Tag: gluten free

Wild Rice, Spinach and Avocado Salad with Sesame Dressing

Melissa King 22 Comments

I have a ton of recipes pinned to try on Pinterest.  It had been awhile since I had tried a new one, so I plucked this up and tried it.  This lovely salad comes from Zizi’s Adventures.  She has a beautiful blog full of yummy recipes like this one.  It looked so good I had to try it.  It tasted AMAZING!  We actually made it twice since the first batch disappeared quickly.  I tripled the recipe and changed a few things the second time around.

avocado sesame salad FG watermark

This recipe has all my favorite ingredients.  In my world, avocados make everything better.  The original recipe called to cook the greens and garlic, but I like them raw better so that is how I did mine.

Wild Rice, Spinach and Avocado Salad with Sesame Dressing

Wild Rice, Spinach and Avocado Salad with Sesame Dressing

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Prep Time 10 min Cook Time 1 hr

Ingredients

    Salad

    • 4-5 big bunches of baby spinach chopped (you can do kale as well)
    • 1 1/2 cups wild rice (cooked)
    • 3 avocados sliced
    • 2 cups or 1 can white beans (soak overnight and then cook until soft)
    • 2-3 cloves garlic minced or 2 tsp garlic powder
    • salt to taste

    Dressing

    • 6 T toasted sesame oil
    • 3 T rice vinegar
    • 3 T soy sauce or bragg's aminos
    • Juice of 1 lemon

    Instructions

    1. Cook the rice and let cool. I actually did this the day before. Same with the beans if using dried beans.
    2. In a large bowl, add rice, beans, avocado, garlic and spinach and mix well.
    3. In a small bowl, whisk the ingredients for the dressing.
    4. Pour dressing in the large bowl and mix well until everything is combined.

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    Recipe Notes

    I found the best way to do this was with my hands. This dish is best eaten fresh, but will still be delicious the next day. I makes about 5-6 servings. Enjoy!

    Adapted from Zizi's Adventures

    Strawberry Ice Cream

    Melissa King 97 Comments

    Hooray!  Warm weather is here.  At least, in Texas it is.  So it’s time to start breaking out the ice cream maker.  I already have a Cookie Dough Ice Cream and a 5 Minute Banana Ice Cream on the blog.  Now it’s time to add another: Strawberry Ice Cream. Who doesn’t like strawberry ice cream? I know I love all things ice cream, especially strawberry ice cream.

    ice cream watermark

    I use canned coconut milk as a base for all my ice cream recipes for a few reasons.  It has that rich taste and mouth feel of real ice cream and it is dairy free.  I have tried using just nut milk, but it never comes out as creamy.  Since this is so rich tasting, a little bit will satisfy you.  You can use either fresh or frozen strawberries for this.  We used fresh organic strawberries since they were on sale the other day at Whole Foods.  They were so sweet and yummy!  Most store bought ice creams contain carrageenan and other unwanted additives.  The organic stuff is always so expensive.  The ice cream maker is pretty affordable and you make your money back pretty quick.  Plus, you can create your own flavors! 🙂

    Strawberry Ice Cream

    Strawberry Ice Cream

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    Prep Time 10 min Serves 4 - 6 servings     adjust servings

    Ingredients

    Instructions

    1. Mix the coconut milk, vanilla bean and the sweetener in a bowl.
    2. Pour the contents in the ice cream maker. I used my Cuisinart.
    3. When the ice cream starts looking like it is coming together (after about 15 minutes), add the strawberries.
    4. The ice cream will be more of a soft serve consistency. If you like harder ice cream, you can stick it in the freezer for another 1 1/2 hours. That’s it. Enjoy!

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    Save Money By Making Your Own Hummus

    Melissa King 125 Comments

    You can Save Money By Making Your Own Hummus!!  Hummus is probably one of the easiest things you can make yourself.  It takes only minutes to make.

     

    save money making your own hummus

     

    Most store bought versions contain unwanted additives as well as GMOs.  If you look at the ingredients in Sabra’s Classic Hummus, they are as follows:

    Cooked Chickpeas (Chickpeas [Garbanzos], Water), Tahini (Ground Sesame), Soybean Oil, Garlic, Salt, Citric Acid, Potassium Sorbate Added to Maintain Freshness, Natural Flavors. Classic Hummus

    Why is there soybean oil in hummus?  Traditionally, it’s made with olive oil….and you certainly would not use natural flavors if you made it in your own kitchen.  According to Wikipedia, Sabra is partly own by Pepsi.  You know the soda people?  They spent a lot of money lobbying against GMO labeling.

     

    If you didn’t know, my mother in law is Turkish and this is her hummus recipe.  It is really good!  I have not tried freezing it, but I am sure you probably could.  For more videos, you can subscribe to my You Tube Channel.

     

    Save Money By Making Your Own Hummus

    Homemade Hummus

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    Ingredients

    • 2 cups cooked or 1 can chickpeas drained and rinsed
    • 1/4 cup tahini
    • Juice of 1 lemon
    • 1-2 tsp cumin (I used two)
    • 3 cloves garlic or 2 tsp garlic powder (I use real garlic)
    • 1/2 tsp salt
    • 1 T olive oil

    Instructions

    1. Process the chickpeas in the food processor or blender to get them started.
    2. Then add all the remaining ingredients until everything is smooth and well mixed.

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    Recipe Notes

    If it is too thick, just add a bit of water until you get the consistency you desire. That is it. Sometimes I drizzle a bit of oil over the top. Enjoy!

    Dairy Free Cashew Cheese Sauce

    Melissa King 94 Comments

    This Dairy Free Cashew Cheese Sauce is delicious.  Two weeks ago we took the kids to the zoo.  Afterward, we decided to try out a vegan restaurant here in Dallas called The Spiral Diner.  The food was so good!

    My husband got a vegan nacho plate and the cheese sauce was made from cashews.  He liked it so much he decided to try to create his own cashew cheese sauce and after a few tries it worked out pretty good.

    This dairy free cashew cheese sauce is really quite a good replica. We never would have thought to make a cashew cheese sauce.

    dairy free cashew cheese sauce

    A lot of vegan cheeses are soy based, but we wanted to do something different since a lot of people are avoiding soy these days.  The cashews gave it a nice creamy feel.

    This would not only be a good sauce to eat with nachos, but it makes a great base for a dairy free mac and cheese.

    With so many kids having dairy allergies these days, it’s nice to have a soy free cheese option.  To give this a cheesy flavor, we used nutritional yeast.  Nutritional yeast is a great source of protein, fiber and vitamin B12.

     

    Here is a quick little video of my husband and daughter making this. For more videos, you can subscribe to my You Tube Channel.

     

    Dairy Free Cashew Cheese Sauce

    Dairy Free Cheese Sauce

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    Prep Time 10 min Serves 2 cups     adjust servings

    Ingredients

    • 2 cups raw cashews (soaked overnight and drained)
    • 1 cup water
    • 3/4 cup nutritional yeast
    • 1/2 tsp chili powder
    • 1/4 tsp onion powder
    • salt to taste

    Instructions

    1. Soak the cashews in water overnight.
    2. The next day, drain and rinse them.
    3. Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

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    Recipe Notes

    You can store it in the fridge in an airtight container. Should keep for a few weeks. You may even be able to freeze it.

    No Bake Macaroons (Vegan and Paleo)

    Melissa King 36 Comments

    No Bake Macaroons.  These things are like crack.  You cannot just have one!  I know I said that about the Coconut Cream Larabars too.  If you like those, then you will love these!

     

    no bake macaroons

     

    Did I mention that these were no bake?  That’s right.  These yummy little treats can be made in just a few minutes.  These are also vegan, gluten free and paleo.

    These freeze well too, so feel free to make a big batch and freeze some.  So any time you get a craving for macaroons, there they are in the freezer! Sounds like a plan to me.

    Looking for more coconut recipes?

    No Bake Macaroons

    No Bake Macaroons

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    Prep Time 10 min Serves 12 cookies     adjust servings

    Ingredients

    Instructions

    1. Combine the flax meal and warm water in a bowl.
    2. Whisk it and throw it in the fridge.
    3. In a food processor, pulse the coconut and almonds into a fine powder.
    4. Then add the dates, flax mixture, vanilla and coconut oil.
    5. Pulse until the mixture starts to come together.
    6. Roll into balls.

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    Recipe Notes

    You can also roll the balls in some more coconut like you see I did in the photos. I got about 12 out of my batch. Enjoy!

    Apple Pie Larabars (Vegan and Gluten Free)

    Melissa King 57 Comments

    Apple Pie Larabars.  It’s been a while since I have posted a larabar recipe.  I had several people request the apple pie larabar flavor, so here you go.  I hope you enjoy these homemade apple larabars.

    For more larabar recipes you can check out this post.

     

    apple pie larabars

     

    My husband really enjoyed these.  I was not a huge fan myself.  Mostly because I am obsessed with the Coconut Cream Larabars.

    That just means there will be more for him and my daughter to share. 🙂  These are just as easy to make as all the others.  I cut  mine in squares, but you can do bars or roll them into balls as well.

    These homemade larabars travel great too.  Perfect for on the go.  I always have some in my purse just in case.

    Apple Pie Larabars

    Apple Pie Larabars

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    Ingredients

    Instructions

    1. In a food processor, mix the nuts into a fine powder.
    2. Add in the dates, cinnamon and the applesauce and pulse until a dough starts to form. 
    3. Line an 8X8 pan with parchment paper, leaving some paper sticking out the sides. 
    4. Spoon mixture into the pan and use the extra parchment to press the dough down. 
    5. Stick in the fridge to firm up. 
    6. Then, remove the whole thing with the parchment and slice into squares or bars with a pizza cutter.  Store them in the fridge.  Enjoy!

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