Cheesecake!!

(adapted from allrecipes.com, link)

That's right folks... Cheesecake!!! You may be wondering how on earth it's possible make dairy-free CHEESEcake. But thanks to modern food technology there are replacements for nearly every dairy product... even cream cheese. Now, I am a soy-after-taste-aphobic so my number 1 goal in adapting this recipe was to make sure that there was NO nasty aftertaste. Believe me, this is GOOD!

30 min prep | 1 hour cook | ready in 7 1/2 hours

Ingredients

• 15 graham crackers, crushed
• 4 tablespoons butter substitute, melted

• 4 (8 ounce) packages Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar (plus a few tablespoons to taste)
  
• 3/4 cup vanilla almond milk (or other milk substitute)
  
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream
  
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• up to 1 tablespoon lemon juice (to taste)
  
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch springform pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter substitute. Press onto bottom of springform pan.
3. In a large bowl, mix Tofutti cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Blend in almond milk, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in Tofutti sour cream, vanilla, lemon juice and flour until smooth. Pour filling into prepared crust.
4. Place a casserole dish filled with one inch of water on the bottom rack of oven. Put the cheese cake on top rack and bake for 1 hour. Turn the oven off, and let cake cool in oven with the door closed for 5 to 6 hours; this prevents cracking. (See notes below) Chill in refrigerator until serving.

Notes

1. You can tell if the cheesecake is done if the edges are puffed up and the center is slightly moist and jiggly.
   
2. After baking for one hour you can open the oven door to check on the cheesecake, then turn the oven off and close the door. It won't make your cheesecake crack if you open the door a few times.
3. Over-mixing will also cause it to crack so the last few steps you can start mixing with a spoon or spatula and then use your mixer to just get the lumps out.
4. This is less sour than a normal cheesecake so it goes well with a tart sauce. (Such as this raspberry sauce)
5. It has taken me three years to get up the courage to try Tofutti products... or any other dairy replacement cream cheese or sour cream. I just didn't believe anything could be as good as the real thing and the thought of these replacements made me sick! While I can't testify to eating the product straight out of the container... I can tell you that they really do a good job in this recipe. If you are as paranoid as I am, I would suggest not tasting your batter AT ALL until just before you poor it into the pan. Yes you get raw egg but then you aren't searching for the individual tastes. You'll be surprised how normal (and delicious) it is.
   

Sweet Cornbread

(adapted from ourbestbites.com, link)

These are yummy... and addicting... and pretty easy. It's a win-win... uh win.

10 min|18 min

Ingredients

• 1 yellow cake mix (Duncan Heins is dairy-free)
• 2 Jiffy cornbread mixes (or double this recipe)
• Oil, milk (soy), and eggs according to package directions

Directions

1. Preheat oven according to directions on cake mix box.
   
2. Combine cake mix and cornbread mixes in a large bowl.
   
3. Add eggs, oil, and soymilk according to package directions (replace all water with soymilk).
   
4. Mix together according to cake mix directions.

Notes

1. This makes a lot of cornbread. Either 36 muffins or one 13X9 and one 8x8 baking dish of cornbread. So invite people over... or eat them all yourself.
2. This goes great with honey-butter. (Butter substitute of course.)
   

Homemade Jiffy Cornbread Mix

(from cdkitchen.com, link)

Jiffy muffin mix has animal shortening in it... so it's a no-no for my son. Here's a copycat recipe. It's delicious in this recipe.

10 min|15 min

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup yellow corn meal
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions

1. Combine flour, corn meal, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix well with whisk. Whisk in vegetable oil and mix until dry mixture is smooth and lumps are gone.
2. To make corn muffins: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Combine above mixture with 1 egg and 1/3 cup soymilk. Fill muffin tins 1/2 full. Bake 15-20 minutes Makes 6 muffins.

Notes

1. This recipe is equal to one 8.5 ounce box of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix

Honey Chicken Kabobs

(recipe from allrecipes.com, link)

Because of my son's allergies to not only milk but also beef, pork, and lamb, we eat a lot of chicken! I'm always on the lookout for different ways to cook it and these kabobs are delicious. Anytime you have a marinade with soy sauce and something sweet you know it'll be good!

2 hour marinade | 20 min prep | 20 min cook

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1 inch cubes
• 2 cloves garlic
• 5 small onions, cut into 2 inch pieces
• 2 red bell peppers, cut into 2 inch pieces
• skewers

Directions

1. In a large bowl, whisk together oil, honey, soy sauce, and pepper. Before adding chicken, reserve a small amount of marinade to brush onto kabobs while cooking. Place the chicken, garlic, onions and peppers in the bowl, and marinate in the refrigerator at least 2 hours (the longer the better).
2. Preheat the grill for high heat.
3. Drain marinade from the chicken and vegetables, and discard marinade. Thread chicken and vegetables alternately onto the skewers.
4. Lightly oil the grill grate. Place the skewers on the grill. Cook for 12 to 15 minutes, until chicken juices run clear. Turn and brush with reserved marinade frequently.

Notes

1. I like using other veggies like butternut squash, zucchini, yellow peppers, orange peppers, etc.
2. I also can't cook meat on a grill for my son because of the other meats that have been on it. So I cook my kabobs in the oven on a cookie sheet with a cooling rack on top (So the juices run off like a grill). I cook them at 425 degrees for 15 min. Then I take them out, baste them, and put them in for 5 min more.
   

German Pancakes

(adapted from allrecipes.com, link

image from here)

This is your basic German pancake recipe. It's a little more cleanup to mix in a blender but it makes for a very smooth, airy texture.

10 min|20 min

Ingredients

• 6 eggs
• 1 cup soy milk
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter substitute melted
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Place the eggs, milk, flour and salt in a blender; cover and process until smooth.
   
3. Pour the butter into an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish; add the batter.
   
4. Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes.
5. Serve with syrup and powdered sugar, fruit, agave nectar... whatever you like.
   

World's Best Cocoa Fudge

(from my Mom)

Figuring out that this recipe could easily be made dairy-free was possibly the most exciting discovery of my whole life! This recipe reminds me of Christmas, home, my mom, all things good and wonderful... This is seriously my absolute favorite fudge anywhere.

not much prep | patience required... 4 hours? (lots of cooling time)

Ingredients

• 4 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/3 cups soy milk
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup butter substitute
• 4 teaspoons vanilla
  

Directions

1. In medium to large pot, stir sugar, cocoa, salt, soy milk, and corn syrup over low heat until sugar is dissolved.
   
2. Increase heat and bring to boil.
   
3. Cook stirring occasionally until mixture reaches soft-ball stage (234 degrees F)
   
4. Remove from heat. Cool to touch. Do not jar pan.
   
5. Add butter substitute and vanilla.
6. Beat with wooden spoon until mixture loses it's gloss (15-20 minutes)
7. Pour into buttered pan. Let sit until firm enough to cut.
   

Notes

1. Patience is key in this recipe. I'm not very good at telling if it reaches soft-ball stage so I suggest a candy thermometer. If you overcook it or don't let it cool long enough, your fudge will crystallize in a bad way.
2. When you beat in the butter and vanilla, keep beating until you see a change in the fudge. It will change color and texture from dark and shiny to a lighter, duller, thicker mixture. It should still be smooth though, so don't over-beat.
   
3. The top of your fudge should be smooth when you put it in the buttered pan. If you over-beat it and it turns out a little rough just put a piece of saran wrap directly on the top of the fudge.
   

Easy Apple Crisp

(adapted from mommysavers.com, link)

This was soooo easy to make and the crust was perfect. Mmmm.

20 min|45 min

Ingredients

• 5 cups peeled sliced apples (a little more or less is fine too!)
• 1 stick butter substitute melted (save wrapper to grease pan)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup flour
• 3/4 cup oatmeal
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease 13X9 or 13X10 pan with butter wrapper.
   
2. Arrange peeled apple slices in dish.
   
3. Mix the rest of the ingredients together ( I use a fork, it seems to work better) Dump or spoon over apples.
   
4. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Notes

1. I didn't have anything to core the apples with so I just peeled and chopped them as evenly as I could. It worked great.
2. I also only had 4 cups of apples. I didn't use less crust though, because crust is the best part. I just used a smaller pan.