The BEST Everything-Free MAC N CHEESE!

 Two words.

Mac.

n

Cheese.

Also known as the most beautiful thing humankind ever invented.

The catch?

It's packed full of dairy, soy, gluten, even garlic. 

All of which are no-no foods for this girl (imagine me pointing at myself) who's everything-free. 

The first ten years of my life wouldn't have been the same without the hundreds of thousands of meals I ate of glorious mac n cheese. 

However, when I first found out I had all of my food sensitivities, in 2015, there were no macaroni and cheese options that were vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, and garlic free. A couple years later, Daiya came out with a brand of mac that was all clear except for the bane of my label-checking existence: garlic. Nevertheless, I actually ate quite a few boxes of it, and of course it didn't really agree with me, but it was SO good. My mom eventually made me give it up though, since, ya know, garlic.

Recipes were tried, but ultimately all of them failed. I basically gave up all hope after that of ever finding a mac n cheese that I could actually eat. 

But then.

Lo and behold.

A few years ago, my absolute favorite brand of mac n cheese from when I was a little kid, Annie's, came out with a boxed type that was...

EVERYTHING-FREE

Yes! Including garlic-free!

I was SO excited. But the real test was obviously the taste test.

It passed.

It's amazing!

I'm addicted to this stuff. I'm actually cooking some right now while I'm writing. Like, the noodles are literally cooking in the boiling water in the other room while I'm typing this out right now haha!

Here's the picture of the box. It's Annie's Vegan Mac (the gluten free kind- because they have another vegan kind that actually does contain gluten!)

The directions are on the back of the box, but I have my method of cooking it down to a complete science. I cook the noodles until they're soft (which takes longer than 7-9 minutes. Don't be fooled by the box haha). Then I strain the water out and rinse them real good. The box says that adding 2 tablespoons of butter is optional, but it makes a world of difference when you add it. So in goes the Earth Balance Soy Free butter, and the 1/3 cup of rice milk. I mix those until the butter is melted, add the noodles back in, and stir until the noodles are all wet from the butter/milk mix. Then, finally, I dump the cheese powder packet, stir it all in, and into my mouth it goes!

And for the record, the picture on the box is actually pretty accurate. Here's the batch I just devoured while writing tonight (this bowl is only about half of what the box makes):

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Have a fantastic mac n cheesey day! :)

Everything-Free Banana Muffin Recipe

Not gonna lie- everything-free cooking in general is hard. But baking? Forget about it. 

When I first found out about all of my food sensitivities, my mom and I scoured the internet for everything-free recipes. Needless to say, we didn't find a whole lot of them that were free of my huge list of no-no foods. And as for the ones we did find, they either didn't turn out, or tasted horrible. Or both. 

After searching endlessly for something that seemingly didn't exist, we finally, finally, stumbled upon a banana muffin recipe that was, indeed, every-thing free. Or at least would be with a few minor tweaks. Of course, the ingredients list is only half of it. The real test was the taste test. 

We had to change some of the ingredients from the original recipe so I could actually have it. Three bananas, a little experimentation with substitute ingredients, and 30 minutes later, deliciousness exploded across my tastebuds. It was actually good! Like, really good. I've been making these muffins for years, and they're great for a quick breakfast or snack. 

This recipe is vegan, free of gluten, soy, nuts, seafood, and pretty much every other allergen in the book. It truly is everything-free!

 So, without further-ado, here's the recipe!

(But first- proof of the perfection!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake time 25-28 minutes.

Ingredients:

Makes 1 doz. small muffins or 8 large muffins.

1 1/2 cups of all purpose gluten-free flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

3 tablespoons applesauce*

1 cup mashed bananas (I always use 3 that are overripe)

1/4 cup honey

1/8 cup coconut oil

*The original recipe says to use applesauce, but I avoid eating apples, so I just leave it out completely. It still makes good muffins without, but if you can have the applesauce, by all means use it!

These are my go-to brands of ingredients. Most of the ingredients are just everyday baking stuff that's already in the kitchen. Any gluten-free flour will work, and for the chocolate chips I use Enjoy Life's mini semi-sweet. They're so tiny, taste incredibly real, and are of course, everything-free.

Once you grab all of the ingredients, mix the dry mix together, then the wet mix, and then add them together.

(Look at all those chocolate chips!! I'm drooling already)

The batter is going to be a really weird consistency... really fluffy and thick. Then again, I make mine without applesauce. So if you add that in, it might be more normal haha.

Once it's all mixed, toss them in the muffin pan and into the oven they go at 350 degrees (Fahrenheit). 

(This picture is actually a screenshot from my Instagram story because I forgot to take the picture for the blog. Go figure. Guess this is a good time to say go follow my Instagram! @Theeverythingfreegirl)

Baking it for about 25 minutes is good, but if you want them a little more brown on top like mine, 28 minutes is the way to go.

All done!

Another thing worth mentioning is you can use this same recipe to make a banana bread loaf. I've done it a couple times and the result is just as great as the muffins! 

Happy baking! :)

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Plant-Based Everything-Free YOGURT!

While typing out the title for this post, I had a mini-flashback to almost six years ago, when my mom bought a yogurt maker to, well, make yogurt. Extremely bland, sour, chunky yogurt that I choked down alongside microwaved eggs. Thanks, SCD diet, for nothing. Nothing but apprehension towards yogurt. 

Fast forward to today, I absolutely LOVE yogurt, though my definition of yogurt is the sugary store-bought kind, not the homemade kind. Of course, I can't eat the normal stuff that has dairy in it, since I'm everything-free (gluten-free, soy-free, garlic-free vegan that can eat meat). Fortunately, there's a number of brands that make plant-based, everything-free yogurt alternatives- and in all of the heavenly fruity flavors I adore! 

So Delicious

My go-to choice for everything-free yogurt is by So Delicious. They have 12 different flavor options made with coconut milk, which is incredible! They have...

• Blueberry- Has little blueberry chunks in it and is SO good.
• Chocolate- Not one of my favorites but is still pretty good! (I mean, it's chocolate. You can't go wrong with chocolate).
• Key Lime- This one is kinda interesting. You anticipate it to be really tangy but is actually sweet. 
• Peach- Has peach chunks. YES. Just. Yes.
• Plain- It's plain. Whatever.
• Raspberry- This is one of my favorites. It's really sweet and has an amazing flavor.
• Strawberry Banana- I haven't had this in a long time but I think I remember it being super good. I'm a huge sucker for anything strawberry banana flavored, but I can't have strawberries so that's pretty sad.
• Strawberry- It's strawberry, what can I say?
• Unsweetened Plain- I don't think I've ever tried this and don't ever care to. Sounds really bland and boring.
• Unsweetened Vanilla- Add some stevia and you're golden.
• Vanilla- It's vanilla. It meets expectations.
• Pineapple Brûlée- Um, excuse me?! I didn't know this existed until I just went onto So Delicious' website. I'm going to go on an epic quest to find this flavor now because I NEED this in my life!

All of these flavors come in the single-serving cups that you can buy individually at Sprouts, Natural Grocers, Whole Foods, Walmart (actually has some of the best prices) etc. 

Plain, Unsweetened Plain, Vanilla, and Unsweetened Vanilla also come in their bigger tubs.

Now it's time to make you drool. Enjoy the pictures.

Yeah. I'm gonna be going insane until I get my greedy little hands on that pineapple brûlée and shovel it into my mouth so my tastebuds can throw a party. 

Also- I haven't seen these in-stores, but they look amazing- So Delicious has 4 flavors of those little cups that you pour the crunchy stuff into (I'm so good at descriptions, I know).

• Coco Almond Crunch
• Spiced Blueberry
• Key Lime Pie
• Salted Caramel Cluster

Okay, now I'm sitting here obsessing over the Salted Caramel Cluster.

And lastly, So Delicious also has a line of Oat Milk Yogurts. I haven't had any of these, since I'm not really supposed to have oats... but I figured they'd be worth mentioning. 

Daiya

Across the board, there's definitely a love-hate relationship with Daiya. Some people love it, some people hate it. Like, with a passion. 

I kinda fall in the middle. Their cheese is weird, but their yogurt is pretty good. They only have 6 flavors though, and it's more expensive than So Delicious, which is dumb since I think SD quality is better. But hey, options are options. Here's their flavors:

• Strawberry
• Peach
• Blueberry
• Black Cherry
• Vanilla Bean
• Plain

Real exciting. I'd probably stick with So Delicious, since it's not like Daiya has a whole lot of new thrilling flavors. Unless you're madly craving Black Cherry. Daiya has the upper-hand when it comes to that department.

Alright, that's all for this post! Be sure to follow my Instagram @Theeverythingfreegirl for updates whenever I upload a new blog post. And also, be sure to check back this Thursday for a recipe post! Yes- that's right, I actually make and eat food rather than just talk about it all the time. Haha. 

I Scream for ICE CREAM

In Arizona, when it's 110 degrees outside, all you want to do is sit inside and eat ice cream.

Actually, in Arizona, when it's any kind of weather outside, you just want to sit inside and eat ice cream. Or, at least I do.

Luckily, there's some really good ice cream out there that, yes, is everything-free. Everything-free meaning no dairy, eggs, soy, gluten, nuts, or garlic (but who puts garlic in ice cream? I'm not a vampire). 

I may be a little bit biased towards one brand, namely the only brand I've ever tried of everything-free, creamy frozen desserts, So Delicious. Their brand name doesn't lie, their stuff really is SOOO Delicious. The only ice cream we ever buy in my household is So Delicious, because even my parents who can eat the "real" stuff, have fallen in love with this ice cream. When my friends come over, they actually ask for my everything-free ice cream. It's really magical, just like ice cream should be. Because, you know, it's ice cream!

Personally, I'm a sucker for their coconut milk ice cream (maybe because I can't have their oat, almond, soy, or cashew milk options?). My parents usually go for their cashew milk flavors, namely Salted Caramel Cluster and Chocolate Cookies N Cream. Oooo, cue the ice cream truck music. 

I'm not going to lie, I've tried a bite of the Salted Caramel Cluster, and it's pretty heavenly.

When it comes to the cashew milk, they have a handful of other flavors like Bananas Foster, Creamy Chocolate, Snickerdoodle, Dark Chocolate Truffle, and Very Vanilla. 

However, the real star of the show today is their coconut milk flavors. They actually have a whole lineup of no sugar added flavors in the coconut milk category, which is great if you're trying to kick the sugar in addition to the allergens! They also have just their regular sugar-filled options as well.

Of all the flavors I've tried, by far my favorite flavor of ice cream is...

*Drumroll please*

Mint Chip!

Mint Chip is the best because it's like vanilla, but with a minty flavor, and has chocolate chunks in it. It's just incredible, and I can't even tell the difference that it's dairy-free.

My second favorite flavors are chocolate and vanilla. I just can't choose between the two, they're both amazing classics. This is probably why Mint Chip is my all-time favorite since it's like the two combined haha. I just can't choose between the two!

In addition to those ones, they also have Strawberry, Coconut Macaroon, Mocha Almond Fudge, Cookie Dough, Cold Coffee Brew, and Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl for you lucky folks out there eating a pb&j right now.

I definitely can't forget about their ice cream sandwiches, which come in vanilla and coconut. Or their fudge bars. Or their chocolate dipped vanilla bean. All of which are just as heavenly as the ice cream cartons.

Am I making you hungry yet? Haha I hope so! There's nothing better in the dead heat of July than ice cream, which is a creamy treat that even us everything-free people can enjoy! You can find So Delicious's ice cream at Sprouts, Whole Foods, Natural Grocers, Frys, and I'm sure there's more.

You can also check out So Delicious's website to see more of their other plant-based ice cream options. https://sodeliciousdairyfree.com/dairy-free-foods/dairy-free-frozen-desserts/

Anyway, I'll wrap this up now, so you can go grab your keys and get some ice cream :)

P.S. Be sure to follow my Instagram @Theeverythingfreegirl to get updated every time I add a new blog post!

EVERYTHING-Free Bread!

Alright, let's think about this for a minute.

It's pretty simple to get allergen-free bread. There's plenty out there that have no dairy, egg, soy, nuts, etc. However, they all contain gluten. 

Okay, simple solution. Ditch the gluten. So, bread makers get rid of the gluten, and add in some eggs. Well, that helps if you're just gluten intolerant. But, I can't have eggs. 

So the bread makers remove eggs, and add in dairy. Great.

Get rid of dairy, add in soy. No bueno. It's just one endless round of removing one thing, and adding something else. 

Basically, what I'm trying to say, is it's nearly impossible for me to find everything-free bread.

Note the word nearly.

Somehow almost 6 years ago I managed to stumble upon this brand, Ener-G, which makes- dare I say it?- everything-free bread. Yup. 

Ener-G does have some bread that uses eggs, so their facility isn't 100% allergen-free. But, for food sensitivities, it works just fine because the majority of their products are tapioca and rice-based (plant-based). In fact, they have almost 30 different types of bread that are egg-free! That's right- almost THIRTY. I can't have all of them, and some of them just really aren't that great, but I do have a few favorites that I don't think I could live without. 

Papa's Loaf

If you read my Plant-Based Butter post, you might remember me saying that I'm just slightly addicted to toast. Let me just say that Ener-G's Papa's Loaf is the reason why. It's one of the most normal-tasting breads they have. That's saying a lot, because when you remove all of the allergens that make normal bread light and fluffy, it becomes really dry and crumbly. It just kinda cakes in your mouth... pretty disgusting. As a general rule, any type of everything-free bread is going to need to be toasted or microwaved before you eat it (so better invest in a nice toaster now). With Ener-G Papa's Loaf, you can actually get away with not toasting it, which is huge. Like, if I'm going to just make a sandwich, sometimes I won't even toast the bread. 

BUT- If you do toast the bread, and put Melt butter on it... it's heavenly. Just incredible. Every single morning, without fail, for the past... 3 years? My breakfast has consisted of 3 or 4 slices of toast. Yeah, I eat 4 slices of toast every morning. Before you judge, keep in mind that the slices are pretty small. These aren't normal loaves of bread- I would say they're about 2/3 the size of a normal bread slice. 

Papa's Loaf is made primarily with rice and tapioca flour. Overall, it's my absolute favorite type of bread that Ener-G makes.

Tapioca Loaf

I ate the Tapioca Loaf for a couple years before I discovered the Papa's Loaf. It's a lot more dense than the Papa's Loaf, which is why it's not my absolute favorite (because we all love light and fluffy). The Papa's Loaf is pretty popular (I wonder why), and occasionally I can't order any for a while. That's when I have to resort to the Tapioca Loaf, which is still pretty good, but you definitely want to toast this stuff before you eat it. 

This is also made with rice and tapioca flours...

Egg-Free Raisin Loaf

Cinnamon raisin bread (without the cinnamon). That's what this stuff is. It actually has little raisins in it, and it's SO good. I just make toast with this, but it's really nice to have a variety for my breakfast when I get a little tired of the Papa's Loaf. When I first tried the Raisin Loaf, I was a little disappointed at how bland it actually was, since it doesn't have any cinnamon in it (which I guess I was expecting Sun-Maid Cinnamon Swirl Raisin Bread quality from back when I was 5). I kept eating it though, and now it's definitely one of my top favorites. It's just incredible toasted with butter.

Tapioca Dinner Rolls and Hamburger Buns

I'm going to group these two together, because they're basically the exact same thing. Dinner rolls= you get 6 of them in a package and they're smaller. Hamburger buns= you get 4 per package and they're bigger. So, as long as you don't have super huge burgers, I'd roll with the dinner rolls (aren't I so punny?) because you get more meals out of it for the same price. They're really good, but you definitely want to toast them before eating or else they'll cake in your mouth. 

I use them mainly for turkey burger buns, but you can also toast them and slather on some butter. 

English Muffins

These aren't very good as burger buns, or even to put butter on. Not even to toast. Yet, if you put them in the oven with cheese and meat, or marinara sauce and cheese, or any combination of those, you can have yourself some really good pizza-type... things? I'm not sure what to call them, but they're really tasty. Basically anything in the oven is good for these.

Also- I would recommend cutting each "muffin" into thirds because they're so thick/dense.

Tapioca Hot Dog Buns

There's nothing to be said here. They're hot dog buns, and they fit the hot dogs. Would recommend using the microwave, since they don't really fit in the toaster. I love these things!

(The lighting on this picture from the Ener-G website is horrible, it makes the buns look like really yellow burritos. I promise they're more appetizing than the picture makes it look lol).

BAGELS???!?!?!?!!!

If you remember my Cheese post, when I talked about Violife's and Daiya's cream cheeses, I mentioned that the cream cheese is kind of useless to me, since there were no everything-free bagels I could have.

Well, lo and behold, about a week after I posted that, my mom told me that Ener-G now has BAGELS. Wow. Guess I really need to do my research before I go say something doesn't exist. 

I haven't ordered them yet, but I have high expectations. 

Other random bread

I've only touched on a few of the breads Ener-G has available. The ones I discussed are the only ones that I actively eat. The rest of their breads are either:

A) Gross, like most of their yeast-free breads. Blegh. 

or B) I just can't have them, like their corn loaf which I've tried and is SO GOOD, but I don't eat corn... so....

So, where can you get Ener-G bread? The best place to get it is online on Ener-G's website. Most of the bread packages are between $5-6-7, which is pretty pricey, considering that's over a dollar each for some items like the English muffins and hot dog buns. You can also get various types of their bread at stores like Sprouts, Natural Grocers, Frys, Whole Foods, maybe even Walmart (but don't quote me on that)? But usually they just have some of the yeast-free (blegh) and other random types in-stores, so your best bet is Ener-G's website for a full range of choices.

https://www.ener-g.com

Food For Life Gluten-Free Brown Rice Bread

The ONLY other brand of bread I've been able to find that I can have is Food For Life, and only their Brown-Rice Bread (gluten-free). I don't buy this very often, because it's SUPER dense. Like, they're still small slices but I only need to eat 2 to get me filled like 4 of the Papa's Loaf. Definitely would not recommend for sandwiches but I do occasionally buy a loaf just for some variety in my toast. Toasting is a must. Crust is crunchy which I LOVE.

You can get this at Sprouts and Natural Grocers.

That's all for everything-free bread. Thanks for reading! I'm hoping to get a more established blog posting schedule by August... but until then, you can look forward to my ice cream post coming next week! Mmmmm....

Don't forget to follow my Instagram account @Theeverythingfreegirl. I post there every time I write a new blog post, so you'll never miss out!