Gluten free, nuts, dairy – What’s left?

I COULD HAVE figured the jokes I would get when I mentioned on Facebook that I was preparing snacks for my daughter’s preschool — dairy-free, gluten free, nut-free snacks.

“What’s left?” was the most common reply.

Like many child centers in these days of rising allergies, my toddler’s school has a blanket ban on nuts. But our particular class included kids who had other allergies and food sensitivities, too, including gluten free. We had to make a decision when the year began: Should we bring whatever snacks we liked when our turn came to supply the class, leaving the affected kids to bring their own separate, safe foods? Or should we try to prepare food everyone could eat together?

We went for the latter. And in the months since, I’ve been so glad we did, for a few reasons. One is that I love to see our kids diving into their treats every week united, feeling like a classroom family. Another is that we’re eating healthier snacks than I remember from my older son’s time at tiny school tables. Instead of Costco packs of processed granola bars and fruit leather, we’re wowed by whole and homemade foods. The third benefit? The restrictions have opened my eyes. I thought we were in for a real nuisance excluding so many ingredients. At the worst, I needed to buy some ingredients I wouldn’t normally have in my pantry.

I admit, there was the time when I was out of vanilla extract on my snack day and unthinkingly substituted some almond extract into my muffin mix. Oops. But I realized my error in time, and my own kids were happy enough to have a batch of nut-tainted muffins while I made a “clean” tray for school. Best of all — and contrary to what I might have expected — our snacks have tasted quite good. Adults could be deluding themselves about this, but I guarantee that our toddlers, digging into the contents of their gluten free, nut-dairy-free plates, are voting with fiercely opinionated and uncensored mouths. Mine voted “MORE. YUMS.”

A few tips:

1. Fruits and vegetables are simple and healthy. Along with banana wedges and bowls of berries and lightly cooked carrots, our kids have devoured (yes, really) roasted broccoli (sprinkle florets with olive oil and salt, and roast at 425 degrees about 20 minutes or until browned), sweet potato fries (same process as the broccoli, but peel and cut the potatoes into fries, and cook closer to 40 minutes), kale chips (wash, dry and stem a bunch of kale, tear it into pieces, toss with a tablespoon or so of olive oil, lay the pieces on a baking sheet, sprinkle with kosher salt, and bake at 300 degrees for around 20 minutes or until crisp).

One day we had an unexpected hit with curried parsnip chips, which one mom tossed together last-minute after forgetting it was her turn for snack. (She tossed thinly sliced parsnips with curry powder, lightly sprayed olive oil on a parchment-covered cookie sheet, put a single layer of parsnips on the sheet, sprayed the top with a little more olive oil, baked at 475 degrees for 6 to 8 minutes, then tossed them and baked another 4 to 6 minutes).

2. Dips are tasty and often packed with protein. Hummus frequently shows up at our snack table, as do bean dips or bean salads, sometimes accompanied by gluten free rice crackers. Guacamole is another winner.

3. Easy alternates: Markets are packed these days with foods that account for different allergies. Plain yogurt is out for our class, but soy yogurts are fine, and just about as easy to find.

4. Going gluten free: Even a few years back, baking gluten-free recipes meant painstakingly assembling a collection of alternate flours, adding bits of each to compose an acceptable baking mix. You can still go that route, but it’s far easier now to simply buy a bag of gluten-free all-purpose flour, available at most mainstream markets. Or, for one-time needs, even Betty Crocker now offers a line of boxed gluten-free mixes for muffins and cakes.

Two parents in our class happen to be nutritionists, which probably helps keep our snack quality higher. One of them, Kathryn Reed, got this recipe (using a baking mix from thepurepantry.com) from the other, Chera Prideaux Sheets, impressed by the three cups of vegetables and fruits the recipe contained. If you don’t see that specific baking mix at the store, most grocery stores now carry all-purpose gluten free flour, though, of course, it won’t have the buckwheat taste. Reed says you can also make these muffins with regular all-purpose flour if you don’t need to avoid gluten, but the texture is better gluten free.

Gluten Free High Fiber Morning Glory Muffins

Makes 12

2/3 cup safflower oil or coconut oil

½ cup honey or agave nectar

¼ cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (make sure it’s gluten-free)

2 eggs

2 cups Pure Pantry Buckwheat Flax baking mix

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup finely grated carrots (2 small carrots)

1 cup finely grated zucchini (about ½ zucchini)

1 tart red apple, unpeeled, cored and finely grated

½ cup seedless raisins

1/3 cup toasted coconut flakes (optional)

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Blend the oil, honey or agave, brown sugar, vanilla and eggs into a large bowl for about 1 minute to incorporate. Add the baking mix, cinnamon and salt. Stir to combine.

Add the carrots, zucchini, apple, raisins, coconut and orange zest to the sugar mixture and stir well. Scoop batter into 12 paper-lined muffin tins and bake 25 minutes.

Gluten free Recipes with Bill & Sheila

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