Crock Pot Corned Turkey and Cabbage - Soy, Wheat, Dairy Free

  Corned beef and cabbage is traditional St. Patrick's Day food, and some people (my family included) eat it on New Year's Day to represent wealth and health in the coming year.

  The term 'corned' really means cured or pickled with salt rocks (or corns). You can buy beef brisket already seasoned and ready to be cooked, but to my knowledge there is no such turkey product. Thankfully pickling a turkey roast at home was very easy, only requiring time to cure, and because I cooked this in a crock pot it basically made itself!
This had a very similar flavor to corned beef, and it was moist and juicy thanks to the brining.This was a fabulous substitute for corned beef!

Remember when making this that it takes 3-5 days to cure the meat. This is NOT something you can rush, it just won't be the same.

Corned Turkey 

brine:
4 cups water
1/2 cup kosher salt
2 Tbl brown sugar, firmly packed
1 Tbl pickling spice
2 cloves minced garlic

1 3lb boneless turkey roast, thawed and gravy packet removed (We use Butterball roasts with white and dark meat)
1 small bag baby carrots, or 3-5 medium carrots peeled and chopped
1 large yellow onion, cut into 8ths
1 medium head of cabbage, coarsely chopped
6 oz beer (Gluten free, if necessary. Dark stout is the best, in my opinion)
 2 large russet potatoes, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 cup water
1 Tbl pickling spice

In a medium sauce pan, heat brine ingredients until sugar and salt are fully dissolved. Allow mixture to completely cool. Place turkey roast (netting still on but all other packaging removed) in a large Ziploc bag (we doubled up our Ziplocs just in case there was a leak!) and pour cooled brine mixture over turkey. Try to remove as much air as possible from the bag before zipping, then place in your refrigerator for 3-5 days, turning turkey twice a day to ensure an even brine.

Once ready to cook, place carrots, onions, and potatoes in crock pot. Pour one cup water over veggies. If desired, lightly sprinkle with salt. Discard brining fluid and place the turkey roast on top of the veggies. Pour beer over roast, then sprinkle the top of roast with pickling spice. Cook, covered, on high for 3 hours, then add cabbage to crock pot, recover, and continue to cook another hour.

Remove roast from crock pot and allow to rest on a plate for 10 minutes before cutting. Serve with veggies and sour kraut, mustard, or whatever your family likes with it!

Vegan Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Fried Onions - Soy and Wheat Free

  Our first Thanksgiving eating allergy-friendly, the green bean casserole recipe came from Living Without magazine... and it totally sucked. It wasn't their fault of course. Something I've figured out while eating allergen free is that recipes are just starting points, you have to tweak things to your own tastes in almost every case. But at the time, I did not know that.

  With that said, you may want to add or remove some items from this recipe, but this was really very good. And easy enough to make for Sunday dinner, nothing that has to be saved just for Thanksgiving or Christmas for sure.
 

Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Fried Onions

For Onions:
1 onion sliced into thin rings
1 cup GF all purpose flour (or original or GF Bisquick!)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 cup unsweetened plain almond milk or other non dairy milk
peanut or other oil for frying

For Green Beans and Sauce:
2 cans french cut green beans, drained
10 oz button mushrooms
1/2 tsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 Tbl coconut aminos (soy sauce substitute)
2 Tbl GF all purpose flour (or whole wheat, if not gluten intolerant)
3/4 cup vegetable broth
3/4 cup plain unsweetened almond milk or non dairy milk of choice




In a shallow bowl, pour 1 cup non dairy milk and add onion rings, allow to soak 5 or more minutes.
In another shallow bowl or pie pan, stir together flour and salt and pepper. Heat peanut oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Dredge onion rings through flour mixture, making sure to evenly coat all of the onion surface. Pan fry them, stirring often, for 3-4 minutes or until brown and crispy. Remove to a brown paper bag, patting with a paper towel to remove any excess oil. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 425.
Pop stems out of mushrooms and discard. Dice mushroom caps into small pieces. 
Heat olive oil in small pot over medium-high heat until hot. Add mushrooms, garlic, salt, and pepper and saute until mushrooms become dark and release their juices. In a small bowl, whisk the flour into the vegetable broth and then add it to the mushroom pot along with the coconut aminos. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. Add in almond milk and simmer another 5-10 minutes until thick again. Taste and add more salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and stir in green beans.

Pour green bean mixture into small greased casserole dish and top with green beans.  Bake for 15 minutes.

Taco Pie - Dairy, Egg, Soy Free with gluten free option

  Now that we've got our new computer up and running, I will be updating more often again! I had some yummy recipes from Thanksgiving that I want to share, but first I had to share this taco pie because it is soooo good. It is similar to the cheeseburger pie recipe I posted in October, but easier and more flavorful. This is our new family favorite!

Turkey Taco Pie with Cashew Sour Cream

1 lb lean ground turkey
1/2 tsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 Tbl chili powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup gluten free or original Bisquick
1 cup vegetable broth
EnerG egg replacer for 1 egg
1/2 cup Diaya cheddar and/or pepper jack shreds
Earth Balance Soy Free buttery spread to grease pie plate
 Sour cream: 
1 cup raw cashews
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup water
1 Tbl lemon juice

Preheat oven to 425.
Take a small pat of Earth Balance and spread it using your fingers over entire inner surface of a 9 inch pie plate.
In a medium skillet, heat olive oil until hot. Saute onions until transparent. Add turkey and brown over medium high, breaking up into small pieces. Once turkey is just browned, add in seasonings and 1/4 cup vegetable broth. Stir and simmer until liquid is completely evaporated. Remove from heat and set aside.
In a small bowl, mix Bisquick, 1 cup vegetable broth, and EnerG egg replacer until smooth. Set aside.
Scoop turkey into pie plate, trying to get mixture mostly level but not hard packed. Pour Bisquick mixture over turkey, shaking the pie plate slightly to evenly distribute among turkey. Bake for 30 minutes, then remove from oven and sprinkle with cheese shreds. Return to oven and cook for 5-10 minutes, until cheese is hot and bubbly. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, place 1 cup raw cashews in high powered blender. Add approximately 1/4 cup water, just enough to cover the cashews. Add salt and lemon juice and blend 3-5 minutes, until smooth.

Store left over sour cream in refrigerator in an air tight container for up to a week. It will thicken when refrigerated until almost the texture of cream cheese. It makes a fabulous base for dips!

We love our taco pie served with salsa and cashew sour cream. You can also add shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, olives, whatever your family enjoys on tacos. Enjoy!

Vegan Pumpkin Pie - Wheat/Gluten, Dairy, Soy, and Egg Free

  The gist of this recipe came from LunchBoxBunch. To be honest, the first time I made this it wasn't so hot, but that was my own fault. I put the cashews in water to soak and then a whole lot of things came up and, well... they ended up soaking for nearly 3 days. That results in gummy cashews that don't lend themselves to blending smoothly. So it was gritty and tasted awful, plus I think I didn't use enough syrup (because I tend to eyeball measurements more than maybe I should).
  But THIS time, following the recipe a tad more closely and with only a few minor tweaks, this pie was YU-U-UMMY!

Vegan Wheat Free Pumpkin Pie

Pie Crust
1/4 cup almond meal flour
3 tsp organic sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup melted soy free Earth Balance or coconut oil
2 tsp ice water
Oil or more melted Earth Balance to grease pie pan

Pie Filling
1 1/4 cup raw unsalted cashews
about 2/3 cup water (see directions)
15 oz pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie mix)
1 cup maple syrup
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/8 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400.
Combine almond flour, sugar, and 1/4 tsp salt in a bowl. Stir in melted Earth Balance or coconut oil with a fork until well combined. Slowly add in  ice water and stir until dough forms a firm ball. Wrap in wax paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a blender, add cashews and just enough water to cover cashews, about 2/3 cup. Blend until smooth and creamy, (I used the Dip/Sauce button on my Blentec twice, if using a regular blender this may take several minutes.) Add pumpkin puree, maple syrup, pumpkin pie spice, and salt and blend again until well mixed. You may have to stop and scrape the sides several times. Set aside.
After 30 minutes, you can roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface  to form a crust or just press it into a 9 inch greased pie plate.
Pour pumpkin pie filling into pie shell and cook for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake another 30-40 minutes, until outer edges of pie filling are puffed and fluffly looking and slightly darker than the rest of pie. If edges of crust start to get too dark, use strips of tin foil to cover. Remove from oven and allow to cool about 30-45 minutes, then refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
Serve with vanilla coconut ice cream. Mmmm!

Super Easy Spiced Cranberry Relish

  It's almost Thanksgiving, hooray! I still haven't been posting much since I lack the ability to upload and/or edit photos and that sort of takes the wind out of my sails. BUT I stole my husband's iPhone and it takes semi-decent pictures, so here is one of my favorite new recipes! This recipe makes about a cup, which is plenty for our small gathering, but could easily be doubled or tripled.

Just a note, though this is called 'spiced' and it contains cayenne pepper, it is not spicy hot at all. The pepper just really brings the sweet flavor to a new level, it's absolutely delicious on roasted turkey!

Spiced Cranberry Relish

1/4 cup organic sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 a large orange, peeled and chopped
2/3 cup fresh cranberries
1/8 tsp cinnamon
a dash ground cayenne pepper (more to taste)

In a small saucepan, heat water and sugar over medium heat until sugar is completely dissolved. Add oranges and cranberries and simmer, covered, over medium low heat about 15 minutes until cranberries are burst and easily smashed with a spoon. Add cinnamon and cayenne, cover and simmer another 5 minutes. Use a spoon to mash cranberries and orange pieces against the side of the pan until they are mostly all smooshed. Allow to cool for about 30 minutes and then place in an air tight container and chill 2 or 3 hours (or serve warm, if that's your style!) Sauce will thicken up as it cools.

Turkey and Dumpling Soup - Dairy, Egg, Soy Free with Wheat/Gluten Free Option

Dumpling soup is such a yummy comfort food that was always one of my favorites as a kid. It's often made with condensed cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup, and the only dairy free recipes I could find were very involved, calling for more than an hour worth of cooking. There is no need for that! This recipe was delicious and you'd have no idea it wasn't 'regular' dumpling soup.

Butterball makes these yummy little turkey breast loaves that my husband loves. I like the ease of being able to bake them from frozen because I have the darnedest time remembering to thaw anything out. Aaaanyway, we had one on Wednesday night and had a little less than half left over, so I used to rest to make dumpling soup. Yum!



Turkey and Dumpling Soup

1 medium onion, chopped
32 oz vegetable broth
1/2 cup plain unsweetened almond or other non dairy milk
1 1/2 Tbl cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water or non dairy milk till lump free
1 1/2 cup frozen mixed vegetables (corn, carrots, peas, and green beans preferably)
1 1/2 cups or so cooked turkey breast and thigh meat, cut or torn into pieces
1/4 tsp celery salt
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1 cup Bisquick or Gluten Free Bisquick
1/2 cup plain unsweetened almond or other non dairy milk
sprinkle of paprika (optional)

In a medium large stock pot, saute onions over medium heat until transparent. Add vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Stir in 1/2 cup almond milk and cornstarch/water mixture. Return to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Add frozen vegetables, turkey, salts and pepper.

In a medium bowl, mix Bisquick and non dairy milk together into a sticky dough. Using a spoon, scoop about 1/8 of the dough mixture out of the bowl and drop it into the soup pot (be careful not to drop it from too high so as to avoid splattering yourself with hot liquid!). Repeat with the rest of the dough. Cover and cook about 10 more minutes, turning the dumplings over once midway through cooking.
Serve sprinkled with paprika and enjoy!

Turkey Cheeseburger Pie - Dairy, Soy, and Egg Free with Gluten/Wheat Free option

  A lot of things have happened in the past month, but one of them is that we decided to try to reintroduce wheat into Jack's diet for two reasons: 1) he is officially in remission of eosinophilic esophagitis, having scoped clean even off of steroids. This does NOT mean that he can start eating any of the foods he was found to be allergic to and the disease will not come back. In fact, it almost certainly WILL come back if we added them back in. Which brings me to my next point 2) he hasn't actually tested positive to wheat in the last two skin prick allergy tests. So we started out with these teeny tiny graham cracker bunnies (the only graham product I could find that was still vegan and soy free), 3 on the first day, 5 the next, and 7 the next. When he had no reaction, drop in appetite, or unexplained crying episodes, we made him a quesadilla with wheat tortillas (omg, SO hard to find soy free tortillas!!), Diaya cheese and Earth Balance Soy Free spread. He loved it! So after a three week trial, we've decided he may be ok, but we aren't completely letting our guard down.
  Anyway, we bought a box of Bisquick and have been going wild making biscuits, pancakes, and waffles using non dairy milk and egg replacer. Such a normal thing had brought so much joy to our lives, who knew!

  For those of you who are gluten or wheat free, Bisquick makes a gluten free mix that you can substitute in here 1:1. We could not use it though since it's main ingredient is rice flour.

Anyway, all of that to tell you that this recipe is super tasty! We will definitely be making this again, it was so easy!

Turkey Cheeseburger Pie

1 lb lean ground turkey
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
optional: 1 Tbl Worcestershire sauce, 1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp olive oil
1/2+ cup Diaya cheddar shreds
1/2 cup Bisquick or Gluten Free Bisquick mix
1 cup unsweetened plain dairy free milk
Ener-G egg replacer for 3 eggs
optional: 3 slices turkey bacon, cut into small pieces

Preheat oven to 400. Pour olive oil into a 9 inch pie pan and spread it around with a paper towel.
In a medium skillet over medium high heat, add ground turkey and onion. Cook, breaking up turkey, until completely browned and onions are transparent. Add salt and pepper (and optional Worcestershire sauce and garlic powder, if using,) and stir until incorporated. If there is any liquid in the pan, drain it off or raise heat to high for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly to cook it off.
Place turkey mixture into pie pan. Sprinkle with cheese shreds and set aside.
In a small bowl, mix bisquick, egg replacer, and non dairy milk until lump free. Pour over turkey and cheese.
At first it may look like you don't have enough bisquick batter but just gently shake your pie pan or even pat the top of the mixture with a spoon and it will soon incorporate the entire mixture. If using, sprinkle the top with turkey bacon pieces.
Bake for 25-35 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean and top just lightly starts to brown. Allow to cool and set 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Serve with ketchup or barbeque sauce as you would a cheeses burger, or enjoy on it's own!

Chocolate Pudding - Dairy/Soy Free, Vegan, Raw

  My very first post on this blog was for vegan chocolate pudding. Now, you must understand that I was just starting to cook Jack friendly and though I had a lot of heart, I didn't have many tricks up my sleeve. I thought that that pudding was good because I had set the standard for allergy friendly food very low, assuming as most do that it all was going to taste a little off, be unsatisfying, or require me to stop shaving my armpits and start growing my own veggies to enjoy it.
  It's been nearly a year since that first post, and boy have things changed! My standards for allergy free foods now are just as high if not higher than they are for foods with the 'right' ingredients. I love to see the shock and surprise on people's faces when they realize that Jack's food is actually... food!
  So here is my new chocolate pudding recipe. I will add the picture later, I just don't want to forget this recipe!

Chocolate Pudding

1 cup raw cashews
1 cup coconut milk
1 heaping Tbl unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tbl chocolate syrup, such as Hershey's Genuine Syrup (optional!)
1 heaping Tbl sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth, about 3 minutes in a regular blender or 45+ seconds in a high power blender like Blendtec or Vitamix. Place into an air tight container and refrigerate for 30 minutes to set. Enjoy!

Boneless Buffalo Wings - Dairy, Wheat/Gluten, Soy Free

  It's football season...hooray. I guess marrying the man I did and then having two boys I should have known it wasn't going to be all Mystery Diagnosis and The People's Court on tv all day long but come on, man! It's baseball 24/7 until it's Football 24/7, until it's Baseball season again, with brief periods of golf and hockey in between. Oh yeah, and Nick Jr. Can't a girl get a break?!

  *Fwew* Glad I got that off my chest! So anyway, we wanted to try to make some sort of hot wings to eat while we watched the game, but since it seems almost impossible to get turkey wings around here (plus they'd be huge), I used turkey cutlets cut into chicken nugget-sized pieces. These were really tasty though the breading of course is not exactly like wheat breading. I'm not a fan at all of pan frying things, and I'm terrible at it, so you can pan fry these at your own risk but I can't tell you how, sorry.

  Also, Frank's Buffalo Sauce is vegan (it contains "natural butter type flavor" but when I called their 1-800 number I was assured that it is dairy free) and gluten free... its basically vinegar, cayenne, and butter flavor. But if you would like to make delicious vegan buffalo sauce from scratch, here's a great recipe.

Boneless Turkey Buffalo Wings

1 lb turkey cutlets, cut into 1 inch strips or nugget size pieces
1 cup corn meal (or use 1 cup Zatarain's Crispy Southern Fish Fri and omit the lemon pepper seasoning from the recipe)
1/2 cup GF All purpose flour (Bob's Red Mill)
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp lemon pepper seasoning, optional but recommended
3 Tbl FRANK'S buffalo sauce
*Optional 1/2 cup plain unsweetened almond milk

Preheat fryer to 375.
In a shallow dish or pie pan, stir together fish fri, flour, salt, and lemon pepper.
Toss turkey in flour mixture until well coated. We've found you get a slightly crunchier crust if you squeeze the turkey in your palm after flouring and then let them sit a few minutes before frying, but this is no way necessary. Fry in batches for 3-5 minutes, until just browned and crispy. Drain on a brown paper bag.
In a medium mixing bowl, toss fried turkey in buffalo sauce.
Serve hot, with carrot sticks and celery and dairy free soy free ranch.

*If you prefer a thicker, crispier crust, after tossing turkey in flour mixture, dip into almond milk (or other dairy free milk or melted Soy Free Earth Balance buttery spread) and re-dip in flour mixture before frying.

Potato and Sausage Breakfast Bake - Wheat/Gluten, Diary, Soy Free

 We needed breakfast and had some left over produce laying around that needed to be used before it went bad (I HATE throwing away money by letting food spoil!), so I threw this together this morning and it was so yummy I had to share!

Potato and Sausage Breakfast Bake

I sprinkled mine with fresh cilantro and ate it with salsa!

1lb ground turkey sausage (We use cheap ol' Jenni-O in a tube)
4 medium russet potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1 inch cubes
1/2 medium white onion, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 tsp olive oil
6 (or so) white mushrooms, washed and sliced
1 cup Daiya cheese shreds (pepper jack or cheddar)
1/2 tsp salt
4-5 cracks of fresh ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375.
In a skillet heated to medium-high heat, add turkey sausage, onion, and bell pepper. Break up the sausage with a wooden spoon, and cook stirring occasionally until all the sausage is browned and onions are translucent. Drain grease thoroughly.

Add the olive oil to a 3 qt casserole dish and spread it around with a paper towel to evenly coat the bottom. Place potatoes, mushrooms, Daiya, , salt, and sausage/veggie mixture into casserole dish and stir until well mixed. Sprinkle black pepper on top and bake for 40 minutes.

Turn broiler on to  high and broil for 2-5 minutes, until tops of potatoes are browned and crisp.

Great on it's own or with salsa.

Pumpkin Pancakes - Wheat/Gluten, Soy Free and Vegan

  This recipe for pumpkin pancakes came from the most recent issue of Something Special, a magazine for parents of children with special needs (for those of you new to this blog, my 3 year old son who has all these fun food allergies also has a rare chromosomal deletion resulting in intellectual disability). This is one of the few recipes I've ever found that we could follow exactly as written and these were wonderful. They tasted great, and not just for gluten free pancakes!
  Enjoy this yummy fall treat with other mix-ins like chopped nuts, raisins, or even vegan chocolate chips.
Makes approximately 12 5-inch pancakes (and several silver dollar sized pancakes, which my kids love!)

Pumpkin Pancakes

2 cups gluten free all purpose flour (We used Bob's RedMill GF All Purpose)
2 Tbl brown sugar
1 Tbl baking powder
1 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or 3/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/8 tsp ginger and 1/8 tsp ground cloves)
1 tsp salt
egg replacer for one egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 3/4 cup almond milk (or other non dairy milk), we used vanilla flavored
2 Tbl olive oil
Optional Soy Free Earth Balance buttery spread

Preheat a skillet on medium high heat.
Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, mix all wet ingredients together. Whisk wet ingredients into flour mixture and stir until thick and slightly lumpy.
Pour about 1/4 cup at a time onto hot skillet. Once top of pancakes are no longer shiny (1-3 minutes), flip and cook other side. Spread with a layer of Earth Balance and top with maple syrup.
*Tip* keep finished pancakes warm while you cook the rest, place in an oven heated to 200 degrees.

Lazy Peach Crisp - Wheat, Dairy, Soy Free

  Here's a fun fact; I used to work in the kitchen at a hospital birthing center. My job was to make the desserts for lunch and dinner everyday for all the new mamas, and one of my specialities was "Peach Crisp". When I was first introduced to the hospital's current version, I was horrified to see a gelatinous bowl of peach pie filling with a handful of graham cracker crumbs thrown on top and a plop of melted whip cream. Nothing screams "Get well soon so you can get the hell out of here and eat real food again!" like that sad, sorry dish.
  I only had what was available to us in the kitchen to work with, but with some ingenuity I morphed that worthless recipe into the best tasting institutional peach crisp that's ever been tasted, and we'd get plenty of post dinner calls from nurses, "*Sigh* Do you guys have any more peach crisp? Room 134 is requesting more".
  My recipe? Crushed frosted flakes, graham crackers, brown sugar, and melted butter mixed together into a crumbly mess and then scattered onto a casserole dish of drained sliced peaches and peach pie filling, baked until actually crisp. Yum!

 Oook, so where was I going with that? Oh yeah, I made a lazy version tonight (I would love to recreate teh real recipe once I find a decent graham cracker substitute) that I did not take a picture of because it in fact resembled the original sad, lame looking peach crisp recipe. Even though it wasn't a pretty presentation, I'm putting it on here because it tasted really very good and only required a few ingredients.

This recipe serves two generously.

Lazy Peach Crisp

1 can sliced peaches in light syrup
1/2 Tbl corn starch mixed with 1 Tbl water
1 Tbl brown sugar (or agave nectar, honey, stevia, etc)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup frosted corn flakes, crushed
1/2 cup vanilla SO Delicious coconut ice cream
cinnamon for sprinkling

In a small saucepan, heat peaches and syrup over medium heat.
Add in vanilla and brown sugar. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat, stirring frequently. Once peaches begin to fall apart (about 10 minutes), slowly stir in corn starch/water mixture. Continue to stir until the syrup thickens, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool until luke warm. Serve in bowls with corn flake crumbs sprinkled on top and vanilla ice cream on the side.

Turkey Sausage Stuffing (Dressing) - Wheat, Dairy, Egg, Soy Free

  We're having a cold spell here in North Texas. With Fall just around the corner, it's like we got to start celebrating the new cooler season a little early. So today we had a mini Thanksgiving just for fun. We had grilled turkey cutlets, stuffing, and mashed potatoes and peach cobbler!
  I decided to make the stuffing on a whim and as such did not have all the ingredients, no celery or carrots and I usually would have made this with ground turkey sausage, but it was really good! I'd never thought of eating stuffing on any day other than Thanksgiving but this was easy enough that I think it could become a side dish (or even entree) we have often.

By the way, you could easily leave out the turkey to make this completely vegan and it would still be delicious, and add in sauteed celery and carrots for a more traditional stuffing.

This recipe makes 4 large servings.

Turkey Sausage Stuffing

6 slices of wheat free bread of choice (Food For Life White Rye)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup vegetable broth
1  turkey kielbasa sausage, sliced into coins OR ground turkey sausage
1 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp celery salt
1/8 tsp poultry seasoning
1/2 green apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
1/2 cup raisins
Soy Free Earth Balance buttery spread to grease pan

Preheat oven to 400.
Cut bread into half inch cubes, spread evenly on a cookie sheet, and bake 10-15 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and saute until transparent. Add vegetable broth to pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat slightly. Stir in salt, celery salt, and turkey sausage. Continue to simmer about 5 minutes (If using ground turkey sausage, cook until completely browned) .
In a mixing bowl, stir toasted bread cubes, apple, and raisins together. Pour broth mixture over bread cubes and stir until evenly coated. Sprinkle on poultry seasoning and toss to incorporate.
Spread a thin layer of Earth Balance around a 1.5 qt casserole dish. Pour stuffing mix into casserole dish and bake about 15-20 minutes, until the top begins to brown slightly.

Turkey Enchilada Casserole - Dairy, Wheat, Soy Free

  Ok, look. I know I am always saying everything is delicious but this is seriously DELICIOUS. I mean it. My dad came over for dinner tonight and I was nervous because he can sometimes have a hard time accepting Daiya cheese, but he raved how great it was through the whole meal, as did the rest of us.

  This involved a lot of cheese, it's not a typo, but trust me, it's great. The recipe made enough for 3 adults who ate way too much and two kids plus one portion leftover; you could halve the recipe pretty easily if making it for fewer people.

Mexican Enchilada Casserole

2 cups canned tomato sauce
3 Tbl chili powder
1/2 cup water

1/2 Tbl olive oil
1 1/2 lbs ground turkey
1 medium white onion, chopped
1 Tbl paprika
2 Tbl chili powder
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 bag Daiya cheddar shreds
1 bag Daiya pepper jack shreds
12 corn tortillas, cut in half
olive oil to grease dish

Preheat oven to 425.
In a medium sauce pan, stir tomato sauce, chili powder, and water together. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat. Simmer, stirring often, until sauce has thickened, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
In a medium skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add onion, turkey, and seasonings. Break turkey up while cooking until well crumbled and browned. Stir about 1/4 of the tomato sauce mixture into the turkey. Remove from heat.

Grease a 3 quart casserole dish. Mix pepper jack and cheddar cheeses together in a bowl or large ziploc bag. Place 8 tortilla on the bottom of the dish, arranging to cover as much of the bottom as possible. Spread about 1/3 of the cheese on top. Add 1/2 of the meat mixture, 1/3 of the remaining sauce, and repeat with the cheese, meat, sauce again. Top with remaining 8 tortilla halves, then spread on the rest of the sauce, making sure to completely wet all parts of the tortillas (other wise they will dry out and be pretty inedible). Sprinkle with the last of the cheese and bake for 20-30 minutes, until the edges are bubbly and brown.

Allow to cool 10 minutes and then cut and serve with black olives, sliced green onions, and cashew sour cream.

Ranch Mashed Potatoes - Vegan and Soy Free

  I don't know if anyone else does this, but my husband used to eat mashed potatoes with ranch dressing stirred in. Legend has it that he and his sister would never eat potatoes (or any vegetable, for that matter) unless properly coated in ranch and so this is how he learned to eat them. His palette has refined somewhat now, he will eat most any vegetable except broccoli, but he does still like his ranch potatoes.
  Rather than make ranch dressing to stir into the potatoes tonight I thought I'd try just adding most of the ingredients that go into ranch. It was much easier and tasted wonderful, so I am passing the recipe on down to you!

 You can use any instant mashed potato flakes that suit your needs, just prepare them as per package direction using unsweetened plain non dairy milk in place of milk and soy free Earth Balance in place of butter, OR you can boil and mash your own potatoes using the same ingredients.

Ranch Mashed Potatoes

By the way, that other thing is a turkey patty with gravy on it.
Not the prettiest looking thing.

4 servings of hot prepared mashed potatoes
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp dried dill weed
1/8 tsp dried parsley
1/8 tsp dried basil
a few cracks of fresh ground black pepper
2 Tbl Soy Free Earth Balance

Stir all ingredients together. That's it!
Ideally these would be slightly thinner than normal mashed potatoes (imagine that you'd poured real ranch into regular potatoes), but if you want them to still be stiffer, leave out the extra Earth Balance.

Vegan and Soy Free Ranch Revised

  Before we found out about Jack's rice allergy, the very best way we'd found to make dairy free ranch dressing was to use soy free Vegenaise as a base. (Recipe here). Since we lost rice, we've found a few different yummy ways to make salad dressings and dips that are creamy and tasty, but they were never quite right.

  Well this recipe is still not 100% Hidden Valley, but it is so close I bet most non-vegan or allergy restricted partakers would not think it was dairy free. ((Since this is made with nuts, one of the top 8 allergens, it's probably wise to inform your guests about it's ingredients before they eat it though).

  I used my Blendtec blender for this. If you do not have as powerful a blender, you can still make this recipe but you may have to blend it for much longer, or ideally soak your cashews in water the night before.

Vegan and Soy Free Cashew Ranch

1 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup water
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup plain unsweetened almond milk
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2+ tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried dill weed
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried basil

In a blender, add cashews and water and blend until smooth (Using the Blendtec I went to speed 2 and let it run it's whole cycle twice). This could be 5 or more minutes using a less powerful blender and unsoaked cashews.
In a separate small bowl, add almond milk and lemon juice and allow to sit for a few minutes until 'curdled'.
Once the cashews are smooth, add the almond milk/ lemon juice mixture, olive oil, and all seasonings to blender and blend until completely combined. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. We ended up using about 1 tsp salt altogether.

You can also add other seasonings to this such as chipotle powder or pepper corns. The cashew cream, olive oil, and almond milk/lemon juice mixture makes an excellent base for lots of dips and dressings, more than once we have a had a great tasting salad dressing that I can never recreate because I just threw things into the blender, so feel free to experiment!
It even makes a pretty good mayonnaise substitute (add salt). It should not be watery, if it is add more cashews to the mix and blend again. It will thicken even more in the fridge.
Store in an air tight container in the fridge for up to a week.

Spicy Peanut Butter Turkey - Dairy, Soy, Wheat/Gluten Free

  This sounds strange but is so tasty. I discovered it online and started making way back before we knew about most of Jack's allergies. Back then, we made it with chicken and real soy sauce and served it over brown rice. We've had to adjust the recipe some since then but it still is one of our very favorite dishes. Even though it has very few ingredients, it has a complex flavor and along with the spiciness and peanuts, it's very reminiscent of Thai food.

  Also, I recently discovered coconut aminos while at a great local health food store called The Sunflower Shoppe. It's soy free but tastes pretty close to soy sauce, though milder. The downside of that is that to replicate the flavor intensity of a recipe calling for soy sauce, you have to use a ton of it and, well, it ain't cheap. So if you have this stuff available to you, give it a try. Maybe you'll like the milder flavor and the convenience of not having to make your own "soy sauce" and it'll be worth the price. Here's my favorite soy sauce substitute recipe that works really well in this dish.

Also, you can adjust the spiciness by adding more or less red pepper flakes. 1 tsp is about what we use and it's not too hot for my 3 year old and almost 2 year old, but they have strange palates!

Spicy Peanut Butter Turkey

1 lb turkey cutlets, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 Tbl olive oil
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
1 cup chunky peanut butter (smooth works fine too but isn't as fun!)
1/3 cup soy sauce substitute (recipe linked above), soy sauce, or 1/2 cup coconut aminos + 1 tsp salt
1/2 cup water
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt
2-3 green onions, thinly sliced
2 cups cooked quinoa (preferably cooked in vegetable broth rather than water, for flavor)

In a measuring cup or small bowl, mix peanut butter, soy sauce, and water until smooth and blended. Stir in pepper flakes, garlic, and onion powder and 1/2 tsp salt. Set aside.*
In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add turkey, salt, and pepper. Stir frequently to prevent turkey from sticking to skillet, about 6-8 minutes until cooked through and beginning to brown a bit.
Reduce heat to medium-low. Pour peanut butter mixture into skillet with turkey and stir constantly, being sure to scrape the bottom well, for 5 minutes. Stir in sliced green onions.
Serve over quinoa.

*The longer this mixture sits, the better all the flavors become. If possible, make this 30 minutes or so before you start cooking, but the flavor will still be great if you make it right before hand.

Turkey Corn Dog Bites- Dairy, Egg, Wheat/Gluten Free

  Ian's Natural Foods has a whole line of allergy-free, kid friendly frozen foods, like fish sticks and chicken nuggets. They also have these great Jack friendly turkey corn dog bites that we love, but they are a tad on the pricey side and I tend to shy away from pre-packaged foods if possible, so I tried my hand at making them myself.
  I was able to make a reasonable facsimile. I think that if these were frozen while the batter was still raw and then baked, they may be even better, and I'd like to try that next time!

Turkey Corn Dog Bites

1 package turkey hot dogs, room temperature and cut into fourths
1/4 package of Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free corn bread mix
1 Tbl sugar
Ener-G egg replacer for 2 eggs
1 Tbl Earth Balance Soy Free Buttery Spread, melted
3/4 cup or so plain unsweetened coconut milk or other non dairy milk
olive oil to grease plate

Pre-heat your deep fryer to 375*
In a medium mixing bowl, stir together corn bread mix and sugar. Stir in egg replacer and melted earth balance. Start adding in milk 1/4 cup at a time, stirring thoroughly, until mixture is the consistency of a milkshake.
Grease a plate generously with olive oil.
Dry hot dog pieces well with a paper towel and then dunk them into the corn mixture. Set dipped pieces on greased plate until you have enough for a fryer batch (for my Presto Cool Daddy, that was about 13 pieces).
Fry for about 5 minutes, until golden and beginning to brown. Drain well on brown paper bag and serve.

*If you do not have a deep fryer, you can pan fry these on your stove top in corn oil or your other favorite kind of oil for 4-5 minutes per side.
You can also try baking these at 400 for about 20 minutes, but this is just my best guess as I have NOT tried baking these before. You will have to use your judgement whether it needs more or less time.

 

Cereal Bar Treats - Dairy, Soy, Wheat/Gluten Free

  We had lots of cereal that was going (or already) stale on our pantry shelves. I was just about to throw it out when I thought, well, I might as well try to make rice-crispy type things out of them and see how they come out. The worst that could happen was I would still end up throwing it out.

  I just started melting random stuff in a pot and lucky for my dear husband, these came out tasting like crunchy Reese's. "Oh my god.... you have GOT to write that recipe down" is just about the best compliment a wife can get :D


Cereal Bar Treats

1/2 cup honey, agave nectar, or corn syrup
3/4 cup natural peanut butter (or other nut or seed butter)
3 Tbl Earth Balance Soy Free Buttery Spread
1 cup allergen free marshmallows
2 cups cereal of choice (We used a mix of stale Honey Kix, Honey Nut Chex, and plain Corn Chex)
1/3 cup or so vegan chocolate chips
olive oil for greasing the pan
1 pinch sea salt

Generously grease a small cake pan or casserole dish with olive oil. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan, heat honey, peanut butter, and Earth Balance over medium heat and stir until smooth. Add in marshmallows and stir until melted. Remove from heat. Fold in cereal and continue folding until evenly coated. Toss in chocolate chips and stir just a few times, enough to spread  them throughout the mixture. They will melt, but you are trying to keep the melted chocolate from completely mixing into the peanut butter. You want to have a marbled effect so some bites have more peanut butter and some have more chocolate.
Spread mixture into the cake pan and pat with a wet spatula until well packed and level. Sprinkle the top with a pinch of sea salt.
Refrigerate for 1-2 hours, until set. Cut into bars and enjoy!

These do not hold up after a few minutes at room temperature, so store in an air tight container in the fridge and serve chilled.

Peaches and Cream Breakfast Quinoa

I love quinoa, but one thing I've noticed about it is that it doesn't seem to lend itself to sweeter, breakfast-y type applications. Or so I thought! I'm so over toast and turkey sausage and was at a loss as to what to make this morning that didn't involve a bunch of dishes like making pancakes or biscuits and gravy does, when I came across a Martha Stewart recipe for Breakfast Quinoa. Her recipe called for whole milk (can't use) and blueberries (didn't have) so I improvised, added some things, and ended up with a really tasty peaches and cream almost-oatmeal! Of course it did have a quinoa-y taste to it but only slightly and if you are used to that flavor, it's no big deal at all. My husband and kids readily ate this up, Jack even tried very hard to use his spoon (we're still working on that) :) Sorry there is no picture, it looked about as photogenic as oatmeal though which is to say, tasted better than it looked!

Peaches and Cream Breakfast Quinoa

1 1/2 cups quinoa, rinsed
3 cups vanilla almond milk (or other vanilla non-dairy milk of choice)
1 cup frozen peaches, thawed slightly and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
4 Tbl white sugar
1 Tbl brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract

Add milk and quinoa to a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once simmering, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 15 minutes, or until milk is about 3/4 absorbed. Stir in peaches, sugars, cinnamon, and vanilla and continue to simmer until milk is completely absorbed, about 8 more minutes. (I actually waited to stir the peaches in until the quinoa was completely done so that they would cool it quickly for my impatient little boys!)

Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread - Wheat/Gluten, Dairy, Egg Free, Vegan

I don't know what I was thinking but I decided to make chili and cornbread tonight when my dad came over. I thought I'd get a little fancy with the cornbread, and good thing, because after helping my dad and husband unload said husband's 1968 Mustang from a car trailer and pushing it (with under inflated tires) uphill into the garage in 106 degree weather, chili sounded like the absolute WORST idea ever and we ended up just eating these tasty cornbread muffins.

The secret to making these so ooey-gooey and delicious is using Daiya's new wedge cheese rather than their shreds. You can still use the shreds, but it won't be nearly as fabulous.

Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread Muffins

1 package Bob's Red Mill gluten free cornbread mix
Ener-G egg replacer for 2 eggs
1 1/2 cup unsweetened plain almond (or other non-dairy) milk
1/3 cup Earth Balance Soy Free Buttery Spread, melted
1 jalapeno, half seeded and diced, the other half sliced into 12 half circles
1/3 package Daiya Cheddar Wedge, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
Olive oil to grease muffin pan

Preheat oven to 375.
In a medium bowl, stir cornbread mix, cheese cubes and diced jalapeno together. Slowly stir in non dairy milk, egg replacer, and melted butter.
Grease muffin pan lightly with olive oil. Fill cups 1/3 of the way with cornbread batter and press one slice of jalapeno on top of each. Bake 20-25 minutes, until muffins have risen and are ever so lightly browned on top.
Allow to cool for 3 minutes and then pop them out of the muffin tin with a spoon. Serve with more Earth Balance smeared on top and enjoy!

Microwave Sweet Potato Chips

  This is just a quick recipe and no picture as my camera STILL is m.i.a. but I found this on Pinterest using regular potatoes and I decided to try it with some sweet potatoes we had laying around and oh my goodness!! These were just like store bought chips, but they took me 6 minutes to make!
 These are so quick, you can whip some up to go with your sandwich for lunch.

Microwave Sweet Potato Chips

one medium sweet potato, scrubbed
about 2 tsp olive oil
about 1 tsp salt
optional seasonings, like chipotle powder or my favorite, lemon pepper seasoning

Slice sweet potato into very thin slices, 1/8 of an inch or less (I highly recommend a mandolin for this). Toss slices and all other ingredients together in a bowl until well coated.
Pour a drop or two of olive oil on a microwave safe plate and use a paper towel to spread it around. Place potato slices in a single layer on plate (you'll have to do a few batches). Microwave for 4 minutes, then carefully turn slices over and cook for another 2 minutes. Move to a cool plate and they will crisp up in seconds as they cool. Presto, perfect potato chips!

Baked Turkey Meatballs - Egg, Dairy, Wheat/Gluten Free

  Still haven't found the camera, and my phone's camera leaves a little something to be desired...

  We had spaghetti and meatballs last night and think I am in love! The meatballs were yummy and so easy to make and can be made ahead and frozen (directions for freezing and reheating at the bottom). Everyone loved them, and they were easy to cut into bite size pieces for Jack to pick up without falling apart. Yay for meatballs!

Baked Turkey Meatballs

1.25 lbs lean ground turkey
2 Tbl Worcestershire sauce (or ketchup)
2 slices allergen free bread of choice, processed into crumbs OR prepared wheat/gluten/allergen free bread crumbs
1 Tbl olive oil
2/3 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1/2 Tbl Italian seasonings
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/3 cup Daiya Mozzarella Shreds (optional)

Preheat oven to 375.
Line a small casserole dish with parchment paper.
Mix all ingredients together until well blended. Form about 1 1/2 Tbl scoops of meat mixture into balls with your hands. Place meatballs in casserole dish leaving about 1/8 of an inch or more in between each to allow even cooking.
Bake for 25 minutes, until cooked all the way through and lightly browned on top.

To freeze, drain fat/juices out of casserole dish. Cover dish with a paper towel and let cool about 20 minutes. Remove paper towel, place casserole dish in the freezer, and freeze about 1 hour (This step will keep your frozen meatballs from sticking to each other). Remove meatballs from casserole dish and place in zippered freezer bag. When you want to reheat, remove as many as you need and heat at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes. You could boil them in pasta sauce or microwave them too, I'm sure, but I can't guess at the time.

Breakfast Sausage Gravy - Dairy, Wheat/Gluten, Soy, Rice Free

  This was an update to my first recipe, but this, my third version, is easier and the absolute best.

 We just moved into our new house, woohoo!!! I still have not found my camera, but I tried my hand at making breakfast gravy without rice flour (original recipe containing rice here) for the first time Sunday morning and it was so good, I had to share the recipe! So just use your imagination... it looked just like the normal sausage gravy you'd get on biscuits and gravy at a restaurant, but not quite as white. And it was delicious! Now I was experimenting so my measurements weren't exact, you'll have to fiddle around to get the right consistency if it's not quite right, either adding more flour or more liquid, but here is a good starting point. Thankfully this stuff is very forgiving.

Sausage Gravy

1 lb turkey breakfast sausage (preferably Jenni-O in a tube cheapo stuff)
3 Tbl Soy Free Earth Balance buttery spread
about 1 cup Bob's Red Mill GF pancake mix
about 1 1/2 cups plain unsweetened non-dairy milk of choice (we used almond)
water, if necessary
salt and pepper to taste

In a medium skillet with high sides, or even in a sauce pan, heat and break up sausage until just browned . If you've used the cheap stuff, there should be a lot of fluid in the pan*. Drain this fluid into a bowl and set aside, continue browning the sausage until you get some nice crispy edges. Remove the sausage onto a plate and set aside. It's ok, in fact encouraged, to leave behind some bits of turkey and any grease.
In the skillet or pan on medium/low heat, melt Earth Balance. Slowly whisk pancake mix flour into the melted butter until it forms a batter/dough that looks thick enough that you could pick it up but not thick enough to roll into a ball or anything. Stir it around to brown in the pan for about 30 seconds.
Have your almond milk ready right by the stove for this next step. Take the fluid from the sausage meat and SLOWLY whisk it into the pan. At this point, the pancake mix and the juices are going to puff up and make some sort of funky looking cake but just keeping breaking it up with the whisk. Immediately start whisking in the almond milk, breaking up any clumps that may have formed. If gravy is too thick at this point, stir in some water. If it is too thin, bring it to a boil and simmer it for a few minutes. It will thicken as it cools also.
Stir the sausage back into the gravy, and add salt and lots of pepper to taste.

*If your sausage meat does not have a lot of excess fluid in it, you probably used better quality stuff, and that's ok! Just skip the step which calls for whisking in the fluid and start whisking in the non-dairy milk. You will probably need more milk or water than called for to get the right consistency but it should be fine.

Turkey Meatloaf Muffins - Gluten/Wheat, Dairy, Egg, Soy Free

So I tried to make these poor little things once before and learned a good lesson about using quality ingredients... if you use cheap ground turkey with a high fat content, you will not get these to keep from falling apart. Sorry, Jenni-O in a tube, you are so cheap and you have your place, just not in a meatloaf (or meatballs!).

I replaced the usual need for egg and bread crumbs/oats simply by using cooked quinoa. This works fabulously and packs terrific nutritional benefits, too!

You are pretty much free to add or remove any seasonings that you want, meatloaf can be spicy and southwestern, pretty basic and just salty, you can add raisins, shredded veggies,  cheese... do whatever you want! That's the beauty of meatloaf!

Cheese Filled Meatloaf Muffins

1.25 lbs ground turkey
1 cup cooked quinoa (still hot if possible)
1 shake (about 1/2 a tsp) hot sauce
3 Tbl ketchup
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp garlic powder
2-3 cracks of fresh ground black pepper
1 green bell pepper chopped finely (reserve about 1/4 cup for topping)
1/2 red onion, finely chopped (reserve about 1/8 cup for topping)
1/2 cup Daiya mozzarella cheese shreds

Mashed potato 'frosting'
Use your favorite dairy/soy free mashed potato recipe or use this:

2 Tbl Earth Balance Soy Free Buttery Spread
1 cup water
1/2 cup unsweetened plain almond milk
1 cup mashed potato flakes
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt to taste


Preheat oven to 375.
Mix all the meatloaf ingredients except Diaya together. Spoon mixture into muffin tins, pressing down with the back of the spoon, making sure it's very compact. Once all tins are filled, press your finger into the center of each muffin and fill the hole with Daiya shreds.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the mashed potatoes. Bring Earth Balance and water to a boil. Remove from heat, stir in mashed potato flakes. Slowly pour in dairy-free milk until you get a good consistency for frosting, you don't want these to be runny (like I prefer to eat them by themselves) but also not dry and crumbly either. Stir in seasonings.
When the 20 minutes is up, remove the 'muffins' from the oven.
Scoop the mashed potatoes into a ziploc bag (make sure it's a bag with regular pointy corners, the larger bags sometimes have strange squared off corners that don't work). Cut the corner off about 1/2 an inch up and pipe the mashed potatoes onto the tops of the meatloaves. Top with onions and bell pepper and bake for another 10 minutes, then broil for 2-4 minutes, until the mashed potatoes begin to brown.

Allow to cool about 5 minutes and you can remove these easily with a spoon since the meat shrinks from the sides of the pan while cooking.

Dairy and Soy Free Nacho Cheese and Sour Cream

  So these two things are obviously great for making nachos, like the ones we had tonight with taco-seasoned ground turkey, black beans, salsa, and corn tortilla chips. But they also have other applications; the cheese sauce goes great over broccoli and other vegetables and the sour cream makes a fabulous base for dressings, especially ranch (use in place of Vegenaise Mayo). Also if you follow the same sour cream recipe but use less water, it makes a great substitute for ricotta in lasagnas!

I know, I know. It needs olives.

Dairy Free Nacho Cheese 

2 Tbl Earth Balance Soy Free Buttery Spread
1 cup Daiya pepperjack shreds
1/4 cup unsweetened plain almond or other non-dairy milk (more if necessary)
pinch each of ground mustard, turmeric, and onion powder
1/2 tsp lemon juice
salt to taste
dash of cayenne (optional)

In a medium saucepan, heat Earth Balance until completely melted. Add Daiya cheese shreds and 1/4 cup almond milk. Stir occasionally until cheese is melted and smooth. Stir in the rest of the ingredients. If cheese sauce is too thick, add milk 1 Tbl at a time.

Dairy Free Sour Cream

1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup raw cashews (can use all sunflower seeds if avoiding nuts, or all cashews for a more traditional flavor)
about 1 cup of water *see directions
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp sea salt

*Place sunflower seeds and cashews into a measuring cup. Add water to just cover the seeds/nuts by about 1/4 of an inch.
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and thick. (If using a Blendtec, use the sauces/dips button).

"Pizza" Pasta - Wheat/Gluten, Soy, Dairy Free

 So this is not so much of a recipe as a meal idea, but this was so yummy and quick I had to share! It was brought about by a mistake I made. Before leaving the house to run some errands, I pulled what I thought was ground turkey out of the freezer to thaw as I was planning on making a quinoa/turkey meatloaf. Well, when I got home I realized I had grabbed turkey breasts that my husband wants to smoke tomorrow. So I started digging through the fridge hoping for some inspiration and happened upon some smoked turkey sausage (Butterball brand, as others have soy and/or beef or pork casing) and figured, what the heck.

Anyway, what we came up with was actually super yummy. I have mixed Diaya with pasta with red sauce before and it wasn't as good and the reason, I discovered, is the order you mix them together in. The way the melted cheese mixes with the pasta sauce makes a creamy, orange-ish sauce reminiscent of Chef Boyardee, rather than red sauce with pieces of mozzarella in it.

  So here is the recipe, I hope you like it! It's super kid friendly!

Pizza Pasta

1 package corn pasta, any small shape (read: not spaghetti)
2 Butterball smoked turkey sausages, cut into bite size pieces
1 jar (about 20 oz) your favorite allergy free pasta sauce. We like HEB brand garlic and herb sauce.
1 cup Daiya mozzarella shreds

Cook pasta according to package directions. Once drained, immediately return to pot and add Diaya. Stir until cheese is completely melted. Stir in pasta sauce and sausage. If it's not hot enough, heat over medium heat while stirring constantly since Diaya can burn easily.

Cornbread Topped Vegetable Pot Pie

  Happy Meatless Monday! Tonight we had cornbread topped pot pie made using Bob's Red Mill cornbread mix. It came out really well if I do say so myself! Feel free to add pretty much any vegetables you want (such as peas or onions). I used what we had on hand, which reminds me that we need to buy onions.
 Also I added some Daiya cheddar cheese to the cornbread batter and that's totally optional. To tell the truth I couldn't really taste it.

Cornbread Topped Pot Pie

filling 
1 Tbl olive oil
2 large carrots, sliced into coins
2 stalks celery, sliced thin
1 box (32oz) vegetable stock
1 cup fresh green beans, trimmed and chopped into 1 inch pieces
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
5 baby red potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp salt
4 or 5 cracks of fresh ground black pepper
2 Tbl corn starch mixed with 1/3 cup cold water

cornbread
1 package Bob's Red Mill gluten free cornbread mix
1/3 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cup unsweetened plain almond milk (or other non dairy milk)
egg replacer (EnerG) for 2 eggs
1 Tbl ground flaxmeal
Optional: 1/2 cup Diaya cheddar cheese shreds
1 Tbl Soy Free Earth Balance buttery spread

Preheat oven to 375.
In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add carrots and celery and saute a few minutes, until celery begins to turn transparent. Pour in vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Add remaining ingredients except corn starch mixture. Return to boil, then reduce heat and cover, simmer for 20 mins or so until potatoes are fork-tender.

Meanwhile, prepare cornbread batter by pouring entire package into bowl of a stand mixer. With mixer on slowest setting, slowly pour in almond milk, olive oil, egg replacer, flaxmeal and cheese (if using). Mix on medium for 30 seconds.

Slowly whisk corn starch mixture into the vegetable pot and stir until thickened, about 1 minute.

In large casserole dish, pour in filling. Scoop cornbread batter onto the top (depending on the size/shape of your dish, you may not need to use all the cornbread batter or your topping will be too thick). Smooth it with the back of a wet spoon. Place casserole dish on a baking sheet to catch drips.
Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and spread Earth Balance on the top of the cornbread. Return to oven and back another 15 minutes. Allow to sit 5-10 minutes before serving.

Daiya, you had me at Havarti!

  It's no small secret that we LOVE Diaya cheese in this house. Their mozzarella is fabulous on pizzas and other italian dishes, the chedddar makes the absolute best vegan macaroni and cheese, and their pepperjack in bean and 'cheese' taquitos is to die for.
  So imagine my so-excited-I-almost-wet-myself happy dance I did in Central Market when I came across Daiya's new product, Cheese Wedges.
  Oh. My. Gosh.
  I bought a cheddar wedge and a (are you ready for it?) Havarti jalepeno and garlic wedge. What now? YEAH, you read that right!! They also make a jack style wedge but I didn't buy it. I haven't even tried the cheddar one yet but I'm sure it will be fantastic. I'm here to talk about this jalepeno garlic soft cheese.
  Right out of the fridge, it was soft but not like cream cheese or anything. In fact I tried to scrape some up with a Glutino pretzel (The absolute best wheat free vegan pretzels) and my pretzel broke. However, I put a scoop in a microwave safe dish and heated it for about 15 seconds. It was semi-solid looking but after a good stir the whole thing became smooth and creamy and it was so good it made me weak in the knees! It tasted like spicy spinach and artichoke dip, and I bet it I added some cooked spinach and artichokes and then broiled it quickly with some bread crumbs on top, this would be the most fabulous allergen free spinach/artichoke dip in the entire world. Seriously. Even my dad, who is not feeling the allergen free foods, thought this was amazing. You should definitely give these wedges a try!
  We ate the whole package over the weekend, but next time I go to Central Market I will buy another and I will make this with spinach and artichoke and see if it's as good as I think it's going to be!! :D

Actually Good Vegan Mac and Cheese- Soy/Wheat/Gluten Free

  So I've already posted a recipe for cheese sauce in the recipe for Cheeseburger Macaroni, but since Macaroni and Cheese is a more common (and much easier) dish, I thought I'd make it a seperate post.
 Most vegan 'cheese' sauce is one of those things that is so hard to get used to. A lot of people say that you'll like it more the longer it's been since you've actually had cheese... well as someone who eats real cheese when we eat out occassionally (since we are not vegans but rather avoid almost all animal products at home due to our son's severe allergies), I don't have months or years to dedicate to forgetting what real cheese tastes like! This cheese sauce is delicious and DOES taste (and feel!) like cheese sauce though. It's a milder flavor than that neon orange powdered Kraft stuff, but that stuff isn't cheese either... if you've ever had homemade mac and cheese, the flavor is very similar to that.

 Keep in mind that when making this sauce, it's really not necessary to measure exactly. I'll put measurements to give you an idea of how much you need and you can certainly use them, but you'll probably want to tweak this a little for your own tastes anyways. Enjoy!

Vegan Macaroni and Cheese

12 oz corn or corn/quinoa pasta elbows, cooked according to package directions
3 Tbl Earth Balance Soy Free Buttery Spread
3/4 cup unsweetened plain almond milk, divided (or other plain non dairy milk of your choice)
1/2 package (about a cup) of Daiya Cheddar Cheese shreds
big pinch of each garlic powder, onion powder, sea salt, ground mustard and turmeric*
1/4 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup of water (if needed)

In a small saucepan, heat buttery spread and 1/2 cup of almond milk on medium heat until butter is completely melted. Add Daiya cheese shreds and stir until almost all melted. Add in the seasonings and stir to incorporate. Whisk in lemon juice and remaining milk and continue stirring until all the cheese shreds are melted. Remove from heat. If sauce is too thick, add water. The sauce will thicken slightly when it cools. Pour cheese sauce over cooked macaroni, stir well and enjoy!

*The turmeric is just for color. If you don't have it, it's not a big deal

Brownies- Vegan, Wheat/Gluten and Soy Free

  I have made brownies with our new diet restrictions a few times, and while some have been edible, none of them had any real resemblance to the texture of brownies. Most were very dense and in order for the whole middle of the brownie pan to not be completely gooey, the sides had to be burnt beyond tolerable limits. *Sigh*
 A dear friend of mine sent me this recipe from where, I am not sure, but we tried it today for a Father's Day dessert and they came out wonderfully! They are fluffy like cake (in fact you could probably nix the chocolate chips and use this as cake!) and all cooked evenly. Though it was not off-putting to us, you can definitely taste the banana. I wonder if I make these with only one banana and more applesauce if that would make them even better...

Perfect Brownies

2 cups brown sugar
1 1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose baking flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 ripe bananas
1 large apple, cored and sliced (or 1 cup unsweetened applesauce)
*1/2 Tbl water
Seeds of one vanilla bean OR 2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups vegan chocolate chips, such as Enjoy Life Mini Chips
Olive oil to grease pan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a blender, blend apple slices and water until pureed (Skip this step if using applesauce, also I left the peel on mine and it did not make a difference but you can remove yours before blending if you like). Add banana and vanilla and blend for 10-15 seconds, until pureed and well blended.
In a large bowl, whisk together brown sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder until well blended. Stir in apple/banana mixture, making sure there are no lumps. Stir in chocolate chips.
Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan with olive oil. Pour in mixture and spread evenly.
Bake for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool about 10 minutes before cutting.
Enjoy!

* If using pre-made applesauce, do not add water!

"Cheese" Stuffed Turkey Burgers

  I saw a cheese stuffed burger patty while watching Diners, Drive-ins and Dives the other day and decided to try it last night while my husband had the grill going. These came out lovely but you'll have to take my word for it because I forgot to take a picture. :/  They were like puffed up, fat burger patties.
 Around here we often eat burger patties with no buns since wheat, rice, oat, and egg free buns are hard to come by. It often feels like we are missing something, but these had enough personality to hold their own on the plate without buns. Even though they call for some hot sauce they had really no hotness, just great flavor and when you cut into the middle, all this yummy gooey cheese came out... so good. I imagine that on a bun that fits your particular needs with all the typical yummy condiments, these would be spectacular!

By the way, I think these scaled down into meatballs would be to die for!

Cheese Stuffed Turkey Burgers
1 1/2 lb lean ground turkey*
1/2 tsp salt
a few cracks of fresh ground pepper
2 tsp Frank's Original Hot Sauce (or other vegan hot sauce)
1 1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup Daiya Mozzarella Shreds (or Cheddar, or even Pepperjack)

Mix all ingredients except cheese in a bowl until well incorporated, but be careful not to over mix. Form ping pong ball size balls of turkey into 8-10 thin patties. Take about 3/4 tsp cheese shreds and place them in the center on a patty, then place another patty on top. Carefully press and smoosh the edges of the two patties together. Repeat with the rest of the patties. Grill 6 minutes on each side or until well browned.


I found other variations of this recipe online that included grilled onions and bacon bits in the cheese mixture in the center. I'm not quite sure how that might work with turkey bacon but I'd certainly be willing to try!

*I've found in my many adventures cooking with ground turkey that the quality and fat content of the turkey is imperative. We typically use Butterball but I found some frozen "tubes" of Jenni-O ground turkey at Walmart for pretty cheap so I tried it. It contained much more fluid/fat than what I was used to (reminded me of ground beef) and everything I tried to make fell apart. Meatloaf, burgers, meatballs, etc. The cheap stuff is great for taco meat, or Shepherd's pie, or any other dish that calls for browned ground turkey, but if you are forming anything out of it, use better quality, leaner meat!

Allergy Free Homemade "Cheese-Its"

I would like to start by thanking Fork and Beans for this amazing recipe! A close friend of our family found this recipe and forwarded it to me and to be honest I thought it wouldn't be worth the effort but I was wonderfully mistaken! These are FABULOUS!!

Just a side note, if you have young children with food allergies, use discretion when replicating popular allergen-containing snack foods (especially those that look and taste an awful lot like the real things, as these do!) because it may make it difficult for them to determine if a food is safe or not when they are away from you, like at school or on a play date.

Allergy Free "Cheese-Nots"

3/4 cup wheat free all purpose flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup Daiya Cheddar Shreds (this might be good with Pepper Jack too!)
3 Tbs Soy Free Earth balance buttery spread
1 Tbsp cold water
About 1 Tbsp ourse salt for sprinkling

Pre heat oven to 375.
In a small bowl, stir flour, xanthan gum, and salt together until well blended. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, beat Earth Balance and Daiya together with a hand mixer until well blended. (You can also just use a fork and good ol' fashioned arm muscles!) Pour half of the flour mixture into the cheese/butter bowl and stir until nicely blended, then add the remaining flour mixture and stir until incorporated.
Add cold water and mix. You want the dough to be ever so slightly crumbly, not sticky at all, but wet enough that you can form it into a ball. If it's too dry, add water 1/2 tsp at a time until desired consistency is reached.
On parchment lined surface, knead the dough into a smooth ball. Divide the dough in half and place one part in a bowl in the fridge. Roll the remaining half between two sheets of parchment to about 1/4 inch thick. Using a pizza wheel (or pastry cutter if you want to get fancy!) cut the dough into 1 inch squares. Using very gentle fingers or a metal spatula, move each square onto a large parchment lined cookie sheet, leaving about 1/2 inch of space in between each square. Once all squares are on your sheet, use a narrow straw to poke a hole in the center of each square. This isn't necessary but it gives it the authentic Cheese-It look! Sprinkle very lightly with coarse salt. Place sheet in the freezer for at least 10 minutes while you roll and cut the other half of the dough ball.
Bake for 17-20 minutes.