2 Simple Salad Dressings/Dips

You can use either of these two recipes as dressing for a simple salad or dip for wings or veggies.

Dairy-Free Ranch

(A lactose intolerant friend created and shared this recipe with me.) 

• 1/2 cup mayo
• 1/2 cup unsweetened original almond milk
• 2 tsp. garlic powder
• 2 tsp. Adobo Criollo seasoning (MSG free)
• 1 tbsp. fresh dill
• 1/2 tbsp. dry parsley

Combine all ingredients in a small mason jar, cap, and give a good shake! That's it. Enjoy!

Sesame Soy

• 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 1/2 tbsp. rice vinegar
• 1/2 tbsp. agave nectar
• 1/2 tbsp. sesame seeds

Combine all ingredients in a small mason jar, cap, and shake, shake, shake!!

-Anjelica

Sweet Potato Coconut Soup Recipe

 the soup drizzled with sesame oil and paired with fresh baguette

This is one of my family's favorite soups. It's fairly easy and is vegan...yay! and yay! I created hacked this soup recipe after eating at a local Thai restaurant and tasting their delicious take on Sweet Potato Soup. This one obviously yields way more for way less.

Ingredients:                                                 

• 2 large sweet potatoes (mine were about 2lbs. each)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 inch piece of fresh grated ginger
• 1 1/2 tbsp. red curry paste
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1/2 tbsp. vegetable base (or 2 cups low-sodium broth of your choosing)
• sesame oil

Serve with: Fresh baguette

Steps:

Steam or bake your sweet potatoes until tender all the way through. (I baked mine in foil for 2 hours). Set aside.

Next, in a large pot sauté onion until soft. Add ginger. Sauté for 2 min. ( I forgot to saute the ginger with the onion, so I added it with the curry paste)

Add curry paste. Melt down and combine with onion and ginger. 

Add coconut milk and vegetable base. Simmer for 5 min. 

Add sweet potato. I simply spooned the insides out with a large spoon. 

How beautiful is that bright orange!

I then poured this mixture into my Ninja and took it for a ride (I blended it until smooth). I typically use my emersion blender, but it's currently packed away on its way to Guam. You can read about that here.  

Then pour the mixture back into the pot and heat for about 10 more min. This helps all the flavors to combine.

Now, serve with a drizzle of sesame oil and a piece of fresh baguette. Yummo!

                               -Anjelica

SIMPLE Gluten Free Bread

You gotta love the internet and the ease of having access to basically anything. Clean eating, gluten free, paleo, all the fads that are out there now…you can find anything you want. I have found a stinkin’ yummy and easy gluten free bread recipe…with or without a bread machine no less. However, a few things need to be made clear first. We don’t have a dairy and gluten free home. We will if it ever becomes necessary, but it is not right now. What we do strive to have is a home free of processed foods and filled with variety. We serve a big God who created amazing and beautiful things…lots of them are edible and taste GOOD!! For us, making dairy-free, gluten-free, and sugar-free foods is part of our attempt to not eat the same foods over and over. Dairy, gluten, and sugar are in SO MANY THINGS, and since we are blessed that there are no sensitivities, allergies, or intolerances in our home…we’d like to keep it that way.

Although my family is safe to enjoy most foods, my husband, J, is a chiropractor who has worked with numerous patients who do not share the same circumstances. I do want to recommend the book, The Autism and ADHD Diet by Barrie Silberberg. If you have a loved one that has autism or ADHD this book is great. If you’ve just learned the GF/DF/SF diet can help someone in your household for other reasons, this book is great too. He explains how to go about slowly making the change for children and teenagers who are addicted to all things dairy and gluten. He actually says, “These children are not having an allergic reaction [to gluten or dairy], as much as showing an intolerance to these foods. They usually crave foods with wheat and milk, often exclusively. Their bodies require these foods like an addict…” Interesting, huh?

Dictionary.com defines gluten as “a protein consisting of a mixture of glutelin and gliadin, present in cereal grains, esp wheat. A gluten-free diet is necessary in cases of coeliac disease.”  I’m not a doctor, but, like I’ve already said, I don’t think everyone needs to avoid it. If it’s been noticed that gluten is not nice to your ( or your kiddo’s) body, then you should probably ditch it. My husband, several of his past patients, and several chiropractor colleagues of his have seen huge improvement with children and behavior change when gluten and dairy have been eliminated.  Let me know if you’re interested in more information, or just go grab that book I mentioned previously (it's linked).

All right! Let’s make some bread! I began my search when I started exclusively making bread for our home. I love experimenting, but I didn’t necessarily want to buy several different types of flour. The other day I was at Whole Foods (I know, right?! We have that here!...sorry Puerto Rico). Anyway, Bob’s Red Mill gluten free all purpose flour was super affordable, so I picked some up for fun. Even with the flour, I really, really, really don’t like making bread (unless it’s fast beer bread) without a bread machine. I searched the whole world wide web and couldn’t find one simple recipe that wouldn’t make me rush off to buy “strange” ingredients that aren’t otherwise in my pantry. I do feel like I need to mention I did have Xanthum Gum in my pantry…the only “weird” ingredient. Well, I came across an awesome blog called “Gluten Free Real Food” with one great recipe that I used as a base. Find that recipe HERE. Although somewhat simple, I wanted to simplify it even more, and it worked! It’s DELICIOUS!! Here it is:

1 1/3 cup water (warm)

¼ cup coconut oil

¼ cup honey

3 beaten eggs

1 ½ tsp salt

3 cups gf all purpose flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)

1 tbsp xanthum gum

2 ¼ tsp dry active yeast 

Put it into the bread maker in that order, and set it to basic. Take it out right when it finishes and let it cool. It slices beautifully for sandwiches, it’s yummy, and it’s simple!! (If you’re interested in oven baking, look at the original recipe linked above.)

Even if you’re not going gluten, dairy, and sugar free as a permanent lifestyle, I implore you to seek and discover all of the goodness God has given us. Give something new a whirl. Veggies and fruits are a testament to His creation enough, but then He went and showed people how to mix grain, water, and oil together to BAKE things. Oh, Praise Him!!

Thank God for it, and then go enjoy your bread!

-Hollie


***UPDATE***
I went to make to make this bread for a friend the other day, and I had all ingredients before the eggs in the machine when I realized I only had one egg! So, I prayed that my regular baking trick would work. Typically, 1/4 cup of yogurt can replace an egg. I put in 1/2 cup of yogurt to replace two eggs, and the bread was WONDERFUL!! Just thought I'd share! Happy baking!