by jphilo | Aug 26, 2015 | Recipes
Today’s recipe is a great after school snack. It’s perfect for kids who come home hot and hungry the first few weeks of school. The original recipe comes from one of those annoying websites with lots of confusing arrows and pop up ads. The kind of websites I usually hate. But the ingredients were healthy and the recipe was easy to make dairy-free.
So I gave it a try. The frozen pops were tasty and satisfied my sweet tooth. The original recipe suggested freezing them in popsicle molds. Since I don’t have them and don’t want to reclutter my cabinets, I used 3 ounce. Dixie cups and plastic straws cut in half instead. The cups worked beautifully. The straws not so much. Next time–and I will make them again– I’ll use wooden craft sticks instead.
Dairy-Free Pineapple Cream Pops
1 large, ripe, fresh pineapple cut into cubes
2 cans coconut cream (not coconut milk)
1 lime
Stevia to taste
Open the cans of coconut cream (DO NOT SHAKE THEM) and skim off the heavy cream on top. Put it in a small, deep bowl. (Refrigerate the rest of the coconut liquid and use it in smoothies or baking.) Whip the coconut cream with an electric mixer until it is frothy and thick.
Put the pineapple cubes in the blender. Process until you have a smooth, frothy mixture. Add the juice of 1 lime and process for another minute. Add the coconut cream to the blender and process until all ingredients are mixed well. Taste the mixture and add Stevia if it needs sweetening.
Pour the liquid into 3 ounce. Dixie cups.
Put a wooden stick or plastic straw in each cup.
Cover with foil. Put in freezer for several hours. Before serving, peel off the paper. Enjoy!
by jphilo | Aug 12, 2015 | Uncategorized
Remember the honey-oatmeal muffin recipe that first appeared on this blog in January of 2011? And then the updated non-dairy recipe from May of this year? Well, today’s recipe is a new variation on our family classic.
This version came into being during a visit with my daughter in July. Blueberries were really cheap at the grocery store, so we bought quite a few. More than we could eat before they went bad. So I added them to the muffins she asked me to make. Along with some lemon zest, which made them absolutely delicious.
Below is the non-dairy version. Just switch the soured rice milk to buttermilk if you aren’t concerned about being dairy free.
Honey-Oatmeal Muffins
1 egg, beaten 1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup honey 1 cup soured rice milk*
1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup oatmeal 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder 2 teaspoons lemon zest
1/4 cup ground flax seed 1 cup fresh blueberries
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl combine beaten egg, oil, sour rice milk, honey, and lemon zest. Stir. Mix the dry ingredients together and add to liquid mixture. Stir by hand until dry ingredients are moistened, but batter is still lumpy. Carefully fold in blueberries.
Line muffin pan with muffin papers. Spoon batter into cups until they are ¾ full. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes until the edges turn golden brown. Do not over bake! Serve them warm. Or let them cool and store in gallon freezer bags. Makes one dozen.
*Sour rice milk by putting 2 tablespoons of lemon juice in a 1 cup measure. Fill to 1 cup mark with rice milk and let sit at least 15 minutes before using.
by jphilo | Jul 29, 2015 | Recipes
Peach season is a terrible thing to waste. To avoid that tragedy, I devoted part of last weekend to making 2 fresh peach pies using a recipe that’s been in our family for over 50 years. The Man of Steel and I will be celebrating peach season with a pie every week or so until peach season ends.
Without hesitation, I can say that this recipe makes the best peach pie ever. So good my mother-in-law from Alaska scheduled her summer visits during peach pie season.( I’m not making this up.) That’s why, even though this recipe has appeared on the website before, it’s worth being featured again today.
Good as the recipe is, it is also simple to make. I’ve only changed two ingredients over the years. First, I cut the cup of sugar in the original recipe to 1/2 or even 1/3 cup, depending on the sweetness of the peaches. Second, I use Earth Balance Buttery Vegan Stick instead of butter so the pie is dairy-free.
What are the secrets to making the best peach pie ever? First, you have to select good peaches. Where we live Missouri, Colorado, or Michigan peaches are best. California, South Carolina, and Georgia peaches have to travel too far and never work as well. Second, use lard in the crust. Now, here’s the recipe for the best peach pie you will ever eat.
Fresh Peach Pie
5 large or 7 small to medium peaches
1/3–1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons butter (or Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Stick)
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Slice three large peaches into a nine inch baked pie shell. In a sauce pan, crush two large peaches. Mix together sugar and tablespoons of cornstarch and add to crushed peaches along with water. Cook and stir constantly until mixture boils, thickens and turns clear. Add butter or Earth Balance and almond flavoring and stir. Pour hot mixture over sliced peaches in the pie shell. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours before serving.
by jphilo | Jul 22, 2015 | Recipes
Well, I jumped straight from the family camp frying pan into the helping with the 3-monty-old grandbaby fire. Which means that while the Gravel Road kitchen remains closed, this grammy is flexing her cooking muscles on a daily basis. Especially today which is the birthday of the baby’s mommy.
The birthday mommy requested shrimp scampi for supper and cherry pie instead of birthday cake. Because all the adults at the table couldn’t eat dairy, I jimmied the original scampi recipe to make it non-dairy. Also, we didn’t have dried cranberries, so I substituted fresh sweet cherries. They were a worthy stand in, but the tang of cranberries is even better.
Non-Dairy Shrimp Scampi
1 ½ pounds shrimp, shelled and deveined
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons chopped parsley leaves
¼ cup lemon juice (fresh-squeezed, if possible)
¼ cup dry cooking sherry or dry white wine
½ teaspoon grated lemon zest
½ cup chopped green onions
1 tablespoon chopped, sweet red pepper
1/8 cup dried cranberries
Wash shrimp and pat dry. Season with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add shrimp and cook until pink. Do not overcook. Remove from pan and place on serving platter. Sauté garlic, green onions, and sweet peppers for about a minute. Add sherry or wine and lemon juice. Cook and stir until liquid boils, scraping up any brown bits in the pan. Stir in lemon zest, cranberries and chopped parsley. Pour sauce over shrimp and serve over rice or linguini.
by jphilo | Jun 3, 2015 | Uncategorized
The beginnings of this week’s dish can be traced to a recipe called Healthy Veggie Noodle Bowl with Peanut Sauce. The ingredient list for the peanut sauce made my mouth water, but I knew the Man of Steel wouldn’t go for the tofu, so I used chicken instead. Also, I couldn’t find edamame and used pea pods. Then, when I went to get the broccoli from the crisper there was none (a side effect of being 59), so kale went into the dish instead.
The end product was delicious, though as the Man of Steel said, the strong flavors mean it should only be served now and then to avoid getting tired of it. So that’s what we’ll do, which should give me time to locate a produce department with edamame and to forget whether or not there’s any broccoli in the vegetable crisper .
Healthy Chicken Noodle Bowl with Peanut Sauce
Sauce Ingredients:
1/2 cup natural creamy peanut butter stirred well (not stabilized peanut butter with additives)
2 – 2 1/2 tablespoons tamarii
2 1/2 teaspoons finely grated ginger
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoon pure maple syrup
2 – 3 tablespoons water
2 medium garlic cloves, smashed
veggie bowl Ingredients:
1 pound chicken breast cut into bite-sized pieces
8 oz box pad Thai brown rice noodles noodles, prepared according to package directions
1 cup pea pods, washed and cut into thirds
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 large bell pepper cut into bite-sized pieces
2 carrots, julienned
2 cups broccoli florets or 1 bunch kale, veined and torn into pieces
1/2 cups raw peanuts
- Combine all dressing ingredients (except the garlic) in a jar or gravy shaker. Seal and shake until mixed. Add the smashed garlic, stir gently and set aside for at least 10 minutes. Remove garlic after it sits. The dressing thickens as it sits. Add more water and/or lime juice to thin it out if needed.
- Heat a large frying pan with 1 tablespoon coconut oil. Add the raw peanuts and cook until they begin to brown. Remove with slotted spoon and place on paper toweling.
- Add chicken to frying pan and cook until it’s cooked through and slightly browned. Place on a plate.
- Add remaining tablespoon of coconut oil. Add broccoli or kale and cook for 7-10 minutes for broccoli, 5-5 minutes for kale. Stir frequently until it is lightly brown. Add the peppers and pea pods. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Shake the dressing and add more water/lime juice if needed.
- Add chicken to the pan and toss with a few tablespoons of the dressing.
- Toss the noodles with about half of the dressing to coat well and then add to vegetables and chicken. Add the carrots and toss well to combine all ingredients and cook until heated through. Add more dressing as needed.
- Serve hot and top with peanuts.
