Have you ever had Russian tea cakes? You know, the kind that are little round shortbread balls rolled in powdered sugar? They were always one of my mother’s favorite kinds of cookies and she made them frequently when I was growing up. I always loved how buttery and delicious they were. She decided recently to make them again, and I, being jealous, decided to make a batch for myself that were grain free and dairy free.
Recipe: Raw Sauerkraut Two Ways
Raw sauerkraut is a brilliant probiotic food, rich in enzymes and nutrients — and it tastes much better than the pasteurized stuff in the cans from the grocery store, which are devoid of nutrients anyway! The first time I ever made sauerkraut, I was surprised at how delightfully tangy and crunchy it was, as opposed to the unpalatable sour and limp stuff I had tried before. It’s very simple to make, and if you’re wanting to get started with fermenting veggies, sauerkraut is the place I recommend you start.
Copycat Recipe: Cherry Garcia Ice Cream [Dairy Free, Vegan]
CHERRY GARCIA! I never thought a dairy free, egg free ice cream could taste this good, but it did. The boyfriend used to love Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia, so I decided to try to replicate it as best I could using some good quality ingredients. It also needed to be totally vegan, since he was going off dairy and eggs for the month of January, and I’m off dairy and eggs until further notice (boo, IgG allergies!). I’ve had mixed luck with coconut milk ice creams because it never quite lends the same creamy consistency as real cream, and when I first made this batch with a base of coconut milk, it didn’t thicken up at all, and then when I put it in the freezer, it turned into a huge ice cube. Sigh. So, I did some Googling to see what other people did to make a coconut milk ice cream actually turn out well, and I found a trick of using arrowroot starch to thicken up the coconut milk and allowing the mixture to chill. When it freezes, it has an amazing creamy texture that I thought I’d never be able to achieve with dairy-free ice cream!
How To Make Water Kefir
I love making a variety of fermented foods and beverages, especially water kefir. I often give away water kefir grains to people and they ask me about how they should make their water kefir, so I figured that rather than explain the process to lots of people many times, I’d just write it all down here and direct people to my blog! I’m all about efficiency. And if you, dear reader, are lucky enough to have received some water kefir grains from one of your friends, or if you are just generally interested in learning how to make water kefir, read on!
Recipe: Cinnamon-Spiced Pumpkin “Oatmeal”
If you asked most people what was the biggest thing they missed since cutting out processed food, I think a lot of people would say things like pizza, or maybe fettuccini alfredo, or chocolate chip cookies. Me? I miss hot breakfast cereals.
Yes, really.
I mean Cream of Wheat, oatmeal (especially steel-cut ‘Irish’ oatmeal!), Zoom… those sort of things. They’re like my paleo kryptonite.
Recipe: Sweet and Tangy Marinated Cauliflower Salad
This salad is quite common here in Ukraine, kind of like potato or egg salad for Americans, and it’s sold at every supermarket deli counter. It was there at the supermarket that The Ukrainian pointed it out to me and suggested we try to make it ourselves. Now that I’ve tried it, I’m definitely going to add it into my cauliflower recipe arsenal!