This is a quick, easy recipe. We make it a couple of times a month and the kids just love it.
Salsa Chicken for the Crock-Pot
3 or 4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts (this feeds my family of 4 with some leftovers)
1 cup of your favorite salsa
1 can of whole kernel corn, drained
1 can of kidney beans, drained
tortilla chips
Spray your crockpot interior with nonstick spray. Add chicken breasts (they can even be frozen, this works just fine), top with salsa and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. About half an hour before serving, shred the chicken with a fork. Stir in corn and kidney beans, cover crock pot and let heat through. Serve over tortilla chips as nachos, top with whatever garnish you like - we use non-dairy cheese, black olives, etc.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Let them eat (dairy-free) chocolate cake!
Graham loves chocolate - almost to a fanatic extent. If he hears someone say the word 'chocolate' he'll be right at their side saying "have some?". It is so sad to have to look at his chubby little face and say "No, baby, you can't. It has dairy in it." Enter the dairy-free chocolate cake! I baked it while he was taking his nap, and when he got up he smelled it, came into the kitchen, and without even looking too excited about it asked "have some?". I could tell he wasn't expecting to be able to eat it, his little shoulders were slumped and he was looking at the floor. So I knelt down next to him, put my hands on his shoulders and said "Yes, you can, sweetheart!" The gigantic smile that lit up his face at that moment was almost as sweet as the one at the table when it was covered in frosting. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as he did. I have the feeling we'll be making it with some frequency around here :)
Crazy Dairy-Free Chocolate Cake
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups cold water
Spray a 13x9 baking pan with nonstick spray. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour,s ugar, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder. Make three wells. In one well, pour the vegetable oil, in the second pour the vinegar, and in the third the vanilla. Pour cold water over all, mix well using a whisk. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean. Frost with your favorite (dairy-free!) frosting.
Crazy Dairy-Free Chocolate Cake
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups cold water
Spray a 13x9 baking pan with nonstick spray. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour,s ugar, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder. Make three wells. In one well, pour the vegetable oil, in the second pour the vinegar, and in the third the vanilla. Pour cold water over all, mix well using a whisk. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean. Frost with your favorite (dairy-free!) frosting.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Yikes
OK, um, so I was just going through these posts and say that my lost post was November of 2009. Um, welcome to the end of 2010, Jessi! Sheesh! We've had a great year, as is evident by the lack of my time to update my blog! Right now, I'm getting the house ready to have the youth over tomorrow night, but when things calm down a bit, I'll post a year-end wrap-up of 2010 for ya!
Monday, November 8, 2010
Working From Home
The minor towers next to the citizen.
There are a ton of scams out there in cyberspace that offer your dream job - work from home, in your robe and bunny slippers, sipping coffee during your free time in the morning before the kids get up. Or in the afternoon while they're napping. Or during school hours. And then it occurred to me: Free Time??!?! What is that? I haven't had free time since I found out I was going to have a baby! Ever spare minute was consumed with kick counts, making sure I was drinking enough water, remembering to keep my feet up and rest, counting contractions (thanks to 9 months of Braxton-Hicks, I was up in the tens of thousands of contractions before labor even BEGAN!). And then AFTER the kids were born? Diapers, feedings, singing, reading, playing, sleeping - and that was just taking care of the new baby! Laundry, dishes, meal planning, grocery shopping, coupon-clipping, vacuuming, dusting... the list could go on and on.
Any how - in an attempt to supplement our income, I have signed up with a site that sponsors this blog - I hope that all goes well, and if you have any questions, please contact me!
Thanks!
There are a ton of scams out there in cyberspace that offer your dream job - work from home, in your robe and bunny slippers, sipping coffee during your free time in the morning before the kids get up. Or in the afternoon while they're napping. Or during school hours. And then it occurred to me: Free Time??!?! What is that? I haven't had free time since I found out I was going to have a baby! Ever spare minute was consumed with kick counts, making sure I was drinking enough water, remembering to keep my feet up and rest, counting contractions (thanks to 9 months of Braxton-Hicks, I was up in the tens of thousands of contractions before labor even BEGAN!). And then AFTER the kids were born? Diapers, feedings, singing, reading, playing, sleeping - and that was just taking care of the new baby! Laundry, dishes, meal planning, grocery shopping, coupon-clipping, vacuuming, dusting... the list could go on and on.
Any how - in an attempt to supplement our income, I have signed up with a site that sponsors this blog - I hope that all goes well, and if you have any questions, please contact me!
Thanks!
Friday, October 15, 2010
Dairy-Free Red Beans and Rice
Growing up in the South for the most part, and being very close to my grandfather who was born in Louisiana, I have a fondness for Southern cooking. Here is a great non-dairy recipe for Red Beans and Rice.
2 cups water
1 cup uncooked rice (try using brown rice for added nutrients - just cook according to package directions)
1 package beef kielbasa or smoked sausage sliced diagonally in 1/4 inch slices (check your packages for milk derivitives - they can be sneaky)
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 clove chopped garlic
2-15 ounce cans kidney beans, drained
1-16 ounce can petite diced tomatoes (or you can sub tomato puree if you're not a fan of the texture of cooked tomatoes, like me!)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon pepper
In a saucepan, bring water to boil. Add rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
In a large skillet over low heat, cook sausage for 5 minutes. Stir in onion, green pepper and garlic. saute until tender. Add beans and tomatoes. Season with oregano, salt, and pepper. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Serve over rice.
I pair this with a nice green salad and some dinner rolls (see my recipe for dairy-free bread). If you're looking for a little kick to your meal, substitute Ro-Tel tomatoes with chiles instead of the regular tomatoes.
2 cups water
1 cup uncooked rice (try using brown rice for added nutrients - just cook according to package directions)
1 package beef kielbasa or smoked sausage sliced diagonally in 1/4 inch slices (check your packages for milk derivitives - they can be sneaky)
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 clove chopped garlic
2-15 ounce cans kidney beans, drained
1-16 ounce can petite diced tomatoes (or you can sub tomato puree if you're not a fan of the texture of cooked tomatoes, like me!)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon pepper
In a saucepan, bring water to boil. Add rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
In a large skillet over low heat, cook sausage for 5 minutes. Stir in onion, green pepper and garlic. saute until tender. Add beans and tomatoes. Season with oregano, salt, and pepper. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Serve over rice.
I pair this with a nice green salad and some dinner rolls (see my recipe for dairy-free bread). If you're looking for a little kick to your meal, substitute Ro-Tel tomatoes with chiles instead of the regular tomatoes.
Homemade Bread
There is nothing as comforting as coming home to some fresh-baked bread! And this one is in the bread machine!
Dairy-free, Soy-free bread
1 cup warm water
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 package fast-acting yeast (or 2 1/4 teaspoons fast-acting yeast)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups bread flour
Add sugar and yeast to warm water in the bread machine pan, let yeast dissolve and foam for 10 minutes. Add oil, flour, and salt. Select your bread setting - I usually just select "dough" so that I can turn it out and bake it in a traditional loaf pan. I love that the machine does all the kneading for you! If you do decide to turn it out and bake it yourself, bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes and let cool for about 10 minutes before you remove it from the pan.
This is the base recipe for a lot of the bread recipes that I use, and also the only bread that Graham eats. I'll include variations of the recipe for things like rolls, etc.
Dairy-free, Soy-free bread
1 cup warm water
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 package fast-acting yeast (or 2 1/4 teaspoons fast-acting yeast)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups bread flour
Add sugar and yeast to warm water in the bread machine pan, let yeast dissolve and foam for 10 minutes. Add oil, flour, and salt. Select your bread setting - I usually just select "dough" so that I can turn it out and bake it in a traditional loaf pan. I love that the machine does all the kneading for you! If you do decide to turn it out and bake it yourself, bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes and let cool for about 10 minutes before you remove it from the pan.
This is the base recipe for a lot of the bread recipes that I use, and also the only bread that Graham eats. I'll include variations of the recipe for things like rolls, etc.
Dairy-Free Peach Pie
This is a great recipe that is actually the combination of a recipe from my mother-in-law and one from my aunt. I modified it of course, to be dairy-free.
Dairy-Free Peach Pie
1 cup soy milk (or almond, rice, whatever you use)
1 cup self-rising flour
1 cup sugar
2-29 oz cans of sliced peaches*
cinnamon to taste, if desired
1/2 cup dairy-free butter
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in a 13x9" pan. In a bowl, combine sugar, flour, and milk. Pour over melted butter. Sprinkle peaches with cinnamon, and pour peaches in the pan with the rest of the ingredients. Bake for 1 hour.
We serve this with dairy-free vanilla ice cream.
*when peaches are in season and at a good price, I will use fresh peaches. Usually it takes about 8, but you're just looking for enough to equal 4 cups. This is great 'mindless' work for the kitchen: slicing, pitting, and peeling the peaches.
Dairy-Free Peach Pie
1 cup soy milk (or almond, rice, whatever you use)
1 cup self-rising flour
1 cup sugar
2-29 oz cans of sliced peaches*
cinnamon to taste, if desired
1/2 cup dairy-free butter
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in a 13x9" pan. In a bowl, combine sugar, flour, and milk. Pour over melted butter. Sprinkle peaches with cinnamon, and pour peaches in the pan with the rest of the ingredients. Bake for 1 hour.
We serve this with dairy-free vanilla ice cream.
*when peaches are in season and at a good price, I will use fresh peaches. Usually it takes about 8, but you're just looking for enough to equal 4 cups. This is great 'mindless' work for the kitchen: slicing, pitting, and peeling the peaches.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
The Beginning of Something Great
I am so excited to start this blog. What began as a desire to simply compile my recipes and tips online has already changed into something bigger than that. Now I feel inspired to share my experiences, tips, funny stories, inspiring thoughts, and more with other mothers. Being a mom is a challenge - a wonderful challenge - but a challenge nonetheless, and sometimes we tend to feel that we are alone in the world with just our children for company. I am a firm believer spending time with other moms and being able to laugh about, cry over, ask about and share whatever is in your heart. Chances are, your friends have been through something similar and can share some advice, and if not it is always a blessing to have someone to talk to who does not interrupt you by asking for more juice. Right?
So, I will post some of my tips for cleaning, organizing, taming tantrums, having successful road trips, crafts, and of course - RECIPES!
My first priority for this blog was to share the recipes that I have come across while combing the internet. But to understand the motivation here, you'll have to meet my kids. Gabriel was born in August of 2006. At about 3 months old, it was very obvious that Gabriel had eczema on his arms, legs, back, tummy, tushy, and his face. Poor baby! At about a year old, he was diagnosed with asthma as well. Gabriel has always been a big guy, and I don't mean 'chunky', I mean 'BIG'! He was 15 pounds at 6 weeks old! I tried to nurse Gabriel for his first year, but he was RAVENOUS! Once, we timed him and he drained a 10 ounce bottle in 52 seconds! I just couldn't keep up with his appetite, and so he was moved to formula. His eating has always been wonderful, he isn't a picky eater at all, and doesn't have any of the dietary restrictions that lead to this blog. That was Graham.
Graham was born 6 weeks premature and has had health complications that went along with that. He was born deaf, but that wasn't evident until he was 3 months old. When he was ready to try the cereals, he had violent reactions. He was projectile vomiting, and then had a seizure and was taken to the ER where he passed out. It was determined after a flexible sigmoidoscopy and a biopsy of his colon that he was allergic to rice, soy, and dairy. Luckily I was successfully nursing him, and so the dietary restrictions were all mine to enjoy. I was not allowed to eat anything containing those ingredients. This really changed the way I thought about food. I became more aware of what was in all the foods I was buying, and started making major changes in our meal plans. Even after he was weaned, Graham is still on a non-dairy diet (to be fair, he is allergic to the milk protein) after trying to introduce dairy into his meals. He would get upset tummies, diarrhea, and general crankiness.
So, our journey has continued and what we thought would be a temporary change in our diets has become a permanent change. We are embracing the non-dairy life - some of us with gusto, and some of us (my DH) with reluctance. I hope that the recipes and tips on my blog are helpful to you, and that you share it with others! Please feel free to send me any questions that you have, and thanks for joining me!
So, I will post some of my tips for cleaning, organizing, taming tantrums, having successful road trips, crafts, and of course - RECIPES!
My first priority for this blog was to share the recipes that I have come across while combing the internet. But to understand the motivation here, you'll have to meet my kids. Gabriel was born in August of 2006. At about 3 months old, it was very obvious that Gabriel had eczema on his arms, legs, back, tummy, tushy, and his face. Poor baby! At about a year old, he was diagnosed with asthma as well. Gabriel has always been a big guy, and I don't mean 'chunky', I mean 'BIG'! He was 15 pounds at 6 weeks old! I tried to nurse Gabriel for his first year, but he was RAVENOUS! Once, we timed him and he drained a 10 ounce bottle in 52 seconds! I just couldn't keep up with his appetite, and so he was moved to formula. His eating has always been wonderful, he isn't a picky eater at all, and doesn't have any of the dietary restrictions that lead to this blog. That was Graham.
Graham was born 6 weeks premature and has had health complications that went along with that. He was born deaf, but that wasn't evident until he was 3 months old. When he was ready to try the cereals, he had violent reactions. He was projectile vomiting, and then had a seizure and was taken to the ER where he passed out. It was determined after a flexible sigmoidoscopy and a biopsy of his colon that he was allergic to rice, soy, and dairy. Luckily I was successfully nursing him, and so the dietary restrictions were all mine to enjoy. I was not allowed to eat anything containing those ingredients. This really changed the way I thought about food. I became more aware of what was in all the foods I was buying, and started making major changes in our meal plans. Even after he was weaned, Graham is still on a non-dairy diet (to be fair, he is allergic to the milk protein) after trying to introduce dairy into his meals. He would get upset tummies, diarrhea, and general crankiness.
So, our journey has continued and what we thought would be a temporary change in our diets has become a permanent change. We are embracing the non-dairy life - some of us with gusto, and some of us (my DH) with reluctance. I hope that the recipes and tips on my blog are helpful to you, and that you share it with others! Please feel free to send me any questions that you have, and thanks for joining me!
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