Cookies & Cream Coconut Milk Ice Cream

Doodle had such a good week at school this week. It's amazing how much she has achieved in just 3 short months. The teacher sent home a note saying that she cut out her raccoon all by herself. I know this seems like such a small thing that most 5 year old's can do. But, fine motor skills are so difficult for Doodle and a simple thing like concentrating long enough to cut around an object was near impossible for Doodle 3 months ago. So, I was so excited to hear this great progress on the first day of school. Doodle also was asking me how to spell words this weekend and would hold up each letter after she wrote it and exclaim - "Look, Mommy, I made an awesome 'V' (or whatever letter she was making)." Sure enough, I would look, and she had made the latest letter absolutely perfectly! Again - something she could not do 3 months ago.

To celebrate these great feats, we made ice cream tonight! The recipe this time came with mixed reviews. The neighbor boy across the street claimed it was the best ice cream he had ever had - as did Doodle's sister. The neighbor girl and Doodle didn't have the same love for it. I have come to learn Doodle just isn't in love with coconut milk - so I will probably have to drop that from my non-dairy milk line-up. Oh well. Here's the recipe - try it for yourself and see what you think.

Cookies & Cream Coconut Milk Ice Cream

1 14 oz Can Lite Coconut Milk
2 Cups Original Almond Milk - or other Dairy Free beverage (no flavor added)
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Agave Nectar
1/2 teaspoon Xanthan Gum (optional)
1 Tablespoon Pure Vanilla Extract
1 Package Gluten Free/Casein Free Sandwich Cookies (I use KinniToos Sandwich Cookies)

1. In a mixing bowl, mix Lite Coconut Milk, Almond Milk, Sugar, Agave Nectar, Xanthan Gum, and Vanilla on high speed until sugar is dissolved.

2. Add mixture to ice cream maker according to your manufacturers directions.

3. Churn for 20-25 minutes (according to Mfg directions) until thick.

4. Crush Sandwich Cookies and add to ice cream mixture. Churn for 5 more minutes to mix in.

5. Place ice cream in freezer safe bowl and freeze for several hours. Scoop up a dish and savor.

Spaghetti with Roasted Tomato Sauce

I love to make my own tomato sauce for spaghetti night. Today, after church, I discovered I was completely out of canned tomatoes - so I had to improvise and use regular tomatoes. I tried roasting the tomatoes with onion and garlic in the oven before mashing it into a sauce. The roasting brings out the flavor of the garlic and onions to give the sauce a nice full body. Doodle wasn't thrilled with the onions, but otherwise liked the sauce. As always, I made the sauce with Italian Sausage, as I feel this is the best meat for spaghetti sauce. Here's the recipe:


8-10 Roma Tomatoes sliced into wedges
1/2 Large Onion sliced into wedges
3-5 Cloves Garlic
1 Tbsp Red Pepper Flakes
Olive Oil
Sea Salt
1/2 Cup Organic Chicken Broth (I use Pacific Organic Free Range Chicken Broth)
1 Tbsp Oregano
1 tsp Basil
1 Package Bulk Italian Sausage
1 Package Gluten Free Pasta

1. Set oven to Broil. On a large baking sheet place sliced tomatoes, onion wedges, and peeled garlic cloves. Add Red Pepper Flakes and Sea Salt to taste. Toss with 2-3 Tbsp's of Olive Oil. Place under Broiler for 20 minutes - stir occasionally.

2. Prepare pasta according to package directions.

3. In a sauce pan cook bulk Italian Sausage until completely browned. Set aside in a bowl.

4. Remove tomato mixture from oven and place in sauce pan. With a Potato masher, mash the tomato mixture - especially the garlic to release the flavor. Add Chicken Broth, Oregano, and Basil. Stir for 2-3 minutes until sauce becomes thick. Add Italian Sausage.

5. Serve with Gluten Free Pasta.

Rasperry-Chocolate Truffle Ice Cream

For this recipe I modified the basic vanilla recipe from the Vanilla Brownie Ice Cream and added my own dairy free chocolate sauce and raspberry sauce. The chocolate blended into the ice cream, but left some nice chunks that melt in your mouth as you savor this treat.

1 1/2 cups Almond Milk (I use Pacific Organic Original)
1 1/8 cups Sugar
1 16 oz carton Coffee Rich non-dairy creamer (thawed)
1 8 oz carton Rich Whip non-dairy whipped topping (thawed)
1 1/2 Tablespoons pure vanilla extract

1 small package Rasperries
1/2 bag Enjoy Life Dairy Free Chocolate Chips
4-8 Tbsp Agave Nectar

1. In a mixing bowl, use a hand mixer on low speed to combine the almond milk and sugar until the sugar is dissolved.

2. Add in the Coffee Rich, Rich Whip, and Vanilla.

3. Turn on ice cream maker and pour the mixture into the compartment. Mix until thickened (for the Cuisinart machine it takes 20 - 25 minutes.)

4. In microwave safe dish, place chocolate chips. Microwave for 30 seconds, remove and stir. Microwave another 30 seconds, remove and stir. Stir chocolate until smooth. If necessary microwave in 10 second intervals and stir until smooth.

5. Add 4 Tablspoons agave nectar to chocolate. If necessary, add additional Agave Nectar until chocolate is smooth and glossy looking. Set aside

6. Clean raspberries and place in bowl. Add 2 Tablespoons Agave Nectar and let soak. Once softened, use a spoon to crush raspberries into a sauce.

7. Once ice cream is thickened, add the raspberry sauce and chocolate sauce to the ice cream mixture. Continue processing until raspberries and chocolate are thoroughly mixed

8. Once thickened, turn off machine, scoop ice cream & enjoy! If a thicker ice cream is desired, place in freezer for 2 - 4 hours.

Refreshing Lemonade

We love to hang out on our deck and drink home-made lemonade. Before Doodle was diagnosed as being mildly autistic, I used to buy the frozen concentrate at the store and soak strawberries in the concentrate before adding water. Now, I try to avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup, so we make our own lemonade and find it is much tastier than anything we can buy at the store. Summer is slipping away, so why not make a glass and enjoy while the you still can. I am.

Recipe:

1 large lemon
2 limes
2 cans Pineapple juice
1/2 cup sugar (or more, depending on taste)
1/2 cup Agave Nectar
Water

1. In a large pitcher, squeeze juice from lemon and limes.
2. Add sugar. (If you are adding sliced strawberries, do it now and let soak.)
3. Add Pineapple juice and Agave Nectar.
4. Fill remainder of pitcher with water.
5. Pour into glass over ice and relax!

Warm & Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies

I just finished baking a batch of Doodle's favorite chocolate chip cookies. We love to eat them fresh out of the oven with a glass of Almond Milk. This summer I've baked these a few times when some neighbor kids are over - they gobble them right up and can't even tell that they are gluten and dairy free.

I adapted this recipe from my friend Lori. I don't like to give Doodle a lot of sugar and the original recipe just had too much sugar in it. I substituted a good deal of the sugar with Agave Nectar, as it has a much lower impact on blood sugar. I also like to keep her blood sugar regulated with plenty of protein, so I exchanged some of the flour for some protein powder. I buy a pea based protein powder from Kirkman Labs and add it in to most of my starch based cooking. We find that it keeps Doodle on an even keel and we have far fewer meltdowns this way.


Here's the recipe:

1 1/3 cups GF All Purpose Baking Flour
1/3 cup Pea Protein Powder (if your not using this, just add equivalent amount of flour)
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Xanthan Gum
1/2 Cup Non-dairy Shortening
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Agave Nectar
1/4 Cup Sugar
1 Tbsp Vanilla
1 Egg
1 Cup Enjoy Life Dairy Free Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the Flour, Protein Powder, Baking Soda, and Xanthan Gum and whisk together. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat shortening, brown sugar, agave nectar, sugar, vanilla and egg until smooth. Slowly add in the flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Chill dough for 10 - 20 minutes.

Drop cookies onto greased baking sheets and bake 9-10 minutes. Cool for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet before removing to a cooling rack.

Dip in a glass of refreshing Almond Milk and enjoy! These cookies will disappear before you know it. Enjoy!

Vanilla Brownie Ice Cream

Ok, so normally I am an organic or all natural nut. But, I wanted my first batch of ice cream to taste mostly like normal ice cream, so I cheated and added Rich Whip cream and whipped topping. As I get better at this, I will experiment with different dairy free organic milks to come up with the best combination. In the meantime, here is my first attempt at Dairy Free Ice Cream. I have to say, it turned out quite yummy!

I have modified this recipe from the Basic Vanilla recipe that came from my Cuisinart.

1 1/2 cups Almond Milk (I use Pacific Organic Original)
1 1/8 cups Sugar
1 16 oz carton Coffee Rich non-dairy creamer (thawed)
1 8 oz carton Rich Whip non-dairy whipped topping (thawed)
1 1/2 Tablespoons pure vanilla extract

1. In a mixing bowl, use a hand mixer on low speed to combine the almond milk and sugar until the sugar is dissolved.

2. Add in the Coffee Rich, Rich Whip, and Vanilla.

3. Turn on ice cream maker and pour the mixture into the compartment. Mix until thickened (for the Cuisinart machine it takes 20 - 25 minutes.)

4. Once thickened, add small chunks of your favorite brownies and continue processing until brownies are thoroughly mixed (I make these from Elana's Pantry - they are one of the best brownies I have ever had).

5. Once thickened, turn off machine, scoop ice cream & enjoy! If a thicker ice cream is desired, place in freezer for 2 - 4 hours.