Cookies - No baking soda/powder

My daughter doesn’t do well with baking soda/powder so I tried several times to make a cookie for her that had a nice texture without using either of those. These cookies are very light, almost like small, thin cakes.

1 egg

4 tbs sugar

2 tbs canola oil

½ tsp vanilla (skip this if you’re not sure it’s safe for your LO)

1/3 cup quinoa flour

Separate the yolk from the white of the egg. Put the white in a container that you can use to whip with an electric whisk or mixer. Put the yolk in a bowl. To the bowl add 1 tbs sugar, the oil, and vanilla. Mix thoroughly. Beat the egg white until soft peaks form. Add the remaining 3 tbs of sugar slowly, continuing to beat the white until you get firm peaks. Fold the whites with the yolk mixture then fold in the flour slowly. You want to be gentle about mixing this. The only thing that’s going to make your cookies puff a little is the fact that the whites are full of air.

Using a spoon pour cookie size amounts on to a cookie sheet (line it with foil or parchment paper). Don’t pour too much in to each because the batter will be thin and you don’t want it all to blend together. If you have a muffin top pan that works well as a mold. Place the cookies in the oven and turn it on to 300. Let the cookies bake for 10-15 minutes, until they’re golden and a toothpick placed in the middle comes out clean (not that they’ll be too deep). Let cool and serve!

Gravy

            My daughter isn’t fond of the texture of beef. It keeps her from eating it well. If I give it to her without a sauce of some sort she’ll just chew it and then spit it out. That’s what made me think to try putting it in gravy. Her only safe flour so far is quinoa so that’s what I use, but I’m sure you can use whatever flour is safe for your child.

            To make the gravy you’ll need some flour and about a cup of stock. What I usually do is simmer her beef or pork in water until it’s very tender. Then I use the broth that created to make the gravy. Sometimes I use the leftover liquid from when I make her beans. If your child is okay with a lot of vegetables you can make a vegetable stock too.

            Heat a frying pan on medium heat, don’t add oil or anything else. Pour in about a tablespoon of flour. If you have more than a cup of stock, or if you want a thicker gravy you can add more flour. Spread the flour on the bottom of the pan and let heat for a while. Stir it occasionally until it starts looking golden, or like its beginning to toast. Don’t leave it too long once it changes color a bit though, you don’t want burnt gravy.

            When you flour is done get ready to stir and watch out for steam. You need to pour in the stock (which should be warm) quickly and very quickly stir the flour as you pour, that will keep your gravy from getting too clumpy. Although I can tell you with quinoa flour it’s pretty easy compared to wheat flour, it’s so fine that it rarely clumps. Let the liquid simmer until it thickens to the desired consistency. That’s it. It’s pretty easy and makes a great sauce to mix meats in or to dip French fries or veggies.

Beans

            My daughter loves beans. I was hesitant to try them at first since I thought they would upset her tummy but when she was 9 months she was diagnosed as anemic and at 12 months it still hadn’t gotten better, even with supplements. The doctor recommended beans for their iron content. I keep hearing people say that beans are hard to cook. I even had a lady at the supermarket ask how to make them, lol. It’s actually very easy, it’s just that it takes a while.

            The first variety of beans I tried was small red beans. To make them you need to soak them first. You can soak them overnight if you remember the day before, just fill a large bowl with water and pour them in. They’ll be ready to cook by morning. If you forgot to soak them though, no worries. Put them in a pot of water and bring to a boil. Let them boil for 2 minutes then turn off the heat. Cover the pot and let them sit for one hour. Whichever method of soaking you use, I recommend you wash the beans first in a colander and shift through them to make sure they all look good. Take out the ones that are too wrinkly or don’t look right.

             Once your beans have been soaked put the pot on the stove and bring them to a boil. Cover the pot and reduce the heat to a simmer. Let them simmer for about an hour and a half. DO NOT add anything to them until the hour and a half is over, especially not salt. If you add the salt before they’re fully cooked they won’t be tender and the skins will probably be hard.

            After they’ve simmered until cooked, add salt to taste. Since this is for FPIES kids you don’t really need to add anything else, but if your child is okay with olive oil you can add a bit of that. If your child has a safe meat add a few chunks of that meat to the pot and let it simmer for another half hour or until the meat is fully cooked. Adding a meat gives the beans a really awesome flavor. I usually put in some beef or pork. If your child is okay with potatoes cut some up and put it in at the same time as the meat so it can all cook. If your child is okay with onions or garlic, fry a bit in a separate pan and then pour it in to the beans and let simmer a while. I haven’t tried onions or garlic yet with my daughter but when I make beans for the rest of the family I add them in. You can also add peppers and I’ve seen some people put in chunks of squash.

            If your beans are cooked and you have a lot of liquid still that makes them more like soup, save it. You can use it to make a yummy gravy. I’ll put that recipe next.

Meringues

I made these so that my little one could have a treat for Halloween and wouldn't be left just watching her sister eating candy. They're very easy, you just have to watch them cause depending on the size they'll toast quickly. When they're fully cooked you can stick a toothpick in and they'll be crunchy all the way through.

2 egg whites
3 tbs sugar

Beat the egg whites until you get soft peaks. Add the sugar and beat some more. For best results use an electric whisk or mixer to do this. Prepare a pastry bag with a flower or pencil tip, fill it with the batter. Squirt small amounts of batter on to parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Put in the oven then turn on (don't preheat) to 300. Bake for about 15-20 minutes.

Coconut Custard/Ice Cream

This custard is super easy to make. This recipe is for a small batch since it's mostly for my daughter. I bake it in a disposable mini loaf pan. You can use ramekins too.

1 egg
1/6 cup sugar
dash salt
3/4 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup coconut milk (I use 1/3 Nutiva Coconut Manna + 1 cup water to get the milk and then just use the 3/4 cup, but if you have a safe coconut milk I'm sure you can use it)

Mix the egg, sugar, salt and vanilla. Whisk in the coconut milk. Put into a mini loaf pan and place the pan inside another, larger pan. Fill the larger pan with water so that it reaches to the middle of the mini pan. Bake for 1 hour in a preheated 325 oven or until it looks set. Serve warm or cold.

For Ice Cream:
Let the custard cool in the fridge. Remove the crust on top unless you prefer the shredded coconut in the ice cream. Blend it until it's smooth and then put it in to an ice cream machine.

Quinoa Souffle Cake

This cake is very fluffy and easy to make. You just have to be careful of your egg whites. Do not preheat the oven otherwise the cake won't fluff or cook right.

2 eggs, yolks & whites separated
3 tbs sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla (you can skip this if you're not sure your child can eat it)
1 tbs quinoa flour

Place yolks in a small bowl and whites in a larger one. Beat the whites with an electric mixer or whisk until peaks form. Do not over mix them. As soon as you see them getting firm stop mixing. Add 2 tbs of sugar to the whites and beat a bit more. To the yolks add the vanilla and remaining 1 tbs of sugar and mix. Pour the yolk mix in to the whites and stir gently until you have a uniform light yellow batter. Fold in the tablespoon of quinoa flour.

Pour the mix in to a pan. The amount here is perfect for six muffins but you could also make a small cake. Place the pan in the oven and turn it on to 300. Let bake for 30-40 minutes. You'll smell the cake easily when it's about done. Once it's golden insert a toothpick to make sure it's cooked through, the toothpick should come out clean. Let the cakes cool without covering otherwise they'll get a sticky top.

This was the recipe I used for my daughter's first birthday cupcakes. It's based on a wheat flour recipe that my mother uses all the time. I'm guessing you could probably use any type of flour that's safe for your little one and it would still work well.

Quinoa Crepes/Pancakes

1/2 cup quinoa flour
2 tbs sugar
A dash salt
1 egg
2 tbs canola oil
1/2 cup water

Put a pan to warm on medium heat (b/w 4&5 on my stove). Grease with canola oil. In a bowl mix the sugar, flour and salt then add the egg, oil and water and whisk together . (I add a tsp of vanilla too but it's not essential if your little one isn't ok with it). The batter should be very thin. Add more water as necessary. Ladle like pancake batter, it's going to spread out very thinly. Let cook until small bubbles form all over the crepe, flip and let cook a little longer. Serve alone, with fruit, or maple syrup. If you make these without sugar you can use them as burrito type wraps.

If your child is okay with baking soda add  about a 1/2 tsp and a bit less water cause yours can be thicker, I make mine more like crepes since my daughter doesn't do well with baking soda. If your child's okay with corn or if you have corn free baking powder that would be even better.

My daughter prefers these slightly fluffy so I just pour and don't turn the pan the way you would with a crepe, but personally I love them crispy like that, it makes them taste almost like waffle cone. For a crispy crepe pour a small amount of batter on to the pan then quickly lift the pan by its handle and twirl it to make the batter spread very thinly. When they're ready to flip you'll see the edges looking toasty.

Storage Tip: When I've made too many crepes for my daughter to eat in one day I place the leftover crepes on silver foil, two to a pile. I fold them up in the foil and freeze them. When I need them again I put the package, still sealed, in the toaster oven for about 5 minutes. That way they just heat up but don't toast since they're covered in foil. I don't know how long they can stay frozen for cause I've always used mine within a few days, but it's helpful to have some already made sometimes.