Frito Lay: Kind of Helpful Milk-Free List (and Kind of not)

Frito Lay on their website has a list of Foods that contain no lactose or milk. Of course this sounds okay until I get to the bottom and read the disclaimer:

*The above products do not contain milk; however, they are produced on the same line as our products that do contain milk. Although the lines are washed between batches, a slight residue may remain on the line. Individuals who are extremely sensitive may be affected.

So what do I do with this information? For me, as far as my child is concerned, I consider these foods to contain milk and I won't be giving them to him. Of course my child's food allergy is pretty severe.
If your child has a mild allergy however, this site might be useful.

Recipe: Apple Cake

This cake seems to keep well in the fridge.

Apple Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a separate large bowl mix 5 apples (sliced) with
4 tablespoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon.

In a large mixing bowl blend:
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon baking power
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Add and beat til blended:
4 eggs (beaten)
1 cup cooking oil
1/3 cup orange juice

Add apple mixture and stir gently with a spatula. Pour into a greased tube pan. Bake 1 and 1/2 hours.
Cool in pan on cooling rack for 30 min. Then take a knife to loosen edges
from side on the pan, doing the middle, too. Give the pan a couple of shakes to loosen. After 1 hour, cover with aluminum foil.

Website: Can You Eat It

This site, Can You Eat It, looks like it has a lot of potential. After selecting the food allergens you are avoiding, you get a list of all products you can eat.
I'm not sure how accurate or up to date it is; it looks like it is still in it's earliest stages- but this looks like one to keep an eye on!

http://canyoueatit.com

Travel Tip: Bringing Food Through Airport Security

Most parents of kids with food allergies have food on hand for their kids wherever they go. That usually means carrying food around in a cooler bag at mealtimes. We have a lunch bag with an blue ice pack for perishable items.
Ice packs when traveling on planes, however, are a definite no-no, with current airline security measures. On my last trip, I had to throw my ice pack away when going through security.
This past holiday, however, I was prepared with an alternative. My alternative for an ice pack? Frozen juice boxes, which are allowed through airline security, thankfully, and work almost as well as an ice pack to keep food cool.

Recipe: Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes

Who needs Bisquick?

Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes

Sift together:
1 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
Cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon or to taste (optional)

Separately, combine:
2 eggs
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 to 1 1/4 cups soy or other non-dairy milk

Combine dry and liquid ingredients quickly, stirring with a fork. After mixing, stir into to this mixture:

1 ripe banana, chopped into small pieces

cook as you usually would for pancakes, on a hot non-stick pan, lightly greased by rubbing a canola-oil-soaked paper towel around on the hot pan. Flip pancakes and cook on other side a bit after pancakes bubble, and before they get too dark. Regrease the pan after each pancake.

Serve as you like with syrup and vegan margarine; or, as I often do, topped with powdered sugar sprinkled from a sieve.

Barbeque What?

Although our family doesn't eat a vegetarian diet anymore, we eat very little meat. We eat no beef, because our child is allergic to it, and for general health reasons. Although we do eat chicken and fish, we eat a lot of vegetarian and vegan meals. Tonight I decided to make "barbeque tofu", something that seems like two worlds merging together... that really never should be. But it really isn't bad, I swear!
It's frugal and although not the healthiest way to prepare tofu, it's not that bad for you, either. It's also very quick to prepare.I just take some barbeque sauce and marinate slices of tofu in it before sauteing in a little canola oil, and then topping it off with more sauce. I make my own barbeque sauce, but really anything you buy in a jar will probably do just fine.
Here it is in the pan:
And here it is on a plate, undignified on bread instead of a roll (but it's hard for me to get dairy free rolls and I just don't have the time right now to make them):

Recipe: Vegan Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

I like recipes that use ordinary ingredients that you happen to have on hand in your kitchen, and don't have to buy ingredients. That allows me to bake spontaneously, on the boring gray rainy day. This is one of those recipes - if you are a regular baker, you might have all of the ingredients in your cupboard right now.
This recipe is a subtle modification of a recipe I found here. I used whole wheat, changed the spices a bit, used less sugar, and made them bigger. I'm sure the recipe could be modified for even less sugar if more raisins were used.

Vegan Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/3 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1 1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons molasses
1 cup canned pumpkin, or cooked pureed pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup walnuts, finely chopped
1/2 cup raisins


Preheat oven to 350.
Mix together flour, oats, baking soda, salt and spices.
In a separate bowl, mix together sugar, oil, molasses, pumpkin and vanilla Add dry ingredients to wet in 3 batches.Fold in walnuts and raisins.
Drop by very large tablespoons onto greased cookie sheets. They don't spread very much so they can be placed only an inch apart. Flatten lightly of the cookies with a fork or with your fingers, to press into cookie shape. Bake for 18 minutes or until done. Makes 18 extra large cookies.