BBQ Pork Fried Quinoa

Not the best picture, but I shouldn't expect much more from the iphone. Anyway, this was dinner last night. We had some leftover BBQ pork meat from some ribs made earlier and I am big on reusing leftovers.

Quinoa is one of our favorite new finds. Known to the Incan's as "Mother Grain", Quinoa is an excellent replacement for rice being tastier than brown (in my opinion) and much healthier than rice in general. It also happens to be gluten free, which makes it another plus for allergy families.  Of course, if you prefer to just use rice you can.

BBQ Pork Fried Quinoa

1/2 cup BBQ Pork Meat, diced (*always check the ingredients in your BBQ sauce)

1 1/2 cup Quinoa

2 cups diced carrots and peas

2 eggs

2 Tbsp soy sauce (check ingredients for gluten/wheat items)

1/4 cup chopped green onions

Cook quinoa like you do white rice (2 cups - 1 cup). In a large skillet, saute the peas and carrots until soft. Add BBQ Pork and cook for another 3 minutes , until meat is reheated. Remove skillet from heat and add cooked quinoa. In another pan, quickly scramble the eggs. Add eggs, green onions and soy sauce to quinoa mix. Stir it all up well and serve.

Simple meal, but very delicious.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I thought I would start us off with a good dairy free treat, cookies.  These are a hit in our house and I hope they are in yours as well.

I often hear people asking about chocolate, "doesn't that have milk in it?"  While it is true that some chocolate is made with dairy products, not all are.  I personally get the vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips available from Whole Foods.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup non-dairy margarine (we prefer Earth Balance)

1 egg

1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375 F.  In a large bowl, beat brown sugar, peanut butter, butter and egg until creamy.  Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Stir in chocolate chips.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet about 3 inches apart (do not flatten).  Bake cookies 8 to 10 minutes, until very lightly browned.  Remove from oven and let cool on cookie sheet about 5 minutes, then move to wire rack.

An Introduction

Welcome to my food blog dedicated to dairy-free recipes. My name is Jen and I am fortunate enough to be a stay at home wife and mother to two.

Before our daughter arrived in 2006, the only food we had to avoid was shrimp; an allergy my husband had developed as a teen. My husband is also allergic to dog and cat dander, the pollen of various weeds and trees, and he seems to have a citrus sensitivity.

My husbands allergies meant any children we had would have a higher chance of having allergies as well. So it wasn't too surprising to discover our daughter was dairy sensitive. Since I was breastfeeding, this meant I had to avoid dairy. At around six months she seemed fine and we moved on.

At about two and a half years of age, our daughter finally gave up breastfeeding. Within a week she had bad congestion. She would also complain of a tummy ache when she drank a glass of milk.

After a couple months of this, our doctor suggested a dairy elimination diet. The first week I made several mistakes. I couldn't believe how many things had some sort of dairy in it, and I was not in the practice of looking for it on labels. The second week was successful and we saw a huge improvement.

After being completely off dairy for two weeks, we reintroduced it with a slice of cheese pizza. The congestion was back and with it the realization that we now had to be dairy free. We are lucky she doesn't have a severe reaction to dairy, and we've found that she can handle trace amounts.

Our son was born just about two months ago (August 2009) and he too has dairy issues. So I have found myself off of dairy again. This time it was different though, I found myself feeling better as well. Many of my relatives have IBS, and while I do not, my digestive system does seem better. So my husband and I have decided to be "cow" free.

This blog will be about our getting used to all of us being dairy free and what I am cooking to keep us all happy. Every dish posted will be dairy-free and, when appropriate, free of other allergens. I hope you try and enjoy our dishes.