Hi friends! It's been a long time since I last made a blog post. I started this blog almost a year ago already and I'm really excited to get back to working on it again.
I recently revamped another recipe that I used to eat before I acquired my allergy: potato soup. I actually ate this not too long before I got diagnosed with Alpha Gal Syndrome. It caused me to have a pretty painful reaction as the original recipe included dairy milk and bacon/bacon fat. SO, that being said, here's my vegan version of my childhood favorite soup.
NOTE: My mom always eyeballed this recipe, so I've done my best to give rough estimates here. This recipe should be enough for one to two people, depending on serving size.
Vegan Potato Soup - Serves Approx 1-2
Ingredients:
2 cups of peeled and bite size diced potatoes
1/4 cup of chopped onion (I usually use closer to 1/2 cup. I love onions)
1/2 tsp of onion powder
2-4 cups of non-dairy milk of choice (I use oat milk. Specifically Planet Oat Unsweetened or Original)
Cornstarch and cold water for thickening
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, then add the washed, peeled, and diced potatoes. When they are close to fork tender, add the chopped onion to the pot and finish cooking. Strain off all the water and return the potatoes and onions to the pot. Use enough plant milk to cover the potatoes, plus about an extra cup or so and return to heat. Add onion powder, salt, and pepper.
While the plant milk heats up, mix cornstarch and cold water in a separate cup. Once the plant milk begins to steam and simmer, slowly add the slurry in while stirring until you reach desired thickness. Remove from heat and serve!
When I was first diagnosed with alpha gal a couple of months ago, I sort of went into overdrive trying to figure out what I reacted to and how to eliminate it from my diet while finding a suitable alternative. Unfortunately I've yet to find a replacement for my beloved spray cheese, but I did manage to recreate one of my favorite childhood breakfast foods. French toast!
I recall eating this a lot as a kid. My mom would make a simple custard of egg, milk, and cinnamon, dip some sliced bread into it and fry it up to golden perfection. Once I realized I reacted to dairy, I decided to play around with non-dairy alternatives too see what kept it as similar to the original. And thus this recipe was born.
Mom's French Toast - Serves 1-2 (2 slices each)
Ingredients:
2-4 slices of safe bread
1/4 cup of plain, unsweetened almond milk
1/4 tsp of pure vanilla extract (optional)
1 TBSP of cinnamon
1 whole egg
Other toppings (optional)*
Directions:
Crack the egg into a large bowl or pie plate (I prefer a pie plate because of the flat bottom - it helps to more evenly coats the bread when we get to the dipping stage). Add the cinnamon and whisk until the egg is totally broken up and the cinnamon is all combined. Pour in the almond milk and vanilla and mix well. The custard is complete!
Once your skillet is hot, quickly dip one piece of the bread into the custard, flip it to coat the other side, and fry it until it no longer looks wet. Repeat with remaining slices and serve hot with your favorite toppings. I always go for classic butter and pure maple syrup. Enjoy! :)
Notes:
*If you react to sugar, don't have a safe syrup, or just prefer different toppings, fresh fruit is a great and healthier alternative! Or you can make a quick stovetop berry sauce by macerating berries, adding some safe sugar and a little water and cooking until it's syrupy and delicious.
If you've somehow made it to my blog, let my start by saying thank you for taking the time to read! Let me introduce myself:
My name is Sarah. I'm 21 years old and from the great state of Virginia. As of now I'm self employed - that's where the 'artsy' part of the blog's name comes from - and I work from home, trying to grow my small business. I also work on managing and trying to navigate through life while dealing with Von Willebrand's Disease, tachycardia, Alpha Gal Syndrome/Allergy (that so-not-fun tick borne red meat allergy), and some more mundane things like chronic pain and chronic fatigue. And that's where the 'chronically' part of the blog's name comes from.
My goal with this blog is to be my 100% authentic true self. I want to talk about the small daily wins and the larger struggles that I and so many others with chronic health issues face everyday. I want to share things that inspire me and things that make me happy, like crafting and food. I hope that if you made it to the end of this post you'll consider sticking around to check out all my future posts as well. I can't wait to share more fun things :)
🤎🥄
- Sarah
