Allergy Friendly Raspberry Rhubarb Crisp Recipe

About a month ago, Ry Guy and I were diagnosed with multiple food allergies, including eggs, soy, dairy, gluten, and peanuts. Looks like the allergies are connected to our eczema, too.  I'm in mourning.

{insert sniffle here}

I confess, I was pretty depressed about it for a few weeks. Then, I decided to not let it control my life. I've found that there is hope and you can actually reverse some food allergies. In fact, I'm taking an online class right now on reversing food allergies and I'm learning so much already. I hope to see improvement in both Ry Guy's and my eczema soon...

Anyway, I wanted dessert this past week when I was up visiting my family, so Mom suggested I do something with the raspberries she had in the freezer or the rhubarb from the garden out back.

So, I did something with both of them. At the same time. Here's the result.

Don't you just want to snatch that right off the page and stuff it in your mouth?  If you like tart desserts, this is for you.

Sweet and Tangy Broccoli Salad Recipe

I learned to make a version of this awesome broccoli salad while working at a sandwich shop/deli during college. It was a big seller and I can understand why - it's amazing!

Crunchy broccoli, smoky bacon, sweet raisins, savory red onions in a sweet and tangy dressing? Um, yes please.

 

This bowl of yum-ness is a real crowd pleaser. I always get rave reviews when I bring it to pot-lucks and picnics or serve it at parties and BBQ's. In fact, I love this salad so much, I even had my caterer serve it at my wedding!

This version differs slightly from the original deli version; I use a lower sugar to mayo ratio. And I prefer to use homemade mayo, but you can certainly use a good quality storebought mayo instead.

This recipe makes quite a lot, so it's perfect for picnics and parties. Enjoy!

Broccoli Salad

by Raye

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Keywords: salad side bacon spring summer

Ingredients (16 servings)

Salad

• 4-5 crowns broccoli
• 4 oz bacon
• 1/2 lg red onion
• 1 c. raisins

Dressing

• 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 c. olive oil mayo
• 6 Tbsp vinegar (white or apple cider)
• 1/2 c. sweetener (evaporated cane juice, granulated white sugar or honey)

Instructions

1. Salt the broccoli liberally, then stand them (florets side down) in a colander and run them under cold water. This will get rid of any bugs that may be hiding in your broccoli. Set aside to drain.
2. Cook bacon until crispy and drain well. Set aside to cool.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together mayo, vinegar and sweetener of choice. Peel and dice the red onion; add to the dressing mixture in the bowl. Chop the bacon and add to bowl along with the raisins.
4. Using a sharp knife, cut off the florets from the stem. Use your knife to pare off any woody parts of the stem. Dice the stem and add it to the bowl. Separate the florets into bite size pieces and add them to the bowl.
5. Gently stir to mix salad together. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Will last for 2 days in the refrigerator.

Powered by Recipage

Oh My COWS (Creamery)

One of my favorite things we did in Prince Edward Island was tour the COWS Creamery factory.  If you're Canadian, chances are you've at least heard of COWS.  If you're American, you've probably not heard of them.  Bummer.  You're totally missing out.

They have numerous ice cream shops across the province and have expanded across Canada in recent years.

COWS is manufactured exclusively on PEI, with cream and eggs from local farms and dairies. According to our tour guide, COWS premium ice cream is made with 16% butterfat cream, sugar and eggs, and is churned really slowly to make sure that the ice cream you're eating is actually ingredients, not air.

Interesting thought - the tour guide brought this up, but it's true!  Have you ever noticed that some ice cream you can just plow through a whole pint in one sitting, but other brands you can't? The difference is how much air is incorporated into the ice cream when it's freezing.  If you were to let a pint of store brand ice cream totally melt you'd probably end up with around 1/2 to 1/3 of the pint full of liquid.  If you let a pint of COWS melt, you end up with at least 3/4 pint of liquid.  That's some high density ice cream...

Cookout Survival Strategy

Source

The Hubby's co-workers are having a cookout today.  The cookout location is on shorefront property, so there is a good possibility of kayaking happening in my near future. Of course, eating healthy at a potluck cookout can be hard to do, since you don't know what's in most of the food.