Sunshine No Bake Cookies!

What child, or adult for that matter, does not have a love affair with the chocolate oatmeal no bake cookies? I mean it's practically a staple of memories for me as it's tied to some really fun times. The only problem is that most recipes call for the use of peanut butter, something that I must avoid in my kitchen at all costs. Thankfully though with the ever expanding market of alternatives, there our two good options for those who must avoid peanut butter. Currently on the shelves I have found Soy Butter and Sunflower Butter. The Soy Butter tastes very similar to Peanut Butter and has a very similar consistency. The Sunflower Butter is made with the meats of sunflower seeds, so it has a different flavor of course but it's consistency is similar to Peanut Butter. I took a recipe that my wife had from a long time ago, well it looks more like an ingredient list but I was able to decifer it well enough to make the cookies. The end result was delicious with a hint of the sunflower seeds, making this a very good replacement for those with Peanut allergies or those wanting to try a new spin on a classic.

My Mother-in-law has made these cookies using the Soy Butter and stated that they came out delicious as well.



Ingredients
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup cocoa
3 cups oatmeal
1/2 cup Sunflower butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions
Comine sugar milk, butter, and cocoa in a medium sauce pot. Bring to a boil and maintain for 2 minutes being sure to stir constantly. Remove pan from heat and add Sunflower Butter, oatmeal, and vanilla and mix well. Spoon the mixture onto waiting wax paper and allow to cool to set.

Blueberry Pancakes

With the recent diagnosis of my daughter being allergic to peanuts I have had to go through my pantry and cupboards with a fine tooth comb and throw out anything that either "contains" or "may contain peanuts". Which to my surprise my quick and lazy box of pancake batter was marked with the dreaded "may contain peanuts". So instead of looking at the store for a box of pancake batter that was safe I did the next logical thing, make my pancakes from scratch! This was something I had thought about doing long before having to worry about peanut allergies, but had not followed through do to pure laziness. My search for a recipe was pretty short, like looking in one cookbook short. I opened up my Cooking Light Cookbook as I wanted a recipe that was a little healthier and this book has always come threw for me in the past. Sure enough, it had two pages dedicated to pancakes and waffles. I settled on the recipe for Buttermilk Pancakes, as I always preferred the box buttermilk pancakes. The recipe is super easy to follow and has doubled with no problems. The final product was a light fluffy pancake with wonderful flavor. In fact it was so good, I am going to have a hard time trying some different recipes.

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup low-fat or nonfat buttermilk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Maple syrup

Directions
1. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup, level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl. Combine buttermilk, oil and egg; add to flour mixture, stirring until smooth.
2. Spoon about 1/4 cup batter onto a hot nonstick griddle or nonstick skillet. turn pancakes when tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked. Serve with maple syrup, if desired. Yield 3 servings (serving size 3 pancakes). Calories 276

I added blue berries to these, as their one of my daughters favorites. I always keep a bag of frozen blue berries and thaw them with luke warm water in a measuring cup. I then add the blue berries after I pour the pancakes on the griddle. I do this to prevent the pancake batter from turning blue from the blueberry juice and the pancakes cook more evenly with thawed blueberries instead of frozen ones.

Peanut Allergy

A few weeks ago I mentioned that my daughter had been diagnosed with a peanut allergy and that my cooking would have to change, well little did I realize at the time that it would effect so many aspects of our daily lives. For those who don't know anyone with a food allergy I must mention this is not like seasonal allergies where you get puffy itchy eyes, itchy throat, sneezing, and a runny nose. Food allergies can range from a rash to a full blown anaphlaxis reaction, which can be followed by death. The scary part about food allergies, peanuts in particular, is the person doesn't have to come into contact with the allergen, some people are so allergic that a reaction can be initiated by simply being breathed on by another person who ate a peanut product. This is why so many places, like schools, have taken such a proactive stance and banned all peanut products or even banning lunches from home. While this seems unfair and over reacting, a feeling even I'm guilty of, it's extremely comforting knowing my child will be safe.

Now my wife has spent ours on the internet researching any product that may contain peanuts. So far she has found products from Kraft, Burt's Bees Wax, various bread product's, premixed Pancake batter, most candy bars,  and the list goes on. Then there's the places we can not take our daughter due to either preparing food on general equipment with peanut products or having peanuts on the premises; Baseball stadiums, Olive Garden, Texas Road House, and Pizza Hut to list a few. As you can see the impact this has on our daily life as well as the rest of our family, all who have been very accommodating, is quite intrusive.

I must extend a huge thank you to my wife for all the research she has and is doing. Her attention to detail and tendency to be a worry wort, though rightly placed, is doing so much to keep our daughter safe. As Sam grows up we will be teaching her how to live with this food allergy while still getting to enjoy life, and Jennie's research will play a huge roll in doing that.