Quick Allergen Free Pork Chop Meal!

Tonight I had an incredible craving for some pork chops! My girls have all these allergies so sauteing them and throwing them in some of the good tasting sauces they now make is out of the question so whats a mom to do? Develop her own recipe!!

 Here are the ingredients:
      1 pound Pork Chops
      1 small yellow onion
      Salt
      Pepper
      Garlic Powder
      2 tablespoons Cornstarch (or your thickening agent )
      Milk or your milk substitute (hemp milk, oat milk, rice milk,or coconut milk)

      First start heating some oil (I use canola because it does not contain any allergens). While it is heating up begin to chop your onion. You can dice it if you would rather have small pieces, personally I left them in medium size slices because they will break down while cooking. Cook them until they are almost clear. Then add the Pork Chops directly on top! I put a top on my pan so they would steam while they cooked and get really tender!

       Cook your chops thoroughly. When they are done go ahead and put them on a plate and stick them in the microwave or oven to keep them warm! Then add a little extra oil to your pan (leave your onions in), add your cornstarch or flour (whichever kind your allergies allow!). Once it is all incorporated with the oil add milk and whisk..... make sure you add your milk slowly and whisk vigorously.  When you have about 2 cups of milk added let the gravy thicken while you still continue to whisk. Season it as you whisk it garlic and a little more salt and pepper.

 You can POP your pork chops back into the gravy to warm them back up and serve them with a side of broccoli.

      For the broccoli i took two crowns and chopped them up and sauteed them in a pan with a small amount of oil. Just long enough to get them a little soft! After I pulled them off the heat I added about 2 tbsp of nutritional yeast. You can always use a kind of shredded cheese that will work for you. In my house that wouldn't work because two of my girls are allergic to each others cheese! Go figure LOL!!
   That is how this Momma made a nice dinner that she was craving and made it allergen friendly!!!
ENJOY!!!

Update:)

       Life sure knows how to go very fast and knock you on your tail! I just realized i haven't written in months..... Wow i feel like it was just yesterday that i had written and that I was going to write tomorrow and tomorrow hasn't come:(
        Tonight I am going to catch you up! I have a new inspirational hero in my life i have begun looking up to....(this says alot because i don't really look up to television personalities!). Ree, The Pioneer Woman, I have begun to look up to and aspiring to be more like. She has this amazing power to make me feel like i can aspire and accomplish to be like her because my life is somewhat similar. I feel like getting my life more in order and organized is realistic.
       As you know my baby was just diagnosed with multiple food allergies YIKES....17 in all. You would think i would feel overwhelmed, well you are right! I did feel very overwhelmed but then i took a breath and took a positive approach to it.

Fast Forward  one month down the road.....
   
        My oldest step-daughter (as i am reminded by numerous people that she is not my biological daughter) has her latest round of allergy test..... YIKES with this child!! We now have 30 more food allergies! The baby has Tree Nut, Peanut, Soy, Milk, Eggs, Barley, Buckwheat, Catfish and Codfish (the nuts are what i count individually). The Oldest has now been diagnosed with Grains, Soy, Shellfish, Chocolate (cocoa) all in addition to her current Peanuts and Tree Nuts. Her reaction was so volatile that we ended up at the doctor the majority of the day.

Back to Today....

      We are learning how to take this one day at a time and the only real "issue" is with M going back and forth to her mothers because in this world some people just do not understand that when a doctor states that "this child is highly sensitive" and "will be the one to end up in the hospital" that I am highly nervous when she has food made around allergens or lotions that contain allergens..... If your child has allergies please listen to the allergist they are wonderful! 

     I will be blogging soon some of the kiddies favorite recipes and about our new venture HOMESCHOOLING! If anyone has any pointers about homeschooling or allergies feel free to leave it in the comments! I always love to hear other peoples input about things I am going through and about the ventures I am about to undertake!

     Speaking of homeschooling, the more research I have been doing i ended up running across The Pioneer Woman's blog and realized she home schools her kids. My new aspiration has become to be small percentage of what she is. A writer, a blogger, a cookbook writer, a home schooling mom, a ranch wife (i am a farm wife;)) and so much more. I will let you know how this goes:):) 

Counting my Blessings!

In honor of Easter being this Sunday I thought I would count my blessings:)

First off I am SOOO thankful that I found the love of my life, who came with two other blessings my wonderful step-daughters! Then two years later we finally got to meet our little bundle of joy :)
 
I am also blessed with the fact that I "accidentally" got a job almost a year ago ( I thought it was volunteer :)) With the job comes along working with some great people! Especially since I have children with multiple allergies working for WIC comes I handy! I love how helpful the nutritionist that I work with are! Its great because you go through stages when you find out and having support is so great.
 
I would also like to say I am Blessed with the fact that we (my husband and I) have very supportive parents and my cousin has been wonderful!

We stay on pinterest which is a great resource and talk all the time. My mom and mother in law are checking everything they are finding in stores and reading allllllllll the labels lol :)

Tip of the day: Find someone to support and help you figure the allergies out or someone just willing to listen to you talk it out, no matter if its a family member, a co-worker, or just a friend!

Why did i suspect Allergies??

Our road with allergies and suspecting that its allergies causing the problems has been long and rocky!!

  With our oldest it was a relatively fast process..... She had always had eczema and breakouts and about the time she was 4 1/2 we had gotten her soft and her skin well. Her mother and I worked tirelessly during the summer months keeping her moisturized and making sure she had plenty of sunscreen on. She begins school in August of 09, I always packed her lunch and baked for all the parties at school... her lunch was always always a PB&J. That was her request. Her first Halloween party she had a extreme rash go crazy on her skin. Her mom called and informed me ( I was laid up pregnant and was sick for months lol). I met her at the doctors office and we saw the doctor they suggested getting the allergy test. A week later she was tested and we knew her allergies were Tree nuts and Peanuts. Simple Right??

You would think it would be that easy every time, I'll let you know its not! J was born May 2010, yay after fertility meds and a long wait we finally had our little bundle of joy:) I breastfed for 18 months yay me!! About 9 months J began having tummy issues.... first it was like she had gas, then it became difficult for her to poop..... the longer this went on the worse it got! Anyone who has raised a baby knows every time you turn around you are at the doctor. I began asking them to check her for allergies ( when I was breastfeeding I had to stop eating dairy because it irritated her), they refused telling me nothing was wrong because she was still breastfed....always an escape goat for the doctors is blaming it on something that benefits the baby!
2 years later I have finally reached my wits end!!!! This baby is screaming like she is in labor and the poop she tries to pass is entirely too big to come out....we had to give suppositories:'( Horrible when she looks at you and says "please not in my butt mommy".
The last straw was her saying that to me in the bathroom of an ALDI's in Fredericksburg and I ended up completely breaking in that bathroom that day! I came home and that Monday morning I called our insurance agency and found a new doctor affiliated with a different hospital. One appointment later they have given her blood test she should have had as a 1 year old and never had. Also have referred her to an AWESOME allergist 15 minutes from our home (so great since I drive a large suv ;)) and to a GI doctor. All it took was one doctor to listen! I was soo happy I cried after 2 years we were finally beginning on a road to getting my baby better!!


Long story short in February we got referred to the allergist and as of today she has been diagnosed with 17 total food allergies and its only been 5 days and she's completely changed!! No more grumpy, belly ache baby who doesn't want you to even look at her! She goes to the bathroom normally, loves on us, and is in a great mood!
Tip of the Day: If your gut is telling you something is wrong with your child no matter what the doctor tells you or if it is a normal symptom of whatever it is find another doctor that will listen! Never hesitate to seek a second opinion!!

Healthy Delicious Hummus????

After hitting the grocery stores today with a 2 3/4 year old (lol) I decided to pull out some organic chick peas, oil, and roasted garlic and create a tasty treat for dinner for my kiddies!

 For Dinner I used:
1 can Chickpeas ( I use organic because of the allergies;))
1/2 cup oil ( only use what you need)
4 tablespoons roasted garlic (use to taste)\
or Roasted red pepper ( I use one and drizzle some juice as I blend it)or both
Salt (to taste)

I throw everything BUT the oil in my food processor and turn it ON. Slowly drizzle in the oil until it has gained the consistency you like:):)

I serve it in my house with carrot sticks, tortilla chips, and bagels cut into dipping size pieces of bagels! The kiddies come back for seconds and thirds.... needless to say its the hit of the week when I fix it:):) My favorite thing about this recipe it is completely allergen free!!

This is a filling meal and a healthy meal! Hummus goes with EVERYTHING!!

March Snow Storm and Allergies

Today we woke up with a half foot of snow so far:( No Power :( And still have those kiddies running around who have allergies.......Hmmmm Thankfully we have a Generator!! Although it does not run our larger appliances.
  This is the key problem: Breakfast bars that we have in our house have Milk ad Soy in them.... This is only the 4th day of knowing what we are working with so I have been cooking fresh and not buying much until I have a full grasp on it:(
  So trying to make sure my kids don't starve I head to my pantry and begin reading and reading thinking " o no I can't even head to my grill and cook breakfast because NO EGGS":(
 I grab the oatmeal packs...... NO ALLERGENS YAY we are saved no starving this morning!! Uh Oh another dilemma how to cook it ..... That's when the K-Cup comes in handy!! So breakfast was saved. Oh the little things in life that make your anxiety go away :):) Tip #1 Always keep quick cook oats or oatmeal packs on hand and make sure your K-Cup is FULL!!!

A New Begining

This blog I am dedicating to the two little girls in my life that I would love to give as normal of a life as possible! And to Our middle girl who tolerates us being crazy about allergies and has a good time helping!

 To start off with I'll give you some background on our struggle!

 4 years ago our oldest M had terrible break outs of eczema and we had no clue what was causing these:( I was also a few months pregnant at the time :) M is our unique Dalmatian ( as I call her during the summer). She gets tan and her psoriasis spots stay white ;) Anyway we take her to the allergist and they do the poke test on her back and we discover that she is allergic to Tree Nuts and Peanuts and numerous airborne allergens:(

That was the beginning....... Just these last few weeks we have had a multitude of other allergens to get our education on with;) Tree Nuts and Peanuts are relatively easy to avoid...... The new ones well its a little bit more difficult especially for our family which likes to enjoy Friday nights as date night to spend time together... I'll explain

My husband is beginning his own business so needless to say he is a workaholic! We go out Fridays to reconnect after a hectic week:)

Our Baby J has had a lot of tummy issues in the last 2 years...... I breastfeed until she was 18 months.... about the time she was eating solids she began having terrible belly aches and trouble using the potty. I kept taking her to UVA for checkups and begging them to do allergy testing on her and for her to see a specialist because I knew something was up. They actually refused:( After two years of my child having major issues ( and I consider constant eczema no matter what we did and her sounding like a woman in labor everytime she finally got to the potty) it was time to change hospitals and providers! I have now taken her to Martha Jefferson Hospital and they sent her straight to the allergist who within a day of us meeting him set her up and had her tested!! YAY!! .... well not really ... Good note: she has allergies so I was right.....Bad note: She has ALOT of allergies ones I've never dealt with or even considered:(:(

So after the tears stopped I came up with my positive outlook!! A blog to help others from the beginning.... a possible cookbook (my aspiration) and   Just work on making sure she can enjoy food and her life as much as any child that has no allergies.

She has Allergies to Soy, Tree Nuts, Peanuts, Catfish, Codfish, Milk, and Eggs..... My Aspiration to write a cookbook is so I can make sure the recipes that I will create for my family free of these allergens can make my children's lives as normal as possible and that even if a family doesn't have any allergies that they would love to eat these items!

So please follow me in my tribulations and failures (im sure there will be some:))