Gluten & Dairy Free Cheesecake

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I have been craving cheesecake for quite sometime lately...it's been over a year since I had a piece of cheesecake since our family went Gluten and Casein Free. Cheesecake is my absolute favorite dessert!

So last week, I broke down and made a gluten and dairy free version. Not knowing how this would taste, it exceeded my expectations! Yum! Yum!

The secret ingredient is tofu. I know...don't diss it til you try it. I have never tried tofu before until now. My recommendation is to get Organic tofu. It is made from soy and always get organic when eating soy. Soy is full of pesticides. I got my organic tofu from Trader Joe's for $1.99 (16 oz). So it is very affordable. Also Tofu is a great source of protein!

The ingredients you will need for the filling is:

1 (16-ounce) package silken tofu, drained
1 cup sugar
2 (8-ounce) packages dairy-free cream cheese (I love Tofutti!)
1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla
  

I only had 1 package of cream cheese so I cut my recipe in half.

You mix it all together with a mixer or food processor.

For the crust, I cheated. :) I used store bought Gluten and Dairy free Snickerdoodles. I could of easily made some but I was hungry and wanted cheesecake NOW! :) These are a soft cookie so I mushed them to the bottom of a greased pie pan to form the crust.

Then I poured in the cheesecake batter.

Bake in preheated 325 degree oven for 45 minutes.

Turn the oven off and leave the cheesecake in the oven with the door slightly ajar for 1 hour.

Remove from oven and cool completely before refrigerating.

I completely skipped the refrigerating part and dove right in. I didn't even allow time for a picture, but I did manage to take one of it half eaten. :)

Finish cheesecake with toppings of your choice.

I used some fresh strawberries since they were in season.

For a sweet berry topping, I mixed together some strawberries, a little sugar and a dash of vinegar. Then bring to boil in a saucepan. Very easy and yummy!

I definitely give this recipe 2 thumbs up! A simple, yummy and great alternative if you have gluten and/or dairy sensitivities. Or if you just want to try something different to your everyday diet! You will be pleasantly surprised!

Veggies In Disguise Muffins

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I love any opportunity to make the traditional dish or treat a little bit healthier if I can. And if I have to sneak it in, then so be it. :) I recently made some yummy muffins that 2 little boys have given me the 2 thumbs up on the results!

Ingredients:

1 cup carrots, finely chopped

1 cup zucchini, finely chopped

1 cup chocolate chips (fresh fruit can be an excellent alternative option)

1 cup walnuts or pecans

1 package of cake mix, prepared according to package directions, but not baked

I didn't have a cake mix on hand, so I used this WONDERFUL GLUTEN FREE CAKE RECIPE!

Add carrots, zucchini, chocolate chips, and nuts to prepared cake batter, stir to combine.

Transfer the mixture to a muffin pan, filling each cup about 2/3 of the way. Bake at 375 degrees F for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Do not overcook, as this will result in dry muffins. Once cooled, these muffins can be frozen to be eaten later.

**We used cupcake liners since my youngest son is sensitive to metals**

With the cake recipe I used, this made about 48 muffins. I used leftover frozen organic zucchini and carrots and pantry items I already had. So you get a bang out of your buck and taste buds with this winning recipe!

Do you try to sneak in veggies for your kiddos?

Gluten Free Personal Pan Pizzas

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If you are not gluten free, don't click away too soon! Because this recipe can be made with traditional flour as well.

If you are new to my blog, my family is on a gluten and casein free diet for several reasons...and since removing these from our diet, our health has improved so much at many different levels. We also removed the dyes, preservatives and buy organic.

Going gluten free since last summer has been a learning experience. You trial and error and see what different flours you like and don't like. I have had a lot of success creating yummy healthy dishes but some flops as well. LOL You just to go with the flow and be patient when you have food restrictions. It all works out and if it keeps my family healthy then all the extra work is so worth it!!

One of the hardest things about being gluten and casein free is going out to eat. It seems like more and more restaurants are having gluten free options and for that we are thankful. The one thing that we were really missing was pizza. I will always have a soft spot for stuffed crust pizza from Pizza Hut. LOL But those days are long gone...

We recently got a new pizza eatery close by called Sam & Louie's Pizzeria. They have gluten free pizza! My boys and I were like vultures having pizza for the first time in over 6 months. It was dairy free as well and we didn't miss the cheese at all! I highly recommend this place if you have it in your area. Yum! Yum!

We wanted to recreate the pizza at home so we could to get our pizza fix. The test was making a gluten free crust that tastes well. Well I was lucky the very first time and created a yummy pizza that tastes just as well as the restaurant version. So come along with me as I show you how to make these easy gluten free personal pan pizzas.

This will make 4 personal pan pizzas.

Ingredients:

1 cup gluten free flour mixture (this can be your own gluten free flour mixture or use your regular flour if you are not gluten free)

1 tablespoon fine-ground cornmeal

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/3 cup milk (I used almond milk)

1. Preheat oven for 425 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray.

2. In a medium bowl, mix the flour mixture, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, garlic powder, Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese together (I left this out).

3. Then stir in the oil and milk.

4. Spray 2 sheet of wax paper on one side with nonstick spray. Form the dough into a ball and place it on the sprayed side of one sheet of wax paper. Top with the other sheet of wax paper, spayed side down. Use a rolling pin and roll the dough into a 9-inch circle if you can.

Gluten free flours are really sticky, so that is why it is easier to roll out the dough with the wax paper.

5. Remove the top sheet of wax paper. Transfer the dough to the baking sheet.
6. Crimp the edges of the dough to form a raised edge.

7. Now add your favorite toppings!

I wanted to recreate the pizza we had a Sam & Louie's. So this is what I added: ground beef with Bull's-Eye Original BBQ sauce mixed in. Bull's Eye Original is gluten free and uses all natural ingredients. Then I shredded some red pepper and onion in the food processor (can easily be disguised for little eaters. :) And then for an extra treat, I added shredded goat cheese. This is the first cheese me and my boys have eaten since last summer. :) With my little research, I found out that goat cheese is casein free.

After I threw these in the oven I forgot to add a little turkey bacon bits. So next time I'll try that.

8. Bake pizzas for 10-13 minutes.

Note* Gluten free flours do not get golden or brown too much. So don't rely on that to see if it's done or not. :)

These simple pizzas are yummy and kid approved! They tasted just like the restaurant pizza!

I made 8 personal pizzas and that still wasn't enough for my hungry team!

And the goat cheese was surprisingly good! There are several different kinds but the kind I got shredded real well and tasted almost like mozzarella.

I wanted to share the gluten free flour mixture that I'm currently using. You can buy gluten free flour mixtures premixed but it's cheaper to mix your own.

2 1/2 cups brown rice flour
1 cup potato flour
1 cup sorghum flour
1 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup garbanzo bean flour
2 tablespoons xanthum gum

If you have questions about going gluten free let me know in the comments or email me!