Fondue

This was a fun meal that we did with the kids on New Year's Eve.  Years ago, while visiting friends in Germany over New Year's, we had fondue.  That tends to be the time of year now that I think about having it.  I love fondue but thought it might be difficult with all the little ones.  It turns out it was a blast and they did great!

On our table we had:

fondue pot with chicken broth in it

an extra carton of broth as it does evaporate

raw chicken cut into chunks

broccoli

cauliflower

lil smokies links

sauces and spices - butter, garlic salt, BBQ sauce, ketchup, seasonings

a pot of cooked wild rice


The kids had so much fun "cooking their own food".  The lil smokies were a great addition to the table because they were already cooked and just had to be warmed a little and could be eaten quickly. The best part is seriously the broccoli - it turns out so tasty cooked in the chicken broth!  Julia thought so too because she kept eating tons of broccoli and cauliflower.  We all enjoyed the slow pace of this fun meal and are looking forward to trying it again sometime.

Book Review: Go Dairy Free

A friend let me borrow her copy of this book shortly after we went dairy free.  It was very helpful!  So helpful that we now own it.  :)  Go Dairy Free by Alisa Marie Fleming is packed full of information - everything you would ever need to know about being dairy free.  This guide and cookbook offers chapters on ordering at a restaurant, navigating the grocery store, equipping your kitchen, and then goes on to provide recipes as well.  It even mentions camel milk - now that's more information than I needed, but still...

I love that there are recipes in the book, but there are also those really valuable non-recipes like "shake some nutritional yeast on popcorn" and about putting olive oil in your freezer to make a spread.  This is definitely a good resource to have on hand and to look through over and over again.

Godairyfree.org is the website run by this author and is another hugely helpful resource for anyone going dairy free.  There are recipes, product reviews, helpful hints and much more worth checking out.

Another fun cookbook is My Sweet Vegan by Hannah Kaminsky.  This one contains some gorgeous photos and a wide variety of anything sweet that you might want.  We are gluten free and I haven't played around with replacing the flours in her recipes yet.  They look delicious though and a fun choice for anyone who is vegan.  :)  There is a version of this book for Kindle too!

Disclaimer: I received these books for review.  Opinions are my own of course.

The Pure Kitchen (book review)

As a family who eats gluten and dairy free, it can be a challenge to find recipes!  I have young children, so the food has to appeal to them, not be too strange or exotic, and be gluten and dairy free.  Pinterest is often helpful, but finding a whole cookbook full of recipes that work for us is pure gold!

The Pure Kitchen by Hallie Klecker is a great resource.  The book contains lots of information and tips about cleaning up your diet and eating pure, wholesome natural foods.  I'm a big fan of pictures in recipe books - this one doesn't have any to speak of, but the recipes all look simple and good.  Everything in the cookbook is free of gluten, dairy, and refined sugar.  There is a full range of recipes in every category; the book is really packed full.  If you're going gluten free, there are many different ways to go about it, some not so healthy.  This cookbook really highlights using whole food healthy options and walks you through it.

I'm off to bake the Apple Snack Cakes with Oatmeal Topping for lunch... :)