Coconut Candy

I went to the MSPI group at MilkWorks Sunday for the 1st time. This is a group of Moms that meet every 2 weeks that are all avoiding milk and soy in order to nurse their protein sensitive babies. Many Moms are also on the Total Elimination Diet (TED) as well. I wanted to take a treat, so decided to make this coconut candy which would hopefully be safe for most Moms. Unfortunately, I forgot it at home in the rush to get out the door! I'll have to bring next time.

1 can of coconut milk (preferably Thai Kitchen, less preservatives)
3 cups granulated sugar.

Combine in a large pan and allow to cook over medium heat until the mixture becomes a dark caramel color. Stir often, especially towards the end as it will burn quickly. Pour onto a sheet pan, allow to cool and then break into pieces.

It reminds me of maple sugar candy, if you have ever had that. Crispy, yet melts in your mouth.

Cheezy Pasta

Well, I'm honestly not really sure what to call this one. Ever since I learned that nutritional yeast has 8 grams of protein for 2 Tbsp, I have been trying to add it in every day. I don't have many good protein sources, so I really need to work at getting adequate amounts in.

1/2 box pasta of choice (about 8 oz.) cooked in salted water
4 Tbsp. smart balance light
5 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp. onion powder
salt to taste
3 Tbsp. dairy free milk

Combine all together with hot pasta and stir well to combine. Very tasty with a slight "cheesy" taste. My 4 year old loved the 1st time I made but balked the 2nd. Who can keep up with their tastes!

Pesto Pizza

Yummy!!! Hubby made this for lunch on a day that I worked from home. He sat up the meal outside for my 4 year old and I to enjoy lunch. It was fantastic food, company and surroundings! He made the pizza dough from scratch, and then made a pesto out of spinach, pine nuts, olive oil and nutritional yeast. Delicious!

I don't have an actual recipe, so this is a guess. Or follow another pesto recipe.

2 cups fresh spinach
1 garlic clove
3 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1/4 cup pine nuts
salt to taste

Combine all in a food processor, adjusting seasonings as needed. Spread on the pizza dough, add toppings and bake until dough is puffed and done.

My hubby topped our pizza with sauteed mushrooms and onions. Delicious!

Strawberry Lemon Kick Cake

Wow! I can't find where my husband stuck this recipe, but I wanted to upload the picture while I was updating my blog. So good! I LOVE strong, tangy lemon flavors. This one was amazing. The lemon bit me back which is just how I love it! A mild lemon flavored cake smothered with tangy lemon curd and topped with fresh strawberries. I'll admit, a dollop of whipped cream would have really hit the spot! Maybe I'll work on a vegan/soy free coconut whipped cream. Surely it's possible! Enjoy the picture until I can find the recipe. Sooooooo yummy.

Vegetarian Fajitas

Hmmmm, this was yummy until the third time I had them and then I was ready for a break! But that first meal of fajitas...WOW! I don't eat meat, and had no soy meat to use as a protein in these. I figured I could slice up some sunshine burgers and fry them in plenty of oil so they wouldn't fall apart. It worked! Plus they got crispy on the outside which was quite yummy.

I fried up some onion slices, zucchini, yellow squash and mushrooms for my fajitas. We found a MSPI/TED safe fajitas mix at Hyvee that worked great. In addition to the fajita mix I also used some maggi's, which is like a wheat based "soy" sauce at the Asian market. My family would have also enjoyed red or green bell peppers but we didn't have any. Then I also had the fried sunshine burger slices, avocado and salsa. Delicious!

Creamy Mushroom Zucchini Manicotti

I so crave lasagna and manicotti on this diet, probably because I have NEVER figured out a way to make it work without dairy and soy! I got a little creative and the results were good, not fantastic, but good. I figured a vegetable stuffed manicotti shell should be quite tasty smothered in a creamy sauce. I made this over a month ago and just haven't gotten around to blogging it yet. So I don't remember my exact measurements! I'll do my best, but If nothing else, hopefully it can give you an idea to try something different.

Filling:
2 lbs of mushrooms, half button and half crimini (baby bella) roughly chopped
1 large zucchini, grated
1 onion, finely chopped or whizzed in the food processor
1 Tbsp. olive oil

Saute onion in olive oil, then add mushrooms and salt to release their water. Add in the zucchini when the mushrooms are cooked about halfway through.

White Sauce:
2 1/4 cups rice milk
2 heaping Tbsp. flour
1 Tbsp. olive oil
seasonings (garlic and onion powder, salt)

Add the liquid to the blender and turn on low, add the flour and blend until smooth. Add seasonings then transfer to a pot and wisk over medium heat until thickened.

Stuff the uncooked manicotti shells with the cooled filling and place in an oiled casserole dish with several Tbsp. of sauce on the bottom. Pour remaining sauce over the top and bake covered with foil for 30 minutes, then uncover and cook until the manicotti can be pierced with a knife. You can sprinkle nutritional yeast on the top towards the end of cooking to serve as the "cheese."

Flax "Eggs"

I was trolling the internet for interesting recipes and came acoss a site specializing in vegan ice cream. Yummy! It's nice to have someone else do the experimenting and just leave me to the eating! It's also great because the majority of the recipes I looked at were dairy and soy free, or could easily be made so. Coconut milk is a great item to cook with, and now So Delicious actually has coconut milk for drinking, cooking, baking, etc. and I hear it tastes fabulous! Ok, so here is the link to the amazing ice cream site:

http://veganicecream.blogspot.com

And here is a link to making flax "eggs" to use in baking. I've tried before to use flax but wasn't doing it like this and never had success. I think this way will work great and look forward to using in my next baking adventure.

Flax "Eggs"

Note: While there are many ways to replace eggs in baking, my favorite method is to make “flax eggs.” I recommend making these in bulk; it’s easier that way. Combine 1/3 cup flax seeds with 2/3 cup hot water in a blender. Let sit for 15 minutes, then blend until the mixture is gelatinous in texture and whole flax seeds are no longer visible. One tablespoon of flax eggs equals one egg. However, if you use this egg replacer and you notice that your batter isn’t quite as liquid-y as it seems it should be, add 2 to 3 tablespoons water, soy milk, or other liquid. (This is why I have soy milk in this recipe.) Whatever flax eggs you don’t use will keep for 2 weeks in the fridge, so you’ll have some on hand for the future. (One tip for using flax eggs is to beat the flax eggs into the oil/liquid before adding dry ingredients, as I have done in this recipe. It helps distribute the magic flax all throughout your batter.)