Dairy-free, Egg-free Cake

 

My mother-in-law brought this cake up to celebrate my father-in-law's birthday last month.  Since we're always looking for cake recipes that don't call for butter, she sent the recipe my way, but I don't know where she got it. If you're so inclined you can mix all the ingredients for the cake right in the pan, but I ended up dumping all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mixing them that way first.  It was easy enough to mix in the wet ingredients in the pan.  The cake itself is really tasty, too, nice and moist.  My kids loved it anyway, and so did I.  We made it to celebrate my husband's birthday this week.

Bonus: this cake also happens to be egg-free, if that's important to you!

Three Hole Cake

1 1/2 c flour

1 t baking soda

1 c sugar

1/4 c unsweetened cocoa

1/2 t salt

1 T white or cider vinegar

1 t vanilla

1/3 c oil

1 c water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 8 inch cake pan (you can serve it right from the pan in which case you don't have to bother greasing it).  Combine the flour, soda, sugar, cocoa and salt.  Sift together into the pan (I did not sift them, just mixed them together in a separate bowl first). Shake the pan to level the ingredients and make 3 holes in it it.  Vinegar in one hole, vanilla in the second, and oil in the third. Pour the water over the top.  Using a table forkk, mix vigorously making sure to get in all the corners and incorporate all the flour mixture.  

Bake at 350 for 30 mins (mine took 35) or until toothpick in center comes out clean.  Let cool for five minutes before turning out of pan or completely completely in pan. Then frost.

More New Recipes

Here are two more delicious recipes.  They are also my variations of recipes found in the All Recipes cookbook (which is based on the website).  These are both really fabulous, easy meatless meals.

Spinach & Tortellini Salad
1 (9 oz) pkg cheese-filled tortellini
1 (10 oz) pkg frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and well-drained
1 c Parmesan cheese
6 c cherry tomatoes, halved
bottled Italian dressing
salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook pasta according to pkg directions.  Rinse under cold water and drain.
2. Combine tortellini, spinach, cheese, and tomatoes in a large bowl.  Add enough Italian dressing to coat.  Toss and season with salt and pepper.

Linguine with Broccoli and Red Peppers
1 (16 oz) pkg linguine
1 lb (or so) fresh broccoli, chopped
3 T olive oil
3 cloves minced garlic
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
a pinch of garlic salt
Parmesan cheese

1. Cook pasta according to pkg directions.  Drain.
2. Steam broccoli on stove top in covered pan for 10-15 minutes, until desired tenderness.
3. Heat oil in saucepan over low-medium heat and sauté garlic and peppers.
4. Drain broccoli and add to skillet. Sprinkle lightly with garlic salt and sauté until peppers and broccoli are soft.
5. Serve over hot pasta and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Green Beans

My sister recently inspired me to start planning meals once more.  Between pregnancy, moving and a new infant it had been quite awhile, and I'm so happy to be planning for our eating once more.  As soon as I decided to start planning meals again, I also was gifted a number of used cookbooks that were on their way to Goodwill - inspiration for our meals!  It all worked out very well.  And now the kids and I have lunch made ready-made everyday in the form of leftovers.

If you have an abundance of green beans coming to you right now, this is a great way to vary the vegetable a bit.  And it's delicious! This is my version of the recipe that I got from an All Recipes cookbook.

Breadcrumbs and Green Beans

1 lb fresh green beans, rinsed and trimmed

1/2 c water 

1/4 c breadcrumbs

1/4 c olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 t each garlic powder, oregano, basil

optional: 1/4 c Parmesan cheese, if you don't need dairy-free it's yummy!

Bring the green beans in the water to a boil then reduce and simmer for about 10-15 minutes, covered, until they reach desired tenderness.  Drain.  Place in medium serving bowl and mix in remaining ingredients.  Stir until coated.

More recipes to follow!

Vegan Chocolate Avocado Cake

Vegan Chocolate Avocado Cake

Shared via AddThis

I'm posting this here, so I don't forget about it. It may be the perfect cake for Charles. It includes a homemade "buttercream" frosting recipe that's dairy-free!

Garlic Chicken

Here is a homemade Chinese recipe that will knock your socks off. I never would of thought I could make good Chinese food. Now obviously this is an Americanized recipe, but it fits the bill when it came to me craving take-out. I used a wok, but if you don't have one, no worries; just use the biggest skillet you have.

I got this recipe from "Fast Fix Family Food" by BHG.


Ingredients
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 cup water
3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons chicken broth
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons cooking oil (vegetable)
10 green onions, bias sliced
1 cup thinly sliced fresh mushrooms
12 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup sliced water chestnuts (I didn't put these in)
Hot cooked rice

Directions

1. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and place in a resealable plastic bag. For marinade, mix water, soy sauce, and broth. Pour marinade over chicken in bag and seal. Marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Remove chicken;reserve marinade. Stir cornstarch into marinade; set aside.
2. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a wok. Add green onions, mushrooms, and garlic; cook and stir 1 to 2 minutes or until tender. Remove vegetables from wok.
   
3. Add chicken to wok; cook and stir 2 to 3 minutes or until no longer pink. Push chicken to the center of the wok.
4. Stir marinade mixture; add to the center of the wok. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. (this took about 8-10 minutes for me)
   
5. Return cooked vegetables to wok. Add water chestnuts. Cook and stir until combined. Serve with hot cooked rice.

Servings: 4

Amazingly Delicious & Easy Brownie Fudge Pie

So this recipe originally came from my Gooseberry Patch What's for Dinner? However I have tweaked it quite a bit. These brownies are fabuloso!

Originally titled Brownie-Fudge Pie
Get out your favorite electric mixer (you can use a wooden spoon if you want to). Dump in a cup of sugar (I didn't say they were healthy) and 1/2 cup oil. Mix well. Add two eggs and mix. Add 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Mix and add 1 teaspoon vanilla (if you have it. I couldn't find mine one time and they turned out just fine). Grease and flour a 9 inch pie plate. Pour the brownie mixture in. This cooks perfectly in my oven at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. The brownies are dense and really do taste similiar to fudge. This is Peter's new favorite brownie, too.

- PS: I am starting to add "dairy-free" label to any of my recipes that are dairy free just to help myself out. Feel free to do the same if you remember and feel so inclined!