Well, the kids are still raving (escpecially Xanman) about our new homemade ranch dressing...so we thought we'd pass along the recipe.As many of you know, Xanman is and has always been allergic to milk/dairy products. More specifically, he's allergic to the protein in milk-casein. So, even when we buy a product like soy or rice cheese, they're almost always still made with a little casein in them...and his body reacts.
We are thankful that he's never had a life threatening episode with his allergies. The worst that has happened was that he threw up lots and lots after he was accidentally fed a monster cookie at church one evening (he's allergic to peanuts and tree nuts, too). Well, that and accidentally eating Sis's Ch.eerios one morning that had cow milk on them when he thought it was his bowl with rice milk on it. His face got REALLY puffy, splotchy and itchy...but a little B.enadryl and an hour later he was fine. Same type of thing happened once at V.alentino's when he ate a breadstick.
Nowadays, we are really careful to avoid nut ingestion for him. In this day and age, it's pretty easy because most places (including church) are really good about keeping nut free environments. I do have raw almonds around the house, but this is primarily due to the fact that of all the nut testing, almonds did not show up positive on him, and the health benefits they provide the rest of the family is something I do not wish to deny them. (Xanman does not eat almonds because of possible cross contamination in shelling and sorting machines, but he regularly enjoys sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds with us)
Back to the dairy front...he got a puffy lip a week or so ago from eating something that had a little cheese on part of it, but again, it was noting a little B.enadryl and an hour didn't take care of. We're still hopeful that he will outgrow more of his allergies, and we're really thankful that his soy allergy is down to a very minimal level (according to skin tests) and that he is not allergic to wheat, corn or oranges anymore like he was as a baby.
I was excited to taste a dairy free ranch dressing this past week when Rayzer and I had lunch at a vegan cafe in NC. I asked for the recipe, but it was "classified". Nice thing, however, that they had the ingredient list posted on the sign at the salad bar...so I jotted down the list and came home to start experimenting!
Here's what we came up with, and the results passed with flying colors!
(sorry the amounts are not exact...I like to mix and taste test as I go)
-1 cup Veganaise with grapeseed oil (can be found at natural foods stores in refrige section)
-a few shakes/pinches of garlic powder and onion powder
-about 2 Tbsp. raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar (spectrum or braggs are good choices)
-pinch of dried dill, chives, and italian seasoning (all to taste)
-about 2 teaspoons. raw, unfiltered honey
-purified water to thin to desired consistency
whisk up or shake in a jar to blend. I also add a couple Tbsp. of Udo's perfected blend oil, as it's an easy way to get omega efa's into our diet, too.
