Product Review: Purely Decadent Cookie Dough Ice Cream

Not that I have tons of readers here anymore, but for the two of you that do read, thank you so much for your patience the last several months. Having a baby will get you a teensy-bit behind schedule. :-)

But what is inspiring me to post today is this lovely new friend I met yesterday...



Gluten-free and dairy-free for a cookie dough ice cream? I HAD to introduce myself to this new product. It had been years since anything cookie dough was tummy friendly for me.

Wow. I'm quoting myself from the first bite. Seriously, this stuff was really yummy!

It's a vanilla based ice cream with big flakes of a dark chocolate and big round clumps of gluten-free cookie dough. I was impressed. Word of warning...this is NOT soy-free. So I react a little bit to that, but there are some things I'm just willing to suffer for. This is one of them.

Product Review: Good Karma Organic Rice Divine

It was back in 1999 that I realized I had a gluten-intolerance. My father had it for years, so I at least had someone that could help validate how awful I felt. Eventually, I started reacting to dairy products as well. Which stunk because whenever I'd go out to eat with family or friends, ice cream was always my backup plan for dessert at a restaurant. I don't know why, but fruit sorbet never quite cut it. There was something about the creaminess of dairy products that satisfied me in ways that frozen fruit didn't.

So slowly I switch to soy products. I bought soy milk, soy ice creams, soy butters, all in an effort to capture that same creamy essence in my meal enjoyment. It wasn't quite the same either, but it was really the only alternative I found that has halfway decent.

Eventually, it dawned on me that since giving birth to Monkey, I haven't been able to enjoy any soy product without repercussion. Are you serious? ANOTHER food reaction??? No soymilk in my lattes at Starbucks. No edamame with our sushi. No soy ice cream.

Is there ANYTHING I could eat that would fill the void of my ice cream fascination???

I tried Rice Dream ice creams. Not too much there I liked. The flavors or the textures were always just "off". My favorite out of their so-so products was the vanilla with TONS of chocolate syrup to cover the taste. LOL! But there was always something "grainy" about them. Grainy ice cream = a big yuck in my book!

After reading another GF/DF blog, I was introduced to Good Karma products. And last week, I decided to take the plunge and spend the $4 (oy!) to buy a pint of their Very Vanilla Rice Divine.





I'll be really, really honest. I had VERY LOW expectations. Every dairy substitute has direly disappointed me, so I didn't expect this one to be any different. Most non-dairy frozen desserts are not initially creamy, they are really hard. Letting the carton sit out on the counter for 2 or 3 minutes is best. I was a little leary because the Rice Divine had pulled away from the sides of the carton, which gave me the impression that it was old or something was wrong with it. This wasn't looking good.

But...

I was very pleasantly surprised! In fact...YUM! The texture of the ice cream felt good in my spoon, as I glided it across the top...creamy, smooth. I could see little flecks of vanilla bean, which is always a good sign in my book. The taste? Soft, creamy, milky, rich, very vanilla, thus appropriately named. It didn't have that odd after-taste that I remembered in Rice Dreams frozen products. I was impressed! After a few bites, I realized I could easily eat the pint in a sitting, that's how good it was!

But since I'm watching my carb intake right now because of gestational diabetes, I slowed down to savor and only ate about 10 spoonfuls. I very begrudgingly put the pint back in the freezer. I will save some more for later. Even at $4 a pint, it was a really good experience!

I'll also blog later about having a gluten/dairy/soy allergy AND try to keep up with a diabetic diet. Talk about hard!!! Holy cow.

For now, Good Karma's Rice Divine in Very Vanilla gets two thumbs up! This is by far, the best gluten-free, dairy-free frozen dessert I've ever had! There are other flavors that I'm looking forward to trying: Mudd Pie, Coconut Mango, Mint Chocolate Swirl...and others. Although dairy-free, I'm not sure which ones are gluten-free, so I'll have to research those before I try. I'll update the blog later once I do it.

Recipe: Salmon Patties

Have you ever tried a new recipe and just been totally surprised with how easy and good it was? This is one of those recipes! N and I just finished dinner and I just had to get online to share the recipe. Tonight's dinner was AMAZING! I'm just kicking myself for not taking a picture of it before we dug in! Boo!

I had a can of salmon in the pantry. Not sure why. We don't eat canned salmon. But it wasn't expired, so I tried to find a way to utilize it in this week's meal plan. I found this Salmon Patty recipe online and it looked easy, had strong reviews, so I decided to give it a shot! I tweaked it a smidge, of course, because I never stick with a recipe verbatim.

Salmon Patties

Ingredients
1 can salmon
2 eggs
3 T finely sliced green onions
1/4 to 1/2 cup buttery crackers, crushed (I used gluten-free Glutino pretzels)
parsley flakes (I did not use this)
red pepper flakes (to taste)
salt & pepper (to taste)
large pinch of dill

Directions
1. Drain salmon well, and remove skin & bones. (Or keep the bones in for more calcium. They soften during cooking and you can't tell they're there.)
2. Place into medium mixing bowl & mash up with fork.
3. Add all other ingredients & mix together (mixture should be stiff enough to form patties, but not too dry).
4. Form into patties & place in a medium-heated skillet, with approximately 2 T of oil. (I divided the mixture into 4 parts and made 4 patties.)
5. Cook until golden brown on both sides.

We served this over fresh wild greens with a few cucumber and tomato slices, tossed in a homemade red wine vinaigrette. I think next time we'll use a lemon juice based vinaigrette instead of red wine. I think the lemony tartness will complement the salmon better.

We also drizzled the salmon patties with a sweet and spicy dressing:

2 T of Miracle Whip with a few big splashes of Tabasco, a large splash of rice milk (to thin it to the right consistency) and a pinch of dill.

I'm not sure what a can of salmon costs, but both N and I said this is DEFINITELY coming back on the menu plan. We loved it! The patty stood on it's own, but the sweet and spicy dressing really made it pop.

For more yummy recipes, visit The Grocery Cart Challenge's weekly recipe swap.

Recipe: Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

At small group last week, one of the members brought some beautiful looking PB cookies. Of course, being the always prepared Girl Scout that I try to be, I took my own little dessert because I can rarely eat the desserts that are brought. But come to find out, I could eat the lovely cookies! This recipe is the bomb! I put a few little chocolate chips on a few because I just felt like it. :-)





Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 egg

Directions
Preheat oven to 350*.
Beat together peanut butter and sugar in a large bowl until smooth.
Add beaten egg to peanut butter mixture and beat until well combined.
Roll 1 teaspoon of dough into a ball and place on cookie sheet.
Place dough balls one inch apart on cookie sheet.
Flatten with tines of fork making a cross pattern.
Bake until puffed and a golden pale, about 12 minutes.
Cool cookies on baking sheet about 2 minutes and then transfer with spatula to rack to cool.
May be kept in air tight container at room temperature for 5 days.
Makes about 2 dozen cookies.
Eat with a cold glass of milk.

I won't even tell y'all how many of these I've eaten since they've popped out of the oven. I'm eating for two right?

Recipe: Crockpot Taco Soup

First off, thanks to my friend Karrie for this one! Secondly, this recipe is naturally gluten and dairy free if you leave out the ranch dressing and cheese topping.

Ingredients
2 cans black beans (drain and rinse)
2 cans pinto beans (drain and rinse)
2 cans corn
1 can Rotel
Large can (32 oz) diced tomatos
1 pkg taco seasoning (or 1 T chili powder, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1 tsp cumin)
1 pkg Ranch dressing (optional)
1 lb browned ground beef (optional)

Directions
Drain and rinse all the beans and place in bottom of crockpot. Add ground beef. Sprinkle seasonings on top of that. Add Rotel and diced tomatos last. Cook on low for 8 hours.

Serve with Fritos or tortilla chips and shredded cheese.

NOTE: I tweaked this a smidge. I did not crockpot this because I wanted it the same night I got the recipe. I actually browned the beef, drained, and then just added all the other ingredients into a hard boil with 1 1/2 cans of water. Lowered to a simmer for about 15 minutes and then served. Little Monkey ate two bowls of leftovers tonight with Tostitos - obviously a hit! Which thrills me as he's such a picky eater.

Recipe: Linguine with White Clam Sauce

I remember my momma making this growing up. It seemed like such a treat considering how poor we were back then. But now I know why...it's fancy AND it's relatively cheap! I haven't made this in years and just remembered it out of the blue last week and suddenly got a huge craving! I pulled it straight out of the classic red and white Betty Crocker cookbook.



Ingredients

8 ounces dried linquine*
2 6 1/2 oz cans minced clams
Half-and-half, cream, or milk*
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T margarine or butter (I used olive oil)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour*
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup snipped fresh parsley (I forgot to buy this!)
1/4 cup dry white wine**
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese*


Instructions:

1. Cook linguine. Drain; keep warm.
   
2. Meanwhile, strain juice from canned clams and save 1 can's worth of juice. Add enough half-and-half, cream, or milk to clam juice to equal 2 cups.
   
3. For sauce, cook onion and garlic in margarine or butter until tender, but not brown. Stir in flour, oregano, salt and pepper until well coated. Add milk/clam juice mixture all at once. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly. Cook for one more minute. Stir in clams, parsley, and wine. Heat through. Serve over warm linguine. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
   

* I used gluten-free pasta, gluten-free flour and soy-milk in my subsitutions. I left off the Parmesan cheese from mine, but N loved it.

** Since I can't have alcohol, I searched a bit for some wine substitutions. I read somewhere that using lemon flavored mineral water worked. So I tried it. It was...meh...okay. So I put in a splash of lemon juice. A little better! While this works in a pinch, I still wish I had a sauvignon blanc to use. I'll do this the right way when non-preggers, but it worked for this momma's craving.

For more yummy and economical recipes, visit the Grocery Cart Challenge's Recipe Swap!

Recipe: Tuscan Sausage and Bean Soup

This is one of my favorite soups for when the chilly weather hits. And it's SO easy! I'm not one to follow recipes verbatim...they really are just guidelines, so a lot of these measurements are guess-timates. Do what works for you!

Italian Sausage and Bean Soup

1 package of Jimmy Dean spicy breakfast sausage (it's gluten-free and most Italian sausages are not)
1 can garbanzo or cannelini beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced fresh yellow squash
1 cup diced fresh zucchini
1/2 cup frozen spinach
2 teaspoons fresh minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 bay leaf
salt to taste
4 cups water
Parmesan, Reggiano or Manchengo cheese shavings (I don't do this because of my dairy allergy, but it sure does make a pretty meal!)

Brown sausage and onion in large stock pot. Drain and pat dry to eliminate as much grease as possible. Add remaining ingredients (EXCEPT squash and zucchini) and bring to boil. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add squash and zucchini and simmer for additional 15 or until the vegetables are al dente. Remove bay leaf. Top with shaved cheese. Serve with grilled polenta or corn muffins.




This always makes enough for N and I to have dinner, lunch leftovers and usually another meal or two to freeze for later.

For additional yummy and economic recipes, visits the girls over at the Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap!