Vegan Grated “Parmesan”

    In making recipes that called for grated parmesan cheese, my go to brand was always Parma!.  Over the course of the last several months, Parma! has been incredibly difficult to find.  I’ve been omitting parmesan from recipes all together because I could never find it on the shelves.  I was making artichoke dip for a party and for this recipe I knew the parmesan was one of the ingredients that made a big difference in flavor so I called Whole Foods and asked if they carried any other vegan parmesan cheese. (I find asking if an item is “vegan” is a much easier way to get an absolute answer that the product is dairy free.) 
I was quickly routed to this gem:

Image courtesy of galaxyfoods.com

    When I brought it home and cracked the seal, I knew it was going to be good.  It smelled exactly like grated parmesan cheese.  Tasting on my finger was even better.  It had the texture and flavor of dairy-full parmesan cheese.  If any of you have tried Parma! you know that tasting that stuff on your finger just doesn’t taste the same as the regular stuff.  I added it to my appetizer recipe and it gave the parmesan flavor that was called for.  I think this little jar is ready to shake-shake over my spaghetti!

Bob's Red Mill All Purpose GF Baking Flour

I'm not going to put too many bad reviews on here but Kristie and I felt it was necessary. Back when we were first trying the whole GF life, I bought this flour and tried to use it as a substitute for all purpose flour. Every recipe left me with an after taste that I couldn't handle. I find this flavor in many GF mixes. Justin, being so used to eating GF, doesn't notice it but as soon as I taste a recipe that has it, I instantly know. It took me a couple years to finally figure out what it is: bean flours! I read that bean flours are often added to mixes to add protein. This mix contains garbanzo flour and fava flour. Doublely bad in my mind.

I know this mix is convenient, and it can be hard to find other pre-made GF flour mixes. I can't say you should never ever use this. If you have a recipe that only calls for a very small amount of flour, it should be fine. But I would never make a cake or anything that is flour based.

If you have a GF flour mix that you like and works well, I'd love to hear about it!

Arrowhead Mills Pancake & Baking Mix

Arrowhead Mills is by far the best pancake mix I have found. They have a sweet vanilla flavor and are a bit denser than a gluten full pancake which just makes them more filling. When following the recipe on the back, I have found that the batter is way too thick. I come close to double the amount of milk (I use almond milk) that they recommend to make the batter nice and runny.

Last time we made them we added chunks of bananas and I also added chocolate chips in mine. So delish!!

Whipped Cream

Finding a DF whip cream was quite the challenge - from trying to find substitutes to cook with, to just wanting to enjoy a dollop of whipped cream on a dessert. And I think I found a really good solution for both!

Rich's RichWhip Non-Dairy Topping

Rich's can be found in the frozen section of your grocery store. This was purchased at Bylery's but it looks like they are sold at Cub as well. The trial for this was to see if we could use it for strawberry shortcake. Look at how well it whipped up!

We added a little bit of powdered sugar and vanilla and it was perfect. Even for those of us who can eat dairy, it's still delicious. I haven't tried this product in any other recipes yet, but I think it will be a very good substitution for heavy whipping cream or half and half.

They do make another product called Coffee Rich Creamer. Kristie and I did a test to see if this one would make whipped cream. After almost 15 minutes of using the electric beater and still only seeing bubbles, it was deemed a failure. However this product might also be a good substitute for recipes that call for cream.

Dairy Free Chocolate

It was really scary to take the DF plunge knowing I would have to get rid of chocolate.  Besides the whole angry intestinal fight we would have, chocolate and I got along really well pre-DF diet and I wasn’t sure I was going to find a substitute that came close to the real thing.

I was proven wrong after taste testing a bunch of different brands.  My absolute favorite is Chocolate Dream Dairy Free Chocolate Bars.


Beyond the great flavor the texture of this chocolate is smooth and creamy.  The taste is most definitely chocolaty, but does not try to mimic the flavor of the well known dairy-full chocolate bars like Hershey's or Cadbury.  Chocolate Dream is exactly what I need as an after dinner treat…just a couple of bites and my craving is fed.

Not far behind the question of What kind of chocolate bars can I eat, was What kind of chocolate chips can I use for DF baking?  This question was first simply answered by using Enjoy Life Dairy Free Chocolate Chips.  They are usually sold at any Natural Food Store as well as the Gluten Free section of your local Cub Foods. 

A friend of mine, who is also a Vegan, informed me that Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips are safe for a vegan and DF diet.  These chocolate chips are found at most grocery stores, are a cheaper alternative to Enjoy Life, and have since become my number one go-to chocolate chip.

Udi’s Gluten Free Foods

I was really apprehensive to take the gluten free plunge for the sheer fear of not being able to find a bread that tasted, for lack of a better word, normal.  Kristen was the first one to recommend Udi’s sandwich bread.  Knowing Justin liked it, I figured I would give it a try.  One toasted slice later, I was hooked.  The texture, when toasted, is almost identical to a toasted piece of wheat bread.  When not toasted the bread does have a slightly grainy texture, but it is nothing a little peanut butter and jelly can’t mask.

The Udi’s product line also contains pizza crust, bagels, muffins, cinnamon rolls and granola.  All of which are gf and df.  I waited to write this review until I tried the muffins that were in my freezer along with the granola that I just recently purchased.  All of the Udi’s products have been really really good. 

The muffins, which come in blueberry, double chocolate and lemon streusel (the only flavor I have not tried), are really tasty.  The flavors are not intense, but the muffins are really moist and they have a true muffin taste.  Your taste buds may even trick you into thinking you are eating a cupcake.

The granola is outstanding.  I have only tried the vanilla flavor and it was sweet and crunchy—just like granola should be.  I love granola with a little bit of almond milk for a bedtime snack…yumm!

The bagel almost tastes more like a toasted bun than a bagel.  It is not chewy and does not have a true bagel taste.  However, I had a chicken and bacon sandwich on a toasted Udi’s Bagel and it was delish.  I think I will try a grilled turkey burger on a toasted bagel next time. 

Because I have found a bread product that I not only tolerate, but I enjoy, I have not steered very far away from Udi’s to try other products.  If you are eating gf and you have an outstanding bread product please please share your joy with me.  I may just go to the ends of the earth if someone can recommend a gf artisan loaf of bread…

All pictures on this post are courtesy of Udi’s Gluten Free Foods

DF Cream Cheese

Cream cheese seems to be a staple when it comes to dips and appetizers. There are various versions of DF cream cheeses out there but I think Kristie summed it up best with, "They all taste over-processed and like plastic." I'm sure if you are away from dairy long enough you can convince yourself that it's close to the real thing. Since I have the fortune of still eating dairy I am so.not.there. The consistency of DF cream cheese is very close to the real thing. I have discovered that if your dish is flavorful enough, you can disguise the taste and it turns out great!

The brand that we prefer is Vegan Gourmet Cream Cheese Alternative.

Image courtesy of followyourheart.com

Tofutti also makes their own version of Better Than Cream Cheese which is more widely available (at Cub versus a natural foods store). Both brands are close to the same.

I'll post some of our favorite recipes using DF cream cheese soon!

Ancient Harvest Quinoa Noodles

I stumbled across these noodles at Cub one day and I was excited to try another type of gluten free pasta. These are delicious.  They plump when you boil them and there texture is very very similar to that of a flour pasta noodle.

Quinoa contains more protein than any other grain; an average of 16.2  percent, compared with 7.5 percent for rice, 9.9 percent for millet, and 14 percent for wheat. Some varieties of quinoa are more than 20 percent protein.  Sited from Quinoa.net

Another perk about these noodles is the boiling time.  A typical rice pasta noodle can take up to 18 minutes to cook to an al dente texture.  These Quinoa noodles only take about 9-10 minutes!

Picture courtesy of Quinoa.net

We have tried linguine, elbow, and the spiral variety.  All have been a success! You can find them at Cub foods in the gluten free/organic section as well as any local natural food store.

Earth Balance

When I decided to take the dairy free plunge there were two things that I thought I was never going to survive without; chocolate (we will get to that in another post) and butter.  I mourned the loss of my buttered cinnamon toast, buttered noodles, and popcorn with melted butter, all of which are staples in my diet. 

Never-fear as those foods continue to be enjoyed with my dairy free love of Earth Balance natural buttery spread.  In my opinion this product comes very close to the taste of natural butter.  It spreads and quickly melts just like real butter. It comes in multiple flavors and in tub or stick form.  You can purchase it at Cub Foods along with any natural food store, making it very accessible for your diet restrictions

We have had great success with using Earth Balance in almost all recipes as a substitute for butter or margarine.  Kristen and Justin have had one big FAIL when it comes to EB: caramel corn.  Somewhere in the process of making a "caramel sauce" with the butter it seems to burn or at least take on a burnt flavor. 

Other than that this product is a must for any kitchen that is dairy free.

Dill Dip

The question I get asked most often is what’s a good appetizer that Justin can eat. Almost every time we go to someone’s house I get an email begging for help. It’s such a hard one to answer too. The easiest thing is chips, salsa, and gauc – of course many of the processed gaucs have milk in them so then I have to explain about label reading. It’s a good thing Justin is a huge Mexican food fan and will always be happy to eat that. Beyond that I struggle - unless you want to go to a co-op or natural food store and pay a mint for 3 gf/df chicken wings or slave over a kitchen all day making your own creations. My goal is to get up some relatively easy appetizer ideas that anyone can make!

And now it’s time to introduce Tofutti. Tofutti makes a wide range of dairy free substitute products. I have a love/hate relationship with it. Some recipes I can’t tell a difference and others are horrid. I will first say I am not a fan of tofu. I know it’s not “supposed” to taste like anything but I disagree. One of the products that we always have on hand is Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream. The best part about Tofutti is we don’t have to go to the co-op to get it. Cub has it in their organic cold section!

Pictures compliments of Tofutti

Here’s a recipe for a great dill dip. I can’t tell that it’s df! We eat it mostly as a veggie dip but it also works as a sauce for meats too.

Ingredients

1 cup Toffuti Better Than Sour Cream
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon dill weed
1 tablespoon Lowery Salt
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
1 tablespoon minced onion

Directions

Mix ingredients together and chill.

Gluten Free Bisquick

Picture courtesy of Amazon

This is my favorite new gf product on the market. I have found that with many of the gf prepackaged mixes, there is some flour that has a very strong, appalling flavor to my palate and this is not the case with Bisquick.

I love how easy and convenient it is to make. I first tried making their regular biscuit recipe that was on the box. The biscuits were great and not as dense as many gf biscuits are. There were a little dry and definitely need some butter/Earth Balance or some honey.

I also made a pot pie recipe. (soon to be posted!) My college friend Crystal had some of her recipes published in Betty Crocker’s Bisquick magazine. Besides wanting to see her recipes, I thought this magazine would be perfect for quick and hearty meals. I know most of the magazine is geared toward using the regular Bisquick but I will be trying many of them with the gf mix.

The only downfall so far is I’ve only seen small 16 oz boxes in the store. When I made the biscuit recipe it used almost the whole box! I’d love it if they came out with the bigger 2 lb+ so I don’t have to buy 3 of them at at time.

I can’t wait to try and experiment more with this product!

Nana’s Cookie Company

Picture courtesy of Nana’s Cooking Company

Nana’s Cookie Company makes an entire line of all natural snack products. We have tried several, and so far we have yet to try a snack from Nana’s that we don’t like.

We especially LOVE Nana’s Cookie Bars in this house.  The GF/DF Vanilla Berry flavored bars are Mikayla’s favorite while Mallory tends to scarf down the Chocolate flavored bar within just a few bites.

All of Nana’s products contain: No Refined Sugars, No Dairy, No Trans Fat, no GMO’s, No Cholesterol, No Casein, No Eggs, No Wheat, No Corn, No Soy, and finally No Cane or Beet Products. 

The texture of these bars are silky smooth, reminding me of a super soft non-filled fig newton cookie.  I have found Nana's to be at both of our local natural food stores. Check them out!