Vegan Deviled Eggs - Egg, Dairy, Soy, Wheat/Gluten Free

  I haven't been posting on here much lately because I've been really sick. I had strep throat that lasted almost a month and a sinus infection thrown in for good measure. My awesome husband stepped up to take care of the boys, keep the house clean, and make sure no one starved while I lay about in a fever stupor, but it turns out he's not a very good cook (sorry, Chris!).
  So now that I'm feeling better, I thought I'd try out an experiment. This recipe came about because, while in the very worst stages of strep, I could not swallow almost anything and only eating popsicles and vegetable broth for weeks was really starting to wear me down. I needed some calories! I'd read that turmeric and garlic both had anti-inflammatory properties, so I thought I'd make some bland mashed potatoes with a dash of each. Well the resulting potatoes were light yellow and tasted just like hard boiled egg yolks. This got my wheels turning. Could I make deviled eggs?? I love love love deviled eggs but haven't had any for years and because of Jack's allergies, how sad that he would never know the joy of a good deviled egg?
  So I set out to find if it could be done. I found a few recipes here and here, which were good starting points but as both contained soy and Vegenaise (which contains rice), I really just used them for reference. The results came out fantastic. I was really shocked by the flavor and texture of the whites! They are so mush like the real thing! I only wish the edges had come out a little smoother from the mold but if I was really looking to impress I could probably clean them up with a sharp knife.

For this recipe, you really must have 3 important things:

• Black Salt (NOT black sea salt, but Indian black salt also called Kala Namak, which has a sulfurous, egg-y flavor)

• Agar agar powder

• a half egg shaped mold, unless you don't care if they are egg shaped or not. (My mold made eight 2 1/2 inch eggs)

So without further ado, here's the recipe!

Vegan Deviled Eggs 

Whites:

1 cup unsweetened plain coconut milk
1 tsp agar powder
1/8 tsp black salt

Yolks:
1 medium potatoes, skinned, cooked, and mashed (or 1 cup instant mashed potatoes made with just water)
1/3 cup unsweetened plain coconut milk
1 Tbs prepared mustard
1/4 tsp mustard powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp black salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 Tbs dill relish (if desired)

Paprika to garnish

In a small saucepan, bring egg white ingredients to a boil, stirring frequently. Try not to create too many bubbles while stirring, as it will just create more work for you later. Remove from heat, pour mixture into egg molds. Using a spoon, scrape any bubbles off of the top. Refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix all yolk ingredients together, set aside.

Once eggs whites are set, using a melon baller or small spoon, scrape out half sphere holes near the middle of each.

Pop the whites out of the mold by inserting a butter knife or similar object in between one side.
Scoop egg yolk mixture into a zippered plastic bag and cut off just the tip on one bottom corner.  Pipe mixture into holes scraped in egg whites. Sprinkle with paprika and serve or keep refrigerated up to 3 days. These are suitable for an outside picnic as they do not need to be kept cool to retain their shape (something I was worried about) and they won't spoil as easily as their actual egg counterparts.

Baked Penne and Roasted Vegetables with Smokey Cheese Sauce - Dairy, Soy, Gluten Free, Vegan

  Last week I bought a zucchini, a yellow squash, and an eggplant simply because I liked the colors. I figured I could find something to do with them but inspiration never hit me. This morning I decided to try to do something with them tonight or they were going to end up in the trash; the eggplant was becoming soft and not so bright purple. So then as I was browsing Facebook and saw this recipe from GoingHomeToRoost.com and it was perfect! I used eggplant instead of mushrooms (we didn't have any mushrooms), and really had to scale down this recipe as it was originally made for 12 full grown men. So this is my version, but you can find the original recipe here. This was really yummy, though Chris and I both agreed when we make it again we will probably add some ground turkey.

Baked Penne and Roasted Vegetables

1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1 medium eggplant
1 yellow onion
1 bell pepper
1 Tbs olive oil (or coconut oil)
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 Tbs Herbs De Provence
1 package GF penne pasta (or regular)
1 cup marinara sauce

Smokey Cheese Sauce:
1 Tbs Earth Balance Soy Free Buttery Spread
1 Tbs GF all purpose flour (or whole wheat flour)
1 cup plain unsweetened coconut milk or other plain unsweetened non dairy milk
2 Tbs nutritional yeast flakes
dash of Tabasco
1 tsp malt vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp spicy brown mustard
1/2 tsp each salt and black pepper
1 cup Daiya Mozzarella cheese shreds

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Chop zucchini, squash, eggplant, onion, and bell pepper, being careful to keep them all roughly the same size so they will roast evenly. Toss with oil, salt and pepper, and Herbs De Provence. Roast on large baking sheet until tender, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, melt butter and flour together over medium heat. Whisk in the coconut milk. Add in the rest of the cheese sauce ingredients except Daiya, and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and whisk in cheese shreds, stirring until completely melted and smooth. Set aside.

Cook pasta according to package directions, but remove from heat and drain while pasta is still slightly firm as it will continue to cook in the oven.

Spray a large casserole dish with olive oil. Add drained pasta, roasted vegetables, marinara sauce, and cheese sauce to casserole dish and stir until incorporated.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until top is golden brown.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

Oven Baked Bean and Cheese Taquitos- Vegan, Wheat, and Soy Free

  This is such a simple recipe that I debated for a long time if I should even post it. It's sort of like posting a recipe for cereal. But these were so tasty and I did learn one little trick (adding oil to the tops so they don't crack right open) so I decided to post it anyway.
  Also, at Central Market they have an enormous bulk foods section (I mean bulk like you scoop it from bins into bags, not bulk like Costco size stuff), including instant soup mixes, a lot of which, like the corn chowder and split pea, are free of dairy, wheat, rice, soy, etc. etc. Last time we were there we found "Instant Refried Beans" which sounded weird but was Jack-friendly so we bought them. OMG they were amazing! But you can make your own 'refried' beans, I'll include my recipe, or buy pre-made vegan refried beans.
  These were crispy enough for my 17 month old and 3 year old to eat without them falling apart, so that was a total plus.
  Anyway, here goes!

Vegan Baked Bean and Cheese Taquitos

We served ours with chipotle lime sunflower sour cream. Mmm!

12 small corn tortillas
1 cup (or so) vegan refried beans*
1/2 cup Daiya Pepper Jack or Cheddar cheese shreds
1 Tbl olive oil

Preheat oven to 400.
Wet a paper towel and squeeze out most of the water. Wrap 2-3 tortillas at a time in the damp paper towel and microwave for 15-20 seconds. On a flat surface, plop about a tablespoon of beans onto one half of a warmed tortilla and minimally spread it. You don't want it to go all the way to the edges but you also don't want a big ball of beans. Sprinkle with a big pinch of cheese shreds and roll the tortilla up, starting with the bean side. Lay the taquito on a cookie sheet with the free edge down. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
Lightly brush the tops with olive oil.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the tops begin to turn golden brown.
Roll them over so now the free edge is up (though it shouldn't try to unroll anymore) and brush again with olive oil. Return to oven for another 8-10 minutes or so.

*"Refried" Black Beans
1 can black beans, drained
1 can garbonzo beans, drained
1 Tbl Earth Balance Soy Free buttery Spread
1 tsp ground cummin
1 tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp salt

In a medium saucepan, heat beans. Remove from heat. Add butter and seasonings and stir well. Using a potato masher, mash to desired consistency. I prefer some larger pieces of beans in mine so I don't use a food processor, but you could use one if you like smooth beans.

Quinoa and Black Bean "Taco" Burgers - Wheat and Soy Free and Vegan

 When I set out to make these I was sort of picturing something like a flat taco flavored falafel eaten in a tortilla with shredded lettuce and other taco toppings. Well it didn't quite work like that, what I ended up making were black bean/quinoa burgers that were flavored spectacularly and topped with Daiya pepper jack shreds and a (now Jack friendly) dairy free chipotle sour cream that was absolutely fantastic. These would have been great topped with fresh salsa and shredded lettuce also, and we certainly will be making these again.

Vegan Quinoa and Black Bean Taco Burgers

2 cups cooked quinoa (cooked in vegetable broth instead of water)
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic, diced
2 tsp olive oil
1 Tbl chili powder
1/4 tsp oregeno
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 cup Daiya Pepper Jack Shreds (plus more for topping, optional)
2 Tbl ground flax meal
3 Tbl cold water

In a medium skillet, heat olive oil. Saute onion, bell pepper, and garlic until onion is transparent and bell pepper begins to lose it's vibrant green color, about 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
In a measuring cup or ramekin, mix flax meal and cold water and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, mash black beans with a fork or potato masher. It's not necessary to smash up every one but get a good amount of them smooshed. Stir in quinoa, sauted onion mixture, seasonings, Daiya cheese shreds, and flax gel, making sure to evenly mix everything. Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.
Heat a griddle to 375. Form dough into ping pong size balls and them flatten to form patties. Grill about 5 minutes on each side.

Serve with 1 Tbl Sunflower Seed Sour Cream mixed with 1/4 tsp chipotle powder and 1 tsp lime juice.

Sunflower Seed Sour Cream

3/4 cup raw sunflower seeds (you can use roasted unsalted seeds, the flavor will be a tad nuttier though)
1/4 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder

Blend until completely smooth (if you have a Blentec, the "Sauces" button works perfectly for this.) Keep refrgerated in a tightly sealed container for up to a week.

Arepas with Chipotle Lime Sauce-Vegan, Soy, Wheat, and Gluten Free

It's Meatless Monday! Arepas is a dish made from cornmeal popular in Columbia. I found a version of this recipe posted on Meatless Monday's FB page and made these but I had to make a lot of substitutions. These were REALLY good. Chris said it's his favorite Meatless Monday recipe so far, however, I don't think these turned out like arepas are really supposed to be. I looked at pictures online and some look almost like pitas, though some looked like ours did as well. Who the heck knows, who cares! All I know is these were yummy!

The chipotle lime sauce was super good on top, but it uses Soy Free Vegenaise which contains rice syrup. Chris and I are just trying to finish off the big container of it we bought before we found out it was not Jack safe.

Vegan Arepas

1 cup cornmeal (grits work in a pinch, it just needs longer to sit and soften up)
1/2 cup Daiya Cheddar Cheese shreds
2 tsp sea salt
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 Tbl soy free Earth Balance buttery spread
1/2 cup corn kernals
1 tsp dried cilantro
a dash of smoked chipotle chile powder (optional)
*1/2 cup mashed potato flakes
3 Tbl peanut or other neutral oil for frying

In a bowl mix cornmeal, daiya, and salt. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, heat almond milk on medium-low heat. Once it begins to steam (about 3 minutes), add Earth Balance and allow to melt. Slowly stir in cornmeal mixture and stir until it's pretty thick, 1-2 minutes. Fold in corn, cilantro, and chipotle powder. Allow it to sit about 15 minutes. *If after 15 minutes the mixture is still to thin to be able to roll into balls, add mashed potato flakes.
Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.
Roll arepas dough into ping pong ball size balls and then flatten. Fry them a few at a time for about 2-3 minutes on each side. Daiya has a tendency to burn easily so keep your eye on them!
Remove to a paper towel lined plate to absord excess oil. Serve alone or chipotle lime sauce drizzled on top!

Chipotle Lime Sauce (CONTAINS RICE)

3 Tbl Soy Free Vegenaise
1 Tbl fresh lime juice
1 tsp smoked chipotle chile powder

Stir all ingredients together. That's it!

Crispy Quinoa Tots - Vegan, Wheat/Gluten Free

 It's Meatless Monday! I was all set to make quinoa burgers following a version of this recipe from Including Cake, but I just really wasn't feeling it since we had turkey burgers last night. Plus once I saw how nicely the ...uh... dough? allowed itself to be molded, I just HAD to try to make tots. I'm so glad I did!
 While there's nothing necessarily un-allergy friendly about most tater tots, these are much healthier and were so yummy, and I actually had fun making them. They came out perfectly, crisp on the outside but soft and yummy on the inside. Jack and Ben both really enjoyed these, and I think they would very easily freeze to be cooked later. Also, I fried these in our Presto Cool Daddy fryer and peanut oil, but you could probably bake these or pan fry them in olive, peanut, or corn oil. Feel free to leave out the seasonings (except salt!) for a more traditional 'potato-tot' flavor, but the flavor of these was very subtle.

*For those with potato allergies, you can substitute corn starch, arrowroot, tapioca flour, or other starches for the potato starch to make these tots completely potato free.

Crispy Quinoa Tots

2 cups cooked quinoa
1/2 cup canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 rounded Tbs flax meal
dash of Tabasco Chipotle Sauce (optional)
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp sea salt
4 Tbs potato starch*
3 Tbl corn or olive oil if pan frying


If using a fryer, preheat to 375. (If pan frying, heat oil in a large skillet on medium high heat when you are about 3/4 of the way done shaping your tots so the oil doesn't burn but is hot by the time you are ready.)
In a medium/large bowl, mash chickpeas with a fork. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. If you cooked the quinoa immediately before starting this process as I did and it's still hot, leave it all to sit until mostly cool. Shape 1/2 Tbs at a time into cylinder shape by rolling them into balls and then pinching the top and bottom slightly and pressing in the sides a little. No need to get fancy unless you are a perfectionist or trying to impress someone ;)
If using fryer, fry in two batches for about 4 minutes each, until golden brown. Remove to a paper towel lined plate. If pan frying, add 1/4 of the tots at a time and roll them in the oil so they brown evenly on all sides. Remove to a paper towel lined plate.

Dinner Gravy- Wheat/Gluten, Dairy and Soy Free and Vegan

If you like onions, this is the gravy for you! I was making turkey burgers for dinner tonight, but since wheat free buns generally contain rice flour and taste sort of awful, we were just going to eat them without buns. I decided to try to find a gravy recipe so we could eat them sort of like Salisbury Steak but every recipe I found for vegan gravy contained soy or loads of mushrooms (which I'm not against, we just didn't have any). So I decided to try my hand at just making a gravy and managed to impress my husband, and he can be a tough sell. This is going to become something we make often because it tasted great on the burger patties and mashed potatoes tonight and I bet it would be super good on meatloaf, boiled potatoes or even on steamed veggies.

Onion Gravy

1 medium onion, diced
1 Tbl extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves minced garlic
1 cup vegetable stock
2 tsp sea salt
several cracks of fresh pepper
2 Tbl cornstarch mixed with about 4 Tbl cold water

In a small saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until fragrant and onion is translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Add vegetable stock, salt, pepper, and bring to a boil. Stirring frequently, allow mixture to cook down for about 7 minutes. Place mixture in blender and pulse several times until onion is mostly pureed (this is optional, if you don't mind the texture you can leave the onion as is). Pour mixture back into pan and whish in cornstarch mixture. Return to a boil, stirring contantly until almost desired thickness, gravy will thicken slightly as it cools.

Green Bean and Portobello Saute

The green bean and portobello saute is a Rachel Ray recipe that I did not have to adjust, a rare occurrence! I adjusted it anyways, but I didn't HAVE to, lol. This is a good vegan side dish and a great way to use up the rest of the green beans we got from the Farmer's Market the other day and the portobellos that were just calling my name at the grocery store this morning.

Green Bean and Portobello Saute

1 1/4 lbs green beans, trimmed and cut in half 
coarse salt to taste
2 cups water
2 Tbl olive oil
1 Tbl Earth Balance soy free butter
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 portobello caps, sliced and halved
1/2 cup vegetable stock
1 clove minced garlic
several cracks of freshly ground black pepper

In a deep skillet, bring salted water to a boil. Carefully add green beans and boil about 6-8 minutes. Drain and remove green beans, set aside. Completely dry pan with paper towels, then return to medium high head, add oil and butter. Once heated, add onion and garlic and saute 2-3 minutes. Add mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook another 3-5 minutes. Stir in green beans and vegetable stock. Cook 2 more minutes to heat everything through and cook down some of the vegetable stock, serve.

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!

Quick Minestrone Soup - Vegan and Wheat Free

 It's Meatless Monday! Today I actually got a call from a project director of Meatless Monday. She wanted to interview me about how going meatless has changed and enriched our lives. I know, as the mom of a child with multiple food allergies, it seems almost stupid to commit to restricting our diets even more one night a week. But for us, realizing that not every meal had to follow the meat/veggies/carb model really opened my eyes. I started looking at and adapting vegan and vegetarian recipes and a whole new world was suddenly made visible to me. I discovered polenta, all the ways chickpeas can be used, and that you can create whole meals that satisfy everyone for half the price of a recipe including meat. Allergies suck, but even though we've removed whole food groups from our diet, we eat more varied and nutritionally complete foods than the typical american diet, and for that I am (almost) thankful for multiple food allergies.

  Anyway, I would like to make minestrone from scratch soon, the kind you simmer on the stove for 5-6 hours. But in the meantime, here is a super fast and tasty version to make on busy nights :)

Quick and Easy Minestrone Soup

28oz vegetable stock 
1 can italian seasoned stewed tomatoes, drained
1 can black beans (or kidney beans), drained and rinsed
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables, such as italian style or country mix
2 tsp italian seasoning, crushed
1 1/2 tsp onion powder
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp sea salt
a few cracks of fresh ground black pepper
3 Tbl marinara sauce (optional)
14 oz corn-quinoa pasta elbows or other shapes

In a medium/large stock pot over high high heat, add vegetable stock, tomatoes, beans and chickpeas, and bring to a boil, about 4 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and add the rest of the ingredients except pasta. Return to a boil, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Add pasta and cover, simmering for 6-9 minutes, or until pasta is tender. Remove from heat, adjust seasonings to taste, and serve with nutritional yeast flakes sprinkled on top and yummy garlic toast to dip in it!