Roasted Corn and Red Pepper Soup

 

This recipe is from Bon Appétit. It’s an easy soup to make in the Vitamix, and I adapted the croutons based on what I had on hand. This was a nice lunch! This makes 2 large servings or 4 smaller ones.

For the soup
1 roasted ear of corn
1 ½ roasted red bell peppers, skins discarded (about 1½ cups)
½ cup vegetable broth
1 large garlic clove
2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 Tbsp. butter
½ tsp. chipotle chili powder
¼ tsp. paprika
¾ tsp. salt
fresh lime juice, to taste (about 1–2 Tbsp.)

For the croutons
4 slices of bread (from a French baguette)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 garlic clove
4-5 basil leaves
1 sprig of fresh oregano (stem removed)
small handful of fresh parsley
2 oz. lactose-free goat cheese

Cut kernels from cob, and add to the Vitamix with roasted red peppers, vegetable broth, garlic, olive oil, butter, chili powder, paprika, and salt. Use the Vitamix soup function, and blend until completely smooth. Divide between two bowls, and add lime juice to taste. Rinse the Vitamix Blender.

Back in the Vitamix Blender, pulse the olive oil with the garlic and herbs on level 1 until chunky. Add in the goat cheese, and pulse 3–4 times on level 1 until combined. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to broil.

Place bread under the broiler and cook for about 2 minutes or until dark and toasted on one side. Remove and spread goat cheese mixture on the untoasted side of the bread, and place back under the broiler for another 2-3 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly. Place croutons on top of the soup and serve.

Chocolate Graham Crackers

 

I got this recipe in one of Catherine McCord’s cookbooks, but it’s also online on Weelicious. I used white whole wheat flour in place of both whole wheat and all-purpose flour. These cookies were absolutely delicious! I’m not sure that they remind me specifically of graham crackers, but they were great, and it was hard to stop eating them. The kids loved them too! They are a great addition to a lunchbox.

I didn’t feel like using cookie cutters, and rolling and rerolling dough until it was all used up, so I just used a ruler and made rough 1”-squares, for a total of 68 squares. After I baked them, I transferred a bunch of them to the freezer for future lunchboxes, and they have served me well!

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup dark brown sugar, packed
½ tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. cinnamon (I used less)
1 tsp. baking soda
½ cup lactose-free butter, chilled & cubed
¼ cup honey
¼ cup water

Preheat oven to 350 °F.

In a food processor or mixer, combine the first 7 ingredients.

Add butter to the mix and pulse/mix until it resembles coarse meal.

Add honey and water and continue to mix until it all combines.

Remove and shape the dough into a flat disk and place between two pieces of parchment paper.

Roll dough out until it is ¼-inch thick. Cut into crackers or shapes with cookie cutters (see note above).

Place cookies on a silpat or parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Cool and serve.

Cheesy Baked Eggs in Tomato Cream Sauce

 

I got this recipe in a promotional calendar, but it’s originally from Art from my Table. These cheesy baked eggs in tomato cream sauce are halfway between shakshuka and enchiladas. I really liked them, and it’s a great vegetarian meal!

To make lactose-free half-and-half, I used literally half lactose-free milk and half lactose-free (vegan) cream.

2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, diced
salt and pepper, to taste
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour (use gluten-free if necessary)
1 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
½ cup lactose-free half-and-half (see note above)
8 corn tortillas, sliced in ½” strips
8 eggs
½ cup shredded lactose-free cheddar cheese
½ crumbled lactose-free goat cheese

Preheat oven to 400 °F.

In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium high. Add onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add flour and stir to coat. Pour in tomatoes, scraping up browned bits. Cook until tomato sauce is thickened and bubbling, 2-3 minutes. Stir in half-and-half and remove from heat.

Spread 1 cup of the tomato sauce in a 9”x13” dish. Place tortilla strips in an even layer over the sauce. Spread the remaining sauce over the tortillas. Break eggs over the top and sprinkle with cheese. Bake until sauce is bubbling and egg whites are set, about 25 minutes.

Blender Cottage Cheese Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

 

This title sure is a mouthful, I know! I’ve been buying lactose-free cottage cheese more often these days. I tried a chocolate pudding recipe I got from a friend on Facebook (basically ½ cup cottage cheese, 2 tablespoons instant chocolate pudding powder, and 1 teaspoon of water in a blender), and it was okay, but not great.

These muffins are more up my alley! They have more protein than regular muffins, but they were still “normal” enough that my kids ate them – so, a good compromise.

½ cup lactose-free cottage cheese
3 medium-sized ripe bananas, mashed
½ cup creamy peanut butter
2 Tbsp. melted coconut oil
¼ cup pure maple syrup
2 eggs
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose flour)
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. kosher salt
1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 ° F. Grease 16 muffin tins (I used my silicone pans).

In a blender, blend the cottage cheese until almost whipped, about 1 minute. Add the mashed bananas, peanut butter, coconut oil, maple syrup, eggs, and vanilla. Blend to fully combine. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt, blend again until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Divide the batter among the prepared muffin tins. Bake for 20-22 minutes, until just set.

Gâteau italien aux abricots

 

Voici une recette que m’a partagée Chère Sœur, tirée du livre Desserts de 3 fois par jour. Ma sœur omet le gingembre et, au lieu des abricots frais, elle prend deux boîtes d’abricots en conserve, les draine et les réduit directement en purée. Cela sauve du temps! J’ai donc pris deux boîtes de conserve de 15 onces chacune; j’ai utilisé le gingembre. C’est délicieux! Je pense peut-être le refaire en omettant la garniture aux amandes et en saupoudrant simplement le gâteau de sucre en poudre.

Pour le gâteau 

10 abricots bien mûrs, dénoyautés et coupés en 4
1 c. à soupe de gingembre frais, haché finement
6 œufs
¾ tasse de sucre
¼ tasse (80 g) de pâte d’amande, coupée en petits dés (je conseille même de l’écraser à la fourchette)
1 ½ tasse (180 g) de poudre d’amandes
1 ½ c. à thé de poudre à pâte
1 pincée de sel
sucre en poudre, pour décorer

Pour la garniture aux amandes 

¼ tasse de beurre sans lactose
1 c. à soupe de crème sans lactose
¼ tasse de cassonade
1 tasse d’amandes tranchées


Préchauffer le four à 350 °F et placer la grille au centre. Beurrer un moule à charnières de 9 po et réserver.

Déposer les abricots dans une petite casserole avec le gingembre, couvrir d’eau, puis cuire pendant 5 minutes à feu moyen. Égoutter, réduire en purée à l’aide d’un pied-mélangeur, puis réserver.

Au batteur électrique, fouetter les œufs, le sucre et la pâte d’amande de 2 à 3 minutes, ou jusqu’à ce que le mélange soit jaune pâle. Incorporer la poudre d’amandes, la poudre à pâte, le sel et 1 ¼ tasse de la purée d’abricots.

Verser dans le moule et cuire au four pendant 45 minutes. Sortir du four et réserver sans éteindre le four.

Au four à micro-ondes, faire fondre le beurre avec la crème et la cassonade. Ajouter les amandes tranchées, bien mélanger, puis verser sur le gâteau.

Remettre le gâteau au four pendant 15 minutes.

Laisser refroidir complètement avant de démouler, puis décorer de sucre en poudre.

Tortillas de poulet à l'asiatique

 

Voici une autre recette de Tous à Table! par Isabelle Huot et Nathalie Regimbal. Parce que je connais mes enfants, j’ai remplacé le yogourt grec par de la mayonnaise. (Même si le Petit Prince a déjà tellement aimé le yogourt que c’en était son premier mot, il en a maintenant une aversion.) J’ai mélangé la sauce directement avec le poulet au lieu de l’étendre dans la tortilla. Et je pense que j’aimerais davantage cela sans cinq-épices, quitte à rajouter un peu de sauce hoisin… L’important, c’est que les enfants ont tout mangé! J’ai servi ça avec un biscuit moitié-moitié aux pépites de chocolat et des fruits.

2 c. à soupe de yogourt grec nature
2 c. à soupe de mayonnaise
½ c. à soupe de sauce hoisin
¼ c. à thé de cinq-épices
4 grandes tortillas de blé entier
300 g de poitrine de poulet ou de dinde, cuite et en tranches
feuilles de bébé épinards

Mélanger le yogourt, la mayonnaise, la sauce hoisin et le cinq-épices dans un petit bol. En tartiner les tortillas.

Répartir la volaille et les épinards.

Rouler les tortillas fermement pour retenir la garniture. Garder au froid.

Peanut Butter Dragon Fruit Bowl

Well, I guess time got away from me. I got pretty busy with my home organizing business, which is great, but I’ve had less time for blogging. Let’s see what I can get done this weekend!

In my efforts to eat fewer carbs and more protein, breakfast consistently proves the hardest meal. I don’t want to eat the same thing all the time, and I’m aware that my kids aren’t into anything resembling a smoothie or chia pudding, so I keep going back and forth between recipes “for me” and recipes “for them”. Honestly, for me, it’s hard to go wrong with freezer-friendly breakfast egg muffins, though I tend to like them better for lunch (I recommend using 10 eggs instead of 12, and cooking the bell pepper and onions).

I did end up with a few recipes bookmarked from the Skippy website. Their peanut butter chocolate chip bread is nothing special, but I really liked their peanut butter dragon fruit smoothie bowl!

The recipe calls for a specific type of peanut butter that has added protein, but I could not find it in stores near me. So I used regular peanut butter, blended it in with some pumpkin seed protein and topped it with a bit of almond butter.

1 (10-oz.) package frozen dragon fruit
1 banana
¼ cup unsweetened plant milk (I used lactose-free milk)
½ cup blueberries
½ banana, sliced
¼ cup granola (I used protein granola)
1 tablespoon SKIPPY® Peanut Butter Blended with Plant Protein Creamy (see note above)
1 Tbsp. chia seeds
1 tsp. shredded coconut
1 Tbsp. agave nectar (I used honey and blended it into the smoothie)

In blender cup, place dragon fruit, banana and plant milk (and, in my case, peanut butter and honey). Blend until smooth. Pour into bowl.

Top with blueberries, banana slices, granola, peanut butter, chia seeds, coconut and agave nectar.