Gluten-Free T.V. Trash

It is time for all the holiday parties.  Appetizers are some of my favorite things to eat.  Since my family has been diagnosed with food allergies, holiday get-togethers present a problem.  There are a wide variety of foods.  Therefore, you have to ask the ingredients, the brand, etc. of so many trays of food.

I do not find this an enjoyable time.  I try to stick to carrot sticks, broccoli, and cubes of cheese.  I also like to bring my own crackers and t.v. trash.  My favorite gluten-free cracker is by Glutino.  They are simply labeled Gluten-Free Crackers.  I love the cheddar flavor.  The original and vegetable are also good.  They also make a multi-grain cracker.

I bring them to the hostess.  She, of course, does not mind.  And, I put my offerings on her trays or bring my own.  They are available to anyone and everyone.  You can tell the difference between the wheat and non-wheat cracker, but the t.v. trash gets rave reviews from all.  It is also easy to make now that Chex cereal is gluten-free.  Make the entire recipe given because nobody can eat just one handful.

Gluten-Free T.V. Trash

4 sticks of butter
5 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce (gluten-free)
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce

In a saucepan, melt the butter and combine all the ingredients.

1 box Rice Chex
1 box Corn Chex
1 bag of pretzels (Glutino are my favorite.)
1 cup pecan halves*

Combine well in a large roasting pan.  Pour the melted liquid over the dry ingredients.  Stir until everything is coated.

Bake at 250 degrees.  Stir the mixture about every 30 minutes for 2 hours.  Cool and serve or store in an air-tight container.

* You can use a can of cocktail peanuts, but my son is allergic to them, too.

Knowing this we were able to continue enjoying butter, most cheeses, and occasionally cream cheese.  We could no longer have ice cream, yogurt, velveeta, american cheese, ricotta cheese, or cottage cheese.  I rejoiced at being able to eat butter and cheddar cheese.  It sure made our lives easier as far as eating was concerned.  I did not have to ask restaurants if they added butter to their vegetables, etc.

One dish we all loved, but thought we could no longer enjoy was lasagna.  Tinkyada pasta makes lasagna noodles so the wheat was not the problem.  We can eat parmesan and mozzarella cheeses, but what could I substitute for the ricotta or cottage cheese?  I kept going back to the obvious answer: tofu.

However, my family was not thrilled with that ingredient so I had not tried.  But this week I had had enough.  I missed lasagna.  I had to try.  I bought a package of firm organic tofu.  The great thing about tofu is that it is pretty much flavorless.  It takes on any flavor you give it.  So I decided to add minced garlic to my tofu.

Since I have started implementing freezer cooking, my children and I prepare many dishes at one time and freeze them for a later date.  Jake wanted to make the lasagna; so he helped me.  When all was said and done, we chose to eat the lasagna first.  In fact, we ate it that night.

Words cannot describe how thrilled I was!  You could not tell that tofu was in the dish.  It tasted exactly like a regular lasagna.  If you cannot tolerate the whey in cow milk, I highly recommend that you make this recipe.  If you are completely dairy-free, use the veggie cheese shreds in the refrigerated aisle of a good supermarket.

Tofu Lasagna

To eat or not to eat tofu.

1-1/2 boxes (15 ounces) of brown rice lasagna noodles
1 lb ground beef
1 lb pan sausage
26 ounces spaghetti sauce
8 ounce can tomato sauce
14 ounces firm tofu
2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 clove garlic, minced
2 eggs
1/4 cup chopped parsley
sea salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees unless you are going to freeze the lasagna.
Brown the meat and drain it.  Add the sauces and simmer for 10 minutes.  In a bowl, mix the tofu, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, the parmesan, eggs, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper.
In a 15 x 10″ dish, pour 1 cup of sauce on the bottom of the dish.  Put a layer of noodles and cover them with sauce.  Then spread 1/2 of your cheese/tofu mixture and top with more noodles.  Continue layering sauce, cheese, noodles, sauce.  On top of the last of your sauce, spread out the remaining mozzarella cheese.
It is very important that your noodles are completely covered with sauce since they are uncooked.
Bake for 45 minutes covered.  Then uncover for an additional 15 minutes.  Let it stand 10 minutes before serving.
If you want to freeze it, do not bake the lasagna.  Cover with freezer wrap and place in your freezer.  To eat, allow it to thaw out completely and then bake as directed.

 Isaac ended up being allergic to three foods and one chemical. He cannot eat peanuts, cow milk, and wheat. We had correctly guessed two of his allergies. He is also allergic to aspartame.

I have to say that Lane and I went through a short grieving period. Isaac could never eat pizza at Pizza Hut. He could not go to Dairy Queen and eat a dipped cone, etc. We couldn’t change it; we just had to adapt. I read all about these allergies. I subscribed to a few gluten-free blogs to get recipes. I found several friends who also suffer from allergies like Isaac.

Since then, we have had the entire family tested. Two of our sons have absolutely no allergy to any pollen, chemical, or food. Our daughter is allergic to cow milk and wheat as well as several grasses, pollens, and dust. Our other son is allergic to aspartame and formaldehyde. My husband is allergic to cow milk and wheat as well as dust and grass. I was allergic to refined wheat and salt of all things. I also am allergic to dust, animals, and weeds. All of these airborne or seasonal allergies don’t work well when you are homesteading everyday, working with the animals, shredding the pastures, and gardening. However with homeopathic drops, these should not pose a problem.

I sometimes wish the doctor had drops for food allergies, but he doesn’t. Having a food allergy is not the end of the world. If anything, you eat much healthier foods because of it. You cannot easily go to McDonalds and order a hamburger and fries off the menu. Your life has been slightly altered, but you could argue for the better.

Food allergies are not very convenient. In fact I find that most days I am having to cook three meals a day, which is time consuming. There is no place for most processed foods in your diet. You have to try new recipes and grains. You have to be creative. The hardest part is when you are out and about and not at home. Panic can strike as you try to think, “Where can we eat and what can we order?”

The panic usually occurs because of lack of planning. I have to not only plan our menu for two weeks and make sure that everything I will need is stocked in the pantry. I have to anticipate other food needs like snacks for church when the smallest children are in nursery school or a 4-H meeting where I need to bring our own snacks.

So if you have food allergies like us, it’s going to be alright. You are going to feel better. You are going to eat healthier. It just take a little planning.

Attached are two recipes that my family really enjoys. I grind my own brown rice flour and use our goat milk. Fortunately the doctor was able to narrow down the cow milk allergy for us. Isaac is only allergic to the whey in the cow milk. So he can tolerate butter and hard cheeses. If you can’t do butter, then try coconut oil as a substitute. Let me know if you try them. I would love to know if you liked them or not.