Food Friday on Thursday- dairy free soy free cheese sauce

OK. I've been meaning to write this out for some time now. But first I had to make some and measure. I don't measure. Ever. I dump and stir and add and taste until things look and taste... right. So this took FAR too much time. But it's done now.

Ingredients (and this is what I used, but is by no means set in stone)
4 Tablespoons oil
8 Tablespoon flour
4 1/2 cups rice milk (almond would probably taste pretty good, but we can't use that)
1 teaspoon garlic powder (more wouldn't hurt)
1/2 teaspoon pepper (also- more would be fine)
3/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt (I tried to use less- it tasted really bad until I got up to 1/2 teaspoon. More would be fine, too, just not less)
3/4 bag of daiya "cheese". Pepper jack is really yummy in it, cheddar is what I normally use because it's more readily available, mozzarella I've tried but the result was a bit bland.

Heat oil in large pot over med to med/ high heat. Add flour and whisk or stir. Whisking makes it smoother more easily. Add rice milk 1/2 cup at a time whisking/ stirring well in between each addition and adding the next when it gets thick. Once you've added all the milk reduce heat to a low simmer. Add in seasonings. If it's getting too thick add some more rice milk. Once you have it the right texture and the right taste (should be tasty before the addition of the "cheese") add about 3/4 of a bag of Daiya and remove from heat. Stir until cheese is melted and well blended. I let sit in the pot until cooler (or in the fridge) and then I pour into ice cube trays.

This is enough to fill 2 full ice cube trays. Once frozen I pop 'em out and store in a ziplock bag i the freezer. This is AMAZING to have on hand for quick lunches or something. I just make some noodles for Bravo, melt 2 cubes of this in the microwave and add the noddles to the bowl and stir. Also good to use over veggies, it may just need to be thinned out a bit more. This makes good sauce for a baked pasta dish as well. I make the giant pot of it so I only have to make it every so often and I have it ready to use when needed. If I didn't know this didn't taste like cheese (like if I had been dairy free for a while, or like Bravo, for always,) then it would get the cheese sauce job done.

I was so excited when Bravo outgrew his pea allergy because it meant I could use daiya cheese. Wonderful. And superstore even sells it, so it doesn't mean an extra trip to the too expensive store health food store.

Voila.
Tomorrow: diary free cream of mushroom sauce- amazing for meatballs!

Food Friday on wednesday- Allergy Friendly Egg Nog

I came across a blog writer a while ago (the blog has lots of writers, but this one in particular has amazing recipes free of the 8 major allergens) and I'm in love. If you have food restrictions, check her out.

The recipes are easy enough to substitute back in what you don't need to avoid (like normal flour for us or maybe egg or milk or nuts or something for somebody else) but are all really inclusive. Which is nice because she has made it possible to give Bravo some of the things that other wise he couldn't. Like Mayo (and therefor honey dill dipping sauce!) or Christmas Eggnog.

Bravo obviously didn't have the added rum, but I made this for him today and he LOVED it. I mean loved. I think his 8 oz cup of it was gone in less than 30 seconds. The downfall is it doesn't store long, but it was really really easy to make so it won't be hard to make this every few days for the season. I just need to remember to make it ahead of time because it needs to get nice and cold.

So here it is, copied right out of the blog.

A delicious “creamy,” rich eggnog that’s much lower in fat and cholesterol than the traditional beverage---and allergy-friendly to boot! It’s also free of refined sugar. This recipe may be made with or without rum.
3 cups rice milk (or other vegan milk of choice)
2 Tbsp. tapioca starch
1 ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
¼ cup maple syrup
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg (preferably freshly grated), plus more for garnish
¼ cup dark rum (optional)

1. Combine ½ cup of the rice milk with the tapioca starch. Whisk well until frothy. Add vanilla extract. Whisk well to combine.
2. Combine 1 ½ cups of the rice milk with the maple syrup in a heavy pot. Whisk. Add nutmeg and whisk well to combine. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring often with a wooden spoon. Add tapioca starch mixture to pot. Heat, whisking continuously, until it reaches a simmer. Once it's slightly thickened, add the remaining cup of rice milk. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, and cook, stirring continuously, until rich and creamy, about 4 minutes.
3. Pour into a pitcher or large mason jar. Chill for at least four hours and up to 2 days. When ready to serve, stir or shake eggnog, mix in rum, pour into glasses, top with Rice Whip, and garnish with ground nutmeg.
Allergy-Friendly, Vegan, Gluten-Free, Refined Sugar-Free “Eggnog”© 2010 by Cybele Pascal



Yummy!! Happy Christmas season!!!

Food Friday a day late- ham leftovers

OK, so do you remember this ham recipe? I made it for supper last night and again was surprised by just how good it really is. Matt saw we were having ham and made a face. Then he tried a bite and remembered that it's actually really good! He even told me I could make it once a month. Thanks, Matt!

The downfall with ham (for some, but not me because I love love love ham) is that it leaves a lot of leftovers. And there's only so many ham sandwiches one can eat.
SOOOOO.

What To Do With Left Over Crock Pot Ham.
1. after you cook the ham there will be a pile of wonderful juices in the bottom of the crock pot. Don't throw it out!! After you cut up the ham and take all the meat off, throw the bone back into the crock pot and stick it in the fridge over night (bonus! less dishes to wash!)

2. the next day add a big tin of tomatoes, some chopped up carrots, some mushrooms, some diced onion (I prefer mine to be cooked first- but it doesn't matter), some water, half a bag of barley, some chopped celery, and whatever else you want to add. Like pepper or some extra grainy mustard. Important: don't add anything else with salt!! The first time I used some broth instead of water and the thing was so darn salty I almost died. The ham is salty enough so don't add anything else with salt. And don't add the chopped up left over ham yet. That part comes later. Otherwise all the hammy-ness is lost and it's just not as good.

3. there should be enough water/ liquid to make it look a little like soup. This will all absorb as the barley cooks and it will turn into a delicious ham stew type of dish. Freezes well so you can cook it and make a few meals to save for the "I just don't want to cook" days. Turn on crock pot on low for the day.

4. When you're about to server it add a bunch of chopped up leftover ham. and mix well. For the small people in my life I add in a bunch of frozen veggies to add veggies and to act as ice cubes.

yummy yummy yummy!

Food Friday- best ham ever cooked

Matt hates ham. I love ham. We were at ham odds. But I always won because I cook and he doesn't, so if I want it I cook it. But I really prefer it that people eating my cooking actually LIKE it and don't just take their "thank-you portions". So I went on a ham recipe hunt. I know I know.... how hard is it to cook a ham???

But if you follow this then even ham haters may change their mind. Matt loves this ham, which is saying a lot. If my parents ever make ham now he just leans over and says oh so quietly "your ham is way better."

Plus- it's cooked in a crock pot which takes away so much of the hassle of cooking- like doing it during my every so precious triple threat nap time.

Crock Pot Ham Even Ham-Haters Will Like

5 lb-ish ham.**Not one of those little pretty pre-cooked hams. A real ham with the bone in. But don't forget to take the plastic thing off the end of the bone** try to not buy one so big it won't fit in your crock pot. Because then you have to cut chunks off and stuff it in the sides. Not that I've done that before.
1/2 cup apple juice
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tablespoon honey
1 Tablespoon mustard (I use grainy- but normal will do if you don't have it)
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon cloves

Score ham with a knife
Put it in your crock pot
Mix all the dark purple ingredients in a bowl
pour juice over ham
rub the sugar mixture over the ham with your hands
cover and cook on low for about 8 hours. Could be a bit more if you're out of the house and aren't home for 9.
yummy yummy yummy!

food friday- chocolate oreo cupcakes

So, I suck and I had already  posted this recipe but a week later I accidentally deleted it but I still want it on here. So I'll post it again, but without whatever smart and witty and clever and well-written banter it had before (I can pretend because it's now deleted out of existence). Lesson learned: don't try to change the title of the entry to make it more clear because then you push the wrong buttons and the whole thing disappears into the air.

Allergy Friendly Chocolate Cupcakes with Oreo Icing.
I made close to a billion of these last week for Alpha's fourth birthday party. Which turned out awesome.

Cupcakes:
4 1/2 cups flour
3 cups sugar
1 cup cocoa powder
1 cup canola oil
3 cups rice milk (or water, or normal milk- whatever you use)
3 teaspoons baking soda
3 tablespoons vanilla

Pre-heat oven to 350
mix dry ingredients together with a fork.
mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl.
add wet to dry and mix well with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes or until well blended
pour into prepared cupcake tins (or minis, or a 9 x 13 cake pan or 2 round cake pans)
***let sit for 5 minutes before putting in oven for the soda to activate***
bake for 25 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. (1 hr for a 9x13 cake)
this recipe both halves and doubles easily and is very yummy. yields: about 30 large-ish cupcakes


Oreo cookie icing
4 cups icing sugar
1 cup shortening or lard or whatever. you could use butter, but shortening makes it taste more like oreos.
pinch of salt (cuts the sweetness a bit)
1/2 package of crushed oreos (I used my food processor so it would go through my piping bag)
1 1/2 -3 tablespoons of rice milk (or whatever milk or cream you want). Start with the smaller amount of milk and add until you have the right consistency.

These came out really well, that's the first time I tried to add oreos to the icing. I served with a mini Oreo on top (cute) and for the kids at the party I put a cupcake in the back of a cheap plastic dump truck. It looked great and the kids loved it!

Food Friday- the best ever most perfect chocolate chip cookie

What's better on a chilly fall day then homemade chocolate chip cookies? Nothing- that's what.

For a few years I was on the hunt for the perfect chocolate chip cookie. You know the ones, flat, chewy, addictive, perfect. Nothing "cake-y", nothing crispy. Then after a good 2 years of trying endless recipes I FOUND IT. Or rather, I almost found it. It just needed to be a bit softer, have a slightly different sweetness, and have wonderful chocolate chunks instead of cheap-o chocolate chips. So I tweaked and Found perfection.

THEN.... allergies came into my life in the form of an adorable little Bravo. Who wanted chocolate chip cookies. So I tweaked again and came up with the perfect allergy cookie. It still uses wheat, but it's soy, egg, and dairy free. warning: both the normal cookies and the allergy cookies taste better when cold. I think they're the only chocolate chip cookies that aren't all that tasty when warm. But they're really only warm for like 12 seconds, so I'd rather they taste best when cold. Actually- they taste best the next day. And the allergy ones smell gross when cooking. Something about eggs makes cookies smell better. Who knew??? The allergy cookies are still really good but not quite as good as the regular ones.

So without further delay

The perfect chocolate chip (chunk) cookie
Non-allergy bits will be in parentheses.

1 1/2 cups lard or spectrum shortening or Crisco (don't use the butter flavoured one- it ruins the cookies.)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
3 teaspoons egg replacer powder + 6 tablespoons rice milk (OR 3 eggs, beaten)
1 tablespoon vanilla or a bit more- I just dump and don't measure.
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 package of enjoy life chocolate chips or 3 cups of whatever choc chips *** for the non-allergy best ever choc chip cookies this is the most important part. Get three of the big dairy milk chocolate bars and chop up fairly finely instead of chocolate chips. Don't skimp on other bars or on plain baking chocolate. Trust me. They're so good!- YUM!****

Pre-heat oven to 350 and prepare cookie sheets (I love parchment paper- but do what you do)
Cream sugars and fat
add egg choice and vanilla and beat mixture
mix dry ingredients (but not the chocolate) and add to wet ingredients. Mix well. Add chocolate and stir. I usually end up using my hands.
Drop onto cookie sheet by teaspoon- they grow.
Bake 10-12 minutes *** this is super important. They will still look uncooked. If they look brown and like cooked cookies then when they cool they will be harder and will still taste good but like normal choc chip cookies and not the best ever ones. This is the most important part of the whole recipe- DON'T OVER BAKE****
cool on trays for a few minutes until they can be lifted by metal spatula onto wire racks. Let cool completely then store in air tight container. These stay great on the counter for a few days and freeze really well.
Makes about 3 1/2 dozen. Which in my house lasts all of 14 seconds.

Food Friday- pumpkin cookies

There's a lot I could post about food. Many many creations I've cooked up to meet our family's many many food needs. Nutrition, appealing to a slightly picky Matt, a differently picky me, a baby, a not so picky Alpha, and a highly allergic and also picky Bravo.

I'll get into the details of our specific allergies later, but currently Bravo is allergic to milk (NOT lactose but milk protein found in so many many many things), eggs, soy, peanuts, nuts, alfalfa, and clover (so glad that short and sandal season is ending!)

So for today is my current favourite recipe.

Allergy Friendly Pumpkin Crack Cookies

(egg free, soy free, dairy free, nut free, absolutely amazing and addictive pumpkin cookies)  

(can also be vegan soy free pumpkin cookies)

I'll add in parentheses what the easier to use non-allergy friendly ingredient is for those who don't need to avoid them.

These are amazing cakey-type cookies with pretty icing on the top. Fine without the icing, but amazing with it.

Cookie Ingredients:

         3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

         1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

         1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

         3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

         1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

         1 teaspoon ground cloves

         1 teaspoon ginger

         3/4 teaspoon salt

         3/4 cup spectrum shortening for soy free vegan. (use lard, normal shortening, butter or your fat of choice)

         2 1/4 cup brown sugar

         1 can (the size of a tomato or mushroom soup can, not the big one) canned pumpkin puree

         1 1/2 tsp of egg replacer powder and 3 Tablespoons of rice milk or water (or 2 small eggs)

         1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350.

Make like normal cookie. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl with a fork. Mix wet ingredients and sugar in a different bowl with a spoon or a mixer or whatever. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until blended.

Spoon by large-ish teaspoon or small-ish tablespoon onto cookie sheets (I always line mine with parchment paper for ease of baking and cleaning). This makes between 4-5 dozen, depending on the size of cookies.  Get a spoon and cup of cold water and smooth the tops of the cookies out with the back of the spoon, dipping in the water between each cookie for super-smoothing non-sticky power.

These don't spread too terribly much, so they can be kind of close together. Bake for 15 minutes.

Cool for about 5 minutes on sheets then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Icing:

This is open to whatever you want to do. I put cinnamon in the icing, but you don't have to. I've made it with maple syrup before, and that's really good. You just want a thick-ish glaze, so add what you want to make it the right runny-ness. It should drizzle off of a spoon, but not run off completely.

2 cups icing sugar

1 tablespoon melted shortening or butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

3 tablespoons of rice milk or whatever milk you use (you made need more to get the right consistency)

mix the icing up, drizzle over the completely cooled cookies. Let set, and Voila!