Reese's Peanut Butter Bars

     Looking for something delicious and easy to make?  Look no further then these Reese's Peanut Butter Bars!  They do not require baking but they do need a stove or microwave to melt some things.  They also need an hour to refrigerate.  If you make your own gram cracker crumbs I would suggest using something other than a mini food processor.  It takes WAY too long to make 2 cups worth with a mini one which I unfortunately know from experience. :P

     I got this recipe third hand from Pinterest.  I believe the original source is this one from Let's Dish.  I switched butter with butter flavored Crisco and I used dairy free chocolate chips.

Reese’s Peanut Butter Bars

Ingredients
1 cup butter flavored Crisco plus 2 tablespoons water melted
2 cups graham cracker crumbs (use the boxed kind, or grind them in a food processor. Tiny granules.)
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 cup + 4 tablespoons peanut butter
1 1/2 cups semisweet dairy free chocolate chips

Directions
In a medium bowl, mix together the melted crisco and water, graham cracker crumbs, confectioners’ sugar, and 1 cup peanut butter until well blended. Press evenly into the bottom of an ungreased 9×13 inch pan. In a metal bowl over simmering water, or in the microwave, melt the chocolate chips with the 4 tablespoons peanut butter, stirring occasionally until smooth. Spread over the peanut butter layer. Refrigerate for at least one hour before cutting into squares.

My family loved my dairy free version of these delicious bars, even my dad!

Update- 8pm 2/23/13

I took some bars, cut them in half and brought a container of them to work.  My coworkers ate all of them up very quickly and they couldn't believe were dairy free!

Vegan Pizza!

     I went food shopping for my mom yesterday since she wasn't feeling well.  While shopping, I happened to find a vegan pizza made by American Flatbread in the frozen naturals section.  I have been skeptic about trying dairy free pizza, but it was on sale so I figured I would try it.

     I was not disappointed!  This pizza is made with a vegan cheese that is dairy AND soy free.  The cheese has a great taste but it was a little too sticky.  The crust was a flatbread which was very crispy and delicious.  I enjoyed it, but I was not the only one since my little brother even liked it!

All in all, I was very happy with this pizza and I will definitely buy it again. :)

Sickness Vent

     I had been sick for 4 days on the couch. Once I started feeling better, that cold or whatever I had settled into a cough which has persisted since then. I caved and went to the doctor a week after I started coughing since it had almost taken my voice and I was not getting any better.

     Now I am on meds and I am feeling better, but I have begun to notice how there is a lack of food for me to eat. Sure, we have lots of food in the house but it is either things I can't eat or things I am tired of eating all the time. (If I have to eat another peanut butter sandwich I just might cry)

     I am trying to be more frugal by bringing food with me but I am so done with the things I have at my house and I still don't have the energy to cook. Has anyone else had this problem being the only dairy free one at home? Let me know your thoughts and maybe a few suggestions for a worn out student.

Dairy Conscious or Overly Cautious?

     Even if you do not put a dairy ingredient into a recipe, there can still be "hidden dairy."  This can be milk fat in dark chocolate, buttermilk in bread crumbs, or even powdered nonfat milk in cereals.  It is something to always watch out for when buying things you would normally think would be fine.  I have gotten into the habit of religiously reading labels, even of products I have used before.  You never know when a company will change their recipe so it is important to always check.

     This is one of the problems I am having with my mom.  She has been wonderful with modifying a portion of a meal to meet my needs but she does have her moments with this "hidden dairy."  The most notable was dry stuffing she mixed into a meatloaf that was made with butter, butter milk, and nonfat milk.  Unfortunately, we did not find this out until after I had eaten half of my slice.

     Tonight I was making that same recipe for my mom and I called her to ask if the new stuffing was ok. (She empties the bag of stuffing into a plastic container which means no label.)  She said she checked when she bought it, but if I was still nervous about it to use the breadcrumbs.  It was a good thing I looked up the bread crumbs because they are made with milk and buttermilk.  Turns out these are the same ones she used in a few other recipes where I had some sort of problem after but I couldn't figure out why.

     I don't know if this is only me but I really take this stuff seriously.  I know my mom does as well but I feel I need to double check everything just to be sure.  You are the advocate for your own dietary needs.  This means you can't always depend on others since they might not even think of hidden dairy.

Pesto Almost Fiasco

     Last night my mom asked me to cook what she had planned for dinner.  She was going to head straight to church after my little sisters ballet lesson so I had to cook for the family.  She said it was an easy recipe so I told my mom I would take care of it.  She told me the recipe would be fine for me to eat so I didn't have to modify it and off she went to ballet with my sister.
     I never use pesto so I did not know one of the base ingredients is cheese.  I went through the recipe for Penne Pesto with Chicken and just before I was about to add the pesto I checked the label out of habit.  It was a good thing I did!  Since the pesto was the last step, I took some of the pasta, chicken, and broccoli rabe from the large skillet and put it in a small one.  I then added the pesto to the large skillet and some leftover regular tomato sauce from the fridge to the small one.  Thankfully, the food was delicious anyways and thankfully, dairy free for me! :)

Here is the recipe for the Penne Pesto (or Sauce) with Chicken

• 1 large bunch broccoli rabe, trimmed slightly and cut into 1 1/2" pieces
• 1 box (16oz) penne pasta
• 3 tbs olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
• My family doubles the garlic in almost every recipe so I used 4
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 pkg (9oz) fully cooked grilled chicken strips cut into bite sized pieces.
• 1 container (7oz) basil pesto
• You can sub the pesto for a tomato sauce.  I'm not sure of the amount since I did just for my portion.  Add sauce until the pasta is lightly coated or more if you prefer more sauce and add a little extra olive oil.  Or you could make your own pesto.  I have found many recipes online.

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.  Add broccoli rabe and cook 3 minutes.  
2. Scoop broccoli rabe into a colander with a slotted spoon to drain. 
3. Add pasta to the now empty pot of boiling water and cook for the time on the box of the pasta.
4. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add garlic and cook 2 minutes. Stir in braccoli rabe and cook for 3 more minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.
5. Drain pasta.  Stir chicken, pasta and pesto (or tomato sauce) into skillet.  Cook 2 minutes to heat through.  Serve warm.

Update- I recently found many pesto pastes are vegan.  They work well, but they are a little pricey.  We used two 2.8oz tubes of Amore Pesto Paste for this recipe and it was delicious!

Butter Spreads

     I have tried different dairy free or vegan butter spreads.  Some were tasteless, some had an odd consistency, and others were just gross.  I found Best Life butter spread which tasted good but didn't melt well.

     Now, I use Earth Balance whipped butter spread.  I like the flavor, consistency and it melts really well on toast!  Even my siblings, who use regular butter, like it.  I finally feel like I am not missing out when people have melted butter dripping off of warm bread because I can now have the same thing.

     I am running low on my first tub so just bought the original version.  I will update this post with my opinions on it when I start using it.

Update 2/7/13
     Started using the original and I still love it!

Dairy Free Mint Chocolate Milkshakes

     Creamy milkshakes that have no milk, can it be too good to be true?  Nope!  Thankfully, I found a milkshake recipe that is not only delicious, but it is better for you than a traditional milkshake.  I was searching online the other day to find some new dairy free recipes and I was very happy to find this gem.

     The site I found it on is Chocolate-Covered Katie, a good blog for healthy deserts.  It is so easy to make but I modified it a little to fit my tastes.  Here is the link to the original post on Katie's blog http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/02/24/raw-mint-chocolate-chip-milkshake/.  I wanted to make it last night but I found out we were out of peppermint extract.  Sadly, I had to wait until today, but it was worth the wait!

Just happened to have one of these glasses
so I could't resist taking a photo :)

• 1 Frozen, under-ripe banana
• A small handful of chocolate chips
• I use Ghiradelli semisweet chocolate chips
• A dribble of pure peppermint extract
• 2/3 cup milk of choice
• I use organic original soy milk or a chocolate peppermint one if I REALLY want some flavor
• 1/8 tsp of coco powder
• Optional green food coloring
• I opted out

     To freeze the banana, I peeled and sliced it, then put it in a bowl in the freezer.  After it was frozen, I transferred it into a sandwich bag until I was ready to make the shake.

     For easier mixing, first put the banana in the blender and blend for a few seconds.  Then add the other ingredients and blend until desired consistency is reached.  If you like larger chocolate chunks like I do, put half the chips in when you first start blending, then add the rest when it is the right consistency and blend for a few more seconds.  Pour into a medium large glass, top with a dairy free whipped topping or chocolate shavings and enjoy!