Eggrolls

1 lb ground beef

1/2 shredded cabbage

onion

garlic

shredded carrot

ginger

mung bean sprouts(optional)

Put in pan, ground beef and onion first, then carrot, ginger, and cabbage and sprouts towards the end so they are only partially cooked. Put mix in egg roll wrappers. Fry in sesame oil. Yum!

Chocolate Bean Cake

3 eggs

1/2 c sucanat (or sugar)

1/3 c butter (I used coconut oil instead, I'm sure canola or even olive oil would work too)

3 T cacao powder (or cocoa powder)

1 tsp baking powder

a little salt

1 1/2 c cooked garbanzo, White Northern, or black beans

or 1 can (make sure to rinse and drain them)

put ingredients in food processor or Vitamix blender (wet ingredients on the bottom if you are doing it in the Vitamix), blend until smooth, grease pan, I put it in on 350 for 35 minutes in what I think is an 8 X 8 inch glass pan, top with powdered sugar

It was good. It didn't taste like beans. It has a slightly different texture than if you would have used flour, but I didn't dislike it, just different. It reminded me of brownies.

Coconut Hot Chocolate

Growing up, I thought all hot chocolate was made with water. Later, I discovered how delicious and creamy it is with whole milk and never went back. Not being able to eat dairy, I needed to make some adjustments to find a hot chocolate that I was going to like.

Here's what I did:

1 can coconut milk (not light)
1 can water
1 circle (pastilla) of Mexican hot chocolate (I used Ibarra this time, I usually buy that one or Abuelita)
a little cornstarch (maybe a tablespoon, remember to dissolve in cold water first, then add)

Add coconut milk, water and the chocolate. Warm over medium heat, stirring frequently to dissolve chocolate. When warm add your mix of corn starch dissolved into cold water. Boil a few minutes til it thickens. Enjoy!

Not so Holla-daisy Sauce

Not eating dairy can limit your cream sauce options. I really like hollandaise sauce, but after reading how to make that, knew I was out of luck - lots of butter is required. So I decided to attempt a dairy-free hollandaise sauce. First, I just thought I would replace the butter with oil, but I never got it to thicken up that way, but a little bit of cornstarch did the trick. So, without further ado, here's my recipe...

Not so Holla-daisy Sauce

3 egg yolks

salt

6 T oil

1 t lemon juice

pinch cayenne

a little dry mustard (maybe a teaspoon)

garlic powder

some cornstarch (maybe a Tablespoon)

Put egg yolks, 2 T water, and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan on very low heat. Whisk constantly until slightly thickened 3-5 minutes (don't let it curdle).

Remove from heat and stir in the oil a tablespoon or two at a time. This is the part where the hollandaise is supposed to thicken. Mine didn't. I assume because I didn't use butter. So I added a little cornstarch (put the cornstarch in a little cup with a tiny bit of water and stir until dissolved, then add it). You have to let the cornstarch boil or it won't thicken, but I whisked it the whole time, just in case the eggs wanted to do funny things. Then I added the mustard powder, lemon, cayenne, garlic powder, etc until it tasted good!

We served it over shrimp, with asparagus, and bread spread with coconut oil. The white thing is the leftover egg white, cooked flat, and rolled.

Coconut Bread/Cake

Made this as a birthday cake for hubby a couple weeks ago. It was very filling. I later read that is because coconut has a lot of fiber. We decided to drizzle more honey on top as it was not as sweet as we would have liked for a cake, but if you are looking for a bread, if would be fine.

6 eggs
1/2 c of oil (or melted butter if you are eating dairy)
2 T honey
1/2 t salt
1 t baking powder
3/4 c coconut flour*

Whisk eggs, add oil, honey, salt, baking powder and whisk together.
Add flour and stir until lumps are gone.
Cook on 350 for 40 minutes.
I covered it with a little honey and sprinkled coconut to make it look nice.
Store in fridge. (If there's any left.)

*Coconut flour is not a grain. It's made from the fiber left over from making coconut milk or coconut oil. There's not many vitamins in it, but it can be used by people with other grain allergies or diabetes.

Crustless Pumpkin Pie

Happy Thanksgiving! Here is what I made this year:

Crustless Pumpkin Pie

1 can(15 oz) pumpkin puree
3/4 c sucanat (or white sugar if you prefer)
3/8 c all purpose flour
1/2 c coconut milk (or whole milk if you do dairy)
3 eggs
6 T oil (or melted butter)
cinnamon
pumpkin pie spice

Blend and pour into pie pan. Bake at 350 for 60 minutes.

Easier to not have to make a crust, and I don't enjoy the crust much on pumpkin pie anyway. This was so fast and easy I will be making it again soon. Sorry, I was going to take a picture, but most of it is gone already.

The "Un-Cheese"

Looking for dairy/soy free recipes today, I come across a recipe for a fake mozzarella (or so it said). I had all the ingredients, so I decided to try it. It was pretty good, but it was not remotely like cheese. More like dip. Would be good spicy too for a Mexican dish.

1 c cashews
1/4 c pine nuts
1/4 c lemon juice
salt
1/2 c water
italian seasoning (I added this in)

Put all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth.

Chocolate Avocado Pudding

Who would have guessed that avocadoes make some mean pudding...and dairy free, which my baby is happy about.

1 avocado
a little honey
1 tsp vanilla
sprinkle a little cocoa powder
1/8 cup water or until you reach the right consistency for pudding

blend really well in the blender

Oh, yum! And I feel like I'm getting some nutrition in too! And no, I doesn't taste like avocado.