Keeping it Real

Life was rather difficult after finding out that John had a severe allergy to dairy. We cleaned out our pantry and refrigerator and restocked it with non-dairy items. The entire family has been effected by this serious medical condition. After a while, dealing with this issue got easier and life continued on. Today, we try to maintain as normal of a diet as John can manage.  

Cooking has become easier. I know what brands of food are safe, although I still double check the ingredients. This is my all natural spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce. It's a quick and easy meal. It's a family favorite and use my own personal recipe that I have created. 

Beef or chicken stir fry are also quick and easy meals that we enjoy having. This is a beef stir fry from a recipe that I found on-line; it calls for Hoisin sauce. However, I found red dye 40 in its ingredients so I had to leave it out of our stir fry.  It was still very delicious and I don't think we missed having the Hoisin sauce. 

 

John also had to give up sodas. I'm not too sure what they contain, but he gets really sick. He found LaCroix, a carbonated water, which he enjoys drinking. They come in many flavors and can be found at most grocery stores.  

John loves to barbecue and we still go out for breakfast at our local diner. I occasionally bring home some sort of dairy laden food, but, for the most part, it has just been easier to avoid it all together. I explain all this so I can say that, regardless of John's allergy, we have learned to just keep it real and keep on living our lives. 

Eating Italian

Mama Mia! Buddy Valestro recently opened a new Italian restaurant in San Antonio, Texas. My family and I had been waiting a long time for it to open and we finally got to enjoy Italian food made from recipes of none other than the Valestro family.  

  

Of course, we were a little concerned about the accommodations that John would need. He called ahead about a week before and spoke to the head chef, Daniel Nenec. After a long conversation, Daniel and John came up with a menu that would work with his dairy allergy.  

 

When we arrived we checked in with the hostess who immediately acknowledged us. She said we would be seated at a table that had been flagged for John's allergy. Our servers had been informed about his condition prior to our arrival.  They brought bread to our table but had a special loaf made just for John which did not contain dairy. I was truly impressed. 

 

Chef Daniel from Buddy V's in San Antonio, Texas

Dessert plans for John had already been established. He had non-dairy gelato that did not contain any artificial colors. I had the tiramisu which was served in a cute little jar. 

Although we are finding more restaurants willing to accommodate food allergies, it can sometimes still be a hassle. However, Buddy V's made it completely hassle and worry free. John and I enjoyed every minute of our time at this restaurant. 

Muffins!

We love muffins! They are easy to make and usually do not require any milk. I enjoy getting up early in the morning to whip up a batch of banana nut or blueberry muffins. I like seeing the sleepy faces make their way into the kitchen after waking because of the sweet smell of muffins.  John usually packs a few in his lunch box to eat throughout the day, while at work. 

I particularly like making banana and blueberry muffins because they're easy and they do not require a lot of tools. It's just a simple matter of combining the wet and dry ingredients. 

To incorporate the wet and dry, I make a well in the center of the combined dry ingredients then add the wet. It's okay if it over flows. I normally use a spatula to mix everything together. 

The pics shown above are for banana muffins. The batter is very wet as opposed to the thick batter of blueberry muffins. But regardless of the thick or thin batter, the nuts and berries (depending on the type of muffin being made) always get folded in at the end. Then, its just a matter of filling the muffin cups and baking them.  

 

These muffins smell and taste so delicious. In my opinion, they are even better with just a little bit of dairy-free butter and a hot cup of coffee (or whatever beverage you prefer). I really enjoy sitting outside and watching the birds as I bite into these delectable goodies. 

Also, John loves them and they are dairy-free! 

Dairy Free Potato Soup

 

Potato soup was one of many meals my husband (John) thought he would have to say good-bye to forever. So, we were intrigued when we saw a recipe for potato soup on the side of an almond milk container. I'm always looking for new recipes and John is always ready to be the official taste tester... as long as it's dairy free. But, I thought I would put a spin on it and make it a little more like the traditional style of creamy potato soup. So, I didn't completely follow the recipe. For starters, I used red and golden potatoes for an added complexity. Also, the skin is thin enough on these potatoes that I didn't have to worry about peeling them.  

I started by parboiling the potatoes. After they slightly softened, I removed them from the stove, drained them, and set them aside. Also, I cut them into bite size pieces. Too big makes them difficult to eat and too small would make them mushy and dissolve. 

  

After draining the potatoes, I wiped down my pot and sauteed a diced onion in some non-dairy butter. Once my onions looked translucent, I added a little flour to make a rue. 

 

At this point, the butter, onions, and toasted flour started making my mouth water. The smell was heavenly. I had to use a low heat and keep stirring otherwise the rue would stick to the bottom of the pan. This process took about 5 to 7 minutes.  

After my flour was nicely toasted, I slowly added the almond milk. This required constant stirring while the milk incorporated with the flour. I used two boxes of almond milk and one box of vegetable broth. I added the cooked potatoes back into the pot once my soup began to simmer. 

 

The potatoes were already fully cooked but I wanted to incorporate the potatoes with the soup so all the flavors could begin to blend. I let it simmer for about 20 minutes. This pot of potato soup smelled like the real deal. I was imagining myself dipping the edge of cracker into the thick creamy broth. I did a couple of taste test, but the smell an the flavors weren't quite matching up. It tasted great but not what my mind had created it to be. 

I dressed it up just like a traditional bowl of potato soup. I used bacon bits and some chives that I had chopped up while waiting for the soup to be done. John had been in and out of the kitchen once the the aromas began to fill the house. He was ready for a delicious bowl of potato soup. After we were about half way though with our almond milk potato soup, we decided that it most definitely did not like traditional potato soup. It had a completely different flavor, but we were very pleased. We decided that we'd keep this recipe on hand. It tasted great and it was dairy-free. 

photo credit for header: https://pxhere.com/it/photo/607330 

Oatmeal Cookies

Sometimes we get a hankering for something sweet. It has become much easier to find delicious goodies at our regular grocery store, like Oreo cookies. They do not contain dairy and most do not contain red food dyes. John's (the hubby) favorite cookie is Oatmeal with raisin, but we have not found any that do not contain dairy. So, I make them at home. I use the recipe found on the lid of the Quaker Oats container. 

Unfortunately, this recipe calls for butter. No sweat! I found a substitute that works really well for baking. They are Crisco baking sticks and they are measured just like a stick of butter. It doesn't separate like a lot of butter substitutes and holds the shape of the cookie really well.  

The recipe by Quaker Oats is really simple. The ingredients are usually staples that you would usually have in your pantry such as flour, sugar, and cinnamon. And of course, don't forget the oatmeal. You can whip up a batch in no time. 

I love using this scoop. It measures out the perfect amount of dough. I usually line my cookie sheets with foil or parchment paper. I prefer chocolate chips in my oatmeal cookies but John really likes the plump, juicy raisins. Also, chocolate chips contain dairy so he wouldn't be able to partake. This time I added raisins since I'm baking them for him.

The smell of these cookies while they were baking called out to John. He was in the kitchen waiting for the timer to ding so he could grab a couple. He was a little bummed out when I told him he would have to wait a few minutes for them to cool. But, he was strong and remained patient. I had a pot of coffee brewing while we waited. The combined aroma of freshly baked cookies and coffee was almost too much for my olfactory to handle. 

 

I served these up as soon as they were cool enough to take off of the cookie sheet. We sat outside with our fresh baked treats. It was a beautiful evening to enjoy fresh out of the oven oatmeal cookies. And, best of all, they were non-dairy!

Photo credit for sweet tooth header: http://www.brandcrowd.com/logo-design/details/112668

Leche-Free Valentine!

It's Valentine's Day!

Unfortunately, John cannot partake of any rich, creamy goodness. 

Not to worry! I baked some fabulous dairy free chocolate snack cakes for my Valentine.
It's a wonderful and easy one-pan recipe by King Arthur Flour.

(photo credit: factretriever.com)

💓Fun Fact: On Valentine’s Day, nearly 189 million stems of roses are sold in the U.S.

We thought it was the end of desserts and treats when we first found out that John had dairy allergies. But, after a little research, a whole new world was opened up to us, the world of dairy free baking. Not every recipe I've come across has made it to our "repeat" file but this Cake-Pan Chocolate cake recipe is one of our absolute favorites and great for Valentine's Day! 

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/king-arthur-flours-original-cake-pan-cake-recipe

The ingredients and kitchen tools needed are minimal. 

The recipe calls for the basics like flour, sugar, oil, and one unusual cake ingredient - vinegar. 

I was a little apprehensive but, I gave it try and it was worth it! 

Prep time was literally less than ten minutes. It took longer to situate my photos than it did to whip up these delicious little cakes. This is usually baked in a 9" round or 8" square cake pan but, it's Valentine's day! 

💓Fun Fact: Teachers receive the most Valentine’s cards, followed by children, mothers, and wives. Children between the ages of 6-10 exchange more than 650 million Valentine cards a year.

The decadent smell of chocolate cake quickly traveled throughout the house. 

 It was hard to control ourselves while we waited for them to cool but, somehow we managed. This recipe makes a light, fluffy, moist cake. I have another chocolate cake recipe, given to me by my mother-in-law, called Mayonnaise Cake. It's also dairy free and super delicious but it's a very rich and dense cake. I bake according to my mood and today my mood begged for a light and fluffy cake! 

These little cakes popped right out of the pan.

The normal bake time for a round or square pan is 30 - 35 minutes. 

I baked my individual heart cakes for 20 minutes since they were more like large cupcakes. 

They came out perfect!

After the cakes were completely cooled I sprinkled them with powdered sugar which added a little hint of sweetness. Sometimes I make a dairy free "buttercream" frosting which also goes well with this recipe. You might consider trying the King Arthur non-dairy frosting. It seems easy to prepare however, I have yet to try it. 

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/king-arthur-flours-original-cake-pan-cake-recipe 

(The King Arthur frosting recipe can be found with their cake recipe. For your convenience, I've posted the link again.) 

💓Fun Fact: Valentine candy “conversation hearts” have a shelf life of five years.

Here's the finished product. I scattered a few fresh strawberries to give it a "Valentine" look.

 I have to admit, I was rather pleased with the way they turned out. 

More importantly, John loved his Valentine dessert. 

Happy Valentines Day from us to you! 

  

Us: John & Terri

Special thanks to our daughter Jessica for taking our picture and tolerating the silliness.

💓Fun Fact: “The High Court of Love” was established in Paris, France, in 1400 and is the first known official celebration of Saint Valentine’s Day. Composed of 30 women, it dealt with love contracts, violence against women, and betrayals.

💓 Fun Facts were provided by: https://www.factretriever.com/valentines-day-facts