Tag Archives: vegitarian

Surprising Strawberry Sauce

I love ice cream. I can eat simple vanilla ice cream all day. To kick it up a notch and make ice cream a bit more special I have come up with a great sauce to top your next bowl with. Using balsamic vinegar with dessert leaves everyone curious what they are tasting. Something about the sweet, sour acidic flavor matches very well with sweet cream desserts.

Ingredients

1/2 Pound Fresh Strawberry Sliced

2 Tbs Sugar

1 oz Red Wine

2 tsp Good Balsamic

Add strawberries to pot along with sugar. Turn the heat on low and stir. Add wine and balsamic. Cook on low continuing to stir. Your looking for the berries to get soft and the liquid to reduce and thicken. Remove from heat and cool. Top ice cream or cheese cake with sauce. Enjoy!

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Paleo Brownie

Brownies that are gluten free but also paleo are hard to find. This brownie recipe is filled with tons of health nutrition and protein but will fulfill any chocolate craving.

Ingredients:

1 15oz Can Pure Pumpkin

1/2 Cup Honey

1 TBS Vanilla

1 tsp Baking Soda

2 Tbs Ground Nuts

1 Cup Coco Powder

2 Eggs

1/4 Dark Chocolate Chips or Crushed Nuts

Place pumpkin, egg and vanilla in bowl and mix together. Add nuts, honey and coco powder. Continue to mix well. Finally add baking soda and mix one last time. Pour into a baking dish and bake 350 for 35 min.

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Elvis Pie

This recipe is something I have evolved over time. It started with my addiction to ice cream cake and wanting to recreate it at home. Then I started playing around with the different options to make it at unique.

I like to make the filling out of a homemade banana ice cream but if you don’t have an ice cream machine then you can easily use any store bought flavor. Chocolate would go great.

Ingredients –

Base-

1 Cup Peanut Butter

1 Egg

2/3 Cup Sugar

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Vanilla

1 Pinch Salt

Ice Cream –

1 Banana

1 Cup Full Fat Yogurt

1 tsp Vanilla

1 Cup Whole Milk

1/3 Cup Sugar

Topping-

1/2 Tub Cool Whip Defrosted

1 Tbs Coco Powder

Start by making the crust. In a bowl combine all the crust ingredients. Mix until dough forms. Press dough into the bottom of a deep pie pan. Bake at 350 degree for about 10 min. Watching to avoid burning.

If making the ice cream – While crust bakes combine all ice cream ingredients in a blender until smooth. You should heat the milk and sugar first to dissolve and then chill it but I never seem to be patient. Once blended pour into ice cream machine as directed by machine instructions.

One crust is done cool it in the fridge of freezer while the ice cream is in the machine.

Once crust is cool and ice cream is done. Pour ice cream in the crust and place in freezer for an hour. When ice cream is firm top with cool whip in an even layer around the pie. Dust the top with coco powder and return to freezer for an hour for pie to set hard.

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Pumpkin Pie Frapachinoo

It is officially Pumpkin season and my favorite time of year. I always joke that I could make anything with pumpkin. This recipe ironically is has no actual pumpkin but the spices along makes you think of any classic fall beverage. Plus this recipe has no added sugar!

Ingredient:

1 Frozen Banana

1 Cup Almond Milk

1 Oz Espresso

1/2 Tbs Pumpkin Spice Mix

Add espresso and  milk to a blender and whip up. Then add frozen banana and spice. Blend  well and serve cold.

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Blue Cheese Slaw

This time of year I try to come up with new football snacks. Chicken wing are my favorite but I always need extra celery and carrot so. This is a great combo and is a fun side dish to any chicken dish.

Ingredients:

5 Carrots Grated

4 Medium Celery Stalks Finally Chopped

1/2 Cup Blue Cheese Dressing (try my healthy version)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix everything together and allow it to chill in the fridge. Stir and serve with grill chicken and baked wings.

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Qdoba recipes

If you have ever been to the fast food change Qdoba and have tried the rice they use in every burrito and bowl it is something very unique. Fruity, sweet and tangy. Living the gf life rice become a staple and I am always coming up with way to play with it.

Ingredients:

2 Cups Cooked White or Brown Rice

1 Lime

1/2 Cup Chopped Cilantro

Once Rice is cool place in a large bowl. Add juice of the one lime and all the copped cilantro. Mix well by fluffing with a fork. Serve as a side dish with any first or Mexican style chicken dish. You can also add a little lime zest for some added zing.

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Pistachio Ambrosia Salad

This recipe is to good to be fat free and low in sugar. I know I had something like this before but never tried to make it. I love pudding so anything the can kick it up a step is worth it. This wonderful green color would be great for a St. Patty Day Treat or Easter Dessert. You could also use a vanilla or butter scotch pudding with some food color to change it for any holiday. Orange pudding and chocolate chips could be fun for Halloween. Have fun with this one and enjoy.

Ingredients:

1 20 Oz Can Crushed Pineapple in Light Syrup

1 20 Oz Can Pineapple Chucks in Light Syrup

1 Box Sugar Free, Fat Free Jell-O Instant Pistachio Pudding Mix

1 Cup Mini Marshmallow

1 Cup Softened Fat Free Cool-Whip

¼ Cup Unsweetened Coconut Flakes

Place canned fruit in a large bowl and drain most of the liquid away. Add pudding and mix well for a minute. Now add marshmallows and Cool-Whip and continue to fold together. Add the coconut and mix it all to combine. Place in the fridge and allow to firm up for an hour. Serve cold with a little extra coconut to garnish.

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Gourmet Focaccia the Chebe Way

I really can not get enough of all the Chebe bread blends. No matter what I do it keeps getting better. This time I was testing it on my dad and he forgot it was Gluten Free. I love this stuff. Chebe makes a Focaccia Blend which is fun as a great brunch or dinner side. My recipe adds great twist to make your bread supper fancy.

Ingredients:

1 Box Focaccia Chebe Mix

2 Tbs Olive Oil

1 Cup Parm Cheese

Pinch Sugar

Pinch Salt

1/4 Tomato Sauce

2 Eggs

1 Tbs Milk

Topping

1/2 Tbs Salt

1 Tbs Truffle Oil

1/2 Basil

Mix all bread ingredients together very well by hand, kneading as you go. Press into a lightly sprayed square baking dish. Coat the top with truffle oil and make sure to brush it allover the top. Using your finger tips make a munch of shallow indents in the top of the dough. This will make a great texture and allow some of the oil to poll on top creating an interesting a great effect when it comes out of the oven. Sprinkle with salt and basil. Bake as directed on the box and then slice into sticks to serve. Great for dipping 🙂

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Carrot Kugel – Gluten Free

I loved noodle kugel as kids. Something about a sweet side dish alway gets me. Since gluten free noodles do not bake well and are something I try to avoid I came up with a much healthier, guilt free version. Filled with only good stuff you will be happy to watch your family gobble this one up.

Ingredients –

1 Peel Sweet Potato

2 Carrots

1 Apple

1/3 Cup White Raisins

2 Eggs

2 Pieces Gluten Free Matzo

1 Tsp Cinnamon

1 Tbs Honey* Optional

1/2 Tbs Lemon Zest

1 Tbs Fresh Lemon Juice

Start by grating potato, carrot and apple all into a large bowl. Add lemon juice and mix well to help keep bright color. Add cinnamon, zest, raisins, eggs. Add honey if you want to make it sweet but no needed. Mix well. Place Matzo in a food processor and grind into crumbs. Add matzo to mix and combine well. Place mix in a sprayed baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for an hour. I cooked it uncovered for the first 30 minutes and then covered it for the remaining 30 minutes. Cooking time will depend a little on the height of the dish you are using so make sure to watch. Serve in nice slices or square either cold or warm. Enjoy!

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Quinoa Salad

Quinoa is truly a power ingredient. Full of protein and all the good stuff. Alone it is nutty, fluffy and full of life but when combines in a number of recipes the result is outstanding. I made this recipe on Saturday at Sweet Christine’s Bakery and everyone lived it.

Ingredients:

4 Cups Cooked Quinoa
1 Cup Chopped Parsley
2 Cups Cherry Tomatoes
1 Bell Pepper Diced
1 Cucumber Seeded and Diced
1/2 Cup Olives
2/3 Cup Feta Crumbled
1 Lemon
Pinch of Salt and Pepper
1 Tbs Honey (optional)
1 Tbs Olive Oil
2 Tsp Oregano

Start by making the dressing in a large bowl. Whisk together the juice of one lemon, salt, pepper, oregano and honey. Then add diced pepper, cucumber, olives, parsley, tomatoes sliced and parsley. Mix together well. Now add quinoa and toss together well. Let it all sit for a minute so the dressing is absorbed. Last, add feta and enjoy.

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