Category Archives: In the Kitchen

3 Tips to Help Convert Your Family to a Non-Dairy Lifestyle

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When you’ve just started a non-dairy lifestyle, one of the first challenges is learning how to deal without the ingredients in your favorite recipes. You may be used to adding cream to soups and stews, making cakes and muffins with a splash of extra milk, or adding just a sprinkle of parmesan to your eggs to add a special ingredient that no-one can quite place but everyone loves. If this sounds like your kind of cooking, read on for 3 tips that will help your family and guests enjoy the same foods – they might even like the changes more!

3. Don’t Discount Substitutions, but test them before you use them in large dishes. Some are awful, others are GREAT. We’ve found vegan cheese called Daiya, made of rice milk (and it’s vegan too) that we get at Whole Foods Market-. It is a decent substitute. I’m not saying it tastes great on it’s own, but if you need it to add that little zip to something, you may not notice the difference. But we’ve also tried a parmesan cheese substitution and that stuff is awful! UPDATE: I recently discovered nutritional yeast and this stuff is amazing! It is a flaky powdery type thing, looks a lot like instant mashed potatoes, and tastes kind of like cheddar or parmesan cheese. Sprinkled on pasta, added to a potato, or used to add depth to a dish that “needs something”, this stuff is invaluable to a dairy free cook!

2. Choose Asian Dishes. Planning menus that are by their nature already dairy-free, rather than using substitutions, can be one of the best tools in your non-dairy toolbox. Most Chinese and Japanese meals are dairy free and many are gluten free as well. Most Asians become lactose intolerant as they age* and they just don’t cook with a bunch of cheese and milk. In restaurants you will probably find fried wontons that have cream cheese in them, so don’t eat those. But for the most part, you can eat at a Japanese or Chinese Restaurant without fear of your stomach’s retaliation! That goes for cooking too, of course. Get some rice noodles and make a stir fry with your favorite vegetables. Pick up some eggrolls and heat them in the oven. Pan fry some chicken, add some chopped pineapple and sweet and sour sauce and serve over fried rice. There’s three easy meals for your family to try that are not only dairy free but also gluten free!

1. The greatest dishes you’ll make are the new ones you discover! Your family’s tastebuds get accustomed to the way you cook. They may complain about the way their favorite dishes taste now that you’ve converted to a dairy-free lifestyle. If you can find wonderful dishes that your family isn’t used to yet, you may find they are the newest family favorites. Shoot, they may even stop asking for the old stuff and want your newest creations instead!

References
*Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactose_intolerance

Some Must-Haves for Any Kitchen

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Tammie, the author and owner of this blog, grew up in the south with very conservative parents. They didn’t “waste” money on food, especially condiments or additives in the kitchen. It took a long time for her to open her eyes to some of the subtle differences that make a BIG difference on the dinner plate! Once she realized that for the sake of herself and her son she had to make some serious changes, some of these ideas that you’ll hear from great cooks started creeping into Tammie’s Kitchen.

Kosher Salt
kosher salt

For instance, we don’t use regular salt anymore. We learned that Kosher salt adds something to the meal that just can’t be added with plain old salt. It adds a richness or something, an indescribable but true difference to the taste of the food.

Lemons and Limes
lemon lime orange

Like Kosher Salt, lemons and limes add that little punch of flavor that you just can’t get anywhere else. Sure, you can use vinegar but it’s not the same. Adding lemon or lime juice to food will also help schmooze over the fact that you can’t put cheese in it, and you add that lovely zip without adding fat. Marvelous!

Wine
wine

Wine is one of those additions to food that you don’t normally reach for, but it’s inclusion can make all the difference in the way your food turns out. Sometimes, when I’ve already roasted some meat and veggies, I know there’s lots of natural sugars and I want that extra zip – I’ll add some wine. Other times, I’ll reach for the …

Orange Juice

Orange Juice is the perfect choice when you need to add some natural sweetness. That richness that comes from within the food that’s not full of fat, but adds character and flavor. If you don’t have orange juice or wine, and you need to add to your sauces, stews, or gravies, you can TRY using sugar and vinegar but it’s a poor substitute for the real thing. Try OJ as part of your baste, add it to the pan when you roast a turkey or poultry, or put a little in gravy. I can guarantee you’ll taste the difference. And the bonus? It has NO dairy, no soy, and no gluten!

What’s your favorite Kitchen Must-Have?

Write to us and tell us what your favorite “Kitchen Must-Have” is! The best choices will be added to this post, and we’ll share your link or favorite website with the rest of the world. And, you’ll have our undying gratitude!

Dairy and Gluten Free Egg Scramble – Yummy!

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Ingredients:
1 zucchini
1/4 bell pepper
Three slices from a leek
1 slice of sandwich ham
1 small tomato
Juice of half a lemon or lime
cayenne pepper or hot sauce (optional)
2 or 3 eggs, depending on how hungry you are!
kosher salt
crushed black pepper

Instructions:
Chop the zucchini and bell pepper and saute. While they are cooking, chop the leeks and add them to the pan. Toss all the veggies around a bit to get them all cooked to your liking. Chop and add ham if you like ham. Place a lid on the veggies and chop the tomato. Slice the lemon.

Put the eggs and veggies on a plate. Squirt the lemon juice on top (this gives you a wonderful zippy taste that does a fantastic job replacing cheese, and it’s healthier too!). Add something spicy if you like and enjoy.

I’ve been making this meal for myself for breakfast almost every morning this past week. It is gluten, dairy, and soy free, but you don’t feel deprived because it tastes wonderful and fills you up! It’s also a great meal for dieting including Atkins, Weight Watchers, South Beach, The Zone, and Mediterranean. If you want to cut calories, use only the egg whites. With all these flavors you won’t notice the difference. Just add extra egg whites if you are really hungry. Use this recipe to get full in the morning. It will sustain you well until lunch and it’s guilt free!

I am currently trying to avoid all gluten, dairy and soy products. Recently I had some serious back and abdominal or stomach pain. With a little research, I learned that nearly every medical problem I have could possibly be due to a gluten intolerance, so I’m trying hard to simply NOT eat gluten. It’s not easy, but this recipe is a great step in the right direction!