Recipes and Foods For The Milk Free

This recipe is actually one of my Mom’s creations. I have a dairy allergy and my little sister has a nut allergy so Mom has gotten pretty good at coming up with recipes we can enjoy with the rest of the family over the years!  She just came up with this a few years ago and now we don’t even make a separate dairy version, we just make the dairy free version for everyone! This is not the best picture as I must have took it sometime during Thanksgiving after we had already ate.  My mom is planning this for Christmas dinner as well so I will get a better picture!

Dairy Free Recipe : Green Bean Casserole

1 cans french style green beans

dairy free cream of mushroom soup 

french fried onions (check the ingredients!)

Directions:

Mix soup in with green beans. (I know, I have the most difficult recipes!) You will have to judge how much soup to make. I never measure it, and I take away or make some more as needed. My mom likes to mix some french fried onions in with the green beans and soup but I don’t do that. Sprinkle french fried onions along the top of the casserole. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Now, I said sprinkle french fried onions, which I’ve seen done, but personally I like a layer of french fried onions!

This is a recipe my mom came up with after we realized I had never had green bean casserole before. There are so many recipes that call for cream of mushroom soup that finding a dairy free soup version is great! I use this in a lot recipes now, though I don’t think I have ever just had it as a dairy free soup. I also don’t have a picture as  the last time I made it I used it for green bean casserole on Thanksgiving and kept forgetting to take pics in all the craziness.

Dairy Free Soup : Cream of Mushroom Soup

1/2 a container of regular mushrooms chopped very very fine

tablespoon of oil

Soy Milk or whatever dairy free milk you use

flour

garlic to taste

salt

pepper

Directions for Dairy Free Soup:

Heat oil in pan then simmer the mushrooms and a small amount of garlic (no more than a teaspoon of the garlic in a jar) for a few minutes. Add a small handful of flour (I have small hands so if yours are big you may want to make it even smaller). Slowly poor in some dairy free milk.  Cook until done. You may need to add some more flour to thicken it or add more milk to thin it.

I made this one day when I did not feel like messing with making rice or worrying about it turning out right. I was pleasantly surprised to find that not only was this really good, but that I may even like it better than my version with rice! It could also have been the veggies I had at the time, which included cabbage. I hope you like this! I tried to make it as healthy as I could without any way of actually knowing how many calories are in it.

Dairy Free Fish Recipes: Baked Fish and Veggies

Filet of your favorite fish

1/2 onion chopped

1/4 small cabbage chopped

1 stalk celery chopped

a few chopped black olives

1-cup chicken broth (about 8 frozen chicken broth cubes)

Directions

Lay the fillet on a strip of aluminum foil big enough that you will be able to fold it up around all the fish and veggies to make a pouch. I keep the foil on a baking pan in case it leaks. Fold sides up so that liquid will not escape. Mix veggies together and pile on top of the fish. Pour the broth in over the fish and veggies (melt the cubes in the microwave if frozen). Fold up the sides of the foil to enclose everything inside.  Bake in 375 degree oven for 20 minutes.

Not only is this a great dairy free recipe but it is also much cheaper than eating out for breakfast. And, even more good stuff, it is pretty easy to make! The hubby and I have been having this for some of our weekend breakfasts lately since we can’t afford to go out to eat anymore.

Dairy Free Breakfast Recipe: Sausage and Egg Biscuits

1/2 pound sausage (this is for just two of us and honestly, we could probably get by with less)

1 package roll of cheap dairy free biscuits

one to two eggs per person

Directions:

Cook the biscuits according to the package directions. Slice the sausage into patties, small enough to fit the cheap biscuits and thin enough that you have a sausage patty for each biscuit. Fry the sausage until kicked throughly. Cook eggs how you like them. I prefer them hard for this meal so they are more like a sandwich you would get out. I cut the eggs in halves or thirds to fit on the biscuits. Layer the sausage and egg on each biscuit and enjoy!

With the state our economy is in I am looking at every area of our finances to figure out where we can cut back. One of the ways I am doing this is by going even more frugal on our already frugal grocery bill. I am trying to be even more conscientious about using leftovers and freezing what I can to use for later. This is one of my favorite leftover dishes and its not bad frozen, you may have to add a little butter or barbeque sauce to the top when you heat it up if the meat seems like it has dried out after being frozen. This shouldn’t be a concern if you are eating it as a leftover the next day.

Frozen Dinners : Roast Beef Leftovers

This doesn’t really have ingredients. You just take your leftovers from a roast beef meal, like creamed corn or mashed potatoes or green beans and layer them all in a dish. If you are going to freeze it, layer the freezer dinner in a freezer and microwave safe dish. Generally, I layer mashed potatoes, then green beans or corn, then the roast beef on top. You could also do this the other way around and make a kind of Shepard’s pie.

We had this meal over a month ago and I can’t quit thinking about it. Often I find myself making one item because there is only two of us, and forgetting that some meals are even better with sides. This was true of enchiladas. Normally, I would have just made enchiladas and we would have ate that. The hubby’s parents came down and shared their enchilada dinner, complete with spansh rice and refried beans. Mmmm. I have never enjoyed enchiladas more.

Dairy Free Recipe : Enchiladas, Spanish Rice and Refried Beans

2 flour tortillas per person

1/2 pound ground beef

1/2 pound ground turkey

1/2 medium onion chopped

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1 can or package of dairy free enchilada sauce

Dairy Free Sour Cream

Dairy Free Cheese

1 box of Dairy Free Spanish Rice

1 can vegetarian refried beans

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Brown meat with onion and garlic. Drain if needed. Roll meat up in tortillas placing them in a glass baking dish, seam side down. Pour enchilada sauce over the top. If you want you can sprinkle chopped dairy free cheddar cheese over the top. Personally, I have gotten so used to enchiladas without cheese that I do not even bother.  Place in oven for about ten minutes. You will want to keep a close eye on these so that they do not overcook. If you are also making cheese enchiladas then they are ready when the cheese melts. Make the Spanish Rice while the enchiladas are in the oven according to the box instructions. Heat the refried beans in the microwave or on the stove. Serve and enjoy!

First there was that post about dairy free Thanksgiving recipes then the over a week that I didn’t post. I haven’t been a good blogger lately. I will try to do better. I do have a few excuses if you would like to here them?

First, I’ve been sick. For a week. Through the entire Thanksgiving holiday. How sad is that? 

Second, I plum wrote myself ragged. I mean complete burn out. I have virtually quit writing for one arena that was causing me a great deal of stress so that I can focus on the areas in my life that I do enjoy working on, one of those being my dairy free blogs.

Please do not expect great things from me until the new year as the holidays are always crazy with me, but do expect them to be better! I am going to try to post as much as I can but come January 1st, I am hoping to post every day for a month.  I would really like to reach this goal!

Here is what you can look forward to for December:

Those Thanksgiving recipes I promised.

Thanksgiving leftover recipes.

Christmas recipes

New years recipes

I know the Thanksgiving recipes are a bit late but I’m hoping you can still use them for Christmas, since many people reuse several of the Thanksgiving dishes.

Happy Holidays!