vegan

Allergy-Free Holiday Food

So it's that time of year. First it was Thanksgiving, then the Christmas parties and now it's almost time for 3+ trips you make to all of your families while they stuff you with gluten-filled, illegal for your tummy food. So what do you do? 

I've learned that the ONLY way for me to stay on track during the holidays is to bring my own food. Nowadays most people are at least use to hearing of gluten allergies so they don't mind, but they still can't wrap their head around my yeast, dairy, egg, almond, and sugar thing. That's when the stares usually take place...

So like I said, I bring my own and I don't care what people think, for crying out loud, if I did eat their food they would feel so terrible with 30 minutes later I'd be cooped up in the bathroom for the rest of the night...that's just not cool for anyone. 

So here are a few recipes I've tried and tested that are sure to help you get through the next few days of holiday madness.

1. Stuffing from Rudi's Bakery (this stuffing is not only gluten-free, but it's free of yeast, eggs, and diary) If you have to stay away from yeast just substitute for the yeast-free bread.
 

  • 16 slices of  (About 8 cups) of bread
  • 2.5 cups vegetable stock or broth
  • ½  tablespoon kosher salt,
  • ½ teaspoon fresh sage
  • ½ teaspoon fresh thyme
  • ½ teaspoon fresh parsley
  • ½ teaspoon fresh rosemary
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • ¼ cup sautéed onions 
  • ¼ cup of celery

Preparation:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 °F and cube the bread. 
  2. Spread the diced bread on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until lightly golden. Give the pan a shake midway through so the cubes brown evenly. Remove pan and let the bread cool.
  3. Transfer the toasted bread, chopped herbs, celery and onions to a large bowl. 
  4. Now, drizzle a bit of the stock over the bread cubes and gently mix. Repeat until all the bread is moistened but not soggy.
  5. Oil a baking dish, transfer the dressing to the dish and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top is crispy. Serve warm.

2. Cranberry Sauce - We all know that cranberries (dried and in sauce form) are loaded with sugar. It's crazy, actually. So I usually make a small batch for myself. I grab my mini-crockpot, place a cup or so cranberries in there and a splash of orange juice or a drop of orange essential oil as well as a few teaspoons of stevia. Then you let is cook until the cranberries pop. Super easy and it goes great on the turkey or dressing.


3. Chocolate Tofu Pie - I have to admit I was skeptical about this one, but it wasn't bad. I'm sure it would be A LOT better if I could have used the non-dairy chocolate chips instead of the ones sweetened with stevia, but regardless it was satisfying.


4. Cashew Cream Sweet Potatoes - These were amazing. Enough said.

Pumpkin Bar Amazingness: Dairy-free, Sugar-free, Egg-free, Gluten-free

That's a lot of free...but you'd never know! So I've been testing out a few dessert recipes and just haven't found one that seems to work yet, until tonight. After an overwhelming amount of ingredients and a long trip to Central Market, I decided to give this recipe a shot. 

http://www.tessadomesticdiva.com/2013/09/pumpkin-bars-w-caramel-frosting-gluten-free-vegan.html

I didn't have to make any substitutions. The only issue I had was for the frosting. I couldn't find any "healthy" powdered sugar, so I decided to make it anyways with some regular powdered sugar I found in the back of our pantry. I ended up only putting it on half of the pumpkin bars (ya know for the hubs) and it turns out it was even too sweet for him! Needless to say, if you can't do sugar you will be just fine skipping the frosting.

Hope you enjoy these and let me know if you make them!