Raspberry Coconut Oatmeal

MMM! This was wonderful. I got this recipe out of my Fitness magazine, so I don't have the recipe handy at the moment, but it was honey, raspberries and coconut mixed with plain oatmeal. Heavenly. Especially with Peach Mango Ocean Spray juice and flavored coffee.

Crab Quesadilla

This was a SUCCESS! It was hard to keep together, since I didn't put any cheese in it, but it was still really good - and healthy too!

Ingredients:
1/4 cup diced onion
1 tsp olive oil
1 cup diced avocado
1/4 cup diced tomatoes
Pinch of ground cumin
Pinch of salt and pepper
4 tortillas (I just did two)
4 tsp diced green chilies (skipped these - I don't even know what they are!)
1/2 cup chopped crabmeat
4 tbsp shredded Monterey Jack cheese (skipped this)
1/2 cup salsa
4 tbsp sour cream (skipped this too)

1. Saute onions
2. Combine the other ingredients, except the crab meat, in a large bowl. Spoon onto tortillas and divide crabmeat between them. Fold and fry in pan until tortillas are browned and insides are cooked through.

My first ham!

This was a YES - I have never enjoyed eating ham so much in my life. I planned a nice dinner to welcome home my mom after a weekend away - it turned out she wasn't coming back for another day, but I stuck with the plan. But the rest of the family ditched me - I ended up eating with the dog, which was a bummer. I wanted to hear some praise for my beautiful ham :-D

I made au gratin potatoes from a box mix and heated up some veggies - I couldn't eat either of these, so they were kind of for nobody's benefit. The ham however - AHHH! Orange juice and brown sugar... *sigh* After trying the ham the next day, my dad went and bought another one and asked me to make it again. And ya see what's in the background of this picture? The remains of a raspberry rhubarb pie - ignore the piece of pumpkin beside it. ;-)

I know I took pictures of it, but they have disappeared - sad day. :-(

That was another experiment of the afternoon, and I have to say that, that goes in the top five yummiest things I've ever tried making. It was DEE-licious! I feel like making another one right now!

Ham Glaze Ingredients:Glaze
1/2 cup orange juice
3 cups brown sugar
3 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons corn syrup (I used sugar and water to make a substitute)
3 teaspoons dry mustard

Directions
1. Score ham with diamonds, insert whole cloves (I skipped the cloves - I have to see pictures to do that), bake at 325- 350 for about 1-1 1/2 hours (you can add a little water to the bottom of the baking dish).
2. Baste often with glaze, watching carefully that the outside does not start to burn.
3. If desired serve with the glaze drizzled on slices, or even put the sauce in a bowl for the table and everyone can help themselves!) Yummy!




1/2 pint raspberries (I used frozen)
1/4 cup honey
6 tablespoons cornstarch (I put that in anyway - that's what Benadryl is for!)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon lemon zest, grated (skipped that. I put some lemon juice into the raspberry mixture, but then I realized I should have put it into the sugar and water mixture, so I added more. And it was fine!)
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup water
7 cups rhubarb, cut in pieces (I used 1/3 frozen, or rather thawed, and 2/3 fresh. For a bit I thought it might not work, but I just had to cook it longer to get the fresh rhubarb cooked thoroughly)
1 (9 inch) pie shells, fully baked

Topping
1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped (skipped these)
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup ol-fashioned rolled oat
1/4 cup butter, cold (I used soy butter)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon


Directions


1. Filling:
2. In blender, puree raspberries and honey. Scrape through fine sieve into bowl.
3. Whisk in cornstarch to dissolve; add vanilla.
4. In saucepan, bring zest, sugar, and water to a simmer. Add rhubarb. Cover and simmer 8 minutes. Rhubarb should be tender, but hold shape.
5. Add berry mixture and boil 1 minute, stirring till thickened. Pour into pie shell.

6. Topping:
7. Combine all ingredients in bowl. With fingers, rub till mixture is enenly moistened and forms clumps. Crumble over filling.
8. Place foil under pie to catch drips. Bake at 425 for 15 to 20 minutes until brown.
8 lbs ham (or smaller)

Tuna Wrap

I wanted to use up some things in the fridge, so I pulled together some scraps (literally - look at my tortilla pieces!) and made a tuna veggie wrap! It was delicious with green grapes and rice milk.

Ingredients:

Mushrooms (I don't remember what kind - whatever I grabbed)

Yellow bell pepper

Broccoli

Tuna with vegenaise

I think that looks like green beans in there too - it's been awhile and I don't remember. :-)

Homemade Mini Pizzas

I made these one day, and the first one was good - after that, not so much. They were fantastic, except for the cheese substitute I used. I tried Daiya, both the cheddar and mozzarella flavors, and I was not impressed. It was gooey and gunky when it melted - more like snot than cheese. It tasted good in solid form, but after I tried it melted I didn't care for the unique taste anymore.

Ingredients:
Pillsbury crescent rolls (pizza dough or biscuits would have been a better idea)
Olives
Broccoli
Yellow pepper
Pepperoni

I actually don't remember what I used for sauce - probably something I found in the cupboard that had tomatoes in it. :-)
Cheddar and mozzarella Daiya cheese substitute

Definitely needs some tweaking before I will make those again!

Lemon-Lime Chili Tilapia

I kind of combined two recipes for this - chili-lime tilapia, and lemon-lime tilapia. It turned out really good! I also made cilantro lime rice to go with it, channeling Qdoba's rice - I am ADDICTED to that wonderful stuff. It was so yummy!

Ingredients

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 (4- to 6-ounce) tilapia fillets
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon chili powder (optional)

Preparation
Combine flour, salt, and pepper on a large plate. Dredge fillets in flour mixture, coating both sides. Heat olive oil, lemon juice, and lime juice in a very large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook fillets 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until done. (If liquid reduces too much, add about 1/4 cup water.) Serve immediately.

Pumpkin Pancakes!

These were AMAZING! I woke up one morning with a craving for pancakes, so I found this recipe I had saved - I think I got it off Hungry Girl. I had to tweak them, of course, with egg replacer and rice milk, and they were still sooo good! They look kind of goopy because I was experimenting with toppings - some brown sugar, some sugar-free syrup, some applesauce... it was all good but the brown sugar was definitely my favorite!

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups milk
1 egg
1/2 canned pumpkin
2 tbsp oil


Combine dry ingredients and set aside. In a large bowl, beat milk, pumpkin, egg and oil. Gradually add dry ingredients, and mix only until wet. Batter will be lumpy.

The Start of My Adventure

Thanks for joining me! I love to cook, and I love to take pictures of what I cook. I have to plan what I eat pretty carefully - only certain kinds of bread, ketchup, peanut butter, etc., only dairy-free cheeses, milks, yogurt and spreads, and virtually no chips, snack crackers, store-bought cookies, or dessert mixes. So it can be interesting sometimes, trying to figure out what I can eat, what I can substitute, what I can do without - and what I can get away with! Severe Allergy Benadryl can usually keep me from getting blisters (from eating corn, corn syrup, corn starch, dextrose, maltodextrin, etc), if I take it before I go to bed. I think it also helps keep me from breaking out, if I've eaten dairy.

It started with the dairy two years ago, but it was not a huge problem - I started to get sick from it, and throw up after I would eat in the morning in the fall of 2008. In January 2009 I found out that I was lactose intolerant and cut dairy out - the nausea and morning sickness got much better! By May, I was eating yogurt and cheese again.  Unfortunately, in June, I took a milk powder drink mix for a few days without realizing it was milk-based - dumb, right?

When I finally figured it out, my mouth was swollen and blistered. And that's how the corn allergy started. I was also eating eggs nearly every single day, and when I finally got in for testing last October, I learned that was my worst allergy, even though I don't have a visible reaction to it, as far as I'm aware.

I've been on allergy drops since then, and things have not changed at all. It could take from 3-5 years to see a change, I guess. Until then, I'm just plugging along, doing things the vegan way!