Sunday, September 19, 2010

What to do with all of our pears? - Fantastic, quick, delicious recipe

We planted fruit trees for each of our girls after they were born.  An apple tree for Alena, and a pear tree for Mia Rose.  This is the first year the that the pear tree bears abundant fruit.  Very exciting :)  So yesterday, I was looking for a recipe for "Birnenkuchen" (Pear Cake).  Instead of butter the recipe I choose uses olive oil.  The result was a cake that was delicious, moist, not overly sweet.  Oh, and this recipe can be used for any type of fruit. Yay, just what I needed.  

Here it is 

  • 5 Apples, pears or other fruit
  • Preheat oven to 360 F (180 C)
  • 200 gr flour
  • 200 gr sugar
  • 5 eggs
  • 3 tsp baking powder (recipe calls for one package)
  • 200 ml "milk" (I had plain soy creamer)
  • 6 Tbl Olive Oil
  • Pinch of salt
  1. Peel fruit and cut fruit into slivers 
  2. Mix eggs, sugar, and pinch of salt until it is creamy
  3. Slowly add flower and baking powder
  4. Add "milk" and olive oil
  5. Add fruit to dough mixture
  6. Pour into spring form and bake for about 45 minutes until top of cake is nicely browned. (Start checking after 35 minutes)

Enjoy!!! Happy baking :)  

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Alena's first day of First Grade

Here are some pictures of my First Grader...



Alena and her "Schultuete"

Ready to go to school the first day

Walking to school


Alena at her desk in school

It has been a long week...

Oh, how I miss our old little school. There are a few up-sides to attending the neighborhood school.  We can walk to school, as it is only a little more than two blocks away from our house; and there is a pretty nice playground.  In addition, I met with the nurse a couple of times, and also spoke with the principal.  I have not spoken with the teacher about Alena's CG as that communication is supposed to go through the nurse and principal.  That, my friends, is fairly strange to me.  The nurse has informed me, that if there are treats we are not informed ahead of time.  I brought in a couple of different ice cream treats for Alena.  The nurse however relayed to me, that the teacher was not sure if that would work.  Well, we will have to see.  I also went with the nurse through the cafeteria to ensure that Alena would not be able to take food.  We took her lunch card, swiped her and NOTHING showed on the screen in regards to foods she cannot eat.  The nurse proceeded to ask the lunch lady to add the "No items" to her card; she added it right away but instead of writing "no milk, lactose, whey, casein" she typed "No Nuts"!!! Aaaaaarrrrggghhhh - I know, I have to channel positive energy towards school.  - Never-the-less this situation makes me cry....

Monday, September 6, 2010

...tomorrow is the day - school starts and I am still worried...

"Mama, I am so excited for tomorrow..." Alena whispered just before she fell asleep tonight. Oh, how I wish I could say the same.  I think that I am more anxious than anything.  What will it be like?  What will the teacher be like? What will it be like for her to be in school from 8:35 - 3 PM every day?  And the really big question for me, what will she be doing during that time...the questions are endless, and so is my worry.   We had a last summer hooray and spent four days in Sunriver. We got back yesterday, and we finally received the school package.  Alena is assigned a teacher and I would have loved to speak with her BEFORE school starts, but oh well.  The registration form lists special medical information and states "METH BOLIC Disorder"!!! OK - I understand time and money is at a premium, but has anyone ever heard of this??? Also, I know for a fact that I wrote Classic Galactosemia, Metabolic Disorder, NO MILK or MILK DERIVATIVES all over the registration form...This really worries me.  But hey, I need to get back in the swing of things and think positive, right?! The upside really will be the commute - walking distance, and hopefully neighborhood friends.  So for now, I will attempt to funnel positive energy to the school start tomorrow.  But believe it or not, this is - right now - actually a true challenge for me.  I have to remember that the glass is half full....

Thursday, September 2, 2010

School is about to start and I am nervous

Yes, it is true I am so nervous and almost beside myself with Alena entering 1st Grade.  This is the first time that she will be going to a big, public school.  So far, we had gone to a nice, safe, private PreK - K school and it was wonderful. I had communicated and educated the teacher's before the school year about Classic Galactosemia.  It really has helped ease my worries in the past.  But now?  Well, school will start on September 7th, 2010 and packages will go out tomorrow September 2nd, 2010.  I have tried to find out to whose class she was assigned to but apparently that information was  - as of this afternoon - yet unknown.  I have spoken with the Health Coordinator at the School System and she suggested that a 504 Plan be put in place for Alena.  I just briefly glanced at it and am not certain that this is really needed.  I think that we really just need a couple of things.  First, find out who her teacher will be and communicate with him/her; and secondly have Alena's lunch card reflect the items she cannot eat.

Oh, how I miss my small, safe school....I am just so worried and cannot think of anything to make me feel better...

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Is summer really almost over?

What happened to the time.  It is late, late August and school will start next week Tuesday.  Oh, we are so sad that our life of sweet summer leisure must come to an end so soon.  What happened to all these weeks we had? Well, one thing can be said for sure is that we have had a lot of fun.  Lot's of camping trips,  outings to the beach, and fun summer craft project.

I do not even want to think about school yet.  It all seems a little frighting at this point as we are moving out of our small, safe, wonderful PreK - K school into a regular Portland Public School.  Good bye 16 students, welcome for Alena being one of 25+....Yes, I do worry but for now there still is a little less than one week of summer to enjoy.  This morning we made a cake, and the oven time just went off....Enjoy those remaining few days...

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Vegan Pie Recipe(s) - Yay for the Oregonian

Tuesday is the day the food section appears in the Oregonian.  I love food, and also love to cook; even so my cooking/baking this summer has been a little more than rare.  In any case, there was a featured article talking about Vegan Pie's.  How fantastic is that? Completely CG safe recipes :)  Isn't that wonderful?  Well, and surely it is possible to sub the egg substitute with real egg.  Then, of course, the recipe is no longer vegan.  My thought is to substitute the egg substitute with real eggs.  In any case here is the recipe for the pie crust as Published in the Oregonian on August 24th, 2010.

 Coconut Oil Crust  

                          Published in the Oregonian on August 24, 2010

MAKES ONE 9-INCH PIE CRUST
Coconut oil produces a very tender, flaky crust. If your coconut oil is liquid at room temperature, chill it until solid. But if it is solid at room temperature, leave it that way when you make the crust. Measure it in dry measuring cups as you would vegetable shortening.

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour, chilled
  • 1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour, chilled
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 tablespoons maple sugar (see note)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 6 tablespoons coconut oil
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • 3 to 5 tablespoons ice water

Instructions

In a medium bowl stir together the flours, baking powder, sugar and salt.
Cut the coconut oil into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter or two knives. Then, use your fingers to work the coconut oil into the flour until no pieces are bigger than the size of a pea.
Add the cider vinegar to the ice water and drizzle the mixture into the dough a spoonful at a time, mixing in each as you go. You have enough water in the dough when the dough holds together when squeezed. Do not add any more water than is absolutely necessary.
Gather the dough into a ball and flatten it into a disk. Wrap the disk in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 45 minutes before rolling.
Note: Less expensive substitutes for maple sugar are honey crystals, evaporated cane juice crystals, demerara sugar or brown sugar.
From "The Voluptuous Vegan" by Myra Kornfeld

You can find the entire article as well as recipes for Peach Crumbcake, Peach-Blueberry Crumb Pie,  here http://www.oregonlive.com/foodday/index.ssf/2010/08/summer_peaches_are_a_great_exc.html. When you click on the article be sure to also click on Grant Butler's, the author,  link on his exploration on Vegan living.  There are a bunch of yummy vegan recipes and therefore all entirely CG safe :)  Enjoy!

Friday, August 20, 2010

Recall Milton's Baking Company - 24 oz Multi-Grain BreadUndeclared Milk in Some Loaves



This recall was just released!

Milton's Baking Voluntarily Recalls 24 oz. Multi-Grain Bread in Three States For Undeclared Milk in Some Loaves
Fri, 20 Aug 2010 17:07:00 -0500

Milton's Baking Company is voluntarily recalling Milton's Multi-Grain Bread which was distributed to locations in Northern and Central California, Arizona and Nevada. The company took the precautionary step because the loaves contain milk, an undeclared allergen, which may pose a potential serious and life-threatening health risk to milk-allergic individuals.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Recall of Kroger's "Meals Made Simple Shrimp Linguini"

Please see details of this link below.

Nationwide Milk Allergen Recall of Kroger "Meals Made Simple Shrimp Linguini"
Mon, 16 Aug 2010 17:02:00 -0500

Kroger (product distributor) and Contessa Premium Foods, Inc. (product manufacturer) are recalling 24 ounce bags of Kroger brand Meals Made Simple Shrimp Linguini, because it may contain undeclared milk product. People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to milk products run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume this product.       

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Chocolate found - Spreadable, and bar chocolate :)

We recently found a couple of new (at least to us) items in the store.  One is spreadable chocolate which is somewhat similar to Nutella but without nuts, and milk; the other is a creamy sweet chocolate bar which is perfect for making s'mores and for eating :)

I found both items at New Seasons Market here in Portland.  The spreadable chocolate is "Dark Choco Dream", made in Belgium and distributed by Natural Nectar.  Here is a link to the manufacturers' site http://www.natural-nectar.com/default.asp?contentID=665. Only the Dark Choco Dream is milk free. The items is also available from various online stores.  Oh, and it is quite delicious :)

The chocolate bar is "Sweet Chocolate Dream".  It is very creamy, delicious and really sweeter than the usual safe dark chocolate I found. In the dark version, there is also a bar with raspberries, rice crunch, almonds, and just plain dark chocolate.  In case you are interested, here is the link  http://www.tastethedream.com/products/category/493.php.  The girlies - by the way - love it!!!

Happy Chocolate eating to all!

ShareThis

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...