Gluten Free Vegan Graham Cracker Recipe

Recipe Entered into the Summer Wellness Weekend Event at:
  DietDessertnDogs.com Wellness Weekend Event

Check it out!!

These gluten free, vegan graham crackers have an amazing resemblence to traditional graham crackers in taste and texture.  Enjoy these delicious gluten free vegan graham crackers with an ice cold glass of almond milk, crumbled in some fresh homemade soy yogurt, as a delicious berry pie crust or smothered in nice warm chocolate frosting!

My kids devoured these crackers!  They are much healthier than the refined, processed junk you find in the grocery store.  These gluten free vegan graham crackers are made low in sugar and high in fiber.  If you have little toddlers who LOVE crackers make up a double batch of these and store them in the freezer.  You can feel much better about giving your children these gluten free, whole grain, low sugar graham crackers.

I have used these graham crackers for a cashew ice cream pie crust and it was absolutely delicious!  If you have been craving graham crackers but don't enjoy the gluten free ones available give this one a try!

For a Non-gluten free vegan graham cracker

or as my daughter would say....a Glutenated Graham Cracker

For those not on a gluten free diet you may be able to use whole wheat pastry flour, however be aware that the recipe was designed for gluten free flour which may absorb more moisture so you may have to tweek the amount of flour you use in the recipe if you convert it to whole wheat pastry flour.   If you aren't moderately handy in modifying recipes it may not turn out. 

 If you try it and it works, post a comment below and let us know!

Gluten Free Vegan Graham Cracker Recipe

1/4 c. brown rice syrup
1/4 c. applesauce
1/3 c. turbinado sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. all purpose gluten free flour
1/3 c. coconut flour
1 c. sorghum flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 c. soymilk

Preheat oven to 350.  Roll out and cut into rectangles, be sure to roll them thin enough about 1/8 inch thick.
If you do not roll them thin enough they will be softer like a cookie and less like a crispy cracker.  You can use a fork to make the impressions and a knife to make the impression like the photo if you like.  Bake them at 350 for about 10 minutes. 

*Depending on how thick you roll your crackers it may take less or more time to bake them.

Enjoy~!

If you enjoy this recipe or have other tips and tricks you would like to share, please post a comment below and let us know....We love to hear from you!

Fresh Strawberry or Raspberry Lemonade Recipe

Photo by My Hubby

I was struggling to get a good picture of this raspberry lemonade so I turned the camera over to my hubby and asked him to take one.  It's a little dark but I think he did a good job. It is very fitting that my husband took the photo of the raspberry lemonade recipe because I created this for him.  He begged me to make some for him to go with dinner and so I took on the challenge and it turned out amazing! 

This strawberry lemonade is very reminicent of the fresh berry lemonade you get in fancy restaurants.   There are no flavorings, syrups or fake ingredients in this raspberry lemonade......it's all fresh ingredients! I had a couple of sips of this drink because it was soooo good. 

This raspberry lemonade would make an amazing refreshing drink for a summer BBQ or just a lazy day out by the pool or after swimming or boating.  There is something about the combination of fresh lemon and fresh berries that is so refreshing and cooling on a hot summer day!

***You can certainly use any sweetner you like, coconut sugar would be an excellent low glycemic index sweetener to use in this drink.  Enjoy!

Fresh Red Raspberry or Strawberry Lemonade Recipe

2 c. water
1 c. lemon juice
1 c. turbinado
2 c. frozen raspberries, strawberries or mixed berries

If you do not have a high speed blender, heat the water, lemon juice and turbinado until the turbinado dissolves, otherwise blend all together except raspberries, add raspberries, pulse to break up and serve.

Vegan Mongolian Stir Fry Recipe

I have been craving Chinese food in the evenings lately and wanted to create an amazing Chinese recipe.  I was browsing through ideas and saw the P.F. Changs copycat recipe for Mongolian Beef.   I read through reviews and found that the Mongolian Beef at P.F. Changs seemed to be a popular dish.  I have never eaten this dish.....obviously but I thought I could create a beautiful vegetarian version of mongolian beef.

When I first downloaded this photo to my computer I hesistated posting it.  Some of you may understand my hesitation but this recipe is so amazing I couldn't skip over it.  I don't post every recipe here, I save some of them for my newsletter readers and others for recipe collections and The Peaceful Kitchen Inner Circle that will be set up soon.

I used my lentil burgers in this recipe and they turned out absolutely delicious!  My husband raved over this dish he LOVED IT!  My kids also loved this, my son went back for seconds. 

I noticed that in many recipes for mongolian beef they call for 1/2 c. or 3/4 c. of sugar, I was not looking to make a meal that tasted like dessert.  Who eats that much sugar for dinner?  Yuck!  I do not believe you need that much sugar at all.  It turns out I was right, I used a small amount of turbinado and I cannot imagine what this dish would taste like with all that sugar, seriously.

I also added veggies, in this case I had a lot of cauliflower and carrots in the fridge and so I used them.  It would certainly be good with broccoli, mushrooms, zucchini or any other veggie you may have in the fridge.

Mongolian Stir Fry
Recipe serves 4

4 bean or lentil burgers sliced
2/3 c. carrots chopped
1 c. cauliflower finely chopped
4 green onions chopped
1 c. water
1/4 c. low sodium tamari
3 Tb. turbinado sugar
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp. sesame oil
1/2 tsp. ginger powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 Tb. cornstarch, arrowroot or tapioca powder

Sautee the veggies and ginger in water until the veggies are softened. Add all but the cornstarch and lentil burgers. Bring to a boil, mix cornstarch in some water and stir in until thickens. Once the sauce thickens add in the lentil or black bean burgers and stir them in to coat with the sauce.  Serve over brown rice.

Italian Sunburger Stuffed Peppers

We recieved a HUGE bag of small sweet peppers in our Bountiful Basket a few weeks back and I needed to create a recipe to use them before they went bad. I love eating salads and sweet peppers are absolutely delicious in a salad but I couldn't eat them fast enough. This amazing Italian stuffed pepper recipe used up the rest of the sweet peppers and it was delicious!

My husband is a die hard pasta and Italian food fan and I didn't know if I could sneak this stuffed pepper recipe by him.  He isn't the biggest fan of vegetables, although he eats them anyway because they are in everything I make.  He is my taste tester, I know if he likes it, most people will like it too.  He gave this stuffed pepper recipe a BIG thumbs up. It is quite simple to put together and tastes amazing!  

I took two photos of the Italian stuffed peppers to show how I served them.  I think it is easier to eat stuffed peppers sliced and broken up so before I served them I used a serrated knife to cut the peppers. 

This stuffed pepper recipe serves 4

12 small sweet peppers
1 1/2 c. cheese sauce
1/4 c. onion
1/3 c. celery
1/2 Tb. parsley
1 Tb. italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. ground almonds
1 Tb. nutritional yeast
2 c. marinara sauce
2 crumbled sunburgers

Combine the sunburgers, onion, celery, seasonings and almonds in a bowl. Mix well. Cut the top off the peppers and stuff with the sunburger mixture. Place in baking dish, pour marinara on top and then the cheese sauce. Bake 350 for 25 minutes.

Vegan Dairy Free Homemade Yogurt Recipe

Purchasing dairy free yogurt in the grocery store can be quite expensive and it does not provide the same digestive benefits as  homemade dairy free yogurt.  Homemade yogurt provides an excellent source of probiotics and improves digestion. I have seen dramatic health improvements in many people I have worked with simply by adding fermented foods into their diet.  Relief from constipation, headaches, fatigue, IBS, inflammation, nutritional deficiencies and more.... Commercially prepared yogurts contain only one strain of bacteria, tons of sugar and are NOT health foods.

What's Wrong with Dairy?

Yogurt made from dairy products contains:  insulin growth factor known to contribute to juvenile diabetes, promote the growth of cancer cells among a host of other health problems.

"Studies have suggested that bovine serum albumin is the milk protein responsible for the onset of diabetes... Patients with insulin- dependent diabetes mellitus produce antibodies to cow milk proteins that participate in the development of islet dysfunction... Taken as a whole, our findings suggest that an active response in patients with IDDM (to the bovine protein) is a feature of the autoimmune response."
New England Journal of Medicine, July 30, 1992

Insulin growth factor or IGF-1 stimulates the growth of normal cells and is a key factor in growth and development of nursing infants or animals, however, after weaning IGF-1 is a potent stimulator of both normal and cancerous cells.   

 Rosenfeld, R.G., et al. Insulin-like growth factor binding proteins in neoplasia (meeting abstract). Hormones and Growth Factors in Development and Neoplasia, Fogarty International Conference, June 26-28, 1995, Bethesda, MD, 1995, p. 24

Several studies found that IGF-1 found in cows milk accelerates the growth of breast cancer cells.   

Lippman, Marc E. The development of biological therapies for breast cancer. Science, Vol. 259, January 29, 1993, pp. 631-32

Papa, Vincenzo, et al. Insulin-like growth factor-I receptors are overexpressed and predict a low risk inhuman breast cancer. Cancer Research, Vol. 53, 1993, pp. 3736-40

 In 1995 researchers at the National Institutes of Health reported that IGF-1 plays a central role in the progression of  a number of childhood cancers as well as  breast cancer, small cell lung cancer, melanoma, and cancers of the pancreas and prostate. 

LeRoith, Derek, et al. The role of the insulin-like growth factor-I receptor in cancer. Annals New York Academy of Sciences, Vol. 766, September 7, 1995, pp. 402-08

Making your own dairy free yogurt is very simple.  I have tested recipes using soymilk as well as cashew and almond to give you a variety of choices when making your homemade yogurt.

Homemade Dairy Free Yogurt Recipe

My kids LOVED this yogurt, they ate it at breakfast and lunch everyday for over a week....it's time to make more!

** This yogurt can be made with fresh almond, cashew, brazil nut milk etc... however, these ferment more quickly and only need about 8-12 hours fermentation so be aware of that.

**Do NOT use store bought almond milk, it will not thicken.  You MUST use fresh homemade almond or cashew milk.  If you use milk other than soymilk add about 1 or 2 Tb. of turbinado sugar to feed the culture.

1 qt. soymilk, almond milk, cashew milk, brazil nut milk......
1 pkt. dairy free kefir starter  [1/2 c. water kefir from water kefir grains]

Warm soymilk to finger temp about 92 degrees, pour in packet and stir until dissolved.  Pour into a clean quart jar and put the lid on. Ferment on counter for 48 hours, up to 72 hours.  It should smell slightly sour.

Strain off yogurt water as best you can.  Add:

2 packets of stevia in the raw
3 Tb. turbinado sugar
1 Tb. vanilla

Stir well.  Pour into a container and store in the fridge up to one week. You can add your favorite fruit to this yogurt for a delicious snack. 

What do you do with the left over liquid ferment?

I noticed that when I made the cashew and almond yogurts the yield was much lower and it produced a lot more liquid that needed to be strained.  This liquid can be used so DO NOT just toss it.    Use 1/2 c. of the liquid ferment to make another batch of yogurt without having to use another packet of starter. 

I actually added some of my liquid ferment to creamy salad dressings, you can also add it to fresh pressed juices for some probiotics and it can be added to green smoothies as well. 

Homemade Dairy Free Raw Almond Yogurt with Fruit Recipe

I wanted to show another example of homemade yogurt, this one will really appeal to raw foodists as this is a homemade raw almond yogurt recipe.  The almond milk only has to be heated to about 95 degrees before adding the kefir starter.  This homemade yogurt makes a delicious addition to breakfast or a snack.

In this photo I used mango, raspberries, blueberries and banana topped with raw buckwheat, oats and topped with my fresh raw almond yogurt recipe.

I would LOVE to hear your yogurt making stories! 

Post your yogurt making story below and you can WIN a dairy free, soy free Cheese and Cream Recipe Collection:

"Grate-able Vegan Cheddar Cheese, Mozarella cheese, Cashew Dill Cheeseball, Ricotta Cheese and more...."

Stoll, B.A. Breast cancer: further metabolic-endocrine risk markers? British Journal of Cancer, Vol. 76, No. 12, 1997, pp. 1652-54