Diary Free Soy Free Chicken Wrap

This was my husbands go to meal as a bachelor, though he usually ate it on bread. I tried it on a tortilla and it was perfect, - crunchy, flavorful and filling.   While bread is hard to come by I’ve been finding a lot a great uses for my Costco tortilla and this one is by far my favorite.

Servings: 6

Ingredients:

• 4 leaves of lettuce, shredded
• 1 tomato cubed
• 1 orange or red bell pepper cubed
• 1 avocado cubed
• 1 onion diced
• 2 chicken breast shredded
• 2-3 cubes chicken bullion (depending on how salty you like your food)
• Pinch of pepper
• 2 Tbs water
• 2 Tbs canola oil
• 6 Costco Tortilla Land tortilla shells.

Instructions: 

1. Add chicken to a small sauce pan, cover with water and bring to a boil.  Once water is boiling turn down the heat and simmer the chicken until cooked, about 10 minutes.
2. While chicken is cooking, cube the tomato, pepper and avocado.  Shred the lettuce and dice the onion. Put them aside when finished.
3. Heat a large skillet on medium heat an cook tortilla shells.  Cook tortillas about 1  minute on each side or until lightly browned.  Remove from skilled and put aside.
4. Once chicken is thoroughly cooked and no pink spots remain, remove from the water and shred using two forks. 
5. In small sauce pan over medium heat sauté diced onion with add 2 Tbs canola oil, about 3 minutes. 
6. Once onions are soft add shredded chicken, bullion, 2 Tbs water and a pinch of pepper.  Combine and simmer together over medium heat until the water cooks off. Remove from heat.
7. On a tortilla, layer chicken mixture, lettuce, tomato, pepper, and avocado.  Roll up and enjoy.

Dairy Free Soy Free Shepherd’s Pie

This is a slightly quicker take on the tradition meal, mostly because I save myself the effort of cutting up lots of vegetables by using precut frozen ones.  It’s also a great comfort food for a rainy day and I feel like I can sneak in all kinds of vegetables without protest because they are covered by fluffy delicious mashed potatoes.

Servings: 6

Ingredients:

• 4 large russet potatoes
• 1 16 oz bag of frozen mixed vegetables
• 1 lbs ground beef
• 1 diced yellow onion
• ½ cup rice or coconut milk
• 1 can tomato soup
• ½ cup water
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• pepper to taste
• dash of paprika

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Peel and dice potatoes into1 inch squares. Place them in a medium saucepan and cover them with water. Bring the water to boil using high heat, once boiling turn heat down and simmer the potatoes for 10 minutes or until soft and easy to crush.
3. While potatoes are cooking add the ground beef to a skillet with the onion and cook over medium heat until the ground beef is cooked through.  Drain the grease and return the ground beef and cooked onion to the skillet. 
4. Thaw the 16 oz bag of vegetables in the microwave. Once thawed add them to the ground beef onion mixture with a can of tomato soup and ½ cup of water.  Stir to combine and simmer over medium heat.  Mix in salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce.
5. Once the meat and vegetable mixture is heated thoroughly transfer the mixture to a glass 9x13 baking pan and spread it evenly across the bottom of the pan.
6. Once potatoes are soft drain the water from them and add a ½ cup of coconut or rice milk to the potatoes and blend with a hand mixer until smooth.  If the potatoes seem too thick add another ¼ cup of milk.
7. Once the potatoes are mashed place big spoonfulls of them in baking dish on top of the meat/vegetable mixture and use a spatula to spread them evenly across the dish.
8. Sprinkle a little bit of salt and paprika on the top of the potatoes and place them in the oven for 20 minutes or until the potatoes start to brown. (*Note: If you're potatoes are still warm and you don't care about crisping them you can skip this step and just enjoy them white and fluffy)
9. Remove from oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Diary Free Soy Free Oven Baked Fajitas

I think fajitas are great and I was really excited when I saw this oven baked version.  Using the oven means a lot less time in the kitchen and lot less oil in my food.  They turned out beautifully and I’ll make them again for sure.  I didn’t add cheese or sour cream to mine (obviously) and they were still amazing, but it was easy for my husband to add them to his. 

This recipe has been adapted from Real Mom Kitchen – Oven Baked Chicken Fajitas

Ingredients

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips – I find that if you are thawing frozen chicken, it’s much easier to cut into strips after defrosting it a couple of minutes but when the chicken is still mostly frozen.  Finish defrosting after it’s cut into strips.
• 2 Tbsp canola oil
• 2 tsp chili powder
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 large bell pepper, seeded and sliced
• 12 Tortilla Land tortillas

Instructions 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  
2. Slice chicken into strips and layer them on the bottom of an greased 13X9 baking dish. 
3. Combine oil, chili powder, garlic powder, oregano and salt in a small dish.
4. Spoon the mixture over the chicken and stir to coat.
5. Mix in the tomatoes, peppers and onions.
6. Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the vegetable are soft.  
7. Serve with tortillas.  

These are the only dairy and soy free tortillas I've found.  I got them at Costco and they are the kind that are premade but you have to cook for a few minutes in the frying pan.

Diary Free Soy Free Blueberry Orange Muffins

It’s so much work to fine carbs that are diary and soy free and I find myself craving them all the time.  I open our cupboards and see loafs of store bought bread that my husband uses for sandwiches every day and I find myself longing for that bready deliciousness. 

I bought tons of produce during our last grocery trip and I realized that I hadn’t finished the blueberries and they were starting to get mushy.  I’m a fan of tart firm blueberries and once they are soft and sweeter I’m done.  To avoid wasting them I whipped up some blueberry muffins and they were delicious.  It actually might be more accurate to say blueberry cupcakes, because they were sweet, soft, and delicious, but muffins sound better for you so I’m going to call them muffins.


    •    1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
    •    3/4 cup sugar
    •    1/2 teaspoon salt
    •    1 tablespoon baking powder
    •    ½ teaspoon baking soda
    •    1/3 cup canola oil
    •    1 large egg
    •    ¼ cup coconut or rice milk
    •    ¼ cup orange juice concentrate
    •    1 teaspoons vanilla extract
    •    1 cup fresh blueberries
    •    Pinch of nutmeg



1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Add flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda and nutmeg to a large bowl and mix together.
3. In another bowl add canola oil, egg, coconut/rice milk, orange juice concentrate, and vanilla and mix together.  When well combined add this mixture to the dry ingredients and stir together. 
4. The batter should be thick, but still drizzle off a spoon.  If it’s too think add another tablespoon of milk if it’s too thin add another tablespoon of flour.
5. When all the ingredients are mixed together add the blueberries and gently fold them into the batter without crushing the berries.
6. Spoon the batter into a grease or lined muffin tin.  I think the top of muffins is the best part so I fill my cups to the brim rather than ½ or ¾ full.  By filling them to the brim I was able to make 9 muffins.
7. Cook them for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned on top.

Dairy Free Soy Free Coconut Curry

Growing up my mom had a tendency to cook somewhat bland food, salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic we’re about the extent of the spices she used to flavor foods.  My mother-in-law is a lot more adventurous with flavors and I didn’t realize what I was missing until I was married.  Don’t get me wrong I still love my mama’s cooking and I often follow in her footsteps with more plain flavors but I’ve also learned to venture out and we’ve had some amazing foods because of it.  My point is that growing up curry was never ever on the menu.  I don’t think I even knew what curry was until my mid twenties and I’m a hesitant curry eater.  I get overwhelmed with the spiciness of it and I didn’t like it much until someone introduced me to coconut curry.  I happen to love this much milder version of curry and thanks to this diet restrictions I made curry for the first time.  I loved it and this will definitely be on future menus even when my diet is back to normal.  So if you are a hesitant curry eater or like more mild flavors I would suggest giving this a try.

Adapted from Mel's Kitchen Café – Coconut Curry Soup

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound chicken breast cut into 1-inch pieces
• Salt and pepper for seasoning
• 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion (about 1/2 medium onion)
• 1 red or green bell pepper, finely chopped
• 3 red potatoes cut into 1-inch squares
• 2 cups chopped carrots
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 can (14-ounces) unsweetened light coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 3-4 cups hot, cooked rice for serving

Directions

1. Cube potatoes and put them in a small pot with boiling water to soften, about 8 minutes.  Or put them in a microwave safe dish with water and cover with plastic wrap, heat in the microwave for 5 minutes.  Drain excess water and put aside.
2. Chop carrots into 1 inch pieces or use baby carrots.  Put the carrots in a small pot with boiling water and heat to soften, about 8 minutes. Or put them in a microwave safe dish with water and cover with plastic wrap, heat in the microwave for 3 minutes.  Drain excess water and put aside.
3. Heat the oil in the large pot using medium heat. (Note: If you are starting with frozen chicken, thaw if for a 3 minutes in the microwave then take it out and cut it.   I find it much easier to cut into cubes if it’s only half thawed.  Once it’s cubed but it back in the microwave to finish thawing.) Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and add them to the hot oil. Let the chicken cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the onions and red/green pepper. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until the onions and peppers soften. The chicken and vegetables will continue to cook in the next step.
4. Add the carrots, potatoes, chicken broth, coconut milk, brown sugar and curry powder. Stir together. Bring the soup to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes. Stir in the lime juice. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Serve a ladle or two of the soup over a scoop of rice.

Diary Free Soy Free Pancakes

These pancakes are quick and easy to make and I honestly don’t miss the dairy ingredients in this recipe at all. They are light and fluffy, brown nicely and taste delicious. When my husband make them he grease the pan between each round of pancakes to get them a little extra crispy on the outside and if you don’t have time to make bread these can be a nice substitute if you’re craving carbs.

This recipe has been adapted from Food.com Milk Free, Egg Free Pancakes.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour

• 3 tablespoons sugar

• 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 
2 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
• 
3/4 cup water

• 1 egg or 2 tablespoons water



Directions:



1. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together into medium mixing bowl.

2. Grease frying pan with 2 ½ tablespoons of canola oil, be sure to tip the pan so the whole thing is coated with the oil. 

3. Pour excess pan oil into a small bowl and add the egg to the oil. Mix well. 

4. Stir the oil and egg mixture into the dry ingredients until you have a lumpy batter.

5. Cook the pancakes over medium-high heat on the stove-top until the top of the pancake is bubbly and the bottom is browned. 

6. Flip the pancake and cook the other side, until both side are browned. 
 
7. Serve hot with jam or maple syrup.

Diary Free Soy Free Crock Pot Tomato Braised Beef

I’m usually a pretty bland cook. The go to seasoning for me are cinnamon, garlic salt, onion salt, regular salt and pepper.  The one major exception for me is the spicy fall flavors that usually accompany pumpkin flavored food in the fall.  I was interested in the recipe when I noticed that it used a lot of those fall flavors and I decided to step out of my standard spice comfort zone and give it a try.  I’m so glad I did, it was amazing and flavorful but not in an overwhelmingly spicy way.  This is also the first time I’ve used coco powder for something that was not a dessert, who knew coco was so versatile? Ha.

Crock Pot Tomato Braised Beef

Adapted from The Healthy Foodie - Tomato Olive Braised Beef with Rustic Cauliflower Turnip Mash

Ingredients

• 3 lbs boneless blade roast
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed
• ¼ cup vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 1 large can diced tomatoes
• 1 tbsp canola oil

The Spice Mix

• 1 tsp pepper
• 1½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground clove
• ½ tsp ground allspice
• 1 tsp dark cocoa powder

Instructions

1. Trim all the visible fat from your blade roast, for me this meant tearing it into pieces to remove the long strips down the center of my meat.  Multiple pieces of meat is fine.
2. Mix the spices together.
3. Cover all sides of your meat with the spice mix.
4. Preheat about 1 tablespoon of canola oil in a large heavy skillet over high heat. When pan is sizzling hot, add the meat and do not move it until it has formed a nice dark crust, about 5 minutes. Flip the piece of meat and sear the other side until it too, forms a nice golden crust.
5. Transfer meat to the crock pot.
6. Add onions and garlic to the pan and cook for another minute or two minutes.  This gives time for the vegetables to soak up some of the meat spices that are still on the pan.  When finished add the vegetables on top of the meat in the crock pot.  
7. Add water and vinegar to the cooking pan to finish collecting the spices then pour that liquid over the meat and veggies.
8. Add the tomatoes to the top of the mixture in the crock pot and put the lid on.
9. Cook on low 5-7 hours or on high 2-3 hours or until the meat pulls apart easily with a fork.
10. Check the meat from time to time to make sure there is still liquid in the pot.  If you are running low add a little bit more water.
11. Serve alone or over rice.