Archive for the ‘Vegan’ Category

Sweet Potatoe Pie – the quick version.

3 [left over] medium sweet potatoes
1 whole egg
1 egg white
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp almond extract
2TBSP palm shortening
1/2 cup white rice flour
1/2 C honey (or to taste)
enough almond milk to make smooth (1/4 cup?)

Whip all until smooth with a whisk, adding only enough milk to thin out enough to pour into a pie plate. Top with crumb topping if desired (it’s good either way, but a topping is easy and so good). and bake for 30 minutes in a 325  degree oven.or until hot. If you use a topping be sure to cover lightly with foil or parchment paper.

This is crustless because… well… because I was being lazy and the baby was crying at my feet the entire time and I just wanted to be done. I’m sure it would have been fabulous with an actual crust. But everyone was happy here so I think it was a success. It was just one of those things that accidentally turned out pretty good.

see, if I go about trying to create something it nearly always ends up awful…. but if the baby is crying at my feet and I’m trying to use up some left overs and I’m distracted beyond belief and I leave out the baking soda which I was planning to include, and I’m sure it’s going to be a total disaster…. it ends up tasting pretty darn good. figures.

….so, should I bother mentioning that the first time I put the topping on I forgot about the pie while I was vacuuming the stairs, and the whole top burned so I scraped it all over and put on a new topping and baked it for another 10 minutes?…. or that the reason my chicken curry would NOT finish cooking this evening was that I in fact had been measuring the temp in Celsius instead of Fahrenheit the entire time? and that it had probably been done for 30 minutes before I realized. or that I severely undercooked the rice noodles so they tasted like cellophane?

well… the pie was good. and nobody got sick. so all in all… I guess it was a success hmm?

While there is nothing in my mind that could compete with warm flakey buttermilk biscuit, this serves the purpose well. It’s great with jam or eggs (that’s all I can attest to so far as it’s the only toppings I’ve tried yet!)  They have a slight buttery taste and if you keep in proper prospective that this should be a drop biscuit and not a roll and cut out biscuit, it’s really yummy.

I made these for the first time tonight and I am very pleased with them. I was dying for a biscuit so I tweaked by “corn-less cornbread topping” recipe. This is what I came up with.

Biscuits

dry:

• 2 C  blanched almond meal/flour
• 3/4 arrowroot flour
• 1/2 T baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

Wet:

• 2 eggs
• 1/4 coconut oil or palm shortening
• almond milk (roughly 1/4 C)
• 3  T sugar **

Blend eggs well and sugar well, and add slowly add coconut oil or shortening. In separate bowl sift dry ingredients and slowly combine to wet while mixing. add almond milk as needed to thin. You’re going for a droppable biscuits, not a soupy mess. If by change you add too much milk let sit for a moment. almond flour expands and soaks up liquid. if it’s still too wet add more almond flour as needed.

drop by the spoonful onto a baking sheet and bake in a preheated over at 350 degress for 15-20 mins.

these biscuits get done before they look done. they don’t have a large rise to them and by the time they are browning they’re past their peek of fluffy yumminess and on their ways to hockey puck statis – so stay nearby til you know how long it takes your oven to bake them to perfection.

**next time i will try honey in lieu of sugar – I was concerned it’d be too wet so I didn’t do it for my first try. I thought shortening would give it more of a biscuit buttery taste but I think I liked the coconut oil variety better. Let me know what you all think!

Those us of with high allergy needs often miss out on fun foods. Foods that are crumbly, sweet and warm get replaced with imitations that are dry, hard, and rubbery. It leaves you feeling punished for having an allergy. Isn’t it hard enough when you can’t eat something yummy at a get together? It’s just horrible to be promised GF/SF/EF/CF replacements that aren’t remotely close to the original. I rememer the very first GF dessert I ever tasted. It had been a month of watching other people enjoy their cookies and  treats while I tried hard not to think about it. I was depressed, frankly! and a local GF baker in Maryland offered me a taste of his GF cookies. I was SO excited!!! I could enjoy food again!

It’s funny thinking on that. The cookies honestly weren’t even good! I was just so excited about having *something* dessert like that the fact that it tasted like sugary grit didn’ even register! But surely, after the romance died down I was left feeling bored again. my tastebuds were so very sad.

It’s taken me about 3.5 yrs of being  gluten-free to come up with something worthwhile. I was previously living off of boxed GF cookies *shudder* and trying to ignore their lack of taste and abundance of cardboard like texture. But, then I had Vencenzo. time has shown us he is quite intollerant of many things i was eating. So now I am COMPLETELY free of (amongst many other little things):

• gluten *
• soy
• dairy
• corn
• fructose (meaning ALL fruits and many veggies)
• raw veggies  (see above)
• citrus
• leaf family
• berry family (which doesn’t include cran or blueberries as they are another family)
• pork *

(*would be off of anyhow)

I’ve finally come up with a few recipes for desserts that aren’t just “okay” by gluten standards, but dare I say… my gluten/dairy-loving relatives don’t know the difference.

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Coffee Cake:

dry:

• 3 C      blanched almond meal
• 3/4 C  white rice floud
• 3/4 C  arrowroot flour (starch)
• 1/2   T baking soda
• 1/2   tsp salt

wet:

• 1/4 C  palm shortening
• 1 .5 C honey
• 8 eggs
• 3 cap fulls of vinegar
• 1 tsp almond extract

*crumb topping-

Start with these measurements. as always this isn’t an exact science. You will need to feel it here to make sure it’s right. If it’s too sticky add more flour. If it’s too crumbly increase shortening. If it’s too oily add more rice flour…. etc. each time in slightly different. You have to learn to eyeball some things in cooking – the inner baker will come out in you once your fear of cooking with GF flours dies down!

• 1/4 C palm shortening
• 1/2 C rice flour
• 1/2 C almond flour
• 1/4C honey
• 1/2 -1 T cinnamon
• optional: sliced almonds sprinkled on top

If you want it REALLY crumbly double the topping recipe- but don’t fill the muffins quite as full or they will overflow!

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Pre-heat oven to 305 degrees. Fill a muffin tin (or 3) with parchment paper baking cups. With mixer cream shortening and honey adding slowly 1 egg at a time until each egg is thoroughly mixed. mix in vinegar and almond extract.

In separate bowl sift (of combine with hands, like I do!) all dry ingredients. Add in 3 steps with the wet ingredients until fully combined. use ice cream scoop to fill muffin cups 1/2-3/4 full and top with crumb topping. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until done. (you want it to not be too brown on top and still a bit moist – as always this will vary from oven to oven so try one batch first and see how it goes.)

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tips:

The picture above shows crumb topping – but I also tried them out as muffins – no fancy crumbly topping and everyone thought they were still good. I’m sure I’ll skip the crumb topping when I’m in a hurry.

You can make the topping in bigger batches and save for a couple of days in a sealed container in the fridge.

While this takes time, it takes very little effort. Beans are cheap, simple and really good as a meal with rice or as a side.

To soak beans:

• 1 bag of Pinto beans (or Kidney/Black)
• cover beans with water – (4 inches above beans as they will expand)
• 1TBSP whey or vinegar

soak beans over night in this mixture (atleast 8 hrs).

Rinse and put into crock pot and add one diced onion, and cover with fresh water.

cook on low in crock pot until beans are tender (approx 3-6 hrs). add salt and pepper to taste.

YUM!

** use chicken stock in place of cooking water for extra flavour and nutrition

**my all time favorite is half kidney, half pinto.

**this is great to add to chili or over rice

So easy and much cheaper them frozen bags of fries.

• 5lb bag of yukon golds
• olive oil
• seal salt
• garlic powder
• pepper
• parsley

chop potatoes into bite sized pieces (you can also cut them into “french fries”). toss them in a mixing bowl with just enough olive oil to thiny coat all of the pieces. spread onto baking sheet (or two!). add sea salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste. sprinkle parlsey flakes for color.

bake at 450 degrees for 25 minutes or until tender-brown.

makes 8-10 servings. (or 4 incredibly hungry LaFianza’s!) I often re-use leftovers in the next night’s meal (like chicken pot pie)

When frying up anything in hot oil be sure to lay the food down carefully into the oil. Start with the surface closest to you and work you’re way back. DON’T (I repeat, DON’T) just drop it in there quickly because you’re afraid your hand will be burned by a little pop of oil. If you drop it into the hot hot oil it will splash oil up at your arms and face which, let me tell you, burns a lot more than a tiny little popping oil bubble on your hand!

::ahem:: even seasoned cooks need reminded of this every now and again…

also, you might want to consider not wearing headphones and listening to your favorite Rich Mullins song while cooking with hot oil because it seems to cause temporary loss of common cooking sense.

..that’s all

This is something I make every week. sometimes I make a huge pot of it and keep it around to add to meals through out the week. it’s great in pastas, mexican dishes, rice, on top of steak or chicken and in meatloaf.  it’s SO good!

3-4  big Vidalia Onions

2 bags shredd carrots ( or shred about 3/4 small bag full of fresh carrots)

2 packages cremini mushrooms (or your favorite kind) sliced

Sea salt and pepper to taste

opt: a bag of fresh spinach, celery, garlic, green or red peppers

put cast iron or stainless steel high pan on medium-high , then add oil (we use coconut or olive). Only after the oil is warm add the onions and a good heaping bit of sea salt. (these veggies eat salt, so you will be surprised by how much you use!) once they turn translucent you may add the carrots and mushrooms. cook down to a nice saute.

tips:

*never put a saute in a cold pan or cold oil. always warm pan and oil throughly or you will end up with wet soggy steamed veggies instead of sauteed ones.

*if you want your onions carmelized, use less salt and oil, but keep a good eye on them so they don’t burn.

1 bag granny smith apples cored and sliced

1/2-1 cup honey

sea salt and cinnamon to taste

1 big cast iron dutch oven

simmer for about 30 mins. add water if needed.

this is the easiest thing in the world to make and almost every body loves it. you can saute the apples in butter, coconut oil or lard first if you want them more flavorful.

2 cans coconut milk
2/3  cup honey
1 tsp almond extract (I hate vanilla)
1/3 cup cocoa powder

follow your ice cream mixer’s directions and freeze for atleast an hour. it is SO good!