Dairy & Soy-Free Pumpkin Pie (Made with REAL Pumpkin!) – Nut-Free, too!

Tis the season for pumpkin pie. I make pumpkin pie at least a couple of times each November. This year, I’ve been on a no-canned-food kick. Hearing about the BPA in cans over and over again has made me eschew all tinned food. So, when it came time to make my pumpkin pie, I found myself googling “pumpkin pie made with REAL pumpkin.” For years, I’d only made pumpkin pie with the canned stuff — the organic canned stuff from Whole Foods, but still, it’s in a can. I’m no doofus — I know that if its in a can, I must be able to make it fresh, but the fact that it never even crossed my mind to use REAL pumpkin before made me feel a little silly. I blame all the TV and magazine ads I saw for Libby’s canned pumpkin growing up!

Anywho — the pie recipe is an old standby courtesy of Go Dairy Free which I’ve modified just a bit. It’s dairy & soy-free and nut-free, too, so feel free to indulge! I’ve added the necessary steps to the recipe for you to use REAL pumpkin. Are you excited? You should be . . . the pie turned out great. I have another pumpkin in the pantry and I’m torn — try a new pumpkin bread recipe or make a 2nd pie. Ask anyone in my house and they’ll all vote for pie!

Preparing the Pumpkin:

You’re going to need one “Sugar Pie” Pumpkin. You don’t want to use the big pumpkin that you carve for Halloween. These are smaller pumpkins that are perfect for baking. One pumpkin is exactly the amount you need for a pie (or at least very close to the perfect amount). I keep seeing these at all the local grocery stores, so check yours out and see if they have it in stock. If not, I’ve heard of folks using squash successfully — I haven’t tried it, but others say it’s worked for them. Take that for whatever it’s worth!

This is what sugar pie pumpkins look like:

You want to break off the stem and slice the pumpkin in half like this:

Then, scoop out the guts (all the seeds and stringy fibers) and place face down on a greased baking sheet (I used a little canola oil to grease the sheet). Bake at  35o degrees for  50 – 60  minutes or until you can easily pierce it with a fork. It should look like this when it’s done.

Let it cool and then puree it. You can stick it in the blender and puree it or you can use an immersion blender. I opted for the immersion blender — much easier cleanup! Make sure you puree it so it’s nice and smooth. It will look like this:

Now, you’re ready to make pie!  Here is the pie recipe:

Dairy-Free, Soy-Free Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar, firmly packed
• 1/4 Cup White Sugar
• 1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
• 1/2 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
• 1/4 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg or Allspice
• 1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cloves
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 2 Large Eggs
• 15 oz. of your fresh pumpkin puree (a little shy of 2 cups) — if you don’t have fresh pumpkin puree, you can sub one 15 oz. can of pumpkin puree
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 Cup Regular Coconut Milk
• 1 Wholly Wholesome Organic Traditional 9″ frozen pie shell

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 425ºF.

Combine the sugars, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg or allspice, cloves and salt in a small bowl. In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Beat in the sugar mixture, pumpkin, and vanilla until smooth. Fold in the coconut milk.

Pour the filling into the unbaked pie crust and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350ºF and continue to bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out clean.  It may be a bit wobbly still, but it will firm-up as it cools.

Allow the pie to cool on a wire rack for 2 hours (Be patient! This is important).  Serve or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Happy Eating!

Dairy-Free & Soy-Free Sloppy Joes

Hello all! Sorry for my being MIA lately. I decided to start my own business — I’m teaching Mommy & Me, Parenting and Childbirth classes, among other things — and it has taken me completely away from the blog. Now that the initial legwork on the business is done and I’m starting to find my rhythm a bit, I’m back to posting delicious dairy-free & soy-free recipes. This one is for sloppy joes. Sometimes, our family just wants a good sloppy joe. I try to shy away from the canned stuff — I try to steer clear of cans in general due to the BPA in them. I also try to avoid recipes that use ketchup as the base. It just doesn’t seem too healthy to be consuming anything that contains over a cup of ketchup as some of the recipes do. This recipe is yummy, ketchup-free and dairy & soy-free too. Hope you enjoy it! Nice to be back, too!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/4 lbs. ground beef, ground turkey, or veggie ground meat substitute
• 1 1/2 tsp. coarse salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground pepper
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (14.5 oz.) can tomato puree (Note: Do not use tomato paste!)
• 2 tbsp. light-brown sugar
• 1 tbsp. cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp.tomato paste
• 1 jalapeño pepper, finely chopped (optional)
• 1 tsp. soy-free Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 c. water
• Optional Toppings: Daiya shredded “cheese,” sliced avocado, sliced tomatoes

DIRECTIONS

• In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook meat (or meat sub), breaking apart pieces with a wooden spoon, until lightly browned, 5 to 6 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until translucent, about 5 minutes.
• Add pureed tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, tomato paste, Worcestershire, and 1 1/2 cups water. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until thickened, about 20 minutes.
• Serve hot meat mixture on top of the warmed up bread of your choice. Eat like a traditional hamburger, or like an open-faced sandwich.
• For a special treat, top with Daiya shredded “cheese” and sliced avocado and/or tomato.

Happy Eating!

Dairy-Free & Soy-Free Butternut Squash Risotto

This recipe comes courtesy of my Cooking Light magazine that I received this month. Of course, I had to make some alterations. The risotto itself is a bit on the bland side if eaten without the toppings, but the bacon kicks it up a notch. We added some shredded Daiya mozarella “cheese” shreds (about 3/4 c.) at the end and it really made the dish. I love risotto. Usually, risottos are heavy on the cheese, but this one uses butternut squash as its base to achieve its creamy texture. Seeing that organic butternut squash was on sale at the grocery store, this recipe came at the perfect time. The recipe is a tad labor intensive since you have to continuously stir the rice mixture while it cooks, but the stirring is the kind of labor that can also be relaxing. A repetitive motion that gives you time to think and wind down — at least that’s how I feel. Besides, you really feel like you did something when the dish is finally ready. Hope you enjoy it! The dish serves 4.

Ingredients

• 3 c. (1/2-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash, divided
• 3 1/2 c. fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
• 2 c. uncooked Arborio rice
• 2 tbsp. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 5 oz. dairy-free, soy-free applewood-smoked bacon, cooked and crumbled (I used Applegate Farms Organic Sunday Bacon)
• 3/4 c. Daiya mozzarella style shreds (optional)

Preparation

• Combine 2 cups squash and 2 1/2 cups water in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat; let stand 5 minutes.
• Place mixture in a food processor. Process until smooth. Return mixture to pan. Stir in broth; bring to a simmer. Reserve 1/4 cup squash mixture. Keep pan warm over low heat.
• Heat a large Dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add rice; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in remaining 1 cup squash, 2 1/2 cups squash mixture, and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Cook 2 minutes or until liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly.
• Add remaining squash mixture, 1 cup at a time, stirring until each cup is absorbed before adding the next (about 20 minutes). Remove from heat; stir in reserved 1/4 cup squash mixture and the Daiya cheese, stirring until combined. Top with parsley and bacon.

Happy Eating!