We love our pasta!!

Honestly, if it came down to both Mark and I having to figure out what one food we would choose to live on for the rest of our lives it would be a tight toss up between rice (him) and pasta (me). BUT fortunately that'll never happen because well they're cheap to buy and make! Whoop!

But tonight I am going to give the recipe for one of our favorite dairy free meals! Seriously, I made this when Mark and I first started dating and I thought I would throw it all back at the toilet after eating it but I loved it so much I ate half the pan... AND I DIDN'T FEEL LIKE A FAT KID! Say what!?!

Dairy Free Lasagna 

9-12 ea         Lasagna Noodles (You can opt for gluten free here... I will not compromise on my pasta)

3 1/4 Cups   Pasta Sauce (we like to make our own)

1 1/2 #         Ground Turkey/ Beef/ Sausage

2 Cups         Shredded Daiya cheese (seriously, dairy free AND gluten free cheese! Yummo)

1 Package    Medium firm tofu (don't hate)

Ok ya'll, now I know you see the tofu and about every single one of you sub contentiously scrunched your nose up and forced back some up chuck! But seriously, Mmm Mmm it is so tasty in this recipe!

Pre-heat oven to 375 F

In a medium size bowl place the cheese and the tofu and mix together with your hands. You want it to be mixed well but still have some chunk to it. In a pan brown your meat... I bolded Turkey because it's such a yummy choice and I personally don't eat pork and I just feel that beef in a lasagna dish is too weird. If you add some Italian spice (i.e. basil, oregano, pepper flakes, marjoram, etc.) to the turkey it tastes just like Italian sausage but it's leaner, not as polluted (free range) and its just a happier choice all together.

Par cook your noodles in a pot of boiling  salted water for about 7-9 min. Please make sure it's rapidly boiling or else you're going to have some sad looking noodles and if you don't salt the pasta water you're going to have a very bland dish. Too much salt will kill a dish, not enough salt will ensure it's never brought to life. 

Once your tofu and cheese is mixed, your meat is browned, your noodles are par cooked and your pasta sauce is ready you can begin assembling your dish.

If you're cooking for 2 I would recommend doing an 8x8 and anything else a 9 x 13 glass pan. Making three layers total switch between sauce, pasta, meat and then cheese/tofu mix. The reason you want to mix the tofu and cheese is because it gives the cheese a ricotta like texture, so smooth and without flaw. 

Once you have assembled your dish place it in your pre-heated oven and cook for 18-22 minutes or until the cheese is melted. I wasn't patient enough to see if it browned or not, but if you want it to brown you can keep it in there a little longer but make sure you don't evaporate all the pasta sauce and dry out your noodles :)

Thank God for Technology

I have been doing quite a bit of research on the good ol' Google for an online or technology based recipe saver. You know, there are some pretty awesome ones out there! Mark and I have soooo many recipes (thank you bridal shower) for family and friends and from the places we've worked that I want an online resource where I can access my recipes no matter where I am. Also, if the house goes up in flames (Dear baby Jesus no) I would really like to not have to grab every single cook book and then leave, I wouldn't make it out and you know I'm not leaving them in the house! 

So here is some of the research I have done (thank you 9th grade English class for instilling research into my head):

Cook'n~

This one is the one I think I am going to purchase! It has so many wonderful features on it. 

• There is a place for you to find online recipes similar to what you're looking for 
• You can get an entire breakdown of nutritional facts for every recipe you create 
• You can make a hard copy/cookbooks of every recipe you have on there (hello Christmas gifts)
• You can access it from you phone, apple or droid, and it is compatiable with macs and dells
• You can instal it on multiple computers 
• It has a menu planner AND creates a shopping list for you (Say what!!!)

Ok there are so many other awesome features about this one I am getting giddy just thinking about it. I digress. This is my #1 choice but I will continue to give you options because hey, we can't all be Mrs Bell's!

MyCookbook~

If you aren't looking to spend money I would recommend this one. It has basically the same features of the Cook'n software, but you just have to remember that you get what you pay for. It's a FREE online forum so you are limited in some ways. Unfortunately I haven't personally used it so I can't give you 100% accurate advise but hey there is a comment section below, help each other out, if you try it give us some feed back!

Here are a few more free online organizers for recipes:

• Foodfolio (this is like pinterest you have to be invited to it)
• Allrecipes (you can be a FREE member of pay $17.50 yr)

And here are some more paid ones:

• Big Oven (for Windows)
• SousChef (for Macs)

Well that's all I have for tonight. If you try one of these out Plllleassse share your findings and opinions with us so that we can jump on the band wagon or run the opposite direction :) 

Happy end of MONDAY!

Caramel Apple Cupcakes... the fair's in town!

In true celebration of the Dutchess County fair we're going to start this out right with a scrump-didly-umptious Caramel Apple Cupcake!

Well here we go folks! It's time to open my life to ya'll and Im going to start with my favorites... fall time baking :) Yuuummmy!So lets begin...

Oh and one more thing~ the hubs is dairy free and I'm trying to eat less heavy (gluten/processed free) foods, so this is going to be a healthier version of the recipes... you can always resubstitute the glorious amounts of creamy butter and white flour for all of these. If I adjust the measurements I'll be sure to let you know! K Go!

Caramel Apple Spice Cupcakes

2 1/4 cup                 sorghum/jowar flour
2 teaspoons             baking soda
2 teaspoons             ground cinnamon*
1/2 teaspoon           ground nutmeg*
1 teaspoon              salt (I'm not a HUGE salt fan so I always cut mine in half)
1/2 cup                   Olive Oil (Not extra virgin, a lighter blend)
1/4 cup                   apple butter
5 large                    eggs
1 cup                      almonds ground (you can tree peanuts here if you have a tree nut allergy)
1 cup                      bananas mashed (or apples if your name is BFF)
1 cup                      agave (or 1 1/2 cups honey)
1 teaspoon             vanilla extract
4 cups                    coarsly shredded baking apples (Macintosh, Breaburn, etc.)

* if you happened to make it to the reception in Colorado or the wedding in Utah substitute the cinnamon and nutmeg for 1 T of the apple pie spice mixture.

To start make sure you have your pans sprayed (this can obviously translate into loaves or mini cupcakes if you want) or fitted with muffin tins.

I like these ones for a fancy fall look

Mix your dry ingredients (Flour, soda, spices, and salt) in a bowl and set to the side.

In a food processor place the apple butter, egg whites, ground nuts, and mashed bananas. Process them until they make a smooth paste and then slowly add the oil while the processor is still on. The idea is to fully incorporate the oil into the mixture so that you don't get separation and an oily product.

Next mix the remaining wet ingredients together and set to the side. ** Note you'll need 2 whole large eggs to mix into the wet ingredients. Add the wet and dry ingredients and then the pasty mixture. Do not over stimulate the dough mixture or else you run the risk of having Chinese assassin muffins (aka hard rock cupcakes).

Once all ingredients are mixed fold in the chopped apples and you're ready to fill the tins.

I would highly recommend pre-heating your oven to 350 F and then lowering it to 325 F when you place the cupcakes in the oven. Also filling them 3/4 full instead of the recommended 2/3. If you lower your over to 325 F you'll want to cook the cupcakes for around 20-25 minutes or until the tops spring back at you when light pressure is applied. 

For the Frosting:

1/2 cup          Coconut Oil
1 cup             Brown Sugar
1/2 cup          Coconut milk
1/4 cup          Almond Milk Original (We love Blue Diamond Yummmm)
1 teaspoon    Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup          Shortening**
5 cups           Confection Sugar

** In place of this you may also opt to using Earth Balance, which is a vegan butter substitute, or Spectrum shortening which is a shortening substitute. This wonderful information brought to you by Robin Brophy :) <---- she's so smart. 

In a mixing bowl (aka my wonderful maid KitchenAid) beat the shortening with 2 cups of the confection sugar until well blended.

Place the brown sugar in a sauce pan and bring it to a boil. Once the sugar granules are almost melted completely add the coconut oil in. Continuously stirring until it begins to caramelize, add the coconut milk. NOTE: Make sure you keep stirring vigorously or else your caramel will seize up on you and you'll have to start again.

Add the caramel to the mixing bowl with the confection sugar and shortening. Continue adding confection sugar and caramel (going back and forth between the two). Add the Almond milk and vanilla into the mixture and make sure everything is well incorporated. 

If you want thicker "butter cream" add more confection sugar, for a thinner product add less.

Wait until your cupcakes are cooled and frost them lovingly!

All right peeps! That's all for tonight! Once I complete this recipe I will "trial and error" it and then post picture of the ones I make... this might become a "nailed it" blog :)


XoXo
Mrs. Bell