Dairy Free Goldfish Crackers

On Monday Nathan had some more blood tests done to test some foods that have occasionally given him random, mysterious rashes.  Cantaloupe, mango, cherry, and celery are all foods we’ve been cautious with and basically avoiding the past few months.  All I can say, is I wanted my cantaloupe back, and so did Nathan.  We have always been advised to avoid strawberry due to the high, natural histamine level of the food, but I was interested in introducing it into his diet.  I have been wanting to introduce sunflower into his diet, but have been to afraid to try new foods with him anymore.  To round it out, we tested his dairy, oat, and peanut levels to see what those trends were doing.  Thankfully, we received some good news today!  Here’s the low down…

Cantaloupe, sunflower, and mango came back negative.  I’ve been holding a cantaloupe in the fridge all week waiting to enjoy it, and that’s what we had with dinner tonight!

Strawberry, celery, cherry, and oat were all low positives, but doc was open to food challenges in his office whenever we’re ready.  The oat numbers had decreased, so we were happy about that one!

His dairy levels DROPPED from 62.0 to 37.0 in the past 6 months!  I was so happy I nearly cried when the nurse told me over the phone this afternoon.  The peanut levels dropped from 88 to 77 in the past 6 months.  Wow.  Progress.  Good news, finally.  I tell ya, the last 3 years have been difficult with balancing multiple food allergies and I had begun to get weary the last few weeks.  There is a light at the end of the tunnel, but until then….let’s make some dairy free goldfish crackers!  I tweaked my version a bit, but see the original recipe here.

Here’s what you’ll need:

2 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 cup dairy free, shredded cheese (I use Daiya)*

1/2 cup dairy free margarine (I use Earth Balance dairy & soy free)*

5 T cold water

*Keep in mind, you can make these with dairy cheese and butter if you don’t have a dairy allergy in your family.

Here’s what you do:

1.  Put the flour, salt, and garlic powder into a blender (that’s what I used) or food processor and mix by pulsing.

2.  Add the cheese and pulse until well combined.

3.  Add the margarine in small chunks, pulse more until well combined with flour & cheese mixture.  You may have to reach in with a spoon occasionally to get things moving (if kids are helping, you may want to unplug your blender or food processor at this point, unless you want cracker dough on the ceiling).

4.  Add one tablespoon of water at a time and pulse to mix if using a food processor.  If using a blender, you may want to transfer mixture to bowl before adding water, mixing by hand after each tablespoon of water is added.

5.  Transfer mixture to plastic wrap, form into a flattened circle, and wrap well, and refrigerate for at least an hour.

6.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Transfer dough to floured surface, and roll to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick using floured rolling pin.

7.  Using a mini goldfish cookie cutter (or your favorite mini cutter), cut your crackers in the dough.  You can also just use a pizza cutter and make them into squares and add a dot in the center with a fork.  That’ll give you instant Cheez-its.  Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

8.  Bake for 10-14 minutes or until done.  Allow to cool before transferring to an airtight container.

Please forgive me for the lack of pictures of the process in this post.  I don’t always get to take many pictures when making messes in the kitchen with Nathan.  The picture below is right before we transferred the crackers to the parchment paper for baking.

These crackers were definitely a hit with Nathan and his younger sister.  I’m betting they’ll be a hit at your house, too, and they’re easier to make than you imagine.  Edit:  A few people have been asking me where I bought my mini fish cookie cutter.  You can find it here on Amazon.  

Now it’s your turn….let me know what you think after you try these with your food allergic little ones.  Also, what recipe do you wish had a dairy free version?  Give me some inspiration to try something new!