Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls

Well, this was suppose to be posted on Christmas last week, as it was out Christmas breakfast.  However, I've been having just to much fun with my dear husband home to make time. Sad I know. :)

I hope your holidays have been as good as ours.  I was excited to receive "The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook" for Christmas.  I also received some new mixing bowls and some bamboo cutting boards.  Watch for those to make an appearance soon. :)

On to our food.  As I said above, I made these rolls for our Christmas morning breakfast and they were a big hit.  I did most of the prep work the night before after the kids were in bed, so that in the morning I could just bake them.  Gotta say, I love having a bread machine for just these occasions.  So much easier!  We did not do a sugary glaze on top because we don't like things too sweet.  If you want a glaze, here is a basic one (replacing dairy butter with your own dairy free one of course).  We thought they were perfect without the sticky glaze though.

Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls
3 1/2 cups bread flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp yeast
1 cup room temp water
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 large egg
Filling (recipe below)

Measure carefully, placing all the ingredients except the filling in the bread machine pan in the order recommended by the manufacturer.  Select Dough cycle (do not use delay cycle).  Make filling and set aside.

Remove dough from pan.  Gently push fist into the dough to deflate.  Flatten the dough with your hands or a rolling pin to approx. 15 x 10 inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface.  Spread the filling onto the rectangle.  Roll it up tightly, beginning at 15-inch side.  Pinch edge of dough into roll to seal.  Stretch and shape to get it even.  Cut roll into 1 inch slices with dental floss or a sharp serrated knife.  Place slightly apart in pan.

*If you are looking to bake these later:  Cover tightly with plastic wrap and set in the refrigerator.  You will need to remove the rolls, cover them loosely with the plastic wrap and let them rise in a warm place for an hour or two (until they have doubled) before baking.

*If you are going to bake now:  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place about 30 mins or until doubled.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove rolls to a wire rack and let cool a few minutes.  If desired, drizzle a glaze over the rolls now.

Enjoy!

Jump Start Breakfast Granola

Well, really I eat it all the time as a snack, but it is a good start to your day if you don't have time to cook something.  Half a cup of this granola is 222 calories, so its pretty calorie packed.  That's because its full of super foods: cacao nibs, goji berries, hemp seeds.  I usually pour some coconut milk on top.  If you need it sweeter, go ahead and add some more honey.

Jump Start Breakfast Granola
4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup shredded coconut
2 Tbsp chia seeds
2 Tbsp hemp seeds
2 Tbsp ground flax seeds
2 Tbsp cacao nibs
2 Tbsp goji berries
2 Tbsp almond butter
4-5 Tbsp raw honey

Preheat oven to 350.  In a large mixing bowl, add chia seeds, hemp seeds and flax seeds and mix so they combine.  Add the almond butter and 1 Tbsp honey and mix well with the seeds, creating small "balls".  Add coconut, goji berries and cacao nibs and combine.

Add one cup of oats at a time with 1 Tbsp on honey, mixing until well incorporated before adding the next cup.  When all the oats and honey have been added, pour mixture into a baking dish and press down lightly.

Put granola in the oven for 30 mins, mixing it up every 10 minutes to evenly bake.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Enjoy.

Kung Pao Seitan

I'm sorry I've gone so long without blogging.  I haven't been cooking much for two very good reasons: 1, I was doing NaNoWriMo last month and 2, my lovely husband is working long hours.  I expect my cooking creativity to snap back into gear as holiday's just scream cooking and baking.

I've been meaning to try seitan for a while.  While we do eat meat, we are trying to greatly limit how much we eat.  Both for health and price reasons.  I try to buy grass-fed, no antibiotics/hormones, cage-free, etc. meat, which can be pricey.  So I thought, if seitan doesn't taste to bad, then it might be a cheaper solution for meat (since we aren't big tofu fans around here).

The base for this recipe is from The Accidental Vegan, but as usual I did tweak it.  Can't help myself you know.  The basic seitan recipe is also from this book, but you can find others online as well.  The one created in this cookbook looks kinda like cut up and cooked chicken (as seen in the picture).  My daughter thought it was chicken just by the look, but I will admit that she didn't like the taste.

(Basic Seitan, before being added to the kung pao.  Tastes better than it looks!)

The verdict?  While the seitan turned out fine and was far better than tofu (IMHO), it still wasn't that great. It does soak up the sauce well, so it was really like eating really big flavor bits. haha  I'm not sure if I will make seitan again, but I will do this kung pao again.  My husband and I both agreed that just beefing up the zucchini and mushroom quantity would make it a great dish, or you could try tofu or meat in it too if you really wanted.  So on to the recipe.

Kung Pao Seitan

1 Tbsp oil (I used grapeseed)
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp grated ginger
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 carrot, chopped
2 zucchini, chopped
1 cup chopped bok choy
6 crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 cup basic seitan (or meat or tofu)
1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 can bamboo shoots, drained
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 Tbsp Sriracha sauce (this makes it pretty spicy so do less if you can't take to much heat!)

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium low heat.  Add the onion, garlic and ginger and saute for about 5 minutes or until onions are soft.  Stir in the soy sauce and carrots and cook a few more minutes.  Stir in zucchini, bok choy, and mushrooms and cook stirring often, for another 8 to 10 minutes or until veggies are tender.

Stir in the seitan, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, sesame oil and Sriracha sauce.  Cook stirring occasionally for another 5 minutes.  Serve hot.

What Do Dairy-Free Kids Eat?

The idea for this post came from a birthday party we attended over the weekend.  The birthday girls family were very thoughtful towards my daughter in their planning and purchased a small cheese-less pizza and a vegan cupcake for her.  When getting the pizza, they asked what she would like for a topping and I answered with her favorites: Canadian Bacon and Olives.

Well, at the party I had several parents question the cheese-less pizza and I would explain to them the reason.  I'm sure you are all used to that.  But then something else happened, they were extremely surprised at her liking canadian bacon and olives.  The other parents seemed to think this was a "sophisticated" taste. ??? right?  This idea surprised me.

The fact is, when people find out that my daughter is allergic to dairy, they always wonder what she eats.  This is, I gather, because the average 3 year old eats a LOT of dairy.  Cheese, yogurt and cow milk are the top three things every child I know eats.  A few fruits and vegetables, sure; meat, maybe.

So here is a typical lunch for my dairy-free kid.

Edamame, carrots, applesauce and a super cookie.  Other possibilities: watermelon, dairy free chicken nuggets, apples, sandwiches on dairy free bread, beans, rice.  You name it really.  There is just so much available, isn't this what other kids eat?  Even if my child weren't allergic to dairy, I'd like to think the above is more common than just dairy items.

Your thoughts?

Crispy Brown Rice with Mixed Berries

At the beginning of the month, I blogged about a giveaway happening at One Frugal Foodie.  Well, I ended up winning the 8 boxes of cereal.  Can you believe that?!  So I thought I would post some reviews for the cereals I got.  All of the cereals are dairy free, and a lot of them are free of other allergens too.

Today I tried Crispy Brown Rice with Mixed Berries (my daughters first choice).  As I poured it into the bowl, I could tell that the crispy rice would be on the sweet side, as they had the look of a sugary type glaze to them.  However, the berry pieces was real freeze dried berries, not just some colorful fruit flavored blobs.  As I poured coconut milk on top, I was reminded of childhood: the sound of crispy rice talking.  I told my daughter to listen carefully, her cereal was talking to her.  She thought that was pretty cool.

I can say that my daughter categorically loved this cereal.  It was a little sweeter than I normally like for breakfast, but it was tasty.  I definitely give this a positive review, but will I buy it again?  Probably not. We don't generally buy a lot of cereal in this house.  Breakfast normally consists of eggs and veggies for the adults and an egg and a quesadilla for the girl.  Cereal is more of a snack food here when we have it.  If, however, cereal is actually requested by my daughter this is one I will definitely consider over the many others.

Crispy Brown Rice with Mixed Berries is dairy, wheat, gluten, fish, shellfish, tree nut, peanut, and soy free.  This particular cereal contains honey, so not vegan.

Cheddar Flavored Crackers!

We were doing our normal Monday shopping at Whole Foods this morning when what does my daughter spot, but some cute crackers.  I initial see the Eco-Planet Cheddar Organic Crackers, and my thought is no way she can have these, then I spot on the box non-dairy.  I do a little jig of happiness, then go on to read the ingredients.  They are vegan, so no dairy or egg and they are soy, peanut and tree nut free.  They are manufactured in a facility that processes wheat, dairy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts and soy, so if cross contamination is an issue, these may not be a go.

Taste? Well my lovely three year old daughter thinks they are awesome.  Before being dairy free, one of her favorite snacks were Goldfish, so you can imagine her joy at having something similar.  Plus they have fun shapes; a sun, the earth, a windmill and a car.  For me, they don't quite taste like cheddar, but they are very tasty none the less.

We are very happy with this product and I hope if you try it you will be too.

Jen's Awesome Veggie Burgers

I know I've said it before, but I'm not a huge fan of beef.  In this family, cow in every form is just not welcome.  So alternatives to meals that would normally have beef must be used.  I typically will buy either pre-made turkey burgers, or ground turkey meat to make burgers.  They are good and we are happy.

I, however, in an ever increasing attempt to bring us closer to a vegetarian diet, am looking for the perfect veggie burger.  The ones I've bought pre-made are (in my opinion) pretty plain and dry.  So I figured I should give making my own a try.

I started with a recipe from Food Network that was suppose to be fantastic.  We all agreed it was ok, but dry.  Which I figured was from being all beans and oats.  How can that be "juicy"?  So then I googled "Best Veggie Burger" and got lots of hits.  I read about why people claimed certain ones as best and came to this conclusion: Mushrooms are the closest to giving you the meaty texture people like.

Great, but I still wanted the protein one got from beans.  So... here comes my hybrid veggie burger recipe.  I think it is Awesome, thus the title.  I hope you enjoy it too.   I also make my own buns from this recipe (replacing the butter for dairy free margarine of course), top it with your favorite burger toppings and, as my daughter says in gymnastics, ta-da.

Jen's Awesome Veggie Burgers
1 cup mashed beans (I used half black and half white)
1 1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
1/4 a large red bell pepper, chopped
3 artichoke hearts, chopped
2 Tbsp black olives, chopped
1 cup fresh white mushrooms, chopped
1 egg
2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp chili powder

In the olive oil, saute the onions, red bell pepper, artichoke hearts, mushrooms and black olives.  Meanwhile, mash the beans in a large bowl.  When the onions become translucent, add them to the beans and mix well.  Add oats and mix.  Add the rest of the ingredients and mix really well, I find using my hands works best.  When its all mixed, use hands to form balls (4-6 depending on size of burger you want).  Place the balls in the refrigerator for at least half an hour.

When ready to eat, pull the balls out and press into burger shapes (they will be thick).  Heat a pan to medium heat and fry each burger for about 5 minutes a side.  Place on bun and your done.

These freeze really well, just press them into burger shapes and wrap in cling wrap and put into freezer bags.  Just defrost in the fridge on the day you want to use them.