This weekend, I embarked on writing on the topic of cross-contamination. As a parent with children with food allergies…it is one of my greatest fears.
The more I wrote, the more I realized how much a factor it plays in my daily life. Cross-contamination touches so many parts of my life the story seemed to take on a life of its own.
I am going to take my time with it and present it as a series. In the meantime, this weeks posts will be a series of simple allergen free dinners that our family enjoys.
To start off the week, I am offering one of my boys’ favourite dinners…‘Flat’ Chicken.
Below is Michael’s finished masterpiece.
Named appropriately as my boys enjoy flattening the chicken themselves!
This is a great hands on recipe for children to experience a start to finish meal. This recipe also offers children an opportunity to try new flavours by choosing their own spices. I am sure you all have an array of them, like I do, tucked away in your cupboards.
Bring them all out to the counter and let your children familiarize themselves with their smells. I often remind my kids that many of the spices before them they have already enjoyed in other dishes without perhaps even knowing.
Chili Powder in the Barbeque Sauce for the Ribs, Sage in our Dairy Free Stuffing, Thyme on our Roast Pork, Oregano on Pizza.
My boys are not always involved in the preparation of dinner so this recipe gives us the opportunity to share some quality time…I need to incorporate their skills more often!
I hope you will find this a fun introduction to the joys of cooking in your kitchen with your children.
Boys’ ‘Flat’ Chicken
2 chicken breasts, butterflied
enough canola oil for coating chicken
variety of spices
salt and pepper
I use my Cuisinart Griddler for this recipe. Turn the grill to high.
Meanwhile, prep the chicken:
Place a sheet of wax paper on the counter and place butterflied chicken breasts on top and cover with another sheet of wax paper.
As we do not have a mallet, we use an old rolling-pin to flatten the chicken. Kids enjoyed this part!
Peel off the top wax paper
Drizzle a bit of canola oil over the chicken and rub it in all over.
Now the fun part! Kids can choose their spices to sprinkle over their chicken.
Rub the spices into the chicken.
Matthew’s chicken breast is on the left and Michael’s is on the right.
Tip 1: I sometimes advise the boys to tap a bit of spice into the palm of their hands and then using their fingers, sprinkle the spices over the chicken. It eliminates the problem of dumping a whole pile of spices in one dose.
Matthew’s spices included: Chili Powder, Ground Cumin, Cayenne Pepper, salt and pepper.
Michael’s spices included: Thyme, Oregano, Chili Powder, Italian Seasonings, salt and pepper.
Place the chicken spice side down and cook on high for approximately 3 minutes. Turn and cook a further 3 minutes.
Tip 2: The boys help with the turning of the chicken with supervision.
The boys enjoyed their ‘Flat’ Chicken with a side of Basmati Rice and Peas. Below is Matthew’s masterpiece. Yummy!
Enjoy!
P.S. Is there a favourite recipe your children enjoy assisting with in the kitchen?
How often do your children help out with meals?
My youngest son loves to cook and bake He even wants an easy bake oven. And even though, he loves to cook, he rarely loves to eat it!
Oh what a shame! Perhaps cooking or baking a favourite will change his mind. Keep trying, he is bound to come around.
Yum! I love the simplicity, absolutely perfect! I also couldn’t help but notice Matthews portion of peas
I do the same thing with my boys, if it’s a less than loved veggie we do a little bit. They both did a great job, the chicken looks quite tasty. Thanks so much for sharing this idea last week, I’ll be implementing it as often as I have chicken in the house!
Vegetables are not Matthew’s favourite. I insist he has to keep trying them…baby steps! Let me know how your chicken masterpieces turn out!
Arjun loves helping me roll out homemade Indian tortillas (called Rotis)
Susan – I absolutely love this recipe. With your permission I would love to share it on my blog because it is free of all the top 8 food allergens and also the other dangerous ones – sesame and mustard seeds.
Hi Anu! No problem! This recipe is perfectly adaptable to meet all tastes…I love how the boys can be creative with their flavour combinations! I hope Arjun has fun creating his very own ‘masterpiece’! Enjoy!
Thank you Susan – me gonna post it today.
Great! Looking forward to reading your post!
Thank you – I just reblogged this post, http://allergyfoodie.com/2012/04/20/1801/
And, tweeted and facebooked it too
Reblogged this on Allergy Foodie – thrive with top 8 food allergies! and commented:
Thanks to Circle of Moms (http://www.circleofmoms.com) search for the ‘Top Food Allergy Bloggers’ in North America, I met Susan, the blogger at ‘Food Allergy Chronicles’. The food allergy blogging world is like one big happy family with a high sense of camraderie. It could be because our objective is simple – ‘make the world a safer place for food allergy sufferers’. To that end – we are constantly learning from each other…
What I love best about her blog is – Susan writes about her experiences raising 2 sons with food allergies – field trips, school, vacations and more. My son is much younger so I learn a lot about what to expect through her experiences.
Of course her recipes are also delish!!! All her recipes are healthy, nutritious, dairy-free and nut-free. And this particular recipe is free of all the top 8 food allergens too. But, what makes it extra special is that it is also free of 2 other allergens that are becoming increasingly dangerous – sesame seeds and mustard seeds.
Thank you Susan for letting me share this kid-friendly delicious post on Allergy Foodie