Saturday, November 21, 2020

Everything-Free Pizza!

 When you can't eat dairy, egg, soy, gluten, and garlic (and a lot more! My full list of allergies are at the bottom of this post), pizza is pretty much out of the question. Pizza, with it's egg/gluten filled crust, garlic tomato paste, and dairy filled cheese. But luckily, I've found a way to make my own amazing everything-free pizza over the years that I can safely enjoy. So without further ado...

The Crust

There are two different products I'll use as my pizza crust. The first is Ener-G's Rice Pizza Shells. These are great because they're already pre-made and you can just slather on your ingredients and pop them in the oven!


Ener-G also has Focaccia Crusts, which are a little smaller but equally delicious! 




Tomato Sauce

For a long time, finding a pizza sauce without garlic was impossible- until Fody came along and created not one, not two, but three different types of garlic-free, onion-free tomato sauce! I've only tried the Marinara and Tomato Basil, but I'm sure the Arrabbiata is great too! I buy these at Sprouts in the gluten-free section.


P.S. I have an entire post on different sauces and condiments I use. You can check it out here.


Cheese

I have an entire post all about different cheeses I use that are allergy-free, but my top picks for pizza are VioLife's Mozzarella and Cheddar Shreds. Sometimes I use one or the other, but I usually put a little bit of both. And if you want to get really cheesey, VioLife's parmesan is an excellent addition to the pizza party! You can find VioLife's cheese at Whole Foods and Natural Grocers.








As always, please make sure to follow my Instagram @Theeverythingfreegirl and my Pinterest- The Everything-Free Girl. And if you're new here, check out my other blog posts for more foods and recipes!

-The Everything-Free Girl

My food sensitivities include...
All Dairy
Eggs
Soy
Peanuts, Cashews, Pistachios, Almonds, Brazil nut, Walnut, and Hazel nut
Garlic, Chili Powder, Cayenne Pepper (and basically all other hot pepper things)
Goat milk, Buffalo milk (Seriously?)
Flax Seed, Aniseed
Gluten/Wheat
Oat, Barley, Spelt
Strawberries, Apples, Cherries
Radish
Lime








Thursday, November 19, 2020

Tortillas and Taco Shells

 I don't know about you, but tortillas and taco shells have got to be one of mankind's greatest inventions in the culinary department. They can make a heap of random and completely unrelated ingredients come together in a small little bundle, enter your mouth, and send your tastebuds into frenzied celebration. Whoever invented them must have been pure genius. 

Except.

I can't have them.

Since 6 years ago I found out I have food sensitivities to nearly every food on the planet (that might be an exaggeration- but scroll to the bottom of the post to check out my official list of sensitivities), tortillas and taco shells were among the many casualties of allergic war. No gluten = no flour tortillas. And though I'm not technically "allergic" to corn, it never really agrees with me. So corn taco shells were sadly out of the picture as well. 

No tacos. 

No quesadillas.

Heartbroken.

For a little while I tried to satisfy my Taco Tuesday obsession with taco bowls- a fancy term for ground turkey meat and greasy dairy free cheese microwaved in a bowl for about 30 seconds. Disgusting. I still shiver when I remember my pathetic attempts to clean exploded cheese and meat from the microwave turntable. 

Luckily, over the years I've found some alternate-ingredient tortillas and taco shells that I'll share below. R.I.P. microwave taco bowls!


Trader Joe's Brown Rice Tortillas

You can find these in the- you guessed it- tortilla section at Trader Joe's. These are great for quesadillas. I'll put chicken, dairy-free cheese, and occasionally some bacon between two tortillas and grill it up on the stove. Don't try to use these for tacos or burritos, though- when you begin to fold these, they'll break clean down the fold. Also, they start to mold quick, even in the fridge. So it's best if you eat them within a couple days.

I use these with egg whites, spinach and bell peppers every morning! I love  them heated directly over the flame and… | Food, Gluten free snacks  healthy, Trader joes


Food For Life's Brown Rice Tortillas

These tortillas are super similar to Trader Joe's, although in my opinion are a little less starchy. They still break when you try to fold them, so again, they're best for quesadillas. 

Food For Life Tortillas, Brown Rice, 9 inch, WF & GF, Frozen - Azure  Standard

Coconut Flour Tortillas by The Real Coconut

Up until a couple years ago, I was stuck with eating the above two tortillas, which like I mentioned are not bendable. When I stumbled on these coconut flour tortillas by The Real Coconut, I was apprehensive that they would do anything different. But here's the thing- they don't break! I mean, sure, they'll break if you want them to, but they're perfectly able to bend into soft taco shells or fold into a small burrito. I'll put these in the oven with chicken and they crisp into perfection. Or, fold them with some meat of choice and some garlic-free BBQ sauce for a BBQ burrito. Amazing!


Siete Grain Free Taco Shells

These are absolutely INCREDIBLE grain-free crunchy taco shells. I'm not even going to say any more about it. You have to taste to believe. You can find them at Sprouts and Natural Grocers.

Gluten Free, Grain Free Taco Shells | Siete Foods

Sprouts' Grain Free Taco Shell

I'm not going to talk about how amazing these are, because they really aren't compared to Siete. They kind of taste like rice cakes. But, they are grain free, and it's another option, so I thought I'd just throw these in here as a bonus. 

Sprouts Grain Free Taco Shells (5.5 oz) - Instacart


As always, please make sure to follow my Instagram @Theeverythingfreegirl and my Pinterest- The Everything-Free Girl. And if you're new here, check out my other blog posts for more foods and recipes!

-The Everything-Free Girl

My food sensitivities include...
All Dairy
Eggs
Soy
Peanuts, Cashews, Pistachios, Almonds, Brazil nut, Walnut, and Hazel nut
Garlic, Chili Powder, Cayenne Pepper (and basically all other hot pepper things)
Goat milk, Buffalo milk (Seriously?)
Flax Seed, Aniseed
Gluten/Wheat
Oat, Barley, Spelt
Strawberries, Apples, Cherries
Radish
Lime

Sunday, November 1, 2020

Coconut Aminos (Soy-Free Soy Sauce)

 Now, I've never been one to eat a lot of Chinese food, or its closest counterpart: the all-important soy sauce. But years ago I discovered this stuff called Coconut Aminos, which I always jokingly call my "soy-free soy sauce." 

Does it actually taste like soy sauce? I couldn't tell you, I really have no idea what soy sauce tastes like. But I do use Coconut Aminos on rice, cook meat with it, use it in stir-fries, and pretty much any other dish that could use a little extra hint of flavor. Because I can't have garlic, chili powder, or a lot of other spices that make things more flavorful, these Coconut Aminos have definitely helped make my food a lot more enjoyable!

So what exactly are "Coconut Aminos?" Basically, it's a seasoning sauce made from coconut sap, salt, and water. That's it! Even though there are only a handful of ingredients, definitely don't underestimate the amazing flavor contained in that little bottle.

You can get it at Trader Joes (they have their own brand of it), but you can also get the main brand by Coconut Secret online (Amazon, Thrive Market, etc).



And if you really fall in love, you can get some gigantic bottles too!



As always, please make sure to follow my Instagram @Theeverythingfreegirl and my Pinterest- The Everything-Free Girl. And if you're new here, check out my other blog posts for more foods and recipes!

-The Everything-Free Girl

My food sensitivities include...
All Dairy
Eggs
Soy
Peanuts, Cashews, Pistachios, Almonds, Brazil nut, Walnut, and Hazel nut
Garlic, Chili Powder, Cayenne Pepper (and basically all other hot pepper things)
Goat milk, Buffalo milk (Seriously?)
Flax Seed, Aniseed
Gluten/Wheat
Oat, Barley, Spelt
Strawberries, Apples, Cherries
Radish
Lime