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Going dairy free

Most of my life I consumed dairy, in my childhood, I recall having a stomach ache every.single.day! That was just my normal so I didn’t think I could do anything about it. I was the one with the sensitive tummy, but we never thought that what I was eating could have anything to do with it.

In my college years, I continued eating dairy, plenty of pizza and ice cream during late night studying sessions. In addition to weight gain, I got something called Cystic acne. This was not very attractive for a college student and I wanted to just hide my face, I would get red spots on my chin or nose with a large bubble underneath the skin. I had no idea what it was and it was the first time in my life I had ever experienced acne. Dermatologists gave me antibiotics and it seemed to help some but the acne always came back. After college, I got a job with good health insurance so I went to the dermatologist who then suggested Accutane. It’s a very harsh drug that dries out your sebaceous glands to clear up severe acne, however, it cannot be used long term and you must be monitored closely by your doctor, including monthly blood tests and required 2 forms of birth control to prevent pregnancy because birth defects are so severe.

I ended up needing a second round of Accutane a few years later for 6 months. I have to say that if I had removed dairy from my diet all those years ago, I would have been able to avoid using Accutane altogether. Also, I started getting headaches daily and had gastrointestinal issues like severe diarrhea which I had never experienced before.

At the time I had no idea that what I put into my body or on my body had an effect. Even today when I consume unknowingly something with dairy, a small cyst will form on my face within a day or two so I know dairy made it’s way into my body. It’s unfortunate to be so sensitive to any type of food but I’m happy that I do know and can avoid it as much as possible.

With my now toddler daughter, I’m very cautious about giving her dairy because I don’t want her to go through what I experienced. We give her a dairy free pea milk called, Unsweetened Vanilla Ripple Milk– it’s high in protein and has an excellent nutritional profile including Calcium and Vitamin D.

She has tried dairy cheese and yogurt and seems to tolerate them well but I hesitate to make that a regular part of her diet so we use dairy free substitutions. My husband consumes dairy regularly otherwise she would probably be completely dairy free.

Bottom line, what goes in your body does effect you and every food available may not be the best food for you.

Gingerbread Cake Bites with Orange-Molasses Glaze

Gingerbread cake bites

Holidays call for fancy looking and fancy tasting desserts! Gingerbread is perfect for the holiday season and the orange glaze adds a nice pop to this yummy cake.

Gingerbread cake bites

Dry Ingredients:

2 cups gluten free baking flour

½ tsp pink salt

1 tsp. Baking powder

1 ½ tsp. ground ginger

¾ tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ tsp. allspice

¼ tsp. ground nutmeg

Wet Ingredients:

2 T.  neat egg powder or 1 whole egg

2 T. ground flaxseed meal

½ cup water

½ cup coconut oil

½ cup plus 1 T. maple syrup

¼ cup molasses (not blackstrap)

 

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 375. Grease cake bites pan with coconut oil spray. I used a fall decorative pan or a muffin pan would work great too.
  2. Stir together dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.
  3. Mix together wet ingredients and pour into dry ingredients bowl and stir to combine.
  4. Scoop 1/4 cup batter into baking pan per mini cake.
  5. Bake 20-25 minutes until toothpick comes out clean and mini cakes are golden brown.
  6. Set aside to cool at least 30 minutes then carefully flip mini cakes onto a decorative platter.

Yield: 16 cake bites

To make orange-molasses glaze:

½ cup full fat coconut milk (put can in fridge overnight to separate liquid from the fat.) or culinary coconut milk

3 T. maple syrup

1 T. molasses

1 tsp orange zest

1-2 T. juice from an orange

Method:

  1. Whisk together glaze ingredients. Sweeten to taste.
  2. Add more orange juice for a thinner consistency.
  3. glaze each mini cake before serving.

Yield: 1 cup glaze

 

This recipe is adapted from my original recipe available on Vitacost.com

https://www.vitacost.com/blog/cooking-recipe/desserts-2/gluten-free-gingerbread-bundt-cake-with-maple-orange-glaze.html

Cherry Cheesecake Dip

Cherry cheesecake dip

Love cheesecake but no time to bake?? Oh and you’re not into all that heavy dairy, me neither! Whip up this no bake dip and top with crumbled cookies for a fancy looking and delicious dessert. Serve in a pie plate or make individual portions! Either way, get ready for raves reviews.

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Ingredients for Cheesecake dip:
8oz vegan cream cheese
1 can full can coconut milk (place in fridge to chill then scoop out solid milk for recipe, about 1 cup)
¼ cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla

Ingredients for Cherry topping:
2 cups organic frozen cherries, pitted
½ cup water
2 tsp vanilla
2T. Organic cane sugar
1 T. Tapioca flour

1 box vanilla honey graham Cookies

Method:

1. Whisk together until smooth vegan cream cheese, coconut milk cream, maple syrup and vanilla.
2. Cover and chill for an hour.

For topping:

1. Add cherries, water, vanilla, and sugar to a small sauce pan.
2. Bring to a boil then simmer 5 minutes.
3. Stir in tapioca then remove from heat.
4. Set aside to cool then place in fridge to chill.
Note: Do not put warm cherry topping on cheesecake dip. Duh! 😉

Assemble:
1. Layer cheesecake dip on pie plate then top with cherries and crumbled cookies.
2. Or portion into individual cups layering with dip first then cherries and cookie crumbles.

Yield: 6 servings

Homemade Turkey Meatballs

Cooking meatballs with my Mom and her BFF Nancy who I have known since my childhood! Cooking with family is the best Smile

These are hubby and baby approved too! I cut these into little bites and my one year old daughter loved them!

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Ingredients:

16 ounces pasta sauce (homemade or jarred, simmer on stovetop)

1# ground turkey – 94%lean (I use Plainville Farms, humanely raised)

1 Tablespoon ground flax mixed with 3 Tablespoons water (flax egg), set aside for 5 minutes until it gels (this is your binder) – or use 1 whole egg

1/4 cup brown rice bread crumbs (I use Holgrain Brown Rice Bread Crumbs)  – or use regular breadcrumbs

1 medium carrot (or 3-4 baby carrots) finely shredded, about 1/3 cup

1 garlic clove, crushed (or 1/4 tsp each garlic and onion powder)

1/2 tsp. basil and oregano

1/2 tsp. salt and pepper

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Combine ground flax with water to make your flax egg, then set aside for 5 minutes until it gels.
  3. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, add ground turkey, flax mixture, brown rice bread crumbs, shredded carrot, crushed garlic, and spices.
  4. Use your hands to mix together all ingredients.
  5. Use a mini cookie scooper (1 Tablespoon in size) to scoop meatballs so they are all uniform size.
  6. Line a baking sheet pan with parchment paper for easy cleanup and place rolled meatballs onto baking pan.
  7. Bake meatballs for 20-25 minutes until cooked through.
  8. Once meatballs are cooked, removed from oven then place into simmering pasta sauce to coat.
  9. cook pasta of choice (regular or gluten free) then serve with meatballs.

 

Yield: 24 mini meatballs

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Pumpkin is very seasonal and you see pumpkin in everything from the Fall all the way through winter. We are in the middle of winter so I wanted to share my pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe with you. These are a new twist on the pumpkin bars that my husband loves!

Ingredients:

1+1/2 cups Vitacost garbanzo flour

½ tsp. pink salt

2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp. baking powder

½ cup pumpkin puree

¼ cup coconut oil

¾ cup organic turbinado sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 T. water

1 T. raw apple cider vinegar

½ cup chocolate chips or chunks

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Combine dry ingredients flour, salt, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder in a medium size bowl.

3. Mix together wet ingredients: pumpkin puree, coconut oil, sugar, vanilla, water, and vinegar.

4. Pour wet ingredients into bowl of dry ingredients. Stir to combine.

5. Stir in chocolate chips or chunks.

6. Scoop out 2 Tablespoons of batter per each cookie (use a medium ice cream scoop).

7. Bake cookies at 375 for 18-20 minutes until done and brown on the edges.

8. Enjoy!

Yield: 1 dozen cookies