Food for Life Brown Rice Bread!

So, I just wanted to tell you all about a surprisingly yummy little loaf of bread I stumbled upon while at Nugget (can be found at most "health" food stores though, even our family favorite Trader Joes). It was in the refrigerated section, and that's the only place I've ever seen it accept at trader joes. The brand is Food for Life and the actual bread I like is the Brown Rice Bread.  This cute little, 1.5 lb (I know right!), loaf of bread is the best bread I've found thus far, outside of just baking your own. It is very dense though, not fluffy like your typical sandwich bread, but very yummy with E.D. smiths Peach Mango Orange spread that we found at Costco. It is chewy, heavy, and REALLY good with my 2 favorite "butter" Spreads (Earth Balance soy free and Coconut). If you haven't tried either of these, you really should give them a shot. The coconut one is AMAZING in steel cut oats with a little dark brown sugar, and the soy free one is the only spread I've found that is free of wheat/Gluten soy egg and dairy/Casein, that still tastes like butter. I'll do another post on my butters, but that's my kick on them for now. Back to the bread... Its soft and chewy on the inside, and has a nice somewhat crisp top, which is GREAT for toasting. I did find that if you like a toasted turkey sandwich this is a great choice. Though the slices of the bread are quite small, about 2.5''-3'' tall and 3-4'' wide  (typical for gluten/wheat free breads) it tastes GREAT with some deli turkey, butter lettuce and ripe avocado. Something great about this bread is that it does not taste burnt, which oddly is quite hard for me to find in a gluten/wheat free bread. Not sure why, but so many of them taste burnt to me. Only bad thing about this bread is that because of the dense type of bread that it is, it does not soak up much (ie: butter, honey or other things that are more liquid when warmed), so I end up with honey dripping on my hand quite often, though I could think of worse things, when eating toast in the mornings. So, all in all, it's worth a try. We found this cheapest at Sprouts Markets and Trader Joes (between 3.25 and 3.99), with it being most expensive at Sunflower markets and traditional grocers (5.25-5.99).
As always, I hope the incite helps you in some way or another, or maybe even just gives you something new to try. Stay tuned for a post on a few different flowers we've been playing with and a yummy recipe for Gluten/Wheat soy dairy and egg free coconut fried chicken! We love it, and think you will too!
As always, with Love,
The Allergy Mommy

Pumpkin Pie (Wheat-Free, Gluten-free, Egg-Free, and Dairy-Free)

Ok, so.. It' true. I LOVE pumpkin Pie. and lets be honest folks, it's just that time of year. Kind of depressing for me really, but onward and upward! So, in my hopes of finding a way to eat pumpkin pie, I found this little recipe. Now, I'm going to have to REALLY work hard to find an alternate, that tastes right and has the right consistency, for the vanilla soy it calls for... I'm thinking coconut milk is going to be best. We'll see though. Not sure how pumpkin/coconut pie will taste, but I am sooooo willing to give it a try! So, thank you All Recipes for the recipe, and here's crossing our fingers that it turns out yummy! Happy Baking!
Love,The Allergy Momma

Prep Time:
20 Min

Cook Time:
1 Hr 15 Min

Ready In:
3 Hrs 35 Min

Ingredients

• Crust:
• 1 1/2 cups gluten-free all purpose baking flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons french vanilla soy creamer
•  
• Pie Filling:
• 2 cups canned pumpkin
• 1 cup french vanilla soy creamer
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon dark corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. Stir together all purpose gluten-free flour and 1 teaspoon salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the vegetable oil and soy creamer until creamy. Pour oil mixture into flour mixture, stir with fork until blended. Pat the crust into the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie pan. Bake for 15 minutes in preheated oven. Remove and set aside.
3. Decrease oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Place pumpkin, soy creamer, brown sugar, cornstarch, corn syrup, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, and cloves in a blender. Blend until combined. Pour into prebaked pie crust. Place foil around the edges of the pie crust and bake for 60 minutes or until a knife inserted 1 inch from crust comes out clean. Cool pie on counter for 2 hours then refrigerate overnight before serving.

Allergy free Cheese! (soy free, dairy free, Vegan cheese)

Yes, that's right... you read it correctly. Dairy free, Soy free, Vegan CHEESE,by 2 different companies! Daiya and Galaxy foods! I have longed for cheese for a while now, and stumbled upon these little Jems while searching for food ideas. To be honest, I'm not even sure what I typed in google that got me to them, but SWEET MAN ALIVE, I don't care. haha.
Galaxy foods makes the brand "Rice Vegan", and they have both slices and cheese blocks! I found rice vegan a many of the health foods stores and a few regular grocers including winco! They have 3 flavors *Cheddar *American &*Mozzarella. I have to caution you. There are a few other brands that galaxy foods makes, and they are sold in the same spot as rice vegan. Make sure you read the labels carefully, as to ensure you are getting the ones without soy! I LOVE THIS CHEESE. Granted I haven't had real dairy in ages, but it really isn't bad. I use the cheddar slices for my burgers, and it's great. I do have to warn that it doesn't melt really great by just being put on the burger while on the grill. I normally zap it in the microwave for 30 seconds and it finally melts then. Otherwise it curls upward (I know, strange).
 Daiya is my second favorite... They have 3 different cheeses to choose from Cheddar, Mozzarella, and Pepper Jack! I've listed the info for each below, that I got from the Daiya website. :) Give it a try. They have a "where to buy" link on their page that will tell you where the nearest retailer is that carries it! Mine is just a few miles away! It's about 4.50-7.00 for a 2 cup bag of it, but I did see it at a regular grocery store, and it was 6.50 (ouch!). It melts GREAT. I would say that the mozzarella tastes like a combo of cheddar and mozzarella, but it's not bad. Made a Quesadilla with it, and I think I probably should have put bbq chicken and some salsa in to help with taste. By its self it's not the greatest thing in the world. The texture when melted is much like what you would get with a packaged "fake" cheese, you know, like "american" cheese that is meant for going on burgers kind of thing. It's not real oily like you would expect, but VERY stretchy. All in all, it's worth a try. I'm still yet to try the pepperjack, so if you try that one please let me know what you think. I'm not a spicy food kind of person. I chalk that up to the food restrictions giving me such a plain diet, but I'd love to hear some thoughts, especially for those who are looking for something with more flavor! As always, happy eating, and happy days!
xoxo, The Allergy Momma