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!
Showing posts with label oat free. Show all posts
Showing posts with label oat free. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Sunday, September 23, 2012
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.
*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 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.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
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.
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 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.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
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.
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.
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
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.
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Tuesday, August 21, 2012
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.
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.
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
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.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
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!)
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!)
Sunday, August 5, 2012
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!
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
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!
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!
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.
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
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 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.
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.
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.
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
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.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
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!
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
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!
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
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.
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"
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.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Go Raw Super Cookies
Sorry, this is not a recipe. Yesterday while in Central Market, I was wandering down an isle and saw an area I'd never seen before: the raw food section. Now while I personally think that raw is best, (obviously raw foods contain more nutrients, fiber, and enzymes than cooked foods) we do not actively strive to eat a mostly raw diet or anything because frankly it seems super daunting and all I imagine is carrot sticks and salads. Well, and yummy green smoothies, but I digress.
So as I'm just casually looking at the raw food area, I see something called "Super Cookies". There were roughly 10 different flavors (Super Chips, too!). What really caught my eye was that they posted the ingredient list in large print right on the front of the package. That's bold and screams to me "We're PROUD of this stuff." There's no hard to pronounce chemical preservatives, no funky fillers that make you scratch your head pondering their presence (like the time we found milk as an ingredient in plain pre-cooked chicken breast strips...wtf?). Just simple organic ingredients, and thankfully no rice, or oat in most flavors.
But the real question is, how do they taste!? We tried the Masala Chai flavored cookies and first of all, these little things are only about the size of a quarter, and the serving size listed on the package is 18 pieces, yikes! So for my $6 there's really only 3 servings, but thankfully Jack is not interested in eating that much of anything all at once. They taste sweet but not cloyingly so, nowhere near it. They have a spicy, earthy flavor. They are crispy, but both boys seemed not to be put off by that in the least. I'd say that these were a big hit. And another MAJOR plus... they don't crumble, there are no crumbs coming off these babies!
So for a quick healthy snack that packs a major nutritional punch and that fits in the diaper bag easily and isn't messy, these are well worth the semi-ridiculous price tag, in my opinion. I'm sold!!
So as I'm just casually looking at the raw food area, I see something called "Super Cookies". There were roughly 10 different flavors (Super Chips, too!). What really caught my eye was that they posted the ingredient list in large print right on the front of the package. That's bold and screams to me "We're PROUD of this stuff." There's no hard to pronounce chemical preservatives, no funky fillers that make you scratch your head pondering their presence (like the time we found milk as an ingredient in plain pre-cooked chicken breast strips...wtf?). Just simple organic ingredients, and thankfully no rice, or oat in most flavors.
But the real question is, how do they taste!? We tried the Masala Chai flavored cookies and first of all, these little things are only about the size of a quarter, and the serving size listed on the package is 18 pieces, yikes! So for my $6 there's really only 3 servings, but thankfully Jack is not interested in eating that much of anything all at once. They taste sweet but not cloyingly so, nowhere near it. They have a spicy, earthy flavor. They are crispy, but both boys seemed not to be put off by that in the least. I'd say that these were a big hit. And another MAJOR plus... they don't crumble, there are no crumbs coming off these babies!
So for a quick healthy snack that packs a major nutritional punch and that fits in the diaper bag easily and isn't messy, these are well worth the semi-ridiculous price tag, in my opinion. I'm sold!!
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Tamale Pie -Dairy, Egg, Wheat, Soy Free
Ok, so don't judge tamale pie on it's lack of photogenicity (yep, I looked it up and that's a real word)! It may not have great presentation but it was very easy and tasted great.
I thought I had enough cornmeal but ended up being about 1/4 of a cup short so I added corn flour and a Tbl of ground flax to make up for it, but you could definitely just use 1 cup of cornmeal.
Tamale Pie
Filling
1 large onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbl olive oil (plus some to grease dish)
1 lb ground turkey
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 tsp salt
a few cracks of fresh ground pepper
1 tsp chili powder (or more... I sort of over did it in our recipe so I made a more conservative estimate of how much might be better)
Crust
3/4 cup cornmeal
1 Tbl flax meal
1/4 cup corn flour
4 cups water, divided
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
Shredded Daiya cheddar (optional)
Pre heat oven to 350.
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, and garlic and saute until onion is just tender. Add turkey and brown, being sure to break it apart into small bits. Once browned, add tomato, salt and pepper, and chili powder and stir well. Reduce heat to low and simmer about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, add 3 cups water, 1 tsp salt, and 1 tsp chili powder. Bring to a boil. In a bowl or measuring cup, mix cornmeal, corn flour and flax and slowly stir in 1 cup of water until there are no lumps. Whisk the cornmeal mixture into the boiling water. Stir continuously for 5 minutes. The mixture will really thicken up, so bring your muscles! Cover and set aside.
Grease a casserole dish with olive oil. Pour half of the cornmeal mixture into the dish and spread it evenly across the bottom and partway up the sides. Place the casserole dish in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and pour in the meat mixture, then cover the top with the rest of the cornmeal mixture. I used a spatula lightly oiled with olive oil to spread the top. It does not have to completely cover the top but give it the ol' college try.
Bake for 15 minutes, then sprinkle with Daiya cheddar and return to the oven for another 5-7 minutes until cheese is melted. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes before cutting and serving.
I thought I had enough cornmeal but ended up being about 1/4 of a cup short so I added corn flour and a Tbl of ground flax to make up for it, but you could definitely just use 1 cup of cornmeal.
Tamale Pie
1 large onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbl olive oil (plus some to grease dish)
1 lb ground turkey
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 tsp salt
a few cracks of fresh ground pepper
1 tsp chili powder (or more... I sort of over did it in our recipe so I made a more conservative estimate of how much might be better)
Crust
3/4 cup cornmeal
1 Tbl flax meal
1/4 cup corn flour
4 cups water, divided
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
Shredded Daiya cheddar (optional)
Pre heat oven to 350.
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, and garlic and saute until onion is just tender. Add turkey and brown, being sure to break it apart into small bits. Once browned, add tomato, salt and pepper, and chili powder and stir well. Reduce heat to low and simmer about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, add 3 cups water, 1 tsp salt, and 1 tsp chili powder. Bring to a boil. In a bowl or measuring cup, mix cornmeal, corn flour and flax and slowly stir in 1 cup of water until there are no lumps. Whisk the cornmeal mixture into the boiling water. Stir continuously for 5 minutes. The mixture will really thicken up, so bring your muscles! Cover and set aside.
Grease a casserole dish with olive oil. Pour half of the cornmeal mixture into the dish and spread it evenly across the bottom and partway up the sides. Place the casserole dish in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and pour in the meat mixture, then cover the top with the rest of the cornmeal mixture. I used a spatula lightly oiled with olive oil to spread the top. It does not have to completely cover the top but give it the ol' college try.
Bake for 15 minutes, then sprinkle with Daiya cheddar and return to the oven for another 5-7 minutes until cheese is melted. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes before cutting and serving.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Cookie Dough Hummus - Vegan, Wheat Free, and Deeelicious!
Close your eyes and imagine chocolate chip cookie dough, will you? The perfect balance of sweet and salty, crunchy and soft, awesome and delicious. But then there's the wheat, butter, eggs, milk chocolate part... yeah, super bummer.
We recently found a Bob's Red Mill chocolate chip cookie mix that, once baked is pretty darn good, but the dough is icky icky icky. Can't a girl just get some cookie dough?!
Enter: Cookie Dough Hummus! Whoa, who the heck woulda thought? It's raw, it's vegan, it's no bake, and it only takes (drum roll please....) 5 minutes to make!
Cookie Dough Hummus
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed thoroughly
1/4 cup cashew butter (or almond or peanut butter if you don't have cashew and need to try this recipe tonight and can't wait to run to the store... not that anyone would do that or anything)
1/4 cup vanilla almond milk
1/4 cup agave nectar (more if desired)
1 Tbl organic cane sugar
3 Tbs flax meal (finely ground flax seed)
1 Tbs vanilla extract
dash of sea salt
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup vegan chocolate chips (such as Enjoy Life brand)
Place all ingredients except chocolate chips in a food processor and blend until as smooth as possible. Scoop it into a large bowl, fold in chocolate chips, and serve!! This might be yummy on slices of apple, we just ate it with a spoon, but it's very rich. A little goes a long way!
We recently found a Bob's Red Mill chocolate chip cookie mix that, once baked is pretty darn good, but the dough is icky icky icky. Can't a girl just get some cookie dough?!
Enter: Cookie Dough Hummus! Whoa, who the heck woulda thought? It's raw, it's vegan, it's no bake, and it only takes (drum roll please....) 5 minutes to make!
Cookie Dough Hummus
1/4 cup cashew butter (or almond or peanut butter if you don't have cashew and need to try this recipe tonight and can't wait to run to the store... not that anyone would do that or anything)
1/4 cup vanilla almond milk
1/4 cup agave nectar (more if desired)
1 Tbl organic cane sugar
3 Tbs flax meal (finely ground flax seed)
1 Tbs vanilla extract
dash of sea salt
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup vegan chocolate chips (such as Enjoy Life brand)
Place all ingredients except chocolate chips in a food processor and blend until as smooth as possible. Scoop it into a large bowl, fold in chocolate chips, and serve!! This might be yummy on slices of apple, we just ate it with a spoon, but it's very rich. A little goes a long way!
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Vegan Wheat/Gluten Free Cornbread and Milk
This is not so much a recipe as it is another breakfast idea. Cornbread and milk is yet another popular southern thang, as a dessert or breakfast and it's way yummy. On nights my mom made cornbread with dinner my brother Randy and I would eat as little as possible so that later we could crumble the cold cornbread up in a bowl, throw on a heaping scoop of sugar, and drown the whole thing in milk. Mmm! And the leftover cornbread for breakfast the next day is even tastier because it doesn't turn to mush quite as fast. Yum!
Well last night we had a version of Hoppin' John with kale greens and cornbread. We used Bob's Red Mill gluten free cornbread mix with Ener-G egg replacer, 1 1/2 cups of water, and 1/3 cup melted Soy Free Earth Balance buttery spread. Also I prefer to make mine into muffins rather than a big sheet the mix calls for, but that's just me.The cornbread was absolutely delicious while hot with dinner, and it made enough that we had leftovers which worked perfectly for breakfast this morning!
I used vanilla almond milk and a (less than heaping) spoonful of organic non GMO sugar over the crumbled cornbread. The boys loved it and I loved being able to share the familiar treat from my childhood with them in a safe way. :)
Well last night we had a version of Hoppin' John with kale greens and cornbread. We used Bob's Red Mill gluten free cornbread mix with Ener-G egg replacer, 1 1/2 cups of water, and 1/3 cup melted Soy Free Earth Balance buttery spread. Also I prefer to make mine into muffins rather than a big sheet the mix calls for, but that's just me.The cornbread was absolutely delicious while hot with dinner, and it made enough that we had leftovers which worked perfectly for breakfast this morning!
I used vanilla almond milk and a (less than heaping) spoonful of organic non GMO sugar over the crumbled cornbread. The boys loved it and I loved being able to share the familiar treat from my childhood with them in a safe way. :)
Sunday, April 22, 2012
French Toast- Vegan, Wheat and Soy Free
Breakfast. What a daunting word when you have multiple food allergies. It seems you can eat almost anything for lunch and dinner, but what's breakfast? Eggs, some sort of pork, a wheat filled bread type substance, and potatoes. Cereal, fruit and yogurt too, but those are not really 'Sunday Breakfast' material.
A few milk, egg, wheat, pork/beef free options:
- grits
- turkey bacon
- wheat free toast (we prefer white rye since we are not gluten free and other wheat free breads contain rice, another of Jack's allergens)
- country potatoes
- wheat free vegan pancakes (Bob's Redmill GF Pancake mix)
But this list is obviously lacking. We used to make wheat free biscuits and dairy free gravy but since losing rice products that hasn't been something we have been able to recreate in a decent way yet. Last night for whatever reason I wondered if there was a vegan way to make french toast. I jumped on the computer and looked it up and sure enough, there are all sorts of variations of this delicious breakfast food. Some included tofu so were off the list, but I found a few that used pureed banana and non-dairy milk, and a few that contained nutritional yeast flakes. I mixed and matched ingredients until I made one I thought would work for us. This mornign we gave it a shot and oh my, this was so good and easy. It does have a slightly banana-y aroma, but it is not distracting. Jack ate 2 WHOLE slices! He normally doesn't even eat one piece of regular toast. Score!!
Vegan and Wheat Free French Toast
3 ripe bananas
3/4 cup vanilla almond milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
a pinch of pumpkin pie spice (optional)
1/2 tsp Nutritional Yest Flakes or a large pinch of salt
2 Tbl Soy Free Earth Balance buttery spread, divided
In a blender or food processor, add bananas, almond milk, spices, vanilla, and yeast flakes. Blend until smooth. Pour the mixture into a pie pan or wide shallow bowl. Heat a large skillet on medium high heat. Add 1/2 Tbl Earth Balance butter to the pan. Once melted, add two slices of bread quickly dipped in the banana mixture and cook about 2-3 minutes on each side. Remove and place on a warmed plate and repeat with remaining butter and slices of bread. Serve with powdered sugar, syrup, and more Earth Balance.
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