Tag Archives: dairy free breakfast

My Favorite Granola

Posted in Recipes by

I started with the Almond Joy Granola from Minimalist Baker, but I rarely follow recipes. I keep going to the Minimalist Baker recipe and then I try to remember the changes I have made. It can be a bit confusing and not terribly efficient. So, I will try to write my recipe here in the hopes that next time I make granola I will be able to find the recipe I actually use.


My Favorite Granola

2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup 9 grain flakes (Azure Standard)
1 cup raw almonds
1 cup coconut chips (large flakes, Azure Standard)
3 tablespoons turbinado sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 cup virgin coconut oil
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup honey

  1. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 340°.
  2. Mix all dry ingredients together in large bowl.
  3. Heat coconut oil, peanut butter and honey in microwave safe bowl (1 min high) or heat on stove, until melted. Stir to combine. Caution! the honey will be HOT! Once the honey is melted it will be hot enough to melt the other ingredients.
  4. Pour melted mixture over dry oat mixture and stir until all dry ingredients are moistened.
  5. Spread on cookie sheet in thin layer.
  6. Bake for 11 minutes. Stir and bake for another 11 minutes (20-25 minutes in total)
  7. When the granola is browned remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet.
  8. Once cooled, break apart large pieces and use parchment like a funnel to pour granola into airtight container.20190109_082836.jpg

I usually top each bowl with a small handful of chocolate chips. I don’t add them to the container because 1. they all fall to the bottom 2. I don’t want my kids asking for granola so they can pick out all the chocolate chips 3. this way I can use the granola in a fruit parfait and not pick out chocolate chips 4. more chocolate when you want it and none when you don’t. (I think AA Milne would be proud of that sentence.)

*Note to self: Make when Josh is out of town or he may eat all of it straight from the container.

Advertisement

Are We Done Here?

Posted in Recipes, Uncategorized by

Does anyone even read blogs anymore? I haven’t followed anyone for years. This blog is rather like my MySpace account. Does MySpace even exist anymore? I tried to stop using FB because it’s for old people, but I really didn’t get into twitter or instagram. I’m pretty sure I’m old. Anyway I read a fluffy little novel about a girl fighting for an IT job with a blog: whoever had the most followers won the job. Crazy how fast our world changes. Eh, well, now my blog can be my personal diary. Not that I ever had over 30 followers anyway.

I have been having a bit of a hard time remembering where I have certain recipes. It seems like I get into ruts in my cooking. I’ll cook one recipe several times in a matter of months and then I never make it again. Or I want to make it again the next year and have no idea where the recipe can be found. How do I tackle this problem? My mother had a recipe card with a list of where to find her favorite recipes. I started this blog so I could gather all my recipes in one place. I’ve gotten a bit lost and the last few years have barely written anything. Back to it then!

Easy Cream Cheese Danish 

2 cans refrigerated crescent dough sheets
1 (8oz) tub of Tofutti cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons Tofutti sour cream

1 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon almond milk
1 tablespoon dairy free butter

  1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line 9×13 pan with parchment paper.
  2. Roll out  one dough sheet and lightly press into pan.
  3. Mix together cream cheese, lemon juice, sugar, vanilla, and sour cream. Spread filling evenly over dough.
  4. Roll out second dough sheet and lay on top of filling.
  5. Bake for 22-27 minutes, until golden brown.
  6. Stir milk into powdered sugar and margarine to make a glaze. Drizzle over slightly cooled pastry.

*optional: top with strawberry jam

 

Did you know that Pillsbury Crescent Rolls are dairy free? Chock-full of chemicals I can’t even pronounce, but dairy free! YES!

 

 

Easy Biscuits – 5 Ingredients

Posted in Recipes, Uncategorized by

I have a weakness for biscuits. My mama usually used the biscuit recipe from her old, battered Better Homes checkered cookbook. She made the best biscuits ever. And the best apple pie and now I’m getting hungry! These biscuits were so easy and just about perfect. The original 3-Ingredient Coconut Oil Biscuits  from Gimme Some Oven calls for self-rising flour, which I have never bought. It would be easier to use self-rising flour and skip the baking powder and salt, but since I don’t have any other recipes that use self-rising flour I’ll just make 5-Ingredient Biscuits.

Biscuits

2 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup coconut oil, solid
3/4 cup almond milk, or any non-dairy milk

Pre-heat oven to 425*. Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together. Cut in the coconut oil (I actually used my pastry blender for the first time in a year) then add the milk. Give it a good stir until it forms a ball, turn dough out onto floured surface. If your dough is too soft add more flour as you knead. Knead 10-12 times. Shape into a disk and cut out biscuits. I used a juice cup to get 18 small biscuits. My biscuit cutter would have made about 6 biscuits (maybe, it’s big). (Gimme Some Oven has great pictures. When I grow up I’ll be a blogger like that.) Bake biscuits for 10-12 minutes. I like mine golden brown on top.

Romantic French Toast?

Posted in Holidays, Recipes, Uncategorized by

IMG_20141225_101251

 

 

Sometimes I’m tired of eating healthy. Shocker, I know. I’m really trying to view food as fuel for my body. But food is so much more. When I think about romantic food, I do not envision a smoothie. I love smoothies, but I think one of the most romantic things is brunch. I’m a girl, what do you want? I get nostalgic about brunch. I have had some wonderful brunches in my life, not many, but a few great ones.

Jacksonville Inn in Jacksonville, OR. Croissant French Toast. I was in high school and it was a revelation. My two favorite breakfast foods in one!

Mama’s on Washington Square in San Francisco. Orange Cranberry French Toast. I was in college and again it was a revelation. I started making French toast with all kinds of quick breads. I love banana bread French toast. Now, these brunches were memorable, but not romantic. They were brunch with friends. I remember talking and laughing and having amazing food.

Five Sister’s Jazz brunch in Pensacola Florida. Fried Pork Chops, they were not a revelation. They were really good, but they didn’t change the way I saw pork chops. I was married, had a small child and a baby. I was so thrilled to sit down, listen to live music and have someone bring me delicious food. Again, it was the setting and the company and the food that made for a memorable brunch.

With food allergies dining out can be more of a hassle than a pleasure. I can’t eat French toast at restaurants anymore. I adapted this overnight French toast recipe so that I could have a memorable and romantic brunch at home. The work is done the night before so you can enjoy your coffee or mimosa or both while breakfast is in the oven.

Overnight French Toast
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cinnamon Baked French Toast

1 loaf  French Bread
8 whole Eggs
1 can full-fat coconut milk
1 1/2 cups coconut or almond milk
3/4 cups Sugar
2 Tablespoons Vanilla Extract

FOR THE TOPPING:

1/2 cup All-purpose Flour
1/2 cup Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1 pinch Nutmeg – Optional
1/2 cup vegan butter or coconut oil

Spray a 9×13 pan with non-stick cooking spray or grease with coconut oil.

Cube the bread and fill the pan with it.

Whisk eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla together and bowl and pour over the bread. Cover the pan and place it in the fridge overnight.

Stir the flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg together and then cut in the butter/oil. Pour it into a bag and put in the fridge for morning.

In the morning preheat the oven 350*. Pour the crumb topping over the top of the bread and pop the whole thing in the oven for 45-60 minutes. Make some coffee and a mimosa and snuggle while this bakes. Serve with warm maple syrup or berry syrup or anything your little heart desires, like another mimosa.

 

Croque Madame

Posted in Recipes, Uncategorized by

So, I get this little magazine called Prevention. Magazines, as a rule, do not represent or support the lifestyle that I and my family live. However, I still get a little thrill when I get one in the mail. I especially like magazines with recipes. And Prevention has recipes that I can make in a reasonable amount of time and not feel guilty about serving to my family. In the April 2014 edition there was a section on breakfast. I love breakfast and healthy breakfast is even better! I found a gem. They call it “A Better Croque Madame” and I made it even better by making it dairy-free. The only thing is it takes about half an hour to make and that doesn’t really work for my morning schedule. But this sammie is great for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Or better yet a lazy Saturday (I’m sure there are people in the world who have those). In my dairy days I loved grilled ham and cheese. I did not know that I should have been calling them Croque Monsieur sandwiches (I try to avoid any French as I have a horrible accent and there always seems to be too many letters). In Brazil I ate grilled ham and cheese sandwiches with fried eggs in them. The eggs were cooked hard so you could pick up the sandwich. I also had a pizza topped with ham and fried eggs (not my favorite). Now this little sandwich is like restaurant food. I am not a sandwich person, but a grilled sandwich topped with a fried egg? That’s just good. I ate one yesterday and now after writing this I want another! I have already lost count of how many I have eaten this since I got the magazine, I might have a Croque Madame problem.

Croque Madame

I am excited to have this recipe written down so I can recycle the magazine. I have a little stash of magazines that I have saved for one article or recipe, I have to stop that.