Soups and sides: Non-dairy creamy Tomato Soup

2 tablespoons of coconut oil
3 carrots
4 celery stalks
4 cloves of garlic
2 small onions
2 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock if vegan)
2 cans (about 28 oz each) crushed tomatoes
Salt and Pepper
a few basil leaves

Dice carrots, celery, onions and garlic. In a pot melt coconut oil (you can use any type of oil you prefer), add your diced vegetables and cook until onions are translucent, careful not to burn. Add your chicken stock and tomatoes and a little water (to your preference). Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook on low simmer until carrots are cooked through. Blend about 75% in blender until smooth. Serve with basil on top.

We paired this soup with the traditional grilled cheese sandwich. My husband with his Colby and white sharp cheddar and me with my daiya cheese, mozzarella flavored. We both thoroughly enjoyed our food.

Girls Night Dinner Party

So, I wanted to have a few friends over, so here are the recipes we used- these are not originally mine, but I have tweaked them. Everything got good reviews from everyone. :) The hamburgers were much better than I expected- a tomatoe slice on the bun w/ a little mustard and ketchup was all it needed!

(Sorry no photos today.)

Meatloaf Hamburgers
24 oz Ground Beef
4 slices of Wholewheat Bread (tossed in the food processor to make fine breadcrumbs)
1 Egg
1/4 Green Pepper (diced into small peices)
1 small Onion (finely chopped, I used a food processor)
3 cloves of Garlic(finely chopped)
Salt and Pepper
A dash of Ground Red Pepper
A few dashes of dried Basil and Oregano

Mix together and form patties of about 5 oz each. (Makes approx 7 patties)
Cook as you would your normal Hamburgers.

Savory Mashed Acorn Squash

1 Acorn Squash
Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder to taste

Oil pan and slice squash in half oil squash on both sides.  Bake at 450 for 60 minutes cut side down. Take out and let cool for a few minutes, take out flesh and mash it and add spices to taste. If it is watery, cook it down in a sauce pan.

Chipotle Coleslaw
1 bag of Coleslaw mix
about 1/2 cup mayo
1/2 of juice of lemon
couple dashes of chipolte hot sauce
about 1 tsp brown mustard
pinch of sugar

Mix up all but the coleslaw mix well in the bottom of a bowl, add vegetables. This recipe is especially delicious with roasted pecans chopped up and added.

Mimosas
1 part orange juice
1 part sweet spumante italian sparkling wine
Grenadine

Mix wine and juice and place in wine glass drop a little grenadine in the glass after it has poured. This will make the drink two toned and add a little more flavor. (For our girl's night, we also used wine charms to tell our glasses apart.)


Well, now I guess I should do the dishes...

Product Review: Organic Nectars Cashewtopia non-dairy frozen dessert

So I'm at my local grocery store- and I see this non-dairy dessert on sale for half price. I couldn't resist. As stated before, my very favorite is coconut based non-dairy desserts. Though after discovering I am allergic to coconuts, I was again in search for a good frozen dessert.
This is a decent frozen dessert. I'd give it 4 stars. Not 5, because it's texture leaves a little to be desired. But the flavor! It's so delicious! I would never call this gelato. (On the container it calls itself "vanilla raw agave gelato.") To me gelato is this extremely decadent and creamy frozen delight. While this is very delicious, it does not fit that description. If this continues to be on sale, I will buy it again. However, at the prices they wish to charge for a raw, organic, soy-free, dairy-free, gluten-free item... It might just have to stay on the shelf.

http://www.organicnectars.com/products.html#