A day of wheat, sugar, dairy and everything but taste free recipes!

Eating wheat, dairy and sugar free has had its challenges but I've become much more creative in the kitchen and we've begun to enjoy foods with less alteration. These are a couple of recipes that we've enjoyed recently. I love the enchilada one and all you wheat and dairy eaters can adapt it to be a fairly simple and nutritious meal too.

Fruit Sweetened Granola

• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup sunflower or other seeds (I also added about 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cup almonds or cashews (or other nuts) halved or coarsely chopped
• 1-2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup almond, sunflower or other oil
• 1/4 cup pineapple juice (I used apple)
• 1/2 cup mashed banana
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine oats, seeds, nuts, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. In a blender jar combine the oil, juice, vanilla and mashed banana, and blend briefly. (Or just mash together well.) Pour over the oat mixture and blend well.

Spread on a large jelly roll pan and bake for about 45 minutes, stirring about every 10 minutes. When light brown remove from oven - it crisps as it cools. Store in a cool dry place.

Enchilada Casserole

• 4 spelt toortillas
• 1 16 ounce cans of vegetarian refried beans (or 2 cups of homemade)
• 1 batch of Mexican sauce (recipe follows - or bought Mexican red sauce)
• 1 cup shredded cheese (optional)
• option to add leftover cooked shredded turkey, chicken or ground beef
• Sliced avocado or guacamole
• sliced black olives

Place on tortilla in the bottom of an 8 or 9 inch round baking dish, spread it with 1/3 of the beans, top with 1/3 cup Mexican sauce, and 1/4 cup of cheese (meat if adding - it's great vegetarian - either way!) Repeat the layers two more times. Top the casserole with the last tortilla, 1/3 cup of sauce and 1/4 cup cheese. Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes or until bubbly. Cut into wedges and serve with more sauce, olives and sliced avocado or guacamole if desired. Makes 6 servings.

Mexican Sauce

• 4 1/2 pounds ripe Italian plum tomatoes OR 1 28 ounce can tomato puree or sauce
• 1/4 onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1/8 -1/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp oregano
• 2 teaspoons chili powder or more to taste
• 1 tsp salt

If using fresh tomatoes, quarter, remove seeds and puree in blender or food processor. Saute the onion until it is soft. Combine the tomato puree (fresh or canned), onion, garlic, cumin, oregano, chili powder, and salt in a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until it is thickened. About 1 hour for fresh tomatoes, and 30 -40 minutes for canned. Makes about 3 cups of sauce.