Cornless sugar

I was taught this simple trick for making powdered sugar, so I'll pass it along. Powdered sugar bought at the store most often contains sugar and corn starch. That's no good for those of us with kids dealing with corn problems. Corn does horrible things to both of my daughters. So, make your own. Put regular sugar in a food processor and do it until it breaks down to a powder. You can add a starch to help recreate the "powder," like potato starch or arrowroot starch. Store some in a kitchen container.

Organic shortening? Really?

Yep, you read the headline correctly -- organic shortening. Spectrum Organics makes an organic shortening that's made from 100% organic expeller pressed palm oil. It lacks the bad stuff in Crisco -- like soy. And, it's free of trans fat. That certainly doesn't mean it's fat free. But, it's great for the allergy cook and for kids on the autism diet. So, maybe that impossible pie crust is possible after all?

Fridge pickles

This is my kosher dill pickle recipe, called Fridge Pickles.

• 
  I grow my own pickles -- very easy. You can do the full recipe or cut it in half or down to a quarter. And, you can find pickling cukes in the grocery too. I'm sure you can even use regular cucumbers, just cut into spears or slices. Anyway ...
  
  77 oz. water
  38 oz distilled vinegar
  8 oz pickling salt (1/2 lb.)
  74 oz cucumbers (~4.5 lbs.)
  handfull of fresh dill heads (I grow, but can be bought)
  peeled garlic cloves
  whole peppercorns
  
  Put water, vinegar and salt into a large pot and boil.
  Remove from heat and pour into glass (mason) jars overnight to cool. (Wash the jars first)
  Next day, scrub the cukes and remove the blossom ends by making a thin slice.
  Either keep cukes whole, or cut into spears or slice crosswise.
  Pull out the jars you wish to use -- not the jars with the brine.
  Add some dill to the jars, a few garlic cloves and about 1 tsp peppercorns.
  Add cukes and cover with cold brine.
  Keep in fridge for 3 days before eating.
  
  These will keep nicely for months. I've had mine in there for 3-4 months with no problem. Just keep lids on tight. There's no need to process these in a canning pot. The vinegar solution preserves the cucumbers. If you can them, the cukes get soggy. So, I do it this way in mid-summer and have cucumbers through Thanksgiving. Then, I try to buy some more in the fall at the store, and make another batch to get through to spring.
  
  You can adjust the flavor of this by adding more/less garlic, mustard seed, celery seed, hot pepper, onion, etc. By the way, the photo is from the Seeds of Change website -- a good supplier of organic seeds.
  
  They are fun to grow if you have space. They grow like a vine. So, dig a 8-10' row, put two 6' stakes on either end, and tie netting to the stakes to make a "fence." The cukes will vine up the fence. Pick regularly to keep the vines producing.
  
  Good luck!
  

Need GFCF recipes? Start with pancakes!

I get a lot of questions about how to get started on a gluten-free casein-free diet (the autism diet). One great place to find some beginning recipes is at the GFUTAH website. This is where I found the pancake recipe that I use weekly (slightly modified). Anyway, check it out and I'm sure you'll find something that fits your child's taste. Look at the pancake recipe but I'll include my version here. By the way, the pancakes shown at right are from their website.

Pancakes

Bean flour mix (1/3 cup chickpea flour, 1/3 cup potato starch, 1/3 cup tapioca flour)*
2 tbsp sugar (or other sweetener)
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp oil
1/3 cup water + another half of 1/3 cup water
Cooking spray or oil for the pan
(I exclude egg or egg sub and xanthan gum on purpose in this recipe. Yes! It still works)

• Combine the flour mix, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix.


• Add the oil and water and whisk. This should resemble normal pancake batter and not stick to the whisk but not pour off of it like water. Something in between. You'll know if it's too dry because the pancakes will look flaky and dry. It's just right if the pancakes show bubbles while cooking.


• I spoon 1 tbsp batter onto a medium hot pan sprayed with original Pam. Turn when bottom is browned.


• Makes about 1 dozen. I often make a double batch.


• Note: I exclude the xanthan gum and egg sub because it tends to make the pancakes too gooey and not fluffy.


• I also modify this recipe sometimes by adding 8 tsp carob powder (cocoa is fine if your child can handle it) and another 1/3 cup water to make "chocolate pancakes."

Thanks to the GFUTAH folks!

Fufu fantastic

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. Been out of circulation here between illness and work. Anyway, we finally got around to making some Fufu (see my earlier post called Fufu 4 u). It was as easy to make as instant mashed potatoes. But's it's just cassava. It's somewhat firmer, so you can take a chunk and roll it into a ball with your hands just like you would do with a dough. That's how I gave it to my daughter -- in little balls. She loved it. I salted the mix a little with sea salt, but that's it. My older daughter has not wanted to try it yet, but clearly is interested. I like the taste, too, and am trying to think of other ways to use this unique mix. Try some.

Finally -- rice!

Sometimes, solutions fall from the sky. Or, so it seems. My kids cannot eat rice and I've tried over and over to find a good substitute. No, quinoa and amaranth didn't go over so well. And, sorghum tore up their stomach's just like corn. I still have to try millet, but fear the same reaction as sorghum. Anyway, to my point.

A couple of nights ago, I made some tapioca noodles for my youngest daughter, who loves noodles. I drained them and placed them in a bowl, which I put in the fridge.

Last night, I pulled them out. The noodles looked like a round blob, or even a weird UFO. They had stuck together to the point they gelled, making it impossible to pull the noodles apart. It was just one big blob of tapioca pasta.

So, I heated a pan, sprayed it, poured a tbsp of canola oil in, a little diced onion and sea salt, and the blob. I began chopping it apart with a spatula. I did this for maybe 10 minutes. The noodles never did come apart, but I managed to chop the blob into edible, bite-sized pieces.

I made myself a bowl. It was good. My youngest daughter walked past, looked at the bowl, and said, "I try some rice?" Stunned, I said, "Sure."

Then, my oldest daughter walked in, saw what the youngest was eating, and said, "I want some rice, too." More stunned, I said, "Sure."

We all had two helpings of "rice."

The end result of all the chopping and cooking was that the tapioca blob looked like rice pieces all stuck together. The kids didn't care. It looked like rice and was flavored like I'd make rice, so they ate it.

One problem solved. A million more to go.

Safe Easter candy

Just a tip on one candy that you might consider when searching for safe stuff to fill Easter baskets ... cane sugar candy. It's very simple -- cane sugar and water. No candy is really healthy. I found bags of this at the Asian grocery for 79 cents a pound. No preservatives, corn, soy, grains, etc. Just cane sugar and water. They're similar to hard candy. They will either melt in the mouth or crumble if bitten. Very good.