New and not so new life changes...

Yesterday, I finally went to the allergist. I probably should have gone a while ago but the timing was never right and the truth is that I was not ready to go. However, last week I had an allergy attack that was pretty scary. I finally decided I could no longer ignore what was happening and that I needed medical confirmation for what I already knew in my heart. While not unexpected, I received the news that I am highly, severely, allergic to dairy. I am also allergic to pecans (that came out of the blue! but no real loss since I am not a huge pecan fan).

Years ago, my friend and kinesiologist told me that I needed to stop eating dairy because it acted like rat poison to my system. Scary words and ones I took (mostly) seriously. I avoided dairy because I would suffer the health consequences when I did not- lots of unpleasant GI stuff almost right away and my immune system would crash and I would get a cold within a few days. Still, I joked a lot about dairy being able to kill me. It seemed utterly ridiculous that a food could hurt me, possibly fatally, even though I knew that a large and ever growing number of people deal with serious food allergies. But me? No way. I had eaten dairy on and off most of my life. I would go off it for a couple of years and then be fine with it again for a couple of years. I had no idea that I could become one of the severely allergic members of this country. I had no idea it would become my reality that dairy could actually kill me. It freaks me out just thinking about it. Yet, I also realize that it is not that big of a deal as long as I know what to do if/when I come into contact with dairy. As long as I know, and other around me know, what to do when an attack happens then I will be safe. Yes, its scary but it does not have to control my life.

Still, scary facts aside, I have learned to do without dairy for a while now and I think I do a pretty good job. Something I did learn at the doctor's was that I need to go out and buy a new set of cooking-ware for myself. Non-dairy cooking-ware because cross contamination is too big of a danger. As someone who loves cooking this will not be such a hardship to "force" myself to go get a new (possibly color coded?) cooking set. My dad even offered to go to Williams-Sonoma with me and pick out some fancy dishes! There is a silver-lining to everything!

I hope everyone out there has a wonderful and allergy friendly/safe Thanksgiving!

Zucre Coco aka Moroccan Coconut Fudge

While doing a project for school on Morocco I did a lot searching for yummy recipes to share during my presentation. This was one of the sweet treats I learned how to make. The following recipe is listed as I found it but instead of using real butter I used Earth Balance and instead of using a dairy condensed milk I used soy. My classmates could not tell the difference.

Ingredients:

2 C moist-grated coconut

3/4 C condensed milk*

2 C sugar

2 T butter (we use Earth Balance)

1-2 T lemon rind grated

Line an 8x8 pan with tin foil.

Combine coconut, condensed milk, and sugar in a large sauce pot.

Stir and simmer until the mixture reaches "soft ball" stage. To figure out if the mix has reached that point, fill a small cup with cold water and drop a small amount of the mixture into the cup. If the mix has reached the right temperature it will look like it forms a soft ball. If the mixture spreads out or does not look like a ball, keep on simmering it for a while longer. Don't worry if it doesn't happen right away, it took a while for it to reach the right temp for me.

Once it reaches the correct temperature, stir in the "butter" and lemon rind. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature. Stir/beat until the mix is thick and glossy- this does not take long. Pour into the prepared pan and chill in the refrigerator. Once chilled, cut into small pieces. This is VERY rich and a little goes a long way!

*Condensed soy or rice milk:

Prepare 2 cups powdered milk mix- use triple the powder called for on the container (so if it calls for 2 T use 6 T)

Add 3/4 cup sugar

cook on stove top until sugar is completely dissolved and the liquid is bubbling slightly. Add vanilla to taste and a pinch of salt.

cool and store in a contain in the refrigerator.

Dairy-Free Sweet Potato Pie

I was a skeptic of the "Sweat Potato Pie" idea until I actually tried it. I thought-sweet potatoes in a pie?! You have to be joking, right? To my great surprise, I could not believe how much it tasted like a pumpkin pie. I made this recipe up during a dinner party. I was making a bunch of pies and someone requested a sweet potato pie (I think it was because we had a bunch of sweet potatoes that someone had brought to the dinner). I agreed to try making a dairy free version. All the while, thinking, "sweet potato pie....what a strange concept" I was not at all sure that the recipe would turn out to make a edible pie but to my surprise it turned out great! Everyone loved it and there wasn't a piece left.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes

Then bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours (cooking at higher altitude makes things take longer)

2 C cooked and mashed sweet potatoes (approx. 3 sweet potatoes)

1/2 C "butter" softened

2 eggs separated

1/2 tsp ginger and nutmeg

1 1/2 tsp (or more) Cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt (or do as I do and just add a pinch)

1 C rice milk (or nondairy milk of choice)

1/4 (+/-) sugar

1 pie shell

Combine sweet potatoes, sugar, butter, egg yolks, spices, and salt. Mix until light and fluffy (you can do this by hand, as I did, or use a beater to make things go faster). Add milk slowly- still mixing as you go.

In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Add 1/4 (+/-) C sugar and beat some more. (Note the sugar is +/- because 1/4 cup is just about right but depending on your sweet tooth you can add more and if you are trying to cut back you can add a bit less- not much less though!)

When sugar is fully incorporated into the egg whites and they begin to feel a bit stiffer (you are not trying to make a meringue so don't worry about this part too much!) slowly fold mixture into the sweet potato mix. Place entire mixture into an uncooked pie shell and cook!

Remember that you need to start out at 400 degrees and bake the pie for 20 minutes. Then lower the temp. of the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours. You will know the pie is done when a knife stuck in the middle of the pie comes out clean.

Cool then serve!

Dairy Free "Butter"cookies

These cookies come from some very old Mennonite cookbook that my grandmother had laying about. They are very light in color and neither too sugary to be gross or lacking in sugary goodness for those with a sweet tooth. The addition of the lemon or orange adds a little bit of an interesting favor to them.

I am sorry to say this is one of the harder recipes to replace eggs in- it really does need 6 eggs. I have not played much with replacing the eggs in this recipe though so if you have any luck, please let me know how it goes! Sorry to those with egg allergies out there!

Bake at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes

Ingredients:

1 C "butter" (I use Earth Balance's vegan butter or shortening- they now even a soy free version!)

1 C sugar

4 egg yolks

2 eggs (yolk and white)

dash of salt

1 tsp vanilla (I always, always add more)

rind of 1 lemon or orange

2 1/4 C flour

Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs and egg yolks to mixture and beat well. Add the rest of the ingredients, slowly adding in the flour. Cool dough in refrigerator for several hours. Take out and roll out thinly. Cut with cookie cutters. Lightly grease a pan and bake- they will look almost white in color when they are done so be careful not to overcook them.

Option: Bet 1 egg yolk and 1 tsp water together and brush on top of cookies before you cook. This gives the cookies a kind of glaze but my family did not really like this option and I don't do it any more. Instead we just eat them plain or decorate them with sprinkles and icing.

Note: Different extracts can change the flavor of the cookies some....try more vanilla, or lemon, or peppermint, or if you are not allergic to nuts try almond extract. The possibilities are endless....

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!