non-dairy Pizza

I make this for my little one when I make us a big pizza with cheese. I use Whole Wheat Pita bread and top it with my Pizza Sauce and whatever vegies he likes, plus some ham and vegan cheese. He loves it because of the bread, but he eats the vegies too, so we all win!

Potato Chowder

Here's another one from my new favorite cookbook. I can't say enough how easy those recipes are. Also, so far I have not felt like there was anything missing, which I think is very important. Everybody should try these recipes.
Again, here are the main ingredients:

Sautee them in the pot:

Add the liquid:

And the corn:

And there you have it:
This one is great for my little one because there are no large pieces in there so it's easy to eat for him.

Food Allergies

While I haven't been paying much attention as to what ingredients I use, I have made it a goal to try and cook mostly dairy and nut free from now on, mainly due to my son's milk and peanut allergies. Since he is starting to eat what we eat, I think it's only fair to do so, especially now when he is still young enough. I'd hate for him to grow up thinking he has to eat differently from us. This doesn't mean that I won't, every now and then, make something that he may not be able to indulge in though. I'll try and point out whenever a recipe is free of dairy, nuts or any allergen for that matter. As I experiment more with recipes I hope to get a better hang of things so bare with me. Thanks.

Non-Dairy Banana Bread

Because I needed help finding and creating recipes that do not include milk/dairy and nuts, i bought a few really good cook books to guide me along the way.
One of those is is "Sophie Safe Cooking" by Emily Hendrix. I love how simple the recipes are and already have a few favorites.
So here is my first attempt at making banana bread. I am not posting the recipe as it's not available online, so just buy the book. It'll be worth it!

The ingredients:

All mixed together and baking in the oven:

And there you go:
The bread was very yummy. I think I may have put too much baking powder in it, so it was a little firmer. My little one loved it and that's all that counts!

Mama's Potato Salad

You start out with 2 lbs. boiled potatoes, preferrably from the night before so they're cool. Peel and slice them and pour a little oil over them. Then you'll need one chopped onion. 3-4 choped dill gerkins, 1-2 Tbsp. of mustard and about 1 cup of mayo.

Add the sliced inions to the potatoes

Then the pickles:

Then the mayo, mustard and if needed some of the pickle juice. I add more mayo if needed or even mustard. Some salt and pepper at the end and you're done!

Chilimac

So, I only make this for one very special person. The ingredients are simple. 1lb. or so ground turkey, two cans of Vegetarian Chili, and two boxes (or one family box) of Max & Cheese and the ingredients required for it. The spices I use are salt, pepper, garlic powder, parsley, dried minced onions and Tabasco Sauce. I don't measure the spices, so just go with whatever feels right:)
First you cook the macaroni until they're done and set them aside. The you brown the turkey in some olive oil untils it's done and add the spices. I just use the same pot. Once the meat is done, add the stick of butter and place it in the middle of them meat. Pour the Chili over it and cook at medium low until the butter is melted. Then you stir in the cheese powder and the milk and lastly the macaroni. Reduce heat to low and stir it together a few times and that's it!
I know it doesn't look like much, but it's pretty decent.....

Pasta with Butternutsquash Sauce

When I first saw this recipe, I knew I had to try it. Right after I started this blog, I searcged the net for other cooking blogs to add to my blog list and truly "Simply Recipes" is one of my favorites.
Here are my ingredients. I had some chicken broth left over (about a cup) and I added maybe another cup of water.


As you can see my pureed butternut squash was not as smooth as I remembered from my Harvest Pie, but it worked just fine.

After adding the cream, cheese, broth and water as well as the spices I ended up with the most delicious sauce ever. I will most definitely make this again.

Irish Beef Stew with Guinness

This is really the best beef stew I ever had. More importantly, my son loves it:)


Sautee the potatoes, carrots and onion in the butter, while browning the meat in a seperate pot in the olive oil.

Add beef stock, Guinness, red wine, tomato paste, sugar, thyme, Worcestershire sauce and bay leaves. Stir to combine. Bring mixture to boil and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

We then added it to the slow cooker and added the potatoes etc. and just let it cook on low for the remainder of the afternoon.

Crock Pot Sloppy Joes

Find a review of the cookbook and the recipe here.

Here are the ingredients:


Add the beef with the onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic to the pan and cook until the meat is done:

Transfer to the slow cooker and add the rest of the ingredients:
Cook for 6-7 hours and serve on hamburger buns. We loved it so much that I forgot to take pictures:)

Turkey Pot Pie

I had pie crust leftover from Thanksgiving as well as a lot of turkey, so this is what I made. I used this Pillsbury recipe as a guide.


Sautee the onions in the pan. I love that smell:

After adding the flour and milk and broth, I added the forzen vegies (I usually have a large bag of these from costco) and my leftover turkey:

Spoon chicken mixture into crust-lined pan:

Top with second crust; seal edge and flute (pretty, huh?). Cut slits in several places in top crust.

Putting the foil on towards the end really helps, but I always have a problem to make it stay put:) It worked this time.

And this is it:

I love this. It was so tasty and moist. I will definitely make it again.

Crock Pot Roast

This recipe doesn't need much, except time. You can find it here.
Sautee the celery, turnip, carrot and onion:
Move the vegetables to the crock pot and brown the roast in the pan:
Other side:
Put the meat on top of the vegetables in the crockpot and add the wine to the pan and reduce:

And after a few more steps you end up with a delicious meal:

Pork Tenderloin - really tender

Start out with one tenderloin and spice it to your likings. I use some salt, pepper, parsley, garlic powder and majoram. Don't forget to spray the casserole dish with some PAM:

I cook it at 350 degress for about 40 minutes or until the internal temperature is about 175 degress. Then I turn off the oven and cover the dish with aluminum foil and leave it in the oven for another 30-40 minuts or whenever I'm ready:

Then, it just falls apart:

Serve it with whatever you like.

Some Tofu please

Something I have never attempted before, but this recipe sounded good.

Here is the miso mixture:

The trick with tofu is to drain it. If it's not drained well, it will not be as crisp. I ended up pan frying it longer than the recipe said. I just wanted to make sure it browned well on both sides.

I was suprised by how well it tasted. The texture was something to get used to, but otherwise it was really good. The sauce was especially good.