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Our son Collins is allergic to eggs, and he’s sensitive to sugar and gluten. Our daughter Olivia has no tolerance for food that is anything less than delicious. This creates a conundrum at mealtimes and means I have to modify pretty much any recipe I plan to use. Buckle up, dear reader, ‘cause you’re about the reap the benefits of my recipe-tweaking efforts. I hereby declare I have discovered the fluffiest, tastiest pancakes that suit the palates of picky eaters AND the dietary needs of folks with egg allergies and gluten sensitivity.

The Recipe

INGREDIENTS:
-3/4 cup milk
-2 tablespoons white vinegar
-1 cup flour (Today I used 1/2 cup wheat flour and 1/2 cup rice flour because when I use all rice flour my daughter gripes that “Mommy only makes us gross pancakes anymore.”)
-1 teaspoon baking powder
-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
-1/4 cup applesauce
-1 teaspoon vanilla

The Directions

Step 1: Mix 3/4 cup milk with 2 tbsp white vinegar, and let the mixture sit for 5 minutes or so. (You’re not being punked. You’re DIYing buttermilk here. It’s gonna look gross, but I swear it’ll end up being a good decision.)

Step 2: Add the rest of the ingredients listed above, and mix. (Play jazz to get the consistency exactly how you want it. Add more applesauce or milk if it’s a little too thick for you. Add more flour if it’s too thin.)

Step 3: Grill ‘em up! I cook mine in butter on a cast iron pan, but to each his own.

Play with Your Food

I’m currently reading The Secret Life of Bees (I know. I’m two decades behind. Lay off me.), and last night I got to the part where May makes the “L” pancake for Lily. I says to myself…I says, “Self, let’s try that tomorrow morning.” So I did. Olivia was tickled to have her name spelled out in batter, so I fully endorse this type of food play when you have time on a weekend morning.

Now, you can go crazy searching pancake art tutorials on Youtube, and if you need a momentary escape from reality, I highly recommend you do. People have incredible skills, and there are worse ways to spend your time. However, for my “Olivia ♡” I just used a regular old spoon and got to it. Momma ain’t got time for squeeze bottle nonsense.

My Reality

The real kicker is that after making these modifications, Collins rarely eats any pancakes. Perhaps my efforts to make them Collins-friendly seem insane to you, as they do to me on occasion. However, because he sometimes chows down with us, I have to ensure our food is safe for him.

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Raising a kid with food allergies is tough. You pretty much have to develop a manual for your kid that you can drop off to babysitters along with the backpack full of inhalers, epipens, over the counter antihistamines, creams for rashes, and safe snacks. My husband Aaron and I went through years of treating the symptoms of our son’s allergies. We never got ahead of them; it was always a game of catch up.

Then we made a change. We were lamenting our plight to friends of ours, who happened to have an answer. They said, “You have to take your son to this nutritionist who helped a bunch of people in our family.” We agreed, “We absolutely do.” So we did.

The Cut-Everything Diet

The nutritionist said we first have to cut out all sugar, all wheat, and most caffeine from our son Collins’s diet, and she recommended we then feed Coll a no mold/low histamine diet. While I was in her office, I mentioned I’ve suffered from bad environmental allergies for the entirety of my existence. She said if Coll and I both go on this diet and take it seriously, my son can wean himself off his inhaler and I can wean myself off my daily prescription antihistamine.

Some of the foods and drinks we were challenged to cut on this new diet included cheese, chocolate, corn, white potatoes, nightshades, and all food additives. All fermented things were also discouraged, which is interesting because we were previously told by multiple medical professionals that yogurt and kombucha would be beneficial for my son.

In an attempt to simplify how many meals we’d be cooking and avoid teasing Collins with foods he can’t consume, Aaron and I decided we would all stick to this diet.

Results

Collins’s skin has cleared up for the first time in his life! And his dad, mom, and sister are feeling pretty great as a result of our cleaner eating.

Holy Crow! It’s Expensive.

The highly recommended nutritionist we visited didn’t accept insurance. After paying for the office visit, DNA test kits, and supplements, we spent over $750. I realize that’s a lot, and I wouldn’t expect most people to be willing to drop that amount. Desperate for results, we were willing to make an investment, and this particular nutritionist was highly recommended.

The cost of groceries has also increased. It’s just more expensive to buy rice pasta in place of semolina. And all of those flour and sugar substitutes are way more expensive than the sinfully delicious originals.

It’s Time Consuming

Gone are the days of grabbing ready-made meals and snacks off the grocery store shelves. As far as I can tell, nearly all prepared foods contain additives, some form of sugar, corn, wheat, or white potato. That means I spend far more time in the kitchen concocting meals.

In order to save myself time in the long run, I’ve been batch cooking. For example, if I’m baking sweet potatoes for dinner, I’ll bake 2-3 times as many potatoes as our family will eat in one sitting. I do the same thing with steel cut oats, quinoa, jasmine rice, and other grains that become the basis of future meals. Although some information online says leftovers should be avoided by folks on a no mold diet, there’s no way this diet is sustainable for us if I don’t batch cook.

Figuring Out Substitutions

It’s been really hard to find recipes that account for the dietary needs in our home. (Along with the list of foods we’ve recently cut, my son is allergic to nuts and eggs.) I have no choice but to play jazz with existing recipes and just see if they work out. Last night I created the original recipe below, which turned out okay. I’m not going to lie: replacing sugar, eggs, and white flour with other foods will not please all crowds. You can totally tell the difference. But if you’re avoiding processed foods like us, this might hit the spot for you.

Semblance of a Peach Cake

Ingredients

3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 1/2 cups local honey

1 cup olive oil

1 cup cassava flour

1 cup quinoa flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 1/2 cups peeled, pitted, chopped peaches

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F while you grease two 8” x 4” pans.
Combine all above ingredients by hand in a big bowl.
Pour batter into prepared pans, and bake at 375 for 40 minutes.