spoon

Spin on Spinach

Comments (0) | August 22, 2011

I'm happy to say that tonight's post involves a hit rather than a miss! Today, during Micah's nap, I was scouring the web for dinner inspiration. With sausage thawing and not much else on hand, I was pretty open to anything, knowing a trip to the store was guaranteed either way. I was getting quickly discouraged, which has been my M.O. lately with meal planning, but was relieved to come across a Sausage Spinach Casserole recipe. I don't often veer towards casseroles, it can be hard for me to get ingredients to stand on their own when all mixed together, but this one sounded refreshing and different, so I was game. After a walk to the store (who minds a trip to the store when you can walk on a beautiful day?!) and some slight adaptations for one Micah Abreu, we had an allergy accommodating, delicious, meal on the table. I am posting the recipe with my adaptations. and shout out to my husband, Andrew, he contributed the title for today's post! :)

Please forgive my lack of food photography skills, it tastes better than it looks, I promise :)

Sausage Spinach Casserole Recipe
  • 16 oz  frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
  • 1 can (15 ounces) great northern beans, rinsed and drained
  • 6 cooked sausage links diced (I used Nature's Promise Sundried Tomato and Basil Chicken Sausage)
  • 12 ounces almond milk (or milk substitute of your choice)
  • 3/4 cup chopped onion
  • 1/8 teaspoon pepper
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tbsp Italian Seasoning  
  • 4 teaspoons butter ( I used Earth Balance Vegan butter sticks)
  • 1/2 C panko crumbs 
-Preheat oven to 375 degrees
-Saute garlic and onion in butter (or olive oil, which I used) When they begin to soften, add your sausage and  cook completely. -In a separate pot, cook the frozen spinach-Mix sausage mixture, spinach, beans, milk, pepper, and Italian seasoning in a bowl-Pour into casserole dish-Melt butter and add panko crumbs to it, spread on top of casserole-Bake uncovered for 30 minutes  Benefits to this recipe-Two forms of protein, sausage and beans, if you have a finicky eater, hopefully they will eat at least one of the two!-Spinach is an excellent source of calcium, great for our dairy free friends   Things to watch out for with this recipe-Sausage choice- only use a sausage with ingredients listed, particularly that it is free of casein. Also, if you are purchasing sausage behind the deli counter, make sure there is no cross contamination from the other products. The sausage I used had a complete list of ingredients and was pre-packaged, so I felt comfortable using it.   So, when it was all said and done, do you think Micah ate it?! Nope, not a bite swallowed. We'll try again tomorrow and until then I'll keep the pasta on standby! Goodnight! 

My lesson in label reading

Comments (2) | August 16, 2011

 

Ok, so I had my first major food allergy mistake. I feel terrible to have made this mistake but it is part of our food allergy journey, and I will share it!
The story began by my discovery of, what I thought was, a vegan cheese. I was so excited to have found a cheese replacement for Micah for a couple of reasons; one, for calcium and two for variety. It's been slim pickins and cheese opens a whole world of options. So, I made my way to the tofu section, made an assumption that because the cheese was in said location, it would magically be vegan and brought it home. Well, a face of hives, swollen eye, itchiness, dose of claratin and trip to the dr. assured me my assumption was off base. The picture on the left was the purchased cheese, it is lactose free but is not dairy free. The list of ingredients clearly lists 'casein' as an ingredient, which had I read the label, I would have detected. ugh. I felt terrible to have done this to Micah and frustrated because our menu was limited again. Until... last night! (I have to beef up this story a little with some suspense, bold type and exclamation marks. how exciting can a blog about 'cheese choice' be?!) so yes... drum roll... last night, Andrew and I headed over to our local natural food store and found what I had been looking for all along, same brand of 'cheese' only in a truly vegan variety. So, my allergy friends, pizza and grilled cheese are to be had again in this house. Micah's morning snack went without a hitch, thanks to a slice, and I can rest knowing he had some added calcium in his little diet. Whew, that was exciting! :)
So, with my tail between my legs, I am ending this post. As a thank you for bearing with me, here is a coupon link for Galaxy Foods. (as I only have two followers at time of post, one being myself, I am clearly not endorsing these products for any gain lol) Goodnight!

Spin-Off

Comments (0) | August 9, 2011

Well, since I was so great at maintaining my first blog, it seemed appropriate to start another, right?! :) Something about a fresh page for a fresh start is so inviting, even if the background is the same, and the title, eh not so earth-shattering(ly) unique. However, I bring to you, this time, a clear direction. A direction that I could not have foreseen, or shed any light on, prior to a few months ago; food allergies. Yup, Micah's got em. Peanut, dairy, and egg to be specific and although he's been known to throw us a curve ball, or three, this one is equally a learning process.
So, here we are, off on a new journey of label reading, recipe creating and food monitoring. I'll be documenting hits (and misses) for product substitutions, recipes, nutritional information, and coupons.

I'll close with my biggest assignment to date: Micah's first birthday cake. I used an unadapted cake recipe, given to me by his allergist. I will include the icing recipe however, I used Wilton Decorating Icing, to get a fast, easy to use, variety of colors. The eyes and spikes were created by combining the icing and extra cake together, and forming into shape. I held them in place with toothpicks. The cake, although very tasty, was rather dense. I am anxious to research if there is a lighter, fluffier option. Thankfully, Micah was none the wiser and was not deterred by a more 'pound cake' like cake. It proved to be a hit and with 'go big or go home' red icing, it made pictures a success as well! Enjoy!



Double Layer Birthday Cake
Milk Free-Egg Free-Peanut Free- Nut Free
3 c cake flour
1 3/4 c sugar
1 1/4 c water
1/2 c shortening
3 Tbsp water, 3 Tbsp oil, 2 tsp baking powder; mixed together
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two cake pans. In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients. Using an electric mixer, beat until well mixed, approximately 4 minutes. Pour batter into cake pans. bake 40-45 mins, or until toothpick insterted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes before removing to wire racks. Frost when completely cooled.
Note: Baking powder is intentionally listed twice in this recipe. The combination of 3 tbsp. water, 3 tbsp oil, 2tsp baking powder; mixed together is the substitution for 2 eggs.



Cocoa Frosting
Milk Free-Egg Free-Wheat Free-Peanut Free-Soy Free- Nut Free
1/2 C Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder
2 2/3 C unsifted confectioners sugar
1/4 C water
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Beat margarine on medium speed in large mixer bowl until softened, about 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients. Beat on low speed until ingredients are moistened. Beat on medium speed until creamy.