Ooey Gooey Dark Chocolate Brownies

 

Hey guys!  I’m excited to share with you a guest post from Dairy Free Chick a new to me dairy free blog!!  I hope you enjoy this recipe – it sounds fantastic!!  

 

Hi Dairy Free Betty readers! I’m Tash from Dairy Free Chick, a blog about living lactose intolerant.

Two years ago, I was diagnosed with lactose intolerance and IBS. Ever since then, I’ve been adjusting my diet to my body’s particularities and recently decided to start a blog about what I’ve learned (and cooked) so far. When I’m not in the kitchen, I’m a busy public health grad student and a part-time vaccine researcher.

I’m so grateful to Jessica for giving me the opportunity to share a recipe with you. I debated whether or not to share this brownie recipe with you because I wondered if brownies are too boring. Well, my new friends, that’s kind of a silly question because even if brownies are a dessert staple, they are anything but boring… especially these ooey gooey ones. They are extra gooey because of a brilliant mistake I made when creating this recipe: I added double the amount of chocolate chips I meant to, but can we really call that a mistake? I like to think it was my subconscious talking.

Let’s get to it!

Ooey Gooey Dark Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients

½ cup oil (I used canola)

8 oz semi sweet chocolate chips

2 oz unsweetened baker’s chocolate

2 eggs, beaten

2 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

Optional add-ins: chopped nuts, chocolate chips, coconut, Heath bar or it’s relatives

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F

2. Over low heat, add chocolate chips, Baker’s chocolate, and oil and mix until melted. Remove from the heat and let cool.

3. In a large bowl, combine eggs, vanilla, and sugar.

4. When the chocolate is cooled, add to the egg mixture.

5. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well.

6. Add the dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture.

7. Stir in optional add-ins.

8. Transfer to a greased 8’’x8’’ square or 9’’ round pan and bake for 15-20 minutes (depending on how gooey you want them).

9. Although at this time you will be dying to take a bite, these guys should probably sit for at least 10 minutes to firm up.

Allergy Guides–US and Canada

Hey guys!
Thank you for all the new likes on Facebook!  I cannot believe I am almost at the 1000 mark – that is INCREDIBLE! 
I recently had to travel across the country and while travelling had to eat out quite a bit – that got me thinking that a list f allergy guides may be very helpful – so I will update this post when I find new allergy guides and you will be able to find it above under Dairy Free Resources.  This guide will be a work in progress.
Please send me an email if you find a new guide that is not listed  and I will add.  As I do not live in the US, this list will likely have many more Canadian links.
*please note – THIS IS ONLY A GUIDE… it is important to check these guides often, as they may change – and these are only a guideline – always ask to double check. I hold no responsibility for any of the below charts – this is strictly information I have found online. 
CANADA
A.
B.
C. Chillis
D.
E.  Extreme Pita
F.
G.
H.  Harvey’s
I.
J.
K.

• Keg
• KFC

L.

• Lee's Famous Chicken

M.

• Moxies
• Milestones

N.
O. Olive Garden
P. Panago
Q. Quiznos
R.
S. Swiss Chalet
T. 

• Tim Hortons
• Taco Del Mar (not an allergy guide, but tells you which items are vegan aka dairy free)

U.
V.
W.
X.
Y.
Z.
UNITED STATES.
A.
B.
C.

• Chilis
• Chipotle
• Chick Fil A

D. 

• Dairy Queen
• Dairy Queen (part 2)

E. 
F.
G.
H.
I.
J.
K. Keg
L.
M. McDonalds
N.
O. Olive Garden
P. Panera
Q. Quiznos
R.
S. Subway
T.  Tim Hortons
U.
V.
W. Wendy’s
X.
Y.
Z.  ZPizza
Thanks to Steph at a Life without Ice Cream for her help with the list!

Dairy Free Travel

Well hello!!

What a whirl wind the last few weeks have been!!   Aside from working like crazy to get all my employee T4s finished – I also took a quick trip to Vancouver to take Zumba training!  I’m now a certified Zumba Basic, Zumba Gold and Zumbatomic instructor!!   So exciting!!  I’m hoping to teach kids classes and special needs groups!! 

Anyways, I had to figure out what to eat during two 10 hour days of training. We weren’t able to leave the studio – so I had to do some pre- shopping for stuff to bring with me and thought you might like to see what I got!

The fridge post – Whole Foods visit! (I love whole foods – so much good stuff!)

Top – soy yougert parfait, veggie box, left over Shanghai noodle box from lunch.

Middle – hummus, kale/swiss chard salad,  chocolate peanut butter, olives

Bottom – bagels, black berries and oranges

 

Top – 2x coconut water, homemade muffins and energy balls

Bottom – salad shaker – veggies, aloe juice and salad dressing

Whole Foods is a great place to grab food when you need it, although it’s a bit expensive, it was cheaper than going out for lunch each day!

This Asian Shaker was very tasty!

Click to enlarge for ingredients – the dressing was awesome!

Yummy salad dressing

Unfortunately I didn’t eat the soy parfait,  I kept leaving it as a treat, and then never ate it – so sad, it looked so awesome!

I also got some treats!! 

Vegan Spelt Brownie – sooo yummy

And a vegan cupcake! – So so NOT good… haha – it looked so good but it was dry *sad face*

Anyways – all this teamed up with some left over sushi and continental  breakfast at the hotel (hard boiled eggs, toast and oatmeal) and I was happy (and full).

 

What are your go to eats for days like these?

Jessica

Guest Post; Cappuccino Spice Cookies

Thanks to Stephanie from Dairy Free Omnivore for this tasty cookie recipe!  Hope you enjoy, they sound delicious!!   You can also follow Stephanie on facebook

If you write a dairy free blog – I’d to chat with you about a guest post!!

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I first made these cookies for Christmas instead of our usual peanut butter blossoms. My husband and I both love coffee and chocolate. So chocolate chip cookies WITH coffee seemed to be the perfect recipe for us. Since then I have made these 4 more times- they are THAT good! Even they do have coffee in them they don’t have a strong coffee flavor. The small amount that is used in them simply enhances the chocolate flavor and brings out the clove and cinnamon flavors. To me, it’s a richer chocolate chip cookie- not as sweet and buttery as its cousin.

These are a favorite among kids and adults anywhere we take them. We most recently took them to a party and by the end of the night there was 1 left.

Cappuccino Spice Cookies:

Ingredients:

2 and 1/2teaspoons instant coffee granules

1 Tablespoon boiling water

1 cup vegan or dairy free margarine, softened

1 cup packed light brown sugar

½ cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 and 2/3 cup flour

¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg or ground cloves

3 cups dairy free chocolate chips.

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 375F. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper for easier clean up.

1. Dissolve the 2 and ½ teaspoon of instant coffee in 1 tablespoon of boiling water. Set aside. Beat the butter and both the brown sugar and granulated sugar in a stand mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Add the eggs, coffee, and vanilla and beat until well blended.

2. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg or cloves. Gradually add this mixture to the butter mixture. Beat at low speed until it is all very well blended. Stir in the chocolate chips.

3. Drop the cookie by tablespoonful onto the cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until they are set. Transfer to wire racks and let cool completely.

 

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Thanks again Stephanie!!

Hope you enjoyed!

11 Things

My blog buddy Elizabeth tagged me in this fun post.  I love stuff like this, and I love reading about other people’s randomness!

RULES

1. Post these rules.

2. You must post 11 random things about yourself.

3. Answer the questions the person who tagged you set for you in their post.

4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.

5. Go to their blog and tell them you’ve tagged them.

6. No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people.

Without further ado, eleven random things about me:

1 – I have an obsession with lip smackers.  I ALWAYS have it with me,  If i get caught without it, I’m not  a happy girl.

2-  I love trashy reality tv.   My favorite is the bachelor and ANTM – I don’t enjoy drama in my own life, but I love it on TV!

3-I’ve travelled to Mexico about 8 times!  Feeling kind of done with Mexico, I’m ready for somewhere different!   3 of the trips were missionary trips, 4 were vacation and 1 was for our wedding! I still love it though!

4 –I have an irrational fear of spiders being in my shoes.  I usually shake my shoes out before I put them on! Weird thing is, I’ve never had a spider in my shoe! ha

5- I’m cheap with most things in my life.  Lots of my wardrobe is from thrift stores or crazy sales – I rarely spend full price on anything.  Two areas I am not cheap – healthy foods and lululemon (and bath and body works is beginning to be a problem too).  That being said – I think of health food as an investment and I wear my lulu every single day at work!!

6 – I put nutritional yeast on just about everything!  It’s an absolute must in my world

7- I love magazines! Especially Vegetarian, Chatelaine, Best Health and my # 1 favourite is Alive.

8 – I’m finding it hard to come up with random things about me…

9 – I ALWAYS take the isle seat – I like a quick get away! If I’m not on it, I get anxious.

10 – I am VERY addicted to Pintrest.   But that being said, I have made a lot of things from there – including a Valentine’s Day Gift, a chalk board, sauerkraut, homemade make up wipes…

11- I think everyone that reads my blog is incredible.   I really appreciate your support and hope that my blog helps you with the challenges of being dairy free.   I really do hope to make a comeback soon! (maybe when the days are brighter and my pictures look good again!)

 

Here are are Elizabeth’s  11 questions for me:

1. If you could pick your theme song, what would it be?  Hmmm… 
2. What is your favourite local restaurant?  A local sushi place – best sushi I’ve found anywhere!!
3. What day of the week were you born?  Saturday!
4. Tea or coffee?  Herbal Tea! (I have a bit of a tea problem!)
5. Pants or skirts?  Pants for sure!!  As much as I’d love to be girly… pants are practical
6. Where would you go on your ideal vacation?  A lovely quiet beach with crystal blue water, hammocks, snorkelling, fresh food and my husband!
7. What’s your favorite day of the week? I don’t really have a favourite.  I enjoy my job, so the whole week is fine.
8. Are you an early bird or a night owl?  Early bird…  10:00 is usually bedtime!
9. What is your favorite sport to watch?   I don’t watch any sports
10. Do you have a secret talent?  I don’t think so?
11. What is your go-to workout song? Sandstorm by Da Rule – gets me motivated anytime, anywhere.

 

Now 11 blogs that I nominate; (not all dairy free, but all of them are lovely!)  There are so many wonderful bloggers out there that I’d love to nominate – but here goes my random 11!

Dairy Free Omnivore

Non- Dairy Queen

A Life Without Ice Cream

Happy Go Lucky Vegan

The Purple Carrot

Girl on Raw

Toronto Girl Out West

Voracious Eats

Everyday Foodie

Thrive Style

And even though she’s off on adventures in India – Healthful Pursuit

Ok and the 11 questions you must answer!

1. Why did you start blogging
2. What is one food you could NEVER live without
3. What’s your biggest fear
4. Name 3 things always in your purse
5. Favorite flower
6. Favorite ethnic food
7. 3 bloggers you would love to meet in person
8. Something we would never know about you
9. If you could spend 1 month anywhere where would it be
10. If you could name a nail polish color, what color would it be, and what would you name it?
11. Favorite recipe you have found on someone else’s blog?

Can’t wait to read all about your answers!

Dairy Free on Valentine’s Day

Being dairy free on Valentine’s Day feels like a drag – all those velvet covered  heart shaped boxes of yummy chocolate.  Chocolate roses, chocolate fondues… everything about Valentine’s day is about indulgence – and indulgence usually means full fat cream, butter and dairy laden chocolate!

I’m here to save you! 

(Sweet hearts above are dairy free!) – source

You can check out my post from Valentines last year – full of Valentine’s Day treats including a nut based lemon cheesecake, banana lemon pie, banana soft serve with caramel and chocolate sauce and my favorite – chocolate love affair cookies!

Up at the top of my list today – Fruit Kebabs with Brownies and Chocolate Drizzle

A link to a few other tasty treats – (note the rolos are not dairy free)… this link includes – chocolate dipped figs with pecans, chocolate drizzled jube jubes (sooo good!)

I made this chocolate fudge at Christmas time and it was LOVED by everyone.  I also warmed up some peanut butter in the microwave and swirled it through – SO good!

My ABSOLUTE favorite caramel recipe – I used this to make turtles and peanut clusters – it takes about 5 mins total, and your dairy free loved one will feel SO loved!

Over Christmas I made Oh She Glows Sinless Sticky Toffee Date Pudding – it was incredible and gooey!!

 

Not a pretty picture but what can you do?

Peanut Butter Cups

These little beauties are a favourite around our house. Also last year they won a Christmas baking contest! They are so simple, yet so tasty!

• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 TBSP coconut oil (optional, but adds to the flavours)
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1/2 cup icing sugar
• Mini cupcake liners (Dollar store often has fun holiday themed ones!)

-Melt chocolate chips and coconut oil in a double boiler until smooth.

-Mix peanut butter and icing sugar together to form a dough. If dough is sticky to touch, add extra icing sugar.

-Add a bit of melted chocolate to cupcake liner. Tap on counter until chocolate fills bottom of liner.

-Once all liners are full, put into fridge or freezer until solid.

-Once chocolate is solid, take a dime size amount of peanut butter dough and roll into a ball, then flatten.

-Add to liner; keep the peanut butter dough away from the corners of the liner.

-Cover with a bit of melted chocolate – tap until peanut butter is covered.

-Return to fridge/freezer until harden.

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Something I want to make very soon – Chocolate Dipped Oreos!! (yes Oreos are dairy free!!)

(source)

Melt some dairy free chocolate (like Endangered Species 72%) with a little coconut oil in a double boiler on the stove. 

Dip the Oreos in the chocolate and cover completely.  Place  dipped Oreos on parchment paper – now’s the fun part! Decorate with sprinkles, or edible sparkles – you could have fun with this one!!

Place dipped Oreos in the fridge until hardened, and then place each Oreo in a Valentines (or red) cupcake liner!!   Voilà – a beautiful jester of the deepest dairy free love! 

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How about some chocolate fondue??? (I loooooove chocolate fondue)

Make this to taste (may need to adjust ingredients – this is just a rough guess of what I put in);

1 TBSP - Raw Cocoa Powder

2 TBSP - Maple Syrup (or Agave)

2 TBSP Warm Water

vanilla

Optional;

spices if you like – get creative – cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, chilli powder, curry

1 TBSP – Peanut Butter, Tahini or other nut butter (Cashew would be dreamy)

1 tsp. – macca powder (optional – but good to help with the feelings of LOVE!)

Liquor – Sub Kahlua (which is dairy free) or an orange liquor for the water.

Mix it all together and get dipping!

Ideas for dippers – fruit, dried fruits, angel food cake, graham crackers, marshmallows, brownies

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Oh and then there is Chocolate Covered Katie's 20 Valentines Day Treats! (SERIOUSLY drooly)…

Remember – ANY vegan recipe is dairy free – and 99% of Raw recipes are dairy free (there are a few with Raw Dairy in them?!)

 

Hope you have a beautiful Valentine’s Day and you find something sweet for yourself and for your sweetie!

Alive… I am Alive!

Well hello there.

I was a little shocked to see that I haven’t posted for almost a month?  How did that happen?   I know how that happened, I have been a busy bee!!

I thought I’d do a little iPhone drop to show what I’ve been up to!!

First off any ideas what this is?  Isn’t it beautiful?

Any ideas?    

 

It’s the ice pattern on my car!!  So beautiful – it’s not my iPhone background!  

 

Ok – you aren’t here for ice patterns…

What’s been on my plate lately?

black berries – lots of them… and they are soooooooo good!

 

The other thing that I have been eating lots of is this detox salad.

It’s sooo incredible and awesome on everything – including this turkey burger!!

 

If you follow me on facebook you know that I found a real treat a few weeks ago in Nanaimo.

I saw it in the mall – and walked in to ask if they had anything dairy free… AND THEY DID!!

A berry sorbet – and it was awesome!  Topped with fresh fruit and coconut!  I was in Heaven!

How nice to know when I got to Nanaimo to shop that I can have a treat!!

Speaking of Nanaimo – after a quick stop we were on our way to Victoria for awards for work!

I do not usually wear aviators – actually I think they are terrible..but it was sunny and they were the only sun glasses the hubby had in his car! (hence the silly photo!)

 

Funny story about the awards dinner – they were super accommodating (through email) regarding my allergy (which was awesome)… when it came to the meal though – it was a bit of a mess!   It all turned out and I appreciated it… then was dessert – I was getting some  fresh fruit at the dessert table and the waiter came up to me to say they made me a special dessert.  I was SO excited!  Here is a picture of what it looked like…

It was a huge bowl – the blue was 1/2 a blue berry (for a total of 1 blueberry).  The red was was thumb nail sizes of strawberry (in total less than 1/4 of a strawberry).  The green was mint and the yellow was an even smaller size of pineapple (in total maybe 1/1000 of the pineapple).. 

I soooo wish I would have taken a photo of it!  You would have laughed with me for sure (everyone at my table was laughing!)   Anyways I totally appreciated it anyways!! It’s just a funny dairy free story!

Moving on..

Once to Victoria – we headed to Cafe Bliss (drool).  All vegan and mostly raw I love this place!

I got this mango pudding with coconut cream – which was fantastic!  (I love that they serve everything in mason jars – which you can return to get your deposit back)

I also got some ginger kombucha, and a bunch of other fantastic desserts!  If you head to Victoria – check it out for sure!!

As you know I work 4 evenings per week – which makes dinner a huge  challenge (hence the reason I haven’t been blogging much)…  but this Sunday yummy food was made!!

Veggie chow mein, roasted asparagus and cauliflower and honey sesame chicken (from Pintrest)

such an awesome meal!    If you don’t follow me on Pintrest you should – I have a bit of a problem with it, and pin LOADS of goodies!

Also I tend to chat a bit on facebook – so I’d love it if you joined me there too!  (I tend to post short tips, ideas, recipes daily there!

Ciao for now,

Jessica

Gaining Weight Dairy Free

I know many of the people that read my blog have children with dairy allergies/intolerances.  I was asked on facebook one day to write about  “Helping Children gain weight without dairy, eggs, peanuts, wheat or soy.”

I have never had this problem before (aka needing to gain weight) so I had to do a lot of research on this topic.

I also don’t have kids, so I’m not an expert by any means…  but I have worked with kids for 12+ years, so I know they are picky – but I thought I’d put every suggestion I could think of.

Here is what I found out.

 

<source>

#1 – Avocado  -  a great way to get in healthy fats – I know kids may not love avocado – so a few ways to incorporate it into your diet – blend up in smoothies, make pasta sauce, guacamole dip for veggies.  Or what about avocado pudding?  It’s great in chocolate or lemon flavour, they won’t even notice the avocado! I’m not personally a fan of cooking avocado – but you could always give it a try?

<source>

#2 - Oils! Olive Oil, Grape seed, Flax Oil, Avocado Oil, Coconut Oil, Walnut Oil – find different ways to incorporate them into your diet.  Most oils can be blended into smoothies, drizzled on popcorn instead of butter (I love flax seed oil on butter) or on veggies?  I know kids love dipping – so you could add some herbs or spices to some oil – and get some great bread!!

#3 Coconut – coconut sometimes gets a bad wrap – but according to this 160 ways to use coconut oil – it shows that it has many benefits!   Kids love the process of buying a fresh coconut – shaking it to listen to all the water inside and then helping to open it, peeling out the inside and eating it!!  Fresh coconut is awesome with some lime squeezed on it!  Costco also sells dried sweetened coconut chunks – which are an awesome snack.   If you are lucky enough to find coconut cream – it’s delicious too!   Coconut milk can be added to recipes which you would like creamy – recently I used it to make FUDGE (I subbed coconut milk for unsweetened condensed milk)!

#4  Nuts/Seeds – Cashews, Almonds, Macadamia Nuts, Ground Sesame Seeds (tahini) etc.  These can be blended into soups – to make them creamy.  Homemade nut milks.  Make your own nut butters. Or make sauces like mmmm sauce.  With the left over nut pulp from the above almond milk – you can make almond cheese!!  It’s tasty, and somewhat like cream cheese!   As for tahini you can make caramel sauce which is an awesome dip for fresh fruit.   Nuts are a great base for making creamy salad dressings too! 

#5 Dried Fruits – I’m not saying not to get your kids to eat fresh fruit – but sometime swap out dried fruit for fresh.   Think about it, it’s way easier to eat 10 dried apricots than it is to eat 10 fresh ones.   Especially for kids.   Raisins, apricots, dried mango etc.… awesome snack to have with you! 

#6 – Fish! You all know I LOVE fish!  I know kids may not be huge fans of fish though but try to make it fun by making healthy fish sticks, or making a salmon or tuna dip (think tuna/salmon salad but without that kid disapproved word salad)

 

Another option…  Limit liquids before and after meals – I know when I was nannying, the boys would easily fill up on liquids before a meal, which meant they weren’t hungry for the meal.

From Web MD

“Have meals with the right balance of proteins, carbohydrates, and the right kinds of fat (such as unsaturated and monounsaturated fats, olive oil, canola oil, pistachios, almonds and walnuts). Heinemann suggests the following ratio: 60%-70% carbohydrates, 10%-15% protein, and a small amount of fat.”

As for babies and formula – I know a few people have said that there is a soy free, dairy free formula out there, but it’s quite expensive.  If you know any more on this – please leave a comment.

Please add any suggestions to the comment section or facebook.

On my plate

Morning!

So I mentioned on facebook that I am doing a post about how to gain weight while being dairy free – as per a readers request.  I don’t want to half ass the post – so I am taking some time and doing research on it – keep your eyes open for it next week!

I just uploaded the photos from my iPhone and didn’t realize I had so many meal photos!!   I know a few of you newly dairy free friends are having a hard time figuring out what to eat – so maybe these will help you out!   Just a snippet of my eats as of late!

I’ve been on a healthy eating kick lately – and feeling awesome!

Snack plate – one of my favourites!  Green peas, tomatoes & carrots.   Gluten free crackers, smoked salmon and guacamole (I only ate about 1/2 the guac and salmon!!)

 

Salmon – pan fried with BBQ spices.   Roasted veggies and black quinoa that I cooked with chicken broth and dried mushrooms.

 

Trout with BBq spices, steamed kale and asparagus with a grain medley from Costco – also cooked with mushrooms and chicken broth.

Smoked salmon, dairy free cream cheese with cucumbers on toast.   and a few olives.

Another snack plate – hummus, veggies, pickles, rice crackers and canned fish

Blackberries, multigrain cibbattta bun with mayo, nooch and cucumber

Green smoothie – mangos, mixed frozen fruit, orange juice, spinach and loads of macca

Lunch yesterday – steamed kale, chickpeas with oil & vinegar dressing & sweet potatoes fries.

Apparently I only take pictures of my food if it’s fish?  I also eat chicken and tofu!!

These meals are all pretty healthy, but I assure you sweets/treats were eaten too!  I try to keep my main meals as healthy as I can – but no one is perfect!! 

Hope this helps anyone struggling with what to eat!!

Resolution Update!

Wow – hard to believe that 2011 is over!   2011 was a year of challenges & obstacles, celebrations & smiles! Coming to the end, I look back and I learned a lot and was lucky enough to be surrounded by lots of wonderful things and people!

2011 New Years Resolutions Post -  http://www.dairyfreebetty.com/2011/01/its-new-year.html 

UPDATE

being more positive (seeing the opportunity in everything) – I have fallen into a pattern of just automatically going negative with most things…  no more!  - DONE!!  I’m very happy with life right now, and am trying to live by the quote “Life doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful”

---More yoga!! Nope – I’ve gone to a class or 2, but never got the yoga bug.

---Maybe run a 5km race?  Nope – I’ve been loving Zumba and other classes at our gym lately – I have gone for a run or 2 this year (hehe)

---Make more healthy foods!  Yes, although this has been a challenge.  I have been trying my best to eat whole foods (but those damn ketchup chips always sneak in)!! 

---BE PRESENT – This is a hard one.  I try to recognize good things on a daily basis…

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This year has been a challenging one, but I am SO happy with life these days.  I haven’t been blogging because I am out enjoying life!

I’ll be working on a recap of the year for the next few days!  Lots has happened & lots of good recipes have been made!

Also I am looking for blogging inspiration, so if you have any suggestions please let me know!!  I’m up for a challenge!

 

Jessica

What was baked!

Hey guys!

Can you believe it’s almost Christmas?  Time flies when you are having fun!!  This has been a whirlwind kind of week.  My husband finished his masters degree on Tuesday (YAY), I had a surprise party for him Friday, tonight is my Christmas party and the hubby’s parents are coming to stay with us for a week – so as you can imagine, life is busy (but wonderful)…

I’ve had a few emails regarding surviving over the holidays being dairy free.  I highly recommend taking a look at my Dairy Free Survival Guide for ideas and also my post, Challenges of Being Dairy Free is a great one with tips for what to do where!   These posts and a few more can always been found at the top of my blog under Dairy Free Resources.  

Moving on – I have been terrible at taking food photos – so bear with me.    I wanted to compile a list of all the things that I baked this Christmas!!

Ready?

• Mama Pea’s No Bake Snowball Cookies – easy, fast and gooey!  I love them, the hubby thought they were too oatmeal.
• Dandelions on the Wall’s – Allergy Free Fudge. (OMG). So good! Made two batches – one I melted some peanut butter and swirled in and the second I added super finely ground espresso beans!  SOOOOOOOOo good!!
• Made a double batch of the Chocolate Love Affair Cookies!
• Oh She Glow’s Egg Nog Biscotti’s – which have become a favourite around here!
• Haven’t’ made these yet, but I may!!  Of course sub the butter for either DF butter or coconut oil! Low Fat Gingerbread Cookies.
• I also made Caramel Chocolate Goodies.  Super easy caramel recipe – I have used it for a few things including – turtles (caramel and chocolate covered pecans) and caramel popcorn with peanuts and peanut clusters!!  Best Caramel Recipe I’ve found!
• Still on the list to make – probably for Christmas dinner - Sinless Sticky Toffee Pecan Pudding!!  Droooooooooooool.    Funny story – before becoming dairy free and when I lived in Calgary, I often went for “dinner” at Earls, and actually only would eat a sticky toffee pudding…  It was warm and drippy and had a caramel lattice on top that was crunchy and sticky – such a great combo!!
• Peanut Butter Cups – of course!!  I had one of my Special Olympics girls say they were the best peanut butter cups EVERRRRRRR!!  hehe  

I baked 2 other kinds of cookies – a gingersnap and a banana snicker doodle -  they were just ok though and I want to only give you the best of the best!!

What are you/did you bake this Christmas?

Nog… Dairy Free Nog…

Hiya loves!

Want to know something interesting?  I’ve never gotten the whole “egg nog” thing!   Like most people, I try it every year and never really understand the excitement.   Until this year.

I have bought tons of soy nog – and I have thrown it away every time.   Then I decided I wanted to make Oh She Glows Egg Nog Biscotti's (which are incredible FYI)… so I bought this.

Sorry to you guys in the US – I don’t think you guys get this?  Anyways I am loving it heated up!! It’s SO good and so festive!!  It’s cheap too – I bought it for $2.99 I believe?

You could always use my recipe from last year…

As mentioned I used it for Oh She Glow’s Egg Nog Biscotti's this is her picture since I banned all my biscotti’s to the freezer for Christmas!  Thank you Angela for the permission to use it!  

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Another great Egg Nog recipe in blog land that looks tasty?  Leanne from Healthy Pursuit  posted this recipe for Egg Nog Smoothie with 1 minute vanilla whip.

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Also on facebook there were a few suggestions as well!!

Zen Zero (my favourite raw/vegan place in the Comox Valley) sells this - 8oz almond milk, 4oz carrot juice, 2 dates and 1/8tsp both nutmeg and cinnamon blended with ice. It is shockingly delicious!!  (Maurissa – once again – must come visit!)

Karen suggested this recipe - Matrioshka Egg Nog

Stephanie from Dairy Free Diva suggested this recipe - More of a to taste thing.... 1 1/2 c Unsweetened almond milk, heavy pinch freshly grated nutmeg, pinch cinnamon, a good squeeze of agave nectar or honey, and a drop of vanilla. Froth with an aerolatte wand  or in a blender and enjoy :)

 

Do you have a favourite dairy free egg nog?  Do tell!!!  (feel free to link drop!)

Dairy Free Christmas Treats

Hey everyone!!  Finally a post from me!    I apologize for not posting, but I have only been cooking 1x per week due to my work schedule (working nights) and our busy weekends! 

I’m starting my holiday baking though, which reminded me of a few treats I made last year when I was writing for Our Big Earth!

Here you go!!  I will try to post more baking – as I am obsessed with this caramel recipe and I’m trying to make lots of Christmas caramel treats!

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It’s amazing that the store shelves have been stocked with Christmas decorations for a month now, and that Christmas is just around the bend, which means it’s a perfect time to start Christmas baking!  

As many of you know, if you don’t bake or make treats that means you probably won’t get any treats at Christmas. Every treat laid out beautifully at family and friend’s homes that you can’t touch. For me baked goods don’t call my name as much as chocolate does! One of my favourite Christmas treats were my Grandma’s chocolate covered dried fruit and nuts, oh the horror when I couldn’t even have a single bite!

If you are dairy-free or vegan I know you feel my pain. But I have a bunch of great alternatives for you this holiday season! Each one of these is very fast to make, cheap, gluten-free and make fantastic gifts. I don’t often go anywhere over the holidays without a plate of these goodies and they are typically the first ones to disappear (I promise I’m not the only one eating them!) All the goodies can be frozen, to pull out before guests arrive.

After a few years of buying very expensive dairy free chocolate, I was ecstatic to find out that President’s Choice, “The Decedent” chocolate chips are dairy-free. They have a great rich chocolate flavour, and are the chocolate that I use in all the recipes.  I also buy a 10lb box of chocolate chips at Costco – and they are dairy free and tasty!

Peanut Butter Cups

These little beauties are a favourite around our house. Also last year they won a Christmas baking contest! They are so simple, yet so tasty!

• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 TBSP coconut oil (optional, but adds to the flavours)
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1/2 cup icing sugar
• Mini cupcake liners (Dollar store often has fun holiday themed ones!)

-Melt chocolate chips and coconut oil in a double boiler until smooth.

-Mix peanut butter and icing sugar together to form a dough. If dough is sticky to touch, add extra icing sugar.

-Add a bit of melted chocolate to cupcake liner. Tap on counter until chocolate fills bottom of liner.

-Once all liners are full, put into fridge or freezer until solid.

-Once chocolate is solid, take a dime size amount of peanut butter dough and roll into a ball, then flatten.

-Add to liner; keep the peanut butter dough away from the corners of the liner.

-Cover with a bit of melted chocolate – tap until peanut butter is covered.

-Return to fridge/freezer until harden.

Fruit and Nut Bark

• 1/2 cup toasted, unsalted nuts (can be assorted), pistachios look beautiful!
• 1/2 cup dried fruit (chopping into small pieces )
• 1 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1 TBSP coconut oil

-Melt chocolate chips and coconut oil in a double boiler.

-Once melted, mix nuts and dried fruit into chocolate mixture.

-Pour onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet

-Smooth until 1 inch thick

-Place in fridge or freeze until solid

-Break into assorted sized pieces and serve slightly chilled

Marshmallow Snowflakes

Great recipe for left over chocolate!! Looks beautiful on a plate with other goodies.

-Dip marshmallows into melted chocolate and roll in coconut.

-Place on parchment lined baking sheet and place in fridge until chocolate is solid.

Chai Tea Candied Nuts

I have made this recipe with a few different flavours of spice including chilli pepper, cinnamon, curry and they are all delicious but this is my favourite and most festive! Plus your house smells amazing while cooking!

• 3 tea chai tea bags (or more if you like more spice)
• 3 cups unsalted, raw nuts (I used almonds and pecans)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp. earth balance butter (or butter of choice)

-Break open chai tea bags, pour chai into coffee grinder or spice mill to grind into a powder.

-Add nuts, water, sugar, butter and chai tea into a pan.

-Turn stove to medium heat and stir nut mixture until the liquid has dissolved and nuts are caramelized.

-Stir constantly to prevent burning.

-Transfer onto a parchment lined pan and put into fridge until cooled.

-Break apart once cooled.

Hope you enjoyed these!!  I will have more for you soon – I promise!

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