Pumpkin pie, dairy free

For years I have happily made my pumpkin pie using the directions on the can, which calls for evaporated milk. This year, at the start of pumpkin season, I am still avoiding dairy (with great results). Which means this recipe had to be re-thought. 

Good thing it was easy. I used a little bit of almond milk in place of the evaporated milk, and added a little extra sugar and spice to the crust.

The crust:

1/2 c. gf flour mix

1/2 c. almond flour

1/8 t. salt

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp turbinado sugar
3 Tbsp olive oil

Mix everything up and press it into the bottom of a 9-inch pie pan, or an 8-inch cake pan.

The filling:
1/2 c. loosely packed brown sugar
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. ginger

1/4 t. nutmeg
1/8 t. cloves
2 eggs
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin
1/2 c. plain unsweetened almond milk

Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl. Mix in everything else really well and pour the filling into the prepared crust. Bake it at 425 for 15 minutes. Lower the temperature to 350 and bake it for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near center is clean. Cool to room temperature and then stick it in the fridge. 

No noticeable difference in taste or texture from the dairy version. 

Between the 2 of us it was gone in 24 hours.

Breaded baked white fish

This fish was so delicious. We both kept going back for a little bit more.

All it is, is fish + cornmeal + seasonings:

1 c. cornmeal

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp celery salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

salt and pepper

Mix that all up on a plate. Take a piece of white fish (tilapia, sea bass, cod, whatever is on sale at the grocery store) and lay it on top of the mixture, flipping it and patting the cornmeal onto each side with your hands. Place the fish on a greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 425 for 20 minutes.

Serve with carrots and a simple cabbage/ zucchini slaw. 

Shrimp Scampi with mussels

This is such a good, simple dish. Shrimp, mussels, garlic, wine, and parsley. A few sweet peppers for a flavor boost, and some peas because that's how I like it. Served with some GF pasta. 

Ingredients:

12 frozen mussels

1/4 lb raw shrimp

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 T. olive oil

3 small sweet peppers, chopped

1 tsp red pepper flakes

white wine (I don't drink a lot of white wine so I used those little single serving bottles of pinot grigio)

1/2 c. chopped fresh parsley

1 lemon, juiced

salt and pepper

1/4 c. frozen peas

Put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. In the meantime, heat a pan to medium-high heat. Sautee the peppers and oil until they are soft and have a little char. Add in the garlic and heat that for a minute. 

At this point the pasta water should be boiling. Add your favorite GF spaghetti noodles. 

Pour the bottle of wine in the pan with the peppers and add in the mussels. Cover the pan. Set a timer for 10 minutes. When 3-4 minutes are left, add the shrimp and leave the lid off. Stir in the red pepper flakes, parsley, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste. When the timer goes off, it's done. At this point I like to add frozen peas. Drain the noodles and toss them into the pan with everything else. 

Discard any mussels that did not open. 

Serves 2.

red beans and rice with sausage

We accidentally used up the green bell pepper that I had bought to use in this recipe. You know what was in the fridge? Half of a poblano pepper. Ooh, cuz. That kicks up red beans and rice real nice.

Red Beans and Rice

1/2 chopped onion

1/2 chopped poblano pepper

1 stalk of chopped celery

1/2 c. chopped fresh parsley

cayenne pepper

rubbed sage

salt and pepper

1 bay leaf

1 can of red beans

1 link of andouille sausage, sliced at an angle

Sautee the onion, pepper, and celery in a little bit of olive oil. When the veggies are soft and charred, add in the spices, herbs, and beans. Simmer on low heat while the rice cooks, about 15 minutes.

My pan got full and I like my sausage nice and charred, so I heated that in a separate pan and added them in at the end.

Yum.

breakfast quinoa bowl

Usually I eat the same thing for breakfast. An egg, some greens, and fruit.

Last night we had some leftover quinoa that doesn't really incorporate well into the rest of the meals planned for the week, and I didn't feel like making it into a side salad, so I figured I'd work it into my breakfast. 

I made a bowl with the following:

kale, torn into small pieces

finely sliced red cabbage

quinoa

olive oil

salt and pepper

fried egg, over medium and chopped up

diced avocado

It was pretty good, and has kind of inspired me to try some other variations of quinoa for breakfast. 

Not sure how a sweet version would taste, with cinnamon, peanut butter, or fruit, like instead of oatmeal? 

Eh, I might just stick to savory.

Blake's GF chicken pot pie

I had to stay in a hotel for a couple of nights last week and I found this great gluten free section in the nearest grocery store. I always, always have to try the chicken pot pie, so when I saw Blake's gluten free pot pie (and dairy free, from what I could see on the ingredients list) in the frozen section, I grabbed it.

Not expecting it to be great, I popped it into the microwave after a long day and poured a glass of wine.

When it was done, it seemed to be all pale crust and minimal filling, which disappointed me. But, it was dinner, so I ate it with a salad.

And it was actually good! The crust was so good that I wished there was more of it. The filling was good, too. Nothing weird, no strange aftertastes, just yummy.

Would definitely buy this again.

beef quesadillas

You know what's good? These quesadillas. 

I'm all about quick and easy lately, and these happened when I had some ground beef thawed with no idea what to do.

Here's what you do:

Heat some chopped onion in a pan with the ground beef until it's brown. Add in taco seasoning. 

Spread some Kite Hill Cream Cheese (the best dairy free cream cheese I've tried) onto a corn tortilla and top with the ground beef and some sad spinach. Place another tortilla on top and cook on a hot pan until each side is crispy. 

Serve with mexican rice, black beans, and sliced avocado. Instead of sour cream I tried Forager plain yogurt. It was a little runny but the taste was good.