Olive and Pimento Cream Cheese Alternative

I really miss cream cheese. I have cravings for it all the time. When I lived in Pittsburgh, PA, one of my favorite places to go for breakfast was Bruegger's Bagels, where they had a delicious selection of cream cheese to choose from, including strawberry, pumpkin, and, my all time favorite, olive and pimento.

I used to make my own flavored cream cheese when we first came out to California and had great success with pumpkin, blueberry, and olive pimento, but when dairy started bothering me I stopped. I've tried to come up with cream cheese alternatives, first by using creamy goat cheese instead. I mixed it with raspberry preserves to make raspberry cream cheese, and it was a great option, until goat cheese started bothering me as well. I thought about trying Toffuti cream cheese alternative, but I could never bring myself to buy it--it's made with hydrogenated oils and therefore contains trans fat. Why put that stuff into my body?

Then, when I was a Trader Joe's the other day, I found a container of cream cheese alternative called "This is Not a Tub of Cream Cheese This is a Tub of Non-Dairy Spread." Yeah, that is literally what it's called. It is made out of coconut oil, sunflower oil, soy protein, and lots of thickeners. It is cholesterol free and also free of hydrogenated oils. The only problem with it is that it tastes nothing like cream cheese. It just looks and spreads like cream cheese. So I went to work to try to make it edible. I figured that adding strong flavor to it would really make a difference, so I mixed in some green olives and the spread became really something to be happy about. I devoured the two halves of my mini bagel with olive pimento spread and needed more. So I made another one. And another. It's almost like eating cream cheese again! Definitely worth a try. I would love to try pumpkin next.

Ingredients
1 container This is Not a Tub of Cream Cheese This is a Tub of Non-Dairy Spread
1/2 cup Manzanilla olives stuffed with minced pimentos.
1 teaspoon Manzanilla olive juice

Directions
1. Dice the green olives with pimentos still inside.


2. In a small bowl, thoroughly mix the diced olives with the cream cheese alternative and the olive juice. You can easily add more olives if you want. The more olives added the more it tastes like green olives and the less it tastes of the spread.


3. Spread it on your favorite toasted bagel and watch it disappear before your eyes!

Sweet and "Creamy" Pumpkin Soup

I've always been disappointed by ready to serve butternut squash soups when I read the label and find out they are made with milk or cream. Recently I found one at Whole Foods that was made with soy milk, but I have to say it was a little bland. The taste of soy took away from the delicious sweetness of the butternut squash. So I had a go at creating my own "creamy" soup, and I used canned pumpkin since it was so readily available. The vanilla soy milk I used made it so thick and sweet that my husband and I devoured it! The sage and black pepper balances out the sweetness so it doesn't taste like you are slurping pumpkin pie. It makes a great compliment to an entree of chicken or turkey. I will probably make this again for our Thanksgiving dinner feast!

Ingredients
1 15ounce can pumpkin
1 1/2 pumpkin cans of Silk Very Vanilla Soymilk
1 teaspoon ground sage
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Directions
1. Empty pumpkin into at least a 2 quart saucepan and place burner on medium heat.
2. Measure the soy milk in the empty pumpkin can. Slowly stir in Very Vanilla Soymilk until evenly blended.
3. Add sage, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, and sea salt and heat until almost boiling, stirring often.
4. Ladle in a bowl, sprinkle with ground sage, and serve with buttery crackers. We like Social Snackers from Trader Joes; they are dairy free and contain no hydrogenated oils, yet still maintain that buttery taste that is so addicting.

Soy Milk Pumpkin Pie

Soy Milk Pumpkin Pie

For my husband's birthday I usually make him a pumpkin pie instead of cake, since he considers it the best dessert ever created. I was an expert at making a creamy, melt-in-your mouth pumpkin pie. Now that eating anything made with 12 ounces of condensed milk is out of the question for me, I thought I would take a shot at making it lactose intolerant friendly. There are a bunch of dairy free pumpkin pie recipes out there, but I think you'll find mine particularly tasty. My husband loves it!

Ingredients
1 refrigerated pie crust
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 large eggs, 1 egg white
15oz can pumpkin
1 cup Silk Very Vanilla Soymilk


Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.



2. Mold the pie crust into a pie dish and trim excess dough from the edges.



3. Mix sugar, salt, and spices in a small bowl until thoroughly blended.




4. In a large bowl, beat eggs and egg white. Stir in the pumpkin and then the sugar and spice mixture.



5. Gradually add Very Vanilla Soymilk and stir until completely blended. Pour into pie crust.



6. Bake for 15 minutes to set a crispy crust, then lower the temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 40 minutes. To check if the pie is done, stick a knife through the middle and see if it comes up clean. If there is a layer of pumpkin on it, you may need to bake for an additional 5-10 minutes. Serve with dairy-free vanilla ice cream if you want to go all out. Happy Fall!

Pesto Chicken with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Pine Nuts

Relief for the Lactose Intolerant:

One of the saddest parts about being lactose intolerant is the inability to eat cheese. I really miss it. This is especially difficult when favorite foods contain cheese, like pizza for instance. Fortunately, there are options! My love for pizza and other cheesy recipes has led me to discover many delicious modifications that, though they will never be the same, are still good replacements that leave me quite content. 

Soy cheese is a great discovery, although the soy flavor is too overpowering to enjoy by itself. When it is combined with other flavors, however, it makes a great cheese replacement. I have some amazing pizza recipes coming up that use a mixture of soy mozzarella cheese and goat cheese crumbles to replace real mozzarella. It is more than delicious and also a much healthier option, since much of the fat from the cheese is eliminated. It's practically grease-less pizza! Goat cheese contains less lactose than soft dairy cheese, and when used sparingly (or with the help of a Lactaid), can be digested without any problems.

Also, lactose intolerant people can handle small amounts of Parmesan Cheese, and other hard, aged cheese because most of the lactose is broken down in the aging process. Actually, the harder the cheese, the older it is, the lower the lactose. It's even better if it's aged goat cheese! So while a piece of cheese pizza leaves me in agony for hours, a piece of eight month old Parmesan cheese or Aged Goat Gouda is just fine, and helps to satisfy that cheese craving. That being said, it is okay for lactose intolerant people to use Parmesan or Parmigiana Romano Cheese in their recipes, as long as they don't overdo it. Pesto sauce is acceptable, as long as it is not mixed with butter and cream, which some recipes call for and many restaurants use.

This Pesto Chicken recipe only contains a small amount of aged Romano Cheese--store bought pesto sauces usually contain it. You can make your own pesto sauce without cheese, but if you are a busy girl, you don't really have the time or patience to do this. I do have a simple homemade pesto recipe, but I would much rather use the already made, digestible,  and conveniently available Classico Pesto, which you can find at your local supermarket.

Pesto Chicken with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Pine Nuts

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts, sliced in half to make four thin pieces
Pre-made Pesto Sauce
1/2 cup julienne cut sun dried tomatoes
2 teaspoons olive oil
3 tablespoons pine nuts


Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 
2. In a small bowl, drench the sun dried tomatoes in the olive oil and leave them to soak for a minute.
3. Line a large glass baking dish with foil, and place the sliced chicken breasts so that they do not overlap.

4. Use a basting brush to brush each side of each chicken breast with a generous teaspoon of pesto sauce.

5. Top each chicken breast with the olive oil soaked sun dried tomatoes.

6. Cover the dish with foil, and bake for 25 minutes.


7. While the chicken is baking, toast pine nuts in a small pan over medium heat for five minutes or until light golden brown. They will toast quickly, so be careful not to burn them, and you also may want to make more, because you will eat them as you are waiting for your chicken to cook.


8. When baking time is up, remove foil and top the individual chicken breasts with the toasted pine nuts. Serve with a green vegetable or a serving of pasta. Simple, healthy, and delicious!

Meatball Vegetable Soup For Two

A crock pot is a busy girl's best friend in the kitchen; in this soup recipe, you literally throw everything in the pot and forget about it for four hours. There is minimal chopping prep, and no extra cooking or searing. This low maintenance recipe is a meal in itself: hearty, delicious, healthy, and will only leave you with leftovers for tomorrow (unless you decide to have thirds). You can easily add more vegetables to this soup, like frozen green beans or corn. It also goes well with egg noodles, orzo, or kidney beans thrown in if you want to make it a bit more complicated. But I think it's just right with the minimal ingredients, and super simple. This meatball soup is a perfect meal for two, especially on a chilly summer night. Best served with warm sourdough bread or some flavorful crackers.


Ingredients
2 1/2 cups beef broth
2 cups party size frozen meatballs from your health foods store (no fillers or preservatives)
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
4 small gold potatoes, cubed
1 can no salt added diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
Dash of sea salt and black pepper

Directions:
1. After chopping the vegetables, throw beef broth, meatballs, onion, garlic, carrots, celery, potatoes, tomatoes, parsley, basil, oregano, and salt and pepper into the crock pot and stir well. Cover and cook on high for four hours or on low for six hours. Go do something else and come back for dinner!

Leftover Potatoes for Breakfast

Is your stomach feeling those extra glasses of Moscato from the night before? Have a few potatoes sitting in your fridge? Make a dairy-free comfort breakfast with easy to digest carbohydrates, perfect for the weekend morning. Here is an easy breakfast potatoes recipe that you can quickly throw in the oven and then go back to sipping your morning coffee.

Ingredients:

6 small gold potatoes, cubed
1/4 cup chopped yellow onion*
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic olive oil*
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic*
Fresh parsley, coarsely chopped*
1/2--1 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon basil
Dash cayenne pepper*

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Cube your potatoes and place them in a 7" x 11" (2.2 quart) or larger baking dish.

3. Add the extra-virgin olive oil, garlic oil, onions, and minced garlic and toss until coated with oil.

4. Sprinkle the onion powder, black pepper, sea salt, oregano, and basil over the potatoes and toss to coat evenly.

5. Bake at 30-35 minutes, or until tender. The potatoes will be soft and browned on the edges. Remove from oven and stir in the chopped parsley. Enjoy!

*Updated and optional.

Summer Vacation Peach Cobbler

Even busy girls like to cook something more involved now and then, which is why I am supplying the full from-scratch recipe to my mom's unparalleled peach cobbler. Putting this recipe together is fairly simple, but you can make it much easier on yourself by using already sliced frozen or canned peaches and a premixed flour mixture such as Bisquick Light. Just add the sugar, lemon, milk, egg, and oil blend. I do recommend that you make the dough from scratch, however, because the premix version just isn't the same.

This is not the exact recipe--I've altered it to fit the dairy-free lifestyle and made it healthier by eliminating butter and substituting the sugar with Splenda. One cup Splenda instead of one cup sugar = a lot fewer calories. Likewise, 4 tablespoons of a non-hydrogenated solid oil blend like Smart Balance or Earth Balance eliminates an entire cup of unhealthy fats. You can use one cup of sugar and 1 cup of shortening (which is what the original recipe calls for), but my version is amazing and much less fattening. With the suggestion of my mom, I've also substituted peach schnapps for almond extract to give it a summer vacation twist. The result is divine. This dessert is not complicated and will never interfere with your ability to wear a string bikini, which is why it's perfect for summer vacation!

Ingredients
3 cups sliced peaches
1 cup granulated Splenda
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest (optional)
1/2 teaspoon of peach schnapps (optional)

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar, divided
4 tablespoons oil blend
1/2 cup vanilla soymilk
1 beaten egg

Busy Girl Preparation for Peaches:

1. Open bag of sliced, skinned, frozen peaches. Rinse three cups worth under water to remove ice and set in bowl containing one tablespoon of lemon juice. 

If using fresh peaches, which is the tastier way to do it, the easiest way to skin them is by parboiling:

Click to zoom in and see the "X."

More Time Consuming Preparation for Peaches:

What you will need:

• 6 large ripe yellow peaches
• Large bowl filled with ice water
• Large pot with enough water to cover peaches
• Slotted spoon
• Cutting board
• Knife
• Lemon Juice

Directions for Parboiling

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, rinse the peaches. Slice an "X" on each peach to create an easy opening for skin removal. Place peaches in the boiling water for one to two minutes depending on ripeness. Remove with a slotted spoon and immediately place in ice water to stop them from cooking. After they are cool enough to handle you can remove them from the bowl. Drain the ice water and replace it with one tablespoon of lemon juice. The skin from the peaches should come off easily as you start removing from the X. If you have trouble, just get the rest of the skin with a peeler. Peel the skin and pit the peaches, slice and add to the bowl with lemon juice. Ready to make your cobbler!

Remaining Peach Cobbler Directions

1. To your bowl of sliced peaches and lemon juice, add Splenda, lemon zest, and peach schnapps. Stir peaches until evenly coated. Pour mixture into a 9inch square baking dish.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and place the peach mixture in the oven to warm while you mix the dough.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and one tablespoon of real sugar. 
4. Melt your 4 tablespoons of oil blend such as Earth Balance in the microwave for 20 seconds.
5. Combine soymilk, oil blend, and lightly beaten egg in small bowl, then add to flour mixture and stir until smooth. The mixture should be light and fluffy.
6. Take the peaches out of the oven, and spoon the dough on top, forming as even a layer as possible. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar on top.
7. Bake for 35 minutes, or until brown. Enjoy your peach cobbler warm by itself or with vanilla ice cream! Mmm.