Dairy Free Pumpkin Pie

Picture edited with permission (CC).

    Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I thought I'd share my easy pumpkin pie recipe (and it's dairy free)! 

• 1 (15 ounce) can pure pumpkin filling.
• 1 1/4 cup coconut condensed milk substitute (see recipe here).  
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice

Beat eggs in bowl.
Stir in pumpkin and spice. 
Gradually stir in milk. 
Mix ingredients. 
Pour into unbaked pie crust.
Bake in preheated 425° oven for 15 minutes. 
Reduce temperature to 350°; bake for 40-50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. 
Serve immediately or refrigerate. 

Here is a picture of the final product, made last night.

Enjoy & Happy Thanksgiving!

Pin for later.

Delicious Berry Crumble (Easy, Dairy Free Recipe)

    Usually I don't watch the cooking channel, because typically the chefs on many of the shows make items that are far from easy for the normal home cook. Well two days ago I was watching "Farmhouse Rules," and the chef, Nancy Fuller, was making a blackberry crumble for desert. I actually wrote down the recipe because it looked so simple (and delicious)! 
    Last night I attempted this recipe, and I have to say it was soo easy and delish! So here is the recipe (with my dairy free edits):

Blackberry Crumble (Dairy Free)
Prep Time: 10 min.
Cook Time: 20 min. 
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients
6 cups fresh or frozen blackberries
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 lemon, juiced or lemon juice
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1/3 cup peanut butter (chunky adds a bit more crunch I used smooth because that's what we keep in our house).
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
6 tablespoons earth balance or smart balance butter (dairy free), melted
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and place a rack in the center of the oven.

Place the berries in a skillet and set over medium heat. Stir in 1 tablespoon of the flour, 1/4 cup of the sugar, 1/4 teaspoon of the cinnamon and the lemon juice. Cook until all the juices release, 5 minutes.

To make the crumble topping, in a medium bowl combine the oats, peanut butter, brown sugar, the remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar and the remaining 3/4 cup flour. Mix with a spoon until combined. Pour the butter into the dry crumble mixture and stir to achieve a crumble consistency. 

Spoon dollops of the crumble mixture over the berry mixture. Bake until the topping is crisp, 20 minutes. Cool the crumble for 15 minutes, then serve.

After cooled, add the coconut whipped cream (see recipe below). 

Want the original blackberry crumble recipe? Click here. 

Coconut Whipped Cream (for topping, also dairy free).

Prep Time: 10 min.

Ingredients

Canned coconut milk

1/4 tbs Sugar (or to taste)

1/4 tsp Vanilla extract

Directions

Chill canned coconut milk in the fridge for at least a day (I've found that a week of chilling solidifies it best).

The next day, chill a large mixing bowl 10 minutes before whipping.

Remove the coconut cream or milk from the fridge, flip upside down, and remove the lid. Pour out the liquid and then scrape out the thickened cream into your chilled bowl.

Beat for 30 seconds with a mixer until creamy. Then add vanilla and sugar and mix until creamy and smooth - about 1 minute. Taste and adjust sweetness as needed.

Use immediately or refrigerate - it will harden and set in the fridge the longer it's chilled. 

Pin for later. 

Toddler Breakfast Ideas

    Do you like my posts? If you want to see more articles like this one, make sure you like my page on Facebook.   

    If your little one struggles with food allergies, than you know how difficult it can be to find food to make that is nutritious and somewhat diverse. Toddler P. currently is allergic to almonds and eggs, so this makes for difficult and/or limited breakfast options. As we are finding new foods that not only Toddler P. can eat but actually like, I thought I would share those ideas with you. 

First option:

• Van's gluten free waffles (1/2 slice). I usually buy either blueberry or original of this brand. These waffles have such healthy ingredients and as a plus, they are gluten free. Yes Toddler P. can eat gluten, but I still like giving her a variety of foods. 
• 3 to 4 banana pieces.
• 1 to 2 plum pieces
• A handful of grapes (cut in half).
• 1 apple slice (cut in half).
• I give Toddler P. a small amount of puree still because at 15+ months she still only has 5 teeth.

Second option: 

• Homemade pancakes. I typically make a large batch of Bisquick Heart Healthy pancakes (made with apple sauce instead of egg), and then refrigerate the rest so I can reheat this for her breakfast and lunch.
• A handful of grapes.
• 2 to 3 cantaloupe pieces.
• 2 to 3 banana pieces. 
• 1 to 2 plum pieces.

    What do you make for breakfast for your children?

Save this for later, pin it here.

Easy & Healthy Salmon Dinner

    I had to share my husband's and my favorite dinner, it is Salmon with Quinoa and organic mixed veggies (all from Sam's Club, so it's very affordable)! 
    It really is quick, easy and cheap!
    Grilling the salmon usually takes 20 minutes or so, especially because I love the edges on my salmon crispy. So typically I start the veggies on the stove at the same time I put the salmon on the grill (since the veggies are frozen). 

• First I cut up the salmon into smaller portions, then I take heavy duty aluminum foil and spray it with olive oil spray (since fish tends to stick to things and then falls apart when trying to get it off the grill). 
• Then I place the salmon on the foil and season it lightly with Susie Q's Santa Maria Style Seasoning (a little of this seasoning goes a looong way, but it's delicious). After starting the grill and putting it on Medium heat, I put the salmon (on the foil) on the grill.

   

• Then I put the stove on medium heat and heat up dairy free butter (we use either Smart Balance or Earth Balance butter). 
• Next I put the organic mixed veggies in the pan, leaving it uncovered and cook slowly for the next 15 minutes. 

• The last thing I do is put the Quinoa in the microwave. It takes 90 seconds.

    And there you have it! A simple, easy, healthy meal!

    So tell me, what's your favorite healthy meal?

Easy & Quick Guacamole Recipe

    

    Baby P. loves homemade guacamole! This has ended up being one of her favorite snacks! So I thought I would include this week, a super easy recipe for guacamole. 

Guacamole Recipe
Ingredients

• 2 ripe avocados.
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice.
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (or to taste).
• 2 pinches of kosher salt.
• A dash of pepper.
• A few dashes of garlic powder.

Directions

Cut the avocados in half. Strike the seed with a sharp knife for ease of removing it. It should stick to the knife. 

Scoop out the avocados and put into mixer.

Add lemon juice and olive oil.

Add other ingredients to taste. 

Mix ingredients in mixer. 

Place in fridge to cool. 

Serve with pita chips for a healthy snack! 

Dairy, Gluten, & Egg Free Baby Pancake Recipe

Baby Pancakes: A great finger food for toddlers!

    Do you like my posts? Make sure you like me on Facebook so you can see more posts like this one! 

    I saw this recipe from Wholesome Baby Food's blog, and thought I'd give it a try. But I didn't like some of the ingredients in the post... so I changed up the recipe so that it would be gluten, dairy and egg free for Baby Picturesque! 
   I have to say these were a success! Baby P. loves her little pancakes! 
   I do have to warn you, though, technically they are pancakes, but they do not have that consistency. 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup coconut flour 
• 1 cup uncooked commercial baby oatmeal cereal from the box 
• 1 cup coconut milk (or almond milk)
• 1/2 cup mashed banana (or fruit of your choice)
• 1 tbsp melted unsalted dairy free butter (or olive oil, which is what I used)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/2 cup water

Add cinnamon, nutmeg, dash of vanilla or other flavorings if you wish.

Directions:

Step 1: Mix all ingredients together and add enough water to make pancake consistency.

Step 2: Cook on your cook top in a frying pan as you would with “regular” pancakes. Cooking these baby cereal pancakes on a griddle will work better as you will have more control over the temperature and will be better able to keep the temp. at a constant heat.

**Freezes Well**

              

    Here's a picture of these pancakes on the griddle. They aren't perfect, but that's okay... Baby P. still loves them!!!

Allergy Friendly Toddler Food Ideas

   

    A couple of months ago, we found out that our 11 month old couldn't have eggs. Unfortunately we found out the hard way... with her breaking out in hives all over her face! We've had this happen 3 times now... just because my husband and I touched something with eggs in it or even our dogs saliva had egg in it! 
    So needless to say, now I'm being extra careful with many of the trigger allergens when it comes to feeding Baby Picturesque her finger goods. I already was fairly careful up to this point because I'm allergic to casein (a protein found in dairy), but now I'm being SUPER careful! 
    For her first birthday bash, I want to have a smash cake for her... but I need something allergy friendly (just in case). Also, I don't want sugar in it (other than naturally occurring sugar). Thankfully I found a cake mix at our local health food store that is gluten, egg, nut and dairy free! Her first birthday bash will be another post for another day about how this cake tastes. But in the meantime, in case you need an allergy friendly cake mix... the cake mix is called Cherrybrook Kitchen, Gluten Free Dreams.

   

    Other than some basic items, it has been a real struggle to figure out what to give Baby P. for her finger foods. There are the obvious items I give her like blueberries, plums, peas, carrots, and grapes. But I would like to give her the same food we eat, and food that is easy to make. 

I found this wonderful website #keeleymcguire.com, that goes through gluten free and allergy friendly kid food ideas. Not only does she have some great ideas/recipes on this page, but she has PICTURES!! I love it when there are pictures included for kid food ideas because I can take a look and decide if it is what I want or not.  

One recipe that looks relatively easy, doable and allergy friendly are these veggie nuggets:

    As I mentioned earlier, Baby P. is currently sensitive to eggs... so I have to absolutely stay away from all things egg related. I found this website that breaks down the common egg replacers and what the ratio is to substitute for an egg. 

    This is also a great chart to understand the substitutions for egg:

 

    Finally, here is breakfast idea that I adapted to be allergen free. It is gluten, nut, egg and dairy free Quinoa Pancakes!

Adapted from Everyday Food Magazine

1 cup cooked quinoa
3/4 cup all-purpose gluten free flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 mashed banana (instead of egg)
1/2 tsp course salt
1 Tbsp  earth balance soy free butter, melted, plus more for skillet
1/4 cup almond milk (I use original unsweetened)
2 Tbsp pure maple syrup 

1) In medium bowl, whisk together quinoa, flour, baking powder, and salt. In another medium bowl, whisk together banana, butter, milk, and syrup until smooth. Add banana mixture to flour mixture and whisk to combine.

2) Lightly coat a large nonstick skillet or griddle with butter and heat over medium-high (I did medium). Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls (I used a 1/4 cup measuring cup) into skillet. Cook until bubbles appear on top, 2 minutes. Flip cakes and cook until golden brown on underside, 2 minutes. Wipe skillet clean and repeat with more melted butter and remaining batter 

Serve with maple syrup and fresh fruit or preserves if desired. 

Makes about 12. 

Delicious Looking Recipe - Taco Pie

Here's my dairy free version of the pie:

1/4 cup butter (earth balance soy/dairy free butter)
2/3 cup Almond Milk
1 package Taco Bell seasoning mix
2 1/2 cups mashed potato flakes (or left over mashed potatoes-omit butter & milk)
1 pound ground beef or Turkey
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup salsa
1 cup shredded lettuce
1 medium tomato, diced
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (tofutti or skip the cheese)
Tofutti Sour cream, optional

Preheat oven 350F.
In a medium sauce pan, melt butter & Add milk, 2 Tbs taco seasoning, mixing well.
Remove from heat, add potato flakes, mixing until incorporated.
Press mixture into the bottom of a regular pie plate, then Bake the "crust" for 7-10 minutes until it just BARELY turns golden brown. In the meantime, cook beef & onions in a skillet until beef is browned and cooked through. Drain. Add Salsa & remaining taco seasoning. Cook until bubbly.