Allergy Friendly Lunchbox Love ... 3/30/12

Welcome to our weekly Friday feature, Allergy Friendly Lunchbox Love!  This link party is specifically for your dishes that will travel well in a lunchbox, and if they're free of some (or all) of the top eight food allergens, that's even better :)  We all need some inspiration when it comes time to fill that lunchbox week after week!

What did you pack for lunch this week?

Slow Cooker Lemon Garlic Chicken and Rice

Slow Cooker Lemon Garlic Chicken and Rice

Yesterday was one of those days that I found myself in the car more than in the house.  Between my appointments and errands, and the boys' sports and lessons, I think I drove over 100 miles between 8am and 8pm!  It is on these kinds of days that I thank the heavens for my slow cooker -- without it, we'd be eating instant oatmeal for dinner (and don't think I haven't resorted to that!).

Today's recipe is as simple as humanly possible.  Just add your chicken and flavorings to the crock pot in the morning, then add some rice 30 - 60 minutes before you want to eat (this depends on whether you are using white or brown rice).  Throw some arugula in a bowl with olive oil and salt (the busy mom's "salad") and you're sitting down to dinner just minutes after you walk in the door (or limp in the door, if all that driving gave you sciatica).  It's possible to add your rice in the morning, if you don't mind extremely mushy rice for dinner, but it's not an ideal plan.

Slow Cooker Lemon and Garlic Chicken and Rice

2 1-lb packages boneless chicken breasts
4 cups chicken broth or veggie broth
4 cloves garlic
1 whole lemon
2 Tbsp dried parsley, or 1/2 cup fresh
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups rice

Place chicken in the bottom of the slow cooker.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add broth, garlic and parsley.  Cut lemon in half, squeeze juice onto chicken, then drop the rest of the lemon into the broth.  Cook on high for 5 - 6 hours (adjust as necessary based on the amount of chicken you have).  Add rice during the last 60 minutes if you are using brown rice, or during the last 30 minutes if you are using white.  Discard lemon peels before serving.

Shared with Pennywise Platter at The Nourishing Gourmet and Allergy Friendly Friday with Cybele Pascal and Monday Mania at The Healthy Home Economist and the Homestead Barn Hop at the Prairie Homestead and Slightly Indulgent Tuesday at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free and Traditional Tuesday at Cooking Traditional Foods and Cowgirl Up! at The Farmhouse Porch and Allergy Free Wednesday at Whole New Mom and Kids in the Kitchen at Young Living Oil Lady.

Allergy Friendly Lunchbox Love .... 3/23/12

=====  LUNCHBOX LOVE #26 ====

Welcome to our weekly Friday feature, Allergy Friendly Lunchbox Love!  This link party is specifically for your dishes that will travel well in a lunchbox, and if they're free of some (or all) of the top eight food allergens, that's even better :)  We all need some inspiration when it comes time to fill that lunchbox week after week!

Today's feature is from Hobby and More.  Richa has worked her magic again and created a delicious bread that's gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free and even gum-free.   Her focaccia is a great way to enjoy any kind of vegetable topping.  It's essentially a cheese-free pizza that makes you feel like a sophisticated eater!  ("It's not a lacking pizza! It's a fancy bread!")  Click on the title above the focaccia photo to jump to Richa's site for all the recipe details. 

Gluten Free Zucchini Basil Focaccia

from Hobby and More

Now for this week's party!  Please link up anything you've made that works for a lunchbox and is free of some or all of the top 8 allergens.  Thanks for coming, and can't wait to see what you're sharing this week :)

Allergy Friendly Lunchbox Love ... 3/16/12

=====  LUNCHBOX LOVE #25 ====

Welcome to our weekly Friday feature, Allergy Friendly Lunchbox Love!  This link party is specifically for your dishes that will travel well in a lunchbox, and if they're free of some (or all) of the top eight food allergens, that's even better :)  We all need some inspiration when it comes time to fill that lunchbox week after week!

Today's feature is from Maple Hill 101.  Daisy has made these adorable Mini Meatloaves without gluten, dairy or eggs.  I happen to be a HUGE fan of meatloaf sandwiches, and I am wishing I had somewhere to go where I'd need a lunchbox so I can make myself some with these!  I also love Daisy's idea of using crushed rice chips instead of breadcrumbs.  Why didn't I think of that?  Click on the title below to jump to Maple Hill 101 for all the details.

Mini Meatloaves

from Maple Hill 101

Now for this week's party!  Please link up anything you've made that works for a lunchbox and is free of some or all of the top 8 allergens.  Thanks for coming, and can't wait to see what you're sharing this week :)

Pesto Zucchini Bites

Pesto Zucchini Bites

Today's mini recipe is great for those "Empty The Fridge" nights when you only have one squash and a handful of basil and you need to feed five people.  It reminds me of that old show with Gordon Elliott, Door Knock Dinners, where he would show up at someone's front door with a chef in tow and offer to have him make a gourmet dinner with whatever he could find in the fridge.

In any case, these little rounds can serve as an appetizer or a side dish, and they're cute so they also serve to fool your children into thinking they're eating something fun instead of something healthy (not that your children would EVER turn their noses up at vegetables!).

I sliced a small zucchini and a small yellow squash and baked them on a cookie sheet with a little oil and salt at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes (give or take).  My homemade dairy-free pesto recipe is here, and I just added a few quartered olives for fun.  Eat these with your fingers -- the squash gets very soft and the toppings will fall off in a very ungraceful way if you try to use a fork.  You might also like to use grape tomato halves on top, or even cheese, if you're eating that.  I can also see pine nuts for crunch, or even a raisin on top for a sweet taste.  What would YOU top your zucchini bites with??

Shared with Pennywise Platter at The Nourishing Gourmet and Wellness Weekend at Diet, Dessert and Dogs and Freaky Friday at Real Food Freaks and Fresh Bites Friday at Real Food Whole Health and Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade and Gallery of Favorites at Premeditated Leftovers.  

St. Patrick's Pot Roast with Guinness

St. Patrick's Pot Roast with Guinness

Ok all you pot roast fans, this is for you!  I grew up in a half-Irish household where pot roast was cooked simply in a pot of water, and boy was I surprised when I realized you could add Different Things to your roast as it cooked to change the flavor :)  This recipe is a compilation of several ideas I saw in other places, and it is my absolute favorite kind of roast.  The Guinness and the coffee really deepen the flavor, while the balsamic and the bay leaves give the meat a brighter twist.  This being St. Patrick's week, I thought it would be the perfect time to roll out this recipe for you all, but rest assured, this dish is a hit any time of the year!

St. Patrick's Pot Roast with Guinness

1 pot roast (your choice of cut)
1 bottle Guinness beer
1 cup brewed coffee
2 cups water
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 bay leaves
2 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 onion, quartered
1 cup baby carrots

Season the meat with salt and pepper and sear it on all sides in a Dutch oven on your stove.  Transfer to slow cooker.  Add the rest of the ingredients, and cook on high for 6 - 8 hours.  (Alternatively, you can cook the whole thing on the stove in the Dutch oven for 3 hours, covered.)

Shared with Monday Mania at The Healthy Home Economist and Hunk of Meat Monday at Beyer Beware and the Homestead Barn Hop at the Prairie Homestead and Melt in Your Mouth Monday at Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms and Strut Your Stuff Saturday at Six Sisters' Stuff and Once Upon a Weekend at Family Ever After and Allergy Friendly Friday with Cybele Pascal and the Hearth and Soul Hop with Premeditated Leftovers and Fat Tuesday at Real Food Forager and Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop and Midweek Fiesta at Food Corner and These Chicks Cooked Recipe Swap at This Chick Cooks and Seasonal Inspiration at Crumbs and Chaos and Allergy Free Wednesday at Real Food Allergy Free and Whole Food Wednesday at Beyond the Peel and Creative Juice at Momnivore's Dilemma and Pennywise Platter at The Nourishing Gourmet and Fusion Friday at Jennifer Cooks and Friday Food at Mom Trends and Inspiration Friday At The Picket Fence. 

Allergy Friendly Lunchbox Love ... 3/9/12

=====  LUNCHBOX LOVE #24 ====

Welcome to our weekly Friday feature, Allergy Friendly Lunchbox Love!  This link party is specifically for your dishes that will travel well in a lunchbox, and if they're free of some (or all) of the top eight food allergens, that's even better :)  We all need some inspiration when it comes time to fill that lunchbox week after week!

Today's feature is from The Healthy Beehive ... Jane's Coconut Banana Bread is made without dairy, eggs, or gluten, and it looks great!  Bananas and coconut always make me think of tropical islands .... I can totally see this bread with some funky pineapple jam.  Click on the title above Jane's photo to jump to her site and see all the recipe details.

Coconut Banana Bread (GF, DF, EF)

from The Healthy Beehive

Now for this week's party!  Please link up anything you've made that works for a lunchbox and is free of some or all of the top 8 allergens.  Thanks for coming, and can't wait to see what you're sharing this week :)

Liebster Blog Award

Thanks to Colette at Learning to Eat Allergy Free, I've been tagged with the Liebster Blog Award again!

Liebster is a German word for “Good Friend,” and I am so humbled that Colette has chosen me.  Each recipient is supposed to pass the award on to five of their favorite blogs, and you will see my picks in a second. 

First, the rules. To accept this award you must:

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog. 
3. Copy and paste the award to your blog.
4. Have faith that your followers will spread the word and love to other bloggers.
5. Have fun.


And now, my top five blogs:


1) Low Amine Recipes: What are amines anyway?  Aged foods tend to be high in these compounds, and those with mold allergies can benefit from a low amine diet.  Great recipes and lots of useful information.


2) Tessa The Domestic Diva:  Tessa blogs about gluten, dairy and corn-free recipes.  She is one of six hostesses of the weekly recipe carnival, "Allergy Free Wednesday." 


3) The Tasty Alternative: Amber turned a diagnosis of Crohn's Disease into a tremendous amount of useful information on allergy-free diets.  She is also one of the six hostesses of the weekly recipe carnival, "Allergy Free Wednesday." 


4) Veggie V's Vegan Adventure: While we're not all vegan at my house, we are avoiding dairy and eggs, which makes vegan recipes very appealing.  Lots of interesting flavor combinations here. 


5) Living With Food Allergies & Celiac: Mary puts her "positive and enthusiastic attitude" to good use, sharing recipes and tips for living with food allergies.  She also hosts a great recipe carnival on Mondays called "Made From Scratch Monday."


Please take a minute to hop over to any of the blogs you haven't seen yet ... the wealth of great information from food allergy bloggers on the internet makes having an allergy seem actually manageable!  


Thanks again to Colette for her tag :)

Brownie Pudding Tarts

Brownie Pudding Tarts

So, I have to confess.  My back is killing me this week, and I've been taking a few foodie shortcuts, a la Sandra Lee.  Luckily, we have access to some great allergy-free products at our local Fresh Acres grocery store, which makes these "cheats" a lot less guilt-inducing.

Today's mini recipe is for Brownie Pudding Tarts.  I just took pre-made gluten-free brownies and squished them into muffin cups to make the tart shell, then poured in dairy-free pudding (from a box mix) and topped with a little jam and raspberries.  Super quick, super easy, and the kids went nuts!

My brownies are from Foods by George, my pudding mix is from Dr. Oetker, and I used rice milk to make the pudding.  If you're in the mood to cook from scratch, you might like to try this GF, DF, eggFree brownie recipe from the Spunky Coconut.  It's the right consistency (extremely moist) to make the tart shells properly. Just use your fingers to flatten the brownies and shape them into cups.  Make the pudding on the stove, pour it into the shells while it's still hot, then pop the muffin pan right into the fridge for about an hour until the pudding sets.  It's fun!  (P.S. The box of George's brownies made 8 tarts, and there was enough pudding left over to make two small shell-less cups.)

Shared with Monday Mania at The Healthy Home Economist and Slightly Indulgent Tuesday at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free and Tea Party Tuesday at Sweetology and Made From Scratch Monday at Living With Food Allergies and the Homestead Barn Hop at the Prairie Homestead and Gluten Free Wednesday at the Gluten Free Homemaker and the Homemaking LinkUp at Raising Homemakers and Midweek Fiesta at Food Corner and Allergy Free Wednesday at The Willing Cook and Pennywise Platter at The Nourishing Gourmet.

Allergy Friendly Lunchbox Love ... 3/2/12

=====  LUNCHBOX LOVE #23 ====

Welcome to our weekly Friday feature, Allergy Friendly Lunchbox Love!  This link party is specifically for your dishes that will travel well in a lunchbox, and if they're free of some (or all) of the top eight food allergens, that's even better :)  We all need some inspiration when it comes time to fill that lunchbox week after week!

Today's feature is from the very talented Keeley McGuire.  Her Nascar lunchbox is just adorable, and it's allergy friendly as well.  The race car sandwich is made of SunButter and honey, with Home Free cookies for wheels.  The checkered flag is an apple, and the crowd of faces is made of blueberries!  How cute is that?  Keeley's clever lunch shows us once again that an allergy-free lunch can be even cooler than the "regular" lunches that all the other kids bring... thus helping your possibly-excluded child become the king/queen of the lunch table!

NASCAR Lunchbox

by Keeley McGuire

Now for this week's party!  Please link up anything you've made that works for a lunchbox and is free of some or all of the top 8 allergens.  Thanks for coming, and can't wait to see what you're sharing this week :)