Tag Archives: home cooking

Pen-blwydd Hapus Mamgu!

Or, for those of you not fluent in Welsh, “Happy Birthday Grandma!”.

This weekend we celebrated my Mum’s birthday with her and what better way to celebrate than to try out some new recipes, especially those for cake! All recipes have been adapted for a MEWS-diet and I have to say a special thanks to fellow blogger, lucysfriendlyfoods, for her egg-free meringue recipe and invaluable advice for an alternative to soya protein:

Pea protein – a new ingredient to me, but the key to a successful egg-free meringue

I made, and we all enjoyed, successful chocolate meringues and carrot cake. G and M gave both recipes a 10 in their taste tests and I finally feel as if I’m beginning to crack the M-friendly baking dilemma that’s been threatening to beat me for a couple of years. What better way to share than some photos from the day:

At this point, the mix tasted a little like that American delicacy, Marshmallow Fluff!

The final product – perfect and delicious egg-free chocolate meringues

And who’d have thought you could go from this…

…to this?

Happy birthday Mum!

Apples

Rainforest Flapjacks

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Now, you wouldn’t be blamed for thinking that the past 3 weeks have involved little more than baking and eating an array of M-friendly treats. This week was no exception. Having attempted the series of lemon recipes as well as the best chocolate cake ever and feeling somewhat delighted with the results, we decided that our next baking efforts were going to be the rather exotically named “Rainforest Flapjacks”.

This recipe came home from school and looked easy enough to adapt for M’s dietary needs. I will confess right now to having felt a little frustrated by M’s school’s reluctance to cook with him. The two occasions they have chosen to cook with his class have both conveniently coincided with times when he was away from school. Do I blame them for not wanting to cope with his complex dietary needs? Not entirely, but I have had to deal with the fall-out, disappointment and tears at home.

My solution this time round was to suggest to M that he asked for the recipe so that we could attempt it at home. In due course, the printed sheet made its way into M’s drawer and finally came home in a decent enough state that I could still read the list of ingredients. Everything was easily substituted for M-friendly alternatives and, in the case of the oats, G-friendly millet flakes. I had the full complement of ingredients in either the fridge or the cupboard and so we were ready to start.

As ever, I took my chances and doubled the quantities to make sure I had enough flapjacks to last the week and so we began. The process was easy, the children loved measuring out the ingredients and the odd bit of a chocolate might have strayed into an open mouth along the way. We used a bar of the wonderful Moo-free Cranberry and Hazelnuts chocolate which is both soya- and dairy-free, though plain dark chocolate would work just as well.

The end result was a delight. Both children devoured the first few pieces without hesitation and the double quantity only just lasted the week. G even asked if I could make it without the nuts so that she could take a slice for her packed lunches at school from September.

In case you’re wondering what makes them “Rainforest” flapjacks (as Mike asked), my answer is simple. They contain bananas, chocolate, are perfect for our 2 little monkeys and the name linked in perfectly with M’s topic for school!

This post is an entry into the Foodies100/Schwartz Flavour of Together challenge – you can add your own exotic Flavour story via this link

The Best Chocolate cake in the World

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We’ve enjoyed a peaceful weekend away in South Wales. The weather hasn’t been the idyllic temperatures and sunshine of July, but we had a great time anyway. The odd rain shower or clap of thunder didn’t stop us celebrating my Uncle’s birthday in style. We had a BBQ and buffet feast, including my now infamous Lamb and mint burgers and G and M insisted that I made a birthday cake to mark the occasion.

Courtesy of fanpop.com

Last week’s Lemon drizzle cake was a big success, but I was still not satisfied with the granular nature of the sponge that comes from baking with rice flour. Since then I have been searching for a recipe to make the perfect rice flour cake and discovered this one that assured me that the granular texture would be a thing of the past. Having uncovered such a promising recipe, I just needed a reason to bake it and what could have been better timed than a family birthday?

For the first time I ventured into the mystical world of cooking with xanthum gum – a substance much mentioned in gluten-free cooking, but something I had yet to actually use.

We mixed together the xanthum gum, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and once again watched the chemical reaction between that and the white wine vinegar that the recipe required. M was enchanted by listening to the ingredients fizz and watching the bubbles of carbon dioxide rise to the top of the mixing bowl – “just like the volcano we made with Daddy”.

I had erred on the side of caution given my previously chronicled inability to bake cakes thatrise and made up one and a half times the quantity of cake mix. I needn’t have worried. Perhaps xanthum gum is the answer to my baking issues, I just don’t know, but I had more than enough cake mix to make a double layer cake and a dozen cupcakes too, all of which had a lovely depth to them.

I decided to use the classic flavour combination of chocolate and raspberries and layered the cake with raspberry jam, vanilla butter icing and dried raspberries. I finished it with a garden-themed decorating scheme and was proud of, at very least, how the cake looked.

That evening, I nervously cut into the cake and served it to the assorted, gathered family members. The cake was beautifully moist, the chocolate sweet but not over-powering and, best of all, there was not one single sign of that granular texture I’ve come to loathe when baking with rice flour. G gave it a resounding 10 out of 10, M stated that it was the “best cake ever, cooked by the best Mummy ever” and even the harshest of critics complimented me on how delicious the cake was. So the conclusion I’ve reached is that this is a cake recipe to treasure and I’ve now just got to work out how to adapt it for as many different versions and occasions as possible.

A taste of sunshine

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The weather may have turned a little grey and damp once again, but at the end of last week, we decided to bring a taste of the sunshine into the house and spent Friday afternoon baking. I’d been promising the children a baking afternoon for a while and Friday seemed like the perfect opportunity and a great end to the first week of the holidays.

Despite a little active discussion about what we could make, we settled on Lemon Drizzle cake. I searched for a vegan recipe and found this wonderful one by cookery blogger, Sharon. I needed to adapt it a little to accommodate M’s wheat- and gluten-free requirements, but most of the hard work (making it egg-free!) was already done.

Courtesy of buyfruit.com.au

We dashed out to buy the missing ingredients – lemons – and then returned home, rolled up our sleeves and got started. The children had a wonderful time. G had the responsibility of reading the recipe and method out loud for M and me to follow, whilst M became chief-mixer. We watched the “chemical” reaction between the vinegar, lemon juice and sugar and discussed how the frothiness should help make the cake light and delicious. My adapted recipe can be found here.

The end result was a great success. M loved it, though G felt it was too lemony! Having filled the fridge with lemons, we decided to make the most of them and made lemonade using my pink lemonade recipe without the cranberry juice. We then used half of the lemonade to make some ice lollies, perfect for the hot weather.

All in all, a very successful Friday afternoon!

This post is an entry into the Foodies100/Schwartz Flavour of Together challenge, if you have a great flavour story to share, you can easily do it here

In memoriam

BBQs and Bakewell tarts

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The incredible summer weather that we’ve been enjoying this weekend, can only mean one thing; it’s time for a barbecue. True to form, by around 5pm on Friday evening, the shelves of all the local supermarkets had been cleared of the sausages, burgers and other BBQ meats, but for once that didn’t spoil our plans. Most of the BBQ selections available contain wheat, gluten or even soya, which makes them unsuitable for use in our household.

Instead, I took to a recipe that we developed after seeing a similar meal prepared on Canadian TV programme “You’ve gotta eat here“. For those of you who haven’t seen this series, and I highly recommend that you don’t even attempt to watch it when feeling peckish, presenter John Catucci tours Canada, searching out exceptional meals found at various cafes, diners and restaurants across the country. The food featured not only tastes good, but often comes in proportions that defeat even those with the healthiest of appetites. Whilst the burgers we watched being made were traditional in using beef, I adapted them to use family favourites, Welsh lamb and fresh mint. You can find the recipe here.

The final recipe is easy and quick to prepare, delicious to eat and best of all, contains nothing that is not M-friendly. They take around 5 minutes to cook on the BBQ or indeed in the oven and were perfect for a Saturday lunch in the sun.

One of things that M has been missing, other than the by now famous egg mayonnaise sandwiches, is Bakewell tarts. Around 12 months ago, we had discovered Costa‘s gluten-free Cherry bakewells and, as they were dairy, soya and wheat-free and M was trialling egg at the time, we were able to try them out as a treat. M loved them and we had found something he could eat when we popped out for a coffee or were on a road trip.

However, this January’s decision to tighten up M’s diet meant these had to go back on to his forbidden list. It was a disappointment as there is so little available when we’re out and about, but we had the hope that the next trial of egg would mean that he might be able to start eating them once again. Sadly, the current relapse and subsequent medical response means that there is no likelihood of this for the foreseeable future.

M has been hit hard by his current flare-up and so I decided to make a weekend of it and bake some much needed M-friendly treats for both M and G. I quickly decided to investigate whether there was any possibility of making a M-friendly Bakewell tart. Having never even attempted to make Bakewell tarts in my lifetime, even before all the food allergies hit my kitchen, I looked up a recipe to see if I could adapt it.

I was confident I could make a reasonable everything-free pastry base, having successfully mastered pastry at Christmas for mince pies. I have quickly learned that vegan recipes are my friends as they don’t contain any animal products and so instantly remove the issue of being dairy- and egg-free. So, I quickly moved on to the next item on the list, raspberry jam. Fortunately, M suffers no ill-effects from fruit jams at the moment, so that was an easy tick and on to the final element of the recipe: the frangipane.

This filled me with dread. Frangipane is an almond-flavoured sweet pastry cream which, depending on the particular recipe you decide to follow, contains anywhere between 1 and 3 eggs and I just couldn’t see a way round it. With little hope and as a somewhat last-ditch attempt, I used that faithful friend, Dr Google, once again to see if someone, somewhere had created a vegan alternative to frangipane. Imagine my delight on discovering this wonderful recipe from fellow blogger, lucysfriendlyfoods.

I noted the ingredients, checked my store cupboards to see what I already had in stock and drew up my shopping list. A quick visit to the supermarket and we had everything I needed to bake this masterpiece. To my delight, every step of this recipe was easy to follow and put together. 40 minutes in the oven and my work was done.

M was thrilled and had to try a slice before it had cooled fully. The slice I gave him disappeared quickly and his only comment was that he would prefer me to make individual tarts next time. What’s more, G also tried some and enjoyed it. All in all, this weekend has been a resounding success, be it the BBQ burgers or the Bakewell tart.

Let them eat cake

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I love making cakes.

Actually, to be more accurate, I love creating decorated cakes for my children’s birthdays, but I’ve never been keen, or really that good, at the baking part. Even when I was allowed to bake “normal” cakes, I could never get them to rise.

The last normal cake I made in our household for G’s 2nd

When I had to adapt to wheat and dairy-free cakes to allow for G’s allergies, I managed, but still failed to get the things to rise. Over the years, my cakes have more resembled flat pancakes than respectable sponges. I have been known to suffer “sponge-envy” when seeing the beautifully rounded Victoria sponges made by friends and colleagues.

My first wheat and dairy cake for G's 3rd and very, very flat

My first wheat and dairy-free cake for G’s 3rd and very, very flat

G’s 5th cake and still not much sign of it rising!

Ironically, cupcakes have never been a problem. Whilst my sponge mixes have never made the perfect sponge, they have always made beautiful cupcakes and one year I even resorted to a cupcake tower for G’s birthday cake as something I could be proud to present to the world.

Wheat and dairy free for G, but still contained eggs…and still flat

M’s last almost-normal cake for his 5th

Then came along the ultimate challenge. Not only did my cakes need to be wheat- and dairy-free, but I also had to remove the soya and the eggs. I’ve tried out very many recipes* for cakes in the last 2 years and have met with varying success. I’ve attempted baking with baking powder, xanthan gum, bicarbonate of soda, oil and water and even a mix of cider vinegar, oil, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda…and still those cakes won’t rise.

I’ve tried Doves Farm Gluten free self-raising flour, which is a blend of rice, potato, tapioca, maize and buckwheat flours and comes with helpful recipes on the side of the packet and met reasonable success. I’ve tested Innovative Solutions pure brown rice flour, which works okay, but can taste a little granular as a sponge. Guess what? Still my cakes won’t rise.

This year’s first attempt, a Lego 7, but still a little flat!

A layered Mini-golf cake for G’s 9th

This year, for M’s 7th birthday, I came to my final conclusion. If my cakes won’t rise naturally, then I will just have to create the height I crave by stacking layers. The end result more than exceeded my expectations and what’s more, I had a lot of fun by creating a rainbow inside to wow the group of 6 and 7 year-olds who got to eat it.

This one needed to be higher, so my secret was…

…to stack the rainbow layers. Mission accomplished!

I will continue my search for the perfect M-friendly sponge cake recipe that not only tastes good, but would convince even the harshest critics that cakes can be made to meet any dietary requirements. I will continue to create masterpieces that look pretty good, even if they don’t quite make the taste grade. And I promise this: that if I find that right combination of ingredients and technique in my quest, I won’t hesitate to communicate it, especially if I finally manage to achieve that elusive thing – a sponge cake that rises!

*all cake recipes attempted are included on my Everything free Recipes page

Frugal and allergy-friendly?

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Nowadays, we are often encouraged to live a frugal life due to increasing food prices and uncertain incomes, but, as I discovered very early on, that’s just not possible when you’re catering for multiple food-allergies. One of the most noticeable impacts of the last week has been on our bank account.

We do get a very few items on prescription for M because of his allergies, but the list is limited. Every month, in addition to the medicines M needs, we get 4 loaves of gluten-free brown rice bread, 2 packets of vanilla wafer biscuits, 2 500g boxes of gluten-free pasta and 1kg rice flour. This is enough for the month and allows me to bake a few treats or desserts for the children.

However, this just about covers the gluten-free aspect of the diet, but doesn’t allow for the dairy, egg and soya free parts. Every month, we have to buy cereal, margarine, mayonnaise, milk, corn thins or crispbreads, coconut cream, sausages, fish finger or fillets, chicken nuggets, yoghurts, peanut butter, stock cubes, date bars, cereal bars and fruit snacks; all of which have to be gluten, wheat, egg, soya and dairy free. Occasionally I invest in dairy and soya free chocolate treats, ice cream or chocolate spread, but the cost of those is phenomenally high. Imagine spending £7 on a small box of just 9 truffles or £7.50 for a 500ml tub of ice-cream just for the children! My monthly shop is predominantly filled with food for M and G and rarely sees change from £100 for their food alone. That, of course, does not take into consideration my weekly shop for fresh produce: fruit, vegetables, meats and fish, nor the bits and pieces for Mike and me.

I read, with awe, the forums on Martin Lewis’s website, Moneysavingexpert as hoards of savvy shoppers talk about spending no more than £50 a week to feed a family of 4 and frequently speak in terms of a monthly spend of between £150 and £200. If I had children without allergies, I have no doubt that I could do that, or at very least have a good try, and we would all still eat well, but with the dietary requirements I have to accommodate, that just isn’t possible.

I cook from scratch when I can, not only to be frugal, but also to know what the children are eating and that the food is M-friendly, I shop cannily and have gone down a brand as Martin Lewis suggests, but I’ve yet to discover any major answers as to how to be frugal and allergy-friendly.

	M	Me	Mike
Breakfast	–	Crispbread x2 with peanut butter	Bowl of: Cornflakes Raisins Rice milk
Lunch	Crispbreads x3 Ham Cucumber (3 slices) Chips Carrots (2 sticks) Tomato ketchup	Crispbreads x4 Ham Cucumber Carrots Tomatoes Mango	Crispbreads x4 Chips Carrots Cucumber Tomato ketchup Tomatoes Mango
Dinner	Salmon New potatoes (3) Peas Corn Cucumber Chocolate bread Strawberries Raspberries Grapes Ice cream	Salmon Rice Grilled tomato Caesar salad Raspberries Strawberries	Salmon New potatoes Peas Grilled tomato Caesar salad Raspberries Strawberries Banana Grapes
Snacks	Nkd Berry Blast date bar Ginger cookie Banana (1/2) Blackberries	Fruit tea

7 years to diagnosis

Searching for an answer