I have made this in a couple of years, but it’s been one of those weeks and I need something easy for breakfast in the morning. Try this easy make ahead breakfast. You can set it up the night before and it’s ready and hot when you wake up. Get the recipe here!
Sometimes your best meals come for what is lying around in your pantry waiting to be used.
Such is the case with this recipe.
I had leftover pinto beans and hamburger to use up for lunch one day this week, and I was trying trying to think of how to make it a little different or special since we had just eaten the same meal for lunch the day before.
What do I have I asked myself?
I had a Napa Cabbage that needed to be used up. What could I do with that. Well, I could make coleslaw, but traditional cole slaw doesn’t really fit with this meal, and only one of my kids really likes it.
Cross that off the list.
What about Mexican Coleslaw. Yes. That might work.
What can I put in it.
Cabbage, red onion, garlic…. The recipe started formulating in my mind. Here it is for your enjoyment.
Mexican Coleslaw:
Cabbage (green or Napa work well), chopped or grated. Grate the amount needed for the dish you are serving this week and the number of people in your family.
1 cup red onion, chopped
4-6 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/8 cup salt for every 4 cups of cabbage
Black pepper, a few good shakes
1/2 tsp chili powder for every 4 cups of cabbage
1.5 tsp cumin for every 4 cups of cabbage
Juice from 1 lime, or 2 tbsp of bottles lime juice per every 4 cups of cabbage
Throw it all in a bowl and toss together.
Now this is where your options come in.
Mexican Coleslaw Three Ways:
1. Plain: Eat it as is. This is what we did. We used it as a topping for our Mexican lunch in place of lettuce. If you find it a bit dry, drizzle a little bit of olive oil to distribute the spices and moisten it up a little.
2. Creamy: Add mayonnaise. If you want a creamier slaw, add a little Mayo at the end and mix in. This would be wonderful on top of Mexican food as well.
3. Fermented: If you haven’t added oil or Mayo, this is where it gets interesting. You can add more salt and turn it into a Mexican lacto-ferments sauerkraut. This could be done with any leftovers that didn’t get eaten at your meal, or with the whole batch if you desire. Add about 1 tsp of good sea salt per every 4 cups of cabbage. Go by taste. It should be salty, but not so salty so that you don’t want to eat it. Taste as you go when adding salt. Once salted, pack into a clean jar, cover with a follower (glass weight, sterilized rock, ziplock baggie filled with marbles). Cover with filtered water so that all the food contents are submerged. Cover loosely with a lid. Label and date. Loosen the lid at least once a day to release any gases. Eat at any point, but allow it to ferment for 1-2 weeks or until the taste is to your liking before transferring to cold storage.
I enjoyed mine with a taco bowl topped with my homegrown, fermented cherry tomatoes (see lead photo).
For more information on fermented foods visit the Pantry. Or for a more thorough resource, I highly recommend Shannon Stronger’s Traditionally Fermented Foods book (affiliate link).
This is similar to Apple Brown Betty which is baked, but this is a quick, allergy-friendly skillet version, and can be made in small batches. It’s a great way to use of stale ends of sourdough bread, but regular bread works great too.
Btw, Carolyn at Homesteading Family (affiliate link) as a great Apple Brown Betty recipe.
Apple Crumble:
This recipe is dairy, sugar, soy, nut, and egg free, and can be made gluten free as well.
1 medium apple, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp avocado oil, or butter
1/4 cup honey
1/4 tsp vanilla
Pinch of salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Dash of nutmeg
1/4-1/2 cup water
2-4 slices of stale bread, coarsely crumbled (for a GF version use gluten free bread)
Peel and chop your apple, heat skillet over medium heat and add your oil and apple. Sauté for a couple of minutes or so, and add the salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg until all the apple pieces are coated. Next add the honey and vanilla, stir quickly so that the honey doesn’t burn, and gradually pour in some of the water to make a sauce. Don’t add all of it unless you need it. Add the crumbled bread and stir until coated and heated through. Serve with ice cream or heavy cream if you can have it. Makes 2-3 servings.
This couldn’t be easier to mix and is a great option for people that can’t use regular toothpastes due to ingredients like vegetable glycerin which can be a problem for people with coconut allergies. Ready for the recipe? Here you go….
Cinnamon Spice Tooth Powder:
In a small jar mix the following…
2 tbls Bentonite clay
2 tbls cinnamon oowder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp cloves
I put them all my little jar and shake, shake, shake to mix.
I have tried many versions of this recipe over the years, from powders to pastes, but this has been our go tooth powder for the last several years. As long as it is kept dry, it’s shelf life is indefinite. And I find it very effective. The Bentonite clay pulls toxins, cinnamon and clove add flavor and disinfect, and the salt adds to the disinfecting properties as well.
Apply to your toothbrush using a popsicle stick or tiny measuring spoon for best results.
This is one of my go-to Fall recipes. It’s a great option for people with lots of food restrictions. And it’s delicious! Scroll down on my Allergy-Friendly page for the recipe.
This hot pumpkin quinoa cereal is the perfect fall breakfast! And even better, it’s allergy friendly, and you can make it ahead in the Instant Pot! Perfect for Thanksgiving morning when you need to have an easy make ahead breakfast. Get the recipe here!
On my quest to come up with yummy snacks and desserts that fit our current diet, I came up with these and they are yummy!
All my kids, blueberry loves and haters alike enjoyed them and asked for more.
Blueberry, Banana, Carrot Muffins:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat, spelt, flour of choice
1 tsp salt
2 tbls baking powder
1 tsp stevia or 1 tbls monk fruit (optional if you want it a tad sweeter)
Stir together. Then add…
1/2 cup mild flavored oil
3 very ripe bananas mashed
1 cup finely grated carrot
1 cup blueberries
1 3/4 cups liquid (mix of milk, water, or milk substitute)
Mix until dry ingredients are just incorporated.
Spoon into muffin cups and bake at 400 degrees for 20-24 minutes.
Makes about 2 dozen muffins.
Cool completely and then store in the refrigerator. Best stored in the freezer if not eaten within 3 days.
Enjoy!
This is a great healthy snack. It’s sugar free, egg free, and dairy free. Read on…
Two of our family are taking a break from sugar at the moment, and another can’t do dairy and eggs. This means it’s time to develop a new recipe, and Fall is a great time of year to try this one.
Carrot Spice Bread:
Makes 2 loaves.
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat, spelt, or your flour choice
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
2 cups finely shredded carrot
2 ripe bananas, mashed
2 cups orange juice
1/3 cup oil
Mix all dry ingredients. Mix all wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Add the wet to the dry. Mix well. Pour into greased bread pan. Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes or until the center tests clean.
Cool on wire racks.
* Note: You could also make this in cake form if desired. Just cook in two greased and floured cake pans instead. I also sometimes make it in a 9×12 casserole as well. And if you aren’t avoiding caloric sweeteners all together like we are, add 1/4 cup of honey or maple syrup to make it that much better.
This bread is just slightly sweet so it’s a great snack any time.
And stayed tuned for the sourdough version in a couple of weeks.
This is delicious and healthy. Try it!
Orange Spice Chocolate Cake:
This is an egg and dairy free recipe.
This recipe makes one large 9×13” casserole dish. For a square 8×8” dish, divide the recipe in half.
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
4 tbls cocoa powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
Mix all the above ingredients well.
Next stir in….
2 cups finely grated carrot
1 cup chocolate chips
Mix these until the carrots are completely coated with flour.
Now add….
2/3 oil
2 cups water with 3 tbls frozen orange juice concentrate dissolved in the water
Combine all the ingredients and pour in your casserole or cake pans.
Bake on 350 for 35 minutes.
If you have someone in your household that can’t eat anything, then these pancakes are for you. Only five ingredients. My son will verify that they are quite tasty. Only prerequisite is that you need to be able to have a gluten based grain.
2 cups flour (For added nutrition use sprouted grain. I use sprouted spelt.)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbls baking powder
1/4 cup oil
2 cups water
If using whole grains mix and let it rest for 10-15 minutes. Stir vigorously to develop the gluten until it is a smooth, stretchy batter.
Cook at medium high heat on a lightly oiled skillet. Freeze excess or store in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Enjoy!
As a general rule, I like to solve problems in life. And as a general rule, these are the only times that I would consider myself to be creative. I get to practice this a lot in my kitchen figuring out recipes and food substitutions for my food sensitive kid. So, in my life, creativity only expresses itself out of some need.
Yesterday, I was forced to be creative in my kitchen for lunch and dinner because 1) I forgot my what my original meal plan was. And 2) Neither backup plans worked either.
Now, this is where most people would pull out a box of Mac & Cheese and call it good. That’s great if you have an easy option like that. But, about the only things I can buy pre-packaged for our food sensitivities are flour tortillas and graham crackers. That doesn’t make for much of a dinner.
So, I had to use what was on hand and make it ready within about 30 minutes. What I came up with is below. Not my best cooking ever, but it was hot, healthy, and homemade, and I’m proud of that. How do you show your creativity in the kitchen?
This was lunch. Flour tortillas, crisped in the oven to be quesadillas, lentils cooked and smashed to substitute for refried beans, leftover Jalepeno lime chicken from the the fridge, topped with homemade herbed ricotta, seasoned toasted pumpkin seeds, my homegrown herb garlic dehydrated cherry tomatoes, and some fresh chopped Jalepenos. It was actually tasty.
See below: Dinner consisted of turning the innards from our carved pumpkin into pumpkin bisque courtesy of our Instant Pot, cooked sausages from the freezer, and cabbage sautés with onion. It made for a good fall combo.
Have you come up with any creative meals lately?
Mexican and Tex-Mex food is a staple in my cooking rotation. But even something as basic as packaged flour tortillas are out for us right now where food reactions are concerned.
So for the first time ever I made my own. The actual cooking time took me about 30 minutes. Total prep time probably 1 hour 15 minutes, but most of they was time for the dough to rest.
It’s not hard but it is a bit labor intensive. But it gives you control over the ingredients so it’a a win.
First mix up your dough.
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tbls. baking powder
1 stick butter cut in with a pastry blender
(Every other tortilla recipe I found on google called for either lard or vegetable shortening. Well, I have one kid who can’t have pork and one who is super sensitive to palm/coconut oils so neither of those would work for me. This is why I chose butter. Use the fat of your choice that is solid at room temperature.)
I also found that the butter blended better if Inused my fingers at the end. You don’t want beads of butter like in most baked goods. You want it to be thoroughly blended so that when you pinch some of the flour together it sticks together like wet sand.
Once your flour mixture is the right consistency pour in 1 1/4 cups warm water and mix until the dough forms a ball in the bottom of the bowl. It should be a moist dough but not wet and sticky. Cover and let the dough rest 20 minutes.
After the testing period, pinch off bits of dough and form into 1 1/2 inch balls. Cover and let the balls rest 15 minutes.
Prepare a floured board for rolling out the balls and heat a cast iron skillet or griddle hot until water sizzles on the surface.
Roll out the balls very thin using only as much flour as needed to keep them from sticking.
Lay flat on your skillet with no oil. Once the top forms bubbles flip to the other side and cook for about a minute.
If there is residual flour on your skillet rub that off with a dry cloth before putting the tortilla on or the flour will burn.
This recipe made me about 30 tortillas. They are going to make a great bread substitute. I think I’m going to try using less flour when I roll them out next time as they ended up being a little dry. But they tasted great as soft tacos for dinner and were light and pliable. And I have enough for dinner tomorrow. Yay!
Remembering Maggie Lane 