Sunflower Seed Butter Ice Cream Sauce

While making the Quinoa Granola recipe for B today, I made a little bit of a modification and ended up with a super yummy sauce that doubles as an ice cream sauce. Since every Sunday night is "Ice Cream Sunday Night" around here, this will be perfect for this weekend.


Sunflower Seed Butter Ice Cream Sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
6 Tbsp canola oil
2 Tbsp sunflower seed butter
1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Heat on medium heat until boiling. Turn off heat and allow to cool slightly before adding to ice cream sundae of choice.

Pizza Crust/ Flatbread (Dairy/Soy/Egg/Rice/Oat Free)

Pizza Crust/ Herb Flatbread
4 1/2cups flour (either flour blend or whole wheat)
1 Tbsp rapid rise yeast
1 1/2tsp salt
1 3/4cup warm water (between 110-115 degrees F to activate yeast)
2 Tbsp safe oil

For Flatbread:
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2tsp sage
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 Tbsp safe oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Oil a large bowl with safe oil.

In a second bowl (preferably with a stand mixer or mixer with dough hook), combine flour, salt, and yeast. Add warm water and oil. Knead by hand or knead with a dough hook until a soft, smooth ball is formed. Place ball in the oiled bowl, cover the dough (not the bowl) with saran wrap, then punch the dough down once. Cover the bowl with a linen towel and place in a warm place (I use the top of the oven while it is preheating) to rise for 75 minutes.

Cover a cookie sheet or pizza pan with parchment paper OR lightly oil the surface and spread cornmeal overtop of the oil.

Once risen, place dough on a lightly floured surface. Place parchment paper on top of the dough, roll to desired thickness with rolling pin (aim to fit the shape of the pan you will be baking it in). Place dough in pan, stretch to fit as needed.

For pizza, you can either make one large pizza (will fill a large cookie sheet) or two smaller pizzas. Divide dough before rolling. Once dough is in pan/pans, add sauce and toppings. Brush oil and (if desired) mixed herbs on the edges. Bake until cheese is melted and crust becomes golden brown.

For flatbread, stretch dough to fit pan. Brush oil lightly over top of the dough. Sprinkle garlic and herb mix over top of the oiled dough. Puncture dough with fork in several places. Bake at 400 degrees F for 15-20 minutes until dough is golden brown. Serve with either a marinara or a nomato sauce for dipping, or simply with warm oil. This can also be used for sandwiches or, you can make a few variations and create a homemade garlic bread (this will be my next project).

Enjoy! I had to put the flatbread in my chest freezer quickly (I individually wrapped pieces measuring about 2inches by 4inches with press and seal and placed them in freezer bags for easy single servings and quick reheating) because this was FAR too tasty to sit out on the countertop.

Elimination Diet on the Horizon and Multipurpose Fudge in my Fridge

So if you have been following along, I am on the cusp of the beginning to my elimination diet. It will be easy-ish to start--- just all forms of rice, dairy and soy (including oil and lecithin). My hat is off to all of you mamas eliminating far far more! We are also celebrating B's third birthday this weekend. I currently have several pans of  our favorite chocolate cake in the oven-- it will be transformed into a 3D frog in the AM. Yes, I am just that crazy. But yes, my love for my daughter is equally as large as my degree of crazy.

That said, we did have a prelim birthday celebration last weekend when my parents were in town. Easy peasy, I thought, I'll make a circle cake and cut it out like a lily pad, placing homemade chocolate frogs on top (frogs are all the rage around our house). Yum right?! Well, my mom and I love to talk and I wasn't paying attention when making the chocolate frogs and the chocolate didn't solidify like it should have. . .  I didn't add enough chips and accidentally altered the other ingredients. However, something very beautiful came out of the ordeal (as we sometimes are lucky enough to find with allergy friendly cooking)---- ganache and fudge. Two things that I hold very dear to my heart.

In fact, it had been several years since I made a ganache (at that time, it was deliberate--- trying to impress my now husband with a homemade valentine's dinner) and this was quite the surprise. When I made the chocolate, I made a huge batch and ran out of candy molds and silicone cupcake molds to pour the chocolate into, so being the cheapskate that I am (allergy friendly ingredients are WAY to expensive to simply wash down the drain), I spread the remaining chocolate over top of the chocolate cake I had make B. When it was time for the chocolate frogs to come out of the freezer, I was disappointed to find them not hard but rather the consistency of firm fudge-- not very conducive to getting them out of the molds easily! I was quite annoyed with myself but then the cake was served (I frosted over top of the chocolate with green pseudo buttercream frosting). And then I cut into it. And it was ridiculously good! So good, that I in fact plan on replicating my mistake. When I removed the chocolate from the silicone molds, I realized I had produced heart shaped fudge (with coconut centers--- I never do anything plain around here!). So the mistake turned into a purely delicious and very easy recipe, that after my long winded story, I will now pass along to you and your small ones that harbor a sweet tooth or two. This recipe can be used as a ganache or fudge--- if you spread it over top of a cake, it makes the frosting process much easier, as it provides a smooth firm surface to frost on top of.

Fancy Big Girl Ganache/Fudge
2 Bags Enjoy Life Chocolate chips (20oz total)
1/2 cup coconut milk (or other safe milk)
1/4 cup spectrum palm oil shortening (or safe butter or coconut manna)
1 Tbsp vanilla (optional-- you could also experiment with other extracts for fun)

On medium to medium low heat, melt chocolate and shortening while constantly stirring. Once smooth, add in the milk. When consistency has thinned out to be easily poured, add vanilla and turn off heat. Finish mixing in the vanilla.

For fudge, pour into prepared pan/silicone molds. If using metal or glass pans, you will want to grease them first with shortening or oil. If using silicone molds, there is no need to grease. Refrigerate for 4-6 hours or for best results, overnight. You can have a little bit of fun by layering fillings in between the chocolate, like coconut or any safe nuts/seeds/dried fruits that your child/yourself enjoy. All you need to do is fill the pan/mold halfway with chocolate, add the filling, and then pour additional chocolate on top to cover.

For ganache, pour the chocolate overtop of the prepared cake prior to frosting. Spread evenly with a knife while still hot. Refrigerate for 2-4 hours. Frost when solid or serve as is, perhaps with a little bit of whipped cream.

I never said my elimination diet recipes would all be healthy. I hope you and yours enjoy these delights and please stay tuned for pictures of B's frog cake--- coming soon!

Handprints on the Hill!

Rare But Strong Together!

Tomorrow we celebrate a very important day, Rare Diseases Day! This is a world-wide day to raise awareness of rare diseases and support for those affected by them. FPIES is a rare disease and tomorrow as we join others in celebrating this day, FPIES children and families will be on our minds and in our hearts!

Since we are a crafty bunch around our house, I created a craft for B to do in honor of the day. It is a representation of the Rare Diseases Day logo. You can do it with your LO or with all of your LOs too! You can do what we did-- trace and cut out the handprints on colored paper-- or you can use paint for the handprints, or any other art media that is appropriate for age, stage and allergy. Here are the steps!

1. Trace and cut out three handprints of your child/children--- one print pink, one green, one blue. Trace a gingerbread boy/girl cookie cutter on white paper and cut out the shape.

2. Paste the green handprint laying on its side, fingers pointing to the left side of the paper. Paste the blue handprint slightly overlapping, with the fingers pointing in the opposite direction. For glue, we used those colored glue sticks-- looks purple until the glue dries. Love them!

3. Apply glue to the pink handprint and place it on the paper in the middle of the green and blue prints, but this print will be upright. Apply glue to the gingerbread cut out and place him/her in the middle-bottom of the pink handprint, upright.

5 Show off your craft!

So for all of you with small ones, this can be a fun way to celebrate the day with your kiddos. For siblings, you might want each child to contribute a hand print for extra fun, or have everyone make their own picture and then display them together, like a quilt. I made a big version with my handprints too, and B liked that we were doing them together. Solidarity, mamas and daddies!

For more information on how you can take part in rare diseases day, please visit http://www.rarediseaseday.org/article/get-involved

For more information about FPIES specific activities for Rare Diseases Day, please visit The FPIES Foundation's facebook page. TFF is an official partner of Rare Disease Day and is so pleased to be supporting such a worthwhile and meaningful cause!

There is No Secret Ingredient

B loves Kung Fu Panda. So very much so, that the reason she got dumplings for Thanksgiving (pear dumplings) was due to her obsession with this movie. I love my girl. . .

After watching that movie for likely the fiftieth time tonight (Friday is movie night), the phrase "There is no secret ingredient," kind of stuck with me. And I thought about our kids, and us as families, dealing with FPIES everyday. My thoughts settled on "hope."

I have been rather disturbed to read some posts on a few of the support forums lately. I have seen other FPIES parents, a handful in particular that are very active in the community, publicly discrediting (and I do not use that term loosely) other FPIES parents. This disturbs me on a few levels--- first, I think "Who has time to do this?" Second, the pragmatic part of me wonders how on EARTH this is remotely helpful or useful to anyone. We have kids with a chronic illness. This is a shared reality for all of us. I know personally, when I frequent the boards, it is specifically to reach out to others, maybe help someone through a situation we experienced when B was younger, etc. I don't like or have time for drama. If what one wants to say is counteractive to the supportive nature of "support" forums, and one indeed has the time to conjure up such nastiness, I may suggest that time would be better spent perhaps by reading one's child a book. Madeline is a current favorite around here, if suggestions are needed.

The issue that bothers me most is that as parents of children with a rare, often misunderstood diagnosis, we are sometimes slammed by others, including some family and even medical professionals, in how we go about the care of our children. Obviously, there are amazing supportive and educated docs (we are very lucky to have B see some of the best!) and amazing supportive family and friends. But the nature of dealing with a rare and misunderstood diagnosis can lend itself to outside criticism and doubt, particularly when going through the initial diagnostic process. Our FPIES community is meant to be a safe place, a place free of those criticisms. And we of all people, should know that the intricacies of each child's case may be confounding and may not be "by the book." Statistics break down at the individual level, and if all of our kids were textbook in all of their symptoms, I would think that outcomes for all may fare a bit better than they currently do.

So what can the rest of us offer in these situations? What can be used to counteract this poor behavior? We can hope. Hope is the most powerful device we have-- it is what gets us through the medical testing, the endless doctor appointments, the food trials, the day to day questioning, and those awful nights that we all know too well. It is hope that we can offer our children as they deal with the most challenging aspects of this condition. The truth is this: we don't have a special medicine, we don't have a magic bullet (outside the realm of small kitchen appliances), we don't have a secret ingredient. We DO have the strength and the compassion that we can offer to one another, elements that come from navigating our own sometimes dark circumstances, elements found within the very essence of hope itself. With hope, we find each other and we find ourselves. With hope, we somehow find a purpose in all of this. With hope, we discover that although the road is often rocky and the path can be dark, normalcy, comfort and solace can and will be uncovered and nurtured through our strength and solidarity as a community. For the negativity that does exist, sadly even in our own backyards it seems, we cannot allow it to strip us of hope, but instead, we must stand up against this negativity with our continued dedication to one another's families and our continued fight for our children's cause. It is with hope and only with hope that these ideals we hold most dear are truly possible. I commend and applaud all of you parents and professionals that do this everyday.

Corn Tortillas

Here is a simple explanation of how to make tortillas, simply using masa, water and a touch of oil to grease your skillet.

Corn Tortillas
1/4 cup masa (a form of corn flour made with chemical lime to ease digestion)
2-4Tbsp water
1 Tbsp oil

Heat oil in a non stick skillet over medium low heat. In a small bowl, add masa. Slowly add water one tablespoon at a time until you have achieved a dough that is playdoh consistency. Knead the dough until smooth and pliable. Roll out between parchment paper until tortilla thinness. Cut into shapes if desired or form into a large circle. Cook shapes in the pan-- turn occasionally. When the dough begins to bubble and brown slightly, your tortillas are done. I make small fun shapes for B and occasionally add food coloring for extra fun!

Enjoy!