Dairy-Free Tater Tot Casserole

Source: Inspired by Michelle Duggar's Tater Tot Casserole

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• Tater tots, uncooked
• Cooked meat (ground beef, ground turkey, chicken...)
• Seasonings
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons soy milk
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 2 cans Green beans, or any other vegetable you prefer

Directions: 

1. Cook meat in a skillet, with or without seasonings. I used 2 patties of ground beef and cooked it with salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder.
2. In a small saucepan, combine chicken broth, soy milk, flour and some more onion and garlic powder. Stir until thick. Don't worry if there are a couple lumps.
3. Spread the cooked meat in the bottom of a 13x9 glass baking pan. Spread vegetables over the top.
4. Pour the broth mixture over the top of the vegetables, being sure to cover the whole pan.
5. Top it off with as many tater tots as you'd like (the more the better, though it may affect your total cooking time).
6. Bake in a pre-heated 350° oven for 45-60 minutes, or until the tater tots are fully cooked.

Deep-Dish Pizza

Source: The New Best Recipe Cookbook (America's Test Kitchen)

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 1 medium baking potato, peeled and quartered (this sounds really weird, but the dough was amazing! Don't skip this ingredient!!)
• 3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
• 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for oiling the bowl

Directions: 

1. Bring 1 quart of water and the potato to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat; cook until the potato is tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain the potato and cool until it can be handled comfortably.
2. Press through the fine disk on a potato ricer or grate on the large holes of a box grater. (The grater worked perfectly for me.) Measure 1 1/3 cups lightly packed potato; discard the remaining potato. (I saved the remaining potato to make hash browns the next morning.)
3. Adjust one oven rack to the highest position and the other rack to the lowest position. Heat the oven to 200°. Once the temperature reaches 200°, maintain the heat for 10 minutes, then turn off the heat.
4. Combine the flour, yeast, and salt in a food processor. With the motor running, add the water and process until the dough comes together in a shaggy ball. 
5. Add the potato and process for several seconds, then add 2 tablespoons of the oil and process several more seconds, until the dough is smooth and slightly sticky.
6. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled medium bowl, turn to coat with oil, and cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Place in the warmed oven until the dough is soft and spongy and doubled in size (approximately 30-35 minutes).
7. Oil the bottom of a 14-inch deep-dish pizza pan (**see the note at the bottom if you don't have a deep-dish pizza pan, or need to make 2 smaller pizzas, like I did.) with the remaining 4 tablespoons of olive oil.
8. Remove the dough from the oven and gently punch down; tun the dough onto a clean, dry work surface and pat into a 12-inch round. Transfer the round to the oiled pan, cover with plastic wrap, and let rest until the dough no longer resists shaping, about 10 minutes.
9. Place a pizza stone or rimless baking sheet on the lowest oven rack (do not use an insulated cookie sheet. If you don't have either of these, turn a regular cookie sheet upside down) and preheat the oven to 500°. 
10. Uncover the dough and pull it to the edges and up the sides of the pan to form a 1-inch high lip. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft-free spot until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
11. Uncover the dough and prick generously with a fork. Reduce the oven temperature to 425° and bake on the heated stone or baking sheet until the crust is dry and lightly browned, about 15 minutes. 
12. Add the desired toppings. (We used diced tomatoes, browned hamburger with Italian seasoning and Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese (cheese only on one pizza).)
13.  Bake on the stone/sheet until the cheese melts, 10 to 15 minutes.
14. Move the pizza to the top rack and bake until the cheese is golden brown in spots, about 5 minutes longer. To make sure the crust is done, use a spatula to lift up the crust - it should be nicely browned underneath. 
15. Let cool for 5 minutes, then, holding the pizza pan at an angle with one hand, use a wide spatula to slide the pizza from the pan to a cutting board. Cut into wedges and serve.

 **If you don't have a deep-dish pizza pan or need to make two smaller pizzas**

I used two 9-inch cake pans. Prepare everything according to the above directions, splitting up the ingredients as necessary (ie. half the dough in each pan, half of the olive oil to grease each pan, half of the toppings on each pizza, etc.). Instead of patting each half into 12-inch rounds, make 8-inch rounds. Decrease the cook time on the lower rack to 5-10 minutes, though this seemed a little long for mine. The crust was a little browner on the bottom than I would have liked. I did 6 minutes on the lower rack and 6 minutes on the upper. Next time I will probably do 6 minutes on the bottom and 4 on the top.
 

Baked Chicken with Peaches

Source: AllRecipes.com

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 4 skinless chicken breasts or tenderloins
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 peaches, sliced (I used one can of sliced peaches)
• 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 ground cloves (I used nutmeg)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions: 

1. Pre-heat oven to 350° and lightly grease a 9x13 baking pan.
2. Place chicken in the baking pan and sprinkle with half of the brown sugar. Place the peach slices on top of the chicken and sprinkle the other half of the brown sugar on top. Then sprinkle the ginger, cloves and lemon juice over that.
3. Bake for about 30 minutes.

Crispy Herbed Chicken

Source: Quaker

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Quaker Enriched Corn Meal
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt (optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 8 chicken tenderloins
• 1/2 cup milk (I used Silk Soy Milk)
• 3 tablespoons margarine, melted

Directions:  

1. Pre-heat oven to 400°.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.
3. Dip the chicken into the milk, and then coat with the corn meal mixture.
4. Place chicken in an oven-safe pan (I use Corningware), pour margarine over chicken.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown and tender. Bake time depends on the thickness of the chicken.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

Source: Lauren's Kitchen

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped (I omitted)
• 1 bell pepper, diced (I omitted)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 lb diced ham
• 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken breast
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 14 oz. chicken broth
• 3 cups cooked rice
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I omitted)
• 1 cup shredded Mozzarella or Swiss cheese (I omitted)

Directions: 

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°.
2. Cut the chicken into thin strips and then cook in a skillet. Once the chicken has cooled, shred it.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add the onions and peppers and cook for about 5 minutes.
4. Add the garlic, chicken and ham and cook for another 5 minutes.
5. Add the butter. Once it is melted, stir in the flour, salt and pepper. 
6. When everything is combined, slowly stir in the chicken broth, and then the rice.
7. Spoon the mixture into a 9x13 baking dish and sprinkle the cheese on top.
8. Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes. If you sprinkled cheese on top, cover with tin foil for the last 10 minutes or so. 

Rice Pudding

Source: My mom

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of cooked rice
• 1/2 cup of raisins (approximately)
• 1 1/2 cup milk (I made mine with Silk soy milk)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 eggs, beaten
• pinch of salt
• nutmeg

Directions:  

1. Cook rice and allow it to cool.
2. In an oven safe bowl (glass or ceramic) combine the rice, raisins (as many or as few as you'd like. I like a lot), milk, vanilla, sugar and beaten eggs. Mix until they're well combined. Add a couple pinches of salt to taste and mix again.
3. Put about 1" of water in a 13x9 pan. Place the bowl of rice into the 13x9 pan.
4. Cook at 350° for about 45 minutes or more (time could differ.. in my convection oven 45 minutes was perfect). It is done when you can stick a butter knife into it and the knife comes out clean.

Crockpot Mandarin Orange Chicken

We have very little lighting in our under-construction Kitchen, which doesn't result in very delicious looking photographs..

Adapted From: Lauren's Kitchen

Serves: 4

Ingredients: 

• 4 chicken tenderloins
• Salt to taste
• 1 15 ounce can of mandarin oranges, juice reserved
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• Shredded coconut

Directions:  

1. Spray Crockpot with non-stick spray and sprinkle with a little salt. Place chicken in Crockpot.
2. Place mandarin oranges on top of chicken.
3. In a small bowl, combine mandarin orange juice, sugar, lemon juice, ginger and cornstarch. Stir until combined. Pour over chicken.
4. Cover and cook on low for 2 1/2 hours on low, then a half hour on high. (Cook time could vary depending on thickness of chicken. Mine wasn't extremely thick.)
5. Sprinkle coconut over chicken, and stir so that the chicken gets totally coated with the sauce, oranges and coconut. Serve over rice. 

Peppermint Chocolate Slice and Bake Cookies

Source: Becca

Serves: About 6 Dozen

Ingredients: 

• 1 large egg
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 4 candy canes

Directions:  

1. Pre-heat oven to 375°.
2. Mix eggs and vanilla in a small bowl. Beat butter and sugar in an electric mixer. Beat until smooth. Add egg mixture and blend until incorporated. Add the flours and blend on low until a dough is formed.
3. Divide the dough in half. Place a piece of wax paper on the counter and put half of the dough on it. Using a floured hand, shape the dough into a 9" long roll. Cover with the wax paper and chill for a minimum of 45 minutes (the longer the better), or until dough is firm. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
4. Slice dough into 1/4" thick pieces. Bake for approximately 14 minutes. Cool on a rack.
5. Melt the chocolate chips. Crush the candy canes by placing in a Ziploc bag and lightly hitting with a rolling pin. Spread the melted chocolate over the top of the cookie and sprinkle a small amount of crushed peppermint on top.

**I really liked these cookies, but the cookie part was a little bland. Next time I'll try adding some kind of artificial flavoring. The combination of  melted chocolate and peppermint is delicious though!

Cherry Tea Cakes

Source: Robin

Serves: About 5 Dozen

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 teaspoons maraschino cherry liquid
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 4 drops red food coloring
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup drained maraschino cherries, chopped
• 1/2 cup white vanilla baking chips (I omitted)

Directions:  

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°.
2. In a large bowl, beat powdered sugar, butter, cherry liquid, almond extract and food coloring on medium speed until blended. On low speed, beat in flour and salt. Stir in cherries.
3. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. On a cookie sheet, place balls 2 inches apart.
4. Bake 8-10 minutes until edges are light golden brown. Remove from cookie sheets, and put on a cooling rack for 20-30 minutes.
5. Place baking chips in a 1 quart freezer bag. Microwave on high for 35-50 seconds, squeezing chips in bag every 15 seconds, until chips are melted and smooth. Cut a small tip from bottom corner of bag and drizzle over cookies.

Ribbon Salad

Picture from Robin

Source: Robin

Ingredients: 

• 1 box cherry (or other red colored) jello
• 1 box lime (or other green colored) jello
• 16 oz container sour cream
• 4 cups vanilla frozen yogurt
• 4 cups water

Directions:  

1. In large bowls, prepare jello (add two cups of boiling water to each bowl and stir until completely dissolved).
2. Add two cups of frozen yogurt to each bowl and mix until smooth.
3. Pour half of the green jello into a 9x13 glass pan. Place in refrigerator for 30-40 (or more) minutes, or until completely set. Spread a thin layer of sour cream across the entire pan. Pour half of the red jello on top and put in refrigerator for 30-40 minutes, or until set. Repeat with the rest of the jello.

**I omitted the sour cream when I made this and it was a disaster. When I would pour the next layer of jello it would ruin the previous layer. There wasn't anything to keep all of the layers together. A good dairy-free substitution would be dairy-free whipped cream or frosting. It tasted really good, but just wasn't very presentable :)

Baked Scallops with Bacon

Source: Life123

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds bay scallops
• 6 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup crumbled bacon

Directions: 

1. Pre-heat oven to 400°.
2. Pat scallops with a paper towel until as dry as possible.
3. Place scallops in a baking pan. Pour the melted butter into the baking pan.
4. Combine the salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, bread crumbs and bacon in a bowl. Mix well.
5. Sprinkle bread crumb mixture over scallops.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Carrot Muffins with Frosting (For Dogs)

Source: The Good Treats Cookbook for Dogs

Serves: 9 large dogs (one muffin may be too much for a smaller dog at one time)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups shredded carrots
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 cup whole rolled oats
• 3 cups flour
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
  

Directions: 

1. Pre-heat oven to 300°.
2. Lightly grease 9 muffin cups.
3. Combine carrots, eggs, and oil until well blended.
4. Slowly add cinnamon, oats, and flour to mixture until well blended.
5. Shape muffins with hands and place in muffin pans.
6. Bake 25 minutes.
7. Cool completely before frosting.
8. To make frosting, blend cream cheese and shortening with a hand mixer until well blended.
9. Place frosting in a pastry bag with a star tip, and pipe a large circle on the perimeter, coming closer to the center in three concentric circles on the top of the muffin. You can also spread frosting on the muffins with a spatula.
10. If desired, garnish with a cookie.

I omitted the frosting because our dog seems to have an issue with dairy products. She absolutely loved these muffins though! I've never seen her get so excited about a treat!

Baked Pizza Pasta

Source: My version of a recipe by Paved with Good Intentions

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 1 box of pasta (we used rigatoni)
• 1 tub of ricotta (optional... we omitted)
• 1 egg
• Italian Seasoning (garlic, oregano, basil, etc) 
• A LOT of tomato sauce (at least 5 cups)
• Pizza toppings (we used Italian seasoned chicken, sausage (which was in the sauce), pepperoni and broccoli)
• 2 1/2 cups Mozzarella (optional)
• 1/2 cup Parmesan (plus some to sprinkle) (optional)  
  

Directions: 

1. Pre-heat oven to 375°.
2. Cook the pasta.
3. While the pasta is cooking, prepare any necessary pizza toppings (broccoli, eggplant, sausage, ground beef, etc).
4. In the words of Paved with Good Intentions, spray the crap out of a 9x13 baking pan. (Because I had to make one with cheese and one without, I used two smaller CorningWare pans.)
5. Mix the entire pan of pasta with one egg, the tub of ricotta and the seasonings of your choice. (I didn't have any ricotta, so I added 2/3 cup of freshly grated Parmesan to the pasta/egg mixture.)
6. Spread 2 cups of sauce in the bottom of the baking pan, being sure to cover the entire bottom.
7. Layer half of the pasta on top of the sauce.
8. The next layer is the pizza toppings layer. Put as many, or as few, pizza toppings as you'd like.
9. On top of the pizza toppings add 2 cups of mozzarella. (I only used about 1/2 cup of mozzarella on the cheese one because it was in a smaller pan.)
10. Pour another 2 cups of sauce on top of the cheese layer.
11. Then repeat (another layer of pasta and another layer of pizza toppings).
12. Top it off with another layer of mozzarella and some sprinkled Parmesan. On the cheese free version, top it off with another layer of sauce. I also put some more pepperoni, just because I loove crunchy pepperoni.
13. Cover with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes. Then uncover and bake for another 15 minutes.

Cocktail Kielbasa

Source: Me

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 1 kielbasa (I use Hillshire Farms)
• 1/2 jar of grape jelly
• 1/2 bottle of ketchup
  

Directions: 

1. Slice kielbasa into 1/4" thick slices.
2. Put all ingredients in slow cooker and cook on high for 4-5 hours. 

• We usually eat half of this for dinner and freeze the rest. It is delicious! 
• It also makes a great appetizer for parties, especially cookouts.

Herb Seasoned Beets and Carrots

Source: Me

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

• 4 carrots
• 1 can of sliced beets (I prefer canned beets to fresh because there is so much work involved in cooking fresh beets and I don't notice a taste difference)
• Parsley 
• Rosemary
• 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
  

Directions: 

1. Pre-heat oven to 375°.
2. Peel the carrots and cut them into thirds or quarters (so the pieces are approximately 2" long).
3. Drain a can of beets.
4. Add the beets and carrots to a greased jelly roll pan. Add the olive oil and spices, and toss until the vegetables are coated.
5. Bake for approximately 30 minutes.

Potato Bundles

 Picture from The Pioneer Woman

Source: The Pioneer Woman

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

• 2 potatoes
• Chopped Onion (we omitted)
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup heavy cream (I used half and half)
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 tablespoon parsley  
  

Directions: 

1.  Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Chop the potatoes into cubes. 
3. Create two bowls out of tin foil. Put the cubes from one potato in each tin foil bowl.
4. On top of the potatoes, add 2 tablespoons of butter, 1/2 cup of heavy cream, salt and pepper to taste, and 1/2 tablespoon of parsley.
5. Wrap the bundles very tightly (or else you'll end up with melted butter and cream all over the bottom of your oven.. said from experience).
6. Bake for 45 minutes, or until tender. I have a horrible oven and they cooked for over an hour and still weren't as soft as I would have liked. So, in other words, this time isn't set in stone.

Lemon Raspberry Layer Cake - Happy Mother's Day!

Source: Beantown Baker

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

• 1 box of lemon cake mix
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 1 12-ounce package frozen raspberries, thawed
• 5 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
• 2/4 cup sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice
• Frosting
  

Directions: 

1. Prepare the cake according to the box. Bake in 2 9" round pans.
2. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. 
3. Add the raspberries, egg yolks, sugar and salt. Cook, mashing the berries and stirring frequently at first and then constantly at the end, until thickened (about 10 minutes).
4. Pour the mixture through a coarse strainer set over a bowl, pressing hard on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible. 
5. Cool the raspberry curd to room temperature. The curd will continue to thicken as it cools, so don't worry if it appears too watery at first.
6. Stir in the lemon juice to taste.
7. Cover and refrigerate until you're ready to use.
8. Once the cake is completely cooled, slice each cake in half horizontally so that you have 4 9" cakes. 
9. On a cake dish, put a little bit of frosting to secure the first layer. Put one of the cakes down, and using a frosting bag, pipe frosting around the edge of the top. This will help keep the curd from escaping out the sides.
10. Spread 1/3 of the curd on top, being sure that it won't overflow the frosting edge.
11. Add another layer, and repeat.
12. Frost the cake and arrange fresh raspberries on the top.

Roasted Carrots

Picture from The Pioneer Woman

Source: The Pioneer Woman

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

• 6 carrots, peeled
  
• Thyme
  
• 1/8 cup olive oil

Directions: 

1. Pre-heat oven to 400°.
2. Slice carrots down the middle, so they are all approximately the same thickness.
3. Arrange the carrots on a cookie sheet side by side.
4. Drizzle olive oil over the carrots, then sprinkle thyme, salt and pepper.
5. Toss the carrots until they are well coated.
6. Bake for 35-40 minutes. (Mine were slightly burnt at the ends, which were very thin. However, this gave them a very sweet taste, and the burnt ends were actually delicious.)