Resolutions for a New Year - Eat LOTS of Vegan Gluten-free Queso Cheese Dip - Because It's Awesome

This is my New Year's gift to you. A really EASY recipe for a dip that will make you forget you had to give up dairy. According to friends at work, "soaking cashews" doesn't qualify as easy, but they have obviously not given up major food groups and/or processed foods. This is relatively simple for those of us that are used to cooking from scratch and know how to boil water. I got quite a laugh out of that conversation as I sometimes forget that the average person eats a ton of pre-packed/prepared foods. It's all relative and for me this is relatively simple. 

I am so excited about this recipe. I've made it three times in two weeks and I'm making it again tomorrow. Its great with gluten free chips. And I used it to make nacho super fries. French fries smothered in nacho cheese and salsa............something I haven't had in almost three years. And it was damn good.  I can't wait to try this in all kinds of recipes.....watch out 2015. 

I was going to do a big New Years post on all my goals for 2015, my reflections on 2014, blah, blah, blah. But you know what, I've got a great recipe to share so I'm just going to send out a challenge instead..................soak some cashews and make this dip to celebrate the new year! 

And I left you a little motivation/tip just for fun! 

Happy New Year! Bring it on 2015!

Vegan Mexican Queso Cheese Dip

by MamaChanty

Prep Time: 10 minutes + 1 hour to soak ca

Cook Time: 1-2 minutes

Keywords: blender saute appetizer vegan gluten-free nutritional yeast cashews green chili

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Ingredients (serves a crowd)

• 1 cup raw soaked cashews
• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk (or other non-dairy milk substitute)
• 1/2 Tbsp arrowroot starch - optional
• 1 1/2 Tbsp taco seasoning (I used homemade so low salt)
• 3 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
• 1 Tbsp Earth Balance (or other non-dairy butter replacement)
• 1/4 cup onion finely diced (I used red onion)
• 1/4 cup pepper finely diced (I used orange)
• 1 large clove garlic - finely minced
• 1 Tbsp fresh Cilantro, chopped (optional)
• 1 can mild green chili's

Instructions

You can either soak the cashews for 4 hours in cold water or speed things up (if you are impatient like me) and soak them for 1 hour in boiling water. Drain.

Add almond milk, nutritional yeast, starch and taco seasoning to cashews.

Blend in blender or food processor until full pureed and smooth. I was able to do this using my Magic Bullet.

In a frying plan, melt Earth Balance over low/medium heat. Add onions, peppers and garlic. Saute until vegetables are softened. This will just take a few minutes. Add sauteed vegetables, can of green chili's and Cilantro to pureed cashew mixture. Mix by hand until fully combined.

You can refrigerate mixture at this point. When you are ready to serve, warm up in microwave for 1 - 2 minutes - stopping to stir every minute.

Serve with gluten free taco's or crackers. You can top the dip with diced tomatoes, green onion or additional Cilantro if you want to jazz it up.

Enjoy.

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Merry Christmas and a Little Vegan Gluten free ginger bread man.........

Hello Everyone!!!
Just wanting to send out a big, huge, gingery Merry Christmas to you.

I am finally finding some time to "slow" down. Okay - kind of impossible with three kids but spending some time at home at least.

We've got one sick kid but we still managed to get them all helping with baking some cookies. I originally posted this recipe last year. I decided to dust it off and try it again.........still works. My 7 year old still loves them "Mommy this is the best batter ever....even better than cupcake batter". And she knows her batter.

I added an extra tablespoon of maple sugar this time. They are still not super sweet but they did the trick for my kids. If you want more sweetness - go for it. Or add some sugary toppings.

December was trying to do me in but I survived and now I'm ready to catch my breathe. 

I hope this finds you all well. Take some time for yourself. Slow down. Breathe. 

And eat a cookie..........................Merry Christmas!

Vegan Gluten Free Ginger Bread People or Cookies

by MamaChanty

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Keywords: bake dessert gluten-free vegan almond flour coconut flour gluten-free flour

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Ingredients (18 - 24 cookies)

• 1 Tbsp ground chia seeds
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup organic coconut flour
• 2 Tbsp Almond flour or Almond meal (I just grind blanch slivered almonds in my coffee grinder)
• 1/2 cup All purpose Gluten Free Flour (I used Cloud 9 brand from Costco)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• pinch fine sea salt
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp molasses (I used Blackstrap)
• 3 Tbsp pure maple syrup

Instruction

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine Chia seeds with water and let stand for 5 minutes to gel.

Combine all dry ingredients.

In a seperate mixing bowl combine all wet ingredients including Chia gel.

Mix wet and dry ingredients together until just combined. It should form a ball (like dough).

Let stand for 5 minutes. If it seems sticky add some additional coconut flour.

Roll out dough until about 1/8 inch thickness on a piece of parchment paper. Cut shapes out of dough and transfer to lined baking sheet. I just kept reusing the scraps (forming into a new ball and re-rolling out) until there was no dough left. I let my kids choose and cut the shapes. They loved this job.

Bake for about 12 minutes.

Let cool and decorate.

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