What's For Dinner?

There are two phrases I'd like stricken from the English language - "Hey mom!" and "What's for dinner?"  For the first one, I just keep threatening to change my name....but they still manage to find me and bug me for something.  But "what's for dinner?" makes me want to run screaming some days.  Seriously, I just fed you people yesterday!  What do you mean I have to do it again today??

Usually, I've forgotten to pull something out of the freezer, so I grab some chunk and pitch it into the sink into a bowl of water to thaw.  Now to figure out what to have with it. Rice?? No, we had that last night.  Pasta??  Nope, forgot to pick up more gluten free pasta. Do we have potatoes?? Score!  Spuds it is!  Ugh, now I have to figure out how to cook them.  Mashed? No gravy. Fried? That's a possibility. Baked?  No time for that! Roasted?  Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!

Pan roasted potatoes is one of my favorite ways to make potatoes.  I often add some carrots in there for yummy sweetness.  There are countless variations to seasoning them, so you can tailor them to just about anything.

Pan Roasted Potatoes

Potatoes - I like to use thin skinned, waxy potatoes.  White, gold, red skinned, purple.....or a combination is great. You can use Russets if that's all you have, but go put waxy potatoes on your store list!

Additions - Roasted carrots are delish.  Da girl can't eat raw carrots anymore due to Oral Allergy Syndrome - raw fruits and veggies cross react with pollens and cause an itchy mouth.  But she can eat them cooked.  Sometimes I add whole peeled garlic cloves.  Minced garlic tends to burn. Onion wedges roast well too.  You want things that you can have in similar sized pieces that will cook in the same amount of time.

Acid - Just a splash of vinegar.....red wine vinegar adds a nice tang.  Balsamic adds some sweetness.  Lemon juice complements seasonings like dill.

Seasoning - Salt is a must, but after that, pretty much anything goes!  Spices work better than dried herbs which have a tendency to burn.  Some good choices are any variety of seasoning salt, grill rubs, chili powder, or even garlic bread seasoning.  I often replicate whatever flavors I'm using on the meat.

Oil - I usually just use my regular olive oil.  This is going to be baked at a high temp, so don't use anything with a really low smoke point.  Infused oils can add another dimension of flavor.

Prep your spuds

 

I have this nifty waffle cutter that works great for this.  You get lots of surface area and crispy edges.  But a knife works too. Larger potatoes can be sliced or cubed. Small marble or fingerling potatoes can just be cut in half or quarters.

Cut other veggies into similar sized pieces.  I'm adding carrots here and giving them the same waffle cut,

Chuck everything in a bowl and add your acid, seasoning and oil of choice.  How much??  Just eyeball it.  A tablespoon or so of acid, a couple tablespoons of oil, a couple teaspoons of seasoning. Toss it all together.  You can leave it marinate for a bit if you've got time.  I usually don't.  But sometimes when I've actually planned ahead, I'll do this prep first and then work on getting the rest of dinner going.  They are better if the seasoning have a chance to soak in a bit.

Spread everything out on a parchment lined tray.  I love parchment!  It saves so much on cleanup.  Don't have any??  Drizzle a bit of extra oil on the pan before dumping things on.  If there is a lot of marinade in the bowl, try to avoid dumping all the liquid on the pan.  It will just burn.

Oh, and you've remembered to turn your oven on to 375F, right?  No?? Well, go do it now!  Bake time is going to depend on how big your pieces are.  Small cubes or halved marble potatoes may be done in as little as 20 minutes.  Larger pieces may take 40 minutes or more.  Set a timer for 15 minutes when you first put them in the oven and check their progress then.  You should be able to judge how far along they are. I have to set timers or I forget to check things!

But, I already have another part of dinner in the oven at a different temperature, you say! That's fine...these are pretty forgiving.  I've roasted them as low as 325F and as high as 425F.  You have to keep a closer eye on them at higher temps as they can burn more quickly.  If using a higher temp, try to put the pan toward the bottom of the oven, under whatever else is in there.  I find this seems to shield them from the heat a little more.

You can toss them around on the tray when you check them at the 1 min mark.  I have a hard time leaving stuff be and one side of my oven seems hotter than the other.  So tossing them around and turning my tray keeps things baking evenly.

Everything will be yummy, golden brown, and delicious!  The spuds and veggies should be soft.  Try not to burn your mouth sampling a piece....you do have to make sure they are properly done.

Tonight's dinner was roasted chicken breasts, pan roasted potatoes and carrots, and a salad.  Now, what am going to make tomorrow when I hear "what's for dinner?"

Cracking Up!

Being gluten free, one thing I really miss is saltines. I used to eat them just plain....or maybe with butter spread on them. Because, ya know, butter makes everything better. I want a cracker that can stand alone. Simple, but flavorful. Sure, there are gluten free crackers out there, but none are quite a saltine.  I'm not a fan of the crunchy rice crackers. That's more of a texture thing - it's just not what I'm looking for. There are others that are closer to what I'm craving, but most have egg in them that I need to avoid.

Back in the day, when da boy was allergic to wheat, I tackled crackers. People thought I was crackers when I'd tell them I was making my own crackers.  Yeah, I made cereal bits too out of gluten free graham cracker dough. There were times when even I questioned my own sanity. I came across a converted version of King Arthur Flour's Traditional Soda Crackers made with a gluten free brown rice flour blend on a celiac newsgroup. Newsgroups - there's a blast from the past!  Of course I had to first tweak the flour blend to remove the cornstarch ....sigh.... nothing is ever easy when dealing with multiple allergies.  But that flour blend became one of my favorites and is really quite versatile.  I would make regular salt top crackers and garlic crackers.  The kids loved them and would down half a tray before they were even completely cooled.  These are crispy and crunchy and buttery.  Still not quite a saltine, but they fit the bill for me. They are not terribly difficult, although take a bit of time.  So worth it if you really miss yummy crackers.

Today, I was craving crackers....and then I spotted the package of Penzey's Pizza Seasoning sitting on the counter.  Hmmm.....pizza flavored crackers??  Oh, yeah!  There went my day!

Gluten Free Soda Crackers

1 1/2 cups  KathyP's Brown Rice Flour Mix (174g)

Ignore the dough hook in the picture - you won't "knead" it.  My original method used it, but you can do all the mixing with the paddle attachment.

2 tsp            instant yeast
1/2 tsp         salt
1/4 tsp         baking soda
1/4 tsp         cream of tartar
2/3 cup        hot water (120°F to 130°F)
1/2 tsp         brown rice syrup (or 1 tsp sugar)
2 Tbsp         coconut oil (or shortening) (28g)

2 Tbsp         butter or margarine (28g)

                    salt, seeds, or other topping

In the bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, combine 1 cup of the flour mix, yeast, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar.  Set this on "stir" to combine.

In heatproof measuring cup, combine hot water, coconut oil, butter/margarine, and the brown rice syrup.   Stir until the fats melt.  Add the wet works to dry and mix well to combine.  Put the mixer on medium low speed for a minute.

Scrape down the paddle and bowl.  Add remaining 1/2 cup flour and beat on medium for 3 to 4 minutes.  This is where I added 1/2 tsp pizza seasoning to the dough. This will not look a wheat based dough. It will just be sort of a jiggly mass.  You will surely think it's way too wet, but trust me, it's fine.

Drizzle about 1/2 tsp oil into a zip top quart freezer bag.  Squish it around to coat the inside of the bag.  Scrape the dough out of the mixer bowl and place in oiled bag.  Form dough into a rectangle in the bag and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  You can even do this overnight.   It won’t rise much.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 425F. 

What you need for this part are several sheets of parchment that fit your baking sheets, a rolling pin, a fork, and some sort of cutter.  A pizza wheel works well here.  Avoid using a knife since that is likely to cut through the parchment.  I use a antique fluted brass cutter that was my great grandmother's. My grandmother passed it down to me and it makes me think of her every time I use it.  She had the patience of Job when us kids would "help" her bake!






Slit the bag open and divide the dough into half or thirds depending on the size of your baking sheets. I use half sheet pans (13" x 18") and divide my dough in half.  Transfer a portion of the dough to a well floured piece of parchment paper (or Silpat).  

Sprinkle with more flour mix and place another piece of parchment on top. Roll dough into a large rectangle about 1/16-inch thick. It's a good idea to keep lifting up the top parchment to make sure nothing is sticking.  Dust with more flour as needed. This stuff is wet and sticky - flour is your friend here.

Fold the dough in from the short ends to make three layers (like folding a letter). This is where it's handy to have a bench scraper or you can just use the parchment like a shirt folder to flop the ends over.





Roll out again, as thin as you can get it making sure the dough is even. Try not to roll over the edges too much as they will get too thin. Remove the top sheet of parchment. I can get even thickness, but I can never get a nice rectangle!  Oh, well, I actually like the jagged edge crackers - I don't feel bad about sampling those as they cool.

Prick the dough all over with a fork. Sprinkle crackers lightly with salt , seeds, or other seasoning if desired. For my pizza crackers, I mixed up 1/2 tsp Kosher salt, 1/4 tsp pizza seasoning, and 1/2 tsp nutritional yeast.  Press salt/seeds lightly into dough with your fingers. 

Cut into squares using a pizza or pastry cutter. I just cut freehand, but if your OCD starts twitching over that, then use a straight edge. Be extra careful if you are doing this directly on a Silpat. Carefully transfer parchment to baking sheet.

Repeat w/ remaining dough.

Bake crackers in a preheated oven for 12 to 18 minutes, depending on the thickness and size of the crackers. Crackers will be lightly browned. Turn off the oven. Separate crackers on the trays.  They will have shrunk slightly, so just separate any that are still touching.  Return pans to oven and prop open the door.  Leave pans in oven for 20 min to finish drying/crisping.    

Remove from baking sheet and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

Stand guard to smack hands that will try to snitch crackers! Store in an airtight container if there are any left!  Enjoy your crackers!

Kathy P's "All Purpose" Brown Rice Flour Mix

I've learned that there really is no "all purpose" flour mix when it comes to gluten free baking.  For a lot of my recipes, I just measure out individual flours and starches.  That way each application can be customized with the flours and starches that work best.  Bread doesn't work with the same combination as cookies.

I do have a couple blends that I keep on hand.  One is a light blend of equal parts rice and 2 parts  starches.  I usually use potato and cornstarch these days, but when we were avoiding corn, I used potato and tapioca.  I don't use this mix a lot anymore, and if I do, I'm adding it to another heavy flour like sorghum.

One blend that I've been using for a long time that does work in a lot of places is this brown rice flour blend.  I came across it on a celiac newsgroup way back when.  I don't even remember what newsgroup.  I had to modify the blend to remove the cornstarch and all I have anymore is my handwritten recipe card. This blend works well in cookies and muffins.  It's not as gritty as most other rice flour blends.  It seems complicated since it uses a lot of different flours and starches, but they all do play well together and give a nice texture.  This blend is the basis for my Yankee Doodle Biscuits and GF Soda Crackers.  It's my go to blend for most cookies too, especially shortbread type cookies.  This blend already has xanthan gum in it, so usually you can omit any called for in recipes.  You will definitely be seeing more recipes using it.

Kathy P's Brown Rice Flour Mix (116 g/cup)

This makes about 4 1/4 cups, but I usually scale it up and make a quadruple batch.

1 cup (120g)        brown rice flour
1 1/2 cup (180g)  white rice flour
1/4 cup (36g)       potato starch
2/3 cup (70g)       tapioca starch
3/4 cup ( 81g)      sweet rice flour (Mochiko)
1/3 cup (36g)       arrowroot starch
2 tsp                     xanthan gum

Mix together thoroughly and store in an airtight container.  Give it a stir before using.

Yankee Doodle Biscuits

I'm a Yankee...I was born and raised north of the Mason Dixon line.  I know about pretzels and scrapple.  Biscuits were not a staple at our house.  The rare times that we did have biscuits, they were Bisquick "drop biscuits" or pucks that exploded out of a cardboard tube.  So, why is a Northern girl talking about biscuits?? Because I figured out how to rock those babies!  They may not hold a candle to your Southern grandma's buttermilk biscuits, but I bet she's not making gluten, dairy, and egg free ones. These come out flaky and wonderful and are still better than any biscuit I ever had as a kid!

This recipe started out as a tweak to Alton Brown's "healthier" biscuit recipe that used part whole wheat flour.  I had modified it way back when to make it dairy and corn free.  I used part all-purpose flour and part whole wheat pastry flour.  When I decided to tackle it gluten free, I figured I could start with my brown rice flour mix and be able to lighten that up a bit with more starch to emulate the lower protein flour blend.  I chose cornstarch since that adds nicely to the texture and there is not already cornstarch in the flour mix.  If you can't use corn, swap it out for another starch.

I stumbled on to a number of tricks as I was perfecting this recipe.....

• Treat it gently - Even though there is no gluten to activate, you still need to handle this as little and as gently as possible.  If you go all gangbusters, you will wind up with tough biscuits.  Pat it out gently. Use a pastry blender for all the mixing to avoid transferring the heat of your hands to the dough.

• Uniformity is not your friend - When cutting in the fat, you want to leave some pieces larger than others.  Don't work it until everything is "coarse meal".  This goes along with....

• Flip and fold - This brilliant little trick dawned on me as I was looking at puff pastry methods where you work the fat in by wrapping dough around a block of butter then begin a process to fold and roll thus building up layers of flour and fat.  In the heat of the oven, those layers of fat will melt bathing the flour to create lovely flaky layers.  Leaving some larger pieces of fat and doing a couple quick folds really makes these biscuits flaky.  Don't skip this step!

• Invest in a scale - I've converted over to weighing out my flours since even slight variations can effect the outcome of gluten free baking.  It's really worth the $30 investment for a scale.  But I've included volume measurements for the scale impaired.

Yankee Doodle Biscuits

154g       Brown Rice Flour Mix
                    (1 1/2 cups) - see below
64g         cornstarch ( 1/2 cup)
1 Tbsp    baking powder
1 tsp       salt
1/2 cup   cold butter or margarine, cubed
3/4 cup   cold milk alternative
                   (I use unsweetened So Delicious
                     Coconut)







Preheat oven to 425F.


Measure out the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl.  Cut fat (butter or margarine) into cmall cubes using a sharp knife.

Using a pastry blender, cut in the fat.  Don't overdo this; leave some larger pieces.

Pour the milk alternative in and, using the pastry blender, gently mix until you have a soft dough.  This may seem a bit wet, but that's OK. Dust your counter liberally with flour mix and dump out the contents of the bowl.

Using your hands, gently gather everything up and pat it together into a rectangle. Don't be afraid to dust with extra flour as needed. This actually helps maintain the layers of dough.  Fold 1/3 over the center, then fold over the other side.

Give it a quarter turn and gently pat out into a rectangle again.  Liberally sprinkle with flour to make sure nothing is sticking to the counter or to your hands. Repeat the folding, then pat out to rectangle again.  This time, pat it out evenly to about a thickness of 1/2".

Cut out using a floured cutter.  Place on a parchment lined baking sheet about an inch apart.

Gather up the scraps and gently pat it back together.  This is a bit tricky as you need to smoosh it together enough so it doesn't just fall apart, but not so much as you loose your layers.  Cut out as many more biscuits as you can.

I generally do one more gather, pat, and cut.  Those last scraps, I just gather up and pat into a round.  That becomes my "cook's treat".  You only get nice flaky layers when you have a clean cut on the edges.  So, that last one that is just patted together and doesn't have cut edges will not puff up as nicely.  That's OK - that one's mine!  That's the one I get to eat as soon as they come out of the oven.  The one I get to eat with no guilt!  See that one on the lower left??  That has my name all over it!





Bake biscuits for 12-15 minutes depending on size.  This is the perfect time to brew yourself a pot of tea and decide on butter or jam.









Because they are gluten free, they will only get slightly golden.  Allow to cool a few minutes before serving.  If you won't be serving them immediately, transfer to a cooling rack to keep them from getting soggy on the bottom.  Nobody likes soggy bottoms.

Don't they look fabulous??  Check out those flaky layers!  Yes, those ARE really gluten free!  Enjoy your cook's treat with your tea and jam of choice.  I'm having mine with butter and my grandmother's peach butter....because at her house, we were allowed to have butter AND jelly! That's my last jar.....I'll have to make a batch before peaches are completely out of season!  Unfortunately, I had to share this one with my photographer......next time, I'm baking while the kids are in school!

Brown Rice Flour Mix (116 g/cup)

This is one of my go-to flour mixes that I keep on hand.  It works well cup for cup in cookies and muffins.  It already has xanthan gum in it, so usually you can omit any called for in recipes.  This makes 4 1/4 cups, but I usually scale it up and make a quadruple batch.

1 cup (120g)        brown rice flour
1 1/2 cup (180g)  white rice flour
1/4 cup (36g)       potato starch
2/3 cup (70g)       tapioca starch
3/4 cup ( 81g)      sweet rice flour (Mochiko)
1/3 cup (36g)       arrowroot starch
2 tsp                     xanthan gum

Mix together thoroughly and store in an airtight container.  Give it a stir before using.

Building a Better Breakfast Sandwich

This will come as no surprise to anyone, but I am NOT a morning person! I will hit the snooze until the very last minute where I can still manage to be dressed going out the door!  Getting up to "make" breakfast?  So not happening!  When the kids were little, I used to fix them a sippy cup of soy milk in the fridge at night and leave a covered bowl of Cheerios on the table.  I taught then to use the TV remote and what channels they were allowed to watch until I was coherent.  I know, Mom.of.the.Year!

I now have 2 kids in high school which means they should be fairly self sufficient, right?? But guess what - they aren't morning people either!  Both will need to be at school this year BY 7AM for marching band.  An hour of strenuous exercise to start off your day.  Breakfast is going to be a necessity.  In the past, a handful of cereal or fruit bar in the car on the way to school was enough to get by until morning break when they could eat a snack.

Da girl figured out quickly that she needs breakfast - something with protein to hold her through the morning until break.  Last year, she started eating those frozen biscuit, egg, and sausage sandwiches.  Not the healthiest thing on the planet, but they fit the bill of calorie dense and a quick fix in the morning.  She can nuke it and eat while she's getting other stuff together.  My biggest gripe was how expensive they are!  Every once in a while as I gazed in shock at the price, I'd contemplate how to make these at home.

Finally, I decided to make it happen!  My pondering had led me to some conclusions like make sure everything is stone cold before assembling them.  Baking the eggs would be much easier than trying to fry them.  I did a little poking around on Pinterest and other blogs and came up with a plan....and the plan worked!  I made a sample batch to try out some variations and the initial reaction from da girl was that they were "legit"!  High praise coming from a teenager....at least I think so!  They "taste just like the frozen ones"....was not quite as enthusiastic about this comment since I was going for "better", but I'll take it.

Make Ahead Breakfast Sandwiches

 

 

Biscuits or English muffins - I'm using biscuits. My Gluten Free Yankee Doodle Biscuits to be exact.  And yes, the hold up very well to the freezing and microwaving. They are not crumbly or gummy.

Eggs - enough to match the number of biscuits you have.

Sausage, ham, or Canadian bacon - I used the bulk breakfast sausage which gave me 10 slices.  This was good because I get 10 biscuits out of a batch of dough.  Ham or Canadian bacon should not been cooked before using.

Sliced cheese - whatever you like, but I used cheddar

Bake the eggs:

When I was contemplating how to cook the eggs, a light bulb went off when I spotted my Whoopie Pie pan.  It's the 12 cavity one from Wilton and the perfect size for an egg.  If you don't have one of these pans, you can use a jumbo muffin pan or individual ramekins.  You can use a regular muffin pan too, but then you will need to scale down the size of your biscuits and sausage patties. Spray this liberally with cooking spray.

If you want Egg McMuffin kind of eggs where the white and yolk are still separate, then just crack an egg into each cavity.  Use a small fork or something to break the yolk and swirl it around a little.  Be gentle here or you'll slosh the egg out of the shallow cavity. Top with salt and pepper if desired.

If you want scrambled eggs, crack your eggs into a bowl and scramble as usual.  Don't whip them too much or you put too much air in.  If you do this, you wind up w/ really puffy eggs. (Ask me how I know!) They will deflate when they cool though.  Use a 1/4 cup measure to fill up the cavities.  You want to fill it almost to the top.  You should have 1 cavity filled per egg you started with.  Just try to evenly divide it.

Bake the eggs at 350F for 10 minutes.  They should be firm and not jiggle.  Make sure they are thoroughly cooked, but don't overcook or they will get rubbery.  Remove from oven and let cool for just a minute.  Loosen with a rubber spatula and transfer to a cooling rack.

Cook the sausage:

Slice the sausage and make thin patties.  These will shrink up, so make them bigger than they need to be.  Place on parchment lined baking sheets and bake at 350F for 12 minutes.

Be sure they are cooked through.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a couple of minutes.  Depending on your sausage, they will likely be swimming in grease.  Put a couple layers of paper towel on top of a cooling rack and transfer the sausage patties to drain off as much of the grease as possible.

Make Your Biscuits:

Make your biscuits and allow them to cool completely.  I found the 2 3/4" circle cutter matched the size of my Whoopie Pie cavities nicely. 

 

I used my Gluten Free Yankee Doodle Biscuits. See how yummy and flaky??

 

Assembling the Sammies:

Make sure everything is cooled!  I pop the cooling racks with the eggs and sausage into the freezer while I make the biscuits and let those cool.  Flash freezing is the secret to make ahead foods.  It makes sure that there is no extra moisture to make things soggy.

Split your biscuits and lay them out.  I carefully cut them using a serrated knife.  Top each bottom with a slice of cheese.  It's best to keep the cheese smaller than the biscuit or it tends to ooze out when you heat it.  Top each with a sausage patty and an egg.  End with the biscuit top.  You like yours in a different order??  Do it up!  Whatever works for you!  Place assembled sandwiches on a lined sheet pan and stash that in the freezer for at least an hour.

Wrap for Storage:

Now you can contemplate your storage options.  Small, sandwich size fold over or zipper top bags will work.  I've been trying to reduce our use of disposable plastic, so I looked for other options.  What I decided on was sandwich wraps - precut sheets of dry waxed paper.  I got the 9x12 size. These are perfect!  The premade frozen sandwiches come packed in plastic, but the directions say to remove from plastic and wrap in a paper towel to heat.  Now, you just threw away plastic AND a paper towel.  With the sandwich wraps, you can reheat right in the wrapper which means less waste.  Wrap up your sandwiches and put them in another container. Either a gallon sized zip top bag or some other sort of sealed container. Practice good food storage and mark this with the date.

 

Breakfast is Ready!

OK, now that you have a stash of frozen breakfast sandwiches, how do you reheat them??  The best way is to thaw in the fridge overnight.  Just pop one in the fridge before bed. Then in the morning, microwave on full power for 40 seconds.  Microwaves may vary, so you may have to adjust the time, blah, blah, blah.  They are best a little under heated, then let it stand for a minute to let the heat distribute.  The more you heat it, the rubberier they get.  Fair warning - this is after all, microwaved eggs and bread products!

If you are forgetful at night and don't put one out to thaw, don't despair. Just put it on 50% power for a minute, let stand for a minute, then full power for 30 seconds.  See above disclaimer about microwaves varying.

There you have it! A better breakfast sandwich.  One where you control the quality of the ingredients and can customize it to your tastes. Can't eat eggs?  Make just sausage biscuits which is what I did for myself. Cow's milk cheese a problem?  Use dairy free cheese or no cheese at all.  Now that you know how to make these, it's just one less reason to have to go down the frozen food aisle where the sirens call to you from behind frosty doors telling you to buy more junk food!

It's Time to Cook Different

Sixteen years ago, our lives changed forever. We brought a sweet little bundle home from the hospital. No, that wasn't it.  That sweet little bundle turned into the kid from the Exorcist!  She screamed, she cried, she never slept, and she could vomit across the room!  I kept waiting for her head to spin around!  Eventually, we figured out that she had food intolerances and if I didn't feed her those things, life was good.

OK, we can do this.  Then came bundle number two.  But we knew what to look for this time and the things that bothered him were much quicker to sort out.  But in addition to all the things big sis had issues with, there were more things....sigh....  For as much as kids change your lives, food allergic kids change the way you view the very fabric of your life.  That most basic of needs - eating - will never be the same.  Ever!

I struggled a lot in those early years trying to come up with food that was tasty, appealing, and most importantly wouldn't make my kids sick!  And while I was breastfeeding, I had to eat it too. At one point, I decided I was no longer going to settle for inferior food.  We had no idea if or when the kids would outgrow these food allergies, so time to hunker down and realize this is the for the long haul.  It was in that moment that I realized that I needed to "Cook Different".  I remembered that early Apple add from the year my daughter was born - Think Different.  Making our favorite foods with all sorts of substitutions was not working.  I needed to come up with foods where we had no preconceived notion of what it was supposed to taste like. Only then could it be judged on it's own merits instead of being the inferior knockoff of the real thing.

In sorting out their issues, I learned a lot about what foods my own body didn't like so much.  The symptoms were not hives and swelling, but more subtle. Our set of food avoids have changed and morphed over the years.  The kids have outgrown their original food intolerance, my daughter grew into food allergies to pistachios and mung beans, and I realized that I'm intolerant to dairy, eggs, and gluten.  While the selection of gluten free foods out there continues to grow as the quality and taste improve, they are still extremely expensive.  And, most of the "good" stuff had dairy and/or egg in it which I need to avoid.  So, I will continue to Cook Different!