Tofu Cashew Creme

Use this rich, non-dairy creme for topping broiled peaches, berries or other fresh fruit, pancakes and waffles.

1/2 lb firm tofu
1 Tbsp cashew butter
1 Tbsp maple syrup (or more to taste)
1 tsp vanilla extract or 1/2 tsp vanilla & 1/4 tsp almond

Mix all in food processor until smooth and creamy, scraping the sides once or twice.

Holiday Spinach Spread

This spinach spread is good for any time of the year and is easily made with frozen spinach and other ingredients you probably have on hand. Bring it to your next holiday party; your friends will never know it's dairy-free and healthy!
1 10-oz pkg frozen spinach, thawed and the water squeezed out
1 lg clove garlic
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp miso
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp Vegenaise (or regular mayo)
2 Tbsp plain soy yogurt
1/4 cup mashed firm tofu

Place all ingredients in food processor and pulse several times to mix. Continue to pulse until a spreadable consistency is reached.
Enjoy on flax or rice crackers.

Buckwheat Nutmeg Waffles

Mmm. These buckwheat waffles smell so good when they're baking! This recipe didn't make it in time for the printing of Melissa's Marvelous Meatless Meals so I want to share it with you here.

1 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch
2 Tbsp garbanzo flour
1 Tbsp nutmeg
1 Tbsp baking powder
2 Tbsp rapadura or Sucanat sugar
1 tsp xanthan gum

2 Tbsp ground flax
3 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce
2 cups non-dairy milk
1/4 cup canola oil

mix 2 Tbsp flax with 1/2 cup warm water and set aside.
Mix all other dry ingredients together in large bowl
Mix applesauce, oil, and non-dairy milk together in a separate bowl and then add to dry ingredients. Add flax mixture to batter. Mix all together.
Make waffles according to your wafflemaker instructions.
Enjoy with applesauce, apple butter, or sauteed fruit.

Nut Butter and Fruit Toast

Try this for an after school snack or a mid-morning munch.
Start with your favorite gluten-free bread. Toast the bread.
Top with 1 Tbsp of your favorite nut butter and then some fresh fruit instead of jam. Vary the combinations.
Some delicious favorites:
almond butter with sliced apple or pear
cashew butter with sliced strawberries or raspberries
peanut butter with sliced strawberries or banana

Make Your Own Chocolate for One

Ok. I admit it. Sometimes I like a little bit of dessert. Here is a quick little dessert idea that makes enough for 1 person (me!). You make your own chocolate dip from coconut oil, agave nectar, and cacao powder (or cocoa powder), then  dip a few strawberries. Like I said, it only makes enough to dip a few strawberries but it is sweet and delicious and won't put your calories over the edge.

Mix together: 1 tsp melted coconut oil, 1 tsp agave nectar, 1/2 tsp cacao powder or cocoa powder. Mix. Spread on a few organic strawberries. Mmmmm. Enjoy!!

New LaraBar Flavors!

If you haven't tried it yet, the new Peanut Butter & Jelly LaraBar tastes amazingly like PB & J!! There is also a Peanut Butter Cookie flavor which we have not yet tried (it is in the snack drawer!) but will let you know our review soon.

Eat Your Greens!

Now is the season for some wonderful greens like kale, swiss chard, beet greens, collard greens. Try this easy and low fat way to prepare greens.
1 bunch of greens or mixed greens (kale, swiss chard, beet greens, collard greens)
1-2 leeks or a large onion
2 carrots

Wash and chop the greens.
Slice the leeks or slice the onions into half moons
wash the carrots and slice into half moons

Place the leeks or onions on the bottom of a large soup pot.
Cover with the carrots and then the greens on top.
Add about 1/2 inch water, cover and simmer 5-8 minutes until carrots are tender. Check often to make sure the greens are still bright green.
Once cooked, add 1 tsp wheat-free soy sauce and mix all vegetables together.
Serve with a miso-nut butter gravy: mix together 1 Tbsp miso and 1 Tbsp tahini or almond butter. Add warm water until smooth and creamy. Add enough water until desired consistency of gravy is reached.
Drizzle gravy over the greens.

Zucchini Overload!

Are you still getting zucchini from your garden? Or maybe you keep buying it from the nearest farm stand. Here is something you can do with all that summer squash....a lasagne that uses zucchini slices in place of the noodles, a delicious tofu ricotta, and your favorite sauce. Very simple. Sorry my picture isn't too pretty, I'm not a great photographer but the lasagne was easy and delicious.

3 medium zucchini, thinly sliced (1/4") lengthwise

then bake on oiled baking sheet for 30 min at 350 degrees. 

3 cups cooked brown rice combined with 2 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds

2 cups your favorite GF tomato sauce

1 recipe tofu ricotta, add 1/4 c fresh basil if you have

Layer in a 9x13 baking dish:

all rice/sesame on bottom

top with 1/2 zucchini slices laid next to each other, cover all the rice

top with 1 cup tomato sauce, spread over the slices

top with all tofu ricotta

top with remaining zucchini slices

top with remaining cup tomato sauce

Bake 350 x 30 min uncovered. Top with vegan cheese if desired.

Tofu ricotta: 1 package tofu, 1 Tbsp mellow white miso, 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1 large clove garlic, 1 Tbsp lemon juice, 2 tsp basil (or 1/4 cup fresh), 2 tsp oregano, 1/8 tsp salt. Blend all in food processor.

On the Road in Boulder, CO

Well, we 've been home now a couple of weeks but while it is still fresh in my mind I wanted to tell you about some of our eating experiences in Boulder and Denver. For us, it was a wonderful area to vacation with lots of dining options and at least one Whole Foods in Boulder to help with our picnics and breakfasts.

Some of our hiking days were very long and there was no time to prepare any dinner much less feel like going out after a long day on the trails. Whole Foods provided lots of options from their prepared deli to the salad bar and even just picking up raw salad material and delicious hummus for a simple meal.

On days when we had more time, we enjoyed a meal on the town. Our first restaurant meal was the day we flew in....we walked from where we were staying to a Vietnamese restaurant called Chez Thuy . There was not a specific gluten free menu but many dishes with no gluten ingredients. They have a very extensive vegetarian menu and will make any of those entrees vegan. There was enough food on each entree for at least two meals. We took our leftovers home and had them for dinner on one of our long trail days.

Another night we had dinner at Leaf vegetarian restaurant which I was excited about b/c I had seen the menu on line and they had some raw food choices that I was interested in trying. It is a funky atmosphere and we were a family of four without funky clothes.....so we were seated in a dark corner away from anyone in the street passing by to look in. The food was good, a variety of options for vegetarians, vegans, raw foodists, etc. but a bit overpriced I thought. I ate the raw food special which was a raw zucchini pasta with a cashew Alfredo sauce....tasty.

We did a little overnight to the Manitou Springs area south of Denver and ate in a Greek restaurant called Jake and Telly's. We were excited that they had some felafel sandwiches on gluten free bread and then after we were seated learned that those were only lunch items. They did not seem very comfortable with answering the typical gluten free dairy free questions about menu items but the food was good.

In Denver we had a WONDERFUL time at City O' City, a vegetarian restaurant right next to the  WaterCourse Foods Bakery, specializing in gluten-free, wheat-free and dairy-free desserts.You can create your own pizza with your choice of crust, toppings including a non-GF vegan cheese and a gluten free raw cashew cheddar, lots of vegetables, and tempeh bacon, veg pepperoni etc. Some of these toppings are not GF but there were plenty of toppings that worked. The crust was homemade and delicious!!! It was a very exciting meal to be able to get pizza with a gluten free crust AND vegan cheese.  YUM. And then to top it off Chris got a gluten free cookie sold in the restaurant but baked next door at WaterCourse. They called it Scout and it tasted a lot like those Girl Scout cookies called Samoa. A total treat.

Ok. Then back to Boulder. A lovely meal at Sunflower with some friends we were meeting. Something there for everyone!! Menu items are listed with a GF for gluten free and V for vegan. Makes ordering so easy. My children and I enjoyed the Bamboo Steamer which came with an array of steamed veggies and your choice of brown rice or noodles, and an optional protein of tofu, tempeh or seitan. A delicious change when you've been eating out so much; very nice to be able to get a simple meal of veggies and rice.

We also "discovered" the Mediterranean Deli (also known as Caspian Deli and Grocery) which makes delicious hummus and felafel (no wheat). Eat in or take out. Located at 2607 Pearl St., Boulder, CO.

Lastly, I should mention the Boulder Farmer's Market, Wed. and Sat., which had many gluten free businesses including 2 Moms in the Raw, and some gluten free breads and fresh pastas.  Udi's Bakery offers a white and a multi-grain  gluten free bread that is delicious if not expensive (name a gluten free food that is NOT expensive), very much like real sandwich bread. The bakery is located in Denver and has a booth at the farmer's market and is also selling in Whole Foods.

We breakfasted once at Walnut Cafe in Boulder. No gluten free menu but certainly some GF options and they did know what we were talking about. Plenty of vegan options as well. Delicious food, and plenty of it.

I've been talking about food but I would also like to mention the FIT people we saw out there. Hardly a woman with jiggly arms!! Not surprising with the great dry weather and plenty of nearby opportunities for activities like rock climbing, strenuous hiking, bike lanes all over Boulder, etc. Rocky Mountain National Park is about a 1 hour drive from Boulder, easy enough to be able to get in a very long day hike. Would love to see it in winter!!!

Post Workout Pancakes (no flour, gluten, dairy)

Need protein? Try these high protein pancakes for your post-workout meal.
Mix in the food processor:
1/2 cup good quality rolled oats
1/2 cup mashed tofu
2 egg whites
2 Tbsp your favorite protein powder (we use a non-soy powder made of pea and rice protein)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking powder (aluminum free)
dash cinnamon
non-dairy milk, enough to make a batter (approx 1/2 cup)

Mix the batter in the food processor and make the pancakes the usual way. Serve with sliced bananas, apple butter, or pure maple syrup.

Sports Nutrition Tips:
Your body uses carbohydrate for energy so make sure you fuel your workout with high quality carbs like fruits and whole grains. Post workout add some protein to your meal/snack to help repair "damaged" tissue which occurs during the workout.

Raw Low Carb Lunch Idea

Try this:
Take a large romaine lettuce leaf and spread it with 1 teaspoon cashew butter, top with 3 thin slices cucumber, 4 thin slices of fresh peach, and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp hemp seeds. Roll up and eat!
Repeat as many times as it takes to fill you up or serve everyone. Increase cashew butter and hemp seed portions if you are not watching your weight or fat intake.

New Chips and Crisps!!

Just back from vacationing in Colorado, Boulder area. Lots of great restaurants that are veggie-friendly if not completely veg. More on eating out in Boulder in another post. Wanted to tell you about two new delicious gluten free dairy free chip-like crackers. Myrna's  Skinny Crisps  which are baked in Boulder, Colorado, are wonderful crackers made from almonds, chickpea flour, flax, and spices. We tried the seeded ones which have fennel seeds in addition to white and black sesame, and the cinnamon crisps taste like cinnamon grahams!!! If you live in Boulder, you're lucky, they are in lots of stores. If you are somewhere else, ask your local market to get these in....they won't be able to keep them on the shelves.

Brads Raw Chips is another new cracker I've found recently. They come in many flavors and are gluten and dairy free with very simple ingredients: flax seeds, sprouted buckwheat groats, vegetables, and other flavors. 100% raw. They are local to the Philadelphia area and are showing up at farmer's markets and natural foods markets. Very tasty.

More on eating in Boulder and Denver soon!

3 to 5 Bean Salad

With fresh green beans and corn at your local farmer's market (or from your own garden!!) this is a great time of year to make a 3-to-5 bean salad.
1 can kidney beans
1 can blackeyed peas
1 can chickpeas
2 ears fresh corn, cooked and kernels removed
1 lb fresh green beans, lightly steamed, then cut into 1-inch segments
1/2 a large red onion, diced
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 Tbsp red wine vinegar
sea salt and pepper to taste
Drain and rinse the canned beans in a colander. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Season to taste. Add any fresh herbs that you have in your garden or patio pots.Vary the beans to whatever you have on hand. White beans and black beans taste great too.

PIZZA!

Many people with gluten and dairy restrictions feel they might as well give up pizza. I am frequently asked how you can eat pizza when you can't have crust or cheese! The answer is to have lots of other yummy toppings so you won't miss the cheese, and the crust becomes just a vehicle for these delicious toppings. Honestly, I have not found a great recipe for pizza crust or a great mix, or a great frozen crust. Once in a great while we have picked up a crust from Jules Thin Crust (www.julesthincrust.com) in Pennsylvania and it is really really crispy and tasty, but most of the time we get along with the frozen crusts (Glutino). We use Follow Your Heart vegan cheese which comes in a few flavors including mozzarella.

Here are some ideas for pizza toppings (have as many of them as you can fit on the pizza!). Please leave a comment with your great ideas for more toppings!
sauteed spinach and mushrooms with garlic
sundried tomatoes
fresh tomatoes
sliced onion
lightly steamed broccoli
chopped Kalamata olives
dairy-free pesto
tempeh sausage crumbles (Vegan with a Vengeance)
roasted red peppers
cooked and sliced potatoes
peppers, mushrooms, onions
tofu ricotta (Melissa's Marvelous Meatless Meals)
lightly steamed zucchini
grilled vegetables
roasted butternut squash cubes
crumbled fresh basil
crushed garlic

Welcome to New You Nutrition

Welcome to New You Nutrition. My name is Melissa Pickell and I am a registered dietitian and author of the cookbook Melissa's Marvelous Meatless Meals...everyday recipes that are free of gluten, dairy, and refined sugar.

I run a private nutrition counseling practice in Stockton, NJ, one of the beautiful river towns along the Delaware. In addition to weight loss coaching, I work with clients who have various ingredient restrictions and intolerances which result in gluten-free, dairy-free, and sugar-free diets. These restrictions add many other dimensions and complications to a person's daily lifestyle and become acute when traveling and during family celebrations and holidays.

Years ago when I decided that one day I would write a cookbook, I had a very different vision of what that book would be. As a registered dietitian I have a passion for helping my clients find wonderful foods that work within their particular diet restrictions. Although I have provided excellent, healthy, and tasty vegetarian meals for my family for years, we never had to contend with food allergies, or any dietary restrictions for health reasons. Over the years of raising my children I have grown many of the vegetables I have cooked, baked many types of bread, and experimented with all sorts of whole grains and other foods not commonly found on the typical American table.

Some of these restrictions hit my own household when my husband, who was living with a chronic intestinal disorder, became frustrated with the lack of results from pharmaceutical medication and no particular diet. After seeking help from a wonderful holistic medical doctor, my husband began to follow a very restricted diet of no gluten, no dairy, no refined sugar, and for the first six months, no corn in any form. And did I mention that we are vegetarian? I remember sitting in the doctor's office and thinking, "OK, this is my profession, I can understand what all of these restrictions require, and I know how to research what to do". And then I went to the grocery store. I admit that I stood there and cried. In the health food section of the store, every package I picked up contained one or more of the ingredients that he wasn't allowed.

A gluten-free diet is complicated enough, but being vegetarian added some extra challenges. For gluten-free vegetarians, meal planning can be additionally complicated since almost all of the commercially available alternative protein sources contain wheat gluten and/or soy sauce which have wheat. No more veggie crumbles, veggie burgers or hot dogs, or seitan. Even certain types of tempeh are made with grains that have gluten.

I realized that I would need to prepare almost everything from scratch (which I was mostly doing already anyway) and I would have to be vigilant in label reading. Having been a bread baker most of my life, I tried my hand at gluten-free bread, very unsuccessfully. I needed a book on gluten-free baking. I purchased two cookbooks which were helpful in teaching me some of the principles of gluten-free baking, but I found that the available books included a lot of dairy and meat, the baked goods contained lots of refined sugar, and there were no recipes for some of the gluten-free whole grains that we were already using, like millet and buckwheat.

I combed the library shelves looking for books that suited our new nutritional lifestyle and found books that were vegetarian but not gluten-free, gluten-free but not dairy-free, sugar-free but not gluten- or dairy-free. An internet search for cookbooks containing recipes with no gluten, dairy, or refined sugar turned up one solution; however, one review of the book was by a frustrated person who complained that most of the recipes use brown sugar. Brown sugar is considered a refined sugar and my recipes do not contain this ingredient. My recipes use mostly gluten-free brown rice syrup, and pure maple syrup as sweeteners, and occasionally honey, date puree, or blackstrap molasses. Getting the texture, consistency, and taste right in a food that has no gluten, dairy, or granulated sugar is complicated and it is not surprising that people are overwhelmed by this.

Over many months I began to develop my own recipes, making adjustments to old family favorites, and creating new ones. I have since met many people, friends and clients, who follow a vegetarian lifestyle and are also trying to avoid processed sugars. I have received calls from potential clients who are overwhelmed by having many restrictions (and it seems the sugar restriction creates the greatest disturbance since sugar is in absolutely everything!) and not knowing how to eat anymore. I hope that my recipes are in keeping with the philosophy which I describe below: of eating healthfully and well, enjoying food, and promoting wholesome and home-prepared food. My recipes are not time consuming since I too have a busy family schedule. I hope my recipes will reach an audience of those who are trying to live a healthier lifestyle by cooking more, eating less meat, less wheat, and less sugar. In my home, we aim to cook a meal that works for everyone, regardless of their food restrictions. I have tried to take the recipes that we have enjoyed as a vegetarian family and find ways to make them dairy, gluten, and sugar free. I hope that my recipes will take some of the difficult thinking out of gluten-free vegetarian meal planning and put back some of the joy of eating.
Melissa's Marvelous Meatless Meals is available on my web site www.pickellnutrition.com or from Amazon.com .
Photo by Deborah Gichan Photography