Month: November 2012

Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Soy-Free Nut Free Thanksgiving Turkey Stuffing with Vegan Option!

Posted by | Nov 10, 2012 | , , |

This stuffing goes with my turkey recipe. Part of what keeps the breast meat so moist in that recipe is this overly wet stuffing which ends up adding moisture to the turkey from within. If you do not plan to cook it inside the turkey or to use the eggs you may not want to use all of the stock that I recommend. Ideally you take about 2 loaves of bread, cut them into small cubes and set the slices out to dry about three days in advance. If this is totally unrealistic, you can put the bread in a 200 oven for a few hours to dry it out as well. This makes a stupefying amount of stuffing which is generally he right amount for my carb addicted family. Every year I think it is an obscene amount, and every year it’s all gone. Ingredients 3 cups raw minced celery 5 cups raw minced onion 1 cup fat (I use homemade turkey schmaltz…which is another recipie. Most people use margarine or butter) 16 cups dried bread crumbles (it cooks down smaller and my family really really likes stuffing.) 5 T Bells Seasoning 6 cups stock (turkey or chicken for the carnivores, veggie for the vegans) 2 T salt (you may want to adjust this based on the bread or stock you are using. My stock is always unsalted)...

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Bountiful Eatery Chicago

Posted by | Nov 9, 2012 | |

A little over a week ago my mother and I decided to try Bountiful Eatery, a relatively new gluten-free restaurant at 3312 N. Broadway in Lakeview. We popped in for lunch. Long story short, it was great. The food was terrific and it was a great value. Think tasty, healthy gluten-free, largely dairy-free and corn-free food at prices comparable to a Panera or Cosi in a chic modern space. The turkey sandwiches contained actual hand sliced turkey. The real thing off the bone. I had the turkey avocado and my mother had the turkey spinach apple. They came with a side salad. The food was fresh and the service was good. The bathroom was clean and functional. Despite the modern decor with a lot of shiny surfaces, we could hear each other talk. Parking was relatively easy (although the neighborhood is metered). Although I am happy whenever any restaurant is willing to properly prepare food for me, I prefer to patronize dedicated gluten free spots. The desserts were sourced from two local bakeries and were prepackaged. The fresh choices were the salads, sandwiches and smoothies. They also seem to do things with the GF community. One suggestion would be to stock sunflower seed butter instead of peanut butter. The peanut kid and the gluten free kid are friends. Nothing else in the restaurant uses peanuts. That said, for us...

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Gluten-Free Soy-Free Dye-Free Natural Vegan Gel Dessert Cups

Posted by | Nov 7, 2012 | |

I was never a big fan of Jell-O as a child which, given that I was born in the 1960s meant that there were many desserts of the combined Jell-O and Cool Whip variety that I missed out on. That said, with all the food issues these days, prepackaged gelatin dessert cups are very popular at schools. They are sealed, nut-free, dairy-free, soy-free, gluten-free, seed free and due to their general lack of natural proteins (with the exception of animal gelatin) they are devoid of most allergens. And they have sugar and are colorful so kids will eat them. That said, they are not approved on the Feingold diet, they cause issues for observant Jews and they are not only not vegan, they are not even vegetarian. However this problem has been recently solved. Whole Foods stocks the Cool Cups brand and Trader Joe’s are offering house brand Black Cherry and Orange flavored Gel Cups that are Vegan, Kosher, and free of all artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. They both use carrageenan as a gelling agent. Carrageenan comes from seaweed. You can learn more about it and the Cool Cups gel cups at their website which is located here…http://www.cool-cups.com/Cool_Cups.html I did a comparison taste test between the two brands. They taste remarkably alike. I preferred the texture of the whole foods offering but was happy with both. You may...

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No Baste Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Corn-Free Moist Turkey with Crispy Skin

Posted by | Nov 5, 2012 | |

A gluten-free dairy-free corn-free generally hypoallergenic vegan-friendly Thanksgiving is actually very straightforward. Cranberry sauce is generally hypoallegenic and vegan. Frozen peas are hypoallergenic and vegan. Garlic mashed potatoes, creamy mashed sweet potatoes, and cole slaw can all easily be made hypoallergenic and vegan even by someone who really doesn’t know what she is doing. Trust me. The turkey and the stuffing pose a few challenges, but vegan stuffing can be done, and vegan apple pie and ice cream round out the dinner. Every year my husband wants to know when the turkey will be ready. Every year I tell him that I don’t know and that is why we have appetizers. The issue with turkey is that it is done when it is done and the thighs are done about an hour after the breast is done. There are several well known solutions to this problem. You can deep fry the turkey. You can butcher the turkey and cook it as parts. You can brine the turkey for a day ahead of time. You can baste the turkey, or you can do what my mother always did and drown the white meat in gravy so you don’t notice how dry it got. I hate all of these options. I lack the upper body strength to deep fry the turkey and you truly do need peanut oil and a lot...

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Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Nut-Free Vegan Option Banana Pancakes

Posted by | Nov 4, 2012 | |

Once I realized that my favorite in car and in lunchbox snacks were now out of the question I started bringing bananas everywhere. Bananas are a single serving snack that don’t need to be washed and have their own biodegradable easy to open wrapper. Unfortunately they go from perfect to overripe pretty quickly. The good news is that they freeze well, so you just peel an overripe banana, stick it in a zipper bag and freeze it for future use. So now I needed some good uses for those bananas as they were starting to take up some serious freezer space. This recipe CAN be made vegan by adding in egg replacer in place of the egg. I tested it and no one noticed the change. That said, they are much more difficult to cook since the bananas are sugary and make the pancakes stick to the pan. A really thin spatula, a really good pan and someone with experience made it no big deal but my warning is that without the egg they get kind of sticky. I consider these vegan optional, as they can be made and they taste fine, but they can still be improved in their vegan version. These are so sweet that there is no need for syrup. Ingredients 3 peeled medium sized frozen bananas 3/4 cup safe milk (flax, hemp, soy etc. Preferably...

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