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don't miss dairy

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.

Gluten Free

Chili Lime Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Snacks & Dips, , , , , , , , ,

Chili Lime Pumpkin Seeds from dontmissdairy.com

Besides parties and free candy, the best thing about Halloween is pumpkin carving!

We love pumpkins in our little family. Pumpkin everything! Even our picky Chihuahua, Mia, who won’t eat dog treats, loves pumpkin. Allow me to tell you a story.

Every year we attend the annual Pumpkin Festival in Half Moon Bay, California. We just enjoyed our fourth Pumpkin Festival this weekend. Wow, how time flies!

We had an amazing time with our friends, indulging in pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin chili, and even pumpkin ale. We bought two awesome pumpkins at Bob’s Pumpkin Farm right along the coast (pictures below). We even got some homemade pumpkin rolls to take home. Here’s where the Chihuahua comes in.

Mia loves pumpkin. Whenever we carve our Halloween pumpkin she gets some of the slimy goopy orange innards. Mmm pumpkin innards—what a special treat.  We certainly have a weird dog. Though, apparently, pumpkin pastries are also desirable.

After waking up at 5am and driving down curvy mountainous roads on the trips to the Pumpkin Festival and back, this dog mom was feeling tired and a little car sick. I crashed and fell asleep as soon as I got home, leaving my bags on the floor. I woke up to a little Chihuahua enjoying a sweet pumpkiny treat all over my white carpet. She had found both pumpkin rolls in my partially opened backpack, took them both to her bed, chewed through the tightly wrapped cellophane, and feasted on little plastic covered bites.

It’s really my fault (and Eric’s, too) for leaving the bags on the floor and not watching the puppy. I’ve learned my lesson. The positive side? I guess I just have to make my own dairy free pumpkin roll. Consider it coming soon.

Though I was quite mad at my little puppy, I couldn’t stay mad for long. I know from experience that it’s super hard to resist pumpkin roll that’s right within your reach.  So when we carve our pumpkin, she’ll still get a taste.

While Mia gets the innards, the humans get the seeds. Those we save for roasting. It’s a very simple process to roast them in the oven with some oil and salt. On to the recipe.

Roasted chili lime pumpkin seeds from dontmissdairy.com

Plain roasted pumpkin seeds are a perfect munching snack, but it’s nice to spice them up sometimes. For our last batch of seeds we really did go spicy with a chili lime seasoning.

Chili and lime aren’t exactly fall themed seasonings, but we are loving this flavor combination right now. We use it on our stove top popcorn as well! Plus, the chili powder and cayenne pepper give your roasted seeds a beautiful autumn color,  and they are so flavorful.

Use the chili powder you are likely to have in your spice rack already. My huge container of chili powder is Tone’s brand from Sams Club, and it contains “other spices” plus garlic powder and salt. Feel free to add as much cayenne pepper as you want to really give your seeds a kick. These are spicy enough that Mia won’t go anywhere near them.

Chili Lime Pumpkin Seeds from dontmissdairy.com

Chili Lime Pumpkin Seeds from dontmissdairy.com

Chili Lime Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
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Ingredients
  1. Seeds scooped from a medium size pumpkin
  2. 2 tablespoons of SmartBalance Light Buttery Spread
  3. 1 tablespoon chili powder
  4. the juice of 1/2 a lime
  5. 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  6. 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  7. zest of half a lime
Instructions
  1. Cover your freshly scooped pumpkin seeds with water in a medium bowl. Stir them around to loosen the pulp, then drain the water, picking out as much of the pulp as you can. Lay the seeds over a paper towel or cloth and pat dry.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  3. In a small bowl, melt 2 tablespoons of SmartBalance Light Buttery Spread. Add lime juice and pumpkin seeds to bowl of melted butter and stir to coat.
  4. Add chili powder, cayenne pepper, and salt, stirring to coat seeds with seasoning evenly.
  5. Spread the seeds onto a foil lined baking sheet to form one even layer. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring to turn the seeds halfway through.
  6. Allow to cool for a few minutes before adding lime zest. Salt to taste.
Notes
  1. We got about a cup and a half of seeds from our pumpkin. If you have fewer, adjust the seasonings. You can always roast a small test batch to make sure you're not over (or under) seasoning your seeds.
don't miss dairy https://dontmissdairy.com/

Me and Eric in front of the runner up pumpkin from this years biggest pumpkin contest.

Picking out pumpkins at Bob’s Pumpkin Farm in Half Moon Bay.

Pumpkins

Our pumpkins for Halloween.

Hope you enjoy my recipe for roasted pumpkin seeds. Do you have any favorite pumpkin or Halloween traditions?

Chocolate Cashew Butter

Desserts, Snacks & Dips, , , , , ,

Chocolate Cashew Butter from dontmissdairy.com
We had a ton of roasted cashews that we weren’t eating, so I decided to turn them into something we would eat.

Most cashew cream or cheese recipes I’ve been wanting to try call for raw cashews, so I couldn’t make any of these. Trail mix left me with kind of the same problem, and granola bars seemed kind of a blah idea. I know, I know– everybody loves granola bars except me. It’s not that I don’t like them, I just don’t love them.

I started thinking about how I’ve been meaning to make a dairy free version of Nutella, and then it occurred to me: I bet roasted cashews would make a really delicious chocolate cashew butter.  Go!

First I pulverized the roasted cashews in my food processor, then added vegetable oil, white sugar, and cocoa powder. You can definitely add a sweeter oil to yours, like a nut oil. I just like to use what I have in my kitchen already. I did have a little trouble getting this to be low sugar and still taste like chocolate, but with some experimenting and taste testing, I eventually got a good flavor balance. 

Cashews in food processor
Crumbled cashews

Processed cashews
It’s sweet but not too sweet, with a buttery, chocolate flavor. YUM.

I suppose I could have kept processing it to make it smoother, but I’m impatient. My food processor is not the greatest and it was taking a long time. Feel free to make yours into a smooth-and-shiny-as-Nutella-butter….or mix in some bigger cashew pieces to make a crunchy butter! 

This is great for spreading and dipping. Spread on graham crackers or croissants, or make a cashew butter and jelly sandwich. I ate most of this batch as a dip with salted pretzels, which was so addicting. It was one of those snacks where you eat a few and you’re like, okay, just one more, then that one more turns into an empty bag of pretzels and a need to buy more cashews.

I hope you enjoy this simple chocolate cashew butter as much as I did! 

Chocolate Cashew Butter from dontmissdairy.com

Chocolate Cashew Butter
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Ingredients
  1. 1 cup roasted cashews (salted is okay)
  2. 3 tablespoons oil of your choice
  3. 2 tablespoons, plus 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
  4. 1/8 teaspoon vanilla
  5. 1/8 cup sugar
  6. dash of sea salt
Instructions
  1. In a food processor, grind your cashews until finely chopped.
  2. Add oil and process until smooth.
  3. Add vanilla, cocoa powder, sugar, and salt, then process until well combined. Taste, and add more sugar or cocoa powder to your liking.
don't miss dairy https://dontmissdairy.com/

Healthy Chili with a Kick

Entrées, Soups & Crock Pot, , , , , ,

Low Sodium Chili from dontmissdairy.com(Updated from original post “Low Sodium Chili” on November 10th, 2011)

You don’t need to add more salt to a dish to add flavor, just add more flavor! To make chili less complicated, canned tomatoes, sauce, and beans are a great option. But this usually packs your chili with a ton of sodium.

It’s unnecessary.

Opt for “no salt added” canned goods instead and you will create a much healthier meal. These are conveniently labeled in the canned goods section of your local grocery store. You can always add more salt to taste in your finished recipe. It’s easier to add salt than remove it!

Here is my go-to chili recipe that replaces all added sodium with a couple teaspoons of sea salt and uses sugar and spice to bring out a flavorful meal for chilly nights.

I grew some delicious (but super hot) Bulgarian Carrot Peppers in my garden this year, and they are a key ingredient. Make sure you wear gloves when dicing them! If the oils get in your skin it will burn like crazy.

Healthy chili from dontmissdairy.com!

You can make this deliciously spicy, low fat, low sodium chili quickly on the stove top–it will take about 30 minutes to cook. Or, you could simmer it for four to six hours in the Crockpot, whatever method suits your time and energy level.

I usually cook it on low in the Crockpot when I want to come home from work to a ready dinner. If you choose this method, make sure you sauté your veggies over the stovetop before adding them to the slow cooker for the best flavor.

Use 93% or higher lean ground beef to make this recipe even healthier. I try to find 96% lean. It’s more expensive but worth it when it comes to eliminating excess fat from your diet. 

Healthy Chili with a Kick
Serves 6
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Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
40 min
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
40 min
Ingredients
  1. 1 pound 93% or higher lean ground beef
  2. 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
  3. 1 tablespoon olive oil
  4. 1 large yellow onion, diced
  5. 1 green bell pepper, diced
  6. 1 red bell pepper, diced
  7. 1-2 Bulgarian carrot peppers or serrano chili peppers, diced
  8. 2 cloves garlic, minced
  9. 2 cans no salt added diced tomatoes
  10. 1 can unsalted tomato paste
  11. 2 cans no salt added kidney beans, rinsed and drained
  12. 1/4 cup red wine such as Cabernet Sauvignon
  13. 1/4-1/2 cup water or low sodium beef broth
  14. 1 bay leaf
  15. 2 tablespoons chili powder
  16. 2 teaspoons sea salt
  17. 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  18. 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
  19. 1 tablespoon white sugar
Instructions
  1. In a large stock pot over medium heat, sprinkle the black pepper onto the ground beef and cook meat until browned and no pink remains. Carefully drain excess fat then return pot to stovetop.
  2. Add olive oil, onion, peppers, and salt to the pot. Stir and cook for five minutes, or until onions and peppers begin to turn translucent.
  3. Make a well in the middle of the pot ingredients and add the minced garlic. Cook garlic for no more than 30 seconds before stirring with the rest of the mixture.
  4. Add the diced tomatoes with liquid, drained and rinsed kidney beans, tomato paste, wine, water or broth, sugar, spices, and bay leaf into the pot. Set on medium high heat to start the boiling process.
  5. Once the mixture starts to bubble, reduce to medium low heat and cover. Simmer for thirty minutes, stirring occasionally. If you make it in the Crockpot, cook on low for at least six hours or high for four hours. Salt to taste.
Notes
  1. Serve with shredded vegan cheese, chopped onions, and lactose free sour cream!
don't miss dairy https://dontmissdairy.com/

Low sodium chili recipe from dontmissdairy.com
Low sodium chili from dontmissdairy.com
Low sodium chili from dontmissdairy.com