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)