Monday, July 30, 2012

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!

Saturday, July 28, 2012

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.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

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.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

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.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

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).


Saturday, July 14, 2012

"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.

Monday, July 2, 2012

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