Acorn bread

When we first learned of Rapunzel's food allergies, it was very overwhelming.  I made healthy choices when choosing foods for the kids to eat, but I also bought things in bulk, and bought "cheaper" things since I'm feeding so many.
 
When I started reading labels, I couldn't believe how many things had corn syrup in them.  Even the things that boasted "NO HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP".  Guess what the first ingredient in a lot of those was... "corn syrup".  Sure, it wasn't high fructose, but it was still corn. 

And cornstarch.  It's used so much for it's anti-caking properties.  It's in powdered sugar.  It's in lunchmeat.  It's in frozen french fries.  And more.

After researching and reading HUNDREDS of labels, I was able to find brands for these items that were corn-free.  When Trader Joe's opened here, I fell in love.  I found SO MANY corn-free items there for a FRACTION of what I was paying at Whole Foods or Sprouts.  And they tasted GOOD.

Corn isn't the only food allergy that Rapunzel has, but it was definitely the hardest to adjust to.  But after finding corn-free brands, it was easy to make subtle changes to my recipes.

The only thing we really miss is actual corn, which I obviously can't replace.  And cornbread.  Oh how my girl loved her some cornbread.  I didn't think there was any way to make a comparable substitution.  Until I came across a recipe for "corn" bread made with Cream of Wheat.  I didn't know if it would be similar enough, but it was worth a try!  So I bought some Cream of Wheat and gave them a try last night.

They're not exactly like corn bread, but they are definitely similar.  And they were a hit with everyone!  I think these will go into regular rotation around here!

Here's the recipe, for our "Acorn Bread" (you know, as in, non-corn bread)

Ingredients:
1 c. dry cream of wheat (regular, not instant)
1 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar (I actually used 1/3 c. because I like my cornbread sweet, and it still wasn't quite sweet enough, so next time I think I'll try 1/2 c)
2 eggs
1 c. milk
4 tsp. baking powder
4 Tbsp. cooking oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400*
Mix all ingredients together.  Pour into baking dish.
Bake at 400*:
12-15 minutes for muffins
20-25 minutes for square pan

We ate them with some butter spread on.

If you're trying to avoid corn, be sure that you have corn-free baking powder (yes, corn is in most brands), and don't use corn oil for your cooking oil (I use Canola oil).  We found this to be a pretty good substitute for corn bread!