Dairy Free Chicken Casserole

I found the original recipe in a church cookbook, but I've altered it so much I suppose I could claim it as my own. Here is my dairy free version:

approximately 3 cups cooked chicken, shredded into bite size pieces
2 cups rice cooked in chicken broth (I use instant rice and the broth from my crockpot chicken)
1 celery stalk, finely chopped in food processor
1 small sweet onion, finely chopped in food processor
2 cups dairy free cream of mushroom soup
1 1/3 cup mayonnaise substitute (like Veganaise)
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed (I use whole wheat)
dairy free margarine

Mix all ingredients except Ritz and margarine in a 9x12 casserole dish. (If you can make this ahead of time and let it sit covered in the refrigerator overnight, the flavors blend wonderfully, if not... it's still great!)

Preheat oven 325. Whether you let it sit for a few hours or not, before cooking sprinkle top of casserole with crackers and place small pieces of margarine on top of the crackers.


Bake 40 - 45 minutes. Enjoy!

Plain Crockpot Chicken

This is exactly what it sounds like. I use this to make my Chicken Stew and Chicken Casserole.

1 whole chicken
2 -3 cups water


Skin the chicken. (This really reduces the calories and grease in the broth). Put chicken in the crock-pot with water. Cook until chicken it is almost falling off the bone (about 5 hours on low). Strain broth to remove any bones.

If you buy a big enough chicken, use part for the stew/casserole and then make chicken salad sandwiches with the rest.

Egg Free Dairy Free Pancakes

These pancakes are AWESOME!! We had them Christmas morning and they were gone quickly! Jeff even asked for them again recently. I found the original recipe on Kylie's Blog and with her permission, here's my ever-so-slightly tweaked version:

1 cup Plain Flour
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Salt
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1 cup plain or vanilla milk substitute (we love Almond in this recipe)
1.5 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Her Instructions:

Sift flour and baking soda/powder and salt. (Sifting makes the pancakes fluffier.)

Add sugar. (Whisk these together is you don't have a sifter.)

Add Vanilla and Oil and half the soy milk. Whisk together.

Gradually add the rest of the soy milk until thick pouring consistency.

Heat Frying pan - needs to be reasonably hot. I used vegetable oil - but you could use spray. Oil/spray for each pancake - they do stick otherwise. I found with this recipe the pancakes worked best if they were on the small side. If the were too big they were difficult to turn.

What I did:

I used a skillet and heated it to 250, sprayed with olive oil. I used a 1/4 cup to make 2 pancakes to keep them small as she suggested. Yield: 16 wonderful little pancakes just right for my boys' hands! :)

Roasted Garlic Cauliflower

Roasted Garlic Cauliflower
SUBMITTED BY: SHELLERY at www.allrecipes.com

The original recipe calls for grated Parmesan cheese, but I think it is great without it. Here is my dairy free version:

2 tablespoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large head cauliflower, separated into florets
salt and black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley


Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (220 degrees C).

Place the olive oil and garlic in a small casserole dish. Add cauliflower and mix. [ Important: The dish needs to be small enough so that the cauliflower covers the entire bottom with no "blank spaces" or the garlic will burn to the dish and you'll have a lot of scrubbing to do later.]

Bake for 25 minutes, stirring halfway through. Top with parsley, and broil for 3 to 5 minutes, until golden brown.


(The garlic does burn a little, but I think it tastes great that way!)

Ritz Chicken (Dairy Free)

I found this at What I'm Eating these days and she's given me permission to share it:


Chicken Breasts (however many your family needs)
Fleischman's UNSALTED margarine, melted (yes, this brand is DF)
Salt and pepper
Ritz Crackers, Crushed (they are indeed, dairy free!)

Dredge Chicken in melted margarine then salt and pepper to taste and roll in ritz crackers. Place in a greased casserole dish and cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 325 for 1 and 1/2 hours. Uncover and brown top to your liking.

It's good with steamed Broccoli and Lawry's seasoning salt. Or Green beans drained and cooked with beef bullion cubes (check your labels).

Crab-Stuffed Venison Steak Rolls (Dairy Free)

This recipe came from the Ultimate Venison Cookbook, pg 66. I had to tweak it a bit even though when trying a new recipe I am supposed to follow it (house rules and all). We don't have wine in the house and this recipe called for it; however, I did do some research to find a suitable substitute. Apparently apple cider will give a similar taste to wine in the finished product, so that's what I used and it turned out great!

The other tweak is that this is supposed to be rolled up, but my cube steaks were not big enough for that so I just put the stuffing on top. Here's the tweaked recipe and what I did:

Topping:

1/4 stick dairy free margarine
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 (6 oz) cans crab - the recipe calls for 1/2 pound
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried cilantro
salt and pepper to taste

Steaks and Apple Cider Sauce:

2 Tbsp dairy free margarine
1 garlic clove, minced
4 venison cubed steaks
4 large slices onion (I used sweet)
1 cup apple cider (original recipe called for zinfandel wine)
1/2 cup sour cream substitute (I used Tofutti Sour Supreme)
salt and pepper to taste

Here is my variation to the original:

To prepare stuffing, melt margarine in a large skillet and add garlic, celery and onion. Saute' vegetables until soft. Add crab, herbs, salt and pepper. Remove from the pan.

Add 2 Tbsp margarine to the pan and lightly cook garlic; add steaks and quickly brown on both sides. Remove from pan. Place stuffing in the center of steaks. Cut 4 large slices of onion and place in the pan. Place steaks and stuffing on top of each onion slice. Pour apple cider over steaks. cover and simmer 15 - 20 minutes or until tender. Carefully remove onion and steak from pan and place on a dish. Add 1/2 cup sour cream to pan drippings and cook, stirring constantly, until warm but not boiling. Salt and pepper to taste. Pour over steaks and serve immediately.

To me, these were even better the next day. The combination of the steak, crab, and onion was wonderful and the sauce just made it even better.

Party Meatballs (Dairy Free)

I received this recipe from my friend, Deborah. It's quick, easy, and tasty! If you want more sauce, notice that the ketchup to grape jelly is a 2:1 ratio - easy to adjust!

1 package 80 frozen, fully cooked meatballs (Walmart's Homestyle Meatballs are dairy free)
2 cups ketchup
1 cup grape jelly


These are her directions:
1. Bake meatballs as directed
2. Heat ketchup & jelly
3. Mix together


Mine:
Throw it all in a crock pot, mix, cook on high for 4 hours or so.

Dairy Free Dill Dip

I let my husband taste test this without him knowing it was dairy free... his first comment? "Mmmm, that's good!"

1 Cup sour cream substitute (I used Tofutti Sour Supreme)
1 C Hellman's mayo (or an egg-free "mayo" like Veganaise)
3-4 tsp. dill weed
1 - 1 1/2 tsp celery salt

Mix together and let flavors mesh together for at least 5 hours or even overnight if you can wait that long. Serve with mixed raw veggies. This is SOOOO good.

Jeff's Favorite Meatloaf (dairy free)

2 lb ground beef
1/2 cup ketchup
2 large eggs
1/3 cup dry bread crumbs (I make my own)
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp onion salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Optional additions: a few shakes of Worcestershire's sauce, Tobasco sauce, and/or Italian seasoning.

Preheat oven to 350. Combine all ingredients. Press meat in ungreased 8x4" loaf pan. (I also like to use mini-loaf pans - they work great)

Bake 65-70 minutes. Yield: 8 servings

Dairy Free Chili

This is a basic recipe that you can easily add to. We, however, like it just like this.

1 lb ground beef (venison, or turkey)
1 large onion
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp Chili powder
2 Tbsp AP flour
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, liquefied (put it in a food processor and give it a good whirl)
1 cup water
1 can pinto beans, no need to drain (I like Luck's)

Brown the ground beef and onion together in a large pot. Drain, rinse if desired. Return to pot.

Reduce heat. Add all remaining ingredients and cook slowly for 45 minutes.

Dairy Free Banana Bread

I got this recipe from my Kitchen Addict friend. It's a wonderfully moist banana bread! I substituted applesauce for the vegetable oil to make it a little healthier and it was still moist and tasty (a little on the spongy side texture wise, but still great!) I will make this again and again because I ate the whole loaf myself! :)

Banana Bread by Beth Hensperger

ingredients:

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 medium to large overripe bananas, slightly mashed

1 1/4 cups AP flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 9- by 5-inch loaf pan. In a medium bowl, combine the oil, sugar, and eggs. Beat hard with a whisk until light colored and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and mashed bananas and beat again until well combined.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour and baking soda. Add to the banana-egg mixture and stir to combine. Beat well to make a batter that is evenly combined and creamy in consistency.

Spoon the batter into the loaf pan. Place the pan on a rack in the center of the oven and bake for about 50 minutes, or until the tops are firm to the touch, the loaves pull away from the sides of the pan, and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer loaf to a cooling rack and cool completely. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or up to 5 days before serving.