Lemon cupcakes

Lemon Gem Cupcakes (no milk, no eggs, no nuts)
Note-some people consider coconut a nut. Since however our children do not react to it we have deemed it a fruit :)
prep time:
20 minutes
total time:
40 minutes
Makes 12-18 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

Cupcakes
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup canola oil (I generally like to substitute with soy free vegan margarine or coconut oil)
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup coconut milk (or rice)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup lemon juice
1+ tablespoon lemon zest (I like super lemon flavor so the more the better)

Frosting
1/4 cup vegan margarine, softened (non hydrogenated)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted (sometimes I add more depending on how stiff I want my frosting)
some zest is also optional

mix cupcakes in order of ingredients then bake on 350 for 20 minutes.
This recipe works well for several types of cakes as well. I especially like it because it is super moist.

Vanilla cake
leave out lemon zest and cut lemon in half. Using fresh lemon usually works better then Real Lemon juice. The lemon juice and baking soda are your rising agent for this cake so you can't cut them completely.
Double or triple your vanilla depending on how strong of a flavor you want.
For the frosting instead of lemon juice use a teaspoon of Vanilla and couple table spoons of soy milk.

Strawberry cake
Same as the vanilla, but only use one teaspoon of vanilla and add two tsp strawberry flavoring.
Then use a teaspoon strawberry flavoring for the frosting. The cake above is a strawberry cake and I used Thia coconut milk in place of soy milk for the frosting.
To make the sand I just ground up graham crackers and dark brown sugar.
(note- The tree is made with tootsie rolls which do contain milk so do not use if milk allergy is your problem. We just removed it and gave our two milk allergy kids pieces from the side it didn't touch)

Who to Educate

Lately there has been a lot in the media about educating the public concerning allergies. I think that educating the public can and will help, but as the parent of children with allergies I find that the number one person that I need to educate is my child. I have come in contact with lots of parents who think that because my little girl,who is two, will not know she isn't suppose to grab certain foods. They are shocked when she tells them "I can't have cheese. It will make me sick." When my 5 year old see something that looks yummy his first impulse is to ask "does that have Eggs in it?" One of my greatest fears with my first son was that something might happen to me while it was just the two of us at home, and at two he might just go to the fridge and eat something he was allergic to because he was hungry. I had even thought about putting on a fridge lock, but dismissed that with the fear that if I did suffer some calamity that I wanted him to be able to get something to eat in case we weren't found for quite a while. At this point there were two things I could do. Get rid of everything that he might possibly be allergic to in the house(this would cut out cheese, milk, peanut butter, eggs, cake, cookies, mushrooms, peas, dried beans...etc.) Or I could educate him on what he could and could not eat. I chose to educate and it has made a world of difference in my anxiety level :). I will say however that I have limited items in my house that contain my children's most severe allergies. Children can and will learn so don't be afraid to start teaching them as soon as you find out they have an allergy. They are far less likely to be exposed if they know what to look for. When they do get exposed and feel bad make sure you tell them exactly why they feel so sick. Use little words and get down on there level. When my daughter gets exposed to milk I kneel down in front of her and say (of course after giving Benadryl and any other life saving needs) "does your mouth feel ichy?" "that's because you got some milk, but hopefully the medicine will help you feel better." With that she knows why she feels bad, and how she is going to get better. You can be the means of helping educate the public through your children. Most people are very willing to learn, but they need parents who aren't afraid to start where education is needed most...in the home. Then as you approach the public do not get hyper sensitive when someone does not understand or makes a mistake. We are all learning and most people are not out to make your life miserable they just forget...just like the rest of us.

Intro

As a Mom of 5 I have a lot on my plate already. Of course if any of my kids are eating off that plate please hold the Eggs, nuts, and milk...oh and other odds and ends allergy foods. That's right we're the weird family that has to ask what is in every little thing. You know, the ones that no one wants to invite over for dinner for fear of killing their kids. You laugh, but it's true that's really what's in the back of their heads. I got my first crash course in allergies when my first child was 10 months old. The doctor wanted to give him a flu shot, but said if we hadn't ever fed him eggs yet we should probably try him on it before the vaccination. So on Halloween I scrambled up an egg and gave it to him for a late lunch. After a few minutes I noticed his face had red dots all over it then he started rubbing his eyes and his face started to swell including the whites of his eyes. As I realized what was happening to my child I started to panic. I was home alone with no car (we were trying to survive of one car at the time) and I didn't even have Benadryl in the house. After banging on neighbors doors a relative of mine showed up for a visit and helped me rush my son to the hospital. That evening I learned all about Benedryl, and nebulizers, and allergies. By time we got out our sons swelling had gone down, but he was bruised from the severity. He really looked like he'd been in a fight. My husband even joked that since it was Halloween he should go as Rocky instead of the dinosaur we had planned. Over the next year we would find that he was allergic to not only eggs, but Cow milk, peanuts, and tree nuts. Unfortunately we did not have a good pediatrician or we would not have found those allergies on our own. Most good Peds doctors will send for allergy testing right away. When we moved and got a new doctor he sent us for testing and we found some of the sources for what we thought were constant colds. Turns out he was also allergic to green peas,lentils and mushrooms. With mild allergies to dry beans and corn. At this time they said this was so rare that it would probably never happen again. Ha! 4 more children later we got our second almost identical to him...but much worse. Our youngest, who is also our only girl, is also allergic to Eggs, milk, and nuts but with much worse reactions. She is also allergic to Watermelon with mild allergies to banana's and sensitivities to tomato's, peppers, and strawberries. Luckily because we had had one like her before we were ready. As well as her more severe food allergies we have a son who is allergic to bees and wasps, one who has severe reactions to poison ivy and one more son with less food allergies, but more severe asthma. And since Asthma and Allergies are best friends we have to deal with them both in all our allergic children. So You may be asking what is this blog going to do for me. Well...what ever you will let it. It all depends on what you need and what you will accept. I have met so many mom's with allergy kids that stand in fear of living their lives. I on the other hand have decided to not allow allergies to take over our lives and stop us from living. This blog is intended to help empower you and your children. I plan on sharing stories, recipes, and helpful teaching tips. As I will be sharing personal information I will not however share my children's names. So for future references our children will be named as follows from oldest to youngest Adam, Ben, Caleb, Daniel, and Ester. Last but not least please remember to be civil and appropriate in your comments. I do have the moderator on to screen comments for inappropriate remarks. I hope we can all take the advice of Thumper's daddy on this one. " If you can't say something nice...don't say nothin' at all."