Food Lush

My Favorite Non-Dairy Milk

By Kristie

I've tried all sorts of non-dairy milks. Everything from hemp, rice and soy but my all time favorite is almond milk. Specifically I like Whole Foods 365 Organic brand almond milk.

 
I use this milk for cereal, as a coffee creamer, for baking and cooking. Anything that calls for cow's milk I use this instead.

If you use a dairy-free milk what's your favorite?

{Image courtesy WholeFoods.com}

Vegan Parmesan Cheese

By Kristie

I LOVE this parmesan cheese substitute, so do my two kids.

Parma Raw Parmesan Cheese Alternative is a fantastic substitute for the cheese you typically sprinkle on your pasta dishes, salads or other dishes that use parmesan. All of the ingredients are raw, kosher and gluten free. I'm rarely without the biggest container of this cheese substitute in my house.

Have you tried this or other parmesan cheese substitutes? What did you think of them?

{Image courtesy Veganessentials.com}

The Ultimate Vegan Queso

By Kristie

Oh queso. It's the best thing ever, don't you agree? Before I gave up most dairy I ate my fair share of that plasticy yellow "cheese" in the foil packaging that's shelf stable for a thousand years. That stuff is so nasty for you but tastes so good. I've also eaten a ton of queso at many a Mexican restaurant, yummy.

A lot of people saw they'd never EVER be able to give up cheese but I'm here to tell you that this queso might make it a touch easier if you were considering going vegan, lowering your dairy consumption or if you're simply allergic to dairy. Nacho Mom's queso is divine. I swear.

 

The other day I made Frito Pie (veg chili, Frito chips and queso) using this vegan queso and I basically licked my plate clean it was so good. I've also spread a tortilla with this queso, top with roasted veggies and tempeh for a tasty burrito. If you check out the Nacho Mom's website you'll see a list of a zillion uses for their queso. I never thought of using it for a chili cheese dog or a soft pretzel dip!

Besides being dairy-free this queso is ridiculously good for you (read: not made from plastics and/or ingredients you can't pronounce). An entire jar contains only 160 calories and these jars are a great size (16 oz). Let's look at the ingredients, shall we:

Ultimate Vegan Queso:

Ingredients: tomatoes, water, nutritional yeast, unbleached flour, green chiles, paprika, salt, garlic, citric acid (a natural preservative), spices

Fire Roasted Queso (Gluten free):

Ingredients: water, tomatoes, gluten-free rice flour, nutritional yeast, green chiles, gluten-free tapioca flour, chipotle, spices, salt, natural citric acid, natural corn-free xanthan, natural guar powder

 

Seriously, what's not to love? You should try this vegan queso and let me know what you think.

{Images from FatGoblin.com}

Inexpensive Kitchen Equipment

By Kristie

Tell me you have a restaurant supply store by you. Did you know you can find all sorts of inexpensive kitchen things in such a store? I went recently to find a specific item and was astonished at the things they have for sale on the cheap. I took a few (crappy) photos to show you guys...

Ladle, anyone? Pick any size you need and it won't cost you a zillion dollars. If you're into the simplistic look these are for you.

Ramekins small, medium and large. All colors and materials.

Bowls and measuring cups galore! If you use 4 measuring cups per recipe than here's the place to stock up, for real.

I saw every size cookie sheet you could imagine, pitchers in every size, basic silverware, condiment dispensers and everything in between!

Have you shopped at a restaurant supply store? Did you like the selection and prices? 
 
{All photos are mine}

Banana Pops: A Cool Way To Cook With Your Kid

By Kristie

I was inspired to make these super easy banana pops with my four-year-old after reading a blog post by The Swede Records. It's balls-to-the-wall hot here in Texas (over 100 degrees for over 30 days!) so we needed an indoor activity that would result in something cold and tasty and these fit the bill. Also, this recipe can't be any more simple or more easily adaptable for your own preferences.

Banana Pops (adapted from The Swede Records)

You'll need:

wax paper

a few bananas, peeled and cut in half

popsicle sticks

semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use any dairy-free version to keep it vegan)

any color sprinkles (some sprinkles are made with gelatin so I make sure mine are gelatin-free)

How to assemble:

Measure out the wax paper to cover a cookie sheet.

Insert the popsicle sticks half way into each banana half.

Melt chocolate chips in the microwave for a minute or two until easy to stir.

Dip and/or brush chocolate on each banana half then immediately sprinkle with sprinkles.

Lay on wax paper, stick the whole shebang into the freezer for an hour or two.

Eat.

SO EASY. We had a blast making these and even more fun eating them!

 
 
 
 
{Images courtesy of me...excuse the blurriness, someone really wanted to eat his banana pops}

Using The Oven Self-Cleaner

By Kristie

This is a public service announcement along with my story:

The other day my teenage son discovered that we have an oven that's not just for looks and he wanted to start using it immediately to make all sorts of things. (I think I fail in the teaching-him-to-cook department but we're working on it!) He made a few batches of potato chips and then got a wild hair up his you-know-what and wanted to use the oven's self-cleaning feature. A male! That wants to clean something!

I've lived in my home for nearly 6 years and I've never used the self-clean feature and NOW I KNOW WHY. You guys, the smell that emits from the oven is the worst smell I've ever smelled in my home. My eyes were burning, I struggled to breathe without gagging and 2 days later my house still smells faintly of whatever my oven secreted.

If I ever use the self-cleaning option again I'll definitely do it when I'll be away from my house for a day or two. It's the worst to wake up in the middle of the night smelling that smell.

Have you had a better experience using your self-clean feature on your oven? Did I do something wrong?

How To Tell the Difference Between a Hard Boiled Egg and a Fresh Egg

By Kristie

Y'all, my mind has been BLOWN.

I just got back from a 10-day stint in Missouri where I have tons of family that are clearly blessed with information I was not aware of. Perhaps you know this little handy trick about how to tell a fresh egg from a hard boiled egg but I was not aware until two days ago.

If you try and spin a hard boiled egg, it will spin with ease and quite fast. If you try and spin a fresh egg it doesn't spin with nearly as much ease as the former. Now, I never really thought I'd need to know this trick but it turns out that some people (coughmyGrandmacough) mix the two kinds of eggs together and some other people (coughmyGrandpacough) get annoyed and must know the difference so as to cook someone else (coughmecough) a lovely breakfast with farm-fresh eggs, toast and hash browns.

For reals, did you guys know this trick? Please don't tell me I'm the last one to know.

{Photo courtesy Wikipedia}

One Of My Favorite Condiments: Sweet Chili Sauce

By Kristie

Sweet chili sauce is probably one of my favorite condiments. As the name suggests it sweet and spicy all rolled into one delicious sauce. It can be used for nearly anything you can think of. Most people probably think it's best used as a dipping sauce for spring rolls but you really can use it a zillion different ways.

• Mix the sauce with steamed veggies for a sweet/spicy kick
• Add a touch to your soup
• Mixed with a bit of water it would make a really good salad dressing
• Use to top a veggie burger with
• Mix with ketchup for a kick of flavor
• Use as a tofu marinade

I've found different brands of sweet chili sauce in my local grocery store in the ethnic section and also I recently found an enormous bottle (shown below) at my local Vietnamese grocery store for a really reasonable price (less than $3).

 

If you see a bottle of this sauce and get some please let me know what you think. It's a kitchen staple in my house and maybe it will be yours also someday.

{Images courtesy of my awesome smart phone}

Don Lee Farms Veggie Patties

By Kristie

Do you have a Costco membership? Yes? Then do yourself a HUGE favor and get a package of the Don Lee Veggie Patties. You can thank me later.

 

Not only can you physically see the veggies you can taste the freshness of these veggie patties. These are 100% vegan and 100% tasty.

Have you had these veggie patties? What did you think?

{Image courtesy DonLeeFarms.com}

Ethnic Grocery Stores

By Kristie

I'm was so bummed when I realized that I didn't bring my camera or even my phone to take photos of all the really cool things I saw at my local Vietnamese grocery store. Between jackfruit, a thousand kinds of fresh noodles and all sorts of sauces and condiments I was in awe.

One thing I ended up buying and took a photo of were these Peanut Snow Ball's. These are a mildly sweet and quite tasty. The ingredients consist of rice, sugar, oil, peanuts, coconut and sesame seeds.

Among these little rice treats I also got a few small dainty bowls, sweet chili sauce, homemade fried tofu and regular old packaged tofu. Next time I have a little more time on my side I'd like to pay a little more attention and really read ingredients and see what the store has to offer. I can't wait to find new foods to try.

I highly suggest you find your local ethnic grocery store and discover a few new things. You never know, you might find a tasty treat you can go back and get on occasion and then discover even more treats.

Do you frequent any ethhic grocery stores? What things have you discovered?

{Photo is mine}