Are you in the berry stage with your little one? I am! My daughter can put strawberries, blueberries and mangos down like she’s a little bear bulking up for winter. She has started to favor them over her veggies and I would like to avoid food pickiness as early as possible. Because of her food allergies, 100% of what she eats is home cooked. Thankfully she isn’t allergic to wheat, gluten or dairy. She is however allergic to a very common and extremely difficult thing to avoid. GARLIC. Yes, garlic. Amongst a few other things she has allergies to, this one is the hardest to avoid. She’s allergic to egg too. So I’ve had to be extra careful with label reading, and I keep my kitchen in order to make sure there’s no mistaken cross contamination with any seasonings.

When you have Frozen playing in the living room, the toys on the floor going off, the laundry buzzer sounding off from the laundry room, a full stove going and a toddler pulling at the baby gate to get into the kitchen. Overstimulation can take over and before you even know it you can accidentally grab the wrong seasoning and bam. Dinner is no longer edible for your little.

That’s the life of a mama with a little that has food allergies, the worry and constant triple checking of EVERYTHING. At least I know where my grey hairs come from.

I keep only two things on my counter, pink salt and pepper. Anything else is in a pull out spice cabinet below the counter. This helps me to know that I didn’t grab the wrong thing without thinking. Before this allergy came up, the go to seasoning for almost everything was garlic salt. So, it’s been a drastic change for the entire house & how I cook too. Small things like how I place my seasonings help me keep my mind in check and help me to be at peace.

Since I cant season with a-lot of things, I tend to lean towards more creamy based dishes for her and it’s been working out great for us. There’s so many awesome options for dairy subs, so whatever you choose for a dairy sub. Just swap out any dairy in this recipe for that. For example, heavy cream can be swapped for a dairy free half and half mixed with coconut cream. This recipe is so easy to make tweaks to so, have fun with it. I’ll also leave links to the exact things I used if I can find them.

Things you’ll need

• • Whole wheat pasta Barilla Whole Grain Penne Pasta, 16 oz. Box (Pack of 12) – Non-GMO Pasta Made With 100% Whole Grain Durum Wheat – Great Source of Fiber
  • Heavy cream Horizon Organic Heavy Whipping Cream, 16 fl oz 
  • Chicken thighs ( for some dishes I prefer thighs for the extra flavor VS breast)
  • Fresh or frozen broccoli
  • Fresh spinach
  • Parmesan cheese
  • Colby jack cheese
  • Cream cheese
  • Fresh ground pink salt & pepper
  • Blender

That’s it! Super simple and you likely already have these things in your kitchen. What I love most about this dinner is that its quick to throw together, protein & nutrient packed and the entire family can eat it.

1. Start to cook your thighs, I add a little butter to my pan and throw the thighs on medium high heat, add salt & pepper to taste.
2. Start to get your pot boiling with water.
3. Once it comes to a rolling boil add pasta, cook for 8 minutes or until al dente.
4. Salt to taste & set aside. TIP: to save time I use a pasta ladle to take the pasta out of the water and use the same water to boil my broccoli.
5. Add broccoli to boiling water and cook until soft.
6. Once broccoli is done, remove and add spinach and broccoli to blender TIP: I never measure when I cook – but, you can measure about a cup of the spinach and broccoli each.
7. Add about half a block of cream cheese, a pinch of salt and pepper and a quarter cup of heavy cream to the blender.
8. Blend until smooth TIP: You can totally add extra parmesan cheese at this step, I just sprinkle it on-top of her plate at the end.
9. Pour green sauce over noodles and combine
10. Shred chicken thighs and place on-top of the noodles and top dish with colby jack & parmesan cheese.

Voila! That’s it. Simple, yummy and easy. I like to add her favorite berries to her plate because well, I have a little bear and she needs her berries and thats just nonnegotiable. I hope you like this super simple recipe, remember that cooking for your littles no matter how picky or what food allergens they have should be fun and use it as a time to explore new flavors and styles of cooking. Don’t be afraid to swap one thing out for another and make it work for you! After all, thats what kinda crunchy mama is all about. Finding the joy & balance in it all.

Until next time,

Kinda crunchy mama.