Eliminate....everything you love

As all of you know, I am a new Mom. And when my little man joined the world I decided to go with what I have been hearing: Breast is best. Now, I'm sure that some women give birth and instantly can breast feed. Not for me. I had to wait and wait for my tatas to get cranking. After that ordeal was over and everything was "flowing" nicely, my little on started to show signs of food allergies. I had never thought that babies could react to their own mother's milk. But as I learned, they certainly can. So my pediatrician started asking me to eliminate food groups from my diet in order to stop the react my little one was experiencing. The first to go was dairy. So no butter, milk, yogurt, cheese (that one was tough) and cream. That didn't do it. So then he took out wheat and anything with gluten. So there went bread, pasta, muffins, crackers, cereals and my beloved cupcakes. You would think that that would of done it. Nope. Next came eggs. This was by far the hardest thing to give up as I use eggs as a protein for breakfast. Then he stripped out peanuts, soy and any nut that grows on a tree. And yet, with all those foods out of my diet, my little man still had issues. So they finally took out corn (corn syrup too...which by the way, is in everything!!!) and shellfish. And yes, my baby still showed allergy symptoms. So they decided to test him. I kind of wished they would of done that at the beginning instead of stripping me of pretty much everything I enjoyed.

The only benefit to all these eliminations is that I'm only 15 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight. Yoohoo! But man oh man do I miss my cupcakes.

I decided not to be a victim about the whole thing. I became so determined to figure out how to make things I loved to eat without all the products I couldn't have. Atleast until we get the test results back.

My first item was my favorite breakfast dish: PANCAKES.

It took me a couple of tries. But I now make absolutely delicious dairy-free, egg-free, wheat-free and gluten-free pancakes. I thought I would share my recipe because I know that there are many women going through elimination diets because their infant has allergies and that there are kids out there that have severe food sensitivities.

Next will be a dairy-free, egg-free, wheat-free, gluten-free cupcake recipe.

PANCAKES:

1 cup Wheat Free/Gluten-Free Pancake mix (available at Whole Foods)

1 tablespoon Canola Oil

1 teaspoon Ener-G (egg substitute found at health food stores)

1 cup Rice Dream Milk Substitute ( I use the Vanilla one)

3/4 cup cooked Quinoa (gives the pancakes a tender texture and adds protein for a balanced breakfast)

Mix everything except Quinoa in a bowl. The batter should resemble cake batter, thick but not too thick. Add more Rice Dream Milk Substitute if your batter looks too thick or add more pancake mix if it looks too loose.

Add the Quinoa and incorporate.

Pour about 1/3 cup onto a griddle or a hot non-stick pan (I sometimes use a canola spray to ensure nothing sticks). Flip over once the pancake is covered in small bubbles and the edges are dry.

Serve with maple syrup. Image above shows the pancakes with some butter on top. However if you are not eating dairy, obviously do not add the butter.

Delicious!!!