Zucchini Alfredo

If you have an overgrown zucchini plant in your backyard, this recipe is for you (Sirena & Dan). : )

Ingredients:
3/4 package of uncooked egg noodles
3 tbps olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 an onion
4 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 cup milk
4 oz. cream cheese
1/2 cub chopped fresh basil (or some Italian Seasoning if you're cheap like me)
salt & pepper to taste
grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add egg noodles and cook until done, then drain.

2. Heat up the oil in a skillet and stir in onion and garlic - cook about 2 minutes. Mix in zucchini and cook about 15 minutes until some of the moisture has evaporated.

3. Pour the milk into the skillet and stir in cream cheese until melted. Add in the Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Serve over the cooked noodles with parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

Popcorn Flavoring

Tony and I were watching a movie the other night, enjoying a bowl of popcorn when I started having an upset stomach. I was going back through the things in my head that I ate all day, and couldn't come up with anything that would have turned my stomach into knots. We had to pause the movie for a bathroom break, and once I sat back down I looked at the popcorn flavoring ingredient label.

It's the flavoring container that has 4-in-1. I usually use the Buttery Jalepeno because I know it's soy free. For some reason, I thought that night that I'd always been enjoying the Garlic Butter. I didn't even look at the label, I just had a blonde moment and sprinkled it on my popcorn. After checking the ingredients, I realized it has soybean oil. Ah ha! Mystery solved.

I've been wanting to try something with soy in it just to see what would happen, but I chicken out because I don't want to be on the toilet. It worked out that I ate the soy tainted seasoning without knowing it had soybean oil. This allowed myself to not freak out and cause and upset stomach on purpose. It was out of my control. So, it was sort of a happy accident that I ate the seasoning. It just reassures me that I can't tolerate soybeans.

Pizza

A couple comments on soy-free pizza..... If you're hankerin' for delivery, all it takes is a phonebook and few calls to find out who doesn't use soybean oil in their ingredients. I love pizza, and after some research, I found out that all of the national wide pizza chains have soy in their crust or sauce - Pizza Hut, Papa Johns, Black Jack, etc. 

Finding a local chain is your best bet. A Mom and Pop shop who actually makes their dough and sauce won't be using soybean oil. All you have to do is call around and ask if they use soy in any of their ingredients or if they hand-make their dough from scratch. My advice is to call when they are not busy, otherwise they may not look hard enough. 

And for those who are brave enough and have a pizza stone, here's a recipe to make your own! It's really not too hard, and putting on the toppings is a lot of fun - not to mention it tastes delicious. The best part is, the recipe is for 3 balls - 2 of which you can freeze and use another time.

Hil's Homemade Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

1 (.25oz) pkg of active dry yeast

1 Tbsp white sugar

2 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F)

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp salt

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

5 1/2 cups white bread flour 

Instructions:

1.  In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water (110 degrees). Let sit until creamy, about 10 minutes.

2. Stir the oil, salt, 4 1/2 cups of flour into the yeast mixture. Mix in remaining 1 1/2 cups of flour a 1/2 cup at a time. Stirring well after each addition.

3. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic - about 10 minutes. 

4. Lightly oil a large mixing bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap (this prevents the dough from getting a crust on top do to exposure from the air). Cover with a dish towel and put in a warm place to rise until doubled in volume.

5. Deflate (punch) dough and put on a floured surface. Divide into 3 balls. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and let rest for 10 minutes.  

6. Put two of the dough balls into separate ziplocks and place in the freezer. Use a rolling pin to roll the 3rd ball into a pizza shape - load on your sauce, toppings, and cheese. 

7. Transfer finished pizza to a pizza stone that is preheated in the oven. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes. 

Homemade Alfredo Sauce

This recipe is very delicious. I highly recommend it to anyone who is soy free or just looking for a tasty easy sauce to make!

Alfredo Sauce

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter

1 cup table cream

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1 tsp Italian seasoning

Instructions:

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium low heat. Add cream and simmer for 5 mins., then add garlic and cheese and whisk quickly heating through. Stir in seasoning and serve. 

Tuna Salad

Buyers Beware:  Hellman's "Real" Mayonnaise contains soybean oil and so does StarKist and Chicken of the Sea tuna (even if you buy it packed in water). I continually ask myself why does tuna need soybean oil?? 

Buyers Beware: Hellman's new "Olive Oil" Mayonnaise is a gimmick. Check the ingredients - soybean oil is listed before olive oil. Who are they trying to fool?

Since I love tuna salad, finding soy free mayo and tuna was an essential task. 

Here's my suggestion: 

Hain Pure Foods Mayo is made with Safflower Oil and actually tastes good.

Natural Sea Tuna has 3 ingredients: tuna, water, and salt and it's wild caught.

I've included a picture for reference. 

A natural food store is your best bet for both brands, but major chains such as King Soopers are starting to carry Hain mayo. 

Cheesy Corn Chowder

This is a yummy winter soup that doesn't require any chicken or beef base (both hard to find w/out soy). 

Ingredients:

3 cups water

1 1/2 cups chopped potatoes

1 cup chopped carrots

1/2 cup chopped green onions

salt & pepper to taste

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup table cream

1 cup water

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 can (16oz) cream style corn

1 can (16oz) regular corn 

Instructions: 

Combine water, potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, salt, and pepper in stock pot. Cover and bring to boil. Simmer 10 minutes or until tender. 

Melt butter in a sauce pan over low heat and stir in flour. Cook while stirring 3-4 minutes. Gradually add cream and water, stirring constantly. Bring to boil and cook 1 minute. Add cheese and stir until melted. 

Gradually add cheese sauce to soup , stirring constantly. Stir in corn. 

Makes 6 servings. 

Two cups of milk may be substituted for cream and water in the cheese sauce, but it won't be as creamy. 

Easy Loaf of Bread

This is a simple recipe for making a standard loaf of bread using Rapid Rise yeast. Using this type of yeast eliminates the first rising step and cuts out about a hour of your time. The recipe makes one loaf and takes about 3 hours total (only about 30 minutes is actually work - the rest is rising, baking, and cooling). I've used both white flour and whole grain flour - both turn out delicious! 

Ingredients:

3 1/4 cup bread flour

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. Rapid Rise yeast

1 Tbsp. white sugar

2 Tbsp. butter, softened

1 cup water heated to 120 - 130 degrees F

Instructions:

1.  Sift flour and salt into a large bowl

2.  Stir in sugar and yeast

3.  Add butter and rub into mixture with your hands

4.  Heat water to 120 - 130 degrees F (the temperature is very important to the success of the yeast)

5.  Add water to mixture, mix well into dough (I start with a spoon and end up using my hands - you may need to add a splash more water if the dough is too dry and won't hold together)

6.  Knead on a floured surface for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic

7.  Let the dough rest 10 mins. while covered w/an oiled piece of plastic wrap

8.  Shape into bread pan shape by rolling and moving your hands outwards

9.  Place in greased bread pan. Cover and let rise until doubled in size (about 40 minutes on a warm stovetop)

10.  Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes 

11.  Flip the bread pan over onto a wire cooling rack, tap on the bottom of the bread. If it sounds hollow, it's done! 

12. Let cool a 1/2 hour on the rack so the moisture redistributes and makes the bread soft

Here's a few pictures for reference: