Dairy-Free Coconut Milk Whip Cream

What You Need

Ingredients
One 15-ounce can full-fat coconut milk
1-2 tablespoon sugar (I use icing sugar) or more to taste (optional) 
1 teaspoon vanilla or more to taste (optional)

Instructions

1. Place the can of coconut milk in the refrigerator and leave it there until well-chilled; I left mine in overnight.  Either one of the brands shown are good to use.

2. Open the can of coconut milk. There will be a firm, waxy layer on top.

3. Scoop out this firm layer coconut cream that has solidified at the top of the can.

4. Stop as soon as you reach the water at the bottom of the can; don't include anything but the solid cream. (You can use the water in smoothies, or just drink it straight.)

5. Place this cream in the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large bowl.

6. Turn your mixer or hand beaters to high speed, and whip the coconut cream for 3 to 5 minutes.

7. Whip until it becomes fluffy and light, with soft peaks. Mix in sugar or vanilla, if using.

8. Serve with fresh fruit, pie, or cobbler.

Chocolate Almond Milk Pudding

Chocolate Almond Milk Pudding

Dairy-free, egg-free and delicious, this chocolate pudding is rich and satisfying while still healthier than traditional puddings that are usually made with milk and egg yolks.

Serves 4 to 6

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 T. cornstarch
• 1/3 cup and 2 T. organic sugar
• ¼ cup cocoa powder
• pinch of salt
• 2 cups plain unsweetened almond milk
• 1/3 cup dairy-free chocolate chips
• ½ t. vanilla

Preparation:

1. In a small cup or bowl, combine the cornstarch with 2 T. cold water, mixing to dissolve. Set aside.

2. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Over medium-low heat, gradually add the almond milk, about ¼ cup at a time, stirring constantly until smooth. Cook until a thin film develops on top of the liquid and steam rises from the surface, but do not let the mixture boil. Remove the pan from heat and add the chocolate chips, swirling the pan to keep the chips from resting on the bottom of the pan and burning. Allow the pan to sit off of the stove for about 3 minutes, then stir mixture with a wooden spoon to incorporate the melted chocolate.

3. Mix in the cornstarch mixture and vanilla until well incorporated, and return the pan to the stove over medium-low heat. Stirring constantly, cook until the mixture is thick but just slightly thinner than desired (the pudding will thicken as it cools). Transfer the pudding into individual heatproof dishes. Place plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming, and set on a wire cooling rack to cool for about 20 minutes.

4. Once puddings have cooled slightly, place them in the refrigerator and chill for at least 2 hours before enjoying.

Original Recipe by Ashley Adams

Creamy Dairy Free Mac and Cheese (Best Ever)

Ingredients

• ½ cup + 2 tbsp raw cashews
• ¼ cup nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp salt, to taste
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• 1/16 tsp white pepper
• 1 + ¾ cups nondairy milk
• 1.5 tbsp cornstarch
• ¼ cup canola oil
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 6-8oz pasta, cooked (use gluten-free if needed)
• 1 tsp truffle oil (optional, but highly recommended)

Instructions

1. Place cashews in a large-sized bowl of the food processor and finely grind–just don’t let the cashews turn to a paste. Add nutritional yeast, onion powder, salt, garlic powder, and white pepper. Pulse three more times to blend in spices.
2. In a heavy saucepan, combine milk, cornstarch and oil(s). Bring to a simmer over high heat. Decrease heat to low-medium, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes, or until cornstarch dissolves.
3. With the food processor running, gradually add milk/oil mixture to cashew/nutritional yeast mixture. Blend for 2 minutes or until smooth and creamy. Next blend in lemon juice.
4. Combine cashew cheese with macaroni noodles and serve. You may also bake it: Preheat oven to 325 and place macaroni mixture in a 8 or 9″ square baking dish. Cover and bake 20 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with ½ C  bread crumbs. Continue baking, uncovered, for 15-25 minutes until topping is golden brown.

Dairy free eating guide

By Lisa York

So you've decided to go dairy and soy free.  I know this seems really over-whelming and daunting right now.  But once you know what products to buy and where to find them locally, the process of cutting dairy and soy out of your life and living healthier, is pretty easy (and delicious! Who knew!)

There are many reasons for going dairy and soy free, from allergies to not wanting to eat extra hormones and antibiotics, to stomach and skins issues.  Give yourself a good six weeks off dairy and soy products to notice a difference; yes it takes this long to work out of your system!  After two to six weeks you should notice some great improvements in your health and over all well being.

So let’s start with the basics.  Milk, butter and cheese are the things that most people stress out about “losing”, but there are some great tasting alternatives.

Milk Products:  So there are some great alternatives to cow’s milk out there.  For drinking and cereal I recommend almond milk.  It is smooth and creamy and tastes great!  Also did you know that it has more calcium in it that regular cow milk!   For baking and cooking I recommend rice milk.  It has little to no taste, and works well in recipes and can be easily thickened with corn starch (organic so no GMO) if you need it thicker in scallop potatoes or mac and cheese (I have a great recipe for this that I will add to this as well).  For adding to your coffee or tea there are some great almond/cashew creams that are awesome. 

These are some of the brands that I use regularly and where to find them (all of these products are GMO free and are available at Sobeys or Superstore in the health food section.)

Silk True Almond (Dark Chocolate and Vanilla are my favs)

Blue Diamond Almond Milk

Rice Dream Rice Milk – I use plain in cooking

Natura Rice Milk

So Delicious Coconut Milk

Thai Coconut Milk (in cans) for baking or making….wait for it….WHIP CREAM!

Yu Rice Milk for baking for drinking

 Yogurt…..yes you can still get your calcium and probiotics in your favorite snack.  I highly recommend:

 So Delicious Cultured Coconut Yogurt.  It comes in a variety of flavours like vanilla (my fav), plain, blueberry, & strawberry.   

Amande cultured almond milk yogurt.  Sweetened with fruit juice and is also gluten free!  Comes in fun flavours like cherry, peach, vanilla, plain, blueberry, coconut, strawberry and raspberry.

These DO NOT taste like cardboard like some soy based yogurts.  They are delicious…but that just my opinion :)

Chocolate Pudding…..this pudding is so good.  I either buy it in containers or I make my own out of chocolate almond milk.  The brand that I buy is made by Zen.  It is in the refrigerated section of the health food section of the grocery store.

Cheese…. OK, so this is the big one…I get it….and the hardest.  There are some really gross cheese alternatives out there, and believe me, I've tried them all.  So consider me your guinea pig.  I've tried what it gross and I will tell you what are the yummier ones to buy.  Stay away from rice cheeses…they are plain gross.  There is really only one brand that we use:  Daiya Dairy Free Cheese.  Actually it is free of most of the common allergens.  It is available now in shreds (cheddar, mozzarella & pepper jack) or wedges (cheddar or jalapeño).  This cheese will melt and stretch like cow cheese.  It is great for pizza, grilled cheese sandwiches, pasta…..anything you would cook with cheese with.  Coming soon in the fall of 2013, we should have available to us Daiya cream cheese, cheese slices and boxed pizza.

Butter….this one is pretty easy actually.  Becel makes a Vegan butter that is dairy and soy free and is available with all other margarine.  The other one that I really like is Earth Balance spread (in the health food section).  It has a lot less ingredients then Becel so in my humble opinion is a better choice. 

Chocolate…..So everyone loves chocolate.  There are some yummy options available.  If you are looking to bake, then Enjoy Life has some great chocolate chunks and chips in the health food section.  Presidents Choice Decadent Chocolate Chunks are also dairy free.  For chocolate bars for the occasional treat I buy Camino Organic Fair Trade Dark Chocolate (note…the milk chocolate will have dairy solids) or Just Us Chocolate.

Coffee Cream…Mimic Cream is yummy available in the health food section of the grocery store. 

There are a variety of cookies and other snacks that are dairy free by Enjoy Life and you can even have Oreos as an occasional treat.  Remember, like anything, only eat sugary treats in moderation. 

I will post some yummy dairy free recipes to add to this post.  If you are looking for a specific dairy free item that I haven’t listed, please email me lisa@yorkhealthcentre.com  and I will be glad to help you find it.

Please note that I am not a registered dietitian or nutritionist.  I am just a person living  a dairy free lifestyle that has already gone through the time to try out different things and want to share what I know with you.  Please see your doctor or Naturopath regarding allergies and diet changes before you make them.