I mentioned our fun new food allergy restrictions in my last post. I’m going to start sharing some of the things we eat, in hopes that it helps other people who are in similar situations. I find that so many allergy-friendly recipes are super complicated or weird fancy food that we have no interest in. Additionally, we are generally short on time and fairly picky, so most of the things we eat are fairly simple. Here’s what is on this week’s agenda:

BLT Stuffed Avocado, original recipe from The Pioneer Woman:

**To make this gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, and nut-free, we skip the bread cubes/croutons and use Vegenaise in lieu of mayo. It’s delicious anyway!

  • 4 strips Thick Cut Bacon
  • 1 cup Fresh Bread Cubes (Sourdough, Or Other Crusty Bread)
  • 1 cup Chopped Tomatoes
  • 1 cup Loosely Packed Chopped Romaine Lettuce
  • 2 Tablespoons Mayonnaise
  • 3 To 4 Large Ripe Avocados
  • Salt And Pepper, to taste

In a skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon strips for about 5 minutes on each side until crispy. Remove the bacon to a paper towel lined plate, then add the bread cubes to the bacon fat. Cook for about 5 minutes until the bread cubes are golden brown and crispy.

Chop the crispy bacon into small pieces, then place in a bowl with the croutons, tomatoes, and romaine. Stir to coat with the mayonnaise, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Cut the avocados in half, and remove the pits. Sprinkle the tops with salt. Place spoonfuls of the BLT mixture into each avocado, then serve. Enjoy!

Party Shrimp, original recipe from South Your Mouth:
**To make this GR/DF/EF/NF, we just have to buy safe Italian dressing mix!
-1.5 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
-1 package Italian dressing mix
-1/4 cup vegetable oil
-1/2 teaspoon paprika
-1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
-Pinch of salt

Add shrimp to a large zip-top bag or lidded container. Whisk together dressing mix (unprepared), oil, paprika, garlic powder, cayenne pepper and salt until well combined then add to shrimp. Toss to coat shrimp then refrigerate for 1-4 hours.Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Drain shrimp from dressing mixture then place shrimp in a single layer on baking sheet. Broil shrimp on top rack of oven for 5-7 minutes or until pink and cooked through, flipping shrimp once during cooking.

Serve hot or at room temperature with cocktail sauce if desired.

Makes 10-12 appetizer-sized servings.

Chicken Tacos, no real recipe.
-1/2 bottle of Allegro marinade
-2-3 chicken breasts (frozen is fine)
-safe shells/chips/tostadas/tortillas of your choice (we prefer soft tacos for this)
-taco fixings of your choice (we like lettuce/tomato/avocado/safe refried beans/salsa)

Marinate chicken in Allegro either overnight or from the time you pull it out to defrost the day of. We cook it on our Foreman grill. Then make the tacos to your liking and enjoy!

 

Easy Crock Pot Chicken and Black Bean Salad

, original recipe from SkinnyTaste.

**To make this GF/DF/EF/NF, we will buy safe taco seasoning, skip the cheese, and sub in the Vegan Ranch recipe I will post below.

  • 2 (16 oz total) skinless, boneless chicken breasts
  • 1 tablespoon reduced sodium taco seasoning
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 cup canned black beans, rinsed
  • 1 cup chunky salsa

For the Salad:

Place the chicken in the slow cooker and season with taco seasoning and cumin. Pour the beans over the chicken and top with salsa. Cover and cook on LOW for 4 hours, or until the chicken is tender and easily shreds with 2 forks. Shred the chicken and combine with the beans and sauce, keep warm until ready to eat. Makes 3 1/2 cups. To make the salad, place 1 1/2 cups lettuce on each plate, top with 3/4 cup chicken and bean mixture, 1 tbsp cheese and 2 tablespoons zesty avocado buttermilk dressing.

Easy Vegan Ranch Dressing, original recipe from And Love It Too:

1 c Veganaise or Homemade Vegan Mayonnaise (I prefer the almond based recipe found here).

-½ c Coconut Cream (see note below)
-½ tsp Dried Chives
-½ tsp Dried Parsley
-½ tsp Dried Dill Weed
-¼ tsp Garlic Powder
-¼ tsp Onion Powder
-Salt and Pepper to taste

In large mixing bowl, mix together mayonnaise, coconut cream and spices.  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.  Store remaining dressing in refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. Makes 1 ½ c.

To obtain coconut cream, simply refrigerate 1 can of full-fat canned Thai Kitchen Unsweetened Coconut Milk for at least 24 hours.  Coconut cream will separate and solidify on top of coconut water.  Scrape cream from top and measure ½ c for this recipe.

Stuffed Jalapenos, no real recipe:

-1 lb jalapenos (1/2 lb per person)
-GoVeggie vegan cream cheese
-1/2 lb bacon (and/or sausage or whatever you’d like to stuff with)

Cook and crumble bacon, drain fat. Add to vegan cream cheese (whole container). Cut tops off jalapenos, cut slit down 1 side of jalapeno, spread to open, and scoop out seeds/inners. Fill with mixture. Bake at 350 degrees until cooked to your liking, approximately 20 minutes.

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We also have two carryover meals from last week’s planning; Salisbury Steak/Mashed Potatoes and  Burgers. I don’t have recipes for either, as Josh tends to wing it, but I will say that we use a flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax+ 3 tbsp warm water, then let set in fridge for 10 minutes) in lieu of egg and have been using Schar Crispbread in lieu of bread in such things. Mashed potatoes can go one of two ways, safe instant potatoes with soy milk and SmartBalance, or this delicious recipe: https://simplygluten-free.com/blog/2011/03/gluten-free-dairy-free-meat-loaf-mashed-potato-cupcakes.html Those are legitimately the best mashed potatoes I’ve ever had, allergies or no!

And that’s that! I hope it was helpful!