I want to make all things pumpkin

I don't know who all these people are that keep saying they are "so over" the pumpkin craze. Because I am not. I am so not over pumpkin. Pumpkin is a fall vegetable that I love eating at this time of year. And this is a super easy dip that has been causing everyone in my family to look forward to an afternoon snack of apple slices.   

5-Ingredient Creamy Pumpkin Dip

Makes 1 cup
Time: 5 minutes to make plus 30 minutes to chill.

1/2 cup pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)

1/2 cup daiya cream cheese

1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup (or you can add more if you'd like it sweeter)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Wisk together ingredients.  Once you have it mixed everything, put it back in the fridge for at least half an hour to chill.  If you're in a huge rush you can skip this step but it really is at its best when served ice cold. Sometimes if it's been sitting out for a bit I will pop it back into the the fridge or freezer for a few minutes to chill it down again.  Otherwise if it gets too warm you get that little hint of the fake cream cheese taste.  

Serve with apple slices or graham crackers for dipping.

The best Russian Dressing

I discovered how to make the best Russian dressing completely by accident one day when I was trying to save time and decided to use my microplane grater on the onion instead of chopping it finely, which is what I normally do.  And the way that the microplane-grated onion infuses the entire dressing is just really magical if you have a fresh, sweet onion.  The recipe calls for a tablespoon of the grated onion but it takes a pretty good amount of onion to get that much so make sure you have at least quarter or half of an onion to work with.  

Russian Dressing
adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

1 cup mayonnaise 
1/2 cup ketchup 
2 Tbs red or white wine vinegar
1/4 tsp dry mustard (or a little prepared mustard if you don't have dry)  
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste  
1 tablespoon onion (that has been grated using a microplane)

Wisk together all ingredients except the grated onion. Add 1/2 tablespoon of the onion and taste.  If you have a strong tasting onion, that may be all you want to add.  But if you have a nice fresh, sweet onion, you can add the full tablespoon. Wisk until smooth.  If it's too thick, you can thin it with some ketchup or vinegar.  

To make this into thousand island dressing, add pickle relish to taste. 

Mark Bittman recommends using this as a sandwich topping (mmmm... Reubens!) but I really like it as a dip for cut up raw vegetables.  I also eat it all the time on green salads, especially when we have Romaine Lettuce and I'd prefer a creamy dressing.

This lasts for a couple of weeks in the fridge if you don't eat it all first!

3-ingredient Pumpkin Pie Soup

Long before I ever had kids, before I ever thought about food allergies, I was an intern in DC and there was this little cafe there that was not too far from where I was living so I went there a lot.  I was short on time and money and it was on the way to the Metro stop and very inexpensive. In the fall, one of their specials was pumpkin soup and I could get that and a grilled cheese sandwich for less than $5.  I'm assuming if you are reading this blog, you probably are not going to serve this soup with a grilled cheese sandwich, but my memories of this place are all wrapped up in that soup and the grilled cheese sandwich so just bear with me. I cannot tell you how many times I ordered that soup and sandwich combo.  I just could not get enough of it. I loved going to that place and it wasn't even nice inside.  I just felt so cozy dipping my grilled cheese into my soup. 

After I moved, it drove me crazy because I don't think I ever even knew the name of the place and, a few years later, when I tried looking around where I thought it might have been I couldn't find it.  So I could never get another bowl of this amazing soup or ask the people (it was always the same 2 people) who worked there how to make it!  I spent years, literally years, trying to duplicate the recipe from memory and was always very disappointed.  I would go through the trouble of roasting a pumpkin, chopping vegetables, cooking down the soup for a long time and then, after all of that, be supremely let down.  The first time I remember making the soup it was not just disappointing, it was terrible; I under cooked the onions so it was kind of crunchy.  Crunchy soup is never good.  

Imagine my delight when somewhere on the internet I found a recipe for pumpkin pie soup that tasted exactly the way I remembered THE pumpkin soup and it was pretty much the easiest thing in the whole world to make.  The original is made with heavy cream but I subbed coconutmilk with excellent results after I went dairy free.  



Pumpkin pie soup
Serves 6 as an appetizer

• 1 can pumpkin pie filling (not plain pumpkin)
• 2 cups chicken stock or broth
• 1/2 cup canned coconutmilk (full fat, not reduced fat)

Stir ingredients into a pan and heat.  That's it!



I can't decide whether this soup is better hot off the stove or after it has cooled a bit.  I think objectively it might taste better room temperature but since the soup of my memories was always warm, I prefer it that way.  Try it both ways, see how you like it.
  
We ate this for dinner yesterday (although I actually don't recommend it as a main dish, because it's too sweet for that).  Since I usually try to avoid eating food from cans I normally only indulge in this soup once a year.  This year it was extra great because we paired it with New Glarus Pie Lust beer, which I had never had before.  The slight bitterness of the beer balanced well with the sweetness of the soup.  I know absolutely nothing about pairing alcohol with food and so this recommendation should be taken with a grain of salt. But I daresay the soup went better with the beer than a grilled cheese sandwich...

Paleo chocolate ice cream

If you've never made a paleo "ice cream" before you may be surprised at how quick and easy it is. This is such a tasty treat that has a consistency kind of like soft serve ice cream. Keep in mind you will need pre-frozen bananas for this recipe.  And get out the spoons and napkins before you start because it melts quickly even in an air conditioned house!  

Paleo chocolate ice cream
Serves 2

2 large bananas (broken into chunks and frozen)
1.5 Tbsp cocoa powder
2 Tbsp coconutmilk
1 tsp vanilla (I use alcohol-free vanilla but the kind with alcohol works too


Put the frozen banana pieces into the food processor and run it for a few seconds until it gets pretty broken up. 
It will look like this:

 
Then add the other ingredients and puree until smooth, scraping down the sides of the food processor at least once so the cocoa powder gets mixed in.  Depending on the size of your bananas you might alter the quantities of the other ingredients a bit. And if you like things super chocolate-y, add 1/2 tablespoon more of the cocoa powder, that's how I like it!  Just taste as you go, it's pretty hard to screw it up! This is best eaten immediately, I have frozen it before and the texture isn't as good later on.  Enjoy!  

Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate!

Let's face it, chocolate is a big deal.  Desserts were one of my top worries when I stopped eating dairy. However, I have found other things (like cheese) much harder to replace.  The world of dairy free chocolate is pretty much amazing!   Many favorite treats such as chocolate chip cookies and brownies can easily be made from scratch by simply using an alternative milk, non-hydrogenated margarine, and dairy free chocolate in your favorite recipe.  And nowadays there are so many great non-dairy products available to buy (I recommend clicking on the links below to view the products so you know what you are looking for when you go to the store):   

• Ghiradelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips :  Look for the yellow package. Some of their other chocolate chips contain dairy ingredients. These taste way better than the Nestle brand chips I was buying for years.  

• Ghirardelli Double Chocolate brownie mix :  Make sure to buy this specific one, some of their other mixes contain dairy ingredients.  I like the Ghiradelli products because they are easy to find at grocery stores and at Target.

• Cocoa Powder:  You can make any of your favorite recipes using cocoa powder because it is always dairy free.  The only thing to watch out for is that you are buying true cocoa powder, not cocoa drink mix, which usually contains dairy. This is my favorite reasonably priced organic cocoa powder.

• Dark chocolate:  Most bars of dark chocolate sold in regular grocery stores are dairy-free so that's an easy one.  It's only tricky if you are looking for one that is soy-free but  I like this one that is also fair trade and is available in better grocery stores.  

• Rice Dream Bites: Chocolate covered "ice cream" bites (my favorite non-dairy frozen treat)  

• So Delicious Coconutmilk ice creams:   These ice creams do taste like coconut so if that's not a flavor you like, you might not like these.  Their chocolate ice cream flavors camouflage the coconut taste better than some of the other flavors. These are available at regular grocery stores but health food stores typically have a wider selection of flavors.  

• Enjoy Life Ricemilk Chocolate Bar:  This is tasty (I prefer it to a regular Hershey's bar) but it's not the most delicious thing I've ever eaten either. However, I'm including it in my list of products because it's a great option for people who do not like dark chocolate.  They also make a version with crispies in it. 

For multiple allergies, check out the family of Enjoy Life  products (which are free of common allergens including gluten, soy, dairy and nuts). Although I prefer the texture of the Ghiradelli chocolate chips, Enjoy Life ones are still good!  And they also sell a variety of different cookies, bars, trail mixes, and chips, some of which are better than others.  

I've listed my favorite products here but the baking aisle at Whole Foods has a variety of dairy free cookie, brownie, frosting, and cake mixes from brands such as Cherrybrook Farms,  Arrowhead Mills and European Gourmet Bakery Organics.  If you don't mind transfat, Duncan Hines has pareve baking mixes available at regular super markets (check out my FAQ if you are not familiar with using pareve labeling to identify dairy free products).

A last word of advice:  Cocoa butter is NOT dairy so if you see that on a label, don't worry!  

Can you get enough calcium without dairy milk?

My wonderful friend Julie recommended that I write this post a long time ago when I first started writing the blog and I'm really glad she did because I know it's the number one thing most people worry about when they cut dairy from their family's diet.  And it took me so long to get around to this post because the whole calcium and bone health thing is just very complicated.  However, both the short and long answers to this question are yes. Yes, you can get enough calcium without dairy milk.  

The short answer is yes because if you simply replace dairy milk with store-bought alternative milks, they are fortified with both calcium and vitamin D.  In fact, most of them now contain more calcium than cow's milk, although check labels to be sure. Or you can take a calcium supplement.  

But if you're anything like me, you want to know how your family can get these nutrients from whole foods.  As far as I understand, the type of calcium used to fortify foods is not as easily absorbed by your body as other sources.  However, that might actually be a good thing because in the last couple of years, studies have shown that many people may actually be getting more calcium and vitamin D than the recommended daily allowances (RDA), probably because there are so many foods fortified with these nutrients. Too much calcium has been linked a host of different problems including kidney stones, heart problems, and a possible increase in certain types of cancers.  

So one of the best ways to get your calcium is from plant sources, in part because you'll be getting a ton of other necessary nutrients as well.  Finally, scientists have begun to examine the importance of plant-sources of calcium.  One study found that eating more vegetables was associated with better bone density. Some vegetables with the highest content of calcium include:  spinach, broccoli, bok choy, kale and other dark leafy greens (such as turnip and dandelion). 

You might have heard that spinach should not be counted on as a good source of calcium.  This is because it contains oxalates that supposedly interfere with  absorption of the calcium.  The thing is, almost all of the foods we think of as really healthy (such as kale) contain oxalates.  So most of the advice I've heard from nutritionists on this is to eat spinach in moderation and not rely on it as the only source of calcium.  Also, eating spinach along with foods rich in Vitamin C can help mitigate the effects of the oxalates. 

As far as other ways to get calcium, sesame seeds are also high in calcium so I sprinkle them on top of rice anytime we eat it, even if it's not an Asian dish.  Just google "non-dairy sources of calcium" and tons of lists will come up which include foods such as little fishes with bones, tofu, beans (like navy beans), and blackstrap molasses.  We also drink a lot of oat straw tea in our house (my son has it sweetened with honey or stevia).  

To make everything more complicated, it turns out that the amount of calcium a person needs really varies from individual to individual.  High protein diets may increase calcium loss so meat-eaters need more than plant-based diet folks.  Plus, vitamin D levels affect calcium absorption so a lot of it varies from latitude to latitude, and how much time you spend outdoors. 

In addition, most of us are concerned about calcium intake because we want to have healthy teeth and bones.  But recent research has showed that bone health is heavily dependent on many other factors including doing enough weight-bearing exercise, and adequate consumption of other nutrients, including vitamin D, but also other ones most people don't typically associate with bone density. So, a lot of nutritionists are shifting the focus to an overall healthy lifestyle, with adequate but not excessive amounts of dietary calcium.  

Bottom Line:  

Here's what I have gotten out of all my research on calcium:  People need calcium for bone health but the experts don't really know how much is optimal.  Nutritional science is in its infancy and there is a long way to go before the answers to our questions are really clear. So for me, I try to consume plenty of calcium-rich leafy greens and eat whole foods that are not stripped of their nutrients.  Since my son pretty much won't touch anything green, I make sure he has had either calcium-fortified "milk" or a calcium supplement each day.  And I pray each and every day that he will outgrow this picky phase and take a cue from his parents, who love their veggies!  

Sources for this post are:  

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/calcium-full-story/#where

http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=13050

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21310303

Various Nutrition Diva Podcasts  (I don't always agree with her on every point she makes, but she really does her research so I highly recommend checking her out)

I'm glad it's still cold out...

...because our family discovered something new this winter and I'm super excited to write about it.  Well, technically we discovered something that is very old but new to us:  savory porridge (known at our house as savory oatmeal).  We've always eaten a lot of oatmeal but my husband started to get sick of eating the same thing over and over so he started to look for savory oatmeal recipes.  And now we eat savory oatmeal all the time because it's so simple and delicious. My son still prefers his oatmeal made with almondmilk and cinnamon, but that's no problem because the basis of savory oatmeal is just plain oatmeal so it's easy to add whatever each individual person wants. I think this is best when made with steel cut oats but we've made it with just about every type of oatmeal available at the supermarket, and most often use quick oats, since we're usually short on time.  

If you're still not convinced about the greatness of savory porridge, check out the Golden Spurtle Competition or this on Mark Bittman's savory oatmeal with scallions and soy sauce.  

Savory Oatmeal - the basics

a bowl of oatmeal, made with water according to package directions.  

a sprinkling of sea salt or other coarse salt

a sprinkling of cracked black pepper (optional)  

a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil  

Add-ons (choose one)

diced avocado 

pine nuts or other savory nuts (such as roasted cashews or pistachios)  

eggs, cooked anyway you like them 

crumbled bacon

sliced breakfast sausage

leftover ham, steak, or chicken, or whatever meat you had for dinner the night before 

heated up pieces of lunchmeat 

My favorites are the diced avocado and the ham.  We don't normally eat ham for dinner so I've gone out and bought a hunk of ham to cut into small pieces and freeze for use in oatmeal.  Yum!  

Not too sweet granola

Let me tell you what I love about this granola.  I adapted this recipe from the blog Orangette, which is a blog that I have been reading for years but is a bit tough for someone avoiding dairy.  Lots of her recipes, especially the yummiest sounding ones, involve butter, cream and the like.  But in the post about her daily granola, she actually recommends having it with soymilk, over dairy yogurt or milk.  So there you go, a granola that tastes better dairy free!  

If I'm going to take the time to make something at home that I can easily purchase at the store (there are lots of delicious dairy free granolas!), it had better be healthy.  So I set out to make a less sweet version of her granola that I think is quite tasty!  If you are used to eating store bought granola (which is loaded with sugar), I would suggest increasing the brown sugar to 3/4 cup (which is how much Orangette recommends).  

Not Too Sweet Daily Granola
adapted from Orangette 

Dry ingredients:
5 cups rolled oats
2 cups pecan pieces (or halves if that's what you've got) 
1 cup raw sunflower seeds (hulled)
1/3 cup sesame seeds (or more if you like the flavor of sesame seeds)  
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. salt

Wet ingredients:
¾ cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/3 cup brown rice syrup
¼ cup honey
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil, such as canola or safflower

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix the wet ingredients in a smaller bowl.  Add the wet to the dry and stir until evenly coated.  Spread the granola evenly onto two cookie sheets and bake for about 40-45 minutes total.  However, every 10 minutes or so, you will need to stir the granola and rotate the pans so you aren't cooking one of them on the lowest rack of the oven the whole time.  (Set a timer for the total cooking time as well as a 10-minute timer or, if you're anything like me, you'll forget entirely!)

I've found that figuring out when granola is done is a little trickier than most recipes let on.  I like mine to be crispy so I make sure to bake it until it has started to get golden brown but hasn't developed a dark brown color yet.  It will still be soft at this point, but will harden as it cools.  Make sure you stir it when you take it out of the oven and then a few more times while it's cooling so it doesn't get all stuck together.  

Store in an airtight container. When I make granola and store it in a mason jar, it makes me feel like Martha Stewart but, of course, a gladware container will do as well! If you want to keep it for a long time, refrigerate.   

Perfect Fall Day

It has been rainy, rainy, rainy and we have been cooped up inside for several days. But yesterday we had pumpkins to carve and the ingredients for chili, plus my husband had some pumpkin ale in the fridge and there was football on TV so he was pretty happy. Pretty much the makings for a perfect fall day. By noon we had put the chili in the slow cooker and made these:  

And by we, I mean that I helped with the chili but was not at all involved in making the pumpkin masterpieces. That was all my husband and his brother - they are so creative!  Did you know that gourds are not at all easy to carve like pumpkins? Yeah, neither did we. That green Frankenstein one was impossible to cut open. Good thing we had a saw.  

So now to the recipe.  This award winning chili recipe was created by my brother and sister-in-law and it is amazing. They are very kind to allow me to share it with you.  I think it strikes the perfect balance between being nice and meaty, while still containing beans.  When we serve it to people who don't normally like beans in chili, they are always impressed by how good it is! 

Walt & April's Springtown Chili
This yields roughly 6 dinner-size servings of mild to medium chili.  We have often found that this chili is better the day after cooking.  

1 lb. ground beef
1 lb. pork sausage 
1 large onion, medium chop
1 large green pepper, membrane and seeds removed, chopped
1 teaspoon oil
5 cloves garlic, minced 
1 16 oz. can black beans, mostly drained 
1 15 oz. can pinto beans, mostly drained
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce 
3 tablespoons chili powder 
1 ancho (dried poblano) chili, de-seeded and chopped
2 teaspoons salt 
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 dash Worcestershire sauce
1 dash habanero hot sauce 

Brown ground beef over medium-high heat, waiting to break up the meat so that most pieces sear on the outside. Drain, then repeat with sausage.  Saute onion and green pepper over high heat in 1 teaspoon oil (if needed), until slightly brown.  

Combine all ingredients except the beans in the slow cooker and stir to combine.  Then add the beans and gently stir until they are roughly mixed in.  Cover and turn heat to high for 1 hour. Reduce heat to low and cook for 9 or so hours. If your slow cooker runs hot like mine, you can get away with cooking it for 8 hours on low the entire time.  For a spicier chili, double the chili powder or add a couple tablespoons of your favorite hot sauce.  

We like to top it with chopped avocado, raw diced onion, and maybe some tortilla chips.  

My son likes it with daiya shredded "cheese":  

A note about ingredients: 
When this recipe was originally developed, it called for a tube of Jimmy Dean pork sausage.  It probably tastes the best if you use that but I don't cook with conventionally raised meat anymore. So I've been using Italian pork sausage from Whole Foods and I think it still turns out pretty great.

I also try whenever possible to avoid using canned goods so I often substitute 4 cups of homecooked beans for the two cans of beans. The tomatoes are tougher to substitute but I recently found some in glass jars that are not diced but seem to work ok with this recipe.  

What's for dinner?

I get asked this question a lot by people who are new to the dairy free lifestyle.  One of the hardest things about eliminating dairy is that so many of us are used to putting cheese on everything and when we look through our own recipe collection, we are hard pressed to find recipes that are dairy free.  So, here is a week of ideas for easy dairy free dinners. Enjoy! 

Monday: Tacos

If you need a really fast meal, you can stick to the basics:

• tortillas or taco shells
• ground beef or cooked beans
• store-bought salsa
• lettuce and tomato

If have some extra time, adding one or more of these elements will add lots of flavor (and not to mention nutrients!) 

• guacamole is creamy so it's great instead of sour cream (try my super fast easiest guacamole ever)
• saute some peppers, onions, and/or mushrooms in olive oil for about 10 minutes
• diced raw onion (or other veggies)  

Tuesday:  Slow Cooker Chicken with Honey Garlic Sauce . 

Serve with rice and veggies 

Wednesday: 15-minute Creamy Avocado Pasta 

From the oh she glows blog.  This is super yummy, vegan, and fast.  Make sure you include the optional basil when you make it.  I definitely do not consider it optional.  If you are making this for carnivores, some plain grilled chicken would go nicely... 

Thursday: Hamburgers or Veggie Burgers 

Some commercially made veggie burgers contain milk ingredients so check labels carefully.  

To make this meal super easy serve with some of the following: 

• store-bought sweet potato (or regular) french fries 
• tortilla or potato chips
• frozen vegetables 
• store bought baked beans 

If you have a little more time: 

• mashed potatoes
• grilled or roasted vegetables 
• make up some guacamole to put on top of the burgers

Friday: Pizza Night

Super Quick: 

• Buy premade pizza dough (Trader Joe's and Whole Foods both have dairy free ones.  Or check out your local pizza shop, most non-chain pizza places do not use dairy in their crusts)
• Store bought tomato sauce (check labels!) 
• Canned sliced mushrooms and olives
• If you like fake cheese, you can sprinkle some on top.  Or just drizzle with a little olive oil to kick up the flavor a bit  

If you have a little more time: 

Romesco pizza with carmelized onions and squash.  This is my favorite cheeseless pizza, it is made with romesco sauce which is much more flavorful than regular tomato sauce.  It was invented by the vegan chef who wrote Veganomicon so it was never meant to have cheese on top and it really doesn't need it...  

Saturday:  Spaghetti with Tomato Meat Sauce and Salad.  

Or use baby portabellas instead of ground meat in the sauce to make it vegan.  

Slow Cooker Chicken with Honey Garlic Sauce

Lately, dinner planning has consisted of asking myself one of these two questions:  What already made food do we have in the freezer? -OR- What can I throw into the slow cooker? In this case, the answer is chicken and some stuff I always keep in the fridge. This is an amalgamation of a couple of different recipes that I'm pretty sure were probably all stolen from the same person.  It is really easy and super delicious.  I usually serve it with rice.  

Slow Cooker Chicken with Honey Garlic Sauce
1.5 lbs chicken thighs (or whatever cut you want really) 
1 cup honey
1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce 
1/4 cup ketchup  
1 1/2 Tbs. neutral tasting oil (such as peanut or canola)
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or minced
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste) 
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (or to taste)  

Combine ingredients in slow cooker.  Cook on low for 4-6 hours, depending on your slow cooker. A 4-quart one is probably the best size.  If you have larger one or one that runs hot like mine, you might even want to check after about 3 hours to avoid drying the meat out.

Avocado Fudgesicles

My 3-year-old had never had ice cream until a month ago on the 4th of July.  Part of the reason is that most ice cream has dairy in it, but the main reason is that we eat pretty healthy and I just saw no point in introducing him to something like that before it was necessary.  Before you think I live on Mars or know some magical secret, I never said he hasn't had any junk food before.  In fact, when we took him to the dentist last time they gave him one of those blue Fla-Vor Ice things.  I could have said no but I try to have a general policy that if we are out of the house and my son is offered a food, he can eat it as long as he is not allergic to it.   I was really mad about it though because it is the dentist!  If they can't even back me up on the whole "sugar is bad for your teeth" thing, well then my kids are never gonna believe anything I say!  

Anyway, depending on your definition of ice cream, my son still hasn't had it since the recipe I used was mostly avocado, dates, cocoa powder, and canned coconutmilk.  But to his inexperienced palate, the frozen treat I made was AMAZING.  Actually, my husband and I thought it was pretty great too!  I can't wait to make it again, it was that good.  

Here is the link to the recipe I made at  The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen.  I followed her instructions and ingredients exactly and was quite pleased with the result. The only point I disagree with the blogger on is that she says you can eat it as a pudding.  I personally could taste a mild avocado flavor before it was frozen so I definitely recommend putting it in the popsicle molds and freezing it before serving. 

Sorry I don't have any pictures to post.  We gobbled them up too quickly!  

Peanut Butter Bars

This is my step-sister Julie's recipe and she is famous among friends and family for making the best peanut butter bars ever. I was incredibly honored when she shared it with me at my bridal shower and I used to guard the recipe as a closely held family secret. But now with the advent of pinterest, there are lots of similar peanut butter bar recipes all over the place. Don't get me wrong, these are still the best! I didn't make any ingredient changes to her original recipe, other than use Earth Balance instead of butter.  It is ahhh-mazing, made either way.   

If you don't care too much what the bars look like, this is one of the easiest desserts ever. If you want them to be picture perfect to give away to friends, like Julie does, they take a tiny bit more work.  

Peanut Butter Bottom Layer
2 cups peanut butter*
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla 
1/2 cup non-hydrogenated margarine, melted

Add the peanut butter, powdered sugar, and brown sugar to a mixing bowl.  Stir the vanilla into the melted margarine and then add both to the bowl.  Stir everything together (the mixture will be stiff). Press into an ungreased 9x11 pan. If you want them to look pretty, make sure to use a spatula to level the peanut butter mixture out so that it is even thickness all the way around (I never do this. Or I have once but it was so long ago I might have imagined it). Also, I do not have a 9x11 pan and so mine never come out looking quite as good as when Julie makes them in the 9x11 pan.  But they still taste great!  

Chocolate Topping
1 pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips (make sure they are dairy free!)  
1/2 cup non-hydrogenated margarine

Melt the chocolate chips and butter in a saucepan over low heat.  Stir until completely smooth and pour over peanut butter layer, spreading with a spatula to make it as smooth and even as you can. Chill in the refrigerator for 3 hours and then cut into bars.  You can really chill them as long as you want, but pull them out of the fridge about 10 minutes before you cut them to make the cutting go a little more smoothly.  


*You must buy regular old peanut butter for this recipe.  No healthy peanut butters that lack added oils or must be stirred.  Think Jiff, Skippy, or Peter Pan...  

Perfect for Summer Potlucks

Oh man, I love this dip because I invented it to take to a vegan potluck with friends last summer. It just tastes like warm weather, kids running around in the sprinkler, and pure summer bliss. My husband thinks I am weird for saying that but this is one of those foods that really brings back the memories for me...

Vegan 7-layer Dip*

1 can refried beans

8 oz tofutti “Better than Sour Cream” (about ⅔ of the container; or you could use fake cream cheese in a pinch)  

3/4 tsp taco seasoning mix (or to taste)

guacamole (about 3 or 4 avocado’s worth)

prepared salsa

⅓ cup chopped green onion

½ cup chopped tomato

very thinly sliced lettuce, enough to sprinkle on top

2 ¼ oz can sliced black olives   

1. Spread one can of refried beans in the bottom of an 8x8 baking pan.

2: In a bowl, combine  8 oz of Tofutti “Better than Sour Cream” with the taco seasoning. The more you add, the less you can tell that it's dairy-free sour cream so start with 3/4 teaspoon and if it's not too spicy, keep adding more! Spread on top of the beans.

3.  Next spread on a thin layer of salsa and then the guacamole.

4.  Sprinkle with lettuce, green onion, tomato and black olives. 

If you want to make this ahead, wait to add the guacamole and the veggies until just before serving.  

Variations: Add some ground meat (cooked in taco seasoning) or sprinkle some shredded fake cheese on top.

*Ok, not actually 7 layers... but you get the idea.

Chocolate Frosting

Frosting that's delicious and easy to make? Yes, please.

Basic Chocolate Frosting

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder (plain, unsweetened)
1/2 cup Earth Balance Buttery Spread (no need to soften but make sure you use the kind in the tub)
3 Tbsp soy or almondmilk
2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Using a handmixer, blend together the Earth Balance, powdered sugar, and cocoa powder.  When it's roughly mixed together, add the milk and vanilla.  Blend until smooth.




Note:  Putting this frosting into the fridge changes the texture a bit so I recommend making it the same day you plan to frost your cake.


P.S. When my mixer broke during the last test batch, I found out that you can mix this frosting in a pinch using a handblender.  It took a long time to get smooth though... 

Asparagus Two Ways

Asparagus with Walnut Oil Vinaigrette

So every year I wait very patiently for asparagus to come into season and then we cook it all the time.   Asparagus soup, fried asparagus, roasted asparagus, asparagus with eggs, steamed asparagus with vinaigrette...  My husband and I usually eat a full pound each when we make it for dinner. By the end of the season, I feel like I never want to see a spear of asparagus ever again.  But then inevitably, when February comes around again, I am dying to see the fresh stuff come into the grocery stores.

This year has been an epic failure.  I waited and waited but kept seeing the regular old low quality stuff from Mexico coming in week after week.  I kept thinking, "Wow, the season must be very late this year!"  Until a couple of weeks ago I finally e mailed my brother in California to find out if they were having asparagus season out there.  It turns out, it was already OVER.  But I will not let a spring go by without asparagus so I bought a whole bunch and got cooking.  I'm probably not going to get sick of it this year but, oh well, there is always next year!   

Here are two ways I like to dress 2 pounds of steamed asparagus. Both serve 4 regular people or 2 asparagus crazy adults.  

Walnut Oil Vinaigrette
adapted from Emeril

6 Tbsp walnut oil*
1/4 cup neutral tasting oil (such as canola, grapeseed, or light olive oil)
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
1 Tbsp finely chopped shallot
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Optional garnishes: toasted walnuts, chopped fresh parsley.

Dump all the vinaigrette ingredients into a tupperware or glass jar with a tight fitting lid and shake.  Pour over asparagus and sprinkle with some more salt. That's pretty much it.

*Walnut oil is available at better grocery stores and at health food stores.  Refrigerate after opening.  



Mustard Mayo Sauce

1/4 cup Tbsp light or regular mayonnaise 
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tsp dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Stir together all the ingredients.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Pour over the asparagus.  

This sauce tastes too strong on its own but is perfect on asparagus.  

Non-Dairy Snacking Simplified

Snacks are something I gave very little thought to before I became a mom. When I was hungry I just grabbed something to eat that sounded tasty.  But it goes to a whole new level when you have a little person who needs to eat 5 times a day and, if you're like me, you don't want to just serve carby crap all the time. I thought maybe I was weird that I had so much snack time stress.  But, after talking to other moms who have kids with food allergies, I found that lots of other people stress about this too.   I think sometimes we get too focused on what we can't eat, which prevents us from thinking of all of the things we can have.

A lot of the time I try to keep it simple and just offer a piece of fruit but sometimes I can sense that I'm going to get into a battle if I don't offer choices. Or sometimes I'm rushing out of the house and I don't really feel like carrying a ripe smelling banana in my purse. So I found that it really helped me to put a Post-It note on the fridge with a list of 10 or 12 things that my son could eat for snack time. That way I didn't really have to think about it ahead of time and if I needed any ideas, I could just consult the list.  I think the visual reminder is really helpful and it will take you about a minute to make your own sticky note right now!

Here is a list of suggestions, all of which take little or no preparation to serve. My child doesn't actually eat all of these things, some of them are ideas I got from other moms.  If you have any of your own, I'd love to hear them!

1. cereal  
2. mixed nuts or salted cashews 
3. Trader Joe’s roasted seaweed snacks 
4. peanut butter/almond butter 
5. peas (We always have a bag in the freezer. I empty some into a bowl, add a little water and microwave for 1 minute) 
6. raisins 
7. freeze-dried fruit
8. pretzels 
9. larabars
10. popcorn (We make air-popped but Whole Foods has dairy free microwave popcorn) 
11. graham crackers 
12. fruit snacks 
13. fruit leather 
14. almondmilk yogurt 
15. Triscuits or Wheat Thins 
16. hummus and pita 
17. pumpkin or sunflower seeds 
18. trailmix 
19. baby carrots 
20. lunchmeat roll up
21. hardboiled eggs
22. pickled beets from a jar (My son really loves these, I think they must be salty or something because he gobbles them up)  
23. frozen blueberries (some kids don't even want them defrosted; they like gumming on them frozen)  

Italian food without cheese?

Yes!!  Italian food can still be delicious without cheese!  I think making dairy free Italian-inspired dishes really boils down to these three factors:  

• Good ingredients: Food that tastes good on its own doesn't really need cheese to make it better.  I think restaurants and home cooks often use cheese to cover up something that wasn't really that great in the first place (like a boring jar of spaghetti sauce).  So using fresh ingredients (or at least better canned tomatoes) can go a long way.  If you are new to dairy free cooking and have the cash to spare, I'd recommend going to one of those specialty stores where you can taste different olive oils and pick one you really like.  
• Salt and fat:  Especially when we're talking about parmiggiano regiano and pecorino romano cheeses, a lot of the flavor profile can be explained by the salt and fat content.  So if your dairy free dish tastes a little bit lacking, it could benefit from a little more olive oil and a sprinkling of salt.  
• Getting used to it:  It took me a couple of months to get used to having pasta dishes without dairy products but for the most part I don't really notice anymore and I know it is so much healthier to leave the canned parm off of my dish.  But let's face it, there is no really good substitute for fettuccine alfredo. (There are some things I make when I'm craving that type of food.  But that's another blog post).  Most of the time I just focus on other types of Italian dishes, which can be delicious without dairy. Like this one:  

Gnocchi with Mushroom Sauce 
adapated from this website: danatreat.com
2 Tbsp non-hydrogenated margerine 
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
12-18 oz  fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and sliced  
1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots
1 1/2 cup chicken stock or broth 
2 Tbsp chopped fresh sage   
3 cups baby arugula (or chopped up regular arugula)  
1 lb potato gnocchi  (find it in the pasta aisle or in the frozen section)  

1. Start boiling a pot of water for the gnocchi.  

2. Heat a skillet over medium heat and melt the margarine and oil together.  Add the mushrooms and shallots.  Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring once in awhile until they are lightly browned.  (It's ok if you don't get yours browned, if they have softened up you can just go on to the next step).  


3. Add the stock and the sage and simmer 6-8 more minutes, until the liquid has reduced slightly.  You will want to make sure it is really bubbling in order for it to reduce properly.  

4. Meanwhile, add the gnocchi to the boiling water and prepare according to the package directions.  Normally, it will be done when most of the pieces float to the top.  

5. Add the arugula to the skillet with the mushroom mixture and cook for about 2 minutes until wilted.  Then use a slotted spoon to move the cooked gnocchi into the skillet and mix everything together.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  

Serves 3-4 (but make sure you serve it with a salad or something else.  I don't t hink it would be enough food for dinner without having a side dish.)   

A note about substitutions:  If you wanted to make this a bit healthier, you could omit the margarine and use vegetable stock.  You could also use whole wheat potato gnocchi (which I did the last time we made this, maybe you can tell in the pictures).  But here's the thing, I don't think will be quite as good.  This dish is pretty simple and it's really delicious made with the exact ingredients listed above.  So maybe make it the first time as it is, then you can tweak it a bit if you want later.