In honor of spring, we recommend baking these allergy-friendly sugar cookies and taking them on a picnic.  Also, if you’re feeling really festive you can use festive cookie cutters!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup Crisco
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup natural organic applesauce
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Blend sugar, Crisco, canola oil, applesauce and vanilla extract together with mixer on medium speed.  In a separate bowl, blend flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt.  Combine wet and dry ingredients and mix together with mixer.  Dough will be thick.  Press dough into ungreased 9 x 13” pan and bake for 20-30 minutes or until slightly golden.  Cool and cut into squares and serve.

Submitted by: Katherine M. Hull

Makes 15 bars

• Calories: 270
• Protein: 2g
• Carbohydrates: 36g
• Fat: 14

Also, as a reminder, be sure to consult your healthcare professional to determine if this recipe, ingredients and consistencies are appropriate for your child.

The topic for today’s post in our allergy-friendly meal idea series is lunch! Just like with breakfast, a lot of the go-to lunch options for most children aren’t suitable for children on a diet that has allergy restrictions. Here are some lunch ideas that might help you add variety. As always, check with your little one’s health care team to make sure they are appropriate.
 

Neocate-Only Lunch Ideas

For children whose diets are strictly limited to amino acid-based formula, the same formula one lunch after another can become very routine. One great option Nutricia offers is the multiple flavors of Neocate’s E028 Splash. Many children find restrictive diets less of a struggle if they have a say in the flavor. On top of this, Splash is packaged in kid-friendly drink boxes so that nobody knows their drinking a special medical formula. Another option is to send your little one to school with a great Neocate-only pudding recipe such as Chocolaty Nutra Pudding. But why stop with chocolate pudding? Experiment with mixing the different flavors of Neocate Junior and Splash with Neocate Nutra to come up with different flavors. My favorites are Grape Splash with Junior Chocolate (“chocolate covered raisin”) and Tropical Fruit Splash with Junior Vanilla (“Dreamsicle”).
 

Top Eight Allergen-Free Lunch Ideas

If your child is on an elimination diet for eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) or is avoiding all of the eight major allergens, you can offer some different food options along with one of the Neocate formulas. It may seem difficult at first, but you can still put together a lunch that looks pretty normal, even without the top 8 allergens. A few months ago we posted a week’s worth of ideas for allergen free lunches. Bear in mind that while most processed foods have ingredients derived from the top 8 allergens, dining on whole foods makes the top 8 much easier to avoid. You may even be able to find convenience foods in natural or organic food stores that are free of the top 8, such as soups or frozen items. Even though we first shared a lunch post from Allergy Moms in 2008, it’s still relevant and has some great ideas!

Less Restrictive Lunch Ideas

For children who avoid dairy and only one or two other allergens, we have some great lunch suggestions in our online Neocate Food Allergy Cookbook, a compilation of recipes submitted by families. Mallory posted her top five lunch ideas from the cookbook, many of which use wheat, in a previous blog. One great thing about a lot of these recipes is that many can be made in advance and frozen or refrigerated for later use. The Turkey Meatloaf on page twelve would definitely be in my top five! We’ve also had a few lunch recipes appear in blog posts, such as Dairy-Free, Egg-Free Chicken Pasta Salad.

As always, we recommend that you check any recipes on our websites or from other food allergy resources to be sure that the ingredients are safe for your child and ensure that the health care team is on board.

Do you have any allergy-friendly lunches that have helped you that you’d like to share with other families?

Rob

For the next three weeks, we’ll be posting some allergy-friendly meal ideas, starting with breakfast. While it can be difficult to come up with meal ideas for standard diets or choosy children, a diet that has allergy restrictions is even tougher! Here are some breakfast ideas that might help you add variety. As always, check with your little one’s health care team to make sure they are appropriate.

Neocate-Only Breakfast Ideas

For children whose diets are strictly limited to amino acid-based formula, it’s helpful to have ideas that add variety. For instance, mixing some of the flavors and formats that Neocate offers can help fight the formula monotony. One of our favorite ideas for children over one year is mixing Neocate Nutra with Neocate Junior Tropical, Neocate Junior with Prebiotics Vanilla, or Neocate’s E028 Splash Grape. A ratio of about four scoops of Nutra powder to every one ounce of a prepared Neocate formula provides you with what we like to call “almost-yogurt.” You can of course adjust the ratio to your child’s tastes. For children older than six months but below one year, you might try mixing Neocate Nutra with a pasteurized fruit juice that they tolerate.

Top Eight Allergen-Free Breakfast Ideas

If your child is on an elimination diet for eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) or is avoiding all of the eight major allergens, you can try mixing a Neocate product with pureed fruit. By mixing Neocate Junior with fruit you can come up with some great breakfast shakes and outstanding flavor combinations. Or by mixing Neocate Nutra with pureed fruit you can come up with a great alternative to oatmeal. If you want to serve it warm, we still recommend against using a microwave: start with warm juice instead to avoid the hot spots and lower nutrient levels microwaves can cause.

Less Restrictive Breakfast Ideas

For children who avoid dairy and only one or two other allergens, we have some great breakfast suggestions in our online Neocate Food Allergy Cookbook, a compilation of recipes submitted by families. Mallory posted her top 5 breakfast ideas from the cookbook, many of which use wheat, in a previous blog. One great thing about a lot of these recipes is that many can be made in a large batch, portioned, and frozen or refrigerated for later use. The Apple-Oat Muffins on page seven would definitely be in my top five! We’ve also had a few breakfast recipes appear in blog posts, such as Banana Bread Muffins.

If your family has a favorite “standard” breakfast recipe that involves milk but is otherwise allergy-friendly, you may be able to substitute Neocate formula for the milk. While this might change the final result a little bit and may require some experimenting, it will provide the high levels of most nutrients from Neocate that other milk substitutes (such as water or rice milk) can’t provide. Just be aware that the high heat from cooking will lower some of Neocate’s nutrient levels, especially some vitamins. Again, check all recipes to be sure that the ingredients are safe for your child and ensure that the health care team is on board.

What allergy-friendly breakfast ideas have helped your family in the morning?

Rob

Based on feedback and ideas that we hear from you, we try to find ways to provide options for those little ones using our Neocate products.  We've developed a collection of delicious and delightful recipes using our Neocate products that are now available to view online!  We hope your little ones find these recipes enjoyable and allows for a little variety in their diets.  Here is a favorite included in the book:

Apple Delight

Ingredients

• 1/2 apple, peeled, diced and cooked until soft
• 2 pitted-prunes diced and cooked (boiled in water) until soft
• 2 fl oz water
• 4 scoops Neocate Infant DHA/ARA powder
• A pinch of cinnamon

Directions

• Add water to apple and prunes and blend to desired consistency
• Add the Neocate Infant DHA/ARA powder and stir
• Sprinkle with cinnamon (optional)
• Serve immediately or store in a refrigerator for up to 24 hours

Makes 1 serving

Calories          Protein          Fat          Carbohydrate

156                   3 g                 4 g           30 g

Do you have any of your own recipes using Neocate - we'd love to hear about them!

-Sarah

Consult your healthcare professional to determine if these recipes, ingredients and consistencies are appropriate for your child.  Nutritional values are approximate and will vary based on brands, quantities and substitutions.

This winter try out our allergy-friendly French toast and pancakes. 

 French Toast 

•  2 Pieces of spelt bread
• 1/4 cup of soy milk
• Dash of cinnamon

Combine milk and cinnamon.  Dip and coat the bread lightly in the soy milk mixture.  Place on preheated skillet on low-med heat.  You will have to cook it longer to ensure the soy milk dries and the toast isn’t mushy.

Per 2 pieces

Calories: 250

Protein: 10g

Carbohydrates: 44g

Fat: 5g

Submitted by: Katherine Kennedy

Pancakes

• 2/3 cup of rice flour
• 1/4 cup of water
• Pinch of salt
• 2 Tbsp of sugar
• 1 1/2 Tsp of baking soda

Mix all ingredients together.  Heat oil in a skillet on stovetop.  Pour about 1/2 of mixture onto hot oil.  Cook a few minutes until firm then turn over. 

Makes up to 4 pancakes

Per 1 pancake

Calories: 120

Protein: 1g

Carbohydrates: 26g

Fat: 0g

Submitted by: Sophie Jakovich

Please check each recipe to be sure all ingredients are safe for your child.  If you have any questions, please consult with your physician.
Please note that spelt is a relative of wheat, so may not be appropriate for individuals with wheat allergy or gluten sensitivity.

Also, to get more food allergy recipes, download our Food Allergy Cookbook! 

FRENCH TOAST IMAGE SOURCE

PANCAKE IMAGE SOURCE

Free from Milk, Egg, Peanut, Soy, and Nuts.

• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1/2 cup Onion, diced
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tsp. chili powder (may add more or less as desired)
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 4 cups water
• 1 (10.75-oz) can condensed tomato soup*
• 1 (28-oz) can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup salsa*
• 4 cups cooked turkey, shredded
• 3 tsp chicken bouillon granules*
• 1 (14-oz) can kidney beans, drained
• 2 cups frozen corn

In a large saucepan over medium heat, heat olive oil. Add onions and cook until they start softening, Add garlic, chili powder, cumin, and thyme, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 minute. Add water tomato soup, diced tomatoes, salsa, turkey, and bouillon. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes, Add kidney beans and corn; simmer 25 minutes.

Suggestion: Serve soup with crushed corn tortilla chips for some crunch

*Be sure to read the label

 

My Top 5 Lunch Picks from our Neocate Food Allergy Cookbook:

• Cream of Broccoli Soup (Page 8)
  As a cream of broccoli soup enthusiast, I love this allergy-friendly (and far healthier) variation of the original. This is a very well balanced meal and a great way to sneak some vegetables into your child’s menu. 
   
• Hamburger Harvest Soup (Page 9)
  Naming a soup after a hamburger is a great way to entice your kids to eat it! This recipe is full of flavor and nutrients. It’s especially high in protein; Each serving provides 12 grams!
   
• Vegetable/Cracker Dip (Page 10)
  Serve with raw veggies and/or crackers (see cracker recipe on page 18!) and this is a healthy lunch. This would be a great option to send to school or have with you on-the-go. 
   
• High Calorie Neocate Shake (Page 22)
  This may not be an appealing lunch for everyone but since we so commonly hear from parents who have trouble getting their child to eat and gain weight, I thought this would be a great idea for some of you. A parent sent this recipe idea to us and said she uses it for sick days or when her child needs to gain weight. One shake provides a large amount of nutrients, healthy fats and of course, calories. You could easily use this as a meal replacement.
   
• Macaroni and Cheese (Almost) (Page 20)
  Mac & cheese is one of the most popular foods among kids. Thanks to this dairy-free recipe, children with milk allergies can have their mac & cheese too! You can also add some pureed butternut squash to this recipe for some added flavor, nutrition and to make the color more similar to standard mac & cheese.

Remember that you should always check the ingredients of these recipes to make sure they are appropriate for your little one’s food allergies.

What are your favorite allergy-friendly lunch recipes?  They can be from the cookbook or some of your own!

-Mallory

[Picture from Flickr.com]

As summer winds down and the school year approaches, parents of children with allergies might be wondering “What will my child eat for lunch?” If you have a child for whom school lunch is not an option, here are some ideas for balanced and nutritious meals that are free of the top eight allergens. They take some time to prepare, so you might consider serving them for dinner and sending leftovers for lunch the next day. If your child drinks our E028 Splash or Neocate Junior, you can use these menus to get ideas of items or dishes that can supplement their meal-time drink.

Monday
Black Bean and Rice Burrito Bowl
                with Guacamole
Hummus and Cilantro or White Bean Garlic Dip
                with Carrots and Celery
Vanilla (Coconut Milk) Pudding or Nutra Banana Maple Pudding
 

Tuesday
Turkey Chili
                with Rice Cheese
Sweet Potato Casserole
Green Beans
Peach Slices
Cranberry Apple Cobbler or Banana Muffins
 

Wednesday
Grilled Chicken Breast
                with Mango Peach Salsa
Steamed Broccoli with Rice Cheese
Watermelon Cubes
Gelatin Dessert or Chocolaty Nutra Pudding
 

Thursday
Sautéed Sausage
                with Peppers and Onions
Oven Fries
                 with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce
Apple Sauce
Pineapple Rice Milk Smoothie or Chocolate Peppermint Smoothie
 

Friday
Veggies and Meat Pasta Sauce
                with Corn or Rice Pasta
Salad greens
                with Cucumbers and Dressing
Frozen Fruit Bar or Frozen Neocate Treats

 

As we’ve mentioned before, mixing food allergies and birthday parties requires a bit of effort.  This includes both hosting a birthday party (with guests with food allergies) and sending your food-allergic child to a birthday party.

We wanted to round up a few recipes that could provide a potential solution. It would also be great to have an allergen-free dessert, whether you’re hosting the party or sending your little one to a party.  This way everyone can safely enjoy a treat.
 

Cakes & Baked Goods

Most cakes and baked goods call for dairy, eggs, and wheat, which are three of the top eight allergens.  In fact, fish and shellfish are the only two of the top allergens that do NOT regularly appear in baked goods! Here are a few alternatives to a traditional birthday cake that could make a great stand-in.

On page 14 of the Neocate Food Allergy Cookbook, there’s a great recipe for a frosted birthday cake, made with a cake mix from Cherrybrook Kitchen – free of dairy, nuts, and eggs. But don’t count out serving cookies, brownies, bars, cupcakes, or cobbler, all of which appear in the same great cookbook. Another great place to check is the Kids with Food Allergies website, which offers a variety of recipes.

Not interested in handling the baking yourself? There are several companies that can bake a great, safe alternative and have it shipped straight to you, candles not included. A few places whose treats are allergen-free to varying degrees are Divvie’s Bakery, Home Free, Liz Lovely, and Betsy & Claude Baking Company.  You can also check grocery stores that cater to special dietary needs, such as Whole Foods.
 

Delicious Desserts

Who says that an equally delicious dessert can’t make a stellar stand-in for cake? Not us! Here are some ideas for other great foods that most kids would never refuse.

See our Neocate Nutra Recipe Guide for allergy-friendly ice creams and puddings.  Also check back into the Neocate Food Allergy Cookbook for great shake and smoothie recipes, many submitted by parents.  Top suggestions include the Banana Chocolate Shake or Chocolate Covered Strawberry Slushy.  If you really feel like going all-out, you can use one of these frozen desserts alongside a baked good, in place of the usual cake and ice cream.

Feeling REALLY adventurous? Try your hand at a homemade ice cream cake by combining recipes for an allergen-free ice cream, cookies, and frosting.

What have you used in the past when the traditional birthday cake wouldn’t do? Let us know in the Comments section below.

- Rob

With the Fourth of July around the corner, we wanted to share some food allergy-friendly ideas and recipes for you to enjoy during the holiday weekend. We wrote a blog in the past that may help to find general food allergy tips if you and your family are planning a day out of the house.

In honor of the Independence Day, I compiled a couple food allergy-friendly recipes with a red, white and blue theme. As always, check the ingredients to ensure they are allowed in your little ones diet. Also, recipes can always be tweaked to meet your needs, so if you have other ideas on how to make it better for your family, feel free to experiment.

Being the Nutritionist, I tend to stay away from high fat and nutritionally void treats. Fruit recipes are always a great way to add beneficial fiber as well as important vitamins and minerals to a healthy diet.

These recipes are all diary free and egg free.

RED Strawberry Shortcakes

This recipe is definitely a family favorite, with that same classic taste without the dairy. I prefer to use my own dairy-free vanilla ice cream if I have the time, but for weeknight desserts or quicker treats, a dairy-free store-bought variety works just as well. Feel free to use whatever fruits you like along with the strawberries; peaches, mangoes and other berries are always a nice variation.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

About 3 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and cut into halves

¼ cup and 2 Tbsp. white sugar, plus more for sprinkling

1 ½ cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup and 2 Tbsp. white sugar

2 ½ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

6 Tbsp. dairy-free soy margarine, cut into pieces

½ cup unsweetened plain almond milk, soymilk or rice milk

Dairy-Free Vanilla Ice Cream, either store-bought or homemade

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment and set aside. In a medium mixing bowl, toss the strawberries with the 2 T. sugar until well coated. Cover and place in the refrigerator for about 20-30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, make the biscuits. In a food processor, mix together the remaining ¼ cup sugar, flour, baking powder and salt until well-mixed. Add the dairy-free soy margarine, pulsing until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. With the machine still running, add the non-dairy milk alternative gradually, until the dough just begins to hold together and pull away from the sides of the bowl.

3. On a lightly floured surface, turn out the dough and pat into 8 small round biscuits. Transfer the biscuits to the prepared baking sheet, sprinkle lightly with sugar, and bake about 18-22 minutes, or until golden. Allow the biscuits to cool on the baking sheet. To serve, place two biscuits on each plate with a scoop of dairy-free vanilla ice cream and a helping of the sugared strawberries.

WHITE Bean and Garlic Dip 

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked (1 c dry) white beans, ie. Great Northern, Cannellini, Navy, or Butter Beans (canned beans may be used)
2-3 garlic cloves
1/4 c olive oil
1/4-1/2 c bean cooking liquid, broth, or water
1 Tbsp fresh thyme or 1/2 Tbsp dry
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp sea salt
Fresh cracked pepper

Optional: olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme for garnish

Directions:

If starting with dry beans, soak overnight, then cook beans per desired method, saving any leftover bean cooking liquid. If using canned beans, drain beans, and rinse well. 

Place cooked beans in blender or food processor, along with garlic, olive oil, 1/4 cup liquid, thyme, and Vitamin C crystals. Pulse a few times, then blend until well smooth. If mixture is too thick, add additional liquid as necessary while blending. Add salt and pepper salt and pepper to taste, and blend again to mix. 
To serve, scoop into serving bowls, and drizzle with additional olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme leaves. Store leftover dip in the fridge for up to 5 days, or freeze in an ice cube tray and store in a freezer bag for up to 3 months.

Pineapple-Strawberry (or BLUEberry) Granita

Ingredients

1 cup strawberries or Blueberries, hulled
1 1/2 cups pineapple juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water

Directions

Purée strawberries (or blueberries) in blender or food processor; pour in pineapple juice, blend and set aside. In small saucepan over medium heat, bring sugar and water to a boil, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat and let syrup cool, about 20 minutes. Whisk pineapple-strawberry mixture into sugar syrup and pour into to a shallow metal pan. Place pan in freezer, mixing with a fork every 30 minutes until frozen, about 2-3 hours.

If you have any other recipes to share, please let us know, we would love to hear them.

Enjoy the 4^th of July weekend!!

-Christine