GF/DF Spagetti-O Sauce

This sauce was not originally supposed to be a spagetti-o substitute but since the original idea didn't turn out quite like I had planned, I was happy that the kids LOVED this yummy mistake. Now we have a quick and easy way to make spagetti-o's. This canned childhood classic was greatly missed by the younger family members after it had been stricken off the list of allowable items- for allergy reasons, mostly, but also because the kind in the can is SO over processed.

So here is the healthy (or at least not overly processed) version:

Spagetti-O Sauce

1 Cup (+ a tiny bit more) dairy free Milk (I used rice milk)

3 heaping Tablespoons Cornstarch

dash of salt

dash of pepper

1 can of tomato sauce

In a pot combine cornstarch and milk. Stir together while oven top warms (medium heat works best). Keep mixing until it begins to thicken. Add tomato sauce, salt, and pepper. Stir allowing everything to combine completely. Simmer for a while to allow the sauce to thicken even more.

Pour over rice noodles (or regular noodles if you don't have to worry about gluten).

Note/Idea (for those who are not vegan/vegetarian): add cooked meat to the sauce. My Dad liked the cooked chicken that I added to the original sauce. Saying it was much more dinner appropriate than just the sauce by itself. The kids didn't care one way or another.

Chocolate Coconut Raspberry Macaroons

I had forgotten about this recipe until my uncle came into town and asked me to make them for him again. That got me scrambling to try and find the original recipe and then remember how I had adapted it....I couldn't quite remember but this is what it looks like now:

Macaroon:

Bake at 325 for 20 minutes or so

4 egg whites

two pinches of salt

about 2 T of Vanilla (I just poured in some until I felt it was right)

1 1/3 cup sugar

2 2/3 cup coconut

2+ heaping T of coca powder

Beat egg whites, salt, and vanilla until they form stiff peeks. Just beat and then keep beating. Fold in the sugar slowly beating as you go. Keep on beating! Add in the coca powder and then beat some more. By this point my arm was quite tired (I was trying out my new hand mixer! but you can use your electric beaters!). Fold in coconut and mix well.

Use a spoon to scoop out the size macaroons you desire and place on a greased cookie sheet.

Once finished place macaroons on wire rack to cool.

While the Macaroons are cooking start on the Chocolate Raspberry sauce that you will drizzle on them when they are done!

Sauce:

Two heaping handfuls of raspberries

heaping cup of chocolate chips

1/4 to 1/2 cup of sugar (This is to taste so start out with 1/4 cup and add as you taste. Some berries are more tart than other and the same goes with the chocolate you use)

1+ T of vanilla*

Place raspberries in sauce pot along with sugar and vanilla start took. Allow for raspberries to soften. Add in chocolate and stir constantly. Melt chocolate completely. Taste (but be careful! the mixture will be HOT!) and add more sugar or vanilla if needed. Drizzle over the cooling macaroons and let cool. Enjoy!

*I always add more vanilla than a recipe calls for. In reality I probably use anywhere from 1 to 3T.

Amazing Vegan Gluten-Free Fudge!

This recipe came from Hannah Kaminshy, the author of My Sweet Vegan. Check out the book! I just went to the store and I cannot wait to try some more of the author's recipes. An added bonus is that this author just started college! She developed the book while she was in high school and is hoping that the book will help her to fund her college career.

I changed the recipe a bit because,well, I don't like to use quite so much sugar and I didn't think there was enough vanilla (I love love love vanilla!). So here is the slightly modified version of this lovely fudge. You can always look at the original version in the actual book!

Coconut fudge

1/2 cup coconut milk

2 tablespoons "butter" (I used Earth Balance shortening)

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

3 + or - tsp vanilla

2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

1/2 cup coco powder (I use organic fair trade coco powder- it tastes better and is better for the soul too!)

unsweetened coconut for topping

Grease 8x8 pan and set aside

On the stove combine the coconut milk and butter and heat until bubbles start to form. If you let it go too long, as I did, the coconut/margarine milk will pop and can reach great heights as it begins to boil. I had to clean off the stove top fan!

While the milk mixture is heating combine chocolate chips, sugar, and coco powder. Pour hot milk mixture on top of the dry mix and let set for a minute and then mix until the chocolate chips are melted. Add in Vanilla.

Pour mixture into pan and sprinkle coconut on top. The book calls for a cup of coconut but I just sprinkled until I thought I had enough. some people in my family love coconut, others not so much. Part of the pan had a thick coating of coconut and part only a light "dusting".

Cool in the refrigerator until hard. Cut and store in freezer or fridge. This fudge is VERY rich. Small pieces are better than large.

Enjoy!

Poor Man's cookies

Poor Man's cookies:

I found this recipe hand-written in a box of recipes that my mom had collected. This particular recipe came from a stack of cards written by my great-grandma. Great-Grandma Ruth is legendary in my family for her amazing cooking and for aways having something to eat to give to grandchildren, neighbors, or strangers that stopped by.

Pre-heat oven to 350

Ingredients:

2 c. rolled oats*

1 c. packed brown sugar

1 c. flour (for GF just use a GF flour mix-I used Bob' Red Mill baking flour since Cosco started carrying large bags of it!)

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 c. hot water

1/2 c. butter melted and cooled (you can also just use vegetable oil or you can try apple sauce to give them a bit of a healthier kick!)

Mix ingredients and form small walnut sized balls. Place on greased cookie sheet. Cook until golden brown. This will take about 10 minutes (+/-). Careful- these cookies go from done to burnt very fast! So watch them. Loosen cookies from cookie sheet right away but wait two minutes before transfering them onto a wire rack to cool. They will fall apart if you try to transfer them before the 2 minutes are up- but if you don't loosen the cookies they will be hard to get off the cookie sheet. (If you are not making them GF you don't need to loosen them, just wait the 2 minutes). These are crunchy yummy cookies. Easy to make and fun for kids to help with. I took them to church and all of the kids ate them up and even the Reverend ate a bunch!

*GF note:

Its easy to make these as yummy Gluten free and dairy free cookies. However, if you know you or your loved one cannot handle oats- this is not the recipe to try! If however, your loved one and you can handle oats, check to make sure they are certified gluten free oats. My little brother is not quite sensitive enough to wheat that the possibility of cross contamination is something we worry about much with rolled oats. But that's because we know his tolerance level. To be safe if you do not know you or your loved one's tolerance level make sure you get certified Gluten free rolled oats. They are more expensive but its better to be safe than sorry!

Changes...

Its been such a long time since I posted anything I doubt anyone will even read this but if you do...I am changing the purpose of this blog. While, someday I would still love to make a cookbook that promotes peace, is allergy friendly, and kid friendly. Right now, I have decided to simply post allergy/kid friendly recipes online. As for the peace part, well, to me any time I bake or share food with someone I also share love and peace. Cooking makes me happy in a way that is hard to describe. Even if no one ever reads this blog, for me it will be worth the adventure!

And if you are reading this...Thanks for sharing this journey with me!

Recently, I have needed to learn how to cook gluten free. I have have struggled against this newest challenge. There is something about the smell of yeasty bread and the feel of flour (wheat flour) that makes me so happy. Gluten free recipes do not have the same effect one me. However, I have found that when a gluten free recipe turns out, and it tastes good!, I gain a lot more satisfaction from the result than I do from a "normal" recipe.

The allergy list for this house includes:

Dairy

Nuts

Sea Food

Wheat (but we are completely gluten free, not just wheat free)

Citrus

Pears

Rhubarb

and several other things!

Dairy is the main allergy/sensitivity that we have to deal with. Out of the eight people in my family 5 are sensitive or allergic to dairy (and I don't just mean lactose! Casein, lactose, whey, you name it- we can't have it!).

Right now, and hopefully it will be something that is not life long, wheat is only a big no-no for one person. Of course, when that one person is three years old it is just mean to eat food in front of the little guy that he cannot have. That means, for the most part, we as a family are gluten free.