I thought I'd give everyone a little Thanksgiving/Holiday tip because for those of us who love to cook, but have A LOT of people to cook for sometimes you just can't make everything!

So my tip to you is Rhode's brand Bake & Serve Dinner Rolls. They are delicious and you can get a bag of 72 rolls or 2 bags of 36 for less then $8 at your neighborhood grocery store. I put 2 together in each cup of my muffin tin, let them rise per the instructions on the back, bake them, then spread fresh made garlic butter of the top of them when they're hot right out of the oven. Its fun for the kids to pull apart and who doesn't love a giant roll to dip in that yummy turkey gravy??

Anyway, enjoy your holiday and all the time spent with family :)

‎.❤♫❤♫❤.•*¨`*•..¸♥☼♥ ¸.•*¨`*•.♫❤♫❤♫❤.
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ೋ ❤❤❤~~HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!~~❤❤❤ ೋ
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...❤♫❤♫❤.•*¨`*•..¸♥☼♥ ¸.•*¨`*•.♫❤♫❤♫❤

Allergy Friendly Chocolate Chip Cookies

Allergy Friendly Chocolate Chip Cookies

From the kitchen of my good friend Valerie comes a very tasty, allergy friendly cookie recipe that will leave you wanting more! I promise you cannot taste the difference between this and something made with dairy and eggs. They are wonderful, so thank you Valerie for sharing this with me so I can share it everyone else. You are awesome!!!

My little 18 month old actually pushed a chair up to the counter while I was in the shower and ate almost the whole plate that Valerie made me. What a little squirt!! It just goes to prove that Valerie's cookies are the best :)

You will need:

1 cup (2 sticks) Nucoa Margarine unmelted

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1&1/2 cups packed brown sugar

2 tbsp corn starch

4 tbsp water

(the cornstarch and water are your egg substitute. 1 part starch, 2 parts water = 1 egg)

2&1/2 tsp real vanilla extract

2&1/2 cups flour + 2 rounded tbsp

3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 whole bag Kroger brand semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

You will need two separate mixing bowls. In one bowl mix together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda and set aside. In the other bowl mix all remaining ingredients together. Add the flour mixture one cup at a time to the sugar mixture and blend well till all blended together. Slowly add in chocolate chips and mix into your dough.

Place rounded tablespoons of dough onto an un-greased cookie sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake at 350 for 11 minutes.

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I've asked Valerie to help me search for an even more allergy friendly cookie that is Gluten free as well. Hopefully we'll find something soon and I'll post that as well.

I also want to try sweetening this particular recipe w/ a different sweetener other than sugar such as Xylitol or Truvia. When I get the guts to try it I'll let you know how it turns out :)

Thanks Valerie!

Liquid Aminos-my secret ingredient

When I married into my husband's family five years ago, I was introduced to a number a various ways to make my life and my family's lives healthier.

Among those were some cooking substitutes and this one in particular is my very favorite. It's called liquid aminos and now I don't know what I'd do without it! It's my secret ingredient that keeps everyone asking: "what makes your chicken taste so good?"

You can find it at any health food store or any grocery store with a health food section (i.e. smith's/fry's, harmons, maceys, ect.)

Bragg Liquid Aminos, developed from soy protein by Paul & Patricia Bragg Ph.D. as an all natural, all purpose liquid seasoning.

Taken from the bottle: A gourmet alternative to Tamari & Soy sauce. No preservatives, no alcohol, non-fermented, gluten-free, no added salt, and contains 16 amino acids.

I use this stuff to make my chicken more flavorful, my vegetables more salty, with olive oil to sautee my vegetables, and when I'm frying up turkey burger. My husband will use it for much much more too! It's great in hobo dinners, casseroles, and stuffings and dressings as well!

We love it!

Easiest, Yummiest Taco Meat

So I am a BIG taco fan for some reason and I've been experimenting w/ my taco meat for a while trying to get just the right balance of everything with the right veggies and seasonings and all that jazz so here it is, my best (easy and yummy) taco meat.

Also, I do taco salad lots (just use crushed corn/white corn tortilla chips) but when I do regular tacos I use Tortilla Land's Uncooked Flour Tortillas. They are delicious! Best I've found in my 5 years of looking :)

You will need:

- 1 lb ground meat (I use turkey burger)

- 1 pkt Taco Bell taco seasoning (or your favorite)

- 1/2 can Black beans

- 1/4 of a medium white onion

- 1/3 of a regular sized green bell pepper

- 1/2 cup water

- a little bit of olive/vegetable oil

- a squirt of liquid aminos (optional)

Suggested Toppings for Your Tacos or Taco Salad:

- fresh chopped tomatoes

- chopped olives

- cheddar cheese

- sour cream

- guacamole

- shredded lettuce

- salsa

- basically anything that sounds good!

So first you chop up your veggies real fine, all except the beans of course. If you have a food processor that's also a great way to go. I find joy in chopping mine by hand tho. (I don't know why. I'm just weird like that)

Next you want to sort of sautee you onions and bell peppers together in a non stick frying pan. Fry them just until they begin to brown and then you're going to add your raw ground meat and completely brown that.

After your meat is browned all over, add your taco seasoning and water and stir it all together well. Once your taco seasoning is mixed in pretty well add your black beans and turn your burner down to simmer. You only want to warm up the beans.

It should look similar to this, and it's as simple as that! See? not hard at all :) If you used ground beef (this is turkey burger) it will be a bit darker. Sorry for the crappy picture, It's from my phone.

Anyway, enjoy your yummy tacos!!!!

Dessert Mode!

Peanut Butter Fudge Brownies

So as soon as Halloween rolls around my sweet tooth goes into overdrive and I get into dessert mode all the way through new years! Not too great for my waist line, but as hard as I work out 6 days a week I deserve to binge every once in a while right? I made this a few weeks ago with my girls and everyone absolutely loved it! Had to tweek the recipe just a bit, but it tastes absolutely wonderful :) I made these in a cake pan, but using a cupcake tin and making little bites out of them would be super fun! Also, its another dairy free recipe! (as long as you buy brownie mix w/ no dairy :) If you'd like to give it a little crunch add your favorite chopped nut to the brownies before you cook them!

You will need:

- 2 boxes classic brownie mix (plus whatever the mix calls for like eggs, water, oil and so on)

- 1&1/2 cups peanut butter

- 3/4 cup butter or margarine

- 1/4-1/2 cup powdered sugar (depending on your sweet tooth)

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- 1 cup chocolate fudge frosting

Directions:

- Make the brownie mixes together by following the directions on the box and cook them. Let them cool all the way through.

- while they're cooling, mix the peanut butter, 1/2 cup of the butter, and the powdered sugar and vanilla together with a mixer until they're blended well.

- spread the peanut butter mixture over the cooled brownies, covering completely.

- spread the chocolate frosting (I only used about half a container) over the peanut butter so it covers completely and cover your pan with tin foil.

- Refrigerate for at least one hour and then cut into squares and serve cold. Keep un-eaten portions in the fridge.

- If you desire, top with your favorite chopped candy. (reese's peanut butter cups, butterfinger, dark chocolate chips, ect.)

These were wonderful so for those of you reading who have a sweet tooth, prepare to fall in love again :)

Chocolate Banana Cream Trifle

Chocolate Banana Cream Trifle

This recipe is easy and best of all... drum roll please... Its dairy free! Also makes a fun holiday treat you can make with your kids that everyone will love. Of course you can use regular milk and all ingredients with dairy if your family is not allergic, but mine is so here's the recipe!

You will need:

-18 whole graham crackers

-3/4 cup chocolate syrup (check the label! Hersheys & GV are all i use, I don't know if others are non-dairy)

-1 (12 oz) container non-dairy whipped topping

-1 box instant vanilla pudding (jell-o brand has no dairy if prepared at home w/ soy milk)

-1 cup vanilla soy milk

-4 large bananas

-2 Tbsp Lemon juice

Directions:

- chop/crush the graham crackers in a bowl and set them aside.

- For the chocolate portion (its called ganache) put your chocolate syrup and 1&1/2 cups of the whipped topping into a small, microwave safe bowl and heat just until it can be whipped together smoothly.

- combine the pudding mix and soy milk in a separate bowl and whisk together till thickened. Stir in the remaining whipped topping until the whole mixture is smooth and set it aside for a minute.

- Slice your bananas equally and put them into a bowl. (I eat the ends w/ my girls just for fun, silly but they like it) Sprinkle them with the lemon juice and toss gently so you don't ruin their shape. Set aside 12 or so slices to top your trifle with.

- To put it all together find a bowl that you can see through. (clear plastic or glass) place half the graham cracker crumbs on the bottom and spread them out evenly. put half of the bananas in a layer over the graham crackers and pour about 1/3 of the ganache over it evenly.

-Spread about half of the pudding mixture over that and repeat the layers till you're out.

- Decorate the top by drizzling the remaining ganache in a criss cross pattern and sprinkling that with the remaining graham cracker crumbs. Garnish with the bananas you set aside around the edges and you are done!

Great job! It's going to taste great!