Emily Stokes
I'm a lady who loves cheese, sour cream, & ice cream, but I recently became lactose intolerant. My key focus in recreating dairy recipes is taste, but I try to be as health conscious as possible. Some of my recipes are low lactose rather than dairy free. I'm also a writer, teacher, nanny, dog mom, housewife, native Yinzer, current Californian, and social organizer extraordinaire.

Dairy Free Orange Cranberry Quick Bread

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Cranberries in a measuring cup.

We just moved into a new apartment, and it had a couple of issues. The tiny bathroom floor was pretty gross, and over a couple of days it began to reveal an ant problem. So today I was stuck inside waiting for the specialists to come in and take care of things.

The exterminator came first and sprayed the areas where the ants were coming from, followed soon after by three hispanic men that I could barely understand but believed to be the guys that would replace the bathroom flooring.

I think one of them tried to tell me that the old flooring was still good…I guess if you are okay with yellow staining, gashes, and ant colonies it was still good.  C’mon guys! Maybe he was telling me it was no good? I don’t know. But these guys were then followed by the maintenance man who came to oversee the work. There were a lot of strange men in my apartment.

Since I was stuck inside all day to wait for everybody, I decided to whip up something healthy for Eric  for when he got home. And, of course, I wanted to enjoy it as well, so I adapted a quick bread recipe to be dairy free. I happened to have orange juice and cranberries on hand, so I made a super healthy whole grain orange-cranberry bread with Very Vanilla Soymilk.

It’s pretty easy to put together but requires some whole grain ingredients like whole wheat flour and fiber rich wheat bran.  Not everyone is likely to have these ingredients in their cupboards but they are good to keep around. It’s cooking right now and smells delicious.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unbleached white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup wheat bran
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup dried cranberries
1 egg
1/2 cup Silk Very Vanilla Soymilk
1 cup orange juice
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, Very Vanilla Soymilk, orange juice, and oil.

Orange juice mixture.

Whisking orange juice, milk, and egg.

3. In a medium bowl, combine flours, wheat bran, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Flours in a bowl.

4. Add dry mixture into wet until just combined, then stir in cranberries.

Adding dry mixture into wet.

Muffin mixture without cranberries added.

5. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake for 50-55 minutes. Cool in the pan for 15-20 minutes before removing.

Muffin mixture with cranberries poured into loaf pan.

6. Serve warm for your sweetheart 😉

Finished cranberry orange quickbread

Easy Fresh Tomato Basil Pasta

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Bucatini pasta with oven roasted grape tomatoes
 (Updated from original post from March 8, 2012.)

I didn’t come up with this simple pasta dish–I heard it on TV one morning and the recipe was so basic I remembered it exactly the next time I bought grape tomatoes. Whenever I eat it I swear there is nothing more perfect in life. I have yet to find a restaurant that makes such a delicious tomato basil pasta dish.

And it’s absurdly easy.

I have my own way of making this dish and love to share it! The freshness and quality of the simple ingredients really make it special.

I try to buy fresh pasta from a local farmer’s market. I also recommend Bucatini/Perciatelli Pasta if you do not have fresh pasta. While I’m at the farmer’s market, I  buy some good looking grape tomatoes, fresh garlic, and basil. You will want a light tasting olive oil as well.

It’s easy to add other ingredients either to the cooking process or to use as a topping to make this sauce your own. I would suggest trying onions, red pepper flakes, spinach, cooked bacon, or a shredded hard, aged cheese. Try adding all if you like! This is a very versatile dish that can be great for lunch or dinner, served as a side or a main course!

Easy Fresh Tomato Basil Pasta
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Ingredients
  1. 1/2 lb. pasta of your choice
  2. 1 medium package grape tomatoes
  3. 3 cloves garlic, sliced
  4. 5-10 leaves fresh basil, chopped, or 1/2 teaspoon of dried basil
  5. Extra virgin olive oil
  6. Sea salt
  7. Black pepper
Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. After rinsing your grape tomatoes, set them in a glass casserole dish in a single layer. Add sliced garlic.
  2. Drizzle with enough olive oil to coat the tomatoes and garlic well, adding a little extra as sauce that will coat your pasta. Sprinkle generously with sea salt and black pepper.* Stir to coat evenly. If using dried basil, sprinkle the on top. Wait until 1 minute of cooking remains to add fresh basil.
  3. Cook for 40 minutes.**
  4. While your tomatoes and garlic are roasting, boil water for your pasta during the last 20-15 minutes, depending on if you are using fresh or boxed pasta. Cook pasta and drain. To serve, spoon the tomato, basil, and olive oil sauce over your hot pasta. Top with more basil or parmesan cheese. Pair with a sweet Moscato and be in heaven.
Notes
  1. *I'm usually good about low-sodium cooking, but you want to add a generous amount of sea salt to this dish. It really brings out the overall flavor of the sauce.
  2. **If you want to make this dish faster, you can certainly cook it for 20-25 minutes at 425 degrees Fahrenheit. I don't think it's perfectly slow roasted this way, but I'm occasionally pressed for time.
don't miss dairy /

 

Dairy-Free Chicken Pot Pie

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Dairy-Free Chicken Pot Pie from dontmissdairy.com. Low sodium, low fat, and no non-dairy milks needed! (Updated from original post on February 27, 2012)

Homemade chicken pot pie is the perfect comfort food for a cold winter night…unless you’re lactose intolerant. Then it can be quite uncomfortable.

Most recipes call for milk, cream, or creamy condensed soup. Here’s a simple pot pie recipe that I crafted to be dairy-free! In fact, it doesn’t call for any non-dairy milks either. It’s one of my husband’s favorite comfort foods. It’s also very good for you. Here’s why:

A chicken pot pie made with ingredients that are not low in sodium can contain over 1,000mg of sodium in a single serving. By the way, have you ever looked at the sodium content in a frozen pot pie? Scary! All that salt is unnecessary. Make your own pie and replace salt with flavor. There are a few extra steps in this recipe than in the typical canned soup method, but it’s still fairly simple and totally worth it.

Remember to rinse your shredded chicken breast after draining the liquid from the can if you’d like to further reduce the sodium content. You can also use flavorful unsalted chicken stock instead of low sodium broth. Suggestions from readers include using rotisserie chicken and adding potatoes!

Dairy-Free Chicken Pot Pie from dontmissdairy.com.

Dairy-Free Chicken Pot Pie
Serves 6
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Ingredients
  1. 1 box refrigerated pie crusts, softened
  2. 3 tablespoons vegan butter*
  3. 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
  4. 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  5. 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  6. 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  7. 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
  8. 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
  9. 1/8 teaspoon ground sage
  10. 1 can (12.5 oz) chicken breast, drained and rinsed**
  11. 1 can (4.5 oz) chicken breast, drained and rinsed (or about a 1/3 of a large can)
  12. 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables, rinsed to thaw***
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Place one pie crust inside a 9 inch glass pie pan--don't trim excess.
  2. In a large saucepan, melt vegan butter over medium low heat. Add chopped yellow onion, sea salt, and pepper, and cook until tender, about 2 minutes.
  3. Stir in flour until blended, and quickly follow with chicken broth, gradually adding the broth while stirring constantly. Add thyme and sage. Cook for about two minutes or until mixture starts to bubble and get thick.
  4. Stir in shredded chicken and mixed vegetables until well combined. Let cook for two more minutes, stirring frequently.
  5. Remove from heat and spoon complete mixture into prepared pie crust. Top with the second pie crust and seal the two crusts together, folding the extra over and under. This will prevent the crusts from separating while baking. I used a fork to seal the edges.
  6. Cut five slits in the center of the pie to let steam escape. Bake fifteen minutes to brown crust, then reduce heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and cook for 25-30 minutes. If crust starts to burn, you can carefully cover the edges with foil.
  7. Let pie stand for at least 10-20 minutes before serving. The longer it cools the easier it is to serve, but if you are really hungry you should just dig in.
Notes
  1. *I used Smart Balance Light Buttery Spread
  2. **I used Valley Fresh low sodium chicken breast.
  3. ***Mine included corn, peas, carrots, green beans, and lima beans.
don't miss dairy /
Dairy-Free Chicken Pot Pie from dontmissdairy.com.

This is what the onion should look like after the flour is mixed in.

Dairy-Free Chicken Pot Pie from dontmissdairy.com.

This is what the onion, flour, and broth mixture should look like after the broth thickens.

Dairy-Free Chicken Pot Pie from dontmissdairy.com.

This is what the complete mixture should look like before you top with the second pie crust.

Dairy-Free Chicken Pot Pie from dontmissdairy.com

Finished Pie.