An Easy Dairy Free Cream of Chicken Soup Recipe!

I don't know where it came from, but when my oldest daughter was about 7, she asked me to make her a cream soup. I don't think she'd ever had cream soup at that time and her parents - us - didn't really make much cream soup at home. So, it was one of those out-of-left-field moments. But, it seemed like a fun challenge to figure out how to make a dairy free cream of chicken soup for her to try - and of course, it wasn't just a dairy free soup, it also was a gluten free soup.

As you may know from reading the blog, we're not just a gluten free, dairy free family, we're also soy free. So, it's not like we could just run down to the store and buy the soup. And at that time, alternative dairy free soup products were few and far between. 

Anyway, I found a recipe and tinkered with it a bit to make a dairy free cream of chicken soup. It may not be the best soup you've ever had ... but I think it was successful. My daughter loved it and ate it for two days. I also did one better, I made it in the slow cooker over the weekend. So, I dumped the food in the pot, turned it on, and left it all afternoon. I love 'easy' too. 

Here's what I did. You might tinker more with the "cream" ingredients to fit your family's diet needs and preferences. I obviously made this as a dairy free cream of chicken soup, but you certainly could make it any type of cream-based dairy free soup that you want - mushroom, celery, etc.

Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped into chunks
• sea salt and black pepper to taste 
• 1 tsp basil 1 tsp thyme 1/2 tsp sage 
• About 2-3 pounds of chicken -- any kind you prefer (I used bone-in breasts with the skin removed and later, pulled the meat off and diced it into small pieces) 
• 2-3 garlic pieces, crushed 
• 5 1/2 cups of water 
• Dairy free milk (I used rice milk) 
• Corn starch -- GF of course 

Place all ingredients, except the dairy free milk and corn starch in the slow cooker. Cook for four hours on high. When nearly-done, pull chicken out and cool. Remove meat from bones. I diced the meat into small pieces and put it back in the cooker.

Before serving, I pulled out the onions, since my kids won't eat them. 

Now, to make the cream soup. I took about 2 cup servings of the soup broth from the crock and poured it into a small stove-top pot. I turned the heat onto low-medium. In a small bowl, I put 1 tbsp of the corn starch and 2 tbsp of cold water and mixed with a fork until mixed well. Pour this into the pot and stir with a whisk. Note that this will thicken the soup quickly, so keep stirring and be sure the heat is not high. Once thickened, I poured about 1/4 cup of the dairy free milk into the mix and let it heat for another minute. Mix in some of the chicken pieces. 

This results in a tasty chicken soup, thickened by the starch and given that cream color by the alternative milk. 

A couple of notes ... 

• First, this is easy to freeze too. If you like the basic soup, freeze it in portions, like in ice cube trays, for example. 
• Second - if you don't remove the skins, you'll need to take the added step of cooling the broth and removing some of the fat.
• Last, if your child is a picky eater, this is great way to sneak them in. Carrots, celery, mushrooms, potatoes, rice, etc. You can make just about cream of anything. Chopping into small pieces or even blending a veggie to get it in is possible.

I hope you give this dairy free cream of chicken soup recipe a try! Happy eating.

5 Tips for Starting a Gluten Free Diet

Starting a new food or eating plan can be challenging, especially starting a gluten free diet for the first time. For many, it's often not just gluten - it's also learning how to start a gluten free and dairy free diet. 

This can be overwhelming at first. And, if you're venturing down this road as a parent of a child diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, Celiac Disease or similar health concern, this may feel like trying to climb a mountain. 

So, how do you do it? What foods can you eat? What foods can't you eat? Where do you buy the food? It's an endless string of thoughts that frustrate and many times deter starting the diet. 

There is help available to ease this process. And, the first -- and best -- piece of advice is this: DON'T PANIC! This does not happen overnight, nor should it. 

So, here's 5 tips for starting a gluten free diet and I hope they help.

1) TACA: The first place I recommend people go is the TACA website, specifically to the TACA gluten free diet page. There is a great piece on how to phase in the diet over 10 weeks. TACA stands for The Autism Community in Action - and their gluten free diet resources were a tremendous help when we first got started on this road.

2) Lisa Lewis books: These books were super helpful when we first ventured into the world of gluten-free diets and autism spectrum disorders. Even though many, many books have been written since with similar information, I still her cookbooks and the Encyclopedia of Dietary Interventions to be invaluable resources - and in particular, for those looking to start a gluten free and dairy free diet..

3) Find a good online community. Twenty years ago, there weren't too many online communities - a couple via Yahoo and Facebook. Today, there are numerous channels to look for online help, through Facebook groups and other social media channels such as Reddit, Instagram, blogs, etc. Take some time to look around and find one that suits your needs and personality.

4) Use Google to search for a local group that may be able to help and offer support and guidance - especially if you're dealing with an autism spectrum disorder such as PDD or ADHD, or even Celiac.

5) Look for groceries and stores in your area that sell a variety of gluten free, dairy free and organic products. We turned to a local food coop as they sold items in bulk, which reduced our overall cost, and carried a much wider variety of flours, grains, breads, snacks, alternative milks, etc. You can search for a food coop near you online using a directory. Many cities have Whole Foods, Trader Joes and similar stores that sell these products. And, if nothing else, use Amazon to find products like Bob's Red Mill and other brands that market gluten free items.

If you're on a tight budget, don't worry. This still can be done. Buying in bulk cuts food prices down. Shopping at ethnic groceries often is far less expensive than Whole Foods. Look for local farms that sell meat, vegetables and fruit -- you'll likely buy better quality stuff for less than the local supermarket.

For example, I buy meat from a farmers market that's free of hormones and preservatives. I pay about $1 less per pound than I would at the local supermarket.

If money's not an issue, you can find prepared foods that fit the gluten free diet at most larger supermarkets today.

So, if you're just starting a gluten free diet - you can do this! Use these tips as a starting point and keep learning and growing.

Lindsay's Bread - an easy gluten free bread recipe

This is a great, moist, easy to make gluten free bread recipe (also soy/dairy/rice/corn free). It's a variation of Tom's Bread, which you may already be familiar with. I developed this variation for my daughter's lunches. It's a moister bread, for one. She didn't like dry bread. And, second, I didn't want to use the bean flour, nor did I prefer the brown rice flour. So, I tried sorghum flour, which I love for  baking. Please note this is a yeast bread, which I know is an issue for some of you out there. And, it has eggs. I've not tried making this without real eggs, but, I'll bet you could make this using flax egg alternatives. See my recipe for flax eggs to try it out. You'll also note that I use a flax egg in this recipe along with real eggs. 

So, here's how to make this gluten free bread recipe. I hope you enjoy Lindsay's Bread (when she was very young, she called it Salami Bread -- it was the bread we used for her lunch sandwiches).

Lindsay's Bread - Gluten Free Bread Recipe

- 1 cup sorghum flour (I use Bob's Red Mill)
- 1/2 cup potato starch (potato starch is key here -- it adds to the moist texture)
- 1 1/2 cups tapioca starch/flour
- 3 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
- 1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 3 tbs. sugar (or alternative)
- 1/4 tsp. creme of tartar
- 3 medium eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 flax egg (I use golden flax seeds, ground fine -- you can do this in your coffee grinder, or buy it ground. See directions below)
- 1 1/3 cup warm water
- 3 tbs. oil (I use olive oil)
- 2 1/4 tsp. yeast (I use Red Star)

Make the flax egg -- mix 1 tbsp ground flax with 3 tbsp water. Heat in microwave for 30 secs. Let sit for at least 5 mins.

Meanwhile, mix all other dry ingredients, including yeast. Using potato starch makes a world of difference. I've tried this using corn starch, but it's just not as moist. So, if you cannot use potato, I'd suggest adding more water to the recipe or cutting back on the starches.

Then, mix all the wet ingredients, including flax egg, in another bowl.

Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until blended. Scrape sides to get it all mixed in.

Grease a bread loaf pan -- I use Spectrum organic shortening. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit until it doubles in size -- about 40-50 mins.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Bake for 40-45 mins until toothpick comes out clean. This rises! So, if too tall, consider cutting off the top. And, next time, don't let it rise so long. Let it sit 5 mins. Then put onto wire rack to cool. It will sort off deflate slightly. It's OK.

Once cooled, slice and eat. This is a great gluten free bread recipe to use for a daily, all purpose bread at home. Enjoy.

Shopping list:

Bob's Red Mill Sorghum Flour

Potato Starch

Tapioca Starch

Xanthan Gum

Flax seeds