Better than Cream Cheese

We love this cream cheese substitute. I have used it to make cheese cake with brilliant results. Seriously, my cheese cake passed quite well for a traditional dairy filled cheese cake. We could eat it all day long. I have also used it when I have a recipe that calls for soy yogurt and have none on hand. I mix it with soy or rice milk to make it the same consistency as yogurt. My husband likes to use it in wraps (he can have gluten in small amounts but not dairy). We have even had some of the flavored versions and liked them as well.

You can taste the difference but it is so close to the taste of cream cheese you can forgive the difference. Especially when it means you can have cheese cake!

Easy Chocolate Halloween Lollypops

I can’t take credit for coming up with this idea. Other than I decided to do bats and cats because they are usually black and I am using Gluten and dairy free dark chocolate they are the brain child of my Mother-in-law.

Either one of these products are a good choice. I have used them both and like them equally. If you are looking for Mini Chocolate chips use Enjoy life’s. Tropical Source’s chips are regular sized.

My crafty sister-in-law Rebecca posted about this on our craft blog. I am simply sharing my take on her project which she got from Mom making them many years ago. You can go HERE to see her post and the tutorial and for a ghost template. Mostly I am just sharing with my friends and family what Hobbs and I did together today. Calvin stopped by to supervise and give suggestions. ;)

Hobbs helped me make the bats. I outlined the shapes from templates I printed out and added chocolate to the centers. Hobbs used the lollypop sticks to spread the chocolate around. I brought out some candy shapes and Calvin said that I should put a bone in the cat’s mouth. I decided to place it like it is a bow with a skull below like a name tag. I didn’t have just round shapes so I used skulls for the bat’s eyes. Instead they look more like big ol’ teeth or something. ;) Ah well they taste just as good. The candies actually have a citrus/fruity taste to them so they go really nicely with the flavor of the chocolate.

What I like about them is that unlike candy molds that make really thick chocolate lollypops these don’t use all that much chocolate for each one. Just enough to satisfy a chocolate craving. Also you can make a ton out of just one bag of chocolate. These can easily be adapted with other shapes for other Holidays as well. Just think Turkeys with Candy Corn tails (be sure to check the label Brocks is MFG on equipment that isn't dedicated), reindeer, hearts with conversation hearts in the middle, a pot of gold.... the list could go on and on. How great would these be with crushed up candy canes mixed in?

Thanks Rebecca for the great idea. The boys LOVED them!

Katrina

Technorati Tags: chocolate,gluten free,dairy free,soy free,nut free,lollypops,suckers,Halloween,kids crafts,allergy friendly

Pumpkin cookies from a box mix – even for people with food allergies

My Sister-in-law wrote this for our craft blog. You can read more about her story HERE.

When Fall hits here in Arizona, I have to do things to help me put myself in the Fall mood. We were still in the hundreds today…I’m talking about the temperature! It is hard to remember it is Fall with heat like this. The first thing I usually do is adjust our menu to include more root vegetables, and baked chicken and even dip into pumpkin cookies. Oh yah. I’m talking about you Mr. Pumpkin. You are not just for carving faces into my friend.

Just like my 3 year old, I also have Eosinophilic Esophagitis. I try really hard to omit wheat /gluten, dairy, soy, beef, nuts, tree nuts, and really go easy on eggs too. I like to bake. I love the smell of some delish sugary confection baking in my oven. Heaven. As you could imagine, my EE doesn’t leave a lot of sweets in my diet. Well, not sweets that won’t make me sick.

I used to always make sure that I had at least one cake mix and one cookie mix on hand for those last minute play dates or childhood emergencies that would call for fresh baked cookies a.s.a.p.! Our paternal Grandma always has the best-tasting-really-bad-for-you- recipes in her baking arsenal. Years ago she sent us all a package with all kinds of fall recipes. You know, church ladies kind of recipes. Yah, you know what I’m talking about now. Recipes smothered in gravies and cheese and other items that should never really be considered a real food, but we still put it in our dinner-kind of recipes. (How is that for a sentence?!) Wowza. My favorite was Spice Cake Pumpkin Cookies. Oh yah! Now we are talking. You know, you take a box mix of Spice Cake, and a can of pumpkin and mix it into heavenly yumminess. But, oh how a regular cake mix would make my insides hurt for a good two weeks.

I don’t have to suffer anymore!! Enter Betty Crocker Gluten Free Cake Mix. Oh yah, a gluten free cake mix in a box at a regular grocery store! I’m sure you could do this with Pamela’s or Bob’s cake mixes the same way. But sometimes you just need convenience my friends.

Now don’t look away my non-allergy friends. You too can make this with regular processed and packaged goods. You go buy yourself a regular cake mix or a regular spice cake mix, a can of pumpkin and some chocolate chips. You make it just the same way. And you non-allergy friends have a less gummy cookie. Mmmm.

• 1 package spice cake mix (I used Betty Crocker’s gluten free)
• 1 (15 oz) can solid pack pumpkin (not pumpkin pie stuff ‘cause that contains other stuff, yes I am getting technical on you here.)
• 1 cup chocolate chips (I used 1/3 cup Enjoy Life chips which are dairy, soy and gluten free)
• 2 tablespoons of vanilla (I have homemade from liquor that I am not allergic to)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease your cookie sheet.

Mix your cake mix, pumpkin and chocolate chips. drop onto the cookie sheet. I flaten mine with a fork and sprinkle some sugar on mine. If you have Turbinado or Raw Sugar (or even just regular ol sugar) sprinkle some of that on top. Who doesn’t love some crunch on top of their cookies? Wait, don’t answer that.

Bake for about 10 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.

These are more cake like than just a hard cookie.

Other variations could be:

add 1/2 cup raisins

add about 1/2 tsp ground ginger and 1/3 cup molasses to make a more ginger-bready kind.

I did the first batch with some added pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon. The second (darker two) batch, I added the molasses. Both were good in their own right.

Below is an option that is not for those on a Dairy free diet (not sure about gluten in kisses because we know they aren't dairy free we don't buy them). Katrina

Last year, I used regular ol’ spice cake mix and pumpkin. I scooped some of the dough into my mini muffin tin.

Then I added some of these babies.

I think it was called Pumpkin Spice something or other. I got them at Target. They had a white chocolate kind of inside to them. I made the cookies this way because I thought it was like a twist to the peanut butter cookies with a kiss in each. This was over the top creamy-ness. If I told you I didn’t eat a ton of them, I would be lying. I would also need to confess they made me really sick. Oh my allergy overload. I learned my lesson! But you non-allergy friends who like white chocolate would likely enjoy this.

Enjoy your fall and make some quick cookies! Gluten-free or regular cake mix is up to you! I like having options;)

Anjeanette

Betty Crocker Gluten Free Devils Food Mix

We already tried the brownie mix by Betty Crocker, now we have also tried their Devil’s Food Cake mix. It was really good. I made cupcakes and they came out nice and moist. The texture is nice as well. In fact I think your friends will not know this is a gluten free cake, unless you tell them. For years I have been making birthday cakes for my son from scratch. I can honestly say that all our family and friends have been good enough to give my gluten free cakes a try. Unless they were just being kind, they have enjoyed the cakes I have made. However, they often required separating eggs and whipping them up into a foam and melting chocolate. With this cake mix it is just like making any other cake. Just add in a few ingredients and mix it all together and bake it. Simple. I am looking forward to trying some of their other mixes.

We have tried many other brands of cake mixes and I have to say that they have all been pretty good. What make Betty Crocker different is that I don’t have to go to a specialty store to find it. I have found some of Betty Crocker’s gluten free mixes at my major supermarkets and even at our Super Walmart. The fact that I can get it when I do my regular shopping is FANTASTIC!

I cut one of our cupcakes in half so that you could see what it looks like.

enjoy!

Cinnamon Raisin Bread mix

I found this at my local health food store a few weeks ago. I decided to pick it up because we were heading up to a cabin with my Sister-in-law and her family. She has EE and is trying to stay away from the 8 major food allergens plus rice and corn. That is a whole lot of foods to stay away from!! This bread mix only had a small amount of corn starch in it so she decided to brave it. The only thing you have to add to this mix is oil,2 eggs (you can use egg replacer) and water.

The texture was nice! It baked up really nicely. The taste was good. Though she and I both agreed we would have liked more cinnamon and sugar in the mix because we like sweet breads. That or a bit of margarine with some cinnamon sugar on top. This bread isn't sweet but it is good non-the-less. Be aware that it is made with bean flours so don't go eating half a loaf all at once. ;) If you just can't stop yourself, then be sure to have Beano on hand before you start. My Sister-in-law is new to the elimination diet and is still having a hard time getting use to gluten free textures. So when I say she liked this bread, you know that it is pretty good. It has been a while since I have had regular cinnamon raisin bread but I would have to say that this came really close.

In many ways this mix has made me think about going back to a bean flour mix for some of the recipes I normally make. I wonder if I can bake the Beano right in. LOL (I hope you know I am kidding about adding Beano to the recipe itself).

My little gluten free blog has been neglected lately and I realize that a lot of what I have posted about are products you can buy rather than actual recipes. Mostly that is because I haven't made many of my own creations. I generally use recipes from other sources.

Betty Crocker Gluten Free Brownie mix

I have finally tracked it down. Betty Crocker's new Gluten Free Brownie mix. What I really wanted to know is what was in it. I wanted to know if it was dairy free as well as gluten free.

Here is the ingredient list: Sugar, Semi-sweet chocolate chips (sugar, chocoalte liquor, cocoa butter,soy lecithin, vanilla), cocoa processed with alkali, rice flour, potato starch, xanthan gum, salt. Contains Soy Ingredients.

My son has been asking me to make them since we put them into the shopping basket in the store. All that you add to this mix is margarine (butter if you can have it) and 2 eggs.

Upon getting home my son asked me to make then right away. He LOVES brownies. xoxoxoxox The mix is pretty straight forwar and you can make then in anything from an 8x8 to an 11x7 inch pan. Obviously the bigger then pan the thinner the brownies will be. I choose to put them in an 11x7 inch pan. You know to stretch them out a bit farther. The mix has mini chocolate chips in it so you have that extra bit of chocolaty goodness when you take a bite. Honestly I have had many good gluten free brownies. In some ways brownies are a bit more forgiving that some other baked goods are. I have to say that my son and I really liked these brownies. They hit our chocolate cravings right on the money! What I like about them is that this is a name brand and is fairly easy to get a hold of at a regular supermarket. The price was also resonable as well. I have purchased some gluten free mixes were more expensive and not neccessarily above an beyond in flavor. If you haven't tried it you should.

We also purchased the devil's food cake mix. I will be sure to let you know how that one is. Although you may have to wait a week or two. I am not one to have desserts around all the time. Plus with the boys going off to school next week, I will be left all alone with chocolate and that is never a good thing. Well, yes it is a good thing for my taste buds but not for my hips. ;)

They also make a yellow cake mix and chocolate chip cookie mix. One by one I will be trying all of them. I have not yet seen the yellow cake mix.

Vanilla Frosting mix

Makes a nice creamy frosting however, I have used it for so much more. Any time you have a recipe that calls for the item you are making to be coated in powdered sugar use this instead. It has vanilla in it and adds a bit of extra flavor. It is what I used for my marshmallows, used it in my peanut butter cups and I made some snow ball cookies coated in this. Quite tasty!!! MMmmmmmm Of course if you have powdered sugar and powdered vanilla you could put something similar together yourself. This contains powdered sugar, vanilla and sea salt.

Gluten, Soy and Dairy free Chocolate Chips

Enjoy life makes gluten,soy and dairy free Chocolate chips on a dedicated line. www.enjoylifefoods.com

Soy Whipped topping

Since Thanksgiving and the holidays bring pies and desserts that would be great with whipped topping, I went on a hunt. I searched the Internet and found this. I found it at one of my local whole foods type store. The packaging does say that it may contain trace amounts of milk. They still claim it is Vegan and Dairy Free on the front of the container. We choose to try it, even though trace amounts of dairy matter greatly to our oldest son. Turns out he didn't want to eat it. He was not in a mood to have something new. However, I tried it and feel that it is a great substitute for whipped cream. It is not unlike the dairy free stuff I use to be able to find in the grocery stores. To me it is a bit like fat free cool whip (maybe a little less sweet). My husband says it tastes like soy. I taste the sweet and the vanilla first and then the soy. Bottom line I highly recommend you try it and see for yourself.

Smoreables

I found these recently and decided to try them out for my cheesecake. My 4 year old sampled a couple of the cookies and said they were good. He is so use to gluten free foods (even though he can eat anything but dairy) that he really does not notice the difference. It is just another food to him. These are about half the size of traditional graham crackers. The smore in the picture is made with one cracker split in two. We have not used them for smores. I will have to get another box some day to try them that way.

The box has a recipe for cheesecake on it. I used their recipe for the crust. At first it seemed odd. Normally when making a graham cracker crust the mixture isn't very wet. Just enough to stick together. Theirs on the other hand, was very wet. It was like taking cookie dough and pressing it into the bottom and sides of the pan (though it didn't stick to your hands because of all the margarine). However, it made for a very nice finished product. I will be looking for these again when I make cheesecake.

Yummy Donut Holes

Recently I decided to try these. I believe I got them before but it has been a really long time. These are a nice cake donut. They look like they are chocolate flavored but they are plain. We ate them as is and I put some in a bag with powdered sugar to coat them. They were good that way too. Again my more adventurous son tried them and liked them a lot. These are a great treat to have.

Crackers

For years I have been getting the plain crackers from Ener-g foods. The boys love to eat them with their cheese. When in the mood the two of them will eat most of a package in a sitting. I like the flavor. They are a good substitute for saltines or oyster crackers in your soup. Recently our local had the onion crackers. I really liked them. One of my boys has tried them and seemed to like them. This is saying something because they are both really picky and don't often like to try new things.

Oreo type cookies

We use to get the ones made by Midel. They were a good substitute. However, the middle was not creamy like the real thing and the cookies were a little more crispy. These on the other hand have a nice creamy filling and the cookies are a little more moist. In my opinion these are more like Oreo's than Midel's. This brand also make vanilla sandwich cookies.

Our Favorite Pasta

Tinkyada Brand pastas are really good. They don't get mushy and fall apart like other rice pastas we have tried. They make a variety of shapes too. Including lasagna and giant stuffing shells.

Another brand that I have found is nearly identical to Tinkyada is Trader Joes rice pasta. It also cooks up really nicely. The texture isn't all that different than regular flour pastas.

The first rice pasta I tried I over cooked and instead of nice long piece of spaghetti I had a million little sticks of mushy pasta. I just couldn't cook it right. I keep over cooking it. So I kept on trying other pastas till I found these. I look no further.

Ice cream

Turtle Mountain makes, in my opinion, the best non-dairy ice creams. These are the flavors my boys like. Yep one likes chocolate and they other likes vanilla and they never switch and won't try other flavors. This company also makes a line called Purely Decadent which has some really gourmet flavors. I liked pomegranate chip. YUMMY!!! I can have dairy and have had pomegranate ice cream on a stick covered in dark chocolate. It was heavenly. The purely decadent version of pomegranate with dark chocolate chips in it was pretty nearly the same flavor. I have found many of them at a local health food store.

http://www.turtlemountain.com/products/products.html

Chocolate chips

Since I just got through telling you how we made truffles, I thought I would add the chocolate chips we use. For the truffles, I couldn't find this chocolate so we used another type that came in a bar. Sorry I can't remember the brand on that one. Though I have to say I am loyal to any company that goes to the trouble of stating their items are gluten and dairy free. It is reassuring and I am grateful to see those four little words. I often worry about ingredients that could come from a gluten or dairy source. Even though the law is now that they have to state in plain words if it comes from Dairy or Wheat.

Tofutti Better than Sour Cream

We like this sour cream. It makes nice dips, good on mashed potatoes and anything you would add sour cream to. One year I made mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving and nobody noticed I used a sour cream substitute. My husband likes to have it on hand all the time.

We also like their better than cream cheese, which makes a nice cheese cake. Yummmm!

The boys like their mozzarella cheese slices. When in the mood they will go through a whole package eating them on top of crackers. It also melts so you can use it on pizzas or quesadillas (made with corn tortillas).

They also make ice cream.

Wheat Free Soy Sauce

San-J makes a wheat free tamari (soy) sauce. Both in low sodium and regular.

Our Favorite pretzels

These are very nice pretzels. I catch myself eating them if they are out. My kids ask for them all the time. They are always on hand around here. They are lightly salted. What is also nice is that they are circles so my boys can easily tell if they are their pretzels or regular ones made with wheat. There is no mistaking them even for young children. For young children they also make fun edible rings.