Creamy Non-Dairy Rice Pudding

I love rice pudding, tapioca pudding, chocolate pudding, pistachio pudding...well, just about any kind of pudding really. I love the texture in rice and tapioca puddings. The creaminess of the custard pudding combined with the soft rice. Yum.

My problem has always been the amount of time it takes to make. I also didn't want to have to use a half gallon of milk to make it. Once I get the craving for rice pudding I want it now, not in 2 hours. This recipe takes a total of 40 minutes, and that includes the time to cook the rice. I usually just use leftover rice so that cuts the time down to 20 minutes.

Typical rice pudding calls for regular white rice. I have used Basmati and Jasmine to make this recipe. I think using these fragrant rices really adds to the sweetness and flavor of the pudding. The medium and long grain rices will also give a creamier pudding because of the starch content. I've also seen recipes that use Spanish yellow rice along with Spanish seasonings to make Cuban Arroz con Leche. I plan to try it with brown rice as well but I think I'll need to make a few adjustments for sweetness and texture. I'll update if I ever get around to trying it out.

Creamy Non-Dairy Rice Pudding

Ingredients

3/4 Cups Uncooked Rice (or 1 1/2 Cups Cooked Rice)
1 1/2 Cups Water
2 Cups Unsweetened, Unflavored, Soy Milk (you could also use vanilla soy/almond milk for more flavor and sweetness)
2/3 Cups Sugar
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1 Large Egg, Beaten
1 Tablespoon Margarine
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Nutmeg
Optional: 2/3 Cup Raisins (some people like to soak the raisins in rum prior to adding)

Directions

If you are using leftover rice, skip steps 1 & 2.

1. Boil the water in a sauce pan.
2. Add the rice to the boiling water and cook for 20 minutes, until all the water is absorbed.
3. Add the sugar, salt, and 1 1/2 cups milk to the rice.
4. Cook over medium heat until thick and creamy, about 15 minutes.
5. In a small bowl, beat the egg with 1/2 cup milk.
6. Add the egg/milk to the rice pudding.
7. Add the raisins.
8. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
9. Remove from heat and add the margarine, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Serve the pudding warm. If you choose to serve the pudding cold, you will have to add about 1/2 cup more milk since the pudding thickens as it cools.

Yields: 6 servings

Quick, easy, and yummy. This recipe even won over Vince, who was convinced that rice pudding was a bland and flavorless glob.

Non-Dairy Coconut Ice Cream

I recently tried Soy Delicious Coconut Almond Bars. For those of you that are not aware, Soy Delicious makes vegan (aka dairy-free) ice cream products. The bars were awesome. They were a creamy coconut ice cream covered in chocolate and almonds. The good: They are delicious and only 170 calories. The bad: They cost almost $6 for a box of 4 bars. There's no way I could justify that, no matter how good they are.

So my quest for the perfect creamy dairy-free ice cream began. It took a few trys to get it right. Some were not very coconutty, others didn't freeze well, and others were more like iced milk than ice cream.

Then I stumbled on a recipe at Allrecipes. My search has ended. This ice cream turned out smooth, creamy, sweet, very coconutty, and completely vegan. What more could you ask for? Chocolate. You can never go wrong with chocolate. Just a little goes a long way. It's like a frozen Mounds bar.

Just try it. You'll love it. I promise. Just do it already!

Coconut Ice Cream

From Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

1 (15 oz) Can Cream of Coconut
1 Cup Unsweetened Unflavored Soy Milk
1 1/2 Cups Unflavored Soy Creamer
Optional: 1 Cup Shredded Coconut

Directions

1. In a bowl, mix all of the ingredients together thoroughly.
2. Make sure your ice cream maker is set up and ready to go.
3. Pour the liquid mixture into your ice cream maker.
4. Freeze according to the directions of your particular machine.

Note: Cream of Coconut is not the same as Coconut Milk or Coconut Cream. Cream of Coconut is thick and sweetened (look for sugar in the ingredients). It is typically found with drink mixes for Pina Coladas.

Yeilds approx. 2 quarts of ice cream.

You can use regular dairy products for this recipe as well. I'm sure it would turn out even creamier using real cream.

Almond Roca Protein Shake

I know it sounds weird but it really is good. This started when I found a recipe for an Almond Joy Shake. I didn't have all of the ingredients necessary for that one, although I do now and I'll be making it soon. I started substituting for the missing ingredients and this was the resulting recipe.

It is coconuty (is that a word?), slightly chocolatey, and oh so almondy. You can make it thick like I did and eat it with a spoon, or thin it out and drink it. Either way it makes a great after work-out shake or even a dessert!

Almond Roca Protein Shake

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Lite Coconut Milk
1/4 Cup Water
1 Scoop Vanilla Protein Powder
2 Tablespoons Coconut Flour
1 Tablespoon Almond Extract
1 Tablespoon Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (this is baking powder not hot chocolate mix)
4-5 Ice Cubes
Sweeten to taste (I used 4 packets of Splenda)

Directions

Put it all in the blender and let it go!
If you want a thinner shake, just add more water.

This may taste like dessert but it is actually pretty low calorie, really high in fiber due to the coconut flour, and high in protein.

Lasagna Stuffed Shells

I can't remember having stuffed shells. I'm sure at some point in my life I did, but I just don't remember it. They look good, and they smell good, but they are filled with evil, evil cheese. I wanted to try them out but honestly didn't think they would be good with nothing but pasta and tofu in them. Then I found a different recipe and my whole view changed.

I have already perfected dairy-free lasagna. I love it but it is a pretty heavy dish. Tons of pasta, sauce, meat...well, tons of everything really. These shells seemed like the perfect solution. I could have the taste of lasagna that I loved but in a smaller commitment. I love how they turned out. I will be making these again, once my freezer stash has dwindled.

Lasagna Stuffed Shells

From Allrecipes.com

Ingredients
1 Box Jumbo Pasta Shells (about 40 shells)
1 Pound Ground Turkey
12oz Firm Tofu
8oz Veggie Shreds Parmesan/Mozzarella Mix Flavor
2 Large Eggs
1 1/2 Jars Tomato Sauce (I used Tomato & Basil flavor)

Directions

1. In a large stock pot, bring about 4 quarts of water to a boil.
2. Once the water is boiling, salt the water generously and add the shells.
3. Cook the shells for about 10 minutes. You want them to be slightly under-done.
4. While the shells are cooking, cook the turkey in a skillet and set aside.
5. In a bowl, mash together the eggs, tofu, and veggie shreds.
6. Once the shells are cooked, remove from the water and rinse with cold water.
7. Spread tomato sauce on the bottom of two 9x13 baking pans (or 3 8x8 pans).
8. Take a shell and spoon about a teaspoon of turkey into the bottom of it.
9. Next, spoon a heaping teaspoon of tofu mixture onto the turkey.
10. Place the shell into a baking dish.
11. Continue with the remaining shells.
12. Once all of the shells are in the pans, spoon tomato sauce onto the top of each shell.
13. Bake the shells at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, just until the cheese/tofu is melted.

Optional: Feel free to cover the tops of the shells/sauce with more shredded cheese.

Yields:12 servings

These are really filling and very yummy. They freeze well too. The best part is the stats.

Spanakopita

Spanakopita is a Greek spinach pie. It is usually seen being passed around at wedding as tiny hors d'oeuvers. I found a recipe for dinner Spanakopita on one my new favorite cooking blogs, Branny Boils Over. I, of course, took that recipe and modified it to make it dairy-free and higher in protein.

I think it turned out awesome. Vince on the other hand, didn't like it. He said the flavor was good but he didn't like the flaky pastry shell. He's "not a flaky crust kind of guy". Oh well, I guess I can't win them all with him. I'm still making a batch to put in the freezer. I can take them out and heat them up for a quick, yummy lunch.

This recipe does call for the use of phyllo dough. I know that can be intimidating but it really is easy to use. I'll walk you through it. Don't panic, it will be ok.

Spanakopita

From Branny Boils Over

Ingredients

14 Sheets of Phyllo Dough (about 1/4 of a package)
1 10oz Box of Frozen Spinach, Thawed and Drained
4oz Soft Tofu
2oz Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
2 Tablespoons Parmesan Flavor Veggie Shreds
1/2 Medium Yellow Onion, Diced
1.5 Tablespoons Pine Nuts
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Pepper
1 Large Egg
1 Large Egg White
1.5 Tablespoons Seasoned Bread Crumbs
1/4 Teaspoon Nutmeg
4 Tablespoons Margarine, Melted

Directions

1. In a skillet, fry the onion until caramelized (about 3 minutes).
2. Briefly add the spinach to the skillet, just long enough to steam off any excess moisture. You want it to be completely dry.
3. In a bowl, mix together all of the ingredients, except for the margarine and the phyllo dough.
4. Set the filling aside.
5. Open the package of phyllo dough and roll out the sheets.
6. Place a damp paper towel over the sheets to keep them from drying out while you work.
7. Carefully take one sheet and lay it out flat.
8. With a pastry brush, brush the sheet with melted margarine.
9. Carefully lay a second phyllo sheet on top of the first.
10. Brush the second sheet with melted margarine.
11. Lay a third phyllo sheet on the stack.
12. Brush the third sheet with margarine.
13. Lay a fourth sheet on the stack.
14. Do not brush the top of the fourth sheet.
15. Cut the stack of phyllo sheets in half, lengthwise.You will now have two long rectangles of phyllo dough.
16. Make 4 more long rectangles of dough in this way.
17. For the last (7th) rectangle, take one sheet of dough and brush margarine on half of it (lengthwise).
18. Fold the sheet over itself lengthwise.
19. Brush margarine on the top of the sheet.
20. Place another sheet on top.
21. Brush margarine on half of this sheet.
22. Fold the second sheet over itself. You will now have one long rectangle of dough.

Assembly

1. Place 1/3 cup of filling onto one end of one of the rectangles.
2. Take the corner of the rectangle, with the filling, and fold it towards the edge of the dough.
3. Continue folding the dough until you have a large triangle.
4. Place the triangle on a cookie sheet.
5. Repeat with remaining dough.

Bake the Spanakopitas in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes. You want them to be golden brown and flaky.

Yields: 7 servings

These are pretty quick to make and are very filling. The best part is that they are each under 200 calories! The stats below are for each pastry triangle. You could also add in some Fiber One powder to up the fiber, it is pretty low.

Pepino Melon-Banana Protein Smoothie

I recently found Pepino melons at the grocery store. I had no idea what they were or what they tasted like but I was curious. So I bought a few.

These are Pepino melons:

They are about the size of a lemon. The skin is very thin and smooth, almost like the skin of a plum. They have a very sweet banana-like fragrance.

After I got them home, I had to look them up on the interwebz to figure out how to eat them.

It turns out that the whole thing is edible, just like a plum. Just wash it and take a bite! The flavor is pretty sweet. It tastes like a cross between a cantaloupe and a banana. They are very juicy so be prepared with napkins. You can tell they are ripe by the purple stripes along the side, those don't show up until the fruit is completely ripe.

Since I had this fabulous fruit sitting in my fridge and I also happened to have a couple of almost-too-ripe bananas in the fruit bowl, I made a smoothie. It was thick and creamy. Sweet with a unique taste of banana and melon.

Pepino Melon-Banana Protein Smoothie

Ingredients

1 Pepino Melon
1 Ripe Small/Medium Banana
1/2 Cup Unsweetened Soy Milk
1/2 Cup Water
1 Scoop Vanilla Protein Powder
1/8 Teaspoon Xanthan Gum (optional)
5 Ice Cubes

Directions

Cut the fruit into large cubes and add to the blender along with all of the other ingredients. Blend until smooth.

This packs a punch calorie and carb-wise but if you are using it as a meal replacement, go ahead and put in a full cup of milk instead of doing half water/half milk. You could also add in another banana for more carbs if you are drinking it right after an extremely vigorous work-out.

Blackberries & Cream Protein Smoothie

Today has been a good day diet-wise. After all of the house cleaning and organizing was done. I had time to fit in a 30 minute elliptical session. Since it was only 30 minutes long, I decided to make it a little more difficult by doing hills. I was only on level 5 (so the hill goes up to level 5 and then back down) but it was an excellent work-out.

After a nice long shower I decided to make myself a protein smoothie. It turned out really yummy. You could make this with any variety of fruit, but I had blackberries so that's what I made. The possibilities are enormous. Play around with it and come up with something yummy!

Blackberries & Cream Protein Smoothie

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Lite Coconut Milk
1/2 Cup Water
144 Grams (~1 Cup) Blackberries
1 Scoop Vanilla Protein Powder
2 Tablespoons Plain Yogurt (I use soy)
4 Packets of Splenda
6-8 Ice Cubes

Directions

Put everything into the blender and blend it until thick and smooth.

You may want to add about 1/8 teaspoon of Xanthan Gum to thicken it up and keep it from separating.