“Caesar-Style” Salad Dressing (Vegan)

This vegan salad dressing is you ceasar-style but dairy-free and anchovy free.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/3 Cup Coconut Yogurt (or other non-dairy based yogurt)
• 1 TBSP Olive Oil
• 1 TBSP Lemon Juice
• 1/2 clove of Garlic
• 1 tsp capers, minced
• 1 tsp brown mustard seeds
• black pepper (I used 2 twists, fresh cracked)

METHOD:

1. Place all of the ingredients into a blender.
2. Whirl.
3. Taste. Add pepper to taste. Adjust seasonings, as needed.
4. Enjoy right away, or store in an air-tight container in the fridge.

NOTES:

This is good served over romaine lettuce. But it is also good as a salad dressing over any greens. Capers grow in a plant family which is closely related to cabbage and mustard. Capers give this vegan dish its saltiness, which is a substitute for anchovies which are traditionally used in the non-vegan version.

Shortcake (Coconut Flour)

This recipe is grain-free, low carb, can be made sugar free, quick and easy to whip up and is delicious! Eat it plain, as is, or served with your favorite berries or berry sauce atop, with or without whipped cream. Another serving suggestion is with chocolate sauce and whipped cream. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/4 Cup coconut flour
• 3 TBSP melted butter, coconut oil, or other neutral oil
• 1/3 Cup JUST eggs vegan liquid egg replacement
• 3 TBSP sweetener (or about 6 stevia packs)
• 1/4 tsp rum
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder

METHOD:

1. Turn on your toaster oven (If using) to 400 degrees.
2. Meanwhile prepare a 6 muffin tin with muffin liners (or grease with butter, coconut oil, or other neutral-flavored oil)
3. Begin by mixing together in a bowl all of the dry ingredients. Make sure the mixture is well combined and none of the dry ingredients have lumps.
4. Stir in the melted butter or oil, as well as the liquid JUSTeggs brand egg replacement.
5. Mix well to combine.
6. Drop by heaping TBSP into prepared muffin tins. Distribute batter evenly between 6 muffin tins. Batter rises, but it doesn’t spread much, so spread it out evenly in the muffin tin before baking.
7. Bake until golden about 10-15 minutes depending on your toaster oven.

Various Serving Suggestions:

• This recipe yields 6 small shortbread portions. Those individual portions can be slit in half to stuff with , or top with, fruit of choice and cool whip/whipped cream. It makes a nice snack or dessert.
• Leave out the rum, cinnamon powder and sweetener; use olive oil in place of butter or coconut oil for a savory flavor. Pairs nicely with garlic or Italian seasonings.
• For portion control, you could bake for a shorter time, 12 mini muffins instead of 6 regular muffins.
• As is, this recipe tastes great as a short cake (with any fruit/juice and whipped cream).
• Top with cream cheese.
• Other topping ideas, besides fruit include just using whipped cream. And/or adding chocolate bits. Walmart carries a sugar free brand of chocolate bits. Or, you can make your own.
• Taste great at room temperature with some butter on it.
• Try it with sugar-free jelly or jam.
• This recipe is surprisingly quick and easy to make, with very little clean up. You can make it frequently.

Source: For this recipe, I looked at high carb recipes, gluten free recipes, and other online recipes which were similar to this one. Then I made up a hybrid type recipe without any of the allergens the folks I’m cooking for avoid.

Refrigerator Pickles

Home made, versitle, low-carb, keto friendly refrigerator pickles. You can make these seasoned either: sweet, garlic, 5-spice, old bay, dill, or any other spices/blends you can think of!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lbs fresh Mini Cucumbers
• Filtered Water
• Vinegar
  
• Sweetener of choice
• 1 recycled jar, clean.

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Start by washing, and drying, the fresh cucumbers.
• Cut off ends of cucumbers (Note: if your neighbors have chickens, consider the ends chicken food; or compost.)
• Thinly slice cucumbers.
• Add fresh cucumbers to jar.
• Boil together 3/4 cup water, 3/4 cup vinegar, 1/2 cup sweetener (to taste).
• Allow mixture to cool.
• Pour over cucumbers as prepared previously in the jar.
• Remove air bubbles.
• Close top. Store in fridge.

Mock “Beef Stroganoff”

This dish is so versatile in terms of adapting to nutritional, diet, and allergen-friendly meal plans.  You can make it low carb, AIP, Paleo, low fat, vegan, nightshade-free, soy-free, dairy-free, pasta-free, grain-free, gluten-free as you desire.  Switch up the veggies to add more nutrition and phyto-chemical value to your meal.  Give it a try and let me know what you think.  I’ve also shared this recipe on SparkPeople.com-where you can sign up for so many other fabulous receipes, weight loss tips, and so much more!

Ingredients

• 1 head, large (about 7″ dia) Cabbage, fresh, chopped in the shape/size of egg noodles.

• 16 oz Beef, 90% Lean Ground Beef from Sirloin, drain (or use chickpeas for a vegan option)

• 1 medium (2-1/2″ dia) Onions, raw 1/2 chopped, 1/2 sliced, divided

• 2 stalk, large (11″-12″ long) Celery, raw, chopped

• 1 tsp Pepper, black

• 1 tsp Garlic powder

• 0.25 tsp Celery Salt

• 1 cup Bone Broth – homemade (or use veggie broth for vegan option)

• 1 pat (1″ sq, 1/3″ high) Butter, unsalted, or use veggie oil for vegan option.

Tips

Soy free, dairy free, egg free, noodle free, pasta free, grain free, gluten free, nightshade free

Directions

1) Begin browning the ground beef in a separate pan over medium heat.

Toss in with the beef freshly chopped onion and celery. Once the beef is browned on one side, flip and cover the browned side with celery salt, garlic powder, black pepper, and salt to taste. Once the beef is finished cooking and there is no longer and pink spots, turn off the heat, and drain the grease–discarding it or saving for another purpose, as you see fit. If you want this to be vegan–simply use chickpeas in place of the beef. You can cook the above veggies with the cabbage below if you’re making the vegan option and skip this step entirely.

Meanwhile, in another skillet with a cover, spread the butter around the pan so nothing will stick. Next, add the cored and rough chopped (like egg noodles) cabbage, sliced onion pieces and bone broth (beef, chicken, turkey or veggie broth all work). Cover and cook on low for approximately 20-30 minutes. Be certain that you do not cook away all of the broth. Check closely.

Serving Size: 4 servings

Tortilla Strips (for Tortilla Soup)

Have you ever been to those restaurants, like Chilis, who serve their soups with those fancy tortilla strips atop and ever wonder how to make those?  The cool part of this recipe is you can make your own tortillas, using the ingredients which work for your body/allergies and still enjoy an old favorite without the issues associated with eating things outside of your optimal eating plan.

1.  Begin my preheating your  oven to 400 F.
2.  Brush both sides of tortillas with oil.
3.  Cut tortillas into strips, then spread on a baking sheet.
4.  Bake in preheated oven until crisp. Ovens vary, watch closely but this should take about 10 to 15 minutes.
5.  Use to top soup or store in an air tight container.

This method can be made low-carb by using HEB Carb Control tortillas or Mission Low Carb tortillas in place of regular tortillas.  You can also use the same method with home-made (gluten-free, AIP friendly, low carb, keto, flour, or corn) tortillas.

Another great option?  Use “dorito dust”, lime, lemon-lime or other flavorings.  Just add them along with the oil before baking.  These can be made in a toaster oven.