Easy Quick Dinner

The last week has been incredibly busy. I am in the middle of remodeling my bathroom. So far I have gotten all of the walls down and started tearing out the floor. My saving grace this week has been easy meals. One of my favorite is made up of Causal Gourmet, Chicken Sausage, Sweet Italian Style with Mission, Yellow Corn Tortillas.

It took me awhile to find a corn tortilla that did not have wheat of some kind or yeast as an ingredient.

The sausages are fully cooked so it only takes a few minutes to heat them up in a pan, or they can even be done in the microwave. When I am done heating the sausages I place the tortillas in the pan to warm and soften them. I then wrap each sausage in a tortilla and pair the meal with fresh fruit.

I found the sausages at Costco. The corn tortillas are carried at my local grocery store.

Chicken Sausage Ingredients:
Chicken, Moistened Sun-Dried Tomato, Turbinado Sugar, Basil, Salt, Red Pepper, Green Pepper, Spices, Garlic and Celery Powder

Yellow Corn Tortillas Ingredients:
Ground Corn Treated with Lime, Water, Cellulose Gum, Propionic Acid, Phosphoric Acid, Guar Gum, Amylase.

Cookies

Until a few days ago I had been unable to find any cookies that I could have. I did not eat cookies very often before all of my restrictions, but it was frustrating to have no options. There are a bunch of gluten-free cookies, but finding one that also does not use beet sugar, Milk, and/or vanilla has been impossible. Well impossible until I found Mi-Del Ginger Snaps.

These cookies are terrific. I love ginger and these have a great flavor. I found these at my local Harris Teeter grocery store.

Ingredients:
Gluten-Free Flour ( Corn Flour, Soy Flour, Potato Flour, Rice Flour, Corn Starch, Potato Starch, Xantham Gum), Organic Dehydrated Cane Juice, Canola Oil, Unsulphured Molasses, Ginger Soy, Lecithin (used as an emulsifier), Eggs, Backing Soda, Sea Salt, Natural Flavor.

Yogurt Alternative

I love yogurt, well almost anything made from milk. Unfortunately milk is on my prohibited list. Not just cows milk, but also goats milk. They are now making some great alternatives for yogurt unlike when I was a child. I am not particularly fond of soy based yogurts, but the coconut ones are wonderful. I have to be careful, many of them have vanilla.

So Delicious has many great items for those of us who cannot have dairy. I have to go to my local Whole Foods to find this product, but it is worth the trip. 

I eat this two different ways. I love putting a serving on top of fresh fruit like strawberries, blue berries, black berries, and raspberries. It almost reminds me of like a whipped topping on fresh fruit.  I also use it with fruit onto of my waffles. It adds a bit of creaminess and it feels decadent. 

Ingredients:

Organic Coconut Milk (water, Organic Coconut Cream), Organic Dried Cane Syrup, Chicory Root Extract (Inulin), Tapioca Dextrose, Pectin, Algin (Kelp Extract), Magnesium Phosphate, Tricalcium Phosphate, Rice Starch, Natural Flavors, Locust Bean Gum, Live Cultures, Carrageenan, Guar Gum, Dipotassium Phosphate, Vitamin B12

Waffles...

Finding a wheat free waffle was not that difficult, but yeast free was more of a challenge. The first one I found was expensive and was almost overly sweet. I continued to search for something I liked better. One day as I was perusing the labels at Trader Joe's and found a wheat free waffle. I got excited, but told myself that it probably had yeast. As I read the ingredients I found a winner and the price was great, $2.99.

I have been buying these for a couple months now and I am still in love with them.

I have used these to make sandwiches or have toped them with fruit and Cultured Coconut Milk.

Ingredients:

Water, Potato Starch, Corn Starch, Sweet Rice Flour, Canola and/or Soybean Oil, Brown Rice Flour, Evaporated Cane Sugar (Naturally Milled Cane Sugar), Leavening (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Monocalcium Phosphate), Potato Flour, Fruit Juice Sweetener (Pineapple, Pear, Peach), Soy Lecithin, Sea Salt.

Living with Food Allergies

I have struggled with food allergies since I was born. Some of my food allergies cause anaphylactic reactions while other are less severe. This past year I had a severe reaction, had to use my EpiPen and was taken to the hospital. Several weeks later I had new allergy testing done and was shocked by the results.

Here is the list of items that I need to avoid:

Wheat, Buckwheat, Yeast (brewers & bakers), Whey, Milk (cow & goat), Carrots, Whitefish, Mustard, Turmeric, Cranberries, Vanilla, Sugar beats, Peanut, Malt, Coffee, Red beans, Casein, Hops, Peppermint

At first I was overwhelmed and did not think that it was possible to avoid everything on the list, but over time I have figured things out. Some of the items are definitely harder to avoid than others. I think yeast has been the hardest.

My hope is that I will be able to share some of the things that I have learned with other who struggle with food allergies.