One of the most challenging aspects of eating around my food sensitivities is trying to make desserts that are sugar free, dairy free and gluten free. My first try was a very successful sugar free, dairy free chocolate mousse, which my daughter, Lucie and I LOVE. It was based on a recipe from Clean Start: Inspiring You to Eat Clean and Live Well that used tofu as the base for the mousse.

Gluten-free, Sugar-free Cooking cookbook

My next attempt at a tofu mousse dessert was a recipe that uses frozen fruit concentrates as a sweetener. Brilliant! It comes from Gluten-free, Sugar-free Cooking: Over 200 Delicious Recipes to Help You Live a Healthier, Allergy-Free Life by Susan O’Brien.

Gluten-free, Sugar-free Cooking is one of my favorite gluten free/sugar free cookbooks since it works so well with my food sensitivities. While Susan includes nutritional analysis for all of her recipes, she doesn’t include fiber grams, which you need if you’re doing Weight Watchers. Instead, I’ve used nutritional info from CalorieCount.com, even though it shows this recipe to have twice as much calories, fat and protein than is noted in the cookbook.

Not sure why her numbers are off – or maybe CalorieCount.com is wrong. Who knows?

Raspberry Mousse

Based on the recipe from Gluten-free, Sugar-free Cooking by Susan O’Brien

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound extra-firm tofu
• 1 cup frozen raspberries, thawed
• 3 tablespoons frozen pineapple juice concentrate
• 2 tablespoons frozen apple juice concentrate
• 1 tablespoon arrowroot

Directions:

1. Cut a slit in the tofu container and carefully pour out the water.
2. Remove the block of tofu and carefully place it on a pile of plain paper towels – about 4 or 5 sheets. (You can also do this with a clean kitchen towel or plain washcloth.) Gently press the tofu into the paper towels to remove the excess water. You may want to turn the tofu block and “blot” it on the paper towels to remove the water. Do this until your paper towel pile is completely damp. If you want, create a new pile of paper towels and repeat. The more moisture you remove, the thicker your mousse.
3. Place tofu in food processor and whip until smooth, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed.
4. Add the raspberries, juice concentrates and the arrowroot.
5. Blend until smooth.
6. Spoon into serving dishes, Keep refrigerated until served.

Nutritional information

• Calories 127
• Calories from Fat 31
• Total Fat 3.4g
• Cholesterol 0mg
• Sodium 6mg
• Total Carbohydrates 20.2g
• Dietary Fiber 3.0g
• Sugars 15.9g
• Protein 6.2g

Nutrition Grade A from CalorieCount 

Weight Watchers POINTS = 2

This Mama’s tips

• Remember to read the labels of concentrate you use as many have added sugars or use a combination of fruit juices. I used 100% apple juice and 100% pineapple juice concentrates. You can use orange juice or other fruit juice combinations that you think would work well with raspberries. Experiment and have fun with it!
• My kids found the raspberry tofu mousse a bit tart, so you may want to sprinkle on some powdered stevia or drizzle a little agave nectar on their servings. (The adults I served this to felt the sweetness level was just fine.)
• Remember to dish up small servings as the protein in the tofu really fills you up.
• You can use fresh raspberries, too!

No dairy, no eggs and no sugar raspberry mousse is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

Searching for a recipe that fits your food sensitivities, allergies, or your family’s particular likes and dislikes can be difficult. Yes, you could google a meatloaf recipe that doesn’t contain bread, onions or eggs – but there’s got to be a better way than clicking around to a zillion different food blogs. Luckily, there’s Foodily, a new website that helps you find just the right recipe.

How to use Foodily

It’s easy to use. First you search for a recipe. Then you delete an ingredient – or two or three or four. Foodily quickly adapts and shows you recipes that fit your needs and tastes. When you find the perfect recipe, Foodily shows you how to prepare it. The recipe also links back to the website or blog where the recipe originated. This is a great way to find more recipes that work for you and your family’s cooking and eating style.

An example – meatloaf without bread, eggs or onions

• First I went to www.foodily.com, I typed in meatloaf in the search box at the top - 354 recipes came up.
• I immediately noticed that most of them contained bread, so I clicked on the little magnifying glass and asked not to be shown recipes with bread – 320 recipes loaded.
• I asked not to be show recipes with egg in it and got 250 recipes.
• Oops, there were still a lot of recipes with bread products like bread crumbs. After I eliminated that, I was left with 250 recipes.
• Then I eliminated onions – 53 recipes.
• I got rid of onion soup mix, too – 49 recipes.
• An interesting recipe came up for Tantalizingly Tangy Meatloaf, until I noticed it had dry bread crumbs. I deleted that and got 27 recipes.
• While banished items still came up, but with slightly different names like Italian bread crumbs or dry onion soup mix, I had a much easier time scrolling through the smaller amount of recipe selections.
• My final pick was Maple Meatloaf from the Gluten Free Goddess with a link to back to her original Maple Meatloaf post. With my food sensitivities, I can’t have maple syrup so I’d use dark agave nectar instead. Even so, Foodily made it so much easier to find a recipe that both me and my family could eat and enjoy.

Find This Mama Cooks! On a Diet at Foodily, too!

So why am I sharing this new recipe site with you? Well, it’s because you’ll find This Mama Cooks! On a Diet recipes on Foodily, too! As a Foodily Food Ambassador I’ll have about 20 menus (appetizer, entree and dessert – almost 60 recipes) along with a few healthy Super Bowl party recipes on the website.

_________________

Disclosure: As a Foodily Brand Ambassador I’m compensated for writing posts and submitting recipes to their website.

Foodily helps you find recipes that work with your food sensitivities is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

Now that Thanksgiving is over, are you wondering what to do with all that leftover canned pumpkin puree? Well, how about making some pumpkin cookies?

Several years ago a friend made these Egg Free Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies for a play date since my then toddler daughter, Lucie, was eating an egg free diet due to her allergies. Now a second grader, Lucie has outgrown her egg allergy, but has been put on an egg free diet for a few weeks to see if it will help her eczema. (I doubt it. She’s just an itchy kid from a family of skin scratchers and pickers.) So she’s put in a request for her favorite pumpkin cookies.

After reviewing the original recipe at Allrecipes.com, I felt I needed to “health it up” as much as possible. So, I substituted Stevia Extract In The Raw for the white sugar. (One cup is equal to one cup of sugar.) I also substituted half of the white flour with whole wheat flour, and used organic ingredients whenever possible.

The pumpkin cookies were delicious, and no one noticed that I used stevia instead of sugar or that they were egg free. But remember, pumpkin cookies are a special treat and not a meal. Even with all the healthier substitutions and the fact that each (small) pumpkin cookie is one Weight Watchers POINT, it got a “D” grade from CalorieCount.

Egg Free Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

Based on an Allrecipes.com recipe

Yields: 80 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Stevia Extract In The Raw
• 1 cup Spectrum Organic Shortening
• 1 (15 ounce) can Farmer’s Market Organic Pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Nutritional information per cookie:

• Calories 69
• Calories from Fat 35
• Total Fat 3.8g
• Saturated Fat 1.6g
• Trans Fat 0.0g
• Cholesterol 0mg
• Sodium 33mg
• Total Carbohydrates 8.0g
• Dietary Fiber 0.6g
• Sugars 2.6g
• Protein 1.0g
• Vitamin A 17%
• Vitamin C 0%
• Calcium 0%
• Iron 2%

Nutrition Grade D from CalorieCount.

Weight Watchers POINTS per cookie = 1

If you omit the chocolate and cut back the shortening to 3/4 of a cup, it’s a little bit better. (However, you’ll need to add a little water to the mixture to make sure the batter isn’t a mass of crumbles.)

• Calories 42
• Calories from Fat 18
• Total Fat 2.0g
• Saturated Fat 0.6g
• Trans Fat 0.0g
• Cholesterol 0mg
• Sodium 33mg
• Total Carbohydrates 5.3g
• Protein 0.7g
• Vitamin A 17%
• Vitamin C 0%
• Calcium 0%
• Iron 2%

Nutrition Grade C from CalorieCount.

Weight Watchers POINTS per cookie = 1

This Mama’s tips:

• Since the pumpkin cookie dough is egg free, it’s perfect for (guilty) snacking or any raw cookie dough recipe you may have.
• This is a perfect way to use up all that leftover canned pumpkin puree after Thanksgiving.

Featured at:

An egg free chocolate chip pumpkin cookie for Lucie is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

My mom called this morning to ask me about the Fourmile Canyon Fire in Boulder, Colorado. Even though I live 30 miles away from the heart of the fire, it has affected us a bit.

My children’s school is in Boulder County, so they’ve been kept indoors due to the poor air quality for the past couple of days. Also, my friend works for Boulder County’s Office of Emergency Management, so I’ve been taking care of her kids after school while she works a 12+ hour shift. (Yay, two more kids to yell at about getting their homework done. Sigh.)

Last night, in honor of all the people working on the fire, I created this eggless meatloaf recipe. It was such a hit with all four kids that they asked for thirds. Needless to say, there were no leftovers.

Boulder Firefighters Meatloaf

Based on A Firefighter’s Meatloaf at Allrecipes.com

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 2 slices whole wheat bread from Rudi’s Organic Bakery in Boulder, Colorado
• 2 pounds ground venison
• 1 small onion, choppped
• 1 cup medium hot, chipotle salsa
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tablespoon barbeque sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Soak the bread in warm water in a small bowl.
3. Place the ground venison meat in a large bowl.
4. Drain bread and add to beef along with green onion, onion, salsa, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic. Mix by hand until well blended.
5. Form into a loaf and place in a greased cookie sheet or hotel pan.
6. Bake for 45 minutes in the preheated oven.
7. Blot excess fat off the pan with paper towels.
8. Glaze the meatloaf with barbeque sauce.
9. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
10. Meatloaf is done when it reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees F. 

Nutritional information

• Calories 354
• Calories from Fat 125
• Total Fat 13.9g
• Saturated Fat 6.2g
• Trans Fat 0.1g
• Cholesterol 148mg
• Sodium 521mg
• Total Carbohydrates 12.5g
• Dietary Fiber 2.1g
• Sugars 4.8g
• Protein 43.0g
• Iron 33%

This Mama’s tips

• You can also use ground buffalo, turkey or lean ground beef.
• If you don’t like the smoky taste of chipotle, use any kind of medium hot salsa.
• If you use loaf pans, you can split the recipe to fill two pans about 3/4 of the way. Freeze the second loaf or use it for sandwiches the next day.
• Sneak in some grated zucchini for added fiber and greens.

Nutrition Grade B+ from CalorieCount

Weight Watchers POINTS = 8

How you can help Boulder Fourmile Canyon Fire disaster relief

• The Red Cross cannot accept small individual donations of items such as clothing. Instead, they ask that you make a monetary donation to the Red Cross’s Mile High Chapter for Disaster Relief.
• If you’re in Colorado, you can call 211 to identify an appropriate location to take items you’d like to donate.

__________

Photo courtesy of striking-photography.com and thelightningman.com on Flickr.

Boulder Firefighters Meatloaf is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

Why not create a healthy polymeal feast this Thanksgiving? Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S, is a nationally known expert on weight loss, nutrition, and health. His new book Healthiest Meals on Earth: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth About What Meals to Eat and Why shows how to combine ingredients – what he refers to as “polymeals” – that promote long-term health to create meals that will literally save your life.

A polymeal is a meal composed of ingredients that enhance heart and blood vessel health. The seven magic ingredients are red wine, chocolate, almonds, garlic, fish, fruits and vegetables. Though every meal doesn’t contain them all, Dr. Bowden’s intention is to include ingredients in every meal that mimics the effects of those seven touchstone ingredients and that duplicates their health effects.

By eating the vital ingredients featured in Healthiest Meals on Earth as part of a balanced diet, Dr. Bowden claims you can cut the risk of heart disease by 75%, boost overall heart health, and add years to your life. The book has been endorsed by a virtual who's who in the world of integrative medicine and nutrition, including Mehmet Oz, M.D., Christiane Northurp, M.D., and Barry Sears, Ph.D.

The Healthiest Meals on Earth – not just a cookbook

When the folks at FSB Associates emailed me about the book, I was reluctant to accept a review copy since I’m overwhelmed with too many cookbooks. But Healthiest Meals on Earth is so much more. It’s a nutrition textbook with beautiful photographs and yummy looking recipes. The only failing in the book is that nutritional information (calories, etc.) aren’t listed along with the recipes. Still, you can go over the ingredients list, guesstimate calories, fiber and fat grams from a similar recipe, then figure the POINTS by typing it into a Weight Watchers POINTS Calculator.

I’ve been dipping into Healthiest Meals on Earth and have been enjoying looking over the recipes and the nutritional and health information. I’m very intrigued with the polymeal idea. (The book is divided into three sections: Four-Course Polymeals, One-Pot Polymeals with Simple Sides, and Delicious Drinks: The Liquid Polymeal.)

I’m so excited by this that I’m considering making his Healthiest Holiday Meal for Thanksgiving:

• Citrus-Stuffed Herbed Turkey (recipe below)
• Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Asparagus and Broccoli with Toasted Hazelnuts
• Holiday Waldorf Salad
• Cranberry-Orange Relish
• Sweet Potato Pie with Almond-Oat Crust

The challenge will be to use roasted pine nuts instead of tree nuts since my daughter has a nut allergy. (Pine nuts are not nuts. They’re seeds.) Also, I can make the Sweet Potato Pie without the crust, which make it nut-free and gluten free for my mother-in-law.

Wow, I’m getting excited about polymeal cooking! Check out Healthiest Meals on Earth and join me.

Safety First
The Food Safety and Inspection Service recently changed the recommendations for how high a temperature cooked poultry should be cooked to. Previously, experts recommended cooking whole turkeys to 180°F (82°C) and turkey breasts to 170°F (77°C). The new cooking recommendation is 165°F (74°C) for both. Check the internal temperature in the innermost part of the thigh and wing and the thickest part of the breast with a meat thermometer.

Ingredients

Brining Solution:
You will need 2 to 3 gallons (8 to 12 L) of brining solution for an 18- to 20-pound (8- to 9-kg) turkey.

Per gallon (4 L) of water:

• 1 cup (300 g) sea salt or kosher (not table salt)
• ½ cup (170 g) raw honey
• 2 teaspoons (4 g) finely grated lemon peel, optional
• 2 teaspoons (4 g) orange peel, optional
• ½ tablespoon cardamom pods, optional
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme, optional

Turkey

• 1 18- to 20-pound (8- to 9-kg) free-range, not self-basting, turkey
• 8 sprigs each of fresh rosemary (young and tender, not woody), sage, and thyme (or other herbs of your choice), rinsed and lightly dried (should total 1¼ to 1½ cups or 55 to 90 g when coarsely chopped)
• 2 shallots, peeled and halved
• 1 whole head garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1 lemon
• 1 orange
• 4 tablespoons (½ stick, or 55 g) butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons (28 ml) extra virgin olive oil
• Salt
• Ground black pepper
• ½ cup (120 ml) sherry

Prep Time: Overnight to brine, overnight again for optional drying, and 30 minutes to prepare for cooking.

Cook Time: 3 hours and 45 minutes to 4 hours and 15 minutes, plus 20 minutes to rest before carving

1. Starting with 2 gallons (8 L) of water, mix the brining solution in your roasting pan by combining all ingredients in correct proportions and stirring until the salt and honey are dissolved.
2. Rinse the turkey in plain water and pat it dry. Place the turkey in a lobster pot or large stockpot. (You can also use a plastic bucket if you line it with 2 or 3 clean garbage bags.) Pour in the brining solution to cover the turkey. If you need more brine to completely immerse the turkey, mix up another gallon. Place the turkey in the refrigerator for 12 to 24 hours. Remove the turkey from the brine, rinse very well under running water to remove all the brine, and dry thoroughly, including the cavity.
3. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C, gas mark 6).
4. Stem and coarsely chop the herbs, setting aside about three-quarters of them (⅔ to 1 cup or 40 to 60 g herbs). Mince the remaining one-quarter (about ½ or 30 g) and put into a medium bowl. Add the shallots and garlic.
5. Quarter but do not peel the lemon and orange and squeeze them gently to make a little juice, tossing the fruit and juice together with the herb mixture.
6. In a small bowl, using your hands, mix the butter with the oil until creamy. Moving carefully so as not to puncture the skin, work your hand between the turkey skin and the breast as far as you can go to create a pocket over both breasts. Smear half of the butter-oil mixture over the breasts, covering as much meat as you can reach. Place half of the reserved, coarsely chopped herbs in each pocket (on top of each breast). Do this carefully and when complete, gently reshape (from the outside) the herb "pouches" above each breast to look rounded and smooth. Salt and pepper the inside of both cavities and stuff them with the fruit and herb mixture. Tuck the wings behind the back, tuck the skin folds over the cavities to close, and truss the legs. Smear the entire bird with the remaining butter-olive oil mixture and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Slowly pour the sherry inside of the breast pockets, working it around to the leg joints.
7. Place a V rack inside of a roasting pan and cover it with foil. Poke about 15 holes into the foil. Place the turkey on the V rack, breast side down. Bake for 45 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 325°F (170°C, gas mark 3). Turn the turkey bird breast side up, baste (you can supplement the juices with a few tablespoons of sherry if you wish), cover with foil, and continue to cook for 2½ to 3 hours more, depending on the size of the turkey.
8. Remove the foil to brown the breast and continue to cook for another 30 to 40 minutes, or until the thickest part of the breast and innermost parts of thighs and wings register 165°F (74°C) on a meat thermometer. (When the turkey is done, the legs should roll loosely on the joint, and the leg juices should run clear.)
9. Let the turkey rest on a cutting board for about 20 minutes before carving.

Yield: For turkeys weighing more than 12 pounds, allow ½, to ¾ pound (225 to 340 g) per person, so an 18-pound (8-kg) turkey can serve between 24 to 36 people.

Healthy holiday polymeal cooking with the Healthiest Meals on Earth is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

I was so excited to see this healthy Valentine’s Day recipe in the February issue of Woman’s Day. Not only does it have only 4 Weight Watchers POINTS per serving, but it doesn’t contain eggs – a big consideration since my daughter is allergic to eggs.

I also love the recipe because it uses ricotta cheese, one of my favorites. If you’re trying to lose weight or just eat healthier, ricotta is a great source of calcium and it’s high in protein – a nice change from milk or yogurt. Just this morning I used it in my egg white omelet – yum!

To lower the POINTS and calories, use Splenda or Stevia. Stay away from using using no-fat ricotta, because the hearts could fall apart without the extra little bit of fat.

Coeur à la Crème
6 servings

Heart Ingredients:

• 12 heart-shaped foil baking cups (Reynolds Fun Shapes are perfect for this, but may not be on the market anymore. Try finding similar sized round aluminum baking cups.)
• 6 (6-in.) squares triple-thickness cheesecloth
• 1 (15-oz) container part-skim ricotta
• 3/4 cup fat-free sour cream
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean split lengthwise, seeds scraped

Raspberry Sauce Ingredients:

• 1 package (10 oz) frozen raspberries in light syrup, thawed
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 6 oz fresh raspberries (optional)
• garnish with mint sprigs

Directions:

1. Reinforce 6 foil baking cups by inserting a second foil cup into each; place on a cutting board. Using a small knife, poke multiple slits in bottoms of each set of double liners to allow for drainage of the cheese mixture. Arrange cups on a baking sheet with sides.
2. Rinse cheesecloth under water; squeeze until just damp. Line each foil heart with a 3-layer square of cheesecloth, letting excess cheesecloth hang over edges of cups.
3. Purée ricotta in food processor until smooth. Transfer to a bowl; fold in sour cream, confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice until blended. Stir in vanilla extract or vanilla bean seeds until evenly distributed. Spoon mixture into prepared baking cups and spread until level; bring up sides of cheesecloth to cover tops. Cover with plastic wrap. Let drain overnight in refrigerator, or up to 2 days.
4. Raspberry Sauce: In a blender or food processor, purée the raspberries with syrup and lemon juice. Scrape mixture through a fine sieve to remove seeds; refrigerate sauce.
5. To assemble and serve: Unfold cheesecloth and drape it over the sides of the molds. Invert each baking cup onto a serving plate. While pressing down on the corners of cheesecloth, carefully lift off cup. Remove the cheesecloth slowly. Spoon drops of raspberry sauce onto plates around hearts. Drag a toothpick through drops to make hearts. Serve with fresh raspberries, if desired, and extra sauce. Garnish with mint sprigs.

Note: You can make raspberry sauce up to 3 days ahead. Make hearts at least 1 or up to 2 days ahead so that they have time to drain. Store unmolded in refrigerator.

Nutritional Information:
Amount Per Serving – 1 heart

Calories 218
Total Fat 6 g
Dietary Fiber 2 g
Protein 10 g

Weight Watchers POINTS – 4

Picture courtesy of Richard Schiller/Woman’s Day magazine

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A healthy, low point Valentine’s Day dessert is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

I often blog about the challenges of having a daughter who is allergic to eggs, nuts, peanuts (a legume) and soy both here at This Mama Cooks! and on my children's book blog, My Readable Feast. It's probably why Divvies Bakery in South Salem, New York contacted me about reviewing some of their products.

Divvies cookies, popcorns, and cupcakes are made in the company’s own dedicated facility. Divvies candies, frosting, and sprinkles are certified by their manufacturers to be peanut-, tree nut-, milk-, and egg-free. Divvies conducts routine testing to minimize the risk of any cross-contamination in their certified allergen-free ingredients.

My daughter Lucie isn't that allergic to eggs and won't go into anaphylactic shock if she comes into contact with peanuts. (Instead she breaks out into hives, throws up and gets a fever - scary enough!) Lucie can eat snacks that are made in food plants or at the local supermarket. We've also discovered that she can get away with having products with a teeny bit of egg. (If the label says "contains less than 2%" of eggs she can have them.)

Still, so many people get deathly ill if they smell or touch a nut or have a trace amount of milk or eggs. Benjamin, the son of Divvies founder, Lori Sandler is one of those kids. That's why she started the company knowing that there's a need for allergen-free products. Great idea, but how do their snacks taste?

Divvies sent me a two small bags of their gourmet popcorn - caramel corn and kettle corn - that we took with us to enjoy at the National Western Stock Show rodeo. They were yummy and two bags were enough for the five of us. The bags are $5 each, which is what we would normally pay at the rodeo. That does seem pricey, especially if you factor in shipping, but a great way to save money would be to get their five gallon popcorn duos or "corn for a crowd" sets that go for $54 (free shipping, too!) If you're a big popcorn fan, you may be interested in signing up for monthly shipping with their Automatic Divvies and save an additional 20%. Again, this may seem expensive, but if you, a friend, or a family member has nut allergies or is a vegan (yes, they're certified vegan and kosher, too!) these are worth every penny.

What really sold me were their cupcakes. Not only were they delicious (we got chocolate cake with vanilla frosting) but I loved their practicality. A dozen freshly baked cupcakes, sprinkles and frosting are shipped to you in a large box. Inside you find a special bakery box that does double duty. The cupcakes are in smaller boxes that can be turned over and made into trays with holes to hold each cupcake individually. The trays then fit snugly back into the bakery box and your cupcakes can be brought to a party without messing them up! Another idea would to have the cupcakes shipped to arrive the morning of the party. Then everyone can decorate their own cupcake as a fun activity.

If you're pressed for time and concerned about possible allergic reactions, $24 plus shipping (one box costs the same to ship as three) isn't a bad price for saving you time and the headache of a sick kid at the party (and a trip to the emergency room).

Note: the cupcakes are preservative free and will go stale after a few days. But they're so delicious that you'll eat them in one sitting.

But if you're into making your own cupcakes, check out the recipes for Chocolate Divvies Cupcakes and Divvies Vanilla Frosting that Benjamin and Lori Sandler shared with Martha on The Martha Stewart Show this morning.

If your child has food allergies, check out DivviesBattr, an informative and supportive forum where parents of children with food allergies can participate and learn from a community of experts and other parents how best to nurture and protect their children while creating a positive, calm atmosphere that pervades the entire household.

Divvies – egg, milk, nut and peanut free treats that are made to share is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

Now that we've moved my mother-in-law out to Colorado, Thanksgiving is going to be challenging. No, not because she's mean ol' lady, but because she has celiac sprue and can't eat gluten. Combine that with my daughter's food allergies - no eggs and no nuts - and the holiday feast becomes quite challenging.

Hooray for turkey!

Working around these food allergies and sensitivities will be much easier than I thought. Thank goodness that my family can eat turkey. This year my husband has decided to smoke the bird, which should be a lot of fun. He used the smoker many times this summer and feels very confident using it.

I googled "smoked turkey" and found Alton Brown's recipe for Honey Brined Smoke Turkey. I love Alton's show and his appearances on Iron Chef America. We've made many of his recipes, and know his meat smoking recipes are top notch.

Honey Brined Smoked Turkey

Ingredients:

• 1 gallon hot water
• 1 pound kosher salt
• 2 quarts vegetable broth
• 1 pound honey
• 1 (7-pound) bag of ice
• 1 (15 to 20-pound) turkey, with giblets removed
• Vegetable oil, for rubbing turkey

Instructions:

1. Combine the hot water and the salt in a 54-quart cooler. Stir until the salt dissolves. Stir in the vegetable broth and the honey. Add the ice and stir. Place the turkey in the brine, breast side up, and cover with cooler lid. Brine overnight, up to 12 hours.
2. Remove the turkey from the brine and dry thoroughly. Rub the bird thoroughly with the vegetable oil.
3. Heat the grill to 400 degrees F.
4. Using a double thickness of heavy-duty aluminum foil, build a smoke bomb. Place a cup of hickory wood chips in the center of the foil and gather up the edges, making a small pouch. Leave the pouch open at the top. Set this directly on the charcoal or on the metal bar over the gas flame. Set the turkey over indirect heat, insert a probe thermometer into the thickest part of the breast meat, and set the alarm for 160 degrees F. Close the lid and cook for 1 hour.
5. After 1 hour check the bird; if the skin is golden brown, cover with aluminum foil and continue cooking. Also, after 1 hour, replace wood chips with second cup.
6. Once the bird reaches 160 degrees F, remove from grill, cover with aluminum foil, and allow to rest for 1 hour. Carve and serve.

What about the stuffing, sides and dessert?

I googled "gluten free cornbread vegan" and ended up finding a recipe here at This Mama Cooks! that I used for Christmas 2005 when my MIL was visiting - Cornbread Stuffing with Dried Cranberries. If I remember correctly, I found gluten-free cornbread mix at Wal-Mart and used egg substitute. There's no nuts in it either. (Also, the Cranberry-Cherry Compote recipe from Weight Watcher's Magazine looks pretty darn good, too.)

I'll be making a sweet potato dish and mash potatoes, of course. Now for the biggest challenge of all - dessert. Stay tuned.

The gluten free, no eggs, no nuts, no soy Thanksgiving is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

When my friend Suzanne heard that my daughter is allergic to eggs, she sent along this recipe for an eggless chocolate cake. It’s named after the mother of an old friend of hers who used to make it.

Since my daughter is also allergic to peanut butter, I’d make a traditional frosting or maybe a sugar glaze instead.

Shirley’s Chocolate Cake – The best in the world!

Cake ingredients:

• 3 cups of flour
• 2 cups of sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 9 tablespoons cocoa
• 2 cups of cold water
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 3/4 cup oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Icing ingredients:

1. 3 cups confectioners sugar
2. 1/4 cup milk (approximately)
3. 3/4 cup peanut butter

Cake directions:

1. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl using an electric mixer.
2. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 baking pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 – 40 minutes.

Icing directions:

1. Mix confectioners sugar and milk – it will be thin.
2. Stir in peanut Butter, which will thicken the icing.
3. Ice your delicious cake.

Photo credit goes to Diana’s Desserts who offers her own version of an Eggless Chocolate Cake.

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An eggless chocolate cake is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

Allergic to eggs or just looking for foods that don't contain them?

I've found some terrific recipes for eggless meatloaf that I'd love to share with you at my other food blog, My Readable Feast, and check out Allergies and the search for eggless meatloaf.

Don't care if your meatloaf contains eggs or not? Try these sites:

• Allrecipes.com lists oodles of meatloaf recipes for you to try.
• CDKitchen has eight pages of meatloaf recipes.
• The Andover Meatloaf Pages features nothing but meatloaf recipes.
• Elise at Simply Recipes offers up her own version.

So what do you prefer, freshly made meatloaf with mash potatoes on the side? Or the leftovers the next day in a cold meatloaf sandwich with lots of ketchup?

Eggless meatloaf is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!