Dealing With Allergies
July 6, 2009 at 5:24 am | In Allergies, Kid Talk, Kids, Siblings | 5 Comments
I was probably born a geek. I love to learn. And maybe, going by la yukallifullahi nafsan illa wus’ahaa, that’s why I have been endowed with a child with multiple allergies, seeing my capacity for reading up on things. Though I have to admit, reading up on allergies is not exactly my cup of tea. But I guess, with everything in life we all face, we eventually get the hang of it, even if in the beginning it seems almost impossible to handle it. I recall a friend saying something along the lines of,
“I’m not ready to have a baby yet.”
I remember thinking, (at the time I already have 2 of those babies)
I probably wasn’t ready either when I had S, but you deal with it. There’s no getting ready for anything, when it happens to you, it means you have the capacity to deal with it.
We all know that, most probably, but yet it is still difficult to actually undergo situations that are our personal tests and trials. Subhanallah.
Even though I am now freed from following Baby Z’s diet, his allergies have become a part of our lifestyle. We even resorted to buying him a special toaster oven due to his allergies to wheat, eggs, dairy and peanuts. I can’t very well use one toaster for our bread and then clean it meticulously to toast his bread. Even the slightest contact of bread crumbs or flour would induce hives on his skin. I dare not take the risk, plus it’s almost impossible.
Back in C-bus, we had him go through the soy challenge, in which the allergist gave him a few milliliters of soymilk we had to bring in, and then increased it in amounts depending on his lack of reaction to it.
It was quite unnerving as we closely watched for any signs of hives or other reactions while the allergist left us in those intervals. Baby Z seemed oblivious to what was happening, except that he was being given something sweet and new, which he seemed to like. We spent that hour at the allergist’s office watching Baby Z run around and playing with his siblings as he normally does; hiding under the desk, grinning, laughing. Alhamdulillah.
Alhamdulillah he passed that challenge and we started giving him soy. In the beginning, he still had mild reactions to it, so I limited his soy intake. Now alhamdulillah, he is taking soy normally, though I still worry slightly about a recurring allergy, na’uzhubillah.
Alhamdulillah also, he seems to understand that what we eat, he cannot necessarily eat. I did worry about him asking for what he sees us eating, and I didn’t get down to devise a plan to counter this possibility, but alhamdulillah Allah made it easy. He seems to understand and not ask for food he’s not familiar with. He does look at them with curiosity and interest, but he doesn’t ask for it.
I am guessing that it might also be the kids’ indirect teaching.
“Oh..Z..you can’t eat it. You’re allergic..”
That’s what I always hear the kids saying to him. He doesn’t cry for it, nor does he demand it. I can’t know for sure if he understands what alergic means, but I guess maybe he gets the idea that he eats his food only, and that only if we give or offer him any new food can he eat that food.
I also notice that he tastes new food with some trepidation and hesitance. A disgusted look, yes, he seems to wear that too, which is rather funny. I do hope it doesn’t lead to fussiness later on inshaallah.
I came across a pizza crust recipe that Baby Z might be able to eat, but I have yet to make it. This coming week inshaallah. I’ve been toying with the idea of giving him goat milk, but I think I’d better wait until he sees an allergist just to be safe.
Random updates
March 18, 2009 at 4:32 am | In Al Huda Institute, Allergies, Community, Desert life, Family, Homeschooling, Kids, New Mexico, Siblings, Thoughts, Uncategorized | 1 CommentTags: Desert life, New Mexico
Subhanallah…how much destruction can a little toddler finger do? A LOT. I was busy typing away a new post, when Baby Z came along and pushed the reboot button on the computer tower. I lost that post because for some foolish reason, I didn’t click ‘Save draft’. Subhanallah! Talk about trying not to waste time either. So much for being patient at the time of calamity. This is minutes later and here I am with a very delayed ‘Alhamdulillah ‘alaa kullli haal’.
Well, here we go again. Alhamdulillah we filed the homeschooling notification for New Mexico today, so that’s one A level priority item off my to do list. ALhamdulillah, we also got proper internet connection today, hence is why I’m actually bothering to update the blog on top of the first post from New Mexico.
I have been busy trying to catch up with my missed ALhuda classes, using hubby’s cellphone as a modem. Since it depends on the lifeitme of the batteries, my time on the computer has always been rushed (which is a good thing by the way). But class-wise, Paltalk kept shutting me out, causing me to relogin each time. But alhamdulillah, I was just thankful I got to attend the classes at all, because I have missed about 2 weeks of it due to the move, which means about 8 plus 8 hours of catch up.
The kids have been sick with fevers and coughing. Our health insurance doesn’t kick in till mid April, so it has been difficult but alhamdulillah the older kids are ok, and Baby Z is recovering, after having high fever due to stomach flu for 3 days, and then getting feverish again due to the virus that the older kids probably passed to him. The abrupt change in temperature everyday has been something new for us. To someone from Ohio, it looks like spring during the day, so one would expect the temperatures at night to be springlike too. But no, at night, it’s winter temperature. It’s really hard to think that it can get that cold when the backdrop looks so deserty.
I still don’t get, “It’s cold at night because it’s the desert, you know.” Logic eludes me in understanding that.
I need a brush up in geography, or rather weather science, I guess.
Last Friday, we got ourselve new library cards. AFter Jumuah prayer, we all went to the Department of Motor Vehicle to transfer our driver’s licenses, but we needed two proofs of residence, which we didn’t have. So, we dropped hubby off at the masjid, where he had left his bicycle, and we drove to the library. One thing here that I like is that I am not afraid of driving anywhere by myself like I was in Columbus. The town is small enough that I’m not afraid of getting lost, alhamdulillah. In Columbus, I tried everything I could not to drive by myself anywhere I wasn’t familiar with.
We miss the libraries in Columbus though. Way better than the one here, though the librarians here are very very nice. I discovered that the Hispanics here are very friendly people, friendlier than the whites, mashaallah. What reminds of me of being in Hawaii here, other than the sunshine, is the pidgin English spoken by the people. Not all of them, but I hear it among some of the locals. It’s actually pleasing to the ear too. Of course, I hear Spanish too, and see it too, almost everywhere.
One would think that once the kids have been separated into different rooms, with their own space, that quarrels and bickering would start to decrease. Such is the dynamic of siblingship, that I still hear the same two kids bickering, chasing each other (now with more space available to do that), and bashing each other as before. Subhanallah. It’s a wonder I haven’t gone crazy yet.
We still have stacks of books sitting on the living room floor, as we only brought two bookshelves with us from Columbus. Finding furnitures here has been…interesting. Not much on Craigslist. Let’s just say they’re rather highly priced. And the stores, well, since it’s a small town, you finish shopping pretty quickly, and there are less probability of finding good deals. Since we have yet to receive the reimbursement of the moving expenses, we are waiting it out right now, alhamdulillah. It’s not easy in terms of keeping things organized, but we manage alhamdulillah.
For the first few weeks, we, the kids and I battled with the temperatures that defy desert logic (to me at least) in the house. ALhamdulillah for the many skylights that come with this house, at least the sunlight streams in generously every morning, warming us up. Some days, it is so cold inside that we actually resorted to sitting in what we call the ‘hot spots’ in the house, spots where the sunlight lands. The thermostat, we keep at 65 F to save on gas bill. We have been so spoiled living in Universiyt family Housing all these years that now we actually have to learn to live in a house. When H found out about the thermostat, he cranked it up to a full 90 F, which of course invited a scolding from me, and an angry rambling about saving money.
Last weekend, we attended a potluck held by the Muslim community here at the masjid, and I learned a few more things.
1. Spring in New Mexico is sandstorm season. Stay inside and if you have to be outside, whatever you do, don’t open your mouth! Bad allergies season too.
2. Beware of stickers, (I can’t recall the scientific name) but hubby calls it mini durians. He accidentally stepped on one and so his testimony came from experience. They’re small, like really miniscule stones adorned with spiky thorns. Lesson learned: never walk barefeet outside.
3. Fall is the best weather. nothing happens 4. Summer is monsoon season. I laughed when I first heard this. Monsoon? I thought that is in Malaysia. not a desert. But apparently they get flash floods here, and like a dear friend warned me, hail.
Again, I need to brush up on my weather science. My brain refuses to acknowledge these facts. I had better publish this before a little finger comes by to press the start button once again. Plus, I have to cook dinner before hubby gets home. Life has been pretty good alhamdulillah. We’re learning to live in the desert, and did I mention, I can’t get over those mountains. So beautiful mashaallah!
Baby Z Passes Soy Challenge!
January 5, 2009 at 11:58 pm | In Allergies, Family | 2 CommentsAlhamdulillah, Baby Z had his soy challenge this morningand passed with flying colors! Allahu Akbar! He drank the soy milk eagerly, and asked for more when Dr. F gave it to him in increased amount at calculated intervals.
We sat in the doctor’s office for probably more than an hour. The kids romped about while we all waited for the whole thing to be over. Alhamdulillah this time I remembered to ask about the epipen. Tonight hubby’s going to pick it up from the pharmacy inshaallah. I pray I won’t have to use it, inshaallah.
Dr. F said that for the other allergies, we’ll try again in two or three years, and Baby Z can try salmon and tuna, stay away from shellfish until he’s about three. (There’s a reason I’m writing this all down: my memory is not so great nowadays).
He showed us how to use the epipen, and gave us the link to a video on how to use it. It’s on epipen.com.
Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, now I can cook with soy sauce again. Alhamdulillah…
And now, we return to our frenzied packing, laundry, and waiting…
Breads and Circuses
December 17, 2008 at 8:55 pm | In Allergies, Baking, Family, Kids, Kitchen | Leave a Comment
A ball is divided into three, and each is rolled out into a long strip, which is then slathered with the cream cheese filling, then sealed to create these three filled ropes.
In my frenzy of trying to finish up our pantry contents last month, I decided that we should make the Cream Cheese Bread that was the rave of the Malay community in Columbus all the way to D.C. I think I was known as the bread lady by the Malaysian staff in D.C., because when we went there in the winter of 2005 or was it 2006, I couldn’t seem to escape the question,
“So when are you going to make that bread for us again?”
They paid me a good sum of money for about 200 rolls of this cream cheese filled soft bread when they came over to visit the Malaysian students one Ramadan. That was their ‘more’. I didn’t hear the end of it after that, much to my embarassment. It was even suggested that I open up a business, to which I just smiled and nodded my head. Not that I didn’t appreciate the suggestion, but realistically, it was not really an option, for reasons related to principles.
It has been quite a while since I have made this bread, mostly because of Baby Z’s allergies. When I noticed that there were bags of flour sitting on my pantry shelf, begging to be used, I told the kids,
“Ok, I think we’ll make the cream cheese roll.”
They reacted with the utmost joy. I, however, was not so joyous because I wouldn’t be able to eat it anyway. But I had hubby buy the cream cheese nonetheless. When the time came to make the bread, my desire to form the dough and knead it around, which was already at an all time low plummeted even further.
“S, can you make it? I’ll read to you the recipe.”
S pinching one end of the braid so it would remain a braid.
Too excited to sink their teeth into the airy bread filled with sweet creamy cream cheese filling, S and H both jumped at the request. Before long, I had two kids pattering about in the kitchen boiling water, taking its temperature, mixing and kneading dough, all the works.
When I made this bread, I experimented with a lot of different shapes, and once I even filled it with the typical Malaysian sardine filling. For this, the kids shaped the dough into the Jewish challah braid, and a rectangular flat roll that has snipped edges.
The original recipe, as I faintly remember, instructs this slanted snipping, which results in fairly easier dough-shaping compared to the challah shape. However, the challah form is too tempting and picture-worthy to not do.
I have to give it to the kids. They really did a great job on this, with the kneading, covering and punching down, rekneading, filling, shaping, glazing and covering and baking. The only flaw came from me. I had already packed my recipe cards, and the only reason I suggested we make this bread was because I had the foresight to type the recipe onto my other blog for safekeeping, so we were missing the cream cheese filling recipe. I vaguely remember the ingredients, but I didn’t really remember the measurements except that it required two 8 oz. cream cheese. So I instructed them to add one egg, and a certain amount of sugar to the beaten cream cheese to make the filling.
When the bread was ready, everybody dug in, except Baby Z and me of course, and even though I didn’t make it, I asked my usual post cooking/baking questions,
“Is it good?”
“How is it?”
Hubby remarked that the filling tasted a bit off, not like how it used to. The kids disagreed at first, but after a few more sampling, let’s rephrase that to, gobbling, changed their minds and agreed with their father.
Ahh…it just proved that my memory is really deteriorating, or maybe, it was because of some hidden unconscious malice on my part that refused to bring forth the exact filling recipe so as to deprive them of that full gratifying sweet and rich bite of the cream cheese roll that is forbidden to me. Former or latter, neither one is favorable. Alas, here I am, ogling the forbidden bread with a certain feeling of pride in my two bread makers and gastronomical jealousy.
The challah form and the slashed form
Of course, when the baked breads came out of the oven, as usual, the camera’s battery was low, so I told them,
“Don’t eat it yet. Wait till the battery is fully recharged.”
Yes. You have to inflict some torture. That is absolutely necessary for the amount of willpower I was exercising in not grabbing both logs and running away with them only to return for more.
Of course they groaned, and in my heart, I cackled.
The slightly snipped sides result in this.
And of course, I had to torture myself by clicking non stop from every angle possible. Four more months, inshaallah…
The cream cheese filling, after all the sealing and shaping
And that ladies and gentlemen, is my breads and circuses. No I am not the despotic matriarch, just a crazy one, if you will. All the staying away from junk food has driven me to the edge of the white cliffs of sanity.
Sultana Speckled Rice
December 15, 2008 at 6:06 pm | In Allergies, Kitchen, Recipe | 6 Comments
Making Baby Z’s food has been one of my love-hate relationships now. On one hand, I love making his food because it gives me a gratifying feeling to cook for others, just like when I cook for my husband and children. On the other, I also hate it especially when I also have to cook a separate meal for the rest of the family at the same time, under pressure, and sometimes, with a hungry wailing Baby Z, who sometimes cling to my leg while I’m bustling about the stove.
In short, we always have to be on the lookout for his food level. If it looks like it’s almost finished, I have to make sure I cook a new batch so I could avoid the above-mentioned scenario. When the three older kids were younger, I had a perfect cooking arrangement, which for some reason I am not able to execute today. I would cook our lunch and dinner right after Fajr while hubby gives the kiddoes their morning baths before he leaves for campus. That way, by the time they were done, lunch and dinner was also ready, and I had gotten my fill of heavy breakfast. The kids’ breakfasts were served and the rest of the day usually consisted of no cooking and full time kids nurturing.
Now, I seem to be struggling continuously with growing kids with ravenous appetites and a toddler with multiple allergies who is not able to eat what we eat unless I ban all the food he’s allergic to for the rest of the family. It is still a struggle, but alhamdulillah, we haven’t had any major allregic reactions, well except for that one wheezing incident that rattled me greatly.
Anyway, I thought I would jot down the recipes for the food I’m continuously whipping up for him, with precise measurements nonetheless, which also actually serves another purpose in my personal endeavors. And today, I made what I dub,
Sultana Speckled Rice
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced onion
1/2 cup cubed boneless chicken (1/2 in cubes)
1 cup ground beef
1 tablespoon tomato ketchup
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon paprika
2 cups rice, washed and drained
1/2 cup dried golden raisins
4 cups water
1/2 frozen peas
1/2 cup frozen green beans
4 cup
pinch of salt
1. Heat oil. Toss in minced onion and garlic, and saute till fragrant
2. Add the cbicken and ground beef and stir till half cooked
3. Add tomato ketchup, coriander, turmeric, paprika, cinnamon and stir for about 3 minutes
4. Add rice and stir for about 2-3 minutes
5. Toss in the raisins
6. Add water and bring to boil
7. Turn heat to low. Add the frozen peas and green beans, and simmer, covered until all water is absorbed by rice and rice is done.
8. Fluff up and serve to a hungry and belligerent toddler.
Makes 8 cups
Hayaa – The Modest Kitten
November 24, 2008 at 3:50 am | In Allergies, Animals, Family, Kids | 3 Comments
I owe this kitty a post too. It happened a few days before Eid Al Fitr. In anticipation of Lailatul Qadr, I told the kids to go out and look at the rising sun almost every morning.
It was on that day that we also stumbled across our little friend, who hailed us from quite a thick bramble by the White House, which by the way, can be aptly called, ‘The Cats’ Lair’, as the kids reported that there are a lot of cats coming out from the hole of the base of the building. We were about to walk home when we heard a shrill meow from the bush we had passed by. The meow sounded desperate and fearful, that even I turned back. When we came near the bush, the meowing seemed to abate, but when we moved away, it increased in intensity and panic. So, we lingered behind to check it out.
We peered from underneath it, and couldn’t really get a good view of anything. It looked to me like the forest in Harry Potter, dark, frightening, and intimidating. For a while, the kids checked the bush out, even Baby Z, whose curiosity was piqued by the constant shrill meowing.
After quite some time, the kids saw the kitten, who was somewhat stuck in one part of the many small branches within the bush. She moved, but she seemed to still be stuck, not being able to find her way out into the open. The kids couldn’t even get to her, because the bush, is not a small one. The moment I laid eyes on it, I fell in love. I know it sounds cliche, but bear with me.
So I helped and encouraged the kids to ‘rescue’ it, not doing anything myself other than squat and trying to take a look at it from the scraggly network of twisty branches. As expected, the kids finally got it, and my love for it increased. To make a long story short, I allowed them to bring it home with us.
For days, it stayed in our kitchen, though tied with a yarn to the kitchen door knob, because I was afraid it would run into the rest of the house. At this point, we still didn’t know if Baby Z was allergic to cats, and I still don’t know. At the time, we were busy preparing for Eid too, and I didn’t want to take any chances of allergic reactions.
The kids played with it, dressed it up, fed it, made a bed for it, and even Baby Z was mesmerized by it. I have to admit, it was rather fun having another lil one in the house, because I found myself going,
“Awww….it’s sleeping. Shh! Be quiet. It needs its nap.”
Once a mother, always a mother, I guess. Right moms?
However, we had to get rid of it, and hubby told the kids to return it to the White House where it would reunite with its family. 
So they returned it with heavy hearts, and weeks later, the kids said that they saw it with pus in its eyes. They also found and brought home its sibling, another cute little kitty, but of course, we didn’t keep it. I had enough trouble with a multiply allergic tot. I don’t need a cat to add to the mayhem.
But, this particular kitty, we had named Hayaa. The kids were holding and cuddling it by our front door, and S happened to remark,
“It’s so modest. Look at how it’s sitting.”
And immediately, its name became Hayaa’. And S even dedicated, or rather, addressed a letter to her for one of her writing assignments.
Both my parents have a cat as a pet, and I bet my kids will be thrilled if and when we go back to Malaysia, to have this in their grandparents’ houses.
I”m not really a cat person. Not that I don’t like them, but I’m just not an animal person period. And I can see that Baby Z takes after me. When I was petting S’s horse on her last day, he backed away when we offered him to pet the horse. I knew then that he takes after me in that inner fear of a living thing that is not human. Nevertheless, I think I can make Hayaa an exception. She is cute. Though, I’m still not willing to deal with cat hair, messy kids, and an allergic toddler all in one house.
Bananas Upon Bananas
November 11, 2008 at 4:45 am | In Allergies, Baking, Family, Kitchen | 2 Comments
I’ve been working in the kitchen these days, trying to finish up all the food in the pantry. It always seems that I am struck by the adventurous strike whenever we’re at a turnpike in our lives. When we were about to move to Georgia from Iowa, I stubbornly started making puff quilts, by hand, after all the packing was done. From Georgia to Ohio, I also made puff quilts, puff baby pillows for friends here and back home. And now, I seem to be wanting to do everything from crocheting to figuring out allergy free recipes of snacks for Baby Z, when I had all the time to do this before. Is it that I am grasping for a sense of control over what I have no control over? Or is it me trying to distract myself from the impending move? I don’t know, but my house right now is a mess because I’m in this mood. I might be subconsciously avoiding something.
So there I worked in my kitchen, with my newly bought flours; buckwheat, brown rice, and sweet potato starch trying to come up with an allergy free version of Jemput Jemput pisang for Baby Z and myself. The first try was a success! Alhamdulillah. Though the color was of course not like the normal Jemput Jemput, due to the color of the buckwheat flour. The taste was, well, I guess I had gotten used to non wheat flours by now, but even the kids approved of my allergy free concoctions.
Yesterday was a particularly rewarding day for me. I made a fluffy, soft, banana cake, without using eggs, butter, and all purpose flour. I had two tried the day before, but they were both disappointing. I decided to try again. This time, I utilized what I learned about the different types of flour and their respective properties, and also applied my baking know how in the mixing process.
The result; a squeal of delight from me, calling the kids to see my successful experiment, followed by nodding heads, mouth stuffed with the allergy free banana cake.
“I can’t believe this is allergy free, Ummi,” remarked one of them. In my glee, I no longer cared or remember who it was that said what.
It did lack sugar though, which is fine, but I made another one, and actually included sugar whereas I had omitted it in the first try). The result, slightly gummy, and it was later that I realized that it was probably due to me taking the cake out prematurely. My happiness was not rained upon by the gumminess of the second try, because I knew what went wrong, and I am sure that was what went wrong.
Overall, I am just grateful that I am doing what I am doing now of all times, because now I can provide Baby Z with a real cake, that he can actually eat. As for me, I no longer crave cakes and goodies as I did months back, alhamdulillah.
Bananas Everywhere!
November 6, 2008 at 6:22 pm | In Allergies, Kitchen | Leave a CommentWe called him the Somali Boy. Because he’s crazy over bananas. Because of Baby Z’s allergies, bananas has become his constant snack, and recently mine too. My milk has been decreasing, maybe because of all the stress that hinders me from eating and drinking as I should. So when we went grocery shopping, we bought more than 3 combs of bananas so I could easily have some for breakfast or snack.
And today, I was forced to use them up because of course, they have started to sport that speckled look. Yesterday, I dabbled in the kitchen, trying to come up with an allergy free recipe for banana cake. My first try was based on my experimental try in making an allergy free Jemput Jemput. The first banana cake was fluffy but a little short on the sweet side, which is fine, but my hands itched to give it a second try. I added more sugar in the second try and it turned out gummy.
Then I tried making the allergy free Jemput Jemput again. It was fine except that it browned too quickly, and I suspect it’s because of the color of the buckwheat flour, and brown rice flour. Nevetheless, the taste was excellent’ a little crispy on the outside and fluffy and banana-like on the inside. Then I tried making banana pancake batter, and I added glutinous rice flour to try and make it light and fluffy. It was a total flop. I used up the rest of the batter for another experimental cake, but that didn’t turn out well either.
And as I’m typing now, I have an 8 inch pan of yet another experimental banana cake, allergy free, this time, using egg replacers, an increase in baking powder and baking soda to balance the acidity, cooling on the rack. We’ll see what that turns out to be.
The kitchen pantry has a lot of stuff I have to use up by the end of this month, and I think it will further drive my stress level up.
Well, at least we now only have one banana, now sitting demurely in the fridge until Baby Z gobbles it up. That, and the experimental banana cakes and allergy free Jemput Jemput as Baby Z’s snacks. I’m going bananas!
A Sunday Without Abi…
October 19, 2008 at 10:27 pm | In Allergies, Family, Kitchen, Mothering | Leave a CommentFunny how my martyr self tend to choose difficult moments to be a superwoman. I chose today, of all days, to (well, I guess I have done this before but at least hubby was home) work in the kitchen from morning till afternoon. Well, I didn’t plan it that way, but I was determined to try out Malay desserts recipes, motivated by the fact that Baby Z could probably eat them. For now, I have temporarily given up trying to bake western desserts that are allergy free because I couldn’t find (for lack of time, money, and energy) the ingredients that I am satisfied with concerning cross contamination. I had checked and googled Bob’s Red Mill’s products and couldn’t find anything that says they’re free of soy and tree nuts. One small packet of Xantham gum costs about 11 bucks. I think I’ll stick to trying out Malay desserts that do not use eggs, flour, and milk rather than go all out to buy flours and ingredients I’m not familiar with, at least not now.
So today, I made kuih talam, which took so long to steam (maybe because of my rice cooker). I also had to cook for lunch because we had no leftover, and so during the online relay of A Heart Serene (which also had to happen during the weekends hubby’s not here) I ditched the lecture and cooked for the kids, Baby Z included. That led to me preparing future spice pastes to be frozen, and that later led to me whipping up something I completely made up (boiled then baked then broiled lamb chunks with potatoes and carrots to accompany Nasi Ayam modified). I made two big pots of the rice too, because I mistakenly put too much oil and had to make a second batch so I wouldn’t waste the oil. On top of all this I’m also fasting. But alhamdulillah, for someone who has to handle quite a lot this weekend with no husband, I think Allah has given me extra strength. Maybe tonight I will be kaput.
But at least, I won’t have to cook for a few days now inshallah, provided they don’t gobble up a medium sized aluminum tray plus a big sized pot of rice and two pots of beef plus a few leftover chicken. If they do, I think I’ll pretend to be sick and refuse to get out of bed.
Modified Nasi Ayam with Daging Masak Merah and Baked Boiled Beef with Carrots and Taters and So'oon Stir-fried Vegetables
Crepes Then Pancakes … Allergy Free At That!
October 11, 2008 at 2:05 am | In Allergies, Kitchen, Mothering, Recipe | Leave a CommentFinally, I’m driven to try out allergy free recipes, inspired by Sh. efforts even though she doesn’t have an allergic child, mashaallah. It took my about an hour, an hour of my morning to finish the crepe batter I had blitzed up. The slightly modified recipe, which I found here, is as below.
Crepes, Malaysianized into Kuih Dadar
CREPES:
3 Eggs worth of prepared egg replacer
3/4c rice milk
3/4c Water
3 Tbs canola oil
1/3c Rice flour
1/8c Sweet rice flour (glutinous rice flour)
1/8c Potato starch
1/8c Tapioca flour (starch)
1/2t Salt
- Blend everything in blender
- Pour onto non stick pan in thin layer
- Wait until bubbles on surface pops and bottom browns before flipping it
As usual, I encountered problems. The first one turned out to be a gooey log of partially done crepe, which tasted like glutinous rice). The second one was better, but I then realized that it takes quite a while for it to be completely done.
If I lifted it too soon, it’s be too gummy. I ended up with only two or three edible crepes from the whole batter, having ruined the rest with gummy crepes, but in all, I’m quite satisfied with the recipe. I even dared to flavor some of the batter with Pandan, thus making it green. Then I filled some with some leftover filling I had made for onde-onde, and it became kuih dadar/ketayap! Even the kids said it was good. Alhamdulillah.
The next day (yesterday), I tried a pancake recipe, which I found here. The recipe is below:
Pancakes
1/4 c. tapioca starch
1/3 c. potato starch
1-1/4 c. white rice flour
4 tsp. baking powder
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. canola oil
1-1/2 – 2 c. soy or rice milk*
1 Tbsp. vinegar
I used rice milk, and I probably made the mistake of using all 2 cups of it despite the recipe’s warning of using less than that until the desired consistency is reached. That made the pancake batter quite watery and I ended up with quite thin pancakes, not like in the photos on the site. I had problems with sticking too, even though I used a non stick pan. It tasted, disappointingly to me, a lot like rice flour, so I mashed half a banana and added it to the batter. It tasted rather like Jemput-jemput pisang. I decided to give it to Baby Z because I made quite a lot. So we gave him a teeny bite and waited a few minutes. Nothing happened, so we gave him another teeny bit and waited a while. After an hour of no reactions, we gave him more, and today he had it for breakfast and for intermittent snacks, alhamdulillah.
That means, that he is okay with rice milk, vinegar, and baking powder; all ingredients I’ve never exposed him to before. And now, I’m trying out a kuih lapis recipe I got from here. The only ingredient in here Baby Z hasn’t had yet is coconut milk. Since today is Friday, I’m not going to take the risk and give him this. Since last time’s incident, I decided to only give him something new on weekdays, and not on the weekends. Friday is too close for comfort to be counted as a weekday. So, maybe next week, Baby Z.
As for me, I just realized that I have about four more months of breastfeeding left, which means that after that, if I managed to wean him completely, I can again take dairy, eggs, wheat, peanut, and soy. Now, why am I not that excited?
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