Dreidel Cookies

Chanukah Begins Tonight! I've got a super simple way to make it extra special. Festive, Eggless Dreidel Cookies.

These are great for parties, teacher gifts, and baking with kids. This recipe is extremely versatile. Use different cake mix flavors, add  food coloring, form into different shapes, add chocolate chips, get creative with icing etc.... Your only limitation is your imagination.

Dreidel Cookie Recipe
1 Box Duncan Hines Golden Cake Mix
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup water

Combine ingredients till play dough consistency is reached. Add a little more water and oil if mixture is too dry. Roll out dough and cut with cookie cutters on a greased baking sheet. 
Tip: cut the shapes right on the pan so I don't have to transfer the delicate dough.

Bake at 350 for 7 minutes (don't overbake)
yield: 2 dozen cookies

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Thanksgiving Pumpkin Muffins

This year, Thanksgiving and Chanukah overlap.  At our house, we don't really celebrate Thanksgiving (a big dinner Thurs.Nt. doesn't leave you hungry for Shabbos Fri Nt.). Instead, we have a Thanksgiving Shabbat (lots of traditional Thanksgiving foods served up to honor Shabbos).

Chanukah is a holiday of Thanks so it is especially appropriate this Shabbos to go all out with the gratitude theme. We all have something (many things) to be grateful for.

The recipe below is super easy, eggless, nutfree, dairy free, and extremely versatile. Serve eggless pumpkin muffins as a side dish, breakfast, or a snack.

Eggless Pumpkin Muffins
1 15oz can of pure pumpkin puree (like Libby's) (Not pumpkin pie mix-that's sweetened)
1 box non-dairy golden cake mix (Duncan Hines- pareve,golden or butter recipe cake mix)
2T canola oil
2T water
1/4 cup flour (for topping)

yield: 12 large muffins or 1 9x13 kugel

Preheat oven to 350. Combine cake mix, pumpkin puree, oil, and water in a bowl. 
Drop batter into desired "baking sprayed" pans  (muffins tins, large "kugel" pan). 

Topping
Add flour to bowl that had batter. Combine leftover batter and flour to form crumbs.
Generously sprinkle Topping crumbs on muffins. Bake at 350 until golden and fluffy (muffins about 20 minutes, kugel about 30).

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Healthier Latkes

Did she say healthy latkes? Well not exactly "healthy" just a bit "healthier".....

One trick is baking the latkes instead of frying. Baking will decrease the cholesterol level of this dish instantly. Another trick for lowering cholesterol is omitting eggs. Eggfree latkes are perfect for those of you allergic to to eggs as well.

You can also ramp up the nutrition by adding grated veggies to the latkes. How about grated sweet potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, carrot, spinach, or zucchini? You can experiment with your own combination of these vegetables (with or without white potatoes).

Toppings are another area that can be "lightened" up. Fat free sour cream is a great alternative to full fat sour cream. Make it tofutti sour cream if your allergic to milk. You can skip the sour cream all together and go for applesauce.

My final tip and this one is top secret... Add fiber. I like to sneak Benefiber into everything I can. It doesn't have a taste and instantly boosts the fiber content of whatever your making. If you are gluten intolerant or have wheat allergy this is not an option.

Check out these other tips for a Lighter Chanukah

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Nutfree Truffle Giveaway

NO NUTS, NO DAIRY, NO GLUTEN- ONLY GREAT TASTE!!!
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Enter the Nutfree Truffle Giveaway.

You could win a box of these gourmet, allergy friendly chocolates. Or perhaps you'd like to give them as a gift? The chocolates are kosher certified by the OK.

Winner will receive a box of Signature Collection Gourmet Truffles (shipped free to your home in the Domestic US). Flavors in the box include: "Milk" Fudge, Coffee, Grand Marnier, Raspberry, and Salted Caramel. You'll never believe these chocolates are dairy free, gluten free, nut free, and egg free.

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Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

How do you make the perfect eggless, dairy free chocolate chip cookie? No trips to the health food store are necessary! You probably already have the ingredients in your house.

You'll want to be extra careful checking labels to assure that there are no dairy ingredients in your recipe. As an example, this recipe calls for non-dairy margarine. Many margarine spreads contain dairy. You'll want to look for a pareve designation. Fleishmann's makes dairy and non-dairy margarine. I buy the unsalted OU pareve sticks.

Pay attention to the details when buying your chocolate chips as well. Checking in the kosher section of your supermarket should yield the desired result. Another option is an allergy friendly brand like Enjoy Life (these chips are not only dairy free but nut and soy free as well).

That's the scoop in terms of ingredients. You'll also want to watch your technique.
I make my cookies in the kitchen aid. First, I add the margarine, oil,sugars, and vanilla and cream them together. After that I add 1 cup of flour. Then, the baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Finally, the rest of the flour.

Form the dough into even balls and drop on a greased pan. Be sure that the cookies are spaced with enough "room to grow". I've found that baking at a lower temperature for a longer time yields "the perfect eggless chocolate chip cookie". 12-13 minutes at 365 produces a cookie that's crispy yet soft.

Dairy Free, Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
1 cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 sticks non-dairy margarine (like Fleishmann's unsalted)
3T canola oil
2tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
scant pinch of salt
2 3/4 cups flour
1 10 oz bag pareve semisweet baking chips

yield: 3 dozen cookies

Cream sugars, vanilla, oil, and margarine. Once mixture is throughly whipped add 1 cup of flour. Process again till mixture is consistent. Add salt, baking powder, baking soda and remaining flour. Add chocolate chips last (stir them in manually).Form into balls. Drop onto baking pan sprayed with baking spray. Bake at 365 for 13 minutes.

Nut Free Classrooms, Good Idea?

There's a lot more food allergy awareness due to increased prevalence. Some schools have created nut free zones in an effort to protect food allergic students. Wanting to protect food allergic students is very important but is this the best way? You can declare a school "nut free" but does that mean it is? If kids and staff bring in their own food from home, can the school really guarantee a nut free zone to parents? Does this create a false sense of security? What about the milk, wheat, and egg allergic kids? Should we create schools without those as well? Read more about this topic here: http://heraldnews.suntimes.com/news/23846476-418/protecting-food-allergic-children-from-harm.html

What's your opinion? Let me know in the comments section below

Food Free Goody Bags

A Kosher With Food Allergies reader asked a great question, " why do school birthday parties have to have food"?Why couldn't there be lots of fun activities and games and skip the snack part? It's an interesting question. While it's a great idea, I just don't think parents will latch on to it so quickly. I propose food free goody bags! Even parents of non-allergic kids could appreciate this. Many parents are healthconscious and don't want their child to come home with a bag of candy, cookies, or chips. Other parents have concerns about kashrut. What can you put in a goody bag that's not food? Some suggestions...

1-small box of crayons
2-silly putty
3-toy car
4-wind up toy
5-plastic sunglasses
6-bubbles
7-sidewalk chalk
8-stickers
9-baseball cards
10-bouncy ball

* depending on the children's ages you'll want to be careful about toys that pose choking hazards

Food Allergies, Breastfeeding, and Solid Food Introduction

A new study shows that introducing solids to infants after they're 17 weeks old (while continuing to breastfeed) makes them less likely to develop food allergies." Mothers should continue to breast-feed beyond introducing solids into the diet so the immune system can benefit from the immunological factors in breast milk that educate the immune system," according to lead researcher, Kate Grimshaw, an allergy specialist at University of Southampton. This is the first study to address when the "risk period" for acquiring allergy is. According to the findings of this study, it is before 17 weeks of age.

This study provides further support for the current  allergy prevention recommendations from The American Academy of Pediatrics to not introduce solid food before the age of four months. The study provides support for the American Academy of Pediatrics' breastfeeding recommendations as well (breastfeeding should continue while solids are introduced until the infant is atlease 12 months old).
Source: WebMD Health News 

New School Epipen Law

A new law will make it easier for kids who don't have a prescription for an epipen to get one in school.There are undiagnosed students who may have their first reaction in school. We want schools to be able to treat these kids in addition to the ones who've already beeen diagnosed. This new law will provide financial incentives for states that have laws mandating schools to carry epinephrine and to treat children who don't have a prescription. Currently only 27 states have such laws in place.
Source: NBCnews article

Allergy Free Baking

Finding Chocolate chips that are nut, dairy, and soy free just got easier. Enjoy Life makes three varieties of baking chips (dark chocolate morsels, Mega semisweet Chunks, and mini chips). Now you can have your chocolate chip cookies just the way you like them, delicious and safe! Checkout this classic Allergy Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe http://kosherfoodallergies.blogspot.com/2013/01/chocolate-chip-cookie-recipe-allergy.html

Food Allergy Bills

A new study published in JAMA in September states what food allergy sufferers already know, having food allergies is an economic burden. Pediatric Food allergies cost the US about $25 billion annually in lost work productivity, family expenses, and medical fees. Yes food allergies cause significant costs to the healtcare system but they cause personal financial hardship as well. Allergen free alternatives are often more expensive.
Foods made in dedicated facilities are often necessary and always expensive. The silver lining in this study is that perhaps awareness will drive research for a cure.

Chanukah Is Coming

Today is Rosh Chodesh Kislev, the first day of the month of Chanukah!Yup, that's right, Chanukah is just around the corner. First Night of the Holiday is Wed. Nov 27th. Thinking about how to celebrate and what to make for your crew with food allergies? No worries, Kosher With Food Allergies has you covered. Check this blog over the next few weeks for mouthwatering, allergy friendly Chanukah ideas.