In Trying to Make Crackers

I stumbled on a way to make (mostly) allergen-free sandwich bread!

I started with this recipe: http://www.grouprecipes.com/101267/gluten-free-yeast-free-pizza-crust.html.

I’ve been making it for a while with a rice flour/potato starch/tapioca starch mix at 3:2:1 ratio, and while it needed a bit more flour (or less water) it made an awesome yeast-free pizza crust/foccacia bread. I changed my flour mix to 1:1:1 bean flour/potato starch/tapioca starch, and the mix was even more soupy, so much so that when I baked it, the edges were thin and crispy like a cracker.

The next time I made it, I actually tried to make it thin enough to be a cracker. Instead of my round stoneware pan I used my rectangle stoneware bar pan (it has an edge), and I poured the batter so it filled the whole pan. It raised nicely – just to the thickness of a slice of bread. So I cut my rectangle into bread-slice-size squares, and voila! Sandwich bread that is wheat-free, egg-free, yeast-free, corn-free, and dairy-free!

It’s thin enough to put fillings in and still get my mouth around both pieces of bread, thick enough so that it’s not crunchy, and firm enough not to fall apart while I eat it. I don’t think I’d ever have thought of baking sandwich bread sideways, but there you go! I’ll have to try for crackers another day. Right now I’m enjoying my sandwich way too much!

Where it Began

Cover of Once-A-Month Cooking

As the mom of a child with multiple food allergies, I know just how much work it is just to prepare dinner.  When I was pregnant with my second child, I knew something had to change; I simply could not cook every single day while caring for a toddler and an infant!  Having heard of people who only cooked one day each month, the idea intrigued me.

Soon, the perfect opportunity to try the idea presented itself.  The women at our church wanted to get my recipes so that they could make allergen-free meals for the family after the baby was born.  So sweet, but I do not trust anyone to cook for us.  There are so many hidden ingredients in food that could trigger an allergic reaction for someone in the family.  I suggested that in lieu of a traditional baby shower, the women gather at the church to prepare food for after the baby’s arrival.  The planners agreed and a date was set.

I am the type of person who loves to plan, so I started making my lists and spreadsheets.  (Yeah, I’m totally a geek, too!)

First, I had to pick and type out recipes that I thought would freeze well.  I picked five entrees, two side dishes, and three gluten-free, egg-free baked goods.  I figured that if we did triple batches of each recipe, it would be about a month’s worth of lunches and dinners for our family.  Then I had to add up the ingredients.  I discovered in a hurry that it is a bit challenging to add 1 ½ cups of onions to three onions and know how much food to purchase!  Finally, after quite a bit of math, I had a list of all of my ingredients.  After comparing the list to what I had in my pantry, I made up the shopping list.  I probably spent ten hours just doing the planning.

Whew!  At this point, I handed off my list to the shower organizers, and they did the shopping.  When the day arrived, we had two eight-foot tables full of ingredients.

About fifteen generous women came to the event, and we spent all afternoon cooking in both of the church’s large kitchens.  After about five hours, the task was complete, and everyone was exhausted.  I was so grateful to have my freezer so well stocked, and I knew that there was simply no way I could have prepared that much food all at once by myself in my small kitchen.  It was plain that once a month cooking was not an option for my family.

That is why we started Food Allergies on Ice – to find a allergy-free cooking solution that actually works so we can all get out of the kitchen and get back to spending time with our families.  Join us on our journey!