Allerfree Recipes

there are a few things I especially miss from our pre nearly vegan (except eggs) days. Pizza (that I didn't make, with cheese, NY style), milkshakes, being able to grab coffee wherever (one of those over priced drinks- but not at Starbucks, we differ on too many views of life!), and macaroni and cheese. not so much craft but the real homemade kind. its been 5 years!!! or maybe 4, point is.... So I found this recipe on Facebook, The No Cheese Mac and cheese from www.ordinaryvegan.net  and it looked ok, not awesome. I had no hope, but decided to attempt to create my own, kid friendly (except for my oldest, who did try it, but doesn't eat anything cooked anymore :( )version based off that recipe. It was fabulous for even my husband!! who is serious about his pre vegetarian/no dairy favorites. the baby (who will not eat pasta) even ate two bowls! Score on for mama! Hidden vegetables! However, the lovely lady who wrote the original attempted to make this healthy. While it's bett...

I should add to the previous recipe that if you want granola bars, after you pat the granola flat in the cookie sheet (before baking) cut the granola so that when they are soft after baking you can take them out to harden in the fridge. Not that we have any left. Apparently my husband enjoyed the granola enough to eat the entire bag at work yesterday. I'd say his tastes have changed! It can happen! As soon as I can... I am going to post a bunch of recipes (non dairy (milk and egg), some gluten free, veganish - we do eat organic cage free eggs, and delicious enough for meat eaters!) Seriously, my parents (read father) are soo picky. My dad would generally eat only steak and potatoes if he had the choice, the occasional three pounds of shrimp and crab legs if available. However, I have a stuffed shells recipe that actually ASKED for! For real! With Tofu ricotta. (sacrilegious for us Italians, but what can ya do?!) And the best spring rolls you've ever tasted. My entire fa...

Ahhh Halloween! In a past life this was my favorite holiday for a few reasons. 1. my mom's birthday (and plenty of witchy jokes to go with that!) 2. I always enjoyed seeing creativity in costumes (my mom made me a spider once, best costume ever!!). and 3. A free pass to eat as much candy as I wanted! (and whatever kind I wanted when I could buy it myself! Trick or Treaters may or may not have been able to taste my favorites which may or may not have been stashed in the freezer or cupboards). And now it's a spooky holiday due to the fact that my children love trick or treating and my son could easily win an ER trip from it! We've changed a bit in order to not kill our son and keep it a more enjoyable holiday! Last year we carried a bucket and he held a bucket. We took whatever he couldn't touch and traded, if he didn't get something he could have. (I'm not even going to pretend I let the kids eat a ton of candy! it secretly disappeared and went to work with dad...

Since I last wrote we have had some major changes to our lives! We are now vegetarian due to a beef allergy (along with the milk allergy that has skyrocketed in severity) and to my four year old (now 5) realizing where meat comes from and being very upset. Oh, and our third child is SOMETHING!!!!! The baby hasn't sat down in the 16 months we have had him. Needless to say, blogging is not number 1. However, it's time to start again. More changes that I'd like to share in hopes of helping others. We are on a tight budget. Takes a lot of planning and trading because we also buy only organic. so... Dairy free, meat free, organic, on a budget! Yikes! (and I have picky children?!) I've done easier things than plan our menus for the week and get my kids to eat!! To be fair, due to allergy restrictions, at the beginning my husband and I ate whatever we wanted and made special things for our oldest. Seems that came back to bite me. and chomps down every night! thankfully, he...

I am soooo ridiculously horrible at keeping up a blog! This has been a crazy half of a year for us! I had surgery (nothing serious), and found out that we will soon (7 or less weeks) be welcoming our third (and possibly final unless I forget how not so fun this pregnancy has been), and we had our first trip to the ER due to Jake's allergy (preceded by 3 other reactions that were not as serious). Let's just say that having seen what happens when my sweet baby has a reaction/anaphylaxis, I am not that crazy paranoid mother who whips out wipes and cleans at a restaurant like it's my job. (and yes, apparently often better than those who job it is!) And, btw, Jake ended up being fine. Though I learned that Benadryl is not a substitute for an epi-pen, AND that it is most likely, that at the end of a ridiculously long wait in the ER (though made shorter by a mama exaggerating the truth a teech), when you finally know your child is fine enough to not be there (but have been infor...

I am completely in awe of people who can take care of their kids, keep the house up, and write a blog!! Maybe they are superhuman? Maybe they have kids that sleep? I now have one that wakes up either all night or a hundred times after 4am (I should just start getting up!). And i have one that does not fall asleep without gymnastics on our bed until about 11pm. Thus leading to new developments... After being tested again for allergies, I was told that Jake is no longer allergic to eggs. However, when he eats them he itches like he has fleas. I don't know. I am not a doctor, but that seems a little strange?! And his milk allergy is 10 times worse. He gets hives when he touches a milk product. We are advised to keep him away from products processed on equipment that touches milk. Really?! have you ever tried that? That would leave fruit, vegetables, and possibly meat. What about beef? they touch milk?! Well, not an issue. My kids are apparently largely against eating meat. And veget...

It's not Halloween, I know! But, in being desperate for a treat the other day, and feeling that eating one in front of the kids would be mean, I came up with a chocolatey, peanut buttery treat that is kind of a trick! Not sure what to call it, but it resembles the Chex Muddy Buddy stuff. I certainly am not endorsed by anyone, nor do I enjoy that Chex use a chemical preservative, however, the kids love them and they otherwise have decent food ingredients. They can also be Gluten free if needed. 9 cups of cereal (i seriously used up everything we had that  the kids won't eat!) 1 cup of oats 3/4 cup of peanut butter 1 cup (or a teech more, unless you're me and ate a handful, then two teeches more) chocolate chips (Ghiradelli semi sweet are the only milk free that are real chocolate and not hideous) 2ish Tablespoons of Earth Balance (or butter) and about 3/4 cup of ground flax seed (always a trick!) put cereal and oats into a big bowl melt the chocolate with the p bu...