Holy Lasagna!

Once again, my awesome husband has come thru with a wonderful recipe to replace a lost cheese dish!  Lasagna....the word alone brings up tastes in my memory that drive me nuts with cravings.  If you read down the posts, you will have read about the pork/bacon burgers he made.  Well, last night, he made lasagna, completely dairy free/gluten free using up the left overs from lunch.

1 Eggplant, thinly sliced
1-2 zucchini also thinly sliced
1 lb Medium tofu (marinated in salt water for a couple of hours, depends on your taste) then crumbled
2 jars of your favorite pasta sauce.  I use one with chunky veggies and no added hfcs.
1 1/2 tub of GoVeggie Cream Cheese
GoVeggie Parmesan sprinkle to taste
1/2 lb of already cooked pork/bacon burger crumbled up

Just layer them all like normal, Sauce on bottom, eggplant, zucchini, tofu crumbles, spoonfuls of cream cheese, burger crumbles, repeat until you have used it all up or used up every baking dish in the house!  Sprinkle a good layer of the Parmesan on top and bake for 1 1/2 hrs at 350.  I don't recommend baking it any higher or the cheese will burn and leave a bad taste in your meal.

Life

Just want to let you all know I may not be updating this blog for a few months.  Trying to get into school (unfortunately, need more funding)  and we are moving.    I will definitely check in every day, but posting new stuff may have to take a back seat to life for a bit.

Canned veggies

I never thought in a million years I'd have to worry about what was in my canned veggies.  Unfortunately, today, I found I was mistaken.  Chris made a big pot of pork chili for dinner (it was delicious!)  Standing in the kitchen clearing up his mess (men...)  I picked up the empty can of stewed tomatoes and read this 'may contain milk ingredients'! (now I know why I have been having trouble breathing today) A double Benadryl and panic attack later, I have now added reading veggie labels to my to do list while shopping.  It is starting to look more and more like I just need to go all the way back to the basics and not use canned anything again.

So, lesson learned.  Be extra careful when buying anything!

Coffee and you!

After years of drinking my coffee with non-dairy creamer and ending up allergic to dairy, I have finally found a great replacement for those fancy (oo so delish) creamers.   Blue Diamond has just come out with Vanilla Cocoanut almond milk.  Add a little chocolate syrup (yes!  Hershey's has NO milk in their syrup)  and you have your almond joy.  Ok, ok, I know....Mela, you're a chocolate nut.  But, seriously,  there are so many flavorings that you can add to your coffee with your favorite no-dairy milk, that brings coffee back to your realm of heaven, your family will love you again!  You can buy all those little flavor bottles in the baking isle to add in.  Mint chocolate, pumpkin spice, hazelnut.  You just have to be very careful when adding them since the tops are not drop friendly.  I bought a regular medicine dropper and use 2-3 drops per cup, it really doesn't take very much to over do those flavors at all!

Raspberry Cream Cheese Hand Pies

Yes my friends, you CAN have your pie and eat it too!

Pillsbury has come out with a gluten free pie dough that is also dairy free.  So, in my testing, I decided to make these little lovelies.

Just roll out the dough into what ever size pielett you want to make, spread your favorite cream cheese ( I use Go Veggie Cream Cheese Alternative), and Rasperry pie filling (also use your favorite!).  Add the top piece of dough, pinch the edges together and bake for 25 min.  You don't need to eggwash the top unless you really want to.

Next on the menu....Blackberry!

I would include a pic...but I ate them before I thought about that!

Ahhhh, the Holidays

As the holiday's approach, we are faced with so many dinners
out with family and friends.  Not knowing if there will be
food you can eat or just the embarrassment of having to ask
what is in every dish you see can be enough stress to just make
you want to forget it!  I know, I am depressed already and I'm sure
many of you are too.  The one thing I can suggest, is, to talk with
your host/hostess at the time of invitation and let them know
your food needs.  Many meals are 'potluck' and can really be
a hazard.  Make your own dish to bring, so you know there will
be at least something you can share.

I am really not looking forward to get-togethers this year since
it is the first real holiday season that I can't eat what I want I will be
 making a few dishes that everyone can eat.
Our family has dairy free, gluten free, diabetic, vegetarian
and vegan eaters, so you can just imagine THAT!

Experimenting with making a vegan cream of mushroom soup to make
my usual green bean cassarole with.  The Better Than Bouillion
chicken base I use also comes with a 'not chicken' vegetarian base
that I will be trying out.(see yummy soups again post)
Also making my own fried onions to top it with.


As always, if you have any recipes to share or just want to vent,
feel free to reply!

The Not hamburger Burger

My husband is the most amazing man.  I know, I've said it before, but he is.  Being allergic to all things cow, I have been missing things like cheese, chocolate and his dad's famous Back Yard Burgers.  This week, he came up with an  awesome recipe for burgers that go great on the grill so I am not left out at family cook outs anymore.  Straight ground pork just doesn't seem to ever get enough flavor from seasonings, so he's added a 'secret ingredient'.  He bought a package of hickory smoked bacon!  After putting it through the food pro, he added it to 2 lb of plain ground pork.  The bacon gave it a very nice smoky, (almost bbq) flavor and I completely forgot about beef at that point!  Trust me, saying that, from a former Texan point of view, is not something you will normally hear.  My favorite food on earth has always been a nice bit of beef and potato in most any form.


1 pkg bacon (your favorite)
2 lbs plain ground pork
no extra seasonings (doesn't need anything at all)

This recipe makes 8-12 burgers depending on how thick you make them.  Dad's Backyard Burgers are thick, so it made 8 for us.