Julie's Granola

And not this Julie! When I first cut out everything except corn, I was looking for something good to eat. As I said earlier, I have a huge sweet tooth and that is hard to satsify when you can't have most of the common foods... like eggs or milk (which are in almost all sweet treats). I did a google search and found a woman who just found out that she has food sensitivities and is learning to eat all over again. Her friend, Julie, had given her this recipe, and I thought it was a sign from God! Once I cut corn, which cut ALL sweets out (corn syrup or corn starch is in everything!), I was even more grateful that I found this recipe!

This is the BEST granola I have ever tasted. I eat it dry because even the rice milk can have milk protein in it, and even dry it is delicious. I usually add raisins and dates, but you can add anything you want... like chocolate chips! There are even some Enjoy Life allergy-free chocolate chips (though they aren't sold here).

Jeff usually puts some on plain vanilla yogurt and he swears it is the best snack he's ever tasted. He's even threatened to divorce me if I stop making this granola... ;)

One note, oats may or may not contain gluten. I have since stopped eating this granola because we don't know what Grace is allergic to, and if it is gluten I don't want to chance it. But if you know what you are allergic to, or what your breastfeeding child is allergic to, you can enjoy this most delicious recipe.

What you'll need:

5 cups quick oats
6 T brown sugar
6 T maple syrup
1/4 cup oil
3/4 t salt
cinnamon to taste

Combine oats and brown sugar. Combine syrup, oil and salt. Add wet mixture to dry and stir. Spread out on 2 cookie sheets. Cook for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes at 250 F. Stir every 15 minutes to keep an even color.

Tasty Turkey

While I didn't make a turkey for Thanksgiving this year (though I have made one every Thanksgiving for the past 6 years), I do make a lot of turkey through the year. Turkey being one of the meats that I am allowed to eat, I have come up with some different ways to prepare it so I'm not eating the same old thing over and over again. Instead, I eat the same old thing with a twist!

Making a roasted turkey is easy, and I'll detail that in a later blog, but the tasty turkey dish I am teasing you with (like my alliteration?) is Oven-Roasted Vidalia Onion and Peach Salsa Turkey Loin... and it's delish!

What you'll need:
1-2 Turkey Loins
1 Jar of Braswell's Vidalia Onion and Peach Salsa (has no allergens)
1 Cast-Iron skillet
1 Baking dish with lid
1 Tbsp Canola oil
Salt/Pepper

Pour the canola oil in the skillet and turn the burner on to medium. Once it is hot, put the turkey loin in the skillet and sprinkle with salt and pepper to season. Flip the loin and season the other side. Brown the outside of the meat, then place in baking dish (I use white corning wear) and cover liberally with peach salsa. Put the lid on the dish and place in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 1.5 hours (or ever how long based on the size of the loin you have). Cut and serve with a bit more salsa on the side. Delicious!

Melt-In-Your-Mouth Mustards!

Before I gave birth, I had *tried* greens... only to spit them out in disgust. They tasted like grass to me. After I gave birth, I decided to give them another try. I was (and am) willing to try anything that is healthy for the sake of my daughter. Everything that goes into my mouth goes into her tiny body, and I want to give her every good thing I can. I asked my husband which of the greens has the mildest (and best) flavor, and he responded with an overwhelming MUSTARD greens! So off to the store he went to pick some up for me.

I'm not sure if my taste buds changed, or if I just like the way I cook them, but we now eat mustard greens at least three times a week. I'm not joking. They are that good. I fill half my plate up with them. And as an added bonus, they give me the iron that my body is so deficient in.

What you'll need:

1 bag (or bunch) of mustard greens, washed and chopped

cold water

Swanson's broth (low-sodium, no msg)

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1-2 pinches granulated sugar

I buy the already cleaned and cut variety from the local farmers (they sell that in the grocery store here), but you can get yours from wherever you wish. I put as much as I can fit (usually half the bag) into the largest pot I own, then cover it with cold water. I put the pot on the stove and bring the water to a boil over high heat. Once the greens cook down some, I add the remaining ones from the bag and allow them to boil for about 20 or so minutes until they have just started to change color from a vibrant green to a duller green.

Then I drain the water out of the pot and replace it with chicken broth. I use Swanson's low sodium no msg broth. You can add as much as your heart desires, but you want at least enough to cover the greens. I put the pot back on the burner and bring it back up to a boil. Once boiling, I add 2 tbsp of brown sugar and a pinch (or two) of regular sugar and stir them in. Then I reduce the heat to medium-low, put a lid on the pot, and allow to cook for at least an hour. The longer they cook, the better they are.

I made these as part of our Thanksgiving meal, and they tasted so yummy with the glazed ham. The best part is that there is NO lard or fat added!

Heavenly Ham

Since I started this blog so close to the Holidays, it's only natural that I begin my recipe posts with a yummy Holiday meal.  Today I'll post the recipe that I used to glaze the BEST ham I have personally ever eaten... and I'm TOTALLY not biased.  ;)

What you'll need:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/4 cup Jones cola (must be Jones, because they don't use high-fructose corn syrup) 
• 4-5 pound boneless ham

About the ham... you can get it fully cooked, just check to make sure that they didn't cure it with any of the allergens listed, or you can cook it yourself.  I personally used a Hormel ham.  Once the ham is cooked, score the ham in a diamond pattern.  Using a very sharp knife makes this very easy.

Mix the brown sugar with the dry mustard until well blended, then add enough of the Jones cola to make a paste.  Rub the paste into the top of the scored ham.  Pour the rest of the Jones cola into the bottom of the crock-pot, then put the ham in.  

Cook the ham on high for one hour, then turn down to low and cook for 6-7 more hours.  While cooking, use a turkey baster to "inject" the liquid surrounding the ham into the scored ham.

I made this the day before Thanksgiving, and it lasted for days after.  It was yummy, and cost-effective!

The Big Eight

• 1- Dairy allergy
• 2- Egg allergy
• 3- Peanut allergy
• 4- Tree nut allergy
• 5- Seafood allergy
• 6- Shellfish allergy
• 7- Soy allergy
• 8- Wheat allergy

What is a new mother to do? When my daughter, Grace, turned 3 months old, she celebrated by having her first bloody stool. My husband, Jeff, was changing her diaper and he called me into the room to make sure he was seeing what he thought he was seeing. My heart sank, and I ran to call the pediatrician. I was relieved to learn that it was probably a fissure caused by a hard stool (even though I was breasfeeding), and that, unless it happened again, I didn't need to worry or do anything else.

Unfortunately, it wasn't the only time it happened. So a day later, we were at the pediatrician's office to find out what was going on. Naturally, I had googled it before we went, so I was prepared to hear the words, "food allergy." I was ready for him to tell me to cut dairy out of my diet. I wasn't prepared for him to tell me that the list of foods I had to stop eating was a mile long... okay, so it wasn't actually a mile long, but it sure sounded like it. He wrote them all down on a piece of paper and told me to start with dairy, eggs, and peanut butter.

I came home feeling defeated. I had worked so hard to breast feed Grace. Other mothers know what I am talking about. It is the hardest thing I have ever done. Nursing around the clock with cracked, bleeding nipples. I cried every time for the whole time I nursed for over two months. I had JUST gotten to the point where it was getting "easy." And now this. But formula wasn't an option. Have you read the ingredients on that stuff? I'm not knocking any mother who has given their child formula, but it is not something I could (or can) do. Being a mother is the only thing I have ever wanted in my life, I went through so many trials to finally have a child, and I will be damned before I "give up" and give her an inferior "product" to replace what God intended. [ranting over]

Needless to say, cutting dairy, eggs, and peanuts didn't clear up the blood. So I cut out everything else on the list, plus a few extras: corn, beef, beans, and chicken. And that has led me here...

The hardest thing about this new diet (besides having to resist pumpkin pie on turkey day) has been finding food that I CAN eat. Raw fruits and veggies just don't do it for me. I have a sweet tooth the size of Texas and I have been desperately searching to find something without allergies to satisfy it!

Every day (or close to it!) I will post a recipe that I have found or created that is free of the "Big Eight" plus 4. They won't all be sweets... I have found some very creative ways to cook veggies and meats that are very tasty, very easy, and without allergens, too.

The doctor told me that he had 5 mothers this year with the same problem I have, and only one is still breastfeeding. The rest, he said, came back within a week "begging" for the formula. He expected to see me again (on my hands and knees). Well, he obviously doesn't know me very well!

*Edit:

Grace's "normal" pediatrician was not available on the day I took Grace in for blood in her stool. We saw another doctor in the practice, hence the reference to "he." Her regular doctor is a she and is much more pro-breastfeeding.