I can't eat anything with cow's milk in it.  Not even the proteins.  I believe this is normal.  If so, then why on earth do some companies go out of their way to make products soy or rice or almond and leave in the casein (or whey)?  Seriously?!?  You think I eat rice cheese because I LIKE it?  There is only one vegan cheese that doesn't taste worse than cardboard, and that is Galaxy Rice Shreds. 

But it has yeast in it.  Just like Nutritional Yeast is great to make your own cheeze sauce, but it's YEAST.  If I make something with it, I eat it alone.  Poor Katie.  Normally, I'm not that selfish or desperate for it.  I put Nutritional Yeast on my popcorn because, hey, Katie can't have corn anyways.  The other day I bought myself Amy's gluten-free mac and cheeze because it was a single serving and I was going somewhere where I could heat up but not cook food.  Don't you hate having to take your own food everywhere?  Amy's products are on my list of what to buy in a pinch.






It's soy-free, too; which can sometimes be hard to find in non-dairy items.  Organic, gluten-free, egg-free, and dairy-free.  I love it.  She has 64 products that fall under gluten-free and vegan, and more than half of those are also soy-free and/or peanut-free.

My mom made this throughout my childhood.  I never really liked it then, but it is a sort of comfort food now.  I could not get enough of this recipe.

Turkey Chili Macaroni

1 t. olive oil
1 lb. ground turkey
1 t. chili powder
1 clove garlic, minced
1 3/4 c. dry gf macaroni noodles
2 1/2 c. fat free chicken broth
1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
2 T. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp garlic salt
6 T. pecorino romano (made from sheep's milk)
1 1/2 T. dried parsely

Saute turkey in oil and garlic, drain and save juices.  Return to pan and add chicken broth, bring to a boil.  Add the macaroni and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often, until broth is almost absorbed.  Stir in remaining ingredients except 2 T. of cheese and parsley.  Simmer 10 minutes.  Transfer to casserole dish and sprinkle remaining cheese and parsely on top. 

Someone told me we put a lot of sweets up on this blog.  While that is very true, we don't always eat our desserts.  Some we make in tiny batches to enjoy.  Otherwise, they end up in the freezer or in someone else's mouth.  The freezer option drives my mom crazy, so I prefer the latter.  My stomach has been making it very clear lately that it hates sugar.  I already knew the two were enemies, but it has been harder to ignore nowadays.  It punished me on Easter for eating jelly beans and cake.  While I'll be staying away from that white goodness in the future, I can't help post some sweet treats.

I made a double recipe of these Thin Mintz, knowing anything that came from Manifest Vegan's blog is simply amazing.  I made way too many cookies, and I ended up taking them to three different get-togethers.  I conveniently left the rest at my sister's house, removing all temptation.  These were so yummy that I had "normal" people asking for the recipe.  That was why I could not trust myself with the delicious devils.


Thin Mintz

3/4 cup df margarine, cold
1 1/2-2 tsp pure peppermint extract
1 cup sugar
1 cup sorghum flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup potato starch
1 tsp xanthan gum
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 cup almond milk
2 cups df, gf chocolate chips
1 T. shortening (optional)

Cream together margarine, peppermint extract and sugar together until creamy and smooth.

In separate bowl, sift together sorghum flour, cocoa powder, potato starch, xanthan gum and baking soda. Use your hands to thoroughly get all of the lumps out so that the flours are very well mixed with no clumps of cocoa powder remaining.

Gradually add flours to margarine/sugar mixture until crumbly. Continue mixing while adding in the almond milk. The dough will seize up and become stiff. Make sure all flour is well incorporated and knead briefly. Press into a disk, wrap loosely with saran wrap or wax paper and chill in freezer for about 15 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 350 °F.
Pinch off sections of the dough to make about 3/4″ round balls.  Flatten dough ball between your palms and shape gently to form a flat cookie. (The warmer the dough gets, the easier it is to work with. Don’t let it get too warm, though.)

Place onto a parchment paper covered cookie sheet (or silpat mat) about 1 inch apart until cookie sheet is covered.  Flatten the cookies a second time until they are about 1/4″ thick.

Bake for about 15 minutes.  Allow to cool completely.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave (slowly and at a low temperature to ensure that the chocolate does not seize).  Stir in shortening.  Evenly coat each cookie with melted chocolate, putting them on wax paper until they are hardened.  I put mine in the freezer for a few minutes to help speed up the process.

Try not to eat them all at once!  Note: I varied the sizes of my cookies, making some larger than what they should be.  People seemed to prefer it this way.  For a picture, go here.

These don't have to be just sandwiches.  The chicken tarragon can be put in a lettuce wrap or a tortilla (rice, of course).  If you feel naughty, you can simply take a fork and eat it out of the mixing bowl.  Or, if you happen to be civilized or need to share the chicken with others, you can do the latter on plates.

Chicken Tarragon

2 1/2 lb. cooked chicken breast, shredded into size pieces
1 c. celery, diced
1 c. egg-free mayonnaise (like Vegenaise)
2 T. gf worchester sauce
2 T. lemon juice
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
2 T. fresh tarragon leaves, minced
1/2 c. toasted almonds
Mix the chicken and celery together.  In a separate bowl, blend all remaining ingredients except the almond.
Add mayonnaise mixture to the chicken.  Stir in almonds.  Serve whichever way fits your fancy.

We tried to make traditional dishes for our high tea party.  Supposedly cucumber sandwiches fall into that category.  I used to hate cucumbers.  A small part of me still shies away from them out of habit.  I was not so thrilled to make these sandwiches until I tried them.  They were so small and dainty, yet so addicting.

The recipe is so easy.  That is, if you can call it a recipe.  As I have mentioned before, we can eat goat cheese.  I used that instead of the traditional cream cheese.  I mixed salt, pepper, and dill weed to taste with goat cheese (I went pretty heavy on the spices).  Peel and thinly slice the cucumber.  Lay the cucumber, overlapping the slices, on gluten-free bread, and spread the goat cheese on top.  I cut the sandwich in quarters to make it more dainty.  It's that simple.

First time around Katie made these scones, I forgot to get a picture of them.  We were gone on our annual mother/daughter weekend getaway, and I valued having the scone for breakfast more than I did saving it for a photo.  Taking it home would have been dangerous anyway, seeing as our daddy also thought they were highly scrumptious.  I might have had to share it with him, and I had such an urge to enjoy it with a nice hot cup of tea.

We made these again for Katie's party.  This time I more than shared with Daddy.  There were plenty left over for me to savor some with my hot tea.  If the tea tax of 1773 had not gotten Americans to boycott tea, might we have tea time still today, as the British do?  Perhaps we could reinstate tea time?

This last time around Katie had the bright idea of using a heart shaped cookie cutter on the scones.  They were very cute and little enough you did not feel guilty eating two (or three). 

They are best eaten fresh.  They become stale quickly, so the best means of storing them is in the refrigerator. Recipe adapted from giddy up gluten free.

Chocolate Cherry Scones

3/4 c millet flour
1/2 c almond flour (finely ground)
1/2 c sorghum flour
1/2 c potato starch
1/4 c tapioca starch
¼ expandex flour (optional)
2 tsp xanthan gum
5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 c organic cane sugar/ agave syrup
1/2 c dairy-free butter or margerine, cold, cut into chunks
3/4 c  Almond Milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp GF vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 c dried tart cherries
1/2 c dark or milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
2/3 c powdered sugar
2 T almond milk
1/8 tsp GF almond extract

Preheat oven to 350° In bowl combine dry ingredients. Whisk until combined, sift into another bowl. Add margarine and cut in with pastry blender until mixture resemble coarse meal. In small bowl whisk milk, vinegar, vanilla, and egg. Add to flour mixture with cherries and chocolate. Stir with fork just until evenly moistened. Don’t over-mix. Scrape onto floured surface - dough will be sticky. With lightly floured hands, work into 7-in square. Cut into 4 equal squares, then cut squares in half diagonally to get 8 triangles. (These make big scones. If you want smaller scones, cut each of the eight triangles in half to make 16 triangles.) Arrange triangles 2 in apart on parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake until tops are just brown, 20-25 min. Let cool 10 min. Meanwhile, stir together powdered sugar, coconut milk & almond extract. Drizzle over warm scones.  Best served warm.

As I posted a little while back, Katie had her birthday.  We managed to make an almost allergy-friendly cake.  She put eggs in it (meaning I had to make my own cake, but whatever), and the food coloring and sprinkles weren't corn free.  She had dreamt up a cake that was a brighter green with orangey-red petals and gold sprinkles.  I, being the main cake decorator in the family, was not envisioning this cake working out.  But she walked me through it, and my mom was a huge help and encouragement.




A few weeks later our two older sisters helped throw Katie an elegant afternoon tea party for her birthday.  It was very elegant thanks to everyone BUT me.  I am not very creative.  I can do elegant on cake, but mostly I base my creativeness off others.  My sisters made it all fabulous.  The light was fading, so I put my camera down after doing a poor job on the food (as you will see). I failed to get any pictures of the actual party.