A Thanksgiving experiment

We've never cooked a real Thanksgiving meal for our kids. Without gluten or casein or soy or rice or corn -- what was left? Well, this year, we're going to try a modified meal that, if all goes well, mirrors the adult's dinner. That way, if the kids want something that's on an adult's plate, we'll have something for them. They may never know it's different. And, who knows, maybe some of the adults will want what's on the kids plates. So, I am cooking tonight and tomorrow night. I will let you know how these work out and post -- both the successes and failures. Here's the main lineup:

- Roast chicken
- Sausage stuffing
- Mashed potatoes
- Pumpkin cake
- Carrots

And if we don't connect again until later, Happy Thanksgiving.

Pizza omelet - GFCF style

In the spirit of my last post, fried potatoes, and after realizing that likely didn't satisfy your hunger for a really good new recipe, I felt obligated to offer something much better today. Thus, the pizza omelet recipe. Nothing difficult about this one. Of course, this does have eggs, the real ones. So, anyone with the dreaded egg allergy/intolerance, will avoid this recipe (like on our home). However, like in our home, even if the children can't enjoy, the adults sometimes sneak a little something for themselves. :)

Ingredients
---------------
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced fine
1/4 medium onion, diced
sliced pepperoni (or, alternatively, bacon or sausage -- see below)
sea salt
4 eggs
oil - I use canola

Now, heat a little oil in a pan. I really only use enough to coat the bottom, if that. Once hot, toss in the potatoes. In 5 mins, add the onion. In another 5 mins, add the pepperoni.

When the pepperoni starts to look cooked through, crack the eggs over the potato mix. You can make these scrambled, if desired, or keep the yolks intact. Let cook through on one side, then flip with a spatula. Season with sea salt, and if desired, pepper.

Now, this is good. It looks fun too. The pepperoni circles resemble a pizza and the yolks help that look also. Plus, it tastes great.

You can buy GFCF pepperoni at your local supermarket -- I believe Hormel makes a GF brand. Also, our local Giant Eagle started selling GF pepperoni (and it's marked with a real GF symbol now -- they finally realized there's a market for this stuff -- yeah!). Or, you can buy Wellshire Farms pizza pepperoni. If not, use an alternative, like Applegate Farms sausage, or Applegate Farms bacon. All healthy stuff -- and it tastes great. Also, remember, not all traditional breakfast foods have to be just for breakfast. This can be a good dinner too, especially if you're in need of more dinner ideas.

Fried potatoes

This is another one of those recipes that's really not a recipe. So, forgive me. It's fried potatoes. We really don't fry much anymore. When the kids were first diagnosed and I didn't know how to cook very much gfcf, we ate fried potatoes a few times a week. Now, it's really just a weekend treat. Now, through the week, my oldest -- the potato lover -- eats Dutch potatoes. Much healthier. But, they eat so little that's not healthy for them that I don't mind treats like this every so often. So, I simply peel, wash and cut up 3-4 medium potatoes -- diced fine so cooking doesn't take so long. I use canola oil (Tuscan Sun), just enough to coat the bottom of the pan. Heat on medium high. Cook until golden, tossing every so often. You may toss in some chopped onion if you wish, or even chopped bacon (or fake bacon, i.e. - cut up hot dog). You'll find preservative free bacon and hot dogs out there -- Applegate Farms is one brand, Wellshire Farms is another.

Banning hormone-free labels?

Not that we can drink milk here. But, I just thought this was stupid enough to repost and share with you. Pennsylvania decided to cave to pressures from the milk industry rather than do something productive to resolve the more pressing issue of whether the hormone injections actually are being passed along to humans in milk and beef. Whadya expect from government?

USA Today
Pa. bars hormone-free milk labels

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania is stopping dairies from stamping milk containers with hormone-free labels in a precedent-setting decision being closely watched by the industry.

Synthetic hormones have been used to improve milk production in cows for more than a decade. The chemical has not been detected in milk, so there is no way to test for its use, but a growing number of retailers have been selling and promoting hormone-free products in response to consumer demand.

State Agriculture Secretary Dennis C. Wolff said advertising one brand of milk as free from artificial hormones implies that competitors' milk is not safe, and it often comes with what he said is an unjustified higher price.

"It's kind of like a nuclear arms race," Wolff said. "One dairy does it and the next tries to outdo them. It's absolutely crazy."

Agricultural regulators in New Jersey and Ohio are considering following suit, the latest battle in a long-standing dispute over whether injecting cows with bovine growth hormone affects milk.

Effective Jan. 1, dairies selling milk in Pennsylvania, the nation's fifth-largest dairy state, will be banned from advertising that their product comes from cows that have never been treated with rBST, or recombinant bovine somatotropin.

The product, sold by St. Louis-based Monsanto Co. under the brand name Posilac, is the country's largest-selling dairy pharmaceutical. It is also known as recombinant bovine growth hormone, or rBGH.

It has been approved for use in the U.S. since 1994, although safety concerns have spurred an increase in rBST-free product sales. The hormone is banned in the European Union, Canada, Australia and Japan, largely out of concern that it may be harmful to herd health.

Monsanto spokesman Michael Doane said the hormone-free label "implies to consumers, who may or may not be informed on these issues, that there's a health-and-safety difference between these two milks, that there's 'good' milk and 'bad' milk, and we know that's not the case."

Rick North of the Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility, a leading critic of the artificial growth hormone, said the Pennsylvania rules amounted to censorship.

"This is a clear example of Monsanto's influence," he said. "They're getting clobbered in the marketplace by consumers everywhere wanting rBGH-free products."

Acting on a recommendation of an advisory panel, the Pennsylvania Agriculture Department has notified 16 dairies in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts that their labels were false or misleading and had to be changed by the end of December.

"There's absolutely no way to certify whether the milk is from cattle treated or not treated" with rBST, Wolff said. "Some of the dairies that have enforced this, it's absolutely the honor system."

Rutter's Dairy Inc., a central Pennsylvania company that sells about 300,000 gallons a week, began promoting its milk as free of artificial hormones this summer. It has fired back at the state decision with full-page newspaper ads and a lobbying campaign. It is also urging customers to protest.

"We just think the consumers are more keenly aware in today's world about where their food comes from and how their food is manufactured or handled," said Rutter's President Todd Rutter.

Rutter's sells its milk at the state's minimum price, but a national spot check of prices by the American Farm Bureau last month found "rBST-free" milk typically costs about 25% more.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

GFCF and egg-free Hash browns -- McDonald's style

I hate to measure my cooking successes by how close I can replicate McDonald's foods. But, there's just a few things that I can't resist. This is one.

This hash brown recipe is another example of using one recipe in several ways. And, it's egg-free, soy-free, gluten-free and casein-free. It can be corn and rice free too with a little flour switching.

- one recipe for gfcf chicken nuggets batter

- 3-4 potatoes, shredded or diced in small pieces (your preference)

- 1/2 medium onion, shredded or diced in small pieces

Make batter according to directions and let sit 5 mins. Shred potato and onion. Mix into batter. Spoon into hot pan with 1/4 inch of oil or less. Form into shapes, if desired, using greased cookie cutters - circle, etc.

Fry on both sides until golden brown.

This was a treat last weekend. I don't think we'll do this too often due to health reasons.

GF Pepperoni Bread

So, talk about easy and good. And, devious.

Yes, devious. I've made this into a morning bread for my youngest daughter. Very difficult to feed -- no egg, soy, rice, gluten, casein, etc. Anyway, making a variation of Noah's Bread, I've found something that gives her some meat, bread, fiber and other healthy things.

Here's how.

- make one Noah's Bread recipe
- add 1/2 tsp salt
- add 1 tbsp sugar
- cut up as much gf pepperoni (like Wellshire Farms, Applegate Farms or Hormel) that you want. Of course, you could use any meat, or salami, etc. Using more makes it more appealing, and filling.
- 1 flax egg (1 tbsp flax meal mixed with 3 tbsp water; heat in microwave 30 secs and let sit 5 mins.)
- corn meal

So, mix the bread recipe, add the other ingredients. Spoon into about six lumps on a lightly greased baking sheet. Smooth the tops of the lumps down by wetting the back of a spatula or spoon - form the lumps into rounds. Sprinkle corn meal over the tops. Bake according to the Noah's Bread recipe.

Yum.

The Rescue Post has moved

For those of you who enjoy the Rescue Post, note that it has moved and been renamed Age of Autism. Same people, it seems. You'll find it at:

http://www.ageofautism.com/