Ice cream bars

We call these Sprinkle Bars.  The kids LOVE these.  And they love helping make them too.  Lucas picked out the colorful wood sticks and he's right, colors make sprinkle bars even more fun!

Ingredients:
1 quart of dairy free ice cream (we use both Soy Dream vanilla and Rice Dream vanilla)
1 12 oz package of dairy free semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup vegetable oil
wooden sticks
sprinkles

Dirctions:
1. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment or wax paper.  Working quickly, scoop out the ice cream and form into flat circles, and lay them on the parchment paper.  Return to the freezer to let the ice cream circles freeze up again, for 30 minutes.
2.  Meanwhile, in a double boiler (or the microwave), melt the chocolate chips and oil together.  Let mixture cool to room temperature.
3.  While chocolate begins to cool, remove ice cream circles from the freezer and insert a wooden stick into each one, and return the pan back to the freezer.
4.  Prepare another cookie sheet with clean parchment paper.  Take the bars from the freezer.  Working quickly, dip the bars in the cooled chocolate mixture and place on clean parchment paper.  Add sprinkles before the chocolate sets up completely.  Once all the bars are dipped, return to the freezer and let set at least 10 minutes before serving.

Salted caramel ice cream

Ummmmm, holy deliciousness.  I mean really.  This ice cream was GOOD!!  I mean REALLY GOOD!!!  I can't believe it's dairy free.  It tastes uh-mazing!!

Ingredients:

For the ice cream:
2 cans full fat coconut milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of sea salt

For the caramel sauce:
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vegan margarine (Nucoa)
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 TBS milk alternative (I used soy milk)

First, mix the caramel sauce.  In a small saucepan, over medium heat, heat brown sugar, margarine, salt, and nondairy milk, stirring frequently.  Once mixture comes together, increase heat to medium high for 1 to 2 minutes, until it begins to boil and the bubbles move into the center of the caramel.  Remove from heat and let sit and cool while you prepare ice cream.

To make the ice cream base:
Mix cooled coconut milk, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a bowl.  Whisk until sugar is dissolved.  Pour into ice cream machine, and mix according to manufacturer's directions.

To assemble the ice cream, when the base is finished in the ice cream machine, pour into a freezer safe container.  Drizzle caramel over top, and fold in a little.  My caramel sunk to the bottom as it froze, so it doesn't need much mixing.
Store in freezer.

Now go make some!  It's DELICIOUS!!

Snickerdoodle ice cream

First, I needed to make snickerdoodle cookies.  I chose Tia's favorite cookie ever, Chantelle's recipe for snickerdoodles.  The recipe is here.

After your cookies are made, and cooled, make the ice cream:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
2 cans full fat coconut milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups snickerdoodle cookie chunks

Directions:
In a bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Add cooled coconut milk and vanilla and whisk until smooth.
Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.
When the ice cream is almost done, add the cookie chunks and churn for the last 3 to 5 minutes.
Store in the freezer until hard.
Yum!!

Chocolate brownie ice cream

We had our annual Welcome to Summer party, where we served all you can eat ice cream for my daughter and all our friends.  It's a really fun party, and this year the ice creams were awesome!

For the brownie ice cream, first I needed to make my Mom's famous brownies.  I made them the day before I made the ice cream.  Trust me, these are good!
Brownies:
2 "eggs" beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 square margarine and 1/4 cup cocoa, melted together
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup white sugar
1 cup and 2 TBS flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

Melt margarine and cocoa together in the microwave in a bowl.  Blend in sugar.  Cool.  In a separate bowl, mix up 2 EnerG egg replacements and beat with mixers, for 2 minutes.  Add "eggs" to mixture.   Add sifted dry ingredients.  Add vanilla.  Spread in greased 8x8 pan.  Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.  Do not over bake.

Now for the ice cream:
My basic coconut milk ice cream is:
2 cans full fat coconut milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt

Keep the coconut milk in the fridge, so it's cold when you start.  Mix all the ingredients together until sugar is blended.  Next, add Hershey's chocolate syrup, until you like the chocolateyness.  I think I probably added 1/3 cup, but didn't measure.
Mix in an ice cream machine according to your instructions.
When the ice cream is almost mixed, add in 2 cups of brownie pieces and let it finish mixing.

Store in the freezer, and enjoy!

French Toast

We tried some French toast tonight, and we loved it!  I used the recipe from Vegweb.  It was delicious!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups soy milk
• 4 to 5 TBS flour
• 3 tsp sugar
• dash cinnamon
• bread slices
• nonstick spray

In a bowl mix together soy milk, flour, sugar, and cinnamon to form a batter.  Dip bread in batter and fry in lightly greased pan until golden brown.  

We ate ours with pure maple syrup.  Delicious!

Potato Bread for the bread machine

We usually cook a loaf of bread in the bread machine every week.  It's a simple way to make Tia some bread, since we don't have a milk and egg free store bought option locally.  Tia has a bread she loves that we buy in Idaho when we visit called Harper's Homemade.  So Aaron tried hard to copy the taste and texture of the bread for her.  This is pretty close.  We make it for her sandwiches for school.
Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups water (70 to 80 degrees)
• 3 TBS vegetable oil
• 6 tsp sugar or 5 1/2 tsp honey
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 TBS mashed potato flakes
• 3 cups bread flour
• 1 1/2 tsp yeast

Place all ingredients into bread machine pan in order listed.  Select basic bread setting.  Bake according to machine directions.

Chewy granola bars

Tia can't have any kind of store bought granola bars, so Aaron makes her a batch of homemade granola bars every Sunday night.  She takes one to school to eat at recess/snack time.  They are delicious!

Ingredients

• 4 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup nucoa softened
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 cups Enjoy Life chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Lightly grease one 9x13 pan.  

In a large mixing bowl combine the oats, flour, baking soda, vanilla, margarine, honey, and brown sugar.  Stir in the 2 cups chocolate chips.

Lightly press mixture into the pan.  Bake at 325 degrees for 18 to 22 minutes or until golden brown.  Let cool for 10 minutes then cut into bars.  Let bars cool completely in pan before removing or serving.  

Aaron has been playing around with the recipe and adding soynut butter as a variation.  He uses the original recipe and adds to it an extra:

1 cup rolled oats, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/4 cup honey, and 3/4 cup soynut butter, and 1 cup marshmallows.

Caramel corn

Now that Tia outgrew her corn allergy, we make caramel corn as a movie snack on family movie night.  Yum!

Ingredients:

• 4 quarts popped corn
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 c Nucoa margarine
• 1/4 c Karo syrup
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

Put brown sugar, nucoa, karo syrup, and salt in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave for 3-4 minutes, stirring every minute.  Stir in 1/2 tsp baking soda.  Put popcorn and syrup in a paper bag.  Shake to mix together.  Microwave for 3 minutes, shaking after each minute.  Pour caramel corn into a bowl.  Keep breaking apart until cool.  It will be non-sticky like cracker jacks.  Mmmmm!

Meagan's meatballs

My friend Meagan has a cute little boy allergic to milk, eggs, and nuts.  She shared her meatball recipe with me.  Tia LOVES them.  I use turkey or beef.  Thanks Meagan!!

Ingredients

• 2 lbs ground turkey
• 1 green pepper
• 1 onion
• 2 slices bread crumbs (I use homemade bread so that it's milk and egg free)
• clove garlic
• 1 carrot
• 2 TBS worcestershire sauce (I use Bragg's amino acids)
• 1/3 TBS pepper
• 2/3 TBS salt

Process carrot, garlic, onion, bread, and green pepper in a food processor.  Add to the turkey, sauce, salt, and pepper.  Mix together well.  Form into meatballs and bake at 375 for 25 minutes.  

Crepes

I use the basic crepe recipe from allrecipes.com.  I just use Ener-G egg replacer for the eggs.

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• Egg replacer mixed up for 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup soy milk (or rice)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 TBS Nucoa, melted

Blend all ingredients in the blender until smooth.  Heat a lightly oiled frying pan on medium heat.  Pour 1/4 cup of batter into the pan and swirl the pan in a circular motion to coat the surface of the pan evenly.  Cook for 2 minutes, or until lightly brown, then flip and cook the other side.  Serve warm with nucoa and cinnamon and sugar, or jam.  

Turkey Orzo Soup

I can turkey meat for Marix. You could also use left over cooked turkey say after thanksgiving, or a dinner with the missionaries. This is another recipe from a friend that I changed to make safe for Marix. This one is yummy!! White Bean Turkey Minestrone 2 containers all 365 vegetable broth 3 carrots, chopped 3 stocks celery, chopped 1/2 white onion, finely diced 3 cloves minced garlic 1 pint bottled turkey meat, including liquid 1 can Great Northern white beans, including liquid 1 cup uncooked orzo 3 cups roughly chopped napa cabbage 1 Tb. dried parsley 1/4 teaspoon ground sage 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt 1/2 teaspoon thyme 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning 1/2 teaspoon dried basil salt and pepper to taste Saute onion, carrots, celery, and garlic in a large stock pot with a little oil. Add liquids, turkey, beans, and seasonings and bring to a boil. Add orzo and keep at a low boil for 9 minutes (or according to orzo package directions.) Add the chopped cabbage the last 2 or 3 minutes of cooking.

Yummy blueberry rice pudding!!

My friend made this pudding, and I tweaked it to make it safe for MARIX. Here's the recipe if you want to try a little bit of heaven (that is if you are in to the rice pudding thing.) 1 quart milk (I use ricemilk. Tia can have soy milk now, and would work well with that too.) 1/2 cup uncooked rice (use regular white rice, not minute or instant. I've tried brown. NOT good.) 1/3 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 teaspoon lemon juice dash of salt 3/4 cup fresh blueberries 1/2 cup rice milk (or soy milk) to use later mix together in a glass baking dish and bake at 275 degrees for two hours, stirring occasionally. After two hours add the extra 1/2 cup rice milk.(hopefully some day I could add soymilk to give it a contrast to the 1 quart ricemilk) and bake for an additional half hour without stirring. Sprinkle with cinnamon and serve hot or cold. Stays good in the fridge for a week or so, if it lasts that long....

Instant Oatmeal Packets

We are going camping next month, and I have been dying to find an instant oatmeal recipe that works well. Marix loves oatmeal, but the organic instant oatmeal packets are so expensive, and don't come in any other flavor that is safe for him except for brown sugar. Blend 1/2 Cup of oats in blender until powdery. Into each of 10 ziplock sanwich bags combine: -1/4 C. regular oats -2T, powdered oats -1/8 to 1/4 t. salt -2t. brown sugar -1/8t.cinnamon I like to add dried apple chunks or dehydrated apple bits. I have also tried rasins, and dried blueberries. I want to try dried bananas next. When these bags are filled, store in a dry cool place. When they are ready to be used, empty packet into bowl and add 1/2 C. boiling water and let sit until thick, stiring slightly.

Baked Donuts

June 1st is National Donut Day.  We definitely had to celebrate!  The only downside, is I am still on a pretty strict diet, and donuts are a big no-no for healthy eating.  So I googled and found a blogger who made baked donuts.  Perfect!
The recipe calls for sugar, and I wanted to make them sugar free, so I substituted agave nectar for the sugar and then decreased the amount of milk, but in my excitement, I didn't read the recipe and totally messed up.  I fixed it as best as I could though, and in the end it must have worked, because they were delicious!!
The recipe is:
Dry Ingredients
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Wet Ingredients
1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Egg replacer for 1 egg
4 TBS margarine

Icing Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 TBS soy milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Whisk wet ingredients together over the stopetop on low.  Do not let the mixture get too hot, just warm to the touch.  Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  Add the wet to the dry mix.  Do not over mix.  The batter will be very sticky.  Form in to donut shapes on a pan, handling the dough while your hands are very wet to avoid it sticking to you.
Bake for 12 minutes.  You don't want them to brown, but they should slowly pop up when pressed with a finger.  Cool on a wire rack, then decorate. 

Tips for reducing fat

Here are some tips for reducing fat in your diet. Most allergy kids need the extra fat, but I am posting the tips for me, and for my sweet niece who finds herself needing to make dietary restrictions.

So, here are some fat reducing tips:

• Use non stick pans, so that you do not need to add extra oil.
• Sautee vegetables in vegetable stock instead of oil.
• Oil in salad dressings can be replaced with vegetable stock.
• Puree a potato and add to homemade soups in place of the cream. You can also use low fat yogurt.
• Sauces and gravies are usually made with fat, flour, and liquid. To omit the fat, toast the flour in a dry pan on medium heat until it is lightly browned. Add the liquid and any seasonings. Whisk to remove lumps, then cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until it thickens.
• In baking, recipes can call for up to a cup of oil. Try reducing it to 1/3 cup. Applesauce, pureed banana, or pumpkin can also be used to replace oil. Pureed prunes are good for chocolate, spice, and carrot cakes.
• Season vegetables with spices and fresh herbs rather than butter or margarine.
• Broil meat, so fat drains away as it cooks.
• Beware of low-fat claims on packaged foods. Read labels instead, for actual fat content.
• Poach fish or chicken. Always remove skin.
• Avoid over-cooking vegetables so they retain their flavors.
• Use small amounts of strong, hard cheese rather than large amounts of mild cheeses.
• Use egg substitutes in baking, or two egg whites for each egg the recipe calls for.
• Boil potatoes, spray lightly with oil, and then crisp in the oven.
• Tenderize lean cuts of meat with marinades as they can be tougher than fatty cuts.
• Eat more vegetarian meals.
• When making frostings, replace the butter or margarine with marshmallow creme.

Most the ideas from 101 tips for a healthy diet on diet and fitness today.com

Check out their webpage, because it's awesome!

Ketchup and Meatloaf

Ever since Tia was one and she tested allergic to tomatoes, I've been looking for a substitute for ketchup. I pretty much gave up. But then I re-googled it this week and found one to try.

It's the ketchup recipe from SisterCooks.

Tomato free Ketchup:

• 1 can Gerber plum with apples and pears baby food
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 dash onion powder
• 1 dash garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp vinegar
• 1 TBS sugar
• 2 drops red food coloring

Mix all ingredients together. Let sit in the fridge for an hour so flavors can meld, then stir again.

I couldn't find the plums with apples and pears, but I did find plums with apples. So I bought it and a jar of pears and mixed the two together and doubled the rest of the ingredients.

*******************************************************************

So then, since I had a ketchup for her, I thought I'd try meatloaf, since she recently passed a beef trial and can have beef now.

I use Aunt Lavona's recipe for meatloaf. It is:

• 1 lb ground meat
• 3-4 carrots finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt
• pepper
• 1/2 c or so oatmeal
• 1 cup of left over rice
• at least 1/2 c ketchup
• 1-2 tsp mustard
• chopped onion

Sauce

• 2-3 T ketchup
• 1 T br sugar
• garlic powder

Use plenty of ketchup and touch of mustard. (Tia's used her baby food ketchup, and didn't get mustard). Another key is to mix ingredients very well. It works best to use your hands and squeeze the mixture thru your fingers but I mixed real well w/a fork. The sauce of course mixes up after you've put the meat into a greased loaf pan and spreads over the top.

Then bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour and 20 minutes.

When Tia's came out I hesitantly tried it. I was surprised! It was delicious. WAY better than the one I made for the rest of the family with real ketchup!

Aaron got home and I had him try it too. He loved it. Until I told him the ketchup on hers was made out of baby food. Then he stopped chewing and said, "Baby food?! I'm eating meat and baby food??!?!?!!!" Trust me, though. It was good.

Food facts

Foodfacts.com is a GREAT web site! I just found it and I already love it!

At the top of the webpage is a search engine. You can search for any brand food, or food type and using the keywords you type in, it brings up a list of foods. Find the food you're looking for and click on it. And for that food it shows you what's good about it, what's bad about it, its ingredients, and its allergens. Amazing!!

Or you can click on the allergen you want to avoid and it brings up foods that are free from that allergen.

I bookmarked it. And I also downloaded the iPhone app. It's amazing!

Go to their web site and give it a try!

Carrot Cake

Dry ingredients
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
Mix above ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

1/2 cup applesauce
2 ener-g egg replacers
1 1/2 cup canola oil
3 cups finley chopped carrots

Put in blender 1 egg replacer, 1/2 cup oil and 1 cup carrots. Add another egg replacement mixture, 1/2 cup oil. and 1 cup carrots. Repeat this step by adding the 1/2 cup apple sauce, 1/2 cup oil, and 1 cup carrots. Blend until smooth Add blended mixture to dry ingredients and mix with an electric mixture until smooth. Pour into greased bundt pan, bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Frost when completly cooled with frosting.

Frosting recipe:
1 cup cornstarch free powdered sugar
1/2 tsp clear vanilla
1 tbsp vanilla ricemilk
2 tbsp nucoa margarine softened

In a mixing bowl combine powdered sugar, vanilla, ricemilk and nucoa.
Stir in additional ricemilk 1 tsp at a time untill it reached drizzling consistency.

Blueberry cobbler Ala Mistake

I am pretty picky about my cobbler. I like it not too crusty, not too flakey, so I combined and tweeked about four recipies to create this little ditty.

Ingredients

2-1/2cups blueberries (I usually use frozen because thats what I have on hand)
1-1/2 cups flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 tsp haines baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 ener-g egg replacements (to replace two eggs)
1 cup oats
1/2 cup nucoa margarine
1/2 cup vanilla rice milk

Place blueberries in the bottom of a 9x13 pan.
MIx together flour, sugars, baking powder, salt, oats, and mixed up egg replacements untill crumbly. Spread evenly on top of blueberries.
Mix together melted nucoa and vanilla rice milk and dribble over top. Bake at 350 untill lightly browned. About 15-20 minutes.

Butternut squash soup

This soup is so yummy, even my meat loving husband loves it.

Ingredients

2 tbsp Nucoa
1 small onion chopped
1 stalk of celery chopped
2 medium carrots chopped
2 or 3 medium potatoes diced
1 medium butternut squash- peeled, seeded and cubed
32 ounces 365 vegetable broth from whole foods. (see picture on potatoe soup recipe.)
Salt and pepper to taste

Melt Nucoa & onion, celery, carrot, potatoes and squash in large pot. Cookfor five minutes to brown a little. Add vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Simmer covered for 20 minutes or untill veggies are soft. Blend half of soup mixture in blender till smooth. ( I like my soup hearty and chunky. If you prefer it smoother, blend more or all of soup in blender till it reached desired consistancy.
Add salt and pepper.