Easy and Delicious Guacamole!

Everyone has their own guacamole mix but this is a guacamole I have been making for years and it’s so quick and easy! Before I was dairy-free I used to make it with sour cream but once I tried tofutti I found it actually tastes EVEN BETTER! At a recent family get-together, I whipped this up and my family who are all big skeptics on all this wheat-free, dairy-free etc etc foods LOVED it! Well of  COURSE! Dairy-free doesn’t mean flavour free!

Contains possible allergens as indicated in bold: tofutti (from soy)

Is: dairy-free, wheat-free, sugar-free, nut-free, guilt-free YAY

Ingredients:

Ingredients

• 1 medium Avocado, very ripe, almost over-ripe
• 1 wedge of lemon (about 1 teaspoon)
• 1 wedge of lime (about 1 teaspoon)
• 1 tablespoon of tofutti (2 if you like it extra creamy-cheesy)
• 1/2 – 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• cracked pepper to taste
• spices to taste: ie 1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika, 1/4 teaspoon red pepper blends like capsicum and chilli

Method:

1. smoosh the avocado together in a bowl with a fork
2. add all the other ingredients, mixture should be well combined but still a little rough, we don’t need a completely smooth guacamole
3. serve with corn chips, with mexican food, with crackers…..

Enjoy!

I decided to make a butternut squash soup because they are now in abundance, it’s also rich and delicious! The ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon really add warmth and flavor to the soup and the apple compliments the squash nicely

Making your own soup is so much tastier than the stuff sitting on shelves for months, its also very cheap and you can make the most of the vegetables that are in season. It’s always quite surprising to me how much goes into blended soups, it’s a great way to get your daily fruit and veg intake (butternut squash is technically a fruit!).

Butternut squash is packed full of health benefits, it is high in fiber, antioxidants, vitamin C, B6, it also helps fight against breast cancer with its high amount of beta-carotene and against heart disease with its folate levels and carotenoids.

I love the variety with soup, you can have them chunky or blended, creamy or broth based and the ingredients are endless, I think next time I make this type of soup I am going to make gf bacon croutons, they would be really tasty with it.

I stirred in a little Dairy Free sour cream and served with toast! Hope you enjoy.

Ingredients:

• 1 Large Onion Finely Chopped
• 3 celery stalks chopped
• 2 tablespoon of dairy free butter
• 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
• 1 butternut squash chopped into small pieces
• 2 apples, skinned and chopped
• 600 mls of chicken or vegetable stock
• 1/2 cup of coconut milk (the drinking kind)
• 1 thumb of ginger finely grated
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• a little grated nutmeg

Directions

Melt your dairy free butter over a medium heat then add your onion, garlic, celery and cook down untill soft (about 5 mins) then add in your squash and apple pieces and cook for a further 3 minutes. Pour in your chicken stock, bring to the boil then reduce heat to medium and allow to simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Put the soup into a blender and puree until smooth then add back to your rinsed pan and add in the coconut milk, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and season. Give it a good stir and then serve with gluten-free toast and if you like a little dairy free sour cream.

Sour cream coffee cake is the BEST. The sour cream adds flavor, moisture and little bit of zing to an otherwise boring cake. When you can’t eat dairy – it’s only a dream…at least that’s what I always thought.

Enter WayFare.

This plant-based company was founded by the grandson of a Dairy Farmer (who knows how Dairy is supposed to taste) and offers a whole host of dairy free treats: ice cream, pudding, cheese spreads and, of course, sour cream. When a box of samples arrived at my door this week, all I could think of was COFFEE CAKE. Streusel topped Blueberry Coffee Cake, to be more specific.

This loaf turned out just as lovely as I remembered it: fluffy cinnamon swirls dotted with bursts of blueberries with an oat topping that adds just the right contrast of texture to this otherwise smooth cake. I made a loaf version and it didn’t last long. You may want to think about doubling this recipe for a full cake.

Streusel Topped Blueberry Coffee Cake

Ingredients:

Streusel:

• 1/4 cup cold Earth Balance
• 1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
• 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
• 1/4 cup All-Purpose Gluten Free Flour
• pinch of Salt
• 1/3 cup GF Oats
• 1 teaspoon of Cinnamon

Cake:

• 1.5 cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon of Xantham Gum
• 1/3 cup Granulated Sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon Baking Powder
• 1 tablespoon of Cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 2 Eggs
• 1/3 cup Earth Balance, melted and slightly cooled
• 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
• 3/4 cup Sour Cream (dairy free)
• 1 cup of Fresh Blueberries

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Streusel: Combine all ingredients except oats, folding with a pastry cutter or fork. Gently mix in oats and set aside.

Cake: Sift together dry ingredients in large bowl.

In another bowl combine all wet ingredients except sour cream(making sure not to scramble the eggs when added to the warm Earth Balance.)

Make a well in the middle of the dry mixture and add the wet mixture.

With a large spatula or spoon add the sour cream in, folding gently, being careful not to over mix. Once ingredients are combined(there may still be chunks of dry flour),

place mixture into a parchment paper-lined loaf pan.

Add the blueberries

and then the streusel topping.

Bake for 45-50 minutes until topping is golden brown.

Enjoy warm with a cup of coffee.

Try not to eat the whole thing in one sitting. If you can. Just a suggestion.

Gluten-free, dairy-free apple pie

I had my first gluten-free Thanksgiving last year.   This year was my first dairy-free Thanksgiving.  A challenge?  A little, yes.  But I think I did a pretty good job.  The menu was similar to last year.  The exceptions were really the pies.  I managed to have 2 days off in a row.  That rarely happens unless I request it.  I used those two days to start my prep for Thanksgiving.

Once I saw Carol’s post on the Perfect Gluten-free Pie CrustI knew I had to go for it finally.  I took my pie crust recipe that I used for years and simply substituted the flours.  I used my food processor to mix it like Carol suggested.  However, I over mixed it so the crust turned out crumbly during the baking process.  Lesson learned.  Do it by hand like I’ve always done next time.  Despite the little crust issue, the pie was just like I remember it.  I wound up eating the whole pie by myself since Chaz hasn’t had a sweet tooth lately.  Good thing I don’t use refined sugar and I used bean flour.

Crustless gluten-free, dairy-free Pumpkin Pie

The night before Thanksgiving, I quickly whipped up Shirley’s Crustless Gluten-free Dairy-free Pumpkin Pie.  Did I mention how easy it was?  I had it ready before the oven was even preheated.  Chaz still didn’t have a sweet tooth so the pie was all mine again.  I used real pumpkin and bean flour.  More vitamins and protein, the better!  The coconut milk helps in that area, too.  I did not puree the pumpkin.  The recipe doesn’t say to if using real pumpkin.  The thought did come to me after I poured the batter in the pie dish.  It always happens after, right?  I was staring at some chunks of pumpkin wondering if I should have used the immersion blender to mix it all together.  I figured if it didn’t turn out, I still had enough pumpkin to whip up another one.  I have to tell you, it was good with the pumpkin chunks.  The spices seeped into them so it wasn’t like a void in the pie.  It just gave the pie more texture.

Dairy-free Party Potatoes

I made sour cream and cashew cream cheese from Go Dairy Free’s book to make my potatoes.  This is where I really missed dairy.  While the sour cream was even better than real sour cream to me and the cream cheese gave me the idea to use port wine for port wine cheese, they did not bind the potatoes well.  The potatoes were still good, but no matter what I did to help the binding process, I didn’t get the creamy texture I’m used to.  I will definitely use the sour cream and cream cheese for other things.  I’ve already made the cream cheese with port wine, and it was as good as I imagined it.

Gluten-free, dairy-free stuffing

I made the same gluten-free stuffing that I created on the spot last year and used Earth Balance soy-free butter to cook the celery and onions.  Not one bit of difference at all.  It was the side that I had most of and it disappeared from the fridge first.  Last year, I used Whole Foods’ gluten-free sandwich bread.  This year, I used a mix of Katz Gluten-free Wholesome bread (my favorite gluten-free bread) and Rudi-s Whole Grain gluten-free bread (my second favorite).

Pan roasted Brussel sprouts with bacon

Last year, I made pan roasted Brussel sprouts with bacon and did so again this year, using my new favorite bacon, Applegate Farms.  They make my favorite hot dogs, too.  It was easy to do some prep on the veggie dishes while this dish cooked.  I never get tired of this dish.  Bacon just makes everything better.

Roasted golden beets and Roasted sliced eggplant

I went simple on the other two veggies.  Roasted sliced eggplant and roasted golden beets.  I was trying to make sure there was a lot of color in the veggies since the rest of the sides and the turkey are the same color.  I used my toaster oven and roasted the golden beets earlier in the day after putting the turkey in the oven so they would have time to cool off enough for me to handle when I trimmed them up and peeled the skin off to slice.  So thankful for toaster ovens!  The eggplant, I simply sliced and drizzled with oil and salt.  Then I put it in the oven after taking the turkey out.

Cranberry Compote

I love making fresh cranberry sauce during the holidays.  I love that I can make it ahead of time, too.  Which is what I always do.  However, this year I changed it up a little.  I used less water and less pure maple syrup.  The result was more of a compote than a sauce.  I’m so glad I bought extra cranberries so I can perfect this before sharing it with you.  I’ve already used the leftovers to make a “milk” shake and to top gluten-free blueberry waffles.

The finicky bird

The one thing that gave me trouble this year was the turkey.  I had it in the oven longer than recommended and the temperatures all checked out when I took it out of the oven.  Once I started to carve into it after letting it rest, I saw the dark meat was still pink and so were the juices.  I was not happy.  Okay, I was starving.  So the idea of having to put it back in made me not happy because I was ready to eat.  I turned up the temp on the oven and put it back in.  Once it was done, it was perfect.

I enjoyed a full plate while Chaz had 2 plates.  We were happily stuffed.

Southwest Black Bean Stew {Allergy-Free}

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast

2 cans Bush’s seasoned black beans

1 bag frozen corn {non-buttered}

Emeril’s Southwest Seasoning {or similar}

1 small jar of your favorite salsa {THIS IS KEY! I love Trader Joe’s salsa, but it has been processed around several allergens}

8 oz Tofutti Cream Cheese {this is dairy-free}

Put chicken, beans, corn, seasoning and salsa in the crock-pot. Cook on low for 8 hours. About an hour before cook time is over, use a fork to break up the chicken. It should be very tender and falling apart. Cut the cream cheese into cubes and put in the crock-pot. Once cream cheese is melted, stir the stew to incorporate it throughout. Garnish with cilantro, Tofutti brand sour cream and salsa. Serve over rice or with tortilla chips.

YUM!

For eggs:

1/4 cup applesauce = 1 egg

1 tsp baking soda + 1 tsp apple cider vinegar = 1 egg

1/2 banana, mashed = 1 egg

1 1/2 tsp Ener-G egg replacer mixed with 2 T almond milk or water = 1 egg

1 T cornstarch = 1 egg (this is the one I use most!)

1 T ground flaxseed mixed with 3 T warm water = 1 egg (I use flaxseed in my waffles/pancakes by itself in place of eggs and it tastes great!)

4 1/2-5 oz jar prune puree (baby food prunes) = 1 egg (I have never used this, but it supposedly works like the applesauce does.)

1/4 cup soy yogurt (or coconut milk yogurt) = 1 egg

In place of cow’s milk:

1 cup almond milk {or rice or soy milk} = 1 cup cow’s milk

1 cup almond milk {or soy or rice milk} + 1 T lemon juice = 1 cup buttermilk {let sit for 10 minutes to sour before using}

yogurt can be replaced with soy or coconut milk yogurt

sour cream, cream cheese can be bought in the Tofutti brand {sold at Whole Foods and other stores}

ice cream = Tofutti brand, SoDelicious, Coconut milk types {several options are available now even in regular grocery stores}

1/3 cup canola oil = 1/2 cup butter {read labels on the oil bottles – a lot have been processed around peanuts}

1 cup dairy-free, soy-free vegetable shortening = 1 cup unsalted butter

I also use Smart Balance LIGHT buttery spread {this is dairy-free}

I’m sure there are other substitutes out there, but these are the ones I use most often. Hope this helps you! And if you have any substitutes you use, feel free to leave a comment and let us all know!