Mac -N- Cheese Recipe

I know you've been anxiously waiting for this recipe, so I'm sharing it now.  Ladies and Gentlemen, without further ado, I give you Macaroni and Cheese (the gluten, dairy and soy free version).  We all really liked this recipe, although my son Ian told me it was "too creamy".  I'm not really sure there is such a thing as too creamy, but he seems to think there is.  He liked this better the next day as a warmed up leftover because the noodles had soaked up a lot of the sauce. 

This was my first time using Daiya cheese and I was pleasantly surprised.  Since it's dairy free, vegan, soy free etc. I had hopes for it since it had won some awards, but some doubts, too simply because of what it is.  Thankfully, I can say it's good.  Sort of tastes like a cross between Cheddar and American cheese.  The sauce was so yummy, I'm thinking it would be pretty easy to turn it into a Mexican cheese dip if you had the right seasonings!
I hope you like the pictures.  I wanted to make sure that you could see the cheese package (that always helps me when I'm looking for something in the store).  You can also see just how much onion I added.  I really like onion in it, gives it great flavor, but you can always use less or omit the onion depending on personal tastes.  Let me know what you think if you try this recipe.
Happy Eating!

The Verdict

Dinner is safely tucked into our happy tummies, so now I can share with you how my macaroni and cheese experiment went.  It was great!  Did it taste exactly like the dairy versions I  made in the past?  Well, no, but I didn't expect it to, I just wanted it to taste delicious and it was.  How did it compare to the boxes and all?  Better, in my opinion.  Definitely better Velveeta Shells and cheese (yuck, never liked that stuff).
The Daiya cheese tasted great and it melted (well, mostly melted...probably 98-99%, there were a few unmelted pieces in the cheese sauce when I added it to the macaroni in the casserole dish, but I did not see any unmelted pieces after it baked).
So, the verdict:  this one is a winner!  We will definitely be buying Daiya cheese again (probably will try the mozzarella with pizza next time).
I took pictures and just need to review the recipe before I post it, so keep your eyes open for that recipe coming soon!
Until then.....
Happy Eating!

Super Bowl and an experiment

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!  I'm not watching, but I hear my guys watching it in the background.  Funny, I just remembered that last year for the Super Bowl we were in Hawaii and Colin missed most of the Super Bowl because he had the stomach flu...which I also came down with a few hours after Colin.  So, this year we feel better, but it's certainly not as sunny as last year!
Since I'm not watching, I thought I would work on an experiment with a new product, Daiya cheese.  I recently spotted this product on another blog (don't ask me which one, because I am a SERIOUS blog surfer...there are too many to keep track of all the sites I visit).  I was intrigued by the promises of this "cheese".  No dairy, no gluten, no casein, no gmo's.  So far, I've seen two flavors available, Cheddar and Mozzarella.  My plan was to purchase Mozzarella to make pizza, but plans don't always work right when you send your husband to the store without you.  He came home with Cheddar.  So, I have decided to make macaroni and cheese.  Wait, that wasn't enough oomph...MACARONI AND CHEESE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  There, that's better.  This is a huge deal in my house.  There has only been one attempt at "macaroni and cheese" since we went gluten and dairy free and it was terrible, nasty stuff (it was from a box that was gluten and dairy free) .  I made it, we tried it, we threw it out and haven't tried anything else that had the word cheeze on it.  So, let the experiment begin....
I'll be back later to let you know if it was...
Happy Eating!

How did the time slip away...

I can't believe it's the middle of January!  Poor little blog sitting here, waiting for some great recipes to share while I've been fighting little colds and some winter blues.  Both, I must tell you are buggers when it comes to cooking inspiration...it's just not there.  I know I promised you some Christmas goodies, but, to be honest, I hardly made any this year.  Just the Almond Chocoroons (gave you that recipe last year) and some Peppermint Patties (okay, those were delicious and I promise I will try to get the recipe up here...it's one I adapted from a allergy cookbook).
Since you've been waiting so patiently for something to appear on here, how 'bout I share my recipe for gluten and dairy free Hot Cocoa?  Sound good?  I thought it might.

 Hot Cocoa (Gluten and Dairy Free...oh, and soy free, too)
1 container Vance's Dari-free (19.5 oz. container)
1 1/4 c. sugar
1/8 t. salt
3/4 c. cocoa powder (not processed)  I use Trader Joe's unsweetened cocoa powder.  Do NOT use a regular Hershey's cocoa powder, it doesn't dissolve well.  Oh, note...I like my cocoa very chocolatey, if you don't like it very choloclatey, use less cocoa, maybe 1/2 c.
In a very large bowl mix all ingredients.  Pour into a seal-able container.  To make hot cocoa: 8oz. of hot water + 1/4 c. of cocoa mix.  Drink and enjoy!
This is a very good alternative for us.  It's already hit the spot after sledding at least twice...yum!  Vance's DariFree isn't cheap (close to $10 a container), but buying a gluten and dairy free cocoa mix (if and when you can find one) isn't cheap either.  In the long run, this one is worth the little bit extra we pay so we can enjoy one of our wintertime favorites.  So, if there's some snow in your forecast, better get busy, looks like it might be time for a cup of cocoa!
Happy Eating (or drinking cocoa in this case)!

Christmas Goodies

I know, I promised you a post about Christmas goodies... and I intend to share some with you, but they will probably be more like New Year's goodies.  This year, more than ever I feel like I'm just not ready for Christmas.  It feels like it should be in two weeks, not two days.  I haven't even made lots of Christmas goodies this year.  What have I made?  Some awesome Mini peppermint patties, some almond chocoroons (I shared that recipe last year), caramel popcorn and a really yummy Cranberry Chex Mix.

So look for a post sometime between now and New Year's.  I promise I will post recipes as soon as I come up for air! 
Happy Eating and Merry Christmas!

What to do with Turkey Leftovers

I love having leftover turkey, there are so many things to make using it.  The ever popular turkey sandwiches (and yes, we can still have them, just use gluten free bread), turkey soup, turkey divan (still working on making that one gluten and dairy free) and my favorite turkey salad.  Growing up, I cringed when I heard the words turkey salad or chicken salad.  In my house, it meant something similar to tuna salad (the meat was ground up) and not nearly as tasty.
The first time I tasted this version of Turkey salad I was in the hospital waiting to be released a week after major surgery.  Sounds promising, right?  Hospital food.  It wasn't only hospital food...it was AWESOME hospital food (although you didn't get very much).  I told my mom to try some and she politely refused saying it was my lunch, but I told her she had to try it so she did and was as impressed as I was.  Simply divine.  I waited years to find a recipe similar and I finally did five years later in a Taste of Home magazine.  I made it and again was so happy with the flavor.  Unfortunately, I don't always keep track of magazines and haven't seen the recipe since, so I had to make this one up with a few changes to the original taste.  The salad I had in the hospital had slivered almonds and maybe cashews?  It's been a long time, obviously.  I tend to put whatever nut I'm in the mood for in this salad.  Almonds are great, cashews, too.  I don't think I'd like it with peanuts, but I see potential for using macadamia nuts.  Right now, I'm using toasted pecans...yum!
Enjoy your leftovers and next time we'll talk about Christmas goodies.
Happy Eating!

Happy Thanksgiving and Beyond...

I hope you had a very lovely Thanksgiving.  Sorry, I left you hanging about mashed potatoes and cranberry relish.  Hopefully, you managed without me.  Mashed potatoes are, of course, quite simple to make dairy and gluten free.  I use Earth Balance soy free instead of butter and rice milk or coconut milk instead of regular milk (or a combination of the two) and salt and pepper to taste.  Simple!
As for cranberry relish, that is a recipe that my grandma made every year and then my mom made it and now I make it.  The original recipe called for 1 bag of cranberries, 2 apples,cored, 2 oranges, juiced and you run all this through a food grinder.  I am food grinder challenged (no good spot to set one up in my kitchen) so I make all this in my food processor on mince and usually, in batches.  Then, I mix it all together with 1/4- 3/4 c. sugar (it depends on the tartness of the cranberries and the sweetness of the apples and oranges...it's all to taste).  This year, I only used one orange and two medium apples...my orange was huge!
Anyway, just wanted to make sure you had those recipes!  My next post will be talking about using leftover turkey (or chicken) so check back soon.  Then, I will be starting a series for Christmas cooking gluten and dairy free.  Until next time...
Happy Eating!