My First Dairy-free Thanksgiving

Gluten-free, dairy-free apple pie

I had my first gluten-free Thanksgiving last year.   This year was my first dairy-free Thanksgiving.  A challenge?  A little, yes.  But I think I did a pretty good job.  The menu was similar to last year.  The exceptions were really the pies.  I managed to have 2 days off in a row.  That rarely happens unless I request it.  I used those two days to start my prep for Thanksgiving.

Once I saw Carol’s post on the Perfect Gluten-free Pie CrustI knew I had to go for it finally.  I took my pie crust recipe that I used for years and simply substituted the flours.  I used my food processor to mix it like Carol suggested.  However, I over mixed it so the crust turned out crumbly during the baking process.  Lesson learned.  Do it by hand like I’ve always done next time.  Despite the little crust issue, the pie was just like I remember it.  I wound up eating the whole pie by myself since Chaz hasn’t had a sweet tooth lately.  Good thing I don’t use refined sugar and I used bean flour.

Crustless gluten-free, dairy-free Pumpkin Pie

The night before Thanksgiving, I quickly whipped up Shirley’s Crustless Gluten-free Dairy-free Pumpkin Pie.  Did I mention how easy it was?  I had it ready before the oven was even preheated.  Chaz still didn’t have a sweet tooth so the pie was all mine again.  I used real pumpkin and bean flour.  More vitamins and protein, the better!  The coconut milk helps in that area, too.  I did not puree the pumpkin.  The recipe doesn’t say to if using real pumpkin.  The thought did come to me after I poured the batter in the pie dish.  It always happens after, right?  I was staring at some chunks of pumpkin wondering if I should have used the immersion blender to mix it all together.  I figured if it didn’t turn out, I still had enough pumpkin to whip up another one.  I have to tell you, it was good with the pumpkin chunks.  The spices seeped into them so it wasn’t like a void in the pie.  It just gave the pie more texture.

Dairy-free Party Potatoes

I made sour cream and cashew cream cheese from Go Dairy Free’s book to make my potatoes.  This is where I really missed dairy.  While the sour cream was even better than real sour cream to me and the cream cheese gave me the idea to use port wine for port wine cheese, they did not bind the potatoes well.  The potatoes were still good, but no matter what I did to help the binding process, I didn’t get the creamy texture I’m used to.  I will definitely use the sour cream and cream cheese for other things.  I’ve already made the cream cheese with port wine, and it was as good as I imagined it.

Gluten-free, dairy-free stuffing

I made the same gluten-free stuffing that I created on the spot last year and used Earth Balance soy-free butter to cook the celery and onions.  Not one bit of difference at all.  It was the side that I had most of and it disappeared from the fridge first.  Last year, I used Whole Foods’ gluten-free sandwich bread.  This year, I used a mix of Katz Gluten-free Wholesome bread (my favorite gluten-free bread) and Rudi-s Whole Grain gluten-free bread (my second favorite).

Pan roasted Brussel sprouts with bacon

Last year, I made pan roasted Brussel sprouts with bacon and did so again this year, using my new favorite bacon, Applegate Farms.  They make my favorite hot dogs, too.  It was easy to do some prep on the veggie dishes while this dish cooked.  I never get tired of this dish.  Bacon just makes everything better.

Roasted golden beets and Roasted sliced eggplant

I went simple on the other two veggies.  Roasted sliced eggplant and roasted golden beets.  I was trying to make sure there was a lot of color in the veggies since the rest of the sides and the turkey are the same color.  I used my toaster oven and roasted the golden beets earlier in the day after putting the turkey in the oven so they would have time to cool off enough for me to handle when I trimmed them up and peeled the skin off to slice.  So thankful for toaster ovens!  The eggplant, I simply sliced and drizzled with oil and salt.  Then I put it in the oven after taking the turkey out.

Cranberry Compote

I love making fresh cranberry sauce during the holidays.  I love that I can make it ahead of time, too.  Which is what I always do.  However, this year I changed it up a little.  I used less water and less pure maple syrup.  The result was more of a compote than a sauce.  I’m so glad I bought extra cranberries so I can perfect this before sharing it with you.  I’ve already used the leftovers to make a “milk” shake and to top gluten-free blueberry waffles.

The finicky bird

The one thing that gave me trouble this year was the turkey.  I had it in the oven longer than recommended and the temperatures all checked out when I took it out of the oven.  Once I started to carve into it after letting it rest, I saw the dark meat was still pink and so were the juices.  I was not happy.  Okay, I was starving.  So the idea of having to put it back in made me not happy because I was ready to eat.  I turned up the temp on the oven and put it back in.  Once it was done, it was perfect.

I enjoyed a full plate while Chaz had 2 plates.  We were happily stuffed.

The Power of an Image

Harmless or Hurtful?

Pictures are said to be worth a thousand words.  They can be words of love, encouragement, outrage, desire, hopelessness, peace or any number of emotions.

I linked the image from BuzzFeed pictured from the original article from The Huffington Post.  Take a minute to go to the article if you haven’t seen it already before reading on.  Don’t read the comments from the readers on the link.

Done?

I was livid.

It’s bad enough I’ve been noticing a lot of callous jokes on TV about food allergies and intolerances.  Dismissing gluten-free diets as just the latest diet craze for people to lose weight.  Joking about making sure someone’s food had food offenders in it.  This is the kind of thing that will perpetuate stereotypes.

This is not a joke.  Food allergies and intolerances are serious health issues.  And excluding people solely on the basis of something they have NO control over is just wrong.  We want to be included.  We can’t help that our body makes us sick if ingest (or sometimes just touch) the offender.  If we had a choice, none of us would have food allergies or intolerances.  If you don’t know what to do to include us in your meal, ask us if we haven’t already offered.   Even if it means asking us to bring our own food.  We all do it.  I’m used to bringing something along with me just in case.

I mean this for other groups that get shunned because of something they have no control over, too.  Other medical conditions, developmental disorders, mental status.  While doing social work, I had to explain to 8 teenage boys why their soon-to-be neighbors were stalling their move into their new group home.  The amount of excuses I heard from the neighbors against the move was ridiculous and based on fear of what they thought could happen because mental illness and severe emotional disabilities are still so misunderstood.  As one of the kids said, “They’re stupid!”  I had to agree wholeheartedly.  These were kids who had gone through treatment, but really needed to live in the community in order to integrate back in successfully.  They were good kids who had shitty things happen to them and they in turn made some not so good choices.  In fact, once we were able to get them moved in.  Most of our battles were typical teenage battles.  You couldn’t have picked these boys out from the crowd.   We had them working jobs at local businesses and restaurants, playing school sports and getting into other “normal” teenage activities.  They even went on dates.  They weren’t happy about people trying to exclude them from the neighborhood, but they showed the neighbors how wrong they were.

Now, just imagine if that graphic had been used for something other than a joke.  What if it was used to educate people on how multiple food allergies/intolerances tend to happen, how difficult it is to manage them, and how diet (what you eat) choice plays a role in helping you manage the allergies/intolerances?

I’ve been fortunate that most people ask me questions about my food issues because they want to be educated.  I had the opportunity to educate people at my cousin’s wedding just a few weeks ago when I pulled out some snacks for some extra protein because I couldn’t get enough with my dinner due to gluten being in most of the meat dishes and cheese not being an option for a protein source.  I’ve never had anyone overtly exclude me because of my food allergies/intolerances.  Even before I knew about my issues, I always tried to include my friends with the same issues and make sure they had enough options for a balanced meal.  Always.

If you are reading this and you don’t have food allergies/intolerances, but know someone who does, and you don’t know much about it.  Ask.  It’s that easy.

Dairy-free Peppermint Mocha

Dairy-free Peppermint Mocha

JP: How do you drink your coffee black?

Me: Easy.  Pour and drink.

Yes, that was a real conversation with one of my friends who needs a lot of stuff in his coffee to actually like it.  I used to drink my coffee with cream and sugar, but I stopped using sugar years ago.  Then I stopped using cream.  Now it’s just black.  That’s a real coffee lover for you.  Someone who drinks it black and decaf.

I love peppermint mocha this time of year.  Peppermint and chocolate in my coffee, please.  If you didn’t already know about my love for peppermint mocha, you only have to check out my Raw Peppermint Mocha Truffle Cake.  Going dairy-free has put a halt to visits to local coffee shops on occasion for this creamy beverage.  I can stop for my black decaf, but no more mocha.  Not even with soy milk.

I keep toying with the homemade mocha.  I was using my Coco Motion for a while because it would not only heat and mix the raw cacao with the dairy-free milk, but froth the milk a bit, too.  However, I noticed that if dairy-free milk alternatives get too hot, the flavor changes.   And not in a good way.  At least to me.  I don’t know about anyone else out there who use dairy-free milk alternatives to make hot drinks.

Now I warm the milk alternative in a saucepan while whisking in the raw cacao and sweetener while the espresso brews.  Makes for a tasty cup of souped up joe and one happy Debi.

One note before I give you the recipe, the cacao/milk alternative milk mix is also my hot cocoa.  So if you don’t like coffee, omit the espresso and enjoy some hot cocoa full of iron.

Dairy-free Peppermint Mocha (also refined sugar-free)

2 shots espresso (I use decaf, you can also use strongly brewed coffee)

1 heaping tablespoon raw cacao powder

1 tablespoon raw local honey (or other sweetener of your choice)

1 1/2 cup milk alternative (I normally use Whole Foods Unsweetened Almond Milk or So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk)

1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

Start brewing the espresso.  Add the remainder of the ingredients to a small saucepan on low and whisk together well.  Remove from heat when it warms, but isn’t hot.  Pour espresso into a 16 oz mug and then pour cacao mix into the espresso and give a small stir.   If you want to make it more of an adult beverage, use a shot of Rumple Minze (or other peppermint schnapps) at the end instead of adding the extract.