Sheet pan chicken and broccoli

My go-to dinner for when I'm busy, tired, worn out, cranky, etc = a sheet pan lined with foil + meat + veggies. 

This version had:

chicken thighs + ground thyme, paprika, garlic, salt, and pepper

frozen broccoli + a spray of olive oil, salt, and pepper

Baked at 350 for 30 minutes. Or until the chicken is 165.

The broccoli cooks in the chicken juices and also gets a little charred on top... so good.

Cranberry nut donuts

Continuing the donut trend... my mom makes these cranberry nut bars every Christmas and I tried them in donut form, with much success. They didn't last past breakfast. Adapted from the recipe on the back of the cranberry bag.

Cranberry Nut Donuts

1 egg

1/4 c. brown sugar

1/2 t. vanilla

2 T. olive oil

1/4 t. salt

1/2 c. gf flour

3/4 c. finely chopped fresh cranberries

1/4 c. finely chopped walnuts

Beat the egg with a whisk. Stir in the sugar, oil, and vanilla. Stir in the flour and salt. Stir in the cranberries and walnuts. Spoon into a sandwich bag, and cut the corner out. Pipe into a greased donut pan.* Bake for 10 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Dust with powdered sugar.

*I attempted to stretch the batch to make 6 donuts, but as you can see from the first picture they turned out a little skinny. Makes 4 chubbier donuts, as you can see in the second picture.**

**I ran out of cranberries and substituted some finely chopped blueberries in a second batch. Equally delicious.

P.S. I tried this recipe with baking powder to get a fluffier texture, but the overall opinion was that they are better without.

Banana donuts

Banana muffins... but make it a donut. Because why the heck not?

Banana donuts

Mix in a bowl:

1 really ripe banana, mushed with a fork

1 egg, beaten

1/4 c. oil

1 t. vanilla

1/2 t. vinegar

1/4 c. brown sugar

1 c. gf flour

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

Pour the batter into a sandwich baggie and cut off the corner. Pipe into a greased donut pan. Top with cinnamon sugar, walnuts, chocolate chips, etc.

Bake at 350 for 13 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Makes 6 donuts

Travel menu

Our latest adventure took us to Hollywood, Florida. While our hotel room was equipped with a mini fridge, it did not have a microwave. (Or a coffee maker!)

I arrived armed with my travel kit and dash mini griddle, and I survived on:

Yogurt with fruit and nuts

Scrambled egg with spinach

A burrito bowl that contained pinto beans + rice + canned chicken warmed on the griddle (+ guac from one of the restaurants onsite + spinach)

Tuna salad

...and way too many beachfront cocktails. Cheers!

potato soup, sans dairy

Can you believe that I haven't made potato soup since cutting out dairy?

Well, it's possible. P.S. use up any sad veggies in your fridge by cutting them very small and tossing them into the pot.

Potato Soup

4 small potatoes, peeled and cut into small chunks

2 T olive oil

1 stalk of celery, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

1/4 sweet onion, chopped

2 mushrooms, chopped

1/4 zucchini, shredded

3 thick slices of ham, cut into cubes

1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, removed from the stem

1 T. fresh parsley, chopped

1 T. nutritional yeast

1/2 c. almond milk

optional to thicken: 2 T. cold almond milk + 1 t. gf flour mix

salt and pepper to taste

Put the potatoes in a medium sized pot and fill with water. The water should be about an inch above the potatoes. Boil until a fork can be inserted easily into a chunk of potato. DO NOT DRAIN.

In the meantime, put the veggies, oil, and ham into a large pot and sautee until the veggies are soft. Add the potatoes + water. This step is important because the starchy potato water will help the soup thicken. Mash some of the potatoes with the back of the spoon and stir frequently while the soup comes to a rapid boil. Add in the fresh herbs, nutritional yeast, and almond milk.

As the soup boils, keep stirring. It will thicken. If it needs to be thicker, mix 2 T. cold almond milk with 1 t. gf flour into a small bowl and mix that slowly into to the boiling soup. Let it boil for a minute while stirring, then remove from heat.

Top with a sprinkle of nutritional yeast and a dash of smoked paprika.

less dense cornbread

I made chili tonight. When I asked my man if he wanted cornbread with it, he declined, saying my cornbread was "too dense."

Gasp. Oh, no. That word is the bane of every gluten free baker. Over the years, I've gotten used to the way gluten free tastes and this type of feedback is very valuable.

Thankfully, I fixed it. Thanks to the delightful and scientific combination of baking soda and vinegar, this recipe is lighter (and sweeter, because he prefers a sweeter cornbread). He, myself, and a friend all enjoyed these muffins without complaint.

Mini cornbread muffins

1/2 c. gf flour mix

1/2 c. corn meal

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

3 T. sugar (if you like sweet cornbread)

1 egg

2 T. oil

1/2 c. almond milk

1 t. apple cider vinegar

Preheat the oven to 350. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix the wet ingredients in another bowl (Or, a 2 c. liquid measuring cup with a spout). Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Pour the batter into 12 greased mini muffin wells. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Pumpkin donuts

Y'all, I do not regret buying a donut pan. I always thought they were no different from, say, muffins, but things really do bake up differently in a donut pan.

I've tried a few different recipes for pumpkin donuts and this is my favorite, adapted from here. 

Pumpkin Donuts

1.5 c. GF flour mix
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/3 c. loosely packed brown sugar
1 t. pumpkin pie spice*
1/2 t. cinnamon

1 egg
1/2 c. pumpkin
2 T. oil
1/4 c. almond milk
1 t. vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix the wet ingredients in another bowl. Then mix it all together.
Spoon the batter into a sandwich baggie and cut off the corner. Pipe the batter generously into a greased donut pan. It should fill 6 wells. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

These are good on their own, but the maple cinnamon glaze (adapted from here) really makes these fantastic.

Maple Cinnamon glaze:
1 c. powdered sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 T maple syrup
2 T. almond milk
dash of salt

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl wide enough to dip the donuts.  Microwave for 15 seconds to help the flavors meld (I hate that "stale" powdered sugar taste). Dip the donuts and let the glaze set.

*Pumpkin pie spice:
1 t. ground cinnamon
1 t. ground ginger
1/4 t. ground nutmeg
1/4 t. ground cloves

rugelach

One day I was in Whole Foods.
Hungry.
You all know where this is headed. 

I picked up a treat in the frozen section, and I chose these delightful little cookie things... Katz cinnamon rugelach. They were barely thawed while I sampled one during my drive home. Oh, they're good! The box was swiftly polished off, and now, several months later, those crisp little cinnamony swirly cookies have been on my mind. 

I could have driven to the store and bought some, but to be honest they were a little too sweet for me. Plus I didn't want to put on pants. So I made some.

Rugelach

Crust:

1/2 stick of dairy free butter, room temperature

1/4 container of dairy free cream cheese (I like Kite Hill), room temperature

1/2 c. flour blend

Filling:
2 T. brown sugar

1 T. ground cinnamon

1/4 t. salt

Use a hand mixer to combine the ingredients for the crust. Let it chill for 30 minutes in the fridge.
Combine the filling ingredients in a small bowl.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Tape a piece of wax paper to the counter top. Dust it with gf flour and roll out the chilled dough into a rectangle. Spray a fine layer of cooking spray onto the dough and top with the filling. Roll the dough into a tight roll and cut into small slices. 
Place each slice onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the bottoms start to brown.

Travel menu with no microwave

Why do Vegas hotels not have microwaves? You're lucky to get a fridge but finding a microwave is very rare.

No matter. I adapt! With the help of my trusty travel kit and dash mini griddle, I'm all set.

My dad saw me making breakfast one morning and after a couple of bites of a leftover chicken sausage and egg scramble, he insisted that I leave my travel kit and griddle with him for the rest of his trip (they stayed a few extra days). He sent me this:

Here's the 3-day menu:

Breakfasts:
eggs and fruit
yogurt with dried fruit and nuts

Lunches:
turkey lunchmeat with avocado (wrapped in a corn tortilla)
tuna salad

Dinners:
canned chicken on salad greens
chicken sausage with spinach and rice
pinto bean quesadilla

Most of this I can actually pack in my checked bag (did you know you can't bring canned chicken or tuna in your carryon?), so I only had to stop and get perishables at the grocery store.

Shopping List:
eggs
fruit
avocado
salad greens/spinach
dried fruit and nut packets

can of chicken (check to make sure it's gf, some brands are not)

packet of tuna

corn tortillas

minute rice (the rice can be heated up on the griddle with a splash of water)

lunchmeat

chicken and apple sausage

Chocolate cupcakes

Some days you need a cupcake. Sometimes a vanilla cupcake hits the spot, but today, it was chocolate all the way.

Chocolate cupcakes

1/4 c. softened dairy free butter

1/4 c. sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 t. salt

1/2 c. gf flour

1/4 c. cocoa

1 t. baking powder

1/4 c. almond milk

Preheat the oven to 350. 

With a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until it's creamy. Mix in the egg, milk, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix for 1-2 minutes. The batter will be fluffy.

Spoon into muffin tins, lined with a paper cupcake liner and spritzed with cooking spray. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the tops are set and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Makes 4-6 cupcakes, depending on how full you fill the wells.

To make the chocolate buttercream, mix the following with a hand mixer:

1/4 c. butter, softened

3/4 c. powdered sugar

1/4 c. cocoa

2 T. almond milk

1/4 t. vanilla

pinch of salt

Travel meal: Sausage, spinach, and rice

Hi, Hi, Hi-ya! (bonus points if you know what movie that's from.)

Today I walked through Whole Foods with a slightly cranky belly that was craving something real and gentle. 

I bought some Applegate Farms chicken sausage, cooked it on the dash mini griddle, paired with spinach and rice. Plus I got some watermelon because it looked good. And some oat-free granola for my yogurt tomorrow morning. Because you can't get out of Whole Foods with only what you came for.

But dinner. Dinner was ready in 

Three,

Two,

One.

frothy milk without fancy equipment

Good morning! This post comes with a story. Normally I hate that, so scroll to the bottom to skip it.

There's a reason why I care so much about foaming milk without fancy equipment.

It starts with my preference for strong black coffee. My stomach became irritated with it, so I tried adding unsweetened almond milk to buffer the jet fuel. It helps. A LOT.

My stomach has felt better, but I don't exactly like the way it tastes. I still prefer that bitter, un-adultered cup of coffee. Do you know what it's like to wake up in the morning and NOT look forward to your coffee? It sucks.

I recently visited a friend who likes lattes in the morning. She uses a milk steamer and it got me thinking... I like lattes, and I could get on board with being fancy every day. I almost bought myself a milk steamer, but we already have 2 coffeemakers and I don't want another gadget cluttering the kitchen counter.

Luckily, all I needed was a glass jar.
(I happen to have a glass jar problem and have plenty laying around. I think this one is an old pizza sauce jar- I like it because it has markings on the side for easy measuring.)

Here are the steps to get frothy almond milk:

1. Add almond milk to the jar. Sometimes I add turmeric or cinnamon.

2. Microwave it for 1 minute (with the lid OFF)

3. Feed the cat while it's heating

4. Place the lid on the jar

5. Shake for a few seconds

6. Pour into a cup of dark, strong coffee

Now, I look forward to my cup of coffee again.

vanilla cupcakes

Today I needed a cupcake. Specifically, a vanilla cupcake with vanilla frosting and sprinkles.

So, I made some. I intentionally made a small batch because if I make them, I will eat them. This makes between 4-6 cupcakes, depending on how full you fill the wells.

Vanilla cupcakes

1/4 c. softened dairy free butter

1/4 c. sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 t. salt

3/4 c. gf flour

1 t. baking powder

1/4 c. almond milk

Preheat the oven to 350. 

With a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until it's creamy. Mix in the egg, milk, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix for 1-2 minutes. The batter will be fluffy.

Spoon into muffin tins, lined with a paper cupcake liner and spritzed with cooking spray. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the tops are set and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Frost with your favorite frosting. I used the recipe that was printed on the powdered sugar bag. 

I am not even a little bit ashamed to say that I had finished them all by dinnertime. 

So good.