Tapioca Starch

I love using Tapioca Starch as a replacement for corn starch. This brand is great and you can use it as a 1 to 1 replacement for corn starch.

I buy this product at my local health food store (i.e., Whole Foods). You can also buy a 6 pack of them here at Amazon if you can't find it at a store near you! Love it and if you can't eat corn, use this instead! It will also work great to thicken your Thanksgiving gravy!

Homemade Enchilada Sauce

If you are like me and prefer the soy-free version of enchilada sauce and can't find a store-bought version to work for you, make this:

This is what you will need. The following recipe is for 1 batch of enchiladas. I'm not joking when I tell you that I have been making this in bulk (see the size of that tomato puree in the picture - please note - the recipe below is only for 1 batch of enchiladas!).

Homemade Enchilada Sauce

Prep Time: 5 Minutes

Total Time: 25 Minutes

1, 29 ounce can Tomato Puree

2 cups Chicken Stock

3 Tbsp. Canola Oil

2 Tbsp. Chili Powder

1 Tbsp. Salt

2 tsp. Cumin

1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder

1/2 tsp. Onion Powder

1/2 tsp. Paprika

1/4 tsp. Celery Salt

Additional Salt & Black Pepper to Taste

Bring all ingredients to a boil in a large saucepan, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. This is enough for 2, 9 x 13 pans of enchiladas. Can be frozen and used at a later time!

Mmmm...saucy!

Printable Recipe:

Enchilada Sauce

Corn Syrup Alternative

If you are intolerant of corn, or need corn syrup and don't have it on the shelf. Try making this! It's a perfect substitute for corn syrup and stays for quite a while in your refrigerator so you can always have it on hand!

Light Corn Syrup Alternative

2 cups Granulated Sugar

3/4 cup Water

1/4 tsp. Cream of Tartar

1/8 tsp. Salt

Combine all of the ingredients in a medium saucepan. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Scrape the sides to remove sugar crystals. Boil unstirred until it reaches 240 degrees (soft ball stage). Cool syrup.

Makes about 2 cups.

Can last up to 2 months in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

Shortening Substitute

Really, a shortening substitute! Since I can't eat soy, shortening was a problem. Sometimes you just need shortening when you're baking. I love using this to grease my pans. It really works great and tastes great in your food. You can't go wrong with this.

Plus, the only ingredient is 100% Organic Expeller Pressed Palm Oil. Much better than some of your other options.

Read about it at the Spectrum website.

*Please note, Spectrum doesn't know who I am and they don't pay me for the marketing!

Egg Replacer

Powder as an egg replacer? Shocking! It's really surprisingly good! I can't believe it, but it works amazingly well! For a about a year I didn't eat eggs and a great deal of other food products, so I had to find an egg substitute so that I could still bake. This works great.

Here are the ingredients so that you know if this will work for you:

Potato starch, tapioca starch flour, leavening (calcium lactate [not derived from dairy], calcium carbonate, citric acid), sodium carboxymethycullulose, methylcellulose).

Read about it at the Ener G website.

Trust me, it works! I don't know how, but it works! Even if you just want to save on calories and cholesterol, this stuff works wonders!

If you want to test it, try it in the apple cinnamon muffins. It works perfectly in that recipe.

*Please note, Ener G does not know I exist and they are not paying me to post such a nice review about them!

Butter Replacement

If you are intolerant or allergic to dairy, this is a terrific butter substitute! It is a vegan margarine. Now, when I first heard of the term "vegan margarine" I thought it sounded soooo gross! I was really desperate for something buttery though and decided to give it a try. Many vegan margarines have soy in them but I can't eat soy so I was thrilled to find this one that doesn't! It's great on toast or rolls. It even cooks very well. Use it in a frying pan to make some eggs, you'll love it!

The one thing it has problems with is its consistency. If you leave it out at room temperature, it starts to melt and sort of separate. So serve cold or melt it completely and then it's perfect! I love this stuff and use it many times even when I could chose butter!

Check out the Earth Balance web-site. They sell a few varieties of vegan margarines, including one made with olive oil and baking sticks. Yum!

Try it, you'll like it!

*Please note - Earth Balance doesn't know who I am and does not pay me to say this, nor are they aware of my good opinion of them!