Real Food with Christine

Ice cream is one of my favorite treats. Whenever the warm weather would come, my ice cream maker would come out and make ice cream at least twice a week. I would make all kinds of flavors, but chocolate was always our favorite. Going back to when I ate processed ice cream, my favorite was a flavor from Godiva called Chocolate with Chocolate Hearts. I don't know if the chocolate ice cream was even that good, but the dark chocolate hearts were amazing! My ice cream maker has been taking a break for a while. Since going dairy free I hadn't made too many ice creams. Not that I haven't tried, I have enjoyed some raw ice creams, you can check those our here  and here . I also found a coconut ice cream from Coconut Secret and it has a very clean ingredient list. They were good, but nothing satisfied that real rich, creamy chocolate ice cream that use to come out of my ice cream maker quite often. Any time I tried a recipe for dairy free ice cream using coconut or almond milk t

I love smoothies, they are a quick meal or snack and can pack a lot of nutrition in one glass. I love giving smoothies to my kids for snacks too. I am always trying to come up with nutritious smoothies that also taste great so my kids will drink them. This one passed the test and all my kids loved it! It has a very tropical taste from the coconut and pineapple and is great for sipping outside on a summer day. Ingredients 1 cup unsweetened almond milk 1/2 cup frozen pineapple chunks 1/2 frozen banana 8-10 green grapes handful of baby spinach 1 teaspoon chia seeds 1 tablespoon coconut flakes 2 ice cubes Directions Mix all ingredients in a blender (I use the Vitamix) and blend until smooth.

I have always been kind of intimidated by spring roll wrappers. I thought they were very delicate and hard to work with so I just avoided them. Finally I decided to give them a try and I am so glad I did. Not only do they make a very healthy meal, but they are much more durable and easy to work with then I thought they would be. You can put almost any veggies you want in here, the possibilities are endless! Here is my version with shrimp and veggies with a homemade Gyoza sauce. This sauce is soy free but if you can eat soy you can replace the coconut aminos with soy sauce (use wheat free tamari if your gluten free). Coconut aminos are a great replacement for soy sauce in any recipe or on Sushi rolls too if you are soy free! This sauce taste just like the sauce you get from a Japanese restaurant with dumplings...yum :) For 8 rolls Ingredients for the rolls: shredded lettuce finely sliced carrot sticks finely sliced cucumber sticks 16 shrimp boiled and chopped into chunks 8 s

I know I am always looking for a new ways to make chicken. I never considered Chicken Marsala, because of the Mushrooms. I am allergic and my husband hates them (I know!!, how does he hate them?? If I could eat them I'd have the ALL the time). I never use to be allergic to them, so I know how good they are, I only became allergic after my third pregnancy. I ate a piece of Gorgonzola which I also loved and my mouth got all itchy. It turned out I was allergic to fungus and mold. I decided that I could still have Chicken Marsala just without the mushrooms and it turned out great. If you can eat mushrooms, just add them in with the garlic and shallots and follow the rest of the recipe the same! Ingredients 1 pound of chicken cutlets 1/2 cup brown rice flour 1/4 cup olive oil divided 3 tablespoons soy free earth balance divided (any butter or ghee would work too) 1/2 of a medium shallot minced 2 clove garlic, minced 1/3 cup Marsala wine 1 cup chicken stock Salt and Pepp

Mac and cheese was always a favorite in my house and it was the same when I had kids. Without gluten it was still easy to make a really good mac and cheese dish, see my pumpkin mac and cheese recipe --> here . Now without dairy, this was a little more difficult. I am not a fan of any dairy free cheese product and most of them are soy based anyway, which my daughter is allergic to so that is out of the question. I was surprised the first time I had Daiya   mozzarella  cheese on pizza and it was actually melted and stretchy like real cheese. I used the cheddar version for this mac and cheese and it was just as good in this dish as it is on pizza! Ingredients 1 pound gluten free elbow pasta (I use Tinkyada ) 3 tablespoons Earth Balance soy free margarine 2 cups Rice Milk (any nut milk will also work) 1 package Daiya Cheddar (2 cups) salt and pepper fresh parsley chopped Directions Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the pasta. While the pasta is

I always loved stuffed shells but I haven't had them in a very long time. I've always seen the brown rice pasta shells in stores, but without dairy, that has been pretty much off the list...until now! Using my Marinara Sauce recipe and The Earth Diet's Cashew Ricotta Cheese , these came out amazing!! I used Tinkyada Brown Rice Shells .(A tip for the shells, they cooked a lot longer than the package directions). For the cheese recipe, go to this link on The Earth Diet ----> Cashew Cheese (I used 1/2 cup water instead of 3/4 because I wanted it to be thicker) I served these along with a chicken version of these meatballs . Ingredients One serving of The Earth Diet Cashew Cheese One serving of my Marinara Sauce 1 package of Tinkyada Gluten free Shells  cooked Directions Take each shell and spoon a tablespoon of cashew cheese inside. Fold to close and lay on a plate. Spoon sauce on top of shells. Serve as is or with a side of chicken meatballs .