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Gluten-free – Page 19 – surviving the food allergy apocalypse (archive)

surviving the food allergy apocalypse (archive)

Tag: Gluten-free

Contains no wheat or gluten.

  • Blood Orange Broccolini

    Blood Orange Broccolini
    Blood Orange Broccolini

    Okay, as Denise and I raved on Friday, it is officially citrus season up here in New England, which means someone has trucked citrus fruit all the way up to the frozen north. After two years of just eating or juicing the citrus, I’m finally starting to try cooking with them beyond. I’ve been marinating and dressing and mixing and playing and it’s brilliant. Let me share my favorite side dish so far.

    Broccolini was kind of a cheat for me. I could happily eat broccoli every single day and not get too bored, but it seems like we should eat more than just one vegetable, right? So the other night when I was tempted to pick up more broccoli at the store, I decided on a bunch of broccolini instead. Turns out that broccolini is not just a different stage of broccoli’s growth. Broccolini is a hybrid of broccoli and another vegetable I’m not particularly familiar with (kai-lan, an Asian vegetable I’ve never cooked). A quick internet search tells me it was developed in the early 1990s and made it to the US in the late ’90s. It has tender stems and less dense tops, and it’s a nice variation on broccoli. The flavor is pretty similar, but greener and more mild.

    This recipe cooks both the long tender stems and the tops, but adding the stems first so they will be done when the tops are, with neither part overdone. It also takes two pans, but I think it’s worth it. I’ve cooked the sauce first and set it aside while cooking the broccolini. When chopping up the broccolini, I’ve pulled off all the “tops” that are on lower stems, too.

    From top left: whole raw broccolini, blood orange and squeezed juice, finished sauce, and toasted garlic in Earth Balance margarine
    From top left: whole raw broccolini, blood orange and squeezed juice, finished sauce, and toasted garlic in Earth Balance margarine

    Blood Orange Broccolini

    • 2 Tablespoons Earth Balance or other safe-for-you fat or oil (if you are not using a margarine or butter, add a pinch of salt to your oil)
    • 1 Tablespoon chopped garlic
    • 3 Tablespoons fresh-squeezed blood orange juice (about 1/2 an orange)
    • 2-3 teaspoons olive oil
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
    • 1 bunch broccolini, stems and tops chopped separately

    Melt your Earth Balance in a small skillet or sauce pan over medium low heat. When foamy, turn the heat a notch or two on your stove — you want basically the point between low and medium, wherever that is for you. Add the garlic, stir well, and cook over this low heat for about 10 minutes or so. Garlic should be caramel brown when you’re done. Remove from heat and set aside. When it’s no longer hot, stir in the blood orange juice.

    Heat a large skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the broccolini stems and about 1/4 teaspoon salt. I’ll be honest — I almost never remember to measure salt in cooking (baking is different). I just added a large pinch. When the stems start to get a little browned, stir in the tops and another pinch of salt. Keep stirring every few minutes until the stems and tops are just barely fork-tender.

    Add the sauce, stir well, and heat it all together for 2 or 3 minutes. Scrape the pan well to get all the garlicky goodness out and stir to coat all the broccolini well.

    Enjoy.

    blood orange broccolini
    blood orange broccolini

  • Green Tomatillo Rice

     

    Green Tomatillo Rice
    Green Tomatillo Rice

    I needed a really simple dinner the other night because I wasn’t all that hungry, but I had to eat something and it was already 10:00 p.m. (I really need to stop doing that kind of thing.) So since I’m trying to work through all this rice that I keep buying at Asian markets because I cannot walk away from how inexpensive it is compared to regular grocery stores, I decided to throw a rice thing together. I liked it enough that I’ll make it again, and I can see this as being a great side dish to go with tacos (or in my case, taco salads, as I haven’t found a safe tortilla recipe I can stand) or with fajitas.

    Green Tomatillo Rice

    • 1 Tablespoon of olive oil, or other oil that’s safe for you
    • 1 cup of rice (I used sushi rice because that’s what I’m trying to use up, but any rice would work, arborio would be lovely)
    • 1 medium onion, peeled and diced
    • 1 clove of garlic, peeled and minced
    • 1 – 16 ounce jar of green tomatillo salsa that’s safe for you (I used my home-made, home-canned version)
    • 2 to 2 1/2 cups of water, depending on how tender you like your rice
    • 1 to 2 Tablespoons of minced fresh cilantro (optional)

    In a large skillet with a lid, add the oil, rice, onion and garlic, and stir with a spatula over medium heat. When the onion is translucent, add the water, salsa and cilantro, and stir to mix thoroughly. Turn the heat to medium high, put the lid on and bring the rice mixture to a boil. When the rice mixture reaches a boil, stir it, put the lid back on, and bring the heat down until the mixture just simmers.  Simmer for 10 to 20 minutes, until the rice is tender, and the sauce is thick.

    Enjoy!

     

    Green Tomatillo Rice
    Green Tomatillo Rice

  • Cottage Pie

    Cottage Pie
    Cottage Pie

    This recipe comes out of a birthday request. In my family, tradition was that on your birthday, you pick what we have for dinner. This weekend was a birthday, and the request was a cottage pie. I’ve never made cottage pie, so I did a bit of searching.

    So, here in New England, a meat pie topped with potatoes is called Shepherd’s Pie no matter what type of meat goes into it. As far as I learned, Shepherd’s Pie is lamb and gravy topped with mashed potatoes and baked. You know, shepherds? Sheep? Cottage Pie is the same basic idea but using beef as the meat. The internet has a variety of ideas about what cottage pie should be, from a basic lamb-based shepherd’s pie to a tomato sauced ground beef topped with potatoes and cheese. The former is poorly named, and the latter just sounds like casserole to me.

    What I wanted for this was a ground beef, gravy, and vegetable pie topped with lovely browned mashed potatoes. Anything topped with potatoes is bound to be good, right? To add a bit of extra flavor, browned the onions quite well, and used mushrooms, arrowroot starch, and balsamic vinegar in the gravy. For veg, I’ve added corn, carrots, and celery. I think this recipe is pretty versatile — change up the veg for what you think you’ll like best, and make it your way — just let us know how it turned out.

    Cottage Pie is served, with garnish
    Cottage Pie is served, with garnish

    Cottage Pie

    • 1 lb. ground beef
    •  salt and pepper, to taste
    • 1 Tablespoon olive oil or reserved beef fat
    • 3/4 – 1 cup medium onion, sliced thinly
    • salt, to taste
    • 1 cup carrots, finely chopped (about 3)
    • I cup celery, finely chopped (about 3 outer stalks)
    • 1 cup corn, frozen (optional)
    • 2 Tablespoons fat of your choice*
    • 1/4 to 1/2 cup baby bella mushrooms, finely chopped (optional)
    • 2 Tablespoons arrowroot starch
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
    • 1 to 1 1/2 cups beef broth
    • 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar (check to be sure this is “safe”)
    • 2 lbs potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
    • 2 Tablespoons Earth Balance or other margarine or fat
    • 1/2 cup non-dairy milk of your choosing, heated to at least room temp, if not a little warmer
    • salt and pepper, to taste
    • fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

    Heat a large skillet over medium heat. If you have a skillet that you can use a whisk in (i.e. not non-stick), use it. Brown ground beef, breaking it up. Add salt and pepper to the cooking beef, adjusted to your taste. Remove beef, leaving any fat in the pan — I used a lean beef, so there was almost none, but if there is some, you can either use it to cook the onions or to make the gravy. If you want it for gravy, set it aside. Put the beef in a greased casserole that will hold all your ingredients.

    In the remaining drippings or in 2 T of olive oil, add the onion and brown to the point of caramelization. This takes some time! Probably close to 40 minutes. Be patient, stir occasionally, and know that this pays off in flavor. When the onion is almost done, add the carrots, stir and let cook a few minutes. Then add the celery, do the same, and finally, add the corn and just let it thaw. Add the cooked veg  to the beef, and stir it up.

    In the pot or pan you’ve been using, add the reserved grease OR 2 tablespoons of fat — margarine, oil, whatever — and heat. If you’re using the mushrooms, add them to the hot fat.Whisk in the arrowroot starch and cook this paste for a few minutes, and then gradually add 1 cup of the beef broth or stock, whisking continually. When you have a slightly liquid-y gravy, add the balsamic and cook until the vinegar smell dissipates. Add thyme, and cook a few more minutes, adding a little more beef stock if you need to thin the gravy. Taste, and add salt and pepper if needed. Pour the gravy over your meat and veg, stir and set aside.

    Make potatoes! Boil the potatoes in salted water until soft when pierced with a fork. Drain and mash with your margarine and non-dairy milk, adding the non-dairy milk gradually. You want a consistency that you can pipe, if you’re going to do that, so aim that direction while mashing. Taste, add salt and pepper if needed.

    If you are piping the potatoes, let the cool to just above room temperature, and then load your piping bag and make pretty designs on top of your casserole. Bake 25 minutes if you’ve just finished making everything, 30-40 minutes if you refrigerated the casserole, at 350ºF.

    Top with more of the optional chopped parsley, because it’s pretty, and serve.

  • Microwave Individual-ish Chocolate Wacky Cake

    Microwave Individual-ish Chocolate Wacky Cake
    Microwave Individual-ish Chocolate Wacky Cake

    You know how there are those brownie in a mug recipes out there? And how none of them work for those of us with food allergies who need a really quick cake fix and (1) can’t wait 35-40 minutes for a cake to bake, or (2) can’t eat a whole cake before it goes stale?  Well, now you can have a nice smallish cake that cooks in the microwave in between 7-8 minutes, which is good, or really bad, depending on your perspective. I’ve eaten a lot of cake in the last week getting this recipe right, and I think the psyllium really rocks. It gives the cake a consistency and body similar to that of a regular cake with regular flour.  I give you almost instant cake. You’re welcome!

    Microwave Individual-ish Chocolate Wacky Cake

    Makes 8 inch round cake.

    • a bit of olive oil, or another mild oil that’s safe for you, to grease the pan
    • 3/4 cup of all purpose gluten-free flour mix (I used Cara Reed’s mix from her blog, Fork and Beans)
    • 2 Tablespoons of cocoa powder that’s safe for you (I used Penzey’s Dutch Process although some that are allergic to corn cannot tolerate it)
    • 1/2 cup of sugar
    • 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
    • 1/4 teaspoon of salt
    • 1/2 teaspoon of rice wine vinegar, or other mild vinegar that’s safe for you
    • 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract  (Here’s a bunch of recipes for vanilla extract, make sure to use safe alcohol if corn or wheat are an issue for you. I use either Vikingfjord  or Luksusowa Vodka because they are made only from potatoes, where some vodkas may also use grain or corn.)
    • 4 Tablespoons olive oil, or another mild oil that’s safe for you
    • 1  Tablespoon of whole husk psyllium (no affiliation with Amazon, just linking so you can see the product)
    • 1/2 cup of water (water amounts are provided separately because they are used at different points in the recipe)
    • 1/4 cup of water and 3 Tablespoons of water

    Grease a microwave safe 8 inch piece of stoneware, Corning ware or Pyrex, with your safe oil. Set aside.

    In a large mixing bowl, add the AP gluten-free flour mix, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt, and use a whisk to combine the dry ingredients thoroughly.

    In a small bowl, whisk the psyllium and 1/2 cup of water together thoroughly. It will jell up fairly quickly.

    Make three little depressions or wells in the dry mix, add the vanilla to one, the oil to another and the vinegar to the third. Add the psyllium mixture and the remaining water water to the bowl, and mix with the whisk until the mixture is mostly smooth. The psyllium is going to make things a bit lumpy, so don’t worry about that.

    Pour the cake batter into your greased pan, and microwave on high for 7-8 minutes (my microwave is 1100 watts, times may vary with different microwaves) or until the cake pulls away from the edge of the pan.

    Microwave Individual-ish Chocolate Wacky Cake
    Microwave Individual-ish Chocolate Wacky Cake

    Let the cake cool, and then cut and serve, or just eat it out of the pan.

    Microwave Individual-ish Chocolate Wacky Cake
    Microwave Individual-ish Chocolate Wacky Cake

    Enjoy!

  • The World's Best Cauliflower (aka Aloo Gobi in the slow cooker)

    Aloo Gobi
    Aloo Gobi

    I wish I could claim credit for inventing the following recipe, but I can’t. My former neighbor told me, as we were all sitting outside one evening, that he made “the world’s best cauliflower.” I don’t know about you, but cauliflower is not a vegetable I’d ever considered for a “world’s best” anything nomination. As a child, we got cauliflower doused in cheese sauce on an occasional basis, and while it was fine, it wasn’t something any of us clamored for. Since then, I’ve seen it on raw veggie platters, had it in “California blend” frozen vegetable bags, and had it roasted once or twice. Again, not bad, but not generally exciting.

    But Mukesh was not lying — this really is the World’s Best Cauliflower, and it will make a believer out of you, too. The usual name for this dish is “aloo gobi” (just “gobi” if you leave the potatoes out), and it’s amazing. The cauliflower is tender but not mushy, well-seasoned but not “hot” spicy, and the color is gorgeous (we eat with our eyes first, supposedly). This is shared with permission, a family recipe from Mukesh Singh. The only modification I’ve made is to cook it in the crock pot because my version never turned out as tender as his did.

    I’d have given you more photos, but while this cauliflower tastes great, it’s kind of boring to photograph.

    The World’s Best Cauliflower (Aloo Gobi)

    • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
    • 1/2 small onion, chopped
    • 1 head of cauliflower, cut into bite-sized pieces
    • 3 small potatoes, cubed
    • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
    • 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
    • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
    • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
    • 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
    • salt to taste
    • 2 Tablespoons water

    Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat.

    Add onion and cook until lightly browned.

    Mix in the cauliflower and potatoes, and then all the spices. Mix well to combine.

    Scrape pan into your slow cooker. Use the 2T of water to “rinse” all the leftover spices out of the skillet into the slow cooker. Cook over low heat for 10 hours.

    Serve with rice for a full meal, or serve as a side dish.

     

  • Tod Mun (Thai Fish Cakes)

     

    Tod Mun (Thai Fish Cakes)
    Tod Mun (Thai Fish Cakes)

     

    Have I ever said how much I love Thai food? And that my first date with my husband was at a Thai place?  Because of the corn, wheat, and coconut allergies, going out for Thai food really isn’t an option anymore. And I miss it, very much. I used to order this appetizer often in the long, long ago before food allergies, and when Mary Kate and I talked about doing a Fry-Day for Thanksgiving this year, I decided to give it a shot. I was very happy. I may have even teared up because it was just like our local Thai joint’s version.

    Tod Mun:

    Makes about 10-15 or so.

    Cucumber Salad/Dipping Sauce:

    • 1 cup of Thai Hot and Sweet Dipping Sauce
    • 1 cucumber peeled and diced
    • 1 cup of cashews, toasted in a skillet or roasted in the oven (If you can have peanuts, use roasted peanuts. If you can’t have nuts, just leave them out.)

    Tod Mun:

    • 1 pound of Haddock (or other mild white fish, such as Pollock or Halibut)
    • 5 ounces of uncooked shrimp, peeled and tail off.
    • 2 Tablespoons of Thai Red Curry Paste (If you can use a commercial version, great, but if not, here’s a recipe for it.)
    • 1 Tablespoon of safe for you fish sauce (If you don’t have one you can leave it out).
    • 1 bunch of scallions, trimmed and chopped into small pieces
    • 1 chia egg (1 Tablespoon of ground or milled chia seed mixed with 3 Tablespoons of water)
    • safe oil for frying enough to fill the pot about 3 to 4 inches deep

    For the frying:

    • A pot deep enough to accommodate about 3 inches of oil and the frying thermometer, a thick stainless steel stock pot or an enameled dutch oven would be best. You also want a pot that’s tall enough that the edge is 4 or more inches above the oil level. It’s safer and there’s less splatter all around. We do not recommend using anything with Teflon or nonstick coatings. Of course, if you have an actual deep fryer appliance, use that.
    • frying thermometer (the link goes to the one we used)
    • tongs and/or slotted frying spoon/spider  (we used a silicone one rather than the traditional wire and bamboo, but I can’t find a picture of ours)
    • plate or cookie sheet, lined with paper towels

    Set up your frying pot, add your safe oil, and set up your thermometer. Start heating your oil over medium heat, as it will take some time to reach the right temperature.  You are aiming for about 350ºF.

    Chop your toasted/or roasted cashews and place them in a bowl. Add your your peeled and diced cucumber and the Thai Hot and Sweet Dipping Sauce, and mix well to combine.  Set aside.

    Cucumber Salad/Dipping Sauce
    Cucumber Salad/Dipping Sauce

    Chop the haddock into pieces small enough to put in your food processor.  Place the haddock and the shrimp in a food processor with the regular cutting blade and process until the haddock and shrimp forms a smooth paste. Empty the mixture into a large mixing bowl, making sure you scrape down all the sides of the food processor bowl carefully.  Also, wash your food processor parts immediately. You really don’t want the fish mixture to dry to your food processor bowl, cover and blade.

    Mix in the Thai Red Curry Paste and fish sauce, until well combined. Then add the scallions and chia egg, and mix thoroughly.

    Tod Mun mixture before frying
    Tod Mun mixture before frying

    Once your oil is hot and has reached 350ºF.  Use two large spoons to form a rough patty, and drop it into the oil. Depending on the size of your pot, you may only be able to do a few at a time. I had a 10 quart stockpot and I was only able to do about five at time.

    Use large spoons to make rough patties
    Use large spoons to make rough patties

    Fry them for about 4-5 minutes or until golden brown.. Place them to drain on the paper towels.

    Fried Tod Mun (Thai Fish Cakes)
    Fried Tod Mun (Thai Fish Cakes)
    Fried Tod Mun (Thai Fish Cakes)
    Fried Tod Mun (Thai Fish Cakes)

    Once you have fried all of them, serve them with the cucumber salad/dipping sauce.

    Tod Mun (Thai Fish Cakes)
    Tod Mun (Thai Fish Cakes)

     

    Enjoy!

     

  • Gingerbread Modern Haus

    Modern gingerbread masterpieces. Photo by J. Andrews
    Modern gingerbread masterpieces. Photo by J. Andrews

    One of my favorite things when I was about 12 was making this gingerbread village for the holidays. It was from the Southern Living cookbook, had two houses and a little church, and I’d make walls and a skating pond and generally took me a full day to construct. Gingerbread houses are generally not the tastiest cookies — in order to be structurally sound, they need to be rather hard and dry, and then you leave them out for a while, so they get stale. But they look so cool! I don’t know if we ever ate the village, given that I wouldn’t let anyone touch it.

    Unadorned and decorating. Photos by J. Andrews
    Unadorned and decorating. Photos by J. Andrews

    Last year, I made gingerbread cookies for the first time in years — gluten-free. They were good, but softer than houses. This year, I was more ambitious, so I tried a few different recipes until I got one that seemed like it might be structurally sound. THIS IS NOT MY RECIPE. I just slightly altered one from Fork and Beans, and then I overbaked the cookies slightly. But I did design the houses, made a “safe” frosting for Denise, and decorate them. Denise made the gumdrops, and we made the marshmallows together. It was an incredible labor of great artistic merit, and we destroyed it all within two days. As an adult, yeah, it’s awesome to build houses out of cookies and candy, but they then need to be enjoyed. Who wastes all that good sugar?

    The blizzard-bound A-frame. Photo by J. Andrews
    The blizzard-bound A-frame. Photo by J. Andrews

    First up, make the candy and stuff you want for decorating. See the posts linked above.

    Second, make the cookies. HERE are your designs, or design your own. Or check out Pinterest, as I am willing to bet there are tons.

    Vegan, Gluten-free Gingerbread Cookies, altered from Fork and Beans

    • 1/2 cup vegan shortening (I used Spectrum)
    • 2 1/2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour (again, I point you back to Fork and Beans)
    • 1/2 cup granulated sugar (choose corn-free if you need to)
    • 1/2 cup molasses
    • 1 chia egg (1 Tablespoon ground chia seeds mixed with 3 Tablespoons water, set aside to gel)
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda (again, choose corn-free if you need to)
    • 2 teaspoons ground ginger
    • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
    • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

    Pre-heat the oven to 375ºF

    Beat the shortening until soft and fluffy. Add half the flour.

    Add the sugar, molasses, chia egg, baking soda, and spices and beat until combined.

    Add the rest of the flour and beat well.

    Divide the dough in two, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until cold. I just did it overnight.

    Roll out the dough between two sheets of parchment paper until about 1/8-inch thick (or until it looks “thin enough” and you are sick of rolling. I am not patient). Put the rolled out dough on a cookie sheet and re-chill it in the fridge while you roll out the other ball. Then trade them out for cutting.

    Using the patterns linked — or using your own — cut out the right number of pieces. Believe me, double-check your count! Try to space these out so that you don’t need to move them again. Peel the excess dough from around them — ball this up and re-chill it. (This is my favorite thing about gluten-free dough — you can’t really overwork it, as there is no gluten to get tough!)

    Leaving the cookies on the parchment (and I’d suggest you use the parchment, not silicone sheets, as I don’t really advise cutting on those), on the baking sheet, bake for 15 minutes, or until pretty firm. Remember, these are now architectural building blocks you’re making. Drag the parchment to a wire rack and cool the cookies completely.

    Mortar Frosting

    • 1/4 cup shortening (butter, lard, Crisco, whatever you want. We used lard that Denise rendered, as that is safe for her)
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 2-4 cups powdered sugar (again, be safe — Trader Joe’s powdered sugar uses tapioca starch, not corn, so I used that)

    Beat shortening until creamy and fluffy. Add the vanilla and beat more. Gradually add the powdered sugar. Depending on the temperature and your choice of shortening, you may need more or less powdered sugar. Remember, this is mortar. You want this to be stiff frosting. So I’d suggest more, not less, powdered sugar. (Tip: If you’re using Earth Balance soy-free, add a large pinch of xanthan gum or you will not have a room-temp stable mortar.)

    Load this into a pastry bag or frosting gun and assemble your houses.

    ASSEMBLE!

    Tips for assembly — the A-frame is kind of hard to put together! Lay one roof piece down and frost both triangular walls onto it. Then add the other (put the frosting on the wall pieces), and then flip it upright. That seems to work okay.

    With the modern shed roof, lay the tall wall flat. Add both end walls to that, then add the shorter “front” wall. Stand up your roofless house, and then add frosting all along the roofline before putting the roof on.

    Now? Decorate with whatever you want. Use more frosting.

    House On a Slant. Photo by J. Andrews
    House On a Slant. Photo by J. Andrews

    Share your masterpieces with people you like. And hey, if you make these, share a photo or two with us, too. We’d love to see what you come up with.

  • Gum Drops

    Gum Drops
    Gum Drops – Photo by J. Andrews

    So it’s that holiday time of year. And I like my sweets on holidays, so Mary Kate and I got together to make some candy a couple of weeks ago. (I burned and ruined one pot that day, so you’re not getting a recipe for caramels, until I get a new pot and try it again.) One of the things we tried that was a hit was the gum drops. I actually made them ahead of time because there’s some processing time between steps (AT LEAST 3 DAYS, please read the whole recipe), and we wanted to use them for a construction project (teaser for next week’s post). The recipe I started with was located here at Bakerella. If you can use commercial extracts and commercial food coloring, you can use the recipe as it is. But I can’t. So I used Cara Reed’s ideas from her book, Decadent Gluten-Free Vegan Baking (see Mary Kate’s review here) for food coloring for the green, and then extended her idea and used carrots for the orange. I also used the homemade extracts that I’ve made and some lemon essential oil.  You’ll see four colors of gum drops in the picture, but the best were the lime and orange and the other flavors still need more work before they are blog-worthy.

    Gum Drops

    The recipe for the gum drops makes one batch of one flavor. To make both flavors, either double the amounts for the gum drop and put the ingredients for one flavor in each half of the batch, or use the amounts below for the batch, and use half of the amounts for the flavors in each half of the batch.

    To make Orange Flavor:

    • 2 teaspoons of Orange Food Coloring (To make orange food coloring, take 1/2 cup of peeled, chopped carrots, and cook over medium heat in water in a small sauce pan until tender. Drain the water, saving 1/4 of a cup aside. Place drained carrots and 1/4 cup of reserved cooking water in a blender and process until smooth. Place in a storage container and keep it in the fridge for up to two weeks). 
    • 4 drops of Lemon Essential Oil (make sure it’s pure and not cosmetic grade)
    • 2 Tablespoons of homemade orange extract (I used orange peels as described here and I use either Vikingfjord  or Luksusowa Vodka because they are made only from potatoes, where some vodkas may also use grain or corn.)

    To make Lime Flavor:

    • 2 teaspoons of Green Food Coloring (To make green food coloring, take 1 cup of fresh spinach and boil in 3 Tablespoons of water for 5 minutes while covered. Pour spinach and water in a blender and process until smooth. Place in a storage container and keep it in the fridge for up to two weeks). 
    • 4 drops of Lemon Essential Oil (make sure it’s pure and not cosmetic grade)
    • 2 Tablespoons of homemade lime extract (I used lime peels as described here and I use either Vikingfjord  or Luksusowa Vodka because they are made only from potatoes, where some vodkas may also use grain or corn.)

    Gum Drops:

    • 2 Tablespoons of unflavored gelatin powder (Knox or Great Lakes are generally regarded as being okay if you’re not super sensitive to corn, again no affiliation with Amazon, just linking for reference)
    • 1/2 cup of cold water
    • 3/4 cup of boiling water
    • 2 cups of sugar
    • extra sugar for coating the gum drops
    • a bit of safe for you oil to coat the container in which you’ll cool your gum drops
    • a container about 4 inches by 8 inches in which to cool your gum drops (I used two sandwich sized Rubbermaid food storage containers so my gum drops were a little thinner than normal.) 

    Grease your container to cool your gum drops with your safe oil.

    In a large pot, add the gelatin and cold water.  Whisk them together until the gelatin is completely moistened. Let the gelatin and water mixture sit for five minutes.

    Add the boiling water and whisk until the gelatin dissolves.  Add the sugar and stir it into the gelatin mixture.

    Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, and boil for 25 minutes.

    Pour the mixture into your greased container and mix in the food coloring, extract and essential oil, until it is thoroughly combined.

    Cover the container and put it in the fridge overnight to set.

    Take out the container and use a knife dipped in hot water to cut 3/4 inch squares. I found it easiest to take the whole gum drop sheet out of the container (which is no small feat) and place it on a greased plastic cutting board and cut them on the board.

    Roll the cubes in sugar on all sides and place them on waxed paper or parchment paper (whatever is safest for you, those allergic to corn may have trouble with waxed paper), and let them dry at room temperature for two days to let the sugar dry and the gum drop harden a bit.

    Enjoy!

    Gum Drops
    Gum Drops – Photo by J. Andrews