Easter Treats

I love to give my Grandchildren treats for holidays.  This Easter I had not been feeling well and was late getting something ready for them and then I saw a similar idea on Pinterest.  I decided that it was perfect because I knew that they would most likely be getting a lot of candy and goodies already.  Thanks to the person that came up with this idea it was perfect for us. 

So simple 1 8" cake decorating bag filled with Cheetos and wrapped and tied with curling ribbon. On Pinterest it used green raffia but I didn't have any and didn't have time to run some down.  It was a hit with the kids to say the least.

Herbed Room Freshener

Following Pinterest can be a habit!  But I do get some good ideas from it  This one is for a room freshener made using a crock pot.  I didn't even pin it I just remembered it so I am not sure who to give the credit to. 

2 lemons, sliced

3 sprigs fresh Rosemary

1 t. vanilla

Place ingredients in crock pot and cover with water.  Heat until it starts to boil and then turn off the crock pot.  When cool place in a mason jar and keep in the fridge until you want to reuse.  Can be used 3-4 times. 

**This was the recipe and it is very nice and clean smelling.  Next time I will add more Rosemary and do half of the vanilla.  just my own personal preference.

Peanut butter cups (dairy Free)

This is one of our families favorite desserts. They are easy to make, super yummy and we made it a tradition to make them and take them to the boys that we liked in high school and even in college! 

My mom has posted two varieties of them. The original recipe was the first post and a fun coconut variety was the second post.

I had to do a Dairy free variety because they are my favorite! I actually have two though because I loved the ones made with Coconut peanut butter. I cut the recipe in half because the original recipe makes so much!

Dairy Free Peanut Butter Cups

1/2 pkg. graham crackers (nabisco honey maid are dairy free)
1 c. peanut butter
2 c. powdered sugar

1/3 cup Earth Balance natural buttery spread

*1/3 pkg. Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Mix together graham crackers, peanut butter, powdered sugar and softened spread, blend well. Form into balls or place in mini cupcake holders. Melt chocolate chips and spread over the peanut butter mixture.

Dairy Free Coconut Peanut Butter Cups

1/2 pkg. graham crackers (nabisco honey maid are dairy free)

1 c. peanut butter
2 c. powdered sugar

1/3 cup Coconut Oil

*1/3 pkg. Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Mix together graham crackers, peanut butter, powdered sugar and coconut oil, blend well. Form into balls or place in mini cupcake holders. Melt chocolate chips and spread over the peanut butter mixture.

*Statement from Ghirardelli about dairy, "Thank you for contacting Ghirardelli Chocolate. In response to your inquiry, Ghirardelli does not consider any of our chocolate products to be vegan. Our Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips do not contain a dairy ingredient; however they do share a line with chocolate products which do contain either whole milk powder or a milk fat. Our lines are cleaned and flushed between the changing of one flavor to the next."  My son does not react to the Chocolate but you have to use your own discretion.

Dairy Free Thanksgiving (Turkey, Gravy, Mashed Potatoes)

We discovered that my little guy had a dairy sensitivity a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving. I was so bummed! I didn't think that I would be able to eat any of my favorite things. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin roll, mashed potatoes and gravy, traditional dressing (stuffing that isn't stuffed into the bird) yams (brown sugar, butter and marshmallows YUM!").  I had not done a big Thanksgiving dinner with everything yet and was determined to do it this year and I felt really let down. I started researching and found that I could make pretty much everything we normally have. Actually I could have made everything, but I didn't make Pumpkin roll; I'm not ready to jump on the tofu band wagon for the cream cheese substitute. I made everything that I knew I could make taste good and be dairy free. 

Turkey (Dairy, Soy and Gluten Free)-

I used the Alton Brown turkey recipe and I made my own vegetable stock the day before.

It is Dairy, soy and Gluten free. Make sure you use Canola oil not vegetable though because vegetable oil contains soy. 

Gravy (Dairy, soy and Gluten Free)-

Normally I use a gravy packet because I was always nervous that it would just taste like flour. All gravy packets have dairy proteins in them, so I had to make my own. 

Traditionally gravy is made with a roux(butter and flour) or you can use a cowboy roux(flour and water). With a roux the butter has to be a high heat to be melted and it releases the starch from the flour so you can't taste the flour. A cowboy roux on the other hand does not get as hot before it starts to thicken so the starch does not release and you are left with a flour taste. I used arrowroot instead which thickened the gravy but did not add a flour flavor.

drippings from the turkey pan 

2 1/2 teaspoons arrowroot

1 cup water

Mix arrowroot and cold water until it is smooth then add it to the hot drippings and heat until thickened. 

Arrowroot does not add flavor and it produces a clear thick gravy. You can use cornstarch instead but it calls for 1Tbsp per cup of cold water. These are great gluten free substitutions.

Mashed Potatoes (Dairy, soy and Gluten free)
When I made these I hadn't discovered the Earth balance spread. Grapeseed oil has a neutral flavor and adds the fat that butter normal does which makes the potatoes more fluffy. The earth balance works better because of the texture of it, but both are great alternatives to butter and are both soy free. 
Potatoes
Grapeseed oil or 
Earth Balance natural buttery spread
Salt
Pepper 
Cut peeled potatoes into cubes and boil until soft. Strain most of the water leaving a little bit of the potato water. Mash the potatoes and add grapeseed oil or Earth Balance natural buttery spread, salt and pepper to taste. 

Dairy

There is dairy in pretty much everything that we eat! My little guy has a dairy sensitivity so I can't eat any dairy. He isn't lactose intolerant; he has a sensitivity to the proteins in dairy. The proteins whey and casein are in everything! I was surprised to find dairy in somethings. For example Chicken bouillon, McDonalds french fries have an artificial beef flavoring that uses a dairy protein. Most store bought boxed foods have dairy proteins. PF Changes Mongolian beef has dairy; I say this because it is my favorite and I did not expect it to have dairy. It is everywhere and until you have to avoid it you don't realize how much dairy we consume in the US! Surprisingly enough most cereals are dairy free but you have to use a non dairy milk on them; a lot of them have coconut oil instead of butter. A lot of dairy free recipes are nasty, but just because you have to go dairy free does not mean you have to have nasty food! There are some awesome substitutions that make tasty food instead of nasty food!

Milk Substitutes:
Soy Milk
Rice Milk
Coconut Milk
Almond Milk

All of these can be substituted 1:1 for milk and work well in baked goods. Personally we use coconut milk and almond milk. We tried rice milk and soy milk and they are absolutely disgusting in my opinion! I am a pretty picky eater in that I won't eat gross food. I was very spoiled with parents that made home cooked meals and not nasty casseroles but really good food! I was picky with milk when I could drink it. It has to be very cold and it has to be certain brands because others taste weird to me. Like I said, I am very picky, so I won't substitute for something nasty; I would rather go without! Coconut milk and almond milk are both sweet and a little goes a long way on cereal.

Butter Substitutes:
Coconut oil my favorite but it will leave a coconut flavor.
Vegetable, Canola, or grapeseed oil these don't work well in things like cookies that call for soft but not melted butter. Avoid Vegetable oil if you have an allergy to soy.
Shortening but not the butter flavored it has dairy proteins, also check the label because it depends on the brand. Again avoid if you have an allergy to soy.
Earth Balance natural buttery spread soy and dairy free. We use this one the most. My husband hates the flavor of coconut so I use this to make frosting and things that are not baked because it doesn't add a different flavor. I will not spread it on my toast though because I don't love the flavor of it plain, instead I just use jam.
Fruit Puree This is one that is healthier because it takes away the fat but it also changes the recipe a lot! Most people substitute applesauce. It will change the texture and the taste of the recipe! We tried making brownies with applesauce instead of oil when I was on a diet but we didn't like the flavor at all and they were dense. I don't use this as a substitute but it is an option.

I will be posting some dairy free recipes, they will not use soy or rice milk because I don't like them.

Standards Night by Natalie

All of these cookies were made by Natalie for her Ward's Standards Night.  Lot's of time and patience for this project.