Gluten Free/Dairy Free (Eggs & Milk Free) Onion Rings

The hardest part about going not only dairy free, but gluten free as well is the loss of those beloved comfort foods. Well, at least it is for me. I mean, technically I can still eat all those great foods (even as a diabetic), but that is hardly fair to the boys as they sit there watching me salivate over my goodies. So, of course I try to eat as they do.

One of the hardest things for them to give up though was onion rings. I seriously don't see the big whoop though because I am seriously not a fan of onions. To be honest, I've only just started to cook with them in the last few years of my 30-some years of life. Yes, I am that picky! Anyway, I stumbled on this one recipe that just didn't quite work for us after a while. No matter what I did, each time I made them, each batch was worse and worse. Naturally, I tweaked it until we came out with probably the most delicious onions rings I've ever tasted - though to be fair, I've obviously never tasted an onion ring before now. That being said, I swear these guys are so gosh darned good, even I could sit down and eat nothing but, onion rings!

Apologies for not so great photo, I'd just found out that my youngest had erased my entire memory card and did not pay attention to lighting or settings....love how they figure those things out! 

Gluten Free/Dairy Free Onion Rings
1 cp of All Purpose GF flour*
1/2 - 1 tsp onion powder
1/2 - 1 tsp chili seasoning**
1/2 - 3/4 tsp hamburger seasoning
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp of ground pepper
1 onion, sliced into rings (or however you like)
1 cp of water

* I've had to do what I think is about 1 1/4 cps of flour most the time. If your batter is a little too runny, slowly add more flour.
** I use Root Cellar's Garden homemade chili seasoning for this.


Super easy directions:
Heat your oil while you get your ingredients together and mixed. Slice your rings.
Add all ingredients in a bowl. (I mix the dry all together before adding the water.) Let it sit for a few minutes.

Drop your rings into the batter. Using tongs, move around and dredge the rings in the batter until nicely coated. That's it! Just CAREFULLY place your rings, one at a time, into the oil. Yes, it's tempting to drop several in at once but, then they literally stick together. Do it one at a time, as good old AB (Alton Brown) always says, "Your patience will be rewarded".

Remove to a paper towel lined plate or a cooling wrack over the top of a cookie sheet, whatever you've got to do, will work. I used paper towels, because I was just too rushed to do another set of dishes. Ok, ok, you can call it lazy, today I'm not offended by that. I'm channeling my inner Garfield. :)

If you so need, sprinkle a little salt on them while they're fresh out of the oil and let cool.

I promise you, when you're done, you will thoroughly enjoy the rewards of a job well done. I'm not joking when I say that I seriously couldn't stop nibbling when I perfected this recipe! Did I mention that I seriously abhor onions?! It wasn't just me either, my mother, Mr. Blue Collar and even my stepson couldn't keep their hands out of the finished batch. I think I only managed to save half a batch to my freezer for future use. They are so tasty!

Alright, I promise, no more forcing my new found love of onions on you. If you try this, I hope that you enjoy it!

P.S. This batter for these onion rings is loved so much, my oldest son even asks me to make his fish sticks with it!

The first annual Vegan Pizza Day! Yes, I know but, you have to read about some of these AMAZING companies!

Once again I missed a Simple Saturday! Very terrible of me I know but, there was a good reason why!

Saturday was the very first annual Vegan Pizza Day in the US! I know, I know, sounds appetizing right?! Before I tell you how great some of these companies are, because I will,  I will tell you why this kind of thing is a big deal in the Blue Collar household. Especially since vegan food is not a typical thing in a house where you're pinching pennies.

My boys were born milk intolerant. The oldest was suppose to have outgrown it but, recently we've discovered that he has not. So, as you can imagine, going from having his favorite foods like macaroni and cheese or pizza and then having to give them up, is a very hard transition for a little guy. Especially one who relies heavily on structure.

Well, at the local Whole Foods store, we came across a Vegan pizza that my oldest agreed to try it out of sadness and desperation. We took it home and gave it a go. My son LOVED the pizza so much so that even I had to give it a try. It was better than some of the pizza's made with real cheese!!!


The name of that pizza was Tofurky cheese pizza, all Vegan and no milk or cheese. I was so in love with it and so amazed that my son was in love with it, that I wrote the company. This is how amazing some of these companies are......

When I wrote Turtle Island Foods about their Tofurky pizza, I never thought they'd email me back. They did and then went above and beyond! They emailed me back, even asked for out address so they could mail me "coupons and goodies". My son got a cute Tofurky lunchbox, some pins with cute sayings on them and some stickers, his favorite thing! As if that wasn't enough, unbeknown to me,  they then forwarded the email onward to yet another company!

This company is called Daiya.This company is the one that puts the cheese on the Tofurky pizza! They make a casein/milk free cheese! I know it sounds bad but, trust me when I say that it has to be THE most amazing non cheese - cheese I've ever, EVER tasted! I could not be more serious either! This coming from a pure Nebraska girl! We live off of meat and potatoes here. Which also includes a LOT of cheese, so to find this cheese good, was a shock!

Anyway, Daiya wrote me the most amazing email. Where they offered up information on their company and links to another site where they work with a company to make the cheese on a gluten free, dairy free, macaroni from a company called Amy's.

My son also loved the macaroni and cheese and needless to say, we have Daiya shredded cheese in our house and thanks to their company website, we also found 2 restaurants in town that serve the Vegan pizza with their cheese on it! So, we spent Saturday afternoon at a local pizza shop having pizza just like "normal people" do.

I should note that NONE of the following companies solicited my opinions expressed here. As a mother I was just so impressed with their products and how they are striving to make amazing products that are actually worth the money, taste amazing and are so great, even a little child who was used to milk enjoyed eating them!

So, if you've got a little extra cash or are looking for something a little different or even if you have milk allergies in your family, seriously consider checking out Tofurky pizzas or even making your own with Diaya cheese!

How my family has an allergy safe holiday!

I know, I've been absent a while now but, homemade gifts for an extended family, which includes friends, of almost 30 people and then a few special neighbors, can take some time. Oh and did I mention the presents that need wrapping, the baking that has invaded the kitchen?!

Well, this time of the year there is family coming in from all over. I make treats for every cousin, daughter, nephew, great aunt, etc. Which can prove difficult if you've got relatives with allergies or intolerances in the family. How do you bake without an egg? Or milk? You become a label expert, you learn substitutions and if you're smart, you start looking for your "go to gals" who have tried and adapted almost any recipe you can think of. From breakfast to deserts, you can alter any recipe and these ladies I'm about to tell you about have. Thank god because I'd be there for ages if I had to do it myself! :)

I discovered the first lady when my second child was born, also intolerant of milk and soy protein. I wanted real food and this time knew exactly what I was looking for. MSPI Momma has saved my sanity more times than I can count! I recently found her blog again and was still just as pleased as ever to find some great recipes to try out! She has wonderful things like this Chocolate Candy Cane Cake,

Lasagna or Applesauce Icebox Cake. If you have an intolerant child or children, like I do in my case, you need to peruse through her posts, she has some great recipes.


The second lady I've come to respect is The Food Allergy Momma. She has some great recipes like Warm Dairy, Egg and Nut Free pancakes which I've used since I first found it and my son loves it! We add chocolate chips to it, or his favorite, applejuice and cinnamon to make apple cinnamon pancakes. I actually mix the dry ingredients together and then store them in an air tight jar on the counter. So, it's ready to go and we just add the oil, water, apple juice and cinnamon. Another couple great recipes from her are Dairy, Egg and Nut Free Sugar Cookies or Dairy, egg and nut free chocolate crinkle cookies.

I haven't made the crinkle cookies yet but, they look delicious and you know I've got to!

These are just two of the fabulous ladies out there that do recipes like this. With a little bit of digging, you can make this a safe holiday for everyone. Happy Holidays!