Continue reading »]]> Last night was attempt numero dos on making a Sugar Free Chocolate Ice Cream. If you read the last post about it you will remember that it did not look very appetizing.

I did a bit of research on the chemistry of ice cream and how all the various parts work together to get the perfect result. So with a better understanding of the chemical reactions going on, I modified my recipe and actually had some success! I did just a half batch so I didn’t waste ingredients, so unless you double the recipe below you won’t get very much….

2 tbsp cocoa butter

2 tbsp coconut oil

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup DariFree

1 cup of water

4 packets of Sweet Leaf Stevia

½ tsp Vanilla

While the look and consistency were fantastic, it was a bit on the bitter side. And with only 4 packets of Stevia- it is certainly understandable. So you will need to experiment a bit with the sweetness and adjust it for your personal tastes.

However, on day two, the ice cream was a solid block. When left out for about 20 minutes, it slowly softened to a runny pudding consistency. Creamy, tasty but bitter, drippy. Back to the drawing board.

Continue reading »]]> I had a bit of an emergency at home and had to be home for the various repair people to do their thing. It annoys me to lose work hours for this nonsense so I took advantage of our need for test kitchen recipes and did some creating while I waited… and waited… and waited some more.

I needed a bit of change from the ice cream I’ve been experimenting with, so I thought of the frozen treats from my childhood and figured that I would try making homemade Orange Creamsicles. Talk about a blast from the past! Here is what I did…

1 cup dairy free

2 cups water

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp orange flavor

1 tbsp vanilla

1 tsp egg replacer

1 medium orange- blended

Directions: Mix all ingredients, except the fresh orange, together and whisk over low heat until sugar is dissolved and ingredients are incorporated. Place one medium sized peeled orange in the blender and ‘liquify’ until it is good and frothy- about 2 minutes. Add the warm liquid mixture into the blender and continue to blend for 3 minutes. Pour the mixture into popsicle molds and freeze overnight. It made a bath of 6 good-sized popsicles with a small serving dish left over.

While the orange adds some orangey color, you may wish to add some additional coloring to get that commercial orange color that most are used to seeing in the store.

And the results? “These are awesome!” said each coworker as they quickly devoured the whole set of them. A hit!

Continue reading »]]> OK! So I think we’ve got a winner…. Ding, ding ding!

1 Tbsp Coconut Oil

7 Tbsp of Pamela’s Vanilla Cake Mix

1 tsp Vanilla

½ tsp Egg Replacer

9 Tbsp Water

1. Using your favorite microwavable mug, melt the Coconut Oil for approximately 30 seconds (microwave times will vary by model)
2. then add in all the other ingredients. Mix well.
3. Microwave for approximately 2 minutes. Cake is done if an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

What did I do the first time that made it come out so horrible?

• I didn’t add enough flavoring so it had no flavor.
• I used WAY too much Egg Replacer ( ½ tsp vs ½ tbsp!)
• And as it turns out, our microwave here in the office is super strong and I seriously over cooked the first round!

You really need to play around a bit with the amount of flavoring you use to adjust it to your particular tastes. Also adjust your cooking time depending on how powerful your microwave is!

And experiment! Try different flavors, try adding chocolate chips, try adding applesauce or even your favorite berry before cooking. I’m curious to see how creative we can get.

Continue reading »]]> While I was doing my research for camps in Connecticut I came across information on camps in other states. And I did find several allergy friendly camps that seem like they mean business and plan their programs accordingly. Here are a few I found that might be worth delving deeper into for when I’m ready to send my daughter to sleep-away camp…

• Camp TAG: “It provides a safe place for children with food allergies and their siblings to have fun with no worries about having an allergic reaction, as well as give them an opportunity to meet other children who share the same conditions and know they are not alone! A registered nurse who specializes in food allergies, anaphylaxis, and epinephrine administration will be onsite at all times.”
• Asthma Camps: This database provides links to dozens of camps nationwide that accommodate children with Asthma.
• Vegetarian Camp: “Delicious vegetarian dining with an emphasis on local and organic foods!”

Your child’s pediatrician or allergist may also be another source for ideas on summer camp. The best advice I can give is to start your search early. Very early! Get to know the prospective camps, take a tour, talk to the camp director and get comfortable. You are your child’s best advocate!

Continue reading »]]> I’ve been steadily getting back responses to my email about summer camps and their ability to keep my daughter safe.

Here is another, very different response that I received…

All of the camp staff are trained with First Aid – and Epi Pen administration. At our Camp we are extremely aware of peanut allergies…. soy and pear?? I would need more info – same reaction??

There are MANY girls who attend with food allergies.
These are the questions that will be asked of you prior to camp -
What allergies? What is the reaction?
Can the girls in the unit have these food items?
Can the girls in the camp have these food items?

We request the medical forms before camp so that we can review them – contact parents – and decide a course of “action”

We have reserved “allergy awareness weeks” at camps – and invited girls with severe allergies to attend – and we have been extremely successful. We have not been requested to have this in the past two years. but I can reassure you that we have not had an allergy incident in all the summers that I have been the day camp manager.

I would love to answer any specific questions that you have. I can call you on Saturday if you give me your number.

Alright! A response from a camp that seems genuinely interested in keeping my daughter safe. They asked questions, gave a bit of info on their training (additionally their website says that each unit counselor carries the emergency meds at all times, not just left in a central location like other camps) and offers to call me!

Hmmm… this camp is in the running and based on the responses I’ve been getting back, may be the ONLY camp I’m comfortable with my daughter attending.

Way to go Girls Scouts of Connecticut!!

Continue reading »]]> So have you ever had your allergic child tell you 15 minutes before leaving the house in the morning for school… “Mom today is Sophia’s Birthday so I need a cupcake for school today as her mom is sending in a treat for the class”. Yeah, there is just no way you can bake an entire batch of cupcakes in time but you don’t want your child to feel left out while everyone else is enjoying their wheat, dairy and soy ridden treat.

This actually happened to me this morning with my daughter. I’m a planner and always have single wrapped cupcakes that I have made in our big freezer in the basement, so no biggie. Allergen friendly bakeries are few and far between, so what is the non-planner parent to do when this happens?

There is good news… you can bake a single serving of cake in less than 5 minutes! Really! I’ve done it!! Truth be told however, I’ve never tried it with an allergen friendly mix, but I have done this with regular mixes. A few tablespoons of the cake mix, a couple tablespoons of water and a tablespoon of plain mayonnaise (takes the place of eggs and oil) all in a coffee mug (or other microwave friendly container) and in 3 minutes… voila! You have a single serving of cake! Perfect for those specific times in a girl’s life when she craves chocolate cake but doesn’t want to wait an hour plus to eat it! But how does that translate into a recipe to be allergen free?

I went into our warehouse and grabbed one of the Pamela Vanilla Cake Mixes; some coconut oil and egg replacer then went to into our kitchen here in the office. When I say kitchen, I mean we have a room, a refrigerator, sink, toaster oven and a microwave- pretty basic.

I melted the coconut oil in my big ole’ coffee mug, added in a few tablespoons of the cake mix, a tablespoon of egg replacer, a few tablespoons of water and a couple drops of vanilla. Once all mixed, I spooned out portions of the batter and put them in little single serving silicon cupcake holders as I was anticipating greatness and everyone in the office would want a taste.

Three minutes later the microwave ding was heard all across the office and everyone’s anticipation of a yummy sweet treat made them come running into the kitchen like Pavlov’s dogs. It smelled great. It looked great. It tasted… well…. It tasted HORRIBLE! It had a weird rubber texture and there was no taste whatsoever.

What went wrong? Did I add too much coconut oil? Too much egg replacer? Not enough vanilla? Was it cooked too long? Stay tuned for the next round…. Hopefully it will be better!

Continue reading »]]> A natural rite of passage in childhood is attending summer camp. Whether it’s a day camp or a sleep-away camp, kids of all ages get to experience great activities and make lifetime friendships.  But what about a child who has food allergies?

My daughter is 7 years old and we are looking for a summer program that she will enjoy and one that will be not only be accommodating to her multiple food allergies, but one that can keep her safe. I didn’t realize what a challenge it would be! Most camps have high school kids or, if you’re lucky, college kids as camp counselors. How versed are these kids in understanding food allergies, the consequences and nuances of each type of allergy and are observant enough to see a reaction and get the child treatment?

Being in Connecticut, we have hundreds of camps available with every themed activity you can think of. We started contacting ones we were interested in to inquire on their allergy policies.

Here is the email that I sent out….

“Good Morning,

We are considering your camp for our 7 year old daughter this summer. She does have several food allergies (peanut, soy, pear) as well as Asthma and we are concerned about the ability to accommodate her and keep her safe. Can you provide additional information on your camp and staff training on how you keep children with allergies safe?

Thank you and I look forward to hearing back from you.”

I have to be honest, I’ve gotten back some rather callous responses which have made me feel that they do what they can, but don’t really take it seriously. Not having a written plan or something in writing about how their staff is trained does not leave me with warm fuzzies.  Here is a response from a rather expensive camp…

“Thanks for considering xxx Camp for your daughter.  We have several campers each summer who have allergies and we do our best to keep them safe.  We provide a peanut-free table at lunch where campers can sit and eat.  Our nurse is at the table or nearby and always carries an EpiPen for any emergencies.  If you would like to discuss this further, please feel free to contact me at (860) xxx-xxxx.”

“We do our best” is not a statement that sits well with me as I want them to do more than their best! Granted my daughter has never had a life threatening reaction, but allergies are unpredictable and I need to be able to trust these strangers who I’m giving charge of my most precious gift.

I received back several emails with that type of sentiment. So far I have been unable to find a summer camp in Connecticut that made me comfortable about accommodating my daughter with food allergies. I’m curious- what do working parents do during the summer? Do they sign their child up for the camp that has the best activities and hope that their child won’t have a reaction while at camp?

Why aren’t there more camps that cater to keeping our allergic kids safe? I know many parents in our local area that would gladly pay for a quality camp for their allergic child. Talk about a business opportunity! Any entrepreneurs paying attention?

Continue reading »]]> We will not be shipping the Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips once it starts getting warm. (Imagine how happy our customers would be to receive melted chocolate in the mail!) What about my chocolate ice cream?

As a result, I spent some time playing with the Creamy Non-Dairy Chocolate Ice Cream recipe.  I was very happy how this recipe turned out and so was my 6 year old!

1 Cup DariFree

2 Cups Water

1 Cup Sugar

1/3 Cup Cocoa

½ Tsp Vanilla

2 Tbsp Coconut Oil

2 Tbsp Cocoa Butter

Dash Salt

You may notice that compared to the first Chocolate Ice Cream recipe we posted that this one has a couple different ingredients. I added the Cocoa Butter to replace the Cocoa Butter already in the Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips. I wanted to make sure to account for that fat so that the result was just as creamy. I also reduced the amount of sugar a bit, as sugar acts as an anti-freeze, and found that the mixture got thicker in the machine and the missing sugar really did not affect the flavor very much.

I first melted the Cocoa Butter and Coconut Oil at a low temperature in a saucepan on the stove, and let it cool a little. Then I added in the water (room temperature), sugar, Darifree, Cocoa Powder and Vanilla. (This is a slight process change from the previous recipe that saves time and pans!)

I mixed together with a whisk on very low heat until everything was incorporated. While we recommend chilling the mixture first, I don’t have the time to wait around in the test kitchen, so I poured it directly into my trusty ice cream maker.

Creamy, smooth, chocolaty, yum!  I hope you enjoy the new recipe!

Continue reading »]]> I was quite hesitant about trying to make Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream again after last week’s disastrous result- if you remember it was the Curiously Strong post where it was stronger tasting than an Altoid! Yuk! There was WAAAAY too much mint flavoring.

So I went to the opposite extreme. I got out my measuring spoons and the set I have actually has a measurement for a ‘pinch’.  I used half a pinch and it was PERFECT!!

Here is the recipe…

• 1 Tsp of Vanilla
• 1 Cup of DariFree
• 2 Cups of Hot Water
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 2 Tbsp of Coconut Oil
• 2 Tbsp of Egg Replacer
• Dash of salt
• ½ Pinch of Peppermint Oil (a 16^th of a teaspoon or ½ a drip)
• ½ Cup of Enjoy Life Chocolate Mini Chips

I brought in the resulting Dairy Free Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream this morning and everyone tasted it as they came into the office. Everyone was very pleased.

One of my coworkers announced that she was claiming the entire container of Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, no-one else could have more. I guess it was just ‘ok’ in her opinion.

Continue reading »]]> There is a story one of my coworkers loves to tell about me when I was pregnant and my love for Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream.  The story goes… she was running out to get lunch and asked if anyone wanted anything. That particular day I was craving ice cream and she was kind enough to stop and grab a tub of it for me at the corner store. And then she sat in awe and watched while I proceeded to inhale the entire pint! Needless to say when the topic of ice cream comes up in the office, that story gets told.

While I can’t eat that much ice cream in one sitting anymore, and I no longer have an excuse to do so, I still love Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream.  With all the experimenting I’ve been doing with Dairy Free, Soy Free Ice Cream for MadAlex, I decided to try my hand at making my favorite flavor.  So with my Dairy-Free Vanilla Ice Cream recipe in hand, some peppermint flavoring and Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips I set out to create a masterpiece.

Peppermint Altoids®

Well, I guess you could call it a Masterpiece… a Master Disaster! I didn’t realize just how strong and concentrated the Lorann Peppermint oil was, so that first taste was like eating an Altoid®! Holy Peppermint!!! It cleared out the sinuses and left a minty after-breath as if I had just brushed my teeth!  And I only used a teaspoon for a quart and a half of ice cream!  Altoid® Ice Cream, anyone? Anyone?

Yikes! Even though I’ve had just as many disasters as I’ve had successes with these Ice Cream recipes, I’m getting ready to experiment again, determined on making this flavor work. Albeit, with a lot less peppermint flavoring!!