Unstuffed Pepper Casserole

There are so many recipes out there that I would love to try. Tonight, I wanted to make a gluten free and vegan dish using veggies and brown rice. Behold! I found one here. Unstuffed Vegetarian Peppers. I looked at the recipe and thought that it would taste rather good, and the more I looked at it, I started to change it to fit our needs and my preference on flavor. So, with that said. This is my own version of the recipe. My girls helped make this meal and they thought it was tasty. I do have to say, one of them didn't like the red peppers, so they picked them out. It might be more of an adult choice if your children do not like peppers. 

Unstuffed Vegan Peppers

Ingredients: 

3 cups diced peppers, red, yellow and green - 1 cup each

1/2 cup diced onion

2 Tbs. olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp salt

* 1/2 tsp dried oregano

* 1/2 tsp dried basil

15 ounces tomato sauce

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I used the Veggie vegan brand)

2 cups cooked rice, brown or white ( I used brown.)

* spices I added

Method:

1)  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2) In a large pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat.

3)  Add peppers and onions and cook until veggies start to soften, 5 minutes or so.

4)  Add garlic. oregano, basil and stir well.

5)  Add rice, tomato sauce and salt and stir to combine. Remove from heat.

6) Pour rice into a greased casserole dish, about 10x6 size and top with vegan cheese.

6) Bake fore 15 minutes or until cheese is melted. ( I baked mine for 12min.)

Ginger Salad Dressing

First and foremost, I need to say that this is the best salad dressing I have ever had! I wish that I could take ownership of this recipe as I make it all the time and LOVE the taste of it. Finding a good salad dressing is very hard for me being vegan. I am usually stuck to the normal Olive oil dressings or a vegan Thousand Island dressing. This one however lights my taste-buds up. I don't mean this as in heat, but in flavor. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do. I found the original recipe here. I did make modifications to make it vegan, but kept to the originality as best I could.

Ginger Salad Dressing

Ingredients:

1 carrot chopped
1 cup mayo ( I used Veganaise)
2 Tbs. ground ginger (I used 1/2 Tbs. of ground ginger. 2 was too much for me.)
2 Tbs. soy sauce ( I used La Choy, its gluten free.)
2 Tbs. white sugar

Method:

1) Put all ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth. I usually let mine go for 2-3 minutes.

Homemade Frito Chips

Our family loves a certain meal called, "haystacks." This basically is a taco salad. For this we usually use the white tortilla chips. We don't usually consume very many chips but my girls have grown fond of the Frito Lays chips. As I scrolled through Pinterest, I found a recipe for homemade Frito chips by Minimalist Baker. Why not?! Over all they are healthier, so I thought I would give it a try. They turned out great! Needless to say, we will be eating haystacks this evening. I did however shorten the baking time to 10 mintues and it was perfect for me. The first batch I made at 12 minutes burned. 

INGREDIENTS

• 6 yellow corn tortillas
• 2-3 Tbsp olive or canola oil
• 1.5 tsp sea salt
• 1.5 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp each cumin, onion powder, garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp nutritional yeast (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 380 degrees F.

Add all spices and seasonings to a large bowl and whisk until well combined. Set aside.

3. Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut your tortillas into equal strips

Transfer to bowl and toss in 2-3 Tbsp olive or canola oil until well coated. Spread on baking sheet.

4. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy. Watch out, they’ll burn quickly past the 14-15 minute mark. (*Mine burned at the 12 mark...10 minutes was perfect.)

5. Once removed from the oven, immediately add tortilla strips to the seasoning mix and toss to coat. If they appear to have dried in the oven while baking, you can spritz them with a little oil so the seasonings stick better.

6. Transfer to a serving bowl or plate with a slotted spatula to shake off excess seasoning. You’ll likely have extra seasoning, which you can store for later use if desired.

Vegan Oatmeal Patties

I have to admit, I have tried several vegan patty recipes and they have either fallen apart or they are really dry. This recipe I found on yummly.com, it was the first one that tasted very good and stayed together without any problems. I did find that they were not as salty as I would like and I don't usually put a lot of salt in my food. I also used gluten free oats to make these gluten free burgers for my children. The girls at three of them in one sitting. So, I will be going back to this recipe and making more. I may also freeze them too. LOVE IT!!!! I hope you enjoy them too.

Ingredients

• 4 cups water
• 4 cups quick cooking oats
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil (I actually forgot to add this and they turned out fine)
• 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 tsps garlic powder
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 2 tsps onion powder
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp sage
• 1 tsp active dry yeast
• (I would also add 1/2 tsp. salt.)
• 
  
• Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a baking sheet.
2. Bring water to a boil and stir in oatmeal. Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook 5 to 10 minutes, or until the oats are cooked and all the water has been absorbed. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes.
   
   
   
3. To the oatmeal add onion, oil, spaghetti sauce, pecans, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, basil, onion powder, coriander, sage and active yeast. Mix well and form into patties. Place on prepared baking sheet.

4. Bake for 15 minutes. Turn patties over and bake another 15 minutes.

Gluten Free Banana Bread

During these cold winter days I have been trying to find a way to occupy the time spent in the house with my two preschool girls. This morning one of the girls, Olivia spotted some very ripe bananas. She wanted to throw them away but I stopped her and explained that those are super yummy and sweet and we put the in banana bread. Olivia's response was that of a kid, "We'll mama, why don't we make some now?" I agreed with her and they climbed up on the stools and we got to baking. 

The recipe that I used was my mom's. I was a little afraid to take a recipe that I so loved and turn it gluten free afraid that it would taste terrible, but I was bound to adventure out of my comfort zone. I am so glad I did. The banana bread turned out so well. It did have slightly different taste than the wheat version, but it still passed the kid test. In fact, the girls had three pieces each! (Not all at once...lol) I felt that this would be a great one to share, especially for those who are gluten free. Please enjoy.

Gluten Free Banana Bread

Ingredients:

1/2 c. Crisco shortening

3 mashed ripe bananas

3 c. Sifted GF All-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. Xanthan 

3 eggs

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 c. Sugar

*1/2 c. Sour milk (1TBS vinegar to 1/2 c. Milk) 

1 tsp. baking soda (put in milk)

3/4 c. Walnuts (optional) - my girls would not let me put them in.

Method:

1) Cream shortening, sugar, salt.

2) Add eggs, bananas, milk, and baking soda. Mix until well combined. 

3) Slowly add flour and nuts. Spray two bread pans.

4) Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour or until firm to touch. 

- I baked mine for 1 hour and it was perfect. Soft and moist on the inside.

Notes:

* I used rice milk

Potato Corn Chowder (Vegan)

As the weather gets colder, I love looking for yummy soups for my family. This week's soup, potato corn chowder was from theveganchickpea.com. The only thing I did different in this recipe was use rice milk instead of soy and it turned out great. My girls thought it was great as well. It is super easy and relatively quick to make. There is a 35-40 minute wait while the soup cooks, but preparation was a cinch. I hope you enjoy as my family has. Sorry I don't have many pictures. I decided this one needed to be posted at the last minute. 

Potato Corn Chowder (Vegan)

Igredients:

 -1/2 vidalia onion, finely chopped 
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-1 tablespoon olive oil
-1 teaspoon salt
-1/4 cup vegetable broth
-4 cups unsweetened soymilk (I used rice milk)
-8 yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed into 1" pieces
-3 cups frozen corn
-1 cup carrots, chopped (I omitted these as my girls are not a huge fan.)

Method:
1) In a large soup pot over medium heat, combine olive oil, onion, garlic, and salt.  Saute until onions are translucent.  

2) Pour in vegetable broth to de-glaze the pot, and quickly stir mixture.  Add soymilk, potatoes, corn, and carrots.  Stir well.  

3) Allow the soup to begin to bubble, stirring every few minutes.  Reduce heat, and allow to simmer for 30-45 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft. 

4) Remove 1 cup of the soup and transfer it to a blender.  Puree until smooth and then recombine with the rest of the soup, stirring well. 

5) Ladle soup into bowls, salt to taste, and enjoy! 

Gluten Free Tortillas

It is amazing how much better my daughter feels after being off gluten for about two months. Since changing her diet to gluten free, we have found that there are many products out there for her, but in reality they don't taste very good or totally different from what she was used to. One of her favorite things to eat were tortillas. She would run to the snack drawer and pull out a tortilla just to eat. We tried the Udi's tortilla, even though they were similar consistency, she found they smelled funny. She refused to eat them. I was then in a bind. Being vegetarian we eat a lot of beans and usually use them in burritos and taco salads. I had to find an option for her that she could eat when the rest of the family had tortillas. Not fun to watch your baby upset because she can't have what everyone else is eating. I then decided to venture out and look for a tortilla recipe. I have tried two recipes and both were a flop not to mention very detailed and time consuming just to make two tortillas. I recently found one that looked much more simple on Yammie's Gluten Freedom blog. After making these, I made plenty and it took half the time. The taste? Super good. I would say they are pretty similar to the gluten ones and the consistency is the same. An A+ in my book. This will become a regular recipe in our family. I hope you enjoy it as well.

Gluten Free Tortillas

Ingreditents:

1/2 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1 cup tapioca flour
1 tablespoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt 
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
2 tablespoons shortening 
3/4 cup water

Method:

1) Mix together the rice flours, tapioca flour, white sugar, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum.

2) Mix in the shortening with your fingers until well combined. Add the water and mix well. If the mixture is still dry, add a little more water.

3) Heat an ungreased skilled on medium-high heat. Roll out tortillas and cook each one on the hot pan until it begins to bubble. Then flip it and cook until the bottom has some brown spots. They're the best if you stack them on top of each other as they come out (this softens them up a bit). 

4) You can also throw a slightly damp towel over the top one. These keep pretty well in a plastic bag in the cupboard.