All posts by Emily Stokes

About 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.

30 Minute Tomato and Kale Pasta for Two

Entrées, , ,

I love this dish not only because it uses all my favorite super fresh vegetables, but because it is so easy! You just throw all the ingredients into a dish and put it in the oven. It’s absolutely delicious comfort food.

I used a cute curly pasta to go with my dish, but you can use whatever you have on hand. This is better for the summer when all the ingredients can be at their freshest. Sprinkle with Parma before serving! If you can find it, it’s a parmesan cheese imitation topping made from sea salt, walnuts, and nutritional yeast.

Ingredients:

2 cups uncooked pasta
1 package whole cherry tomatoes
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 large kale leaves, stems removed and leaves shredded
1/4 cup yellow onion, chopped
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried basil

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit  Add whole cherry tomatoes, garlic, kale, and onion into a small glass casserole dish and toss. I used a loaf dish.

2. Drizzle olive oil on top, toss to coat. Add salt, pepper, oregano, and basil and stir to coat evenly.

3. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes. While the sauce is cooking, start your pasta according to the directions so that it’s hot, fresh, and ready as soon as the tomato and kale sauce is done. I hope it becomes your go-to comfort food!

Easy Dairy Free Hot Chocolate

Desserts, More, , , ,
Hot chocolate

I can’t think of anything much better than hot chocolate on a cold winter day, especially a snow day! We were recently in Pittsburgh, PA visiting our family, and while we there a ton of snow came down. There’s even more there now! I don’t willingly go out in the snow, but when I was little there wasn’t a better treat than going sled riding or making a snowman with my brothers and coming back inside to my mom’s stovetop hot chocolate. I skipped the stove and just used the microwave here, but if you have a whole family of soy milk drinkers, the stovetop method is for you.

The trick to imitating the best dairy based hot chocolate is using the right milk. Silk’s Very Vanilla Soymilk is the perfect alternative. It makes a thick and creamy hot chocolate that tastes just as good, if not better, than the real thing. If you try to make this recipe with regular soy milk, you won’t get a great result unless you add thickeners, sweeteners, and flavors. So just buy the Silk Very Vanilla if you can drink it. Everything is already added to make it thick and delicious. I know some people don’t like Silk Soymilk because it contains carrageenan. If this is you feel free to use your favorite non dairy milk. I bet this would taste great with coconut milk or vanilla almond milk as well.

An amazing thing about cocoa powder is that it’s natural, pure, soft as a whisper ground cocoa. No dairy, sugar, or anything added. It’s completely vegan. The only difference between hot cocoa mix and cocoa powder is the milk powder and sugar. Add sweetener to the cocoa powder and you have an instant dairy free hot cocoa mix.

Ingredients:

1 cup Silk Very Vanilla Soymilk
2 teaspoons cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons of Truvia (two packets), or your preferred sweetener to taste

Directions:

1. Heat the soy milk in the microwave for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Stir in cocoa powder immediately after heating. If you’d like it hotter, microwave in 15 second intervals until desired temperature.

Very Vanilla Soy Milk

2. Stir in vanilla and your choice of sweetener to taste. Add mini marshmallows to the top. Marshmallows are dairy free!

Carrot Soup

Soups & Crock Pot, Veggies & Sides, , , , , , ,

Getting over the flu? Trying to boost your immune system? Do you have a fridge full of leftover carrots? Or are you just looking for a warm and soothing meal for those cold winter nights? If you answered yes to one or all of the above questions (like I did), then try some of my rich, milk-less carrot soup. It’s sweet, spicy, healthy, and very addicting.

I make it with chicken broth, but use vegetable broth to make a yummy vegan soup. This recipe calls for garlic olive oil, though a teaspoon of minced garlic thrown in at the end will work just as well. Make sure to add one or two teaspoons more butter or oil to the saucepan. I recommend using a food processor for this recipe to get the smoothest consistency.

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons garlic olive oil
2 tablespoons Smart Balance Light Buttery Spread
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/8 teaspoon red pepper
dash ground ginger
dash sea salt
dash black pepper
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2 1/2 cups raw carrots, peeled and chopped
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth

Directions:
1. In a 6 quart saucepan, heat Smart Balance over medium low until melted. Add garlic olive oil and stir to combine. Add onions, carrots, curry powder, red pepper, ginger, salt and pepper and stir to coat, cooking until the onions are tender, about five minutes.

2. Add chicken stock, stirring to blend. Bring soup to a boil, stirring occasionally.

3. Once boiling, reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Carrots need to be soft enough to puree. Remove from heat and prepare food processor.

4. In a food processor, ladle a small amount of soup from the saucepan at a time. Puree each batch for at least 20 seconds. Use a spatula to scrape out the pureed carrot soup into a fresh saucepan. It will have a smooth, creamy consistency and a bright orange color.

5. Heat the pureed carrot soup over medium heat until hot, then it is ready to serve. To make a thinner consistency, more chicken broth can be added after the pureeing process.