Monthly Archives: December 2013

Dairy-Free Potato Casserole

Posted in Holidays, Recipes by

My husband bought a turkey fryer.  We have had three turkeys since Thanksgiving.  We have another turkey in our fridge ready to fry.  I didn’t want more turkey for Christmas so we had ham.  I have made mashed potatoes to go with ham, but unless my aunt is around to make ham gravy I’d rather have hash-brown casserole.  I remember this casserole from my dairy days.  So creamy and cheesy and greasy and yummy.  Turns out it is pretty easy to make dairy-free and it is still really yummy!  Even my husband loved it.

 

 

I did not measure ingredients while I was making my white sauce, I never do.  I put some margarine or other fat in a sauce pan, stir in flour until I have a thick roux, then I add milk or broth until I have the thickness I want.  Season to taste.   Here is a recipe that has real measurements and maybe it is even kitchen tested.  Only thing is it isn’t dairy-free, so substitutions are needed.  I don’t know if cow milk makes sauces thicker because this recipe seems to have not enough flour and too much liquid.  Guess I’ll try it and see if it works.

The Rocky, Rocky Road

Posted in Holidays, Recipes, Uncategorized by

Candy without dairy doesn’t always work like you want. I have been trying (unsuccessfully) to make toffee for years. I actually got pretty close this year when I was trying to make caramel. It turned out more like those See’s lollipops. Well, this is a recipe I was a little nervous about. I didn’t think the candy was setting up, but I left some out of the fridge overnight and it didn’t melt. Success!

Mama’s Rocky Road

2 cups dairy-free chocolate chips
2 Tablespoons dairy-free butter or coconut oil
3 cups mini-marshmallows
1 1/4 cups dairy-free sweetened condensed milk
2 cups chopped nuts (I used pecans and actually like it!)

In a double boiler, or stainless steel bowl over a pan of water, melt chocolate, butter/oil and milk together. Remove from heat. In a large bowl combine nuts and marshmallows, fold chocolate in chocolate mixture. Line a 9×13 pan with waxed or parchment paper. Press candy into pan (mine didn’t fill a 9×13) and chill for 2 hours. Cut with sharp knife and store in an airtight container at room temperature.

That is it! It was a bit messy, but I really didn’t mind licking all the chocolate off of bowls and utensils. In fact I think I might have another piece right now.

rocky road

Christmas Nails

Posted in Nails, Uncategorized by

Christmas Nails

For these nails I used CND Shellac in Studio White, Decadence, Silver VIP Status, and red and clear gems. My husband loves candy cane nails and I tried, but I just couldn’t get the Shellac to work with me. So after my left hand was a disaster I decided to do something easier. I painted 2 coats of white over the base coat, added two coats of red on one corner and topped it off with silver glitter and jewels. Finished with top coat over the whole thing. Easy peasy Christmas!

Dairy-Free Sweetened Condensed Milk

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I haven’t decided if I am going to make Rocky Road or my Aunt Velma’s Candy Balls with the sweetened condensed milk I just made or I might have to make more milk and make both.

Dairy-Free Sweetened Condensed Milk

  • 1/2 cup boiling water
  • 1 cup soy milk powder
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 3 tablespoons melted coconut oil
  • 1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Blend in blender for 30 seconds or until smooth.

IMG_20131211_181712_787[1]

Quick and easy and smells so much better than the canned kind.  I usually don’t like to use soy, but I have had a difficult time finding unflavored powdered rice milk or other kinds of dried dairy-free milk.  It’s not like I’m making anything healthy with sweetened condensed milk anyway!

Dairy-Free Eggnogg

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I love eggnog, I really do.  So Delicious makes a pretty good eggnog, however it has no eggs.  And it can be a bit difficult to find.  So, blah, blah, blah, here is my recipe.

 

Dairy-Free Eggnog

  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups coconut or almond milk
  • 1/4 cup coconut cream (Native Forrest)
  • 2 Tablespoons to 1/4 cup sugar (depending on the sugar content of your milk)
  • dash vanilla
  • dash eggnog flavor (just bought it, optional)

Blend everything up in the blender until foamy.  Pour into a small glass and grate nutmeg over the top.

If you are afraid of raw eggs you can take a lot more time and cook it.  I think the best way would be to separate the eggs, mix the yolks well.  Heat the milk and cream on the stove, add the sugar, when it starts to bubble around the edge, temper the yolks by adding a little of the hot milk to the yolks and then add the yolks to the pan.  Stir and cook until temperature reaches 160 degrees.  Alton Brown says to whip the egg whites and add them when the nog is cold, but then aren’t you just adding raw eggs to what you just cooked?

I have made cooked eggnog, but it seems like too much work.  If I’m worried about raw eggs I’ll just add a shot of rum, that kills everything, right? (Totally kidding, I have no idea if it kills anything.)

Christmas Goodies!

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In my fridge I have 4 or maybe now 3 dozen Red Velvet Cakeballs. There isn’t a fancy recipe or anything. I made a cake from a box (READ the ingredients!) cubed it into a big bowl and added a can of Pilsbury Cream Cheese Frosting. It does not have any dairy ingredients (at this time) I don’t really want to think about WHAT is in there! Anyway, I mixed that together stuck it in the fridge overnight. Used a small cookie scoop to make balls and then left them on cookie sheets in my pantry refrigerator for a few days, not on purpose, but because I didn’t get back to them. Then I dipped them in dairy-free, Kosher white chocolate (King David brand) and dairy-free chocolate chips. I also added paraffin to the chocolate, don’t judge, that is the way I learned to dip chocolates from my Aunt Velma. It makes the chocolate thin and easy to dip, gives a nice shine and prevents you from eating too many. (Paraffin will clean you out. I have heard.) So anyway, on to the real reason I turned the on computer.  Just made my first pan of fudge this year.  Hopefully more candy recipes will follow.

Five Minute Dairy-Free Fudge

2/3 Cup Coconut Milk Creamer (So Delicious)
1 1/3 Cup Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Salt

Stir together in large sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add:

1 1/2 Cups Mini Marshmallows
1 1/2 Cup Dairy-Free Chocolate Chips
1 teaspoon vanilla
(1/2 cup chopped nuts, I don’t care for nuts, but if you really want them, whatever)

Stir until the marshmallows melt. Pour into a 9×9 pan and chill. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

You can substitute any dairy-free creamer for the coconut milk creamer, even flavored, just cut back on the sugar. This fudge is super easy and if you do mess it up you can always add a cube (or blob) to warm coconut milk and have hot chocolate!

Handmade Christmas or Another Way to Stick It to the Man!

Posted in Skin Care, Uncategorized by

I did not shop on Black Friday.  I don’t like shopping, I hate crowds, I don’t like early mornings, or leaving my house late at night, there is nothing appealing about Black Friday.  This year I am making ‘oil cleansing method’ baskets for all the women in my family.  Good thing no one actually reads this blog or the surprise would be ruined.  Anyway, I already asked my sister what she wanted, so no surprise there.  I can’t be the only person who would rather get what they asked for instead of a surprise.  Anyway, Crunchy Betty has plenty of ideas and instructions on the OCM.  She is the reason I use oil to cleanse my face.  This post is another attempt to record my recipes, to measure ingredients and generally do a bit of organizing.

In my baskets I will include cleansing oil, 2-part toner (if I can find an appropriate container for the powdered goat milk), moisturizing oil and a scrub or body oil or lotion bar and probably lip balm.  Now, how I am going to package these items and send them around the Pacific Northwest is a mystery.  Oil is a bit tricky to ship.  Well, I’ll figure that out later.