Simple Pie Crust

No eggs, no wheat, no problem! This crust is great for pot pies, tarts, pies and just about anything you can think up!

Pie Crust (gluten and dairy free!)

1-1 1/2 cup Almond, Amaranth OR Spelt flour

3 Tbsp. coconut oil, goat butter, or DF margarine

2 Tbsp. Honey or Agave Nectar

1/8 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

Water

Mix all the ingredients together, adding a small amount of water  until the desired consistency is met. Flatten dough into a round disc between two floured waxed paper (or a plastic bag works too!) Gently roll out the dough to 11 inch round disc. Or split dough in half and make two small discs for tarts or turnovers.

Put dough on a baking sheet and refrigerate until firm. Invert it into a pie pan and press in place, Bake for 10 mins. @ 300 degrees until light brown. Cool and fill.

Scalloped/Au Gratin Potatoes

This was particularly a challenge for me, because I had to leave out milk and flour…but I was FLOORED at how great they turned out!

Scalloped / Au Gratin Potatoes

3 Tbsp Corn Starch

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

Salt and pepper to taste

3 cups cold (unsweetened!) Almond milk

4-5 cups sliced potatoes

1 sliced onion (optional)

*3 Tbsp. DF margarine, butter, goat butter or GHEE

Ham, bacon, or sausage diced (optional)

 

Place the corn starch, onion powder, salt & pepper into a quart jar. Close and shake.  Add cold Almond milk. Close and shake the heck outta it! In a 3-quart casserole dish, layer potatoes, onions (if using), and meat (if using), dotting each layer with butter (or whatever you substitute). Add the corn starch-milk mixture. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 1 1/2 hours. Serves 4.

For Au Gratin (which is what I made) Add 1 1/2 cups shredded, crumbled, or sliced goat cheese in the last 15 minutes or so. This is sooooo goood!

The BEST Cookie recipe…ever!

Sometimes, you just need something to eat that is sweet, chewy and conjures warm memories. Like cookies. But when you start dabbling around with baking recipes in general, they usually fall flat (literally) when you take out certain allergens. Like eggs…and milk…and of course butter.

So, after a couple of years I came up with a recipe very similar to this one. And when I stumbled upon this recipe, I was delighted that someone had refined what I hadn’t yet. It’s at Cookie Madness, which also has tons of other helpful recipes!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

(aka Vegan Spelt Chocolate Chip Cookies, something I don’t tell my husband who is the definition of a carnivore, lol.)

1 1/4 cups spelt flour*
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup canola oil (or other vegetable oil)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 cup toasted pecans
2/3 cup vegan chocolate chips or some cut-up vegan chocolate bar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment, Release foil or just use a non-stick cookie sheet.

In one bowl, thoroughly stir together spelt flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and sugar.

In a second bowl, stir together maple syrup, oil and vanilla extract.

Add the oil mixture to the spelt mixture and stir until combined. Stir in pecans and chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheet and bake for 11 minutes. (btw, 11 minutes is perfect!)

*I’ve also made these with Amaranth/Quinoa flour, and they turned out great!

Mac & Goat Cheese Recipe

•   1/2 lb macaroni (we used the corn macaroni noodles)
• 2 tablespoons butter (you can use GHEE or DF margarine)
• 2 tablespoons flour (I used spelt, but I’m sure you could use any sort of flour or even corn starch)
• 2 cups milk ( I used Almond Milk)
• ground pepper and salt
• 1 cup goat cheese ( make sure to have something that melts nicely!)

 

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil.
2. Add the macaroni and cook about 8 to 10 minutes, or until just tender, depending on the size of the pasta. Drain.
3. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. When the butter is melted and sizzling, stir in the flour to create a paste and cook 1 minute.
4. Slowly add the milk, whisking to create a smooth sauce. Let cook about 5 minutes or until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. ( I ended up adding more butter at this point, lol!)
5. Remove the pan from the heat and slowly add the goat cheese, whisking to create a smooth sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Stir noodles and cheese sauce together and enjoy!

NOTE: Since most allergies vary, I had to alter this recipe according to out needs. The possibilities are endless!

This was surprisingly delicious! I would suggest using a mozzarella and cheddar blend for the goat cheese!

Amaranth

I received a question the other day that I thought I should take the time to explore and share with you.

So many times in gluten-free baking, the recipes call for a variety of flours to substitute wheat flour. And usually, it’s never and equal ratio. And it really bothers most people. Who want to use three different grains just to substitute on cup of wheat flour anyways???

Back to my question of, is there a grain out there that can be used 1:1 instead of wheat flour in a recipe? Well, yes, there is!

The first grain that came to mind was Amaranth. As long as you aren’t baking a yeast  bread, you can use it equal to wheat flour! It is great for cereal, pasta and baking. And not just the grain, the seeds and leaves are good as well!

If you aren’t familiar with Amaranth, it’s a wonderful grain with very dramatic past. You can read all about it in this article by Karen Railey, which I have since bookmarked it was so chalk full of information!

Not only does she share it’s rich history, but she gives some fantastic cooking tips and how to GROW your own! (which I plan on doing this summer!!!) The young leaves can be eaten like spinach! Which is great for my son who has some sensitivity to spinach.

Try some Amaranth today!!! I’m sure you’ll love it!

How to dehydrate your own cheese!

In my search for a powdered cheese alternative, I kept thinking how much easier it would be if I could just make my own powdered cheese. That, and my son really prefers goat cheese, and honestly I do too. I mean, it real cheese for one thing!

So, finally, I decided that I’m going to try it! I’ll update with pictures when its done. For now, here are the instructions!

For hard cheese:

Cut cheese into small pieces. The exact size of the pieces does not matter. They can be as wide or long as you choose. The smaller the pieces, the faster and evener they will dry. The thickness of the slices are important. The cheese slices should be no more than 1/4 inch thick. Thicker slices take too long to dry.

Lay the cheese pieces directly on the rack in the food dehydrator. Leave space around each piece of cheese, so that they are not touching each other.

Turn the dehydrator on. If the dehydrator has a temperature setting control, choose the lowest setting.

Flip the cheese pieces over every three hours. If the food dehydrator doesn’t have a fan, rearrange the trays every few hours. This provides more air flow for more even drying of the cheese pieces. To rearrange the trays, move the top tray to the bottom tray spot and move the other trays one spot up from where they previously were.

Remove the cheese pieces from the dehydrator when the cheese is fully dry. Dry cheese appears even-toned in color and is a shade or two darker than fresh cheese. Store the dry cheese in an airtight package.

For soft cheeses:

Cover the food dehydrator trays with plastic wrap. You will have to cut a hole in the center of the plastic wrap to allow air flow through the center of the food dehydrator.

Spread a thin layer of soft cheese over the plastic wrap covered tray. The layer should be no thicker than a 1/4 inch.

Turn the dehydrator on. If the dehydrator has a temperature setting control, choose the lowest setting.

Rearrange the trays every three hours if the food dehydrator does not have a fan. To rearrange the trays, move the top tray to the bottom tray spot and move the other trays one spot up from where they previously were. If the food dehydrator is equipped with a fan, it is not necessary to rearrange the trays.

Check the cheese every three hours. The cheese is done dehydrating when it is dry to the touch. Remove the cheese from the dehydrator and store in an airtight package.

Egg Substitutes

When it comes to baking, there is one thing that is very hard to leave out of a recipe. Eggs. Neither of my boys can have eggs, after hearing that I need to store powdered eggs to bake with I was a bit clueless on what I was going to store. Here are some tried and true egg substitutes made from things most allergy friendly families have on hand. I also included on of my favorite baking secrets when baking eggless.

• 2 tbsp cornstarch = 1 egg
• 2 tbsp arrowroot flour = 1 egg
• 2 tbsp potato starch = 1 egg
• 1 heaping tbsp soy powder + 2 tbsp water = 1 egg
• 1 tbsp soy milk powder + 1 tbsp cornstarch + 2 tbsp water = 1 egg.
• 1 banana = 1 egg in cakes and pancakes!
• 1 tbsp milled flax seed and 3 tbsp water = 1 egg. Light, fluffy cakes!

Now for my favorite baking ingredient….Salvia Hispanica, or more commonly known from the name brand as Salba. (It's actually the Chia pet, lol!) They harvest the seed and it is sold as a supplement, similar to flax. But what I use it for, is to make a gel out of it. By taking the seeds, adding water to them and letting them sit over night or at least a couple of hours, it creates a gel around the seeds that is just like the egg whites! I use it for baking and it really holds up! I was able to make a moist bread that didn't just crumble when you touch it (which commonly happens when you have to cook without eggs, yeast and gluten as a binder). If the labels doesn't have the directions it’s:
1 part Salba + 8 parts water = 1 egg Combine in a glass jar and let sit overnight or at least an hour.