simple roasted chicken

Roast chicken.  This is one dish that can be a base for so many other dishes.  You can absolutely just eat it on its own and it is delicious, but you can also use it to make chicken pot pies, soups, pastas, salads, pizzas, etc.  What I love about roasting a whole chicken is that it is usually so much cheaper than buying chicken that has been cut up.  Often times my grocery store will have whole chickens on sale for 3-4 dollars.  If you are serving it whole it is great with sides such as mashed potatoes, asparagus, roasted carrots, green beans, and polenta to name a few. 

Roasted Chicken Recipe

4 lb. roasting chicken

1/3 cup canola oil

1 ½ tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 F.  Take out any giblets that may be inside the chicken.  Pat the chicken with a paper towel so that it is completely dry.  Place chicken on a baking sheet with a raised edges so that the juices will not overflow.  Tuck the wings of the chicken under the chicken so that they don't burn. Pour salt and pepper evenly over the chicken.  Pour canola oil over chicken evenly and cover the baking sheet with foil.  Bake for an hour and a half.  Remove foil five minutes before taking the chicken out so that it will brown on top.  Once the chicken is done, let it sit at least five minutes (more ideally 10 minutes) before carving to give time for the juices to redistribute so that it doesn’t become dry.  

blueberry muffins

I'm not going to lie; I've never been a big blueberry muffin fan.  I have always been huuuge on the chocolate chocolate muffins and poppy seed muffins, specifically the ones from Costco!  Anyways I had some extra fresh blueberries so I thought I'd give them another shot after writing them off for so long.  They are now one of my new favorites!  The fresh blueberries are really the game changer and they actually make you feel kinda healthy when eating them!  They are so moist and bursting with blueberries.  I love having them for breakfast, an afternoon snack, or even dessert!

Blueberry Muffin Recipe

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

2 large eggs

1/2 cup almond milk buttermilk** see recipe at the end of the instructions

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup sugar

1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. lemon zest

1/2 cup canola oil

1 cup blueberries

1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°. Place liners inside the muffin tin (will make about 11-12 muffins).  Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside.  In a large bowl beat eggs, almond milk buttermilk, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla and lemon zest, and canola oil. Add flour mixture in three batches. Mix until all ingredients are just combined.  Mix blueberries with 1 Tbsp. of flour and then stir them into the batter until just combined. Scoop batter and fill muffin liners to the top. Bake for 15 minutes, or until you can poke a toothpick through one and it comes out clean. 

Almond Milk Buttermilk:

In a ½ cup measuring cup, place ½ Tbsp. of white vinegar and then fill with original almond milk until the ½ cup measuring cup is full.  Let sit for 10 minutes.  It may look curdled, but that is totally fine!

louisiana jambalaya

Jambalaya is just one of those foods you want to make on a rainy day.  Super comforting and full of flavor.  I have a lot of relatives that live in the south, and while I may make mine a little different than them--I still think it's equally delicious.  Growing up my mom made it a few times, but only using those Zataran packets, which are alright, but definitely can't touch homemade.  I was watching Paula Deen on food network a few months ago and she was making Jambalaya, and I thought "I can do that."  I changed it up some and this is what I got.  I now make it every couple weeks.  Today is rained all day so I whipped up some of this comfort food.

Jambalaya Recipe

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 red onions, chopped

4 green onions, chopped

1 bell pepper (any color), chopped

5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 bay leaves

1 jalapeño, seeded, deveined, minced

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon creole seasoning

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 ½ pounds turkey sausage or chicken sausage 

2 14 oz. cans chicken broth

1/4 cup water

1 14.5 oz. canned tomatoes, diced, with liquid

2 cups long-grain rice, rinsed

Directions

Heat large soup pot to medium-high heat.  Once it is heated add oil, red onions, green onions, bell pepper, jalapeño, Creole Seasoning, dried oregano, garlic, and bay leaves.  Give it a good stir and then cover with a lid to cook the vegetables for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Once the vegetables become tender, mix in tomato paste, sausage, water, chicken broth, canned tomatoes, and rice.  Turn the heat up to high and wait until it begins to simmer, and then reduce the heat to low and put a lid on it.  Check on it occasionally and stir it so that the jambalaya is not burning on the bottom of the pot.  Let the jambalaya cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour (the sausage should be completely cooked through).  

   

welcome to dairy free eating!

Hello!!

My name is Larissa Burgess.  I am twenty-one years old, a college student, passionate about happiness, love dogs, cooking/baking, and laughter.  Currently I'm living back at home with my parents, brother, and friend as my roomate.  Here's a few photos of us!

my parents!

me and my brother

I'm thrilled to finally start this blog, so I hope it is something you all are able to enjoy!  I have been a long-time food enthusiast, but I haven't always had a happy stomach.  Let me tell you, it is no fun to make a beautiful meal, and not be able to fully enjoy it.  I'm sure those of you who suffer with different stomach issues can relate, so starting only a month ago I began removing dairy from my diet.  I noticed a difference in my stomach and also my energy level increased.  I have been the kind of person to drink six cups of milk a day! To cut dairy out of my life has seemed kind of impossible, but I'm making the commitment to improve my health so I'm taking on the challenge.  I noticed a serious lack of good recipes out there for the category of dairy-free, and that is what inspired me to share my recipes!  I hope you enjoy!

Larissa