Cauley Square Tea Room's Harvest Pie

The pieces missing are the ones that Brody and I ate :)

I was raised in South Florida, and when I was little, I remember going with my mom and grandmom to an antique place called Cauley Square. They had a tea room that served this Harvest pie; and my mom loved it. She made it tonight and created a safe version for Brody and I (we are adding a little wheat to Brody's diet and he is doing alright with it). I wanted to share it with you...just in time for the holidays. The cranberry compliments the apple to give it just the right amount of tartness. It is definitely worth making!

Cauley Square Tea Room's Harvest Pie

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

*substitute pie crust and flour to make it wheat free

2-9" unbaked regular pie shells *not deep dish

We used Wholly Wholesome pie crust from Whole Foods (it only has wheat),

Publix frozen pie crust (only has wheat). Pillsbury also has wheat.

OR use your favorite Wheat Free/Dairy Free Pie Crust

FILLING
1 c. plus 2 tbsp. packed brown sugar
4 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. cinnamon
6 lg. Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced thin
2 c. fresh cranberries
2 tbsp. lemon juice

CRUMB TOPPING
1 c. flour (substitute oat flour for a wheat free version)

*tip-just grind up Old Fashioned Oats in your blender or food processor)
1 c. packed brown sugar
*1/2 c. safe butter

*The real Cauley Square Tea Room's Harvest Pie has an altogether different topping.
This one is a replacement for those who have dairy allergiess.

DIRECTIONS
In a small bowl, toss together brown sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon.
In a large bowl, toss together apples, cranberries, and lemon juice; gently
stir in small bowl ingredients. Pour into unbaked pie shells. Make crumb
topping by adding the Smart Balance spread to the flour and sugar. Mix
with fingers until crumbly. Add 1/2 of mixture to each pie. Bake in a 350 degree
oven for 55-60 min. Serve warm! YUM! :) Serves 16. (Makes 2 pies!)

This recipe is from the Miami Herald

Super Sloppy Joes-Super Easy!

We are going over to North Carolina for Christmas to visit my in-laws. I told my mother-in-law that I would start posting my "safe" dinner recipes so she had some options to choose from. Her goal is to make dinner Brody safe, which is wonderful! So, I will be posting quite a few dinner recipes between now and then.

Let's start with this one, it is tasty, easy and good comfort food for cold nights winter.

Super Sloppy Joes

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

(it could also be soy and fish free if you omit the Worcestershire sauce)

Ingredients

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
1 1/4 pounds ground beef sirloin
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons steak seasoning blend, such as McCormick brand Montreal Seasoning (or you could use salt and pepper if you would like)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (Omit this if you have a soy or fish allergy)
1 8oz can tomato sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste (you can add more later if you want it thicker)
4 crusty rolls (I used EnerG Tapicoa Dinner Rolls-they are free of gluten, wheat, casein, dairy, egg, soy, nut, corn), split, toasted, and lightly buttered with safe butter, example: Earth's Balance or Smart Balance buttery spread Light...it is non dairy and vegan.

Directions
Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil and meat to the pan. Spread the meat around the pan and begin to break it up. Combine brown sugar and steak seasoning. Add sugar and spice mixture to the skillet and combine. When the meat has browned, add onion and red peppers to the skillet. Reduce heat to medium and cook onions, peppers, red wine vinegar and Worcestershire sauce with meat for 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce and paste to pan. Stir to combine. Reduce heat to simmer and cook Sloppy Joe mixture 5 minutes longer. Using a large spoon or ice cream scoop, pile sloppy meat onto toasted, buttered (with Safe butter) bun bottoms and cover with bun tops.

* I double this recipe. I brown the meat, throw the rest of the ingredients in the crockpot and let it cook for about 4hrs (SO EASY!). I figure you may as well make more at the same time and then freeze the rest for another dinner. It freezes great!

Recipe from Rachael Ray

Chicken Cupcake

We recently celebrated Brody's 1 year birthday. Since I couldn't buy the cake with coordinating smash cake at Publix (boo hoo!), I made him a chicken cupcake. He was a chicken for Halloween, a chicken would be fun and I thought I could pull it off. I was happy with the result and he had a smile (and lots of frosting and chocolate) on his face.

Cupcake
Betty Crocker Gluten Free Devil's Food Cake (you could use any cake mix you like)
1 can of 100% pure pumpkin
Mix ingredients and bake at 350 for approximately 15 minutes

Frosting
Safe Buttercream Icing Recipe
*I left most of the icing white for the chicken and pulled out a little to color red, brown and yellow
*To color the icing,I used Wilton 8 Icing Color Concentrated gel-won't thin icing (bought at Michaels with a 50% off coupon)
-used red for the crest, yellow for the beak and legs/feet and brown for the eyes

Decorating the Chicken
To make the chicken look 3-D, I cut large marshmallows (see picture) and placed them onto the cupcake then dipped a toothpick into the colored icing to decorate the crest, eyes, beak and legs/feet

Safe and Cute...Mission Accomplished.

The Secret Ingredient for Moist Allergen Free Cupcakes or Muffins

I love to bake, but without being able to use egg, I have found it difficult. Egg replacer doesn't like me and I feel like I waste ingredients/time when my product turns out yucky or inedible.

The other day, I spoke to a friend of mine who has two older children who are allergic to egg. She told me that when she makes cupcakes for her kids (when she has to bake them for school parties, etc.), that she buys the box of cake mix (any cake mix) and adds a can of pumpkin...that's it! How easy is that? And a healthy option, in my opinion...LOVE IT!

I couldn't wait to get home to make them! YUM! They are great!

Ingredients
Any cake mix that is safe for your family

1 15 oz can of 100% Pure Pumpkin (I used Libby's)

*The spice cake mix/pumpkin makes yummy "breakfast" muffins and of course the chocolate makes yummy cupcakes. Check out this safe buttercream icing recipe.

Directions

Mix cake mix and pumpkin together in a large bowl. Pour into muffin tin and bake at 350 for approximately 15 minutes.

*These are very moist. We had some friends over the other night and they thought they were great! So, even if you do not have food allergies, try this recipe!

Tip: Regular size muffins fall apart a little bit, but I have found if you make them into mini muffins (if you do not need cupcakes), they do not fall apart and are easy for little kids and adults alike to pop in their mouth :) Just bake for less time (probably about 8-9 minutes).

I have been STOCKING UP on Pumpkin. Last week, it was on sale at Walgreen's for $1 a can, which is a SMOKIN' deal and I saw that Walmart has it for $1.34. Until our egg allergy goes away, we will be using pumpkin in our muffins/cupcakes, so I figure stock up when it is on sale.

Organic SO Delicious Dairy Free Dessert

Before the weather gets too cold and you think I am crazy for posting about a frozen dessert, I thought I would get this post in :) I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Organic SO Delicious Dairy Free Dessert (and so does Brody). My husband says he is jealous that we get to eat it. It really tastes like good ice cream, without all of the allergens and "junk". My favorite (so far), is Mint Marble Fudge. It is organic and safe, so I feel it is worth it to splurge every once in awhile :) I am sure Whole Foods sells it, but I buy mine at Kroger (sometimes, it is even on sale).

CLICK HERE for Coupons from Turtle Mountain or give them a call 1-866-388-7853

*On the back of the container, it says their products are tested to make sure there are no allergens. Take a look next time you are in the store, I think you will be impressed.

Whole Fruit Lemon Sorbet

My in-laws are in town visiting, so I made dinner tonight and was looking for a quick, but yummy dessert. This week in the Publix's ad, I saw 1 pint Whole Fruit Sorbet BOGO (buy one get one). My husband was near Publix, so and I asked him to run in and check the ingredients (I didn't think it would be safe). He read me the ingredient list and to my surprise, it was alright for us. We chose Lemon sorbet and here are the ingredients: Micron Filtered Water, Corn Syrup Solids, Sugar, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Pectin, and Natural Flavor.

It is super rich, so a little goes a long way. Inexpensive, safe for Brody dessert! I was happy!

*Disclaimer: I can not say that all of the items in my picture are safe. This is the picture I found from the company website and wanted to show you what the sorbet product looked like. I do know that the Lemon Sorbet is safe for my family.


*This BOGO deal ends on Tuesday 11/10, so get there before then if you want to get some :)

Happy Birthday Brody!

Brody at 12 months

Brody at 4 months (before we found out he had food allergies)

Brody is 1 years old today! I wanted to post a picture of what Brody looked like before we found out that he had food allergies. It stared at 4 months; the eczema on his face would get so bad that it would be open, goopy and smell like death. I honestly didn't take pictures when his face was really bad because it made me feel horrible (literally sick to my stomach). The picture above is a "good" picture of Brody's eczema.

I am thrilled to say that we do not have picutres like that any more and I don't have to worry about not taking pictures because his face looks too bad. I am thankful that we have found out what was contributing to his eczema. The eczema still flares up every once in awhile (seems more affected by environmental causes), but it is SO much more manageable and it seems to go away as quickly as it comes.

It makes me sad to think that it took us almost 7 months to find out what was causing his skin problems and fussiness (poor kid was miserable!), but I am SO THANKFUL that we did. For whatever reason, God is having me walk down this path with Brody. I have learned so much about food allergies, have been directed to some great resources in our community and have met other moms on a similar journey, which has been so encouraging. I have become and great label reader and this has made me even more aware about what I am putting in my family :)

Happy Birthday Brody!