Tag Archives: wheat-free

It’s Virtual Vegan Potluck Time!!

1 Nov

I am so so so excited for this you guys. The first time Annie over at An Unrefined Vegan hosted one, I was like, I gotta get in on that. But I ended up being to lazy and never signed up. This time, I was not about to not participate.

I whipped up an awesome dessert to share with you guys today, but first, some introductions! I love the idea of this potluck, because I am hoping on finding about a bazilion fun new blogs to read. Some of you are probably new to my little corner of the blog world, so let me introduce myself. I’m Liz. You can read more about me here. But that’s not important. I want to introduce you to my plus 1 for this potluck. (Potlucks have plus one’s, right? He’s really cute. I promise.)

This is my new kitty, Balto.

I told you he was cute. Sometimes he likes to pretend he’s a book and hang out on the bookshelf.

Anyway, now onto the food! (Making new friends is fun, but food is the best part of a potluck, amiright?)

I’m pretty proud of this recipe, it’s my first official try at from scratch gluten-free baking since I was told I was gluten intolerant. And it’s delicious and vegan! What more could you ask for? (Answer: harsher punishments for parole violators, Stan. And world peace. That’s what more you could ask for. maybe?)

Donuts! Delicious fluffy pumpkin donuts with fudgey chocolate frosting, and fall sprinkles!

But before we dig right in, can we get off track for a moment? I’m sure a lot of you have Vitamix blenders. I’ve had one for a while now. But I have never used the “dry” blender attachment until this recipe. And criminy you guys, why didn’t anyone tell me it worked that well? I wanted to whip up some quinoa flour for this recipe, and I was almost a little annoyed because I had to get the blender out, and then I was going to have to wash it. I think it took me longer to get the thing out than it did to actually grind the quinoa into flour.

Amazing.

Nooooowwww time for the recipe. I promise! This recipe is adapted from the Vanilla gluten freedom cupcakes from this amazing book. The frosting was as well!

Baked Pumpkin Donuts with Fudgy Chocolate Frosting
Makes 12 delicious donuts

For the donuts:
1 cup full fat coconut milk
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
3/4 cup sugar
2 t vanilla extract
1/4 cup tapioca flour
2 T ground flax seed
1/3 cup almond meal
1/2 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup quinoa flour
1t baking powder
1/2t baking soda
1/4t salt
1/2t pumpkin pie spice

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease your donut pan. (Mine is nonstick, but I grease it anyway.)

In a mixing bowl, combined the coconut milk, pumpkin, sugar, and vanilla. Mix until combined. Add the tapioca flour and flax seed, and stir it up.

Add the almond meal, white rice flour, quinoa flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Mix the crap out of it. For like 2 minutes. Or thee. It’s your call. (Let’s say 2 1/2?)

Fill your donut pan about 3/4 full. They don’t raise an awful lot, but you don’t want them splooging out of the pan or anything. Then you’d have funky donuts. But I promise you, they’d still taste good.

Bake these for about 15 minutes, until they bounce back when you poke them. (Or, just BAKE THEM UNTIL THEY’RE DONE. That’s what my chefs in culinary school always told me. It drove me crazy.)

When you take them out of the oven, let them cool in the pan for about 5 minutes. Then, remove them, and let them cool completely on a wire rack.

Now it’s time for the best part, the frosting!

Fudgy Chocolate Frosting

2T vegan butter substitute (I use Earth Balance sticks)
1/4 cup agave syrup
1t vanilla extract
3T cocoa powder
1/4 cup soy milk powder
3T coconut milk
Optional- a pinch of ginger

Whip the futter (That’s what we call vegan butter, or “fake butter” over here at A Tablespoon of Liz) with the agave and vanilla until it’s combined and there are no awkward chunks of futter hanging around.

Add the cocoa powder, and once it is mixed in add the soy milk powder and ginger. Then beat it, beat it, and beat it. until it gets lighter in color and fluffy. As you do this you’ll want to add the coconut milk, one tablespoon at a time.

Then bam, all you have to do is frost your donuts! And before you know it, there will only be a few bites left because your family will have eaten them all.

Bother.

Thank you all so so so much for stopping by for a bite! Continue the party by going forward or backward to see who else joined the potluck!!

   

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Summer Lovin’

22 Aug

And by lovin’ I mean eating. Duh.

Summer is the time for….

Corn on the cob! And of course, french fries (Garlic fries from Trader joes. Has anyone had these? They are amazing!! And unfortunately for me, contain wheat. Something I did not know until I stocked up on a few more bags. lame. bye bye fries.) and, veggie dogs! Do you like my array of condiments? I can never decide.

Fresh Veggies! Fun story, when I was younger, I hated asparagus. I thought it tasted like cat pee. (Don’t even ask how I knew what that tasted like, I don’t think it was from personal experience) But, my cousin roasted some up on Easter, and I can’t get enough of the stuff now! I dress ‘em up real simple, just 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil, salt, pepper, and Trader Joes everyday seasoning. I know roasting isn’t’ really a summer cooking method, but I never seem to do what’s normal.

 

(veggie) Burgers! On a bed of lettuce, onion, and slathered in condiments. Sometimes, I think I’m just in it for the condiments.

 

Veggie filled salads! Plates like these are my favorite. I just pile a million veggies on, and I’m all set. This one is a romaine salad with onions, walnuts, strawberries, and golden raisins. On the side is a garlic dill pickle, half an avocado, more strawberries, carrot chips, cucumber, and hummus with some tahini. yummy.

Fresh fruit and berries! Summer is pretty much the best time for fresh everything. here, I’m lovin’ (No spell check, not “login’”) some fresh raspberries, puffins cereal, and coconut milk yogurt.

 

This last picture isn’t really a ‘summer’ thing, but I thought I would show you how I used up some of the leftovers from the Taco Tuesday I told you about yesterday. More taco salad! I love it. I think this one had chips crunched up on the bottom with refried beans on them, then piled in lettuce and veggie goodness, before being doused in sour cream and salsa. When I get on a taco salad kick, it lasts for days.

What are some of your favorite foods? What foods are you looking forward to eat once fall arrives? I know you can eat pumpkin and hot cocoa and apple cider year round, but they’re just better in the fall. One thing that makes me super sad about fall is Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale hits stores. And sadly, this is the first fall I won’t be able to partake in it’s pumpkin pie like goodness because I’m g-free now. : / I’m definitly going to have to explore some gluten free beers soon!

 

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Taco Tuesdays

21 Aug

Ok- I’ll admit. I didn’t really eat this on a Tuesday. Well, actually, maybe I did. This meal was made a while ago. BUT it’s definitly one of those meals like I mentioned yesterday, that doesn’t take a lot of time.

There is a little bit of prep work with chopping up veggies, but my brother who’s home from college for the summer has been hounding me to teach him how to cook (I think it’s to impress the ladies… lol) So he’s been awesome at getting veggies chopped and prepped, and has become an expert at roasting everything from asparagus to zucchini.

So, Here is the easy meal:

I really need to start taking nicer photos. Anyway, this is Taco Tofu, rice, and taco salad. I ended up mixing everything on the plate together. So good. This photo was also pre-dressing. I slathered it in dairy-free sour cream and salsa.

Believe it or not, the tofu only had THREE ingredients in it. Talk about easy.

Taco Tofu
1 block tofu, pressed and sliced into 8 pieces
1 packet taco seasoning
1/3 cup water

Mix the water and the taco seasoning together, and pour into a greased baking dish. (Or a tupperware container, then move to a baking dish)

Let marinate for at least an hour, flipping the tofu over halfway through. Bake at 375 degrees F for 30-45 minutes. It’s that easy!

At first I was worried that it would be too salty or too much taco seasoning, because it was so concentrated, but it ended up being just perfect!

For the salad, I put shredded romaine, tomatoes, olives, black beans, and green pepper. I had onion and crushed tortilla chips on the side.

We also had guacamole, which is a must when having Mexican food. My brother is also an ace at making that- of course I had to teach him the important things first! If there are any girls out there who want to be hooked up with an awesome vegetarian cook, let me know and I’ll see what I can do, lol.

What are your favorite go to quick meals? Do you prefer tacos, or taco salads? 

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Back to School

20 Aug

I think I would be more disappointed that school was starting up again if I hadn’t been busting my butt taking 4 classes this summer. To be honest, every time new classes start, I get a little excited. I love school supplies. I almost actually wish I was going to normal school (as opposed to online) So I could buy fun notebooks and folders and such. I’ll probably end up buying some regardless.

I think I saw some One Direction folders at Target that are calling my name. Haha, just kidding. (Would you think I was lame if that was actually true? It might be.)

I have had a few weeks of vacation at least though, so tomorrow I’ll be getting back into the grind of it all. Work, school, Internship, so much to do.

Because the fun starts, and since I’m the one who cooks most of the dinners in my house, I resort to a few quick, simple, but delicious recipes that don’t take much time at all.

One particular favorite of my families is Roasted tomatoes and tofu. Yum!

I serve it over brown or white rice normally, brown for the madre, and white for me. I used to love love love brown rice, but for some reason, when I got slammed with the stomach flu a couple months back, I can’t even look at it without feeling a little queasy. So white rice it is.

To be honest, I don’t have an exact recipe for this marinade, but it’s simple enough.

I call it my “Everything but the Kitchen Sink Marinade” Because I literally throw a bazillion different things in it. Here are some things that have gone into it:

Olive oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Red Wine Vinegar
Apple Lingonberry Vinegar
Salt and Pepper
Everyday Seasoning (From Trader Joes)
Vegetable Broth
Salad dressings (Different vinaigrettes mostly)
Garlic
Paprika
Chili Powder
Lemon Juice
Agave nectar
Brown Sugar
Liquid Smoke
GF Soy Sauce

…..See what I mean about everything but the kitchen sink? The key to it is just tasting as you make it.

So here is what you need for this dish:
1 block of tofu, pressed, and sliced into 8 pieces
1 cup marinade
1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1/4 cup onions or green onions, chopped/sliced- optional

(I normally double this recipe- Hello leftovers!!)

Spray a 9×13 inch pan, and pour the marinade in. Dredge the tofu in it, flipping it over. Add the tomatoes and onions. Let sit for 30 minutes, flip the tofu then flip and let rest another 30 minutes.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30-45 minutes, flipping the tofu at least once during cooking. Serve over your favorite grain.

om nom nom!

Easy peasy lemon squeezy! I even got my dad to eat some of it. Ok, so he just ate the tomatoes, but that’s good enough for me.

Are you starting school up soon? Are you excited, or do you wish summer could last a little longer?

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FINALLY

27 Jun

Yup. This finally happened. I got to eat at the Whole Foods Salad Bar!!!

The closest Whole Foods to me is about an hour and a half away, but I still manage to make it out there to go shopping at least once a month to every six weeks. I just can’t help myself.

But recently (about two weeks ago, I’m just now getting around to blogging about it!) I actually got the salad bar, instead of just staring at it longingly as I shopped. I’ll admit, the salad bar at this whole foods wasn’t the best I’ve seen (once again, from afar, longingly) but I was excited none the less.

I pretty much just piled on the veggies, grilled tofu, sweet potato wedges, and a few grain type salads. I was a little nervous because I was afraid about contamination from gluten, but it turned out okie dokie.

I feel like I can die happy now that I’ve eaten at the Whole Foods Salad Bar.

Lastly, I need some help from ya’ll!!

My boss is hosting a meeting with some very important people, and she wants me to whip up some appetizers for it. I’m really excited about it, but I’m not quite sure what to make. She wants a couple healthy options, and a couple treats. I’ve got the sugary goodies down, it’s the healthy options I’m having trouble with. For example, I mentioned hummus, and she gave me a disgusted look. I was like, How can you not like hummus?!?!?! But whaves. I guess I’ll have to find something else. If you’ve got any suggestions, let me know!!

 

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Getting Back on Track

26 Jun

You guuuyyyssss… I don’t even want to talk about how long it’s been since I’ve blogged. Since I’ve even made a comment on a blog.

I’ve made excuses before about being busy, and blah blah blah, but life is totally kicking my ass right now. I don’t mean to complain, things are going great! I’m just soooo busy. Taking 4 classes in the summer, not a good idea. Plus, I’ve got work, and a new internship I’m doing this summer, and there are hours and hours of online training for it. Not to mention the actual work!

Anywho, In true Tablespoon of Liz fashion, I’m just showing up to show you guys a few recent meals of mine. I’ve started to keep my camera in the dining room, so I get some good dinner shots. Because lets face it, as awesome as salads are, you don’t want to see a bazillion photos of those.

A Trader Joes veggie burger on a “lettuce bun” (My new favorite thing right now!) Some gluten-free baked pickle fries (Amazing, recipe coming soon, hopefully…)

Some Trader Joes corn pasta with roasted veggies and asparagus.

A veggie dog (I found some gluten free ones at Whole Foods! yay!) with some roasted onions, corn on the cob (One of my favorite parts about summer, most defffff) Trader Joes garlic fries, and a selection of condiments and roasted onions.

And last but not least… some falafel on a “lettuce pita”, quinoa salad, and cucumber salad.

I’m definitly (I know, I know, I say this every time!) going to post that pickle fries recipe soon!

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Things are Changing

5 Mar

It has been so, so long, and I apologize. I think I lost my blogging mojo for a while there. And to be honest, I’m not sure if I’ve got it back yet. I know I will though, so you’ll just have to bear with me.

Some of you might know (ok, if you even read this blog occasionally you probably know, I like to complain a lot) that i’ve been experiencing some stomach problems recently, and headaches for several years. Over the past month or so, they’ve gotten much, much worse. It hasn’t been fun.

So, I started seeing a nutritionist who thinks that my problems are coming from the foods I eat. My stomach has always been a slightly picky eater, regardless of what I enjoy eating, my stomach doesn’t always like it.

It didn’t really come as a surprise to me when she told me that on top of my lactose intolerance that I was also intolerant to eggs, as well as gluten. She also suggested that I stay away from oats and refined sugars, as they weren’t doing much for my stomach.

No more dairy I got over pretty quickly several years ago. I don’t eat many eggs, so it’ wasn’t much of a problem. But gluten? Carbs are one of my favorite things in the whole wide world. To say I was upset was an understatement. I came home and drank an entire bottle of wine. I was very upset.

I wouldn’t be able to eat any more dinners like this:

Pasta and veggies, with a side of bread, veggies, and hummus.

So that night, I went to bed, (or passed out, due to all the wine consumption) and woke up the next morning feeling a little better. I went to the grocery store. I read more labels than I ever have in my life.

From this point on in my life, I’m moving forward as a gluten-free vegan, and trying to consume only small amounts of refined sugar.

I know it doesn’t seem like I really eat a lot of wheat-gluteny things, as most of the pictures I post on here are of salads and veggies and hummus. But I really do. I just don’t often show you those photos. They’re not as pretty.

I’m still eating lots of veggies and hummus.

And of course, I still love me some salads,

I’m coping with the loss of one of my favorite things in the whole world, soy sauce. But it will be ok. My stomach is even starting to feel a little better. I feel like good changes are coming.

I’m not quite sure what to eat for breakfast, as normal toast, oatmeal, and most cereals are out of the question, but I did find a semi decent creamy rice cereal, that I drown in maple syrup and sprinkle with some fresh fruit.

I know that I seem over dramatic about this. There are much worse things that could be wrong with me than a simple gluten intolerance. But it’s a hard adjustment. I went to culinary school. I’ve learned to appreciate that there are some things only bread flour can do. And I will never bask in it’s deliciousness again.

But I’m healing, and that’s the important thing.

Any g-free bloggers or readers out there, I’d love any advice you have to give, as I’m new at this. The mere thought of all the different types of flours that are at my disposal now are overwhelming, and I’ve got a lot of experimenting to do in the next few weeks.

Are you intolerant to anything? For those of you who are, was it difficult for you at first? 

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