 Tbsp boiling water

Mix together and then let sit for about 10 minutes. The end result will be a egg-like consistency.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact April. She is more than happy to answer your questions!

Aunt April's Bakery

615-568-0028

april@auntaprilsbakery.com

www.auntaprilsbakery.com

F.A.C.T. Meeting

Our next F.A.C.T meeting (Food Allergy Community of TN) is tomorrow, Tuesday, January 4th at 7pm at the Whole Foods in Green Hills (we usually meet upstairs).

Start the new year off with some great tips on allergen free baking!

April Graves from Aunt April's Bakery (an allergen friendly bakery in middle TN) will be teaching a workshop on baking with food allergies. April is passionate about baking safe, tasty treats for those with food allergies and will teach us tips on how to prepare safe baked goods for our families.

She will be bringing some yummy allergen free treats for us to try. For more information, go to www.auntaprilsbakery.com

She can accommodate any food allergy. Email me at allergenfreeplease@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Tis the Season....

To be honest with you, I have been struggling this holiday season with working around the food allergies. It seems that so many activities center around food, which of course I love, but it does create some stress when trying to avoid allergens for my two-year old son.

In the past week, Brody has had two reactions due to cross-contamination. Not life-threatingening, but enough to scare us and have the epi-pen in hand (thank goodness for Benedryl, we don't leave home without that or our epi-pen). It is stressful when you think you are keeping your child away from the potential "dangers" and they still have reactions and you are not exactly sure how it happened.

We are preparing to go on a Polar Express train ride with my family a couple hours away. This will be the first time that we have traveled somewhere that wasn't to family's house where things were bought and prepared that were safe. We are not going away long, but I have felt anxiety as I have been getting things ready to go. It is in these times, that I feel sadness that I can't just pack up our clothes, etc and eat out at any restaurant we want and just enjoy being away from home. As a mom who has a child with food allergies, I have to think about what I can pack for him for meals, etc and feel as though I can't just fully relax.

On the Polar Express train, they will be serving the children cookies and hot chocolate as they ride to the "North Pole" in their pj's. This is great for my four year old, but Brody is now at the age that he understands and wants to have what his big brother is having. I have to make sure that I deliver very close to (or better than) what everyone else is having.

I went on a mission yesterday to find some non -dairy hot chocolate (also without partially hydrogenated oils, which is trans fat). I know I could probably make homemade mix, but things have been so busy that I do not have time to buy a ton of ingredients and it turn out bad. Hot chocolate is not complete without marshmallows, so I was also looking for some that do not have dyes in them (we try to avoid dyes).

The last special item that I that I wanted to find was safe candy canes that didn't have dyes (red #40 in them).

Whole Foods delivered with all three items!

I almost cried as I saw the non-dairy hot chocolate mix...I don't know if it was the excitement, or the price :) I have learned that it is necessary to splurge on some items so Brody can feel included and be a part of what we are doing.

AH!LASKA Organic Cocoa Non-Dairy Chocolate Mix

-I am having a cup as I write this blog, and I will tell you that is not as sweet as other dairy-filled brands, but what a wonderful option to have, and I fill much better about the ingredients list (even for the rest of my family).

Besides being non-dairy, it is also wheat and gluten free.

-It is made in a facility that processes peanuts, sesame, dairy, eggs, fish and soy.

(for my family, I have been comfortable that it is made in a facility with....I am not as comfortable when it is made on shared equipment and there is not a note stating that the venders follow good manufacturing practices to segregate ingredients to avoid cross contact with allergens). Make sure you do what makes you feel comfortable.

Eylon Marshmallows

-In my opinion, I think they are better than regular marshmallows. They are sweeter so you might not need as many. They come in small sizes for hot chocolate and baking and larger sizers for making smores, etc.

They are Gluten Free, Kosher and Parve (dairy free), but they are made with kosher fish gelatin, which would not be appropriate for someone who is allergic to fish.

tru sweet organic candy canes

-the red stripe on the candy cane is not as pronounced, but there are perfect!Fruit juice is used instead of the dyes, which I LOVE!

They are gluten free, vegan kosher and also organic and corn syrup free.

Produced on dedicated nut-free and gluten-free equipment in a segregated area of a facility that also processes diary, eggs, peanuts, soy, tree nuts and wheat.

I hope that these simple items can make it easier for you to make memories with your family and allow you or you or your child to feel included :)

Anyone else feel more stressed around the holidays in regards to food allergies?