{ challenges }

We've been faced with some challenges of late with our youngest daughter, she already had some food intollerances, but at the end of last year following an illness her ability to tolerate even the basic building block foods was destroyed, so she is on an extremely limited diet and this has come with it's challenges so I've had to resort to getting very creative in the kitchen and come up with the following recipes. She is on a specialised formula to ensure that she is getting all the necessary elements, along with rice, buckwheat, quinoa and we are in the process of trialing rhubarb and beef is next on the list, so as you can see it is very limiting!

So here is the first of a few recipes that I have devised to ensure that she keeps getting a range of textures and doesn't develop aversions to eating different foods.

{Elecare Custard}

(we are using Vanilla Elecare for 1+ years)

Ingredients

3 Scoops of Elecare

2 Scoops of rice flour (use a spare scoop from a old tin of Elecare so you don't contaminte the formula)

180ml of water

* If you don't use the Vanilla Elecare, you can add in Vanilla Essence (I would not recommend the Vanilla Extract as it has alcohol in it)

1.  Premix the Elecare, I use some Avent cups I have that I used when expressing EBM.
2.  Place the Rice flour into a saucepan and slowly add the Elecare to form a paste and continue adding and whisking until combined, then heat, use a small element or flame
3. Continue to whisk until it thickens, don’t step away from it as it can go from runny to think very quickly especially the higher you have the heat
4. You will notice that as it gets close to thickening a white smoke/steam will rise from the pot, so don't step away!
5.  It thickens a bit more once cooled and if you don’t cover it, it will form a skin on top quite quikly to best to cover it as soon as you can.

 I've tried cooking this in the microwave but it just doesn't seem to thicken, so old school on the stove is the best way.

{Baked Egg and Elecare Custard}

(we are using Vanilla Elecare for 1+ years)

Ingredients

180ml of water and 2-3 scoops of Elecare depending on the strength that can be tolerated
1 large egg (we use free range eggs only)

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C
2. Boil a kettle with 2-4 cups of water
3. Beat egg until light and fluffy with a fork, I used a Tupperware Milkshake Shaker
4. Add in the water and Elecare and beat well until combined and all Elecare is dissolved
5. Place the mixture into an oven proof bowl, I used a small glass Pyrex bowl about 15cm across
6. Place the bowl in the centre of a large baking dish and fill the dish with the boiled water to 1/2-3/4
7. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes
8. Once cooked, it should still look a bit wobbly, but will have browned on top, take it out of the water bath and let cool and when cool enough place in the fridge
9. Once chilled serve, it should be cooked all the way through and be a smooth texture, similar to that of panacotta. If it is not cooked all the way through increase your cooking time by a few minutes.

Additional options

• If sugar is tolerated you can add 20grams of sugar to the mixture and mix until dissolved and bake as per above
• Sprinkle nutmeg over the top prior to cooking
• If you are using a different milk, i.e. rice milk, add in 1/4 teaspoon of Vanilla Essence