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.

Dairy Free Tomato Basil Skillet Eggs

Breakfast, , , , ,

Here’s a dairy free healthy breakfast for two! I found this recipe in a magazine and adapted it to be dairy free. I made it with tomatoes, basil, and parsley from my garden. You can make this recipe even healthier by using just egg whites instead of whole eggs. Eliminate the toast to keep it gluten free or use a gluten free bread. Yummy!

Ingredients:

6-8 roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
4 large eggs
1/4-1/2 cup dairy free shredded mozzarella such as Trader Joe’s Soy Mozzarella or Daiya Shreds, according to preference
8 fresh basil leaves, chopped
15-20 fresh parsley leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh chives, diced or 1 tsp dried chives

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a medium non stick pan over medium heat. Add onion with half of the sea salt and pepper (1/4 tsp each) and cook for 5 minutes.

2. Add tomatoes and the rest of the sea salt and pepper to the onion, stirring to combine. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Use a spoon to make four even wells in the onion/tomato mixture and crack an egg into each. Cover pan and cook for 2 minutes.

4. Sprinkle with dairy free cheese then cover again and cook for 1 minute. Remove cover and add chopped basil, parsley, and chives. Serve immediately alone or on top of toasted bread. Enjoy the day!

             

Dairy Free Yogurt Pancakes

Breakfast, , , ,

 

Make your pancakes from now on with coconut oil! It adds a delicious taste that reminds me of festivals and funnel cake.

These pancakes are amazing with soy yogurt. If you can handle greek yogurt and would like to use that, go right ahead. Greek yogurt contains very little lactose. I especially prefer the FAGE brand for taste, texture, and comfort.

If you really want to get fancy add berries,  chocolate chips, or even a fruit syrup swirl.

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup Silk Very Vanilla Soymilk
1 egg
1/2 cup soy yogurt, vanilla or honey flavor
Coconut Oil for frying

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, stir together pastry flour, baking soda, and baking powder.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together egg, soy milk, and soy yogurt. Pour liquid mixture into flour mixture and stir until blended.

3. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium low heat.  Drizzle a spoonful of coconut oil onto the skillet. Ladle batter for each pancake using 1/3 cup measuring cup. Turn the pancake when air bubbles start to pop.

 

Homemade Cabernet Tomato Basil Sauce

Entrées, More, , , , ,

Making your own tomato sauce can be super easy!

There are many complicated and time consuming ways to make tomato sauce. I researched a thousand recipes that all called for skinning the tomatoes and boiling down the sauce to make a thick, rich tomato sauce.

For one thing, I didn’t want to toss out all the skins–it seemed so wasteful. I’ve been refining my gardening skills which is why I need to make tomato sauce. I spent months caring for my plants to get those beautiful tomatoes! Maybe I could toss the skins of store bought tomatoes but not my homegrown roma’s. Besides, the skins have the highest concentration of antioxidants.* I’d rather not throw out the health benefits.

Aren’t they so pretty?

I also don’t have the right tools for pureeing and straining, and I didn’t want to stand at the stove boiling the sauce forever. I mean, come on, I have laundry to do!

So I took my own fresh approach. I got out the slow cooker to make it easier. I generally like my tomato sauce herby and with a touch of sweetness. A sweet and salty tomato basil sounded perfect for my roma’s, and since I’ve been growing oregano as well, I decided to add that to the batch. Finally, I added a taste of cabernet to give it a unique flavor. My husband said it was award winning! It’s definitely the type of sauce I would expect of a great restaurant.

Honestly, homemade tomato sauce is simple and it’s hard to go wrong. It’s much healthier than store bought sauce and tastes better. By eliminating some of the steps it becomes a quick process yet maintains great quality. You know what you put into it and know what you get out of it.

Ingredients:

2 cups roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped (makes 2 servings)
1/3 cup yellow onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons cabernet sauvignon
1 teaspoon white sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
10-12 fresh oregano leaves or 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
10 fresh basil leaves, chopped

Directions:

1. Turn your slow cooker on high. While it’s warming up, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium low heat. Toss onions into the saucepan and sprinkle with a pinch of the sea salt and pepper. Cook for three minutes or until tender, then add minced garlic. Cook for no more than thirty seconds.

Should look like this.

Are those tomatoes chopped? I like that my “waste” pile is very small.

2. Add tomatoes and wine to the saucepan and stir to combine with oil, onion, garlic mixture. Let cook for a minute, then add sugar, the rest of the sea salt and pepper, oregano, and basil. Stir to combine. Cook for five minutes, uncovered.

Two cups.
Salt and peppered.

4. Transfer to hot slow cooker and let cook on high for one hour. I let my Crock Pot heat up for 15 minutes before transferring the sauce. A doubled recipe may need another half hour to an hour to cook. You can also simmer over medium low heat on the stovetop for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve over pasta–I used tri-color farfalle and added some ground turkey cooked with a little salt and pepper.

Cooking in the Crock Pot.

This recipe makes about 2-3 servings, enough for one meal for a couple. Easily double if you need to make more or want to freeze some for later. I have about enough patience to chop two cups of tomatoes at a time :-).

Finished product.

Fun Facts:

*Did you know that the olive oil in the sauce helps your body to absorb the carotenoids found in tomatoes?

*Also, in the case of tomatoes, cooking for prolonged time at high temperatures makes carotenoids more available. I got my info from www.whfoods.com.