Gluten and Egg FREE Buttermilk Pancakes! YUM!

Wow!  It has taken me all week to find time to post this, but hopefully it will add one more yummy dish to your list of delicious allergen free breakfasts!  I often make these for our whole family (Daddy can't tell the difference that it is gluten and egg free!).  The key to these pancakes is Ener-G powdered egg replacer and Pamela's baking and pancake mix (I usually buy the large bag from King Soopers, it costs around $14.99).  Unlike Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free all purpose flour, which is a great flour to use in recipes, Pamela's baking and pancake mix offers a less gritty texture and tastes almost like a whole wheat or whole grain flour.  The only downside to the Pamela's baking and pancake mix is for those who have dairy allergies because the flour has milk in the mix.
The recipe itself is not my own, I adjusted the regular recipe I use from Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, the 75th anniversary edition to accommodate our allergies. (I encourage everyone to try adjusting favorite recipes with different substitutes depending on your allergies. you may find that you don't have to give up those favorite foods, just find ways to make them allergy friendly!)
So here it is!!!

Buttermilk Pancakes
(adding fresh blueberries makes for a yummy fruity twist!)

I usually double the recipe for our family,
you can expect to make about eight standard size pancakes per batch.

Prep: 10 minutes Cook: 4 minutes per batch
Makes: 8 servings

1 cup all-purpose flour *Pamela's baking and pancake mix
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg *Ener-G powdered egg replacer
1 cup buttermilk or sour milk
(If you don't have buttermilk on hand when
preparing baked goods, substitute sour milk in
the same amount.  For each cup of sour milk
needed, place 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vine-
gar in a glass measuring cup.  Add enough milk to
make 1 cup total liquid; stir.  Let mixture stand for
5 minutes before using.)
2 tablespoons cooking oil

1. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside. Combine the egg, buttermilk, and oil.  Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture.  Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy. *add more Pamela's baking and pancake mix 1 tbsp at a time if needed until the mixture is thick enough.) Add additional buttermilk to thin batter, if necessary.

2. For standard-size pancakes, pour or spread about 1/4 cup batter into a 3-inch circle onto a hot, lightly greased griddle or heavy skillet.  For dollar-size pancakes, pour or spread about 1 tablespoon batter into a 1-inch circle onto a hot, lightly greased griddle or heavy skillet.  Cook over medium heat about 2 minutes on each side or until pancakes are golden brown, turning to second sides when pancakes have bubbly surfaces and edges are slightly dry.  Serve warm.

Pancakes: Prepare as above, except substitute milk for buttermilk, increase baking powder to 2 teaspoons, and omit baking soda.

Tip:  My kids love when I put a little bit of strawberry jelly or preserve or a fruit spread on their pancakes instead of syrup.  Have fun making your allergen free meals and please feel free to share your recipes by commenting or e-mailing me at jreed2327@yahoo.com.  I will try to pass them along in our blog! God bless! Stephy!

God Cares! Even for your health!

Hello to all my dear friends!  I pray your day has been blessed!  I wanted to share something that happened to me last night that has really reminded me of just how much God cares for us.  I was at church for mid-week study and was part of the worship for the evening.  The study was great and I was very  blessed, as the end of the message was coming and I was preparing to quietly make my way back on stage to finish our last song, Paster Ed then decided to have only our leader go up.  It was unplanned, but Ed invited anyone who needed prayer to come up as we entered into an unplanned time of afterglow.  As he was talking he said he thought that maybe there was someone on the worship team who might need prayer and not being on stage would allow them the opportunity. 
  I was touched by the great moving of the Lord in the body of Christ as I watched people go up to be anointed by oil and prayed over, but had no intention of going up myself.  I couldn't really think of anything important to have prayer for, I mean there were people who had really crazy things happening and needed prayer more than I did.  As I continued to worship I felt a tug on my heart to go up, but I asked the Lord why, I couldn't think of any reason.  As I fought the Holy Spirit, I saw a dear sister come up and sit in front of us seeming to be waiting for the next available prayer team member, she had been on my heart and I felt like I should go over to her and pray for her.  As I was thinking about approaching her I felt a tap on my shoulder, it was another dear friend who leaned over and said, "I think you are suppose to go up and get prayed for", I replied "I know...", and then she went and sat down.  I began to weep as I stood up and went around to the front.  There were no available prayer team members so I sat next to my friend who I felt I was suppose to approach to begin with.  She then put her arm around me and said that the Lord had put me on her heart and she came up to find me.  We decided to pray for one another, although I could hardly compose myself enough to get any words out.   I still felt unsure of what I needed prayer for. 
As she started to pray though, the Lord gave her the words and she began to pray for my health and any insecure feelings I might be having, along with a few other things. 
I had certain health concerns, including my Celiac Disease and the health of my kids, along with some feelings of insecurity that I had kept quietly tucked away.  As the Lord spoke through my dear sister, I realized that I had been trying to deal with some of these issues on my own.  Although I had been praying about many of them, I was too prideful to go to another believer for prayer.  I hate admitting that, but in a nut shell that was my reason for delayed obedience (which is really disobedience).  Needless to say, I was soo incredibly blessed and filled that I felt like I was floating after everything was done.  God cares so much about me that he came to me where I was struggling to come to Him!
Be encouraged dear ones! The Lord cares for you sooo much that He has come to you and wants to love you and have fellowship with you.  Whether our struggles are feelings of insecurities or struggles with having food allergies, God cares!  May this blog and the opportunities that we have to come together be more than just talking about food! May the Lord touch your heart and draw you near in every area of your life including your health! God Bless! Stephy

A bit about us!

Hello to all of our fellow friends with allergies!! 
This first blog is going to be a bit about us and what our goal is for A.F.L. Allergy Free and Loving It!.  Our names are Stephany and Melissa. We are both moms and wives who have been faced with the challenges of food allergies. To those who have been blessed with no allergies it may not seem like a big deal, but we are here to say, "YOU HAVE NO IDEA!". This new season in our lives has been one of the greatest challenges we have faced.


We both personally have food allergies, Stephany has Celiac disease and Melissa has Dairy allergies. When fending for ourselves, although difficult, it is manageable, but add in our kids... that's a whole new story.

We each have two boys under four years old. Stephany's oldest has a severe egg allergy and her youngest has a wheat allergy. Melissa's oldest has an egg allergy and is now facing another diet change of being gluten free (due to possible autism).

As we both have been facing frustration and exhaustion trying to balance all the food needs of our families and trying our best to find creative, healthy, and especially tasty meals staying within our budget, we decided to join forces and gather strength and ideas from each other.

Not being alone in this new adventure of becoming allergy free (or should we say free from the chains of allergies!) has been a God sent!

We have decided to create this blog in order to invite you to be part of our quest to be allergy free and loving it!

We pray that the Lord will use our adventures, whether successful or not so successful, in order to encourage others to not give up, but to find new ways to enjoy your food!
 
Both Melissa and I will be posting on A.F.L. Allergy Free and Loving It! and will share our thoughts, cooking ideas (and experiments), and any information regarding living with food allergies that might be a help to any of us. 
 
We are both Christians who desire to not only encourage each other practically but spiritually as well.  From time to time, as the Lord leads, we will also share scriptural encouragements on this blog.
 
We are very excited to get this blog started as well as our support meetings that will take place every 6-8 weeks.  We will keep you updated when those meetings are for those of you who would like to join us.  Typically our meetings will allow us to interact and gain knowledge and encouragement from one another as well as have an opportunity to swap recipes, make new friends, and learn about topics pertaining to food allergies.  We look forward to seeing you there! Have a blessed day!
 

• Our next meeting will be on Sunday, September 26th at 3:30pm.
• We will be meeting at 16767 E. Belleview Pl Centennial, CO 80015
• Please bring a favorite allergy free dish to share and the recipe (according to what your allergy is)