Dairy Free Goodies (Guest Post)!

Well guys, 

It’s official… I’m a married women!!   Now I am writing this post 2 weeks early, so I have no details for you (yet)!!  Our wedding was yesterday, and I’m sure it was perfect!! 

Thanks to Christin for this guest post!! I love her blog and she just seems like such an awesome positive person!!   (Plus she has GORGEOUs tattoos!)   This is a great post all about dairy free alternatives!!  Enjoy!

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Hello lovely DFB readers!  I'm Christin from Purple Bird Blog

I'm thrilled to be guest posting for Jessica!  I am so happy I discovered her blog as I have a sensitivity to cow's milk and try to remain mostly dairy-free (with some goat cheese on occasion), and I am especially trying to stay true to this for the new year as I vow to honour my body better.  I would like to talk about a few of my favorite dairy substitutes.

Earth Balance is a vegan margarine that is an excellent replacement for butter.  I use it on toast, in baking... really in any situation that calls for butter and have always been pleased with the results.  The flavor really is very rich and buttery.  I did all of my holiday baking with Earth Balance and everyone loved all my cookies! 

Almond Breeze is by far my favourite non-dairy milk out there.  I love all three of the unsweetened varieties (plain, vanilla, and chocolate) and use them for anything and everything that calls for milk, from recipes to a big bowl of cereal.  The flavour and creaminess just can't be beat!

The So Delicious coconut milk line of products is just outstanding.  I use the kefir in smoothies and overnight oats, and I use the creamer in my coffee or to add a thick creamy texture to rice, soups, etc.  They have a ridiculously tasty line of ice creams as well, and their yogurt is outstanding. I can't say enough good things about these awesome products.

Nutritional yeast, besides being a nutritional powerhouse, imparts a lovely cheesy flavor that I can't get enough of.  I use it in sauces, to make kale chips, and sprinkle it on pretty much anything.  A favorite snack of mine is nutritional yeast and peanut butter on a sweet potato!  Another cheese substitute I love but don't have a picture for is the Daiya line of shredded cheeze.  It actually MELTS, which is a huge deal to me sometimes when I'm really craving cheesy flavor AND texture.
Being dairy-free is so much easier with all these wonderful products on the market! 
I don't feel deprived when I can eat mashed potatoes made with Earth Balance and Almond Breeze,

lasagna made with Daiya cheese,

or overnight oats made with Almond Breeze and So Delicious kefir.

And a dairy-free post wouldn't be complete without mentioning my favorite pizza, Amy's no-cheese pizza (which I sometimes eat with added goat cheese, but lately I've just been loving it the way it is!). 

Thanks for letting me ramble, and please feel free to check out the shenanigans on my blog including my adventures in cooking, being a massage therapy student (while working full-time as a medical transcriptionist!), and showcasing plenty of ridiculous photos of my two dog fur-children! 

Have a great day, everyone!
*********************************************************************************************************************Christin
http://purplebirdblog.wordpress.com/

A few questions answered!!

Well we are in the middle of a snowfall warning! EEK..   So far we have about 3-4 inches with appaerntly much more to come tomorrow!   The best thing about my little town snow - days off! :)

As for the questions -

Tracy asked - Where do you work? 

I am currently working for a few different places,

Job #1-I do some relief work for the Rec Department - today was full of making posters, updating facebook pages, doing posters boards - being told what to do by the person who bumped me out of my job!   *winks* good times.

Job # 2- I do contract work for an organization - mainly teaching courses to kids in our lower income schools. 

Job #3 - Run a recreation program for special needs adults !!  Which i lovvvvvvve.

Job #4 - I run/organize a monthly family/teen night in a low income housing complex. 

They are all great and keep me busy!! 

I love all of them!!

Question #2- What is nutritional yeast?

I totally googled this - feel free to elaborate anyone!! 

Nutritional yeast, similar to brewer's yeast, is a nutritional supplement popular with vegans and the health conscious, who use it as an ingredient in recipes or simply as a condiment. An inactive yeast chock-full of vitamins and minerals, nutritional yeast gives a cheesy flavor to soups, sauces, and casseroles.

I have tried lots of different ones, and disliked them very mucho- but this current one is Red Star, I bought it in bulk at the health food store- about 1/2 a cup for 59 cents!     It's sooo good, I've been putting it in everything!

Haha.. last but not least

Question #3 - Are peanut butter and bacon sandwhich's really good?

YES- so super yum.

I have craving them like crazy now, I probably won't have another one for a long long time though, I'm baconed out!! :)

Well I'm up to cozy up on the couch - today was exhausting!! 

I've already fallen asleep on the couch (at 6) oops!

I appreciate everyone reading my blog, I really think you guys are AWESOME!!! :)
Keep the questions coming!!  

A happier day!

Hey guys,

Thanks for all wonderful comments on the house post!!  We are still feeling positive about it all, plus we got a fantastic offer from our real estate agent, which may make it a reality again!   BUT we are not taking any steps until after Christmas.  And ENJOYING the holidays, not stressing!!   If it will be, it will be!! :)

I had SUCH a yummy lunch on Thursday!

The left over fatoush salad, pita, hummus and 2 pieces of yummy no filler sausages!

I wish I could remember the flavor names they were soo good!

Yesterday was the day to get stuff done!!

I started off with a Green Monster and some left overs from dinner Thursday night.

Then I shopping, on a whim I decided to go to our little health food store.

Totally scored!

Almond milk was one 2 for $4

Amy's soup 2 for $5

Black organic kale $1.99

Curly Kale $2.50

The falafels were on sale

Red Star Nutritional yeast -to finally try it out.  $.59

and I got the Amy's burgers just for fun, they were regular price..

 Oh and this was on for $3.99 or $4.99

I got all this stuff for $32.  Total score.

I was a happy girl!

When I got home I made a steaming bowl of black kale with olive oil and nutritional yeast.

Super good.   I am a fan of the nutritional yeast and the nutritional benefits are awesome too! 

Here are some facts on the stuff,

Red Star nutritional yeast is the only vegetarian source of vitamin B12 that can actually be utilized by humans (because it’s grown on an enriched medium). The vitamin B12 used is made by fermentation, not synthetic or animal sources.

Ingredients: Inactive Dry Yeast, Niacin (vitamin B3), Thiamin (vitamin B1), Riboflavin (vitamin B2), pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12

Vitamin profile: per 1 and a half tablespoons.

Thiamin - 640% RDA, Niacin – 280% RDA, Folic Acid – 60% RDA, Selenium – 32% RDA, Iron – 4% RDA, Riboflavin – 565% RDA, Vitamin B6 – 480% RDA, Vitamin B12 – 133% RDA, Zinc – 21% RDA

Want more info check THIS out. 

This stuff tastes like cheese to me!!  I really enjoyed it..
I had a snacky day too... Some of these

They are wee babies!!

And I had one of these

If you haven't tried a fresh date with peanut butter - do it!!

Superstore sells a huge bucket of dates for pretty cheap!

Then for dinner I whipped up some turkey dinner!

Most of it was frozen in the freezer!

Mashed potatoes - made with chicken broth (delish)

Turkey (which I didn't eat)

Pan fried brussel sprouts - YUM

A wee bit of newfie dressing (stuffing)

After I started eating, I  didn't feel overly hungry so I ate some of the brussel spouts,

mashed potatoes, and about 1/2 the dressing.

Oh before I forget - everyone is asking me how I live in the house with the peanut butter cups!
I don't really crave them,  I have eaten about 3 this whole time!!
I prefer to make them for everyone else!! :)
 

Last but not least, I finished off the night with popcorn

The popcorn had some earth balance, salt, nutritional yeast and

a few sweedish berries just for fun!

I may have self control for peanut butter cups but I had zero self control for popcorn.

I ate the whole bowl and loved every second of it!

We watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - from the parts that I saw, it was super cute!

I CANNOT stay awake in movies... even at the theater I doze off! 

haha... but what I saw was cute!

Anyways, today is operation de-clutter!

Dave did a whole bunch of cosmetic renos yesterday (painting, new blinds, moving around furniture)
So today is my time to de clutter all the cupboards and pantry- we want this house to shine!!!
Whether we put it up for sale or not!! 
I will post some pictures of the final product (maybe some before and after's from when we moved in!) 

Huge changes! 

Have a great day!!!
Jessica