living vegan

Organic DIY Tea Tree & Lemon Essential Oil Cleaning Spray

April 5, 2018 — Leave a comment

Back in 2016 I made clear my goal to completely detoxify my life in all areas including my personal care and cleaning products. I can proudly say that two years later I have come a long way. From DIY toothpaste, oil pulling, shea butter moisturizers, deodorant and essential oils my life is one big ball of organic. To celebrate; I’m sharing this amazing DIY tea tree oil cleaning spray. Tea tree oil has many uses including cleaning and purifying.

I’m sharing this amazing tea tree oil cleaning spray

DIY Tea Tree Lemon Cleaning Spray

What You Need

  • 16 ounce spray bottle
  • 16 ounces filtered water
  • Tea Tree Essential Oil
  • Lemon Essential Oil
  • The Honest Company’s Organic Dish Soap

Preparation

  1. Add water to spray bottle
  2. Add 20 drops tea tree oil
  3. Add 10 drops lemon essential oil
  4. 2 teaspoons dish soap
  5. 2 tablespoons vinegar
  6. Shake and spray
  7. Don’t forget to label

What Makes It Awesome

This multi-purpose cleaner is great for cleaning as well as disinfecting and can be used on:

  • Countertops
  • Sinks
  • Mirrors
  • Glass, Metal, and Wood Surfaces

Stay tuned as I will be sharing more amazing uses for tea tree (and other) essential oils as well organic vendors and products I have incorporated into my everyday life that work wonders.

xoxo

The Gluten Free Chef

Vegan Baked Macaroni & Cheese | Living Vegan

February 6, 2018 — 1 Comment

It’s taken me months to find the time to share this amazing Vegan Macaroni & Cheese recipe with you. Created last year, this mac & cheese became one of the most popular dishes that I created for 540WMain Learning Academy’s monthly vegan pop up dinners. My goal was to create a vegan version of this classic American “main” dish as a side.

Feedback was so positive that I made it a staple for the newly created Vegan Cheese Making Class also at 540WMain. I’m elated to finally finally share this recipe with the world. Get into the recipe below.

Vegan Baked Macaroni & “Cheese”

Ingredients

  • 3 yams, peeled and steamed soft
  • 2 stalks celery
  • scallion
    3 cups non-dairy milk
  • 2 cups veggie broth
  • ¼ cup just mayo
  • ½ cup nutritional yeast
  • ½ cup (1 stick) vegan margarine
  • ¼ cup almond meal
  • ¼ cup balsamic or apple cider vinegar
  • ¼ cup Dijon mustard
    3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
    2 teaspoons tumeric
    1 teaspoon cumin
  • cooking spray

Preparation

  1. Wash and scrub yams, cut in half, cover with foil and bake on 400 degree F for 50-60 minutes or until tender. Allow to cool completely before moving on.
  2. Meanwhile, bring 5-6 cups water to boil. Add pasta, a pinch of salt and drizzle of olive oil. Reduce heat to low-medium, cover and cook for 15 minutes or until tender. Drain and set aside in large mixing bowl.
  3. In a food processor blend yams with milk until smooth. Set aside.
  4. Coat a cast iron skillet with cooking spray, add celery and scallion and sauté on medium heat until tender. Add margarine, almond meal, vinegar, just mayo, mustard, garlic, cumin, and tumeric and stir until margarine is completely melted. Add in puree yam mixture. Pour this sauté mixture over macaroni along with veggie stock. Stir in yeast and salt and pepper to taste.
  5. Grease a 6×9 pirex dish and add macaroni mixture. Bake on 400 for 15 minutes until bubbly. Allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving.

A Comprehensive Vegan Guide to Halloween Candy (DEBUT)

October 24, 2017 — Leave a comment

Our first ever Comprehensive Vegan Halloween list to help you navigate your vegan candy giving needs. This list comes courtesy of Runners World with the most common vegan gluten free Halloween Candy. Did your favorite confection make the list? Let me know in the comments.

Twizzlers

Blow Pops

Gobstoppers

Sour Patch

• Sour Patch Watermelon
• Sour Patch Peach, Cherry, Raspberry
• Sour patch Fruits
• Sour Patch Kids

Courtesy of Runner’s World

Vegan Chocolate Muffins | Living Vegan

October 20, 2017 — Leave a comment

As promised in last night’s Facebook live, I’m sharing one of my very secret gluten free recipes from my long delayed cookbook project. These Vegan Chocolate Muffins are super simple to make and since they are created especially for the food processor you can have them whipped up in a jiff with minimal mess. They make the perfect breakfast and the addition of applesauce make them super moist. I promise you won’t be able to eat just one.

You won’t be able to eat just one

Vegan Chocolate Muffins

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose gluten free flour blend or regular flour
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup cacao powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

wet
1 + 2/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1+ 1/2 cups non-dairy milk
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 avocado (peeled & pitted)
1/2 cup EnjoyLife chocolate chips (optional)

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. Add all ingredients to food processor (saving the milk as the last ingredient)
  3. Blend until smooth
  4. Scoop into muffin tins
  5. Bake 40 min * For jumbo muffins |Makes 6
  6. Bake 25 min  | For regular muffins | Makes 2 dozen

Why I Went Vegan Part One | Living Vegan

October 18, 2017 — Leave a comment

If you’re an avid reader of blog then you already know that we announced (on yesterday) our brand new Facebook online community called Living Vegan. I am super excited to engage more readers across the country who are currently living a plant-based diet as well as those who may be semi-plant-based, interested in going plant-based, or anywhere in between this spectrum. Veganism and plant based living is still not the norm in our society and the ultimate mission of the platform is to engage, encourage, and support each other throughout the journey.

theglutenfreechef is transitioning as well. Plant-based living has always been close to my heart and as I dive back into the lifestyle, the recipes here will inherently be vegan and plant-based. Guest features, articles, and other content will also skew more and more towards veganism and plant-based living. This is not to say that a meat-inclusive or dairy recipe might not sneak in every now and then, but overall plant-based will become the norm. Does this surprise you?

Does this surprise you?

Don’t be surprised! Even though I am purposefully and explicitly writing more and more about vegan culture this is in no way my first time delving into the lifestyle. I lived a very strict vegan life from 2010-2013 just before moving back to Upstate NY (Rochester) from Nashville and am in a way; returning to my roots so to speak. Therefore, the purpose of this post is to:

  1. Detail my vegan/plant-based journey and give reasons why I am coming back to the vegan lifestyle.
  2. Educate and encourage others to understand that the Living Vegan space here on this platform is not a judgemental nor condescending space of “ You are awful because you are not vegan”.
  3. Quite the contrary, this is a space of understanding, encouragement, motivation, and self-refection to help you appreciate that veganism is not cut and dry. There are many beneficial reasons for moving to a plant-based way of life but there are also many reasons that a person might decide to leave the lifestyle.
  4. Throughout this post and in the future, the mission will be to keep it real, genuine, and highlight that living vegan in a carnivorous world can make it difficult to stay the vegan path. The mantra,  Old habits die hard does not fall on deaf ears in this space.  Most folks living vegan were not raised vegan and popular culture, peer pressure, having a family, and many other factors can sometimes make those of us that choose a vegan lifestyle feel ostracized, isolated, and frustrated to stay the course.

I am here to say I understand the struggle and I am here to show you that I was there, I get you and we are here to support each other during our triumphs and our falls. These are the aspects of vegan culture that I feel are lacking in the “online vegan community”

Bonus Lesson

For me veganism is a journey not a final destination therefore, no one will never be made to feel shame or guilt for falling off the vegan path. Understanding and empathy for everyone’s choices is how we will run the Living Vegan spaces here on the blog and on Facebook.

So without further adieu…

Why Did I Go Vegan

The year was 2009… (Post continues tomorrow) 🙂

Special Announcement | Living Vegan Online Community

October 17, 2017 — 1 Comment

I am pleased to announce our newest Facebook online community

Living Vegan

Living Vegan is a positive Facebook community open to all persons living and interested in adapting a plant based lifestyle.

Curated by (me) Theglutenfreechef and powered by theglutenfreechefblog.com

Moving forward all vegan related recipes, articles, and stories here on the blog will use the Living Vegan hashtag and moniker. 

Interested in joining the Facbook community? Click the button below

A Tribute to Chocolate Chip Cookies | REPOST

October 4, 2017 — Leave a comment

One would be hard pressed to search the web and not find a Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. In fact a simple Google search will pull up millions (literally) of recipes for the all American classic. What is it about the chocolate chip cookie that screams American tradition? A staple in just about every kitchen, every mom and grandma makes claims to have the world’s greatest. The perfect recipe. The best combination. The foolproof technique. No matter the technique, variation, or ingredient there is something nostalgic about a warm, gooey chocolate chip cookie. As a gluten free baker I’ve tried, retried, converted, test baked and perfected quite a few recipes. One recent baking session sparked the idea for this post. A post where I show some long overdue love to the classic chocolate chip cookie. I have compiled five of my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes from a few of my favorite blogs. Most are gluten free a few are not but can be easily converted with a cup for cup all purpose flour blend. As you know Enjoy Life is my go to brand for allergen free chocolate.

How do you like your chocolate chips?

Let me know in the comments and be sure to try one of these A+mazing recipes and share a few of your favorites.

the gluten free chef’s Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes
Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies courtesy of Blissful Eats brown butter chocolate cookies
Gluten free, Dairy free Chocolate Chip Cookies courtesy of Silvana’s KitchenChunk Cookies_png-e1367498983963
Date- Sweetened Quinoa Chocolate Chip Cookies courtesy of The Sweetest Kitchendate quinoa chocolate chip cookies
Protein Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies courtesy of The Iron YouProtein oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
Dark Chocolate Chunk Eggnog Cookies courtesy of Brown Eyed Baker eggnog chocolate-chunk-cookies-25-600

P.S: This post was originally featured on February 10, 2014