Pioneer Woman's White Chicken Enchiladas Dairy & Gluten Free (mostly)

This enchilada recipe from the Pioneer Woman is one of my favorite homemade dishes and now that we've eliminated dairy and gluten from our diets the challenge is to find great substitutes. 

Because this recipe has so much dairy in it, I was afraid to cut it ALL out for fear that it wouldn't have enough flavor but I think it's totally doable and I will definitely try it next time. 

Here's the two ingredients that I subbed. Pepper Jack Cashew Cheese from Whole Foods for the sour cream and full fat coconut milk (the canned kind) for the heavy cream (let the can rest for at least 30 mins and spoon out the top fat into your measuring cup). I use Native Forest because it's certified Non GMO, Organic, and BPA free. 

I wasn't sure if using the coconut milk would make the enchiladas taste coconut-ty but it didn't. 

We just discovered cashew cheese a few weeks ago. Ya'll, it's so good! We dip tortilla chips in it like queso. All that's in it is cashews and seasoning and it seems really easy to make at home if you have a good blender. I'm hoping to try that soon. 

Like I said, I did keep a few "naughty" ingredients in the mix for fear that it would turn out horrible for various reasons. I kept the butter & flour because it only called for a little and I didn't want to mess up the function of the flour as a binder.  I used 1/2 c monterey jack cheese in the sauce and 1/4c shredded on top (instead of 2 1/2 c the recipe calls for) but I don't think it was necessary. I think next time I would maybe add 1/2c more cashew cheese and possibly 1/4c - 1/2c extra chicken broth so the sauce doesn't get too thick.  

I omitted the jalapeño and only used 1 4oz can of green chiles because the flavor from the pepper jack cheese was just enough of a kick for our taste. Here's a visual of the ingredients I used:

*I don't fry the tortillas in oil. I just warm them in the microwave right before assembling them. So I only use 1 TBSP of oil, usually olive.

This recipe turned out so great! Much better than I expected though it is a little time consuming. You could use a rotisserie chicken to speed it up and use store bought chicken broth but the homemade broth & chicken do have a great taste. I also use some of the leftover broth and make this green rice to go with the enchiladas. It's so good and I also made it mostly dairy free by using rice milk instead of regular milk. I did use regular butter but might try coconut butter or ghee next time and coconut milk instead of rice milk maybe. 

Since it's usually just the two of us, I always cook half and freeze the rest. They last us about 4 meals so it's totally worth all the time to cook. 

This meal tasted great (Brent even agreed) and I had NO digestive issues which it's amazing that there's an enchilada recipe I can say that about. So Good! 

Oakland Illustrated

Some friends of ours are starting a little letterpress shop just across the bay in Oakland. To get the word out they've collaborated with a handful of designers, Brent being one, on a series of letterpress prints which they are selling on Kickstarter. 

 The theme for the series was Oakland so each designer selected a different landmark or idea centered around that. Brent did an oak tree (which is obviously what Oakland is named after). 

He's also collaborating with Nate on this 8 x 10 letterpress of California. 

 Hoping to sell Brents contributions on his web store at some point but if you're interested in the full set make sure to check out the Kickstarter for all the details. You can get the set of 10 for $55 or the full set including the 8 x 10 for $125 which is a good deal for that many prints. Only 21 days left to purchase them so get them while you can!

SoCal with the 'rents

It was so fun to spend several days with my parents in southern California! They stayed a few days after a work trip to hangout with us which was so perfect because we love an excuse to go down to SoCal. 

We met up with them in Santa Barbara, one of our favorite places, and stayed at the Bacara Resort with this view from our balcony. Great way to start the trip, right? 

We just love SB. It's so quiet and peaceful but not out in the boondocks. It has good food and is close to LA. (Someday I will post my suggestions for the ultimate SoCal vacation). We had a fun time taking the 'rents around to a few of our favorite restaurants in SB and then headed for L.A. 

No trip to L.A. is complete without a Diddy Reese ice cream sandwich. Mom's a superstar with her sunglasses on inside. When in Rome right...

Probably the most unique experience of the trip was visiting the Magic Castle. This place was so odd and really indescribable. I wish they allowed pics because I could do a better job of describing it that way. 

It is an exclusive magic club with an old school strict dress code (yes believe it or not we did not choose to dress this way). For example, men can share their jacket with a lady when seated but when walking around the castle men have to wear their jacket. Very specific right?

One of my dad's childhood friends performs at the castle from time to time and was able to get us in. Unfortunately he wasn't performing that night which is probably just as well because I'm almost certain he would have embarrassed me. 

My parents still love to talk about when I was his assistant as a kid and how funny it was to watch me try so hard to separate these metal rings. He would separate them like it was nothing then hand them to me and I tried so hard and couldn't do it.

Since you aren't allowed to take pics inside this was the last pic we got. The first 3 magic shows were amazing. The last one was terrifying because, once again, I was selected to be the assistant during the show...it was just like the old days. No rings this time just pure Linds stagefright. If you know me very well you know that being in front of an audience is about the worst thing that could happen to me. My only saving grace was that the other girls asked to assist was drunk and made me look a little better. I guess my calling in life is not to be a magicians assistant and I'm ok with that. 

After the Magic Castle we headed to our rental house about 45 minutes south of LA in Laguna Nigel. The house had lots of space to hangout and enjoy life. It was so peaceful and relaxing and perfect. 

Mom and Dad were in CA for a work trip and one of their events was a Great Gatsby themed party. Aren't they cute!

Our last meal was in Venice Beach at Baby Blues BBQ. Good BBQ and the best banana pudding I've ever had. 

We stayed a few extra days in LA after the 'rents left. We got lucky that the weekend we were in town was the same weekend as our friend Grace's art show. To make matters better it was in an ice cream shop. Sold!

And it's always fun to see these guys. Chris and Jared took us around LA and kept us entertained.

Also, they took pics for us so we didn't have to take selfies. 

Still no Kardashian sighting. What's up with that?  Maybe next time.