Dairy free cheesy mushroom baked rice

 We got our first snowfall of the season here, This is my mind calls for oven roasted meals. I wanted to make something that was filling and savory and rice based. I came up with this recipe and it seemed to fit the bill of what I was looking for.

Dairy Free Cheesy rice
1/3 cup nutrtional yeast
3tbsp onion flake
1/2 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp each of pepper, salt,and  mustard powder
2.5 c  sliced mushrooms
3/4 cup shredded daiya chedder
3 cup cooked rice
1 cup soy milk
2 tbsp coconut oil


Mix first 6 ingredients together in a bowl,
Put into a greased casserole dish
Pour soy milk over it all and dot coconut oil over top
Bake covered at 400F until hot and done (About 40 minutes)

Roasted garlic pepper white wine creamy pasta

I love summer for all the great fresh vegetables that my garden provides me with.  This year our peas have done particularly well, I was looking to create a dish that utilized my over ripe peas. With a little inspiration from other moms on a Facebook group this dish was created. I love the how creamy it is, it almost reminds me of a dairy free alfredo sauce.

Roasted Garlic and Pepper White wine Pasta

Serves 6

1 yellow pepper halved

1 White onion cut in half

9 cloves of garlic

Olive oil

Coarse ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400F

Pour a good dollop of olive oil in a glass pan and place vegetables in in. Drizzle more olive oil over top and sprinkle with pepper.

Roast for at least 45 minutes, 1 hour is better.

.304 kg sliced chicken breast

2 cups Spinach

1 cup Fresh Peas

1/3 cup All purpose flour (Can sub GF flour)

1 cup Soy milk

1/2 tsp Salt

1 tsp black Pepper

1/2 cup Daiya mozzarella shreds

1/4 cup Coconut oil

1 tbsp Dried basil

1/2 cup White wine

1 cup Poultry broth

Prepared linguine

Separate garlic from roasted veggies, mash

Slice the rest of the roasted vegetables into strips.

Toss sliced chicken in basil, salt, black pepper and mashed garlic

Pour about a tablespoon olive oil into a pan on medium heat. Fry sliced chicken until done. Remove from pan. Pour in half of the white wine, scraping the bottom of the pan all the while.

Turn off burner or turn to low stir in Coconut oil and flour making a roux and cook for 2 minutes, Do not let it brown.

After two minutes turn burn back to medium low heat and whisk in chicken broth, milk and rest of white wine. Whisk until smooth then stir scraping bottom frequently until it starts to thicken

Whisk in Daiya cheese,

Bring to a simmer

Stir in peas, turn to low and cook for 6 minutes, stirring often

Mix in chicken, sliced vegetables, spinach, stir until spinach is wilted and everything is hot and bubbling.

Serve over linguine

Sloppy Joes with a twist

I haven't been feeling like cooking this week for some reason, we have Orions birthday party on the weekend and many things to do to get ready for it. I made up this easy recipe to just toss in the crockpot. The twist is that these contain carrots, but you barely know they are there.

Sloppy Joes (Marikas style)
1lb beef (Thawed, never use frozen beef in the crockpot)
1 1/2 cups grated carrots (About 3 medium)
1 tbsp 3 onion dip mix (Epicure)
1 Diced onion
1 400 ml can of tomato sauce
1 tbsp sucanet (or brown sugar)
1/2 tsp EACH salt and pepper
1 1/2 tbsp Apple cider vinegar

Put everything except the liquid smoke in the crock pot and cook on high for 3 hours or low for 8 hours.
10 minutes before serving stir in the liquid smoke.
Serve over buns with a salad on the side.

Easy crockpot tortilla soup

I love Tortilla soup, it is filling and so delicious. It  really hits the spots after a long day canning. It is also really easy to toss in the crockpot. Clay and Orion loved it as well, they enjoy just about any soup I make.

3 cups cooked black beans (I used my recipe for Pinto beans and just used black beans instead, just remember to watch them to see if they need more water)
1 cup of corn
1 litre Chicken or vegetable broth
1 minced jalapeno
1 onion, diced
1 diced bell pepper
1 can organic tomato sauce
1 tbsp garlic powder
4 tbsp lime juice

Chili powder to taste, I used chipotle chili powder, I didn't measure. The amount will really depend on your families taste buds, I just taste the broth and added enough to make it just spicy enough.

Toppings:
Corn tortilla chips or fried tortilla strips
Chopped cilantro
Avocados, sliced

Put everything in the crockpot except for the toppings, cook on high for 5 hours or on low for around 8. I usually wait until about an hour before serving to put the bell pepper in, I don't like them mushy. Serve with fried tortilla strips on top and cilantro and sliced avocados.

Mmm, Beef dip, a lovely comforting meal on a dreary day. I really enjoyed this, Orion picked out all the meat, ate it. He wouldn't touch the bun, he isn't a fan of white flour. He also dipped his cucumbers in the "jus"

Beef dip 
1 lb beef I just used stewing beef cubes, but you can use whatever cut you would like
2 cups beef broth
3 tsp 3 onion dip mix (Epicure)
1 cup mushrooms
1 cup red wine
1 1/2 tsp of garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp ground dry mustard
1 tsp Vegan Worcestershire sauce (You could use regular but we have a fish allergy)
French rolls (I used this recipe, usually I make whole wheat rolls but I have been having trouble with making hockey pucks so I switched to all white for a batch)


Put all in crockpot and cook on high for 6 hours,
About 1 hour before serving remove meat with a slotted spoon and shred, Place back in juice in the crockpot on low.
Scoop meat out with slotted spoon and place in rolls (You can toast them and sprinkle with garlic powder before if you would like), if you want you can put a piece if cheese on it. (We don't because I don't like any of the cheese subs) Serve a bowl of the sauce on the side for dipping.

Sauteed spinach with mushrooms and bacon

I served this dish for a dinner with my parents, it is an easy side that has a great flavour. Do not overcook the spinach, when it is all just wilted it is done, it will still continue wilting after you take it out of the pan.

Sauteed spinach with mushrooms and bacon
Serves 5

6 cups loosely packed washed organic baby spinach
1/2 cup bacon bits
4 cups mushrooms sliced (I used cremini because I really enjoy the flavour)
5 cloves garlic minced
2 tbsp of coconut oil  plus 1 tbsp

Mix, garlic, coconut oil mushrooms in a large pan, Over medium heat cook until mushrooms are browned.
Stir in spinach and additional coconut oil stirring often, until spinach is just wilted.