Saturday, March 13, 2010

Update: Eating with Allergies

It's now been more than 2 months since I started my new diet, which excludes wheat, dairy, eggs and cashews, thanks to my son's food allergies. Fortunately, his skin is clearing up nicely. He is off the Zyrtec and we're using very limited amounts of steroid creams to keep the eczema under control. He looks like a healthy baby again ... whew!

My battle with the un-foods has been mostly won, I'm happy to report! There are still three un-foods that I consume on a regular (though not daily) basis: oat milk, brown rice bread, and soy yogurt. But my diet is back to almost all real foods, and I feel much better. Yay!!!!

There are two things that I was battling with when I posted about this last (see here) that have since been resolved: pancakes and eggs. I've gotten rid of my box of egg replacer, which was a super-un-food and never worked anyway, and I've found a perfectly natural and extremely healthy alternative: chia gel! I use 1/4 cup chia gel to replace each egg in any baking recipe. Check out this video to learn about the benefits of chia and how to make chia gel.

For the pancakes, I've ditched the gluten-free mixes in favor of my own wheat-, egg-, and dairy-free recipe. Here goes:

Wheat-, Egg-, Dairy-Free Pancakes
1 1/4 cup barley flour
1/4 cup buckwheat flour
2 Tbsps sugar
2 tsps. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups oat milk
1/4 cup chia gel
3 Tbsps. safflower oil
1/2 cup blueberries, frozen or fresh (optional)
Safflower oil spray
Maple syrup

Preheat a cast iron griddle over high heat.

In a large bowl, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a small bowl combine the oat milk and chia gel, whisking together well. Add the safflower oil, and whisk well again. Add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture and stir together until just moistened. Fold in the blueberries.

Spray the griddle with a thin layer of safflower oil. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Spoon batter onto griddle, allowing pancakes to cook about 2-3 minutes per side. Serve drizzled with maple syrup.

Makes about 10 flapjack size pancakes.

Note: Barley flour pancakes will stick to your griddle more than wheat flour ones will, so take a little extra care in the flipping.

4 comments:

Marcia said...

I'm very glad that you are finding ways to eat real foods despite your son's allergies. It's a very good thing that you did to adjust your diet for him.

I remember getting panicked when the lactation nurse, before I left the hospital, told me that I shouldn't eat the following foods:
nuts, onions, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, beans, and garlic

because they could give my son gas. I was so depressed at my first pediatrician's appointment... Luckily the doctor said "eat what you want, if there's a problem, we'll start eliminating stuff".

Real foods, all the way, woo! Good luck.

Ilana Kriegsman said...

Marcia,
I was told a lot of the same things. Very strange advice, to my mind.
Thanks for the comment!
Ilana

Unknown said...

so sorry to hear of your challenges with your son's allergies. I have been struggling for 10 years with allergies to milk, eggs, soy, peanuts, poultry, and yeast. As of recently, I can tolerate all but the animal products, so as long as food is vegan, I'm good! I wanted to let you know about a wonderful resource: a book called "The Allergy Self-Help Cookbook" that has many great recipes free of most common allergens. You can probably find it at your local library. the author is Marjorie Hurt Jones. Good Luck!

Ilana Kriegsman said...

Thanks, Richie! I appreciate all the tips I can get! Fortunately, I've been able to re-introduce milk to my diet with no apparent consequences. I wish you good luck with your own dietary restrictions!
Ilana