What She Had/What We Had

As many of you know the Scout is highly allergic to milk and eggs so I am always trying to find new recipes for her that will replicate what we are having for dinner. So here is what I fixed last night. My husband and the Peanut tried it out and said it tasted just like the Kraft Mac and Cheese.

So here is the recipe. I got a lot of ideas off of the Internet and then changed it up a bit to suit the Scout's likes:

Scout's Vegan Mac and Cheese

2 cups plain soy milk ( I use Silk)
1 tablespoon of dairy free margarine ( I use Nucoa)
10 oz. of vegan-soy cheddar cheese ( I use Follow Your Heart - available at Whole Foods)
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pound of macaroni

Cook the pasta according to package directions and drain.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Combine soymilk, margarine, and salt over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
When sauce comes to a boil, keep stirring for about a minute or two. Turn heat to low and stir in the cheese. You can grate the cheese, but I just sliced it up really thin. It will slowly start to turn from yellow to orange. It will also thicken up quite a bit.

Put noodles into a 1.5 quart casserole dish and pour cheese sauce over the top. Stir to coat all noodles. Bake uncovered for 10 - 12 minutes.

Scout is about as picky as they come (I wonder where she gets that from) and she took two bites and said it was too sour. That's the breaks. So she ended up eating chicken nuggets instead. She is a challenge when it comes to eating, but I still have to keep trying to expand her food horizons. The husband the Peanut loved it, so at least I know it will get eaten. Since I am allergic to soy I also made another more grown-up version of mac and cheese which was also well taken by 3/4 of the Crew:

Cheddar Mac Beef Casserole
courtesy of Kraft Food Magazine

1 pkg. Kraft Mac and Cheese (The original - gotta love this stuff)
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 can (14 1/2 oz.) Italian style stewed tomatoes, undrained
1/2 tsp. dried oregano or dried basil (I used oregano)
1 cup Kraft Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare mac and cheese as directed on package, omitting butter.

Brown meat in large skillet on medium-high heat; drain.

Add tomatoes and oregano, mix well and bring to a boil.

Add meat mixture to mac and cheese and transfer into 2 qt. casserole dish. Sprinkle with cheese.

Bake 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and casserole is heated through.

It was pretty yummy. I also served it with a nice bottle of "Red Truck" wine. My new favorite table wine that you can find at Costco. Good stuff.

What Have I Been Busy Doing?

I know, no blog for weeks, but I do have a good excuse. I was creating a new blog. What? Another blog, you say? Yes, but this one is different then Pink Petunia Designs. This blog is called: Cowgirls and Cupcakes. It is written by yours truly and my BFF Kim. We have been in the plannings for this blog now for awhile and were able to finally launch it about a week ago. The premise for Cowgirls and Cupcakes is: Recipe sharing as well as tips and tricks for people that have food allergies or feeding a special needs child. We came up with the idea after getting frustrated with our same old meal routines. Our families get bored of eating the same old stuff night after night so we decided to do something about it. Kim and I have both been a part of recipe swaps online with our friends and family and we thought we would take it to the next level and post it on a site for everyone to share. Right now, Kim and I are both posting our own "tried and true" recipes but very soon (like this week) we will be opening it up to the public to send us your best recipes old or new and maybe a little history behind them or even a picture and a link to your site or blog if you have one. So please, please, check out the new site and I will try to be better about posting to little Pinky here.

Another Yummy Recipe

I am always looking for good alternatives for foods that I love, but now have to avoid due to food allergies. I found out a little over a year ago that I am allergic to soy. A lot of people with heavy duty peanut allergies (such as myself) are allergic to soy. I was lucky, because I got away with 30 years of being able to eat it without incident. I have found through researching labels, that it is in literally everything processed or store bought. So goes my quest for finding soy-free, but still yummy products. With that said, I was deeply saddened by the fact that I could not have my favorite ranch dressing anymore. You see, ranch dressing in the bottle is full of mayonaisse, which is made with vegetable oil, which is soybean oil, which is what I have to try to avoid. I can eat it, but then I begin paying for it with losing my voice and trouble breathing and heaviness in my throat. As much as I love it, its just not worth the feeling.



I happened to turn on Rachel Ray today, which is the Peanuts favorite show, (the girl loves to cook) and she was making homemade ranch. I was sure it was going to be loaded with mayonaisse, but then to my delight it didn't contain any soy products at all. Hallelujah! It is made with lots of buttermilk, which I thought was always heavier than cream, but found out it is made from skim milk and has way less calories than cream. Could that news get any better? So here is the recipe to make your own. I am hoping it turns out as good as it sounds.

Ranch-O-Rama

1cup buttermilk


1/4 cup sour cream (you can use light)


1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar


1 clove garlic, grated


2 tablespoons (about a palmful ) fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped


2 tablespoons (about a palmful) fresh dill, chopped


1 tablespoon (a small palmful) fresh chives, chopped


Salt and freshly ground black pepper


Yields 6 servings


In a medium-size bowl, mix together the buttermilk, sour cream, white wine vinegar, garlic, hot sauce, parsley, dill and chives. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Mix in any of your favorite ingredients to make it special

A Great Mother's Day

Its been a few days or a few weeks since I have posted. Life has just been so busy lately. I haven't even had time to catch up on my blog reading. I have been busy with the Peanuts school activities, Little League, family stuff and my school stuff. There is only three more weeks of school left for my big kindergartner and then she will be moving to the first grade. Oh my how time flies! I have been totally neglecting my Pink Petunia Designs, and for that, I apologize.

I hope all of my readers that are mommy's out there had a fantastic Mother's Day! Mine was perfect. I woke up in the morning to the Peanut bringing me toast (that she had toasted herself) and orange juice in bed. I then was taken by the hand by both the Scout and the Peanut out to the kitchen where I was dazzled by a fantastic white bag full of handmade BEAUTIFUL cards! It was the best gift a girl could get. The hubby and the girls also garnished me with a new I-tunes gift card (because I had used up all of my husband's a couple of days before. Sorry Sweetie!) I also am the proud new owner of a new pair of pink Crocs. My girls both have a pair and I really wanted a pair, so the hubby and the Scout went to every store in the mall to find them for me. They are probably the ugliest pair of shoes on Earth, but you should really try a pair, the comfort will overwhelm you, and you will quickly toss out your Manolo Blahniks for a new pair of Crocs. After I lavished in all of my beautiful gifts and cusine, we had our baths, packed up the good old gas saving Yaris, and threw in the kids for a fun-filled day at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. It was Girl Scout Day so the Peanut got in free and the Scout did too! Nice! The day was so fun. The girls loved the sea lion show and Thomas Town. The Peanut rode the big log ride with her Daddy (see pic above where the hubby is waiving) and had a great time. She's a daredevil like her Daddy. Her Mommy is a pansy ass and hates big rides that make you want to barf or pee your pants. I know, what a wus!

I have to say that Six Flags is seriously throwing back some cash. $15.00 to park and then you have to walk literally about a half of a mile to get in the park with not a porta-potty in sight and two kids that have just been in the car for over an hour. $25.00 for 1 drink, 1 order of chicken fingers and 1 order of french fries with onion rings. Is this just a little bit out of hand, or is it just me? There was a sign posted that no outside food was allowed, so being the "rule follower" that I am, I didn't bring in any snacks or anything for my milk/egg allergy kid into the park. My husband who likes to break the rules, told me to just stick it in the backpack. They were searching backpacks out in the front and I was afraid they would make me throw it out, and then we would be really screwed. They opened our backpack for two seconds and said, "o.k. you are good." Everywhere I looked, people had brought in their own food. I was frustrated and at lunch the only thing that the Scout could eat was french fries from Johnny Rockets. I wanted to cry because I was so mad at myself. Note to theme parks out there: Sometimes outside food is necessary, especially when dealing with little guys that have bad food allergies to everything you serve. Note to self: Break the rules! Sometimes, it's o.k.! We ended the day with a wonderful meal at Denny's where I lavished in the super-bird (that sucker hit the spot) and french fries and the Scout finally got her chicken nuggets, soy milk and animal crackers that she been pining for all day. Poor kid! All in all it was my favorite Mother's Day to date!

O.k. off to bed. Crafting coming sometime in the near future, I swear!

Some Girl Scout S.W.A.P.S

Just wanted to post the S.W.A.P.S. that my little Peanut girl scout made for her S.W.A.P. and bingo party. We had to make a total of nine. I got out all the felt and the googly eyes. She told me what she wanted to make and I helped her cut them out. Some of them she cut out herself. She glued on the googly eyes and added the smiles. The mini popsicle sticks were stir sticks courtesy of Starbucks. She even sewed the little red flower all by herself. I am so proud. The hot coco came out looking a little wonky but what do you do? They had a great time at the S.W.A.P. and bingo. The one down-side to the whole thing was that the council had set out trail mix complete with peanuts. I try not to panic but my Peanut and I both are super allergic. We always carry our epi-pens and benadryl, but it still makes me a little panicky when I start to get asthma and have trouble breathing. Luckily, we have the BEST troop leader ever and she quickly removed the ones that were at our table and assisted my little Peanut in gathering her S.W.A.P.S from the other kids and promptly put them into a little baggy. I was sad that my little Peanut couldn't keep her S.W.A.P.S from the other kids but we both couldn't chance touching them after they had been touched with kids eating peanuts. She was o.k. with it though because she got to stay with her friends and play bingo. She also won a raffle prize of a cool paint set (right up her alley)! One of my favorite S.W.A.P.S. that the Peanut got that night was a thin mint Christmas ornament made of polymer clay with the troop number and the year. She also got a bingo dabber that one of the girls had made out of a pom-pom and foam. Very creative!

Dealing with food Allergies

O.k. so I have two kids with severe food allergies This has been a huge struggle for me as a mom. I know that thousands (probably millions) of people deal with this on a daily basis and let me tell you it can be draining. I already make two different dinners every night to make sure no one has a reaction. One can drink milk but not soy, one can't have eggs the other can't. Tonight my oldest daughter had a reaction to God knows what. She was eating carrots and ranch. Carrots that she got from snack provided by her soccer team. Pre-packaged baby carrots and homemade ranch that she has on a regular basis and pretty soon she is coughing and complaining about her throat hurting and feeling tight. My anxiety raises. We have had numerous trips to the ER with my youngest daughter including two trips by ambulance due to anaphylaxis and the closing up of her throat. I have even had to use the Epi-Pen on the little one. It is scary. This time I gave my oldest, we call her Peanut (how appropriate, because it just happens to be that she is very allergic) two shots of her inhaler and that did not help. I then gave her Benadryl which finally kicked in a few minutes later. Now my anxiety ridden self will get no sleep tonight because I will feel the need to check on her every two minutes and make sure that she is breathing o.k. The littlest one, we call her Scout has extreme allergies to milk, eggs and perfume. I am sure I am like any other Mom who's child is afflicted with something that is potentially deadly. You wish somebody would just come up with a cure already or something that could help your child be safe. They are in the process of making a "safe" shot for people with peanut allergies and it should be available within the next couple of years. That I am very excited about. I myself am extremely allergic to peanuts and tree nuts and am an anxious mess going out to restaurants and getting on airplanes. Even to send our little Peanut to school can be quite a bit of anxiety. Last week they made a gingerbread man and were going to decorate it with M&M's. I quickly reminded her teacher that she couldn't have M&M's and she was glad for the reminder. Whew! Avoided that disaster. Anyway, I had to write about it tonight because I will go on for awhile with no anxiety about their allergies and try to stay on the positive side of things and then "boom" an allergy creeps up and it sends me spiraling down into oblivion. I know that through time things will get better. The kids will be old enough to let me know when they need to have an Epi-Pen and when they are o.k. Right now I am relying on my five year old's description of how she feels and my motherly instinct. For those of you who have kids with food allergies there is the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network which is a great resource (www.foodallergy.org) and there is also some really great support in schools due to the rising number of children with food allergies.