May7
As we changed our eating, there were many things I wasn’t sure how I to replace. Chocolate chips was one of them. We had tried carob chips but they are just very different. I am hoping our palettes learn to like carob but in the meantime what was I to do.
I happened upon a solution as I wandered baking isle of our local natural food store. Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips (check out their site for a store location near you). They taste just like regular choclate chips but without the dairy. They aren’t dark chocolate either. They taste like a great semi-sweet milk choclate chip. The dairy free counterpart to Nestle.
We use them excusively whenever we need chocolate chips. No one knows the difference. My girls are so happy to be able to get a little chocolate here and there. What girl wouldn’t be!?!
May4
This Thai dish is my girls favorite. Anything with noodles is a winner in their book.
Recipe: Chicken Pad Thai
Ingredients
- 14 oz Thai Rice Noodles
- 2 cups chicken, sliced thinly
- Marinade: 1 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 3 Tbsp wheat free Soy Sauce
- 2-3 Tbsp oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 green onions, sliced
- 1 cup fresh cilantro
- 1/2 cup peanuts, chopped (can use other nuts)
- 1/2 cup chicken stock 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 fresh lime, sliced
Pad Thai Sauce
- 1-1/2 Tbsp Tamarind Paste dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water
- 5 Tbsp Fish Sauce
- 2-6 tsp chili sauce (optional)
- 6 Tbsp Brown Sugar
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to boil and remove from heat. Dunk in your rice noodle. Allow noodles to soak while you prepare other ingredients. Note that you will be frying the noodles later, so you don’t want to over soften them now. Noodles are ready to be drained when they are soft enough to be eaten, but still firm and a little crunchy. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
- Make the Pad Thai Sauce by combing the sauce ingredients together in a cup. Stir well to dissolve the tamarind paste and brown sugar. Set aside. Note: this may seem like a lot of sugar, but you need it to balance out the sourness of the tamarind.
- Place chicken slices in a small bowl. Pour marinade over the chicken. Stir well and set aside. Warm up a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add 1-2 Tbsp of oil plus garlic and chili if using. Stir fry until fragrant.
- Add chicken (with marinade) and stir fry for 1 minute. When wok/pan becomes dry, add a little chicken stock (1-2 Tbsp at a time), enough to keep the chicken frying nicely. continue stir frying in this way until the chicken is cooked (5-8 minutes).
- Add the noodles and Pad Thai sauce. Using two spatulas, immediately stir frying noodles. Use a gentle “lift and turn” method, like tossing a salad, to prevent noodles from breaking. Stir fry in this way 1-2 minutes. You can always add more oil if your wok becomes too dry (don’t use chicken broth as it will make noodles soggy).
- Add pepper and continue tossing until noodles are cooked. They should no longer be hard or crunchy but a little chewy/sticky.
- Place in serving dish and top with fresh cilantro, green onion, and chopped nuts. Serve with fresh lime wedges to squeeze over top.
Diet (other): Gluten free, Dairy free, Egg free
Microformatting by hRecipe.