Homemade Peanut Butter Cups

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Cooking, Food, Lactose Intolerance

About six weeks ago I became obsessed with the chocolate/peanut butter combination. A friend of mine picked up these huge peanut butter cups for the two of us, and I happily ate it over the course of a few days. The next week she picked them up again for us. Somewhere in there was Easter (with lots of PB/chocolate combinations), and then again she brought the PB cups over. So, needless to say, I’ve been enjoying a few bites of peanut butter cups most days of the week, and I love it! However, the last time she brought them over she mentioned that they were $5 a piece. While they are absolutely delicious, that’s just ridiculous! Because of that, I decided to try to make my own. While not quite as pretty, they were just as delicious, and MUCH much cheaper! I used this recipe from “comfort of cooking” (head over there for actual recipe). This can easily be made lactose free, which is another great benefit to making your own candy and desserts!

Ingredients 

• chocolate chips (I chose semi-sweet)
• peanut butter
• butter (I used Earth Fare which is lactose free)
• powdered sugar
• salt (optional- the original recipe doesn’t call for it, but I thought it might be fun to add a little salty to half of the batch)

each layered step of the process

That’s it! It was really easy to mix up. The only thing that took a little time is that each layer of the cup needs to be made and frozen at each individual point, so that takes a bit of time.

With the top layer of chocolate, I put a little sea salt on half the batch. It was definitely delicious to have the salty and sweet together (I’m a fan of that combination), but it’s certainly not necessary.

With just a little salt on top!

One thing of note: it didn’t work the best to have the peanut butter all the way to the edge of the cup. With the first bite of the cup, the layers separated a bit and the peanut butter spilled out the sides. Eating them inside the liner definitely helped. While it didn’t impact the delicious taste of the cup, I’d definitely suggest leaving the peanut butter more in the center of the cup instead!

If you’re looking for a cheaper, healthier (I didn’t say healthy, but it certainly has less chemicals if you make them at home), and fun way to make candy/dessert, this is it! You can store these in the refrigerator for a few days to keep them delicious 🙂

If you want more delicious recipes, check out my recipe page!

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Homemade Lactose Free Hot Chocolate {with a few variations}

Tags

Cooking, Lactose Intolerance

One thing that I missed an awful lot when I first became lactose intolerant was hot chocolate. A staple in the winter, I missed cuddling under a warm blanket with it! Back in late 2010 my mom found this recipe for hot chocolate from “Hints from Heloise”, and we modified it to make it delicious and lactose free!

ingredients

• 2 cups powdered soy milk (can use regular powered milk too)
• 1/4 cup powdered cocoa
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• a dash of salt
• 1/3 cup powdered non-dairy creamer (check to make sure it’s lactose free. Can use any flavor to change it up. I typically go with vanilla flavored).
• *optional: Can add any other spices to the mix (i.e. cinnamon, all spice, cloves) or add a bit of flavoring (I love almond and peppermint. orange is also interesting) once you have the mix stirred into the water or milk (i personally like to use almond milk)

(I got that mug while in town for the Monumental Half Marathon)

Combine together and store in a cool, dry place in a sealed container (or in the freezer if you’re going to use it slowly). Like I mentioned, you can mix in other spices or just put them into the cup itself upon cooking. I love to add in things like a piece of peppermint to mix it up as well. Another thing I have done on occasion- poured a cup of coffee and then put 1-2 tsp of the mix into it. It makes a nice mocha flavor- YUM!

Yet another thing to add to my list of “happiness in the winter” 🙂 Enjoy!

Now it’s your turn to share! What’s your favorite way to drink hot chocolate? 

Ham and Swiss Sandwiches

Tags

Cooking, Food, Holiday, Lactose Intolerance

One of my favorite Thanksgiving holiday traditions is the Friday following Thanksgiving: for as long as I can remember my mom has made these delicious hand and swiss sandwiches. These don’t taste like a normal ham and cheese sandwich- they’re special and DELICIOUS. And best yet- they can easily be made lactose free! Here’s what you need:

Ingredients:

• Bun
• 1-2 large pieces of ham
• 1 piece of swiss cheese (I use kraft brand since it has 0g of lactose)
• 1.5 tsp butter (I use Earth Balance)
• .5-.75 tsp mustard
• 1-2 shakes of poppy seed
• 1/2 tsp minced onion

Put butter, mustard, onion, and poppy seed in a bowl and microwave for 20 seconds on half power. Stir together. Assemble sandwich (butter mix on both sides of the bun with ham and cheese in the middle).

Heat oven at 350 degrees and put the sandwich in until the cheese starts to melt.

These are so simple to make and are absolutely delicious! When I first became lactose intolerant I was SO sad to miss out on these sandwiches. Now that Kraft makes 0g lactose Swiss cheese and I’ve found Earth Balance, I can once again enjoy these delicious sandwiches and maintain my holiday tradition!

Do you have a favorite sandwich that has become a tradition for you?

© 2013, Journey To Wellness, Caroline

Spicy Turkey Burger

Tags

Cooking, Food, Lactose Intolerance

I’m a big fan of turkey burgers, so I was delighted when they went on sale at the grocery store last week. I have no problem buying my own ground turkey and forming my own patties, but when patties are cheap, I’m all about that too. I’m not a huge fan of plain burgers, so I like to spice it up a bit! Of course, if you don’t like turkey burgers, you can always make this with beef!

Ingredients

• turkey patty (or ground turkey formed into patty)
• garlic powder
• red cayenne powder
• cheese (I used Cabot sharp cheddar since it’s lactose free!)
• spinach
• red onion
• 2 pieces of bread
• BBQ sauce

I cooked a turkey patty for about 17 minutes on medium heat. Immediately when I put it into the pan I sprinkled garlic powder and cayenne powder into the pan and let it cook. I flip the patty over every five minutes to keep it from burning and to keep it cooking evenly. With 1 minute left on the clock, I put a few thin pieces of cheese on the burger, with spinach and onion on top. While this was heating up I toasted the bread. Put the patty on the bread and BBQ on top, and viola! A delicious spicy burger!

Now it’s your turn to share! Do you prefer beef or turkey burgers? What are your favorite toppings for burgers (no matter what I want onions on mine!)? 

The One With The Quiche

Tags

Cooking, Food, Lactose Intolerance

Today felt like a great day for a Friends reference!

I’ve never made a quiche before. In fact, until I recently stumbled across lactose free cheese (Cabot Cheddar Cheese and Kraft Sharp Cheddar Cheese), I wouldn’t have ever considered making one. One day last weekend, my friend  (the one I walk with) stated that she was in the mood for a quiche, and we set out to make one on Monday evening.  With a few easy substitutions, we created a delicious lactose free quiche!

Ingredients

• 1 pre-made crust (we went the easy route because of time constraints)
• 1 8 oz container of plain greek yogurt
• 1 container pico de gallo
• 3/4 cup mushrooms, cut into small pieces
• 1/3 cup olives, cut into small pieces
• 1/3 cup onion, cut into small pieces (any type)
• 2 cups of shredded cheese (1 cup Kraft cheddar, 1 cup Cabot cheddar)
• 3 eggs
• black pepper

Here’s what I did:

Layer the cheese, mushrooms, olives, and onions in the crust. Feel free to add other ingredients if you’d like! In a separate bowl, whisk 3 eggs together and then add in the container of plain greek yogurt. Dump the mixture on top of the cheese and veggies and spread evenly. Top with black pepper (or other spices you might want). Cook at 425 degrees for approximately 30 minutes (somewhere between 25 and 35 minutes). Check that it is cooked through before removing from the oven.

Once removing from the oven, top with pico de gallo and enjoy!

This quiche was amazing and held up really well when it was reheated the next day! The pico on top added some other flavors to the quiche, and I loved the two paired together!

Now it’s your turn to share! Have you ever made quiche before? What are your favorite foods to pair with eggs? 

Cherry Vanilla Cupcakes

Tags

Cooking, Food, Lactose Intolerance

I’ve recently gotten on a far bigger cupcake kick than is healthy for myself. I can’t help it- I love ending my day with a delicious cupcake! In the name of Valentine’s Day, I thought these cherry vanilla cupcakes are perfect (and they were absolutely delicious!). One thing I really like about these cupcakes is that they are small (1/4 or 1/3 of the size of a normal bakery cupcake) and are about 250 calories, so I feel like I can eat them more frequently (which means more enjoyment!). You can find the recipe here– I’ll share my personal tips below.

Ingredients

• Butter
• Egg whites
• all purpose flour
• baking powder
• salt
• baking soda
• buttermilk or sour milk
• maraschino cherries
• powdered sugar
• almond extract
• milk

Here’s what I did. I mixed up the cupcake batter per the recipe. Be aware that it includes butter and egg whites standing at room temperature for 30 minutes, so the entire cooking process takes a bit of time. After mixing up the batter, I took 10 maraschino cherries and cut them each into six smaller pieces. I dumped them into the batter and very quickly mixed into the batter before pouring into the cupcake liners (the original recipe calls for putting half a cherry on top of the batter, but I liked having the bits of cherry mixed throughout).

After baking I let cool, and mixed up the cherry-almond butter frosting (recipe can also be found here). I frosted these by filling a ziploc bag with frosting and snipping of a small corner of the bag. This takes some practice to get it right. If you’d like, you can add another cherry to the top before eating!

These are amazing! While they definitely work for Valentine’s Day, the flavor would also be perfect throughout the spring and summer! While these cupcakes do take quite a bit of time (between letting ingredients sit, mixing things up, cooking, and frosting), but it’s definitely worth it! And best yet, this recipe is also lactose free!

Now it’s your turn to share! Growing up my mom used to make a heart cake on Valentine’s Day. Did you grow up having a special dessert for V-day? What’s your dream flavored cupcake? 

Homemade Lactose Free Pizza

Tags

Cooking, Lactose Intolerance

I know I talk about lactose intolerance quite a bit when it comes to posting recipes. When I found out I was lactose intolerant (2007), I had to give up so many of my favorite foods. One of those delicious foods was pizza (along with grilled cheese sandwiches)! I didn’t eat pizza for a few years, which was quite sad. However, I’ve recently found a way to remedy the problem of cheese on pizza! In fact, this solution is so fantastic that my entire family ate this pizza for lunch on Christmas!

Here’s What You’ll Need:

• Pizza Crust (I buy mine pre-made, without lactose)
• Pizza Sauce
• Spinach (optional)
• Red or Orange Pepper (optional)
• Red onion (optional)
• Pepperoni (optional)
• Kraft or Cabot Cheese **

**I just recently discovered that many of the Kraft cheeses say “0g lactose” on the packages. YAY!! I’m so happy that I’ve found a cheaper cheese that is lactose free! I LOVE Cabot Cheeses, but they are 2-3 dollars more than Kraft, so for every day use I now have a more practical option!

Put whatever toppings you want on the pizza and cook it up! The pizza is delicious, and I love having a more healthy and lactose free version to make for myself!

Making homemade pizzas is also great because you get to choose whatever toppings you like! Another helpful hint: A jar of pizza sauce generally covers 2-3 pizzas, and a bag of pepperoni covers at least that many. If you aren’t making a lot of pizzas at once, simply freeze the two items and pull them out right before you make your next pizza! It’s a tiny hassle but it saves lots of money!

Enjoy!

Now it’s your turn to share! Have you ever made homemade pizza before? What are your favorite pizza toppings? 

Root Beer Float Cupcakes

Tags

Cooking, Food, Lactose Intolerance

Back in June I made a passing comment about a root beer cupcake that I had eaten at a high school graduation party that I attended. I continued to think about this cupcake at least once a week for months, but it took until December 30th for me to do something about it. I finally found a delicious recipe (you can see it here), and decided I needed these cupcakes to help ring in the new year! Let me tell you- they did not disappoint!

Ingredients

• Butter (I used earth balance to make it lactose free)
• Eggs
• Flour
• Baking Powder
• Salt
• Sugar
• root beer extract **
• vanilla
• root beer
• Float Frosting (powdered sugar, ice cream- i used lactose free!, vanilla, butter)

** A note on the root beer extract. While the recipe calls for root beer extract, I used root beer concentrate, and this works just as well. I know that you are supposed to use a smaller amount of concentrate than extract (technically), but I used an equivalent amount (meaning I used 1 tablespoon of concentrate when it called for 1 tablespoon of extract). This really gave it an extra punch of flavor, and it wasn’t at all overpowering.

I also used earth balance butter and lactose free Breyer’s vanilla ice cream in this recipe, so I made it lactose free!

Another word. While I didn’t use cupcake liners, I did grease the inside of the muffin tin and then cut out small pieces of wax paper to fit on the bottom of each little tin.

When the muffins came out of the oven, I lightly ran a knife around the edge of each little tin, and the cupcake came out easily! Just remember to peel the wax paper off the bottom! After cooling I made the frosting, and then frosted them. They are delicious, and were even more delicious the second day once the flavors had a chance to sit together!

These aren’t that difficult to make, and taste AMAZING! You’ll have to go check out the original recipe (linked above) for the actual quantities for the recipe, but I wanted to give a little preview and shout out here! Oh, and in case you are wondering, these taste exactly like a root beer float. YUM!

Now it’s your turn to share! Are you a cupcake fanatic? (I am– everything in moderation :D) What’s your favorite flavor of cupcake? If you don’t like cupcakes (gasp!), what’s your favorite dessert? 

Peppermint Cookies

Tags

Cooking, Food, Lactose Intolerance

Growing up we made the same Christmas cookies every year, and to this day I anxiously look forward to making them. However, every year I like to try a few new desserts out as well before I head to my parents’ house for Christmas. I just stumbled on a recipe for peppermint cookies that Heather from “side of sneakers” posted last year. I made them this past weekend, and they did not disappoint! I had some friends over for a movie night, and they were quickly consumed! I won’t post the exact recipe, so you’ll have to head over to her blog if you want to get the exact recipe, but I wanted to share a bit of them here and encourage you to check them out:)

Here are the ingredients:

• butter
• sugar
• flour
• almond milk
• baking powder
• vanilla
• peppermint extract
• peppermint candies or candy canes

This is the final outcome. Doesn’t it look delicious and festive? These cookies are also vegan and lactose free, which make them perfect for many Christmas parties! Because there are so few ingredients, they are really easy to make as well, which is always a big plus in my book! If you want a “bite of Christmas”, then these are your cookies!

Now it’s your turn to share! What taste reminds you of Christmas? Do you have a favorite cookie recipe? 

Thankful Thursday

Tags

Family, Holiday, Lactose Intolerance, Race, Running, Thankful

While we’ve made it out of the Thanksgiving holiday, it doesn’t mean that it’s time to stop being thankful! I believe that a regular practice of gratitude is an important component of healthy living, so I’m still committed to regularly engaging in this practice. How about you? Here are a few of the things I’m thankful for right now:

I’m thankful for safety in traveling. I drove almost 1,200 miles in a six day period- that’s a lot of hours where things could go wrong. I’m so thankful that all 3 days were beautiful for driving, and things went really smoothly. I’m thankful that we stayed safe, and that other drivers around us stayed safe as well!

I’m thankful that I was able to run well on Thanksgiving Day! I seriously considered not even going to the race on Thursday morning. I thought my IT bands would hurt badly as they have in previous runs, and I thought it wouldn’t be fun. Boy was I wrong! I had a great run and ended up with a great result! You can read about it here.

I’m thankful for the fun that I had with my family over Thanksgiving. It was so good to be at my parents’ home with my family, both immediate and extended. It was great to spend a few days with my cousin as well. There was lots of eating, laughter, fun, and memory sharing; a perfect mix for a holiday!

I’m thankful for my Christmas decorations that I put up right before I left for Thanksgiving break! I put up my decorations before I left for Thanksgiving, so when I arrived home all I had to do was plug in my lights and I could enjoy! I love these weeks when I can come home from work and my living room is filled with white lights and ornaments on the tree! It’s so festive! I’m also happy that I’m allowed to decorate my office! Since I spend more hours there than anywhere else each week, it’s nice to have lights and a little tree there!

I’m thankful for a parent who has taken the time to cook meals that meet my dietary needs. I didn’t become lactose intolerant until part way through my senior year of college, and I was the first one in my immediate family to be lactose intolerant. Because of this, my mom was used to using all types of dairy in her cooking. When I’d come home to visit, it was certainly different for her to change up various recipes. She’s done a really great job since that time of changing up recipes so that I can eat them too! I really appreciate the hard work she puts in to cook for me when I come to visit!

I’m thankful for music! Like I mentioned above, I had quite a long way to travel over Thanksgiving. My brother and I were together in the car for about 21 hours in total. He slept about 5 of them; I slept exactly 0 minutes of the drive. Music definitely helps the time go by quickly. Especially when you listen to Call me Maybe 6 or 7 times in the first 10 hours:) Plus now it’s the Christmas season which means I can blast Christmas music in the 10 minutes between my clients. Love it!

Now it’s your turn to share! What are you feeling thankful for today? Have you decorated your house and/or office yet? Do you have a favorite road trip song?