The Daily Dietribe

Experiments in Gluten-Free Baking 101: Vegan Banana Bread and the Top 5 Ingredients to Have in Your Gluten-Free Pantry

2012-02-16T22:36:00.002-05:00

Whenever I write a post in this series, I leave you all with an invitation to send me a recipe you'd like to have me convert in some way. A few weeks ago, I got a request from a lovely woman named Yolanda to make banana bread. Yolanda's two-year old son was recently diagnosed with Autism, and she has started him on the gluten- and casein-free diet. Finding recipes the whole family can enjoy has been very important to her, and she knows they all love banana bread. So Yolanda sent me a link to this recipe for Cinnamon Swirl Raisin Bread, and I've been working on this recipe ever since. What I came up with is a sweet treat suitable for a snack or dessert (too much sugar for breakfast, in my opinion, although probably less than in most sugary cereals). While Yolanda's son does okay with eggs, I decided to make a vegan version for today's post. But it's equally easy to make this loaf with or without eggs, so I'll put in directions for both.

Now before I tell you how I converted this banana bread, Yolanda also asked me to share my thoughts on which flours she should stock in her pantry. I'm including part of her e-mail because I think we can all relate to this initial fear of gluten-free baking:

"I haven't baked anything yet 'cause I'm a chicken, and not to mention my brain goes to mush trying to figure out the best flours to use when it comes to GFCF baking. So maybe you can give some suggestions on which flours would be good to keep on hand. The only flour I use right now is brown rice flour when I fry foods sometimes. I'm open to learning all that I can!"

So, Yolanda, here's my answer. And what I would keep in mind is that this list is completely subjective. It's based on my own flavor and texture preferences, and my way of baking. Another gluten-free baker would give you a completely different response. Just as two painters may know the same color theory but create extremely different paintings, so can two bakers take the same basic knowledge and use it in completely unique ways. I'm basing my suggestions here not just on my favorite flavors and textures, but also on which flours I can use to create healthy recipes. I love the flavor and texture that sweet white rice flour imparts, but it's not exactly the healthiest option. And following a gluten- and casein-free diet is not just about taking out those two offenders. In my mind, it's also about substituting them with healthy options that will nourish your body and restore you to a healthier place. So keeping that in mind, here are my top 5 gluten-free pantry ingredients:

Sorghum Flour - Sorghum is very basic. It has a mild flavor that is reminiscent of sourdough, but overall is relatively bland. This makes it a perfect background flour for many different types of recipes. I've used it in cakes, cookies, breads, you name it. It's easily swapped in recipes calling for quinoa, garbanzo, millet, white or brown rice flour, and if I could only keep a few flours on hand, sorghum would definitely be one of them.
Blanched Almond Flour - High in protein and heart-healthy fats, almond flour is a must for anyone who can have nuts. Recipes baked with almond flour have a sweet flavor that will allow you to get away with using less sugar. In many cases, you can use almond flour alone without having to add any other flours or a starch. This makes for very simple recipes, which I love. I've also found that I can get a fluffy texture using almond flour that is really difficult to do with other gluten-free flours. In fact, my almond flour recipes (like my yeast-free English Muffins) are often the most popular with my non gluten-free friends. Almond flour is expensive, but I think it's worth it to keep your fridge stocked. It is generally more affordable to order in bulk online from companies like Honeyville or Nuts.com.
Teff Flour - Before I started my baking guides, I had never used teff. Now it is one of my favorite flours, and I bake with it all the time. It is very light, which means you can create recipes that will rise well without eggs. And I absolutely love the flavor, which has a hint of sweetness that I find unrivaled in most other gluten-free flours. I have found that it is one of the more difficult flours to find in stores, so I often purchase mine online from companies like Nuts.com and Bob's Red Mill.
Potato or Tapioca Starch - While I would love to bake without starches, I find it very hard when baking egg-free. It can be done, but converting a recipe to gluten-free is really simple when you have a starch to work with. Potato and tapioca starch work very similarly, so try them both and then use whichever one you prefer. I generally keep both on hand. Arrowroot starch is also a good option, but is more expensive than the other two, so I don't use it often.
Flax seed meal, chia seed meal, or whole psyllium husks - While not technically flours, I have found all three of these ingredients to be integral in my baking. For years I used xanthan or guar gum as binders. But once I started hearing about using these ingredients instead, I gave it a try, and am now hooked. This is a great way to get more fiber into your diet, and I personally prefer the texture of many of my baked goods made with flax, chia, or psyllium husks to those made with gums.
All-Purpose Mix - I'm cheating by adding a sixth ingredient. I rarely use all-purpose flours. It doesn't give me enough control over the flavors and textures I want. But if you're a new baker or don't want to be bothered with mixing flours, all-purpose mixes can be really helpful. I've only used Bob's Red Mill myself, and I like it just fine. But this is one of those cases where you really have to try a few and see what you like best. AP mixes can often (but not always) be used in recipes that call for a variety of flours. Just tally up the total cups of flours and starches, and use that quantity of an AP mix. This does not generally work for recipes that call for coconut or almond flour, since they work quite differently than other gluten-free flours.

Okay, so now that you know which ingredients I like to use, I would love for you to leave a comment for Yolanda letting her know what your must-haves are in your gluten-free pantry.
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And now on to banana bread! I started with this simple recipe for Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread. Muffins and quick breads are probably the easiest recipes to convert to gluten-free, so you can use many of these tips for any similar recipes.

This recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of flour. For this, I decided to start with 1 1/2 cups of Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Mix. While I like to use my own flours, I think it's also helpful for readers to know when they can use an AP mix. I prefer to substitute by volume (cups) rather than weight (grams).
This recipe calls for 1/3 cup melted butter. I used 1/3 cup canola oil, although any mild flavored oil would work. Melted coconut oil would be my ideal (healthiest) ingredient here, but because it's not particularly affordable, I save it for special occasions.
This recipe calls for 3/4 cup sugar. That seemed like an unnecessarily large amount of sugar on top of the bananas, so I cut it down to 1/4 cup. However, to replace some of the bulk of sugar, I added in 1/4 cup of chia seed meal. I figured I could kill two birds with one stone here because the chia would replace some of the sugar and also make xanthan or guar gum unnecessary. Chia seeds expand in liquid, helping to create a nice rise while simultaneously binding ingredients together.
This recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of baking soda. I noticed in the comments for the original recipe that a few people mentioned it did not rise as nicely as they had hoped, so I decided to add 1 teaspoon of baking powder for a little added oomph. Gluten-free baked goods also have a more difficult time rising, so extra baking powder is generally a good bet.
I reduced the 1/3 cup sugar called for in the "swirl" to 1/4 cup. It's not a big difference, but any chance to reduce sugar is always a good thing. This is a very sweet bread so some of you may prefer to leave that sugar swirl out altogether.
I kept all of these ingredients as originally written: 3 overripe bananas, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, dash of salt (1/8 teaspoon)

My first batch rose beautifully and tasted amazing. My only complaint was that I had baked it a bit too long (55 minutes), so it was not as moist as I would have liked. For my second attempt, I wanted to make my own mix of flours and take out the egg. Here's how I did it:

To replace 1 1/2 cups of Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Mix, I used my 1:1:1 method (equal parts one flour + one flour + one starch). As mentioned above, I love teff, so I used 1/2 cup teff + 1/2 cup teff + 1/2 cup tapioca starch.
To replace the egg, I added 1 more tablespoon of chia seed meal and 3 tablespoons of unsweetened almond milk with 1/2 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. To help the bread rise without the egg, I added an extra 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder.
I baked this version for five minutes less.

The result was a moist quick bread that I absolutely loved. My friends thought the teff gave it a hint of molasses that they were unused to but enjoyed. The combination of sugar and bananas made for a heady treat, while the high fiber content of the bread kept me full for hours (and yes, I actually did eat this bread even though it's not on my list of approved foods right now). You can tell from the photos that the egg-free version did not rise as high as the egg version did, but the flavor and texture were comparable, and in fact, the egg-free version was slightly moister.

Banana Bread (Print-Friendly Option)

Moist and chewy with sweet pockets of banana, your whole family will love this bread. For some fun additions, try adding in chopped walnuts, raisins, or chocolate chips. Quick breads are forgiving, so a number of substitution options are included below.

Ingredients:
For the Swirl:
1/4 cup sugar (50 grams)
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

For the Bread:
1 cup teff flour (155 grams)
1/2 cup tapioca starch (60 grams)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3 medium overripe bananas, mashed (296 grams)
1/3 cup canola oil (71 grams)
1/4 cup sugar (50 grams)
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon ground chia seeds (36 grams)
3 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk (40 grams)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Oil a 8.5 x 4.5 inch bread pan.
Mix sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Set aside.
Whisk teff flour, tapioca starch, baking powder, and baking soda together in a medium sized bowl. Set aside.
Place bananas, oil, sugar, chia seed meal, almond milk, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar in a large bowl. Beat with an electric hand beater, starting on low then increasing to medium speed, until ingredients are completely mixed. The bananas can still have small chunks, but should be mixed in well.
Beat or stir in flour until completely mixed. You can also do steps 4 and 5 in a food processor. Fold in cinnamon and sugar.
Scoop batter into pan and bake for 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Remove from oven and let cool for ten minutes before moving to a cooling rack.

Makes 1 loaf.

Possible substitutions:
Sugar: Use any granulated sugar here. Coconut palm sugar would work just fine.
Flour: Replace the teff and tapioca with 1 1/2 cups of an all-purpose mix. Or replace the 1 cup of teff with a combination of any of these two flours: quinoa, garbanzo, millet, sorghum, buckwheat, white rice or brown rice flour.
Bananas: Try using a fruit puree, such as applesauce or pureed pears. I suspect that you might end up needing to use a little less than the 296 grams of bananas called for, but not having tried it with this recipe, that's just a hunch.
Canola Oil: Use melted coconut oil or butter, grapeseed oil, or extra light olive oil.
Almond Milk: Any type of milk is fine here.
Apple Cider Vinegar: Lemon juice can be used or just leave it out if you don't have either. I've made it without, and the recipe turned out fine.
Chia Seeds: This is a tough one. Flax seed meal or whole psyllium husks would be the best choice, but the amount of each would be different. I suspect that you may need a little more flax seed meal or a little less whole psyllium husks, but I really can't give you any definite suggestions here other than to play around. If you can have chia seeds, play it safe and just use those.

To make this with eggs, only use 1/4 cup of ground chia seeds. Take out the almond milk and apple cider vinegar. Add 1 large egg with the rest of the wet ingredients.

Enjoy Experiments in Gluten-Free Baking 101? Have a recipe you'd like me to convert or a topic you want me to cover? Leave a comment or e-mail me at iris (at) thedailydietribe.com.

Gluten-Free, Vegan Millet Burgers

2012-02-14T12:23:00.002-05:00

I have very special plans tonight. Fancy schmancy plans, if you will. I have the perfect dress all picked out, I'll get my hair and makeup done, and oh yes, there will be a carriage ride through Central Park. It will be fabulous. I'll be the envy of every other woman in the land.

Okay, I'm lying. I'm going to my weekly Toastmaster's meeting to keep working on my ~~itty bitty~~ big fear of public speaking. But if I weren't, I would totally find a horse and carriage, and make this a special Valentine's Day. Just me, myself, my teddy bear, and the horse.

What? Jamie (my bear) is a very suitable date. Except he would probably rather stay home with Buttercup (my other bear). So it might just be me and the horse. Which I'm totally fine with.

And yes, Jamie is named after a certain James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser, and I bought him in Scotland. (Just had to throw that in for those of you who know what I mean!)

After my fancy carriage ride, I'd make myself some millet burgers. This is of course part of my fantasy because I can't actually eat millet burgers right now while I'm on a grain-free diet. But I developed this recipe a while ago and never shared it with you, so I thought you might enjoy it today. While we're all eating chocolates (or wishing we were), here's a healthy dinner recipe to add to your arsenal. It's pretty tasty, if I do say so myself. And perfect for Valentine's Day. Or any day really.

Millet Burgers (Print-Friendly Option)

The millet in these burgers lends a sweet overtone, while the parsley gives it a fresh note. Enjoy with your favorite burger toppings. I love making my own avocado dressing and serving it over a bed of greens.

Ingredients:
½ cup uncooked lentils
½ cup uncooked millet
1 carrot, chopped
1/4 cup packed fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried cilantro
2 tablespoons raw sunflower seeds
Sea salt to taste
1 tablespoon ghee or coconut oil

Directions:

Bring millet and 2 cups of water to a boil in a medium sized pot. Reduce heat to a simmer, and cook with top on until water is fully cooked down (20-30 minutes).
In a separate pot, bring lentils and 1 cup of water to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until water is fully cooked down (about 15 minutes).
While lentils and millet are simmering, chop the carrot. Place the carrot, parsley, cilantro, and sunflower seeds in a food processor.
Once lentils are done cooking, add to food processor. Pulse a few times, until mixture is lumpy but not completely pureed. Once millet is done cooking, stir lentil mixture into the millet. Add sea salt to taste. Form carefully into 6 patties (I'm told this is a bit of an art form, but mind held together well).
Heat a sauté pan over medium heat. Add ghee or coconut oil, and cook burgers until browned, a few minutes per side. Serve hot.

Makes 6 burgers

Sending you a very Happy Valentine's Day, filled with virtual chocolates and carriage rides galore!

Individual Chocolate Cakes for Two: A Gluten-Free, Vegan Valentine's Day Treat

2012-02-10T01:15:00.002-05:00

Let's talk Valentine's Day. I think there are generally two camps, right? The, "Valentine's Day was made up by Hallmark to sell cards," grumble, grumble, grumble camp. And the, "I love hearts and kisses and baking chocolate treats for my sweet," camp. The two are, of course, rather fluid, as one may desert one group for the other depending on relationship status. And then there are the staunch devotees, who will stick with one side no matter what his or her Facebook status may say.

Personally, I'm a wishy washy kind o' gal when it comes to this holiday. I like wearing red and pink, and I'll take any excuse to dress up (even if I'm only going to class). You already know I love baking, so I don't really need an excuse to make chocolate cake, but I'll take one anyway. But whether I'm single or coupled up, have a fancy date or a date with Sex and the City (or, dare I say, am sitting in the library doing homework), I approach Valentine's Day with just about the same amount of excitement. Which is to say, somewhat more than on President's Day but much less than Halloween, and nowhere near Christmas. It is simply a day in between the winter holidays and spring, but a day when I get to daydream and doodle hearts on my paper.

Oh yes. And bake.

Individual Chocolate Cakes for Two (Print-Friendly Option)

Is there anything better than a rich, dense chocolate cake? How about one that is high in fiber and antioxidants? Apricots are a good source of fiber, vitamin A, and iron, and both apricots and chocolate have antioxidant superpowers. You can also use your favorite granulated sugar in this recipe, so go ahead and swap the cane sugar for coconut palm sugar if you like.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup dried apricots* (126 grams)

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons full fat canned coconut milk, room temperature (90 grams)

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce (94 grams)

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons organic cane sugar - or any granulated sugar (72 grams)

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup sorghum flour (63 grams)

1/4 cup tapioca starch (30 grams)

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (20 grams)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

*You can use dried prunes, raisins or dates, but keep in mind the flavor will vary depending on which fruit you choose.

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil 2 large muffin tins.

2. Place the apricots, coconut milk, applesauce, sugar and vanilla in a food processor. Process until apricots are pureed.

3. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the sorghum flour, tapioca starch, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pour into the food processor and process until completely mixed.

4. Scoop into muffin tins. The batter will be enough to fill both tins. Wet your fingers and smooth the tops of the muffins. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a knife inserted in the middle just comes out clean.

5. Let cool for a few minutes before turning onto a cooling rack. Eat plain or top with your favorite frosting.

Makes 2 large muffins.

Because so many people are sensitive to chocolate, my original Valentine's Day goal was to come up with a recipe that could easily be made as a chocolate cake or a vanilla cake. Unfortunately, I didn't succeed with this one. While absolutely decadent, this chocolate cake is dense, halfway between a cake and a muffin really. For chocolate, that worked just fine. But when I made the vanilla version, it was very much a muffin, not a cake. And to be perfectly honest, it just wasn't up to my standards. It was a little too dense, and way too sweet. That being said, I thought I would let you know what I did so you can play around with it yourself if you so desire. And it's pretty simple:

To make a vanilla version of this cake, I replaced the 1/4 cup of cocoa powder with an extra 1/4 cup (30 grams) of tapioca starch. I left out the baking soda, and kept everything else the same. But like I said, I wasn't completely satisfied with the results (which didn't stop me from eating them all). So if you can't have chocolate and want to try this recipe, consider this a starting off point, and be ready to do some experimenting. Laurel, I hear your kitchen calling you...

For readers in the Seattle area thinking about going gluten-free or new to the gluten-free lifestyle, here's a great (free!) talk being given Monday morning by some of my classmates:

Going Gluten-Free
Monday, February 13
10 - 11 a.m.
Bastyr Center for Natural Health
3670 Stone Way N., Seattle, WA 98103
Free and open to the public

Join Bastyr University nutrition students, along with clinical supervisor Kelly Morrow, MS, RD, CD, for an engaging discussion on the benefits and drawbacks of consuming gluten. They'll explain the difference between a gluten allergy and a gluten intolerance; explore many different grains, both with and without gluten; and offer recipes and resources to help you and your family live a happy, healthy lifestyle without (or with less) gluten.

10 Gluten-Free and Vegan Super Bowl Recipes plus Best of Triumph Dining Awards

2012-02-03T10:26:00.000-05:00

Living in my grad student, tv-less bubble, my only inkling that the Super Bowl was near was from recent posts on Facebook. So while I will readily admit I have no intention of watching this year, I'll happily share some what I would be making were I to have a party. When entertaining guests, I like to have options that are vegan as well as gluten-free. That way, I'm including as many of my guests as I can. Here are my top ten vegan party pleasers, including yesterday's Salted Caramel Chocolate Shortbread Bars.

In more exciting news (at least for me), Triumph Dining is hosting their first ever Best of Gluten-Free Awards! And as a thank you for voting, they're giving away a bunch of prizes, including 25 copies of The Essential Guide to Gluten-Free Baking! Seriously, 25! That's a lot of chances to win! If you were trying to decide whether to purchase a copy, here's your chance to win one... And you can also vote for your favorite products, restaurants, and bloggers (including me) while you're at it!

Happy weekend and for those of you watching the Super Bowl, enjoy!

Experiments in Gluten-Free Baking 101: Salted Caramel Chocolate Shortbread Bars (Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Refined Sugar-Free, Vegan)

2012-02-02T03:00:00.004-05:00

For today's session of Experiments in Gluten-Free Baking 101, I had my mind set on making Salted Caramel Chocolate Shortbread Bars. I had seen this recipe on pinterest, and just knew I had to make my own version. The original recipe used a regular shortbread base, with butter, sugar, and corn syrup in the caramel and chocolate layers. Not exactly the best ingredients for this sensitive crowd, but easily adapted. I already had a caramel filling in mind, with the intention of simplifying my caramel dipping sauce recipe from December. For the chocolate glaze, I would be adapting a recipe for Chocolate Glazed Brownie Bites from our upcoming cookbooks. So all I needed was a simple shortbread recipe. I just had to decide if I wanted to make a grain-based or grain-free recipe. Two factors helped me decide to go grain-free:

The caramel filling has cashews, making this a nut based recipe already. No point in making a nut-free base, so I decided to play with almond flour for this shortbread (and for those sensitive to nuts, I've included links below to similar nut-free recipes you can try).
My first try was actually grain-based and was a flop. Going with the fact that traditional shortbread calls for rice flour, I used a combination of coconut flour and sweet white rice flour. It was dry and flavorless, and didn't leave me with any desire to experiment with that recipe again. Problem solved. Grain-free was the answer!

Once I decided to make a grain-free base, I had to decide whether to come up with my own recipe or use someone else's. I have two conflicting beliefs when it comes to baking. On the one hand, it's always more fun to invent your own recipe or adapt another recipe. On the other hand, there's no point in changing an already perfect recipe just so you can call it your own. Why mess with a good thing? Keeping in mind how expensive almond flour is, I chose to find a tried-and-true recipe, and save my wallet the cost of experimentation. Brittany had recently posted this recipe for Samoas, and I knew the cookie base would be perfect for my Salted Caramel Chocolate Shortbread Bars. But of course as luck would have it, I didn't have enough almond flour and was out of applesauce, two main ingredients. So despite my best intentions to follow the recipe exactly, I had to adapt it anyway, and I needed to get pretty creative. After a quick scrounge in my fridge, I came up with a small amount of almond flour, coconut flour, and enough raw cashews to make my caramel filling and have some left for the base. Could I make it work? I think you know the answer to that! Here's what I did:

The original recipe called for 2 cups of blanched almond flour and 1 cup of tapioca starch. Tapioca serves a dual purpose of soaking up liquid and providing some extra binding power (i.e. keeps your baked goods from crumbling). I only had 3/4 cup of blanched almond flour, so I knew I had to make up the bulk of my base with coconut flour and cashews. Coconut flour soaks up liquid like crazy, so I knew a little would go a long way, and could theoretically replace the tapioca. I went for 1/4 cup rather than the 1 tablespoon of tapioca starch called for to help make up for the lack of enough almond flour. (Side note: I would not normally use a starch and coconut flour interchangeably in recipes, but I had a feeling it would work out well in this application. In general though, I wouldn't recommend it. Starches provide a lightness to baked goods, while coconut flour is quite dense.) And if I pureed the cashews in the food processor until they were more like a nut butter, that would provide some sticky binding power. Again, I was confined here to using what I had available. I had 1/2 cup of cashews left, so that's what I used. I don't always get so lucky when I'm experimenting, but when you're working with almond flour and cashews, you're pretty much going to get something that tastes great no matter what.
Brittany's recipe called for applesauce. Like tapioca, applesauce can help hold baked goods together. I was out, but since I was going to puree the cashews, I figured I could leave that out with no problem.
The original recipe called for salt, but since I was going to add sea salt to the top of the chocolate, I didn't want to use any salt in the recipe itself.
Brittany called for 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract. In addition to flavor, I'm guessing this also helped bind her ingredients together so she could roll the dough out. After processing my ingredients, I found they made a nice dough that I could press into the pan, so I didn't bother adding any vanilla. However, when I make these again, I might add 1-2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract, if only because I could tell the bars wanted to be crumbly. They held together well, but a few pieces did crumble a bit when I was cutting them. Which of course is always a good excuse to eat that piece, since you don't want to have any imperfectly shaped bars on your platter, right?
Finally, Brittany calls for butter, ghee, Earth Balance or coconut oil. I used shortening because it's what I had on hand, but most likely any of these options would work just as well. If I were making them again, I would probably try coconut oil to be healthier, but since I haven't tested that out, I'm calling for shortening in my ingredients list below. I've had disastrous results substituting shortening with coconut oil in cookie recipes, so I don't want to make any assumptions that it will work here.
I used the same amount of coconut palm sugar and baking soda as called for in Brittany's recipe.
The original recipe called for a 10-12 minute baking time at 350 degrees F. I found with the addition of the cashews, they needed to bake a little longer, and left them in for 18 minutes. Just long enough that the bars would hold together, but not so long to get crispy. I still wanted that buttery, soft shortbread texture.

Once the shortbread base was made, I took a teeny tiny bite out of the corner to make sure I liked it. I didn't want to waste my caramel and chocolate on a bad shortbread after all. It was perfect. A hint of sweetness and a soft bite similar to traditional shortbread. All that was needed was to make the caramel and chocolate, and I was done! Easy peasy, and a recipe I would take to any party with pride. No need to make excuses for this gluten-free, vegan recipe! It was gone in two days, and I'll admit to you that I savored a piece of this confection as if it were the last dessert of a dying woman. The layers of flavor and texture absolutely melted on my tongue. I'm lucky really, that they disappeared so quickly, or I would be going back for seconds and thirds.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Shortbread Bars (Print-Friendly Option)

These little goodies will leave you craving more, and with good reason. The shortbread base has a buttery sweetness due to the cashews and almond flour, the caramel filling just melts in your mouth, and the chocolate glaze provides that final delight to your taste buds as you bite in. The combination of flavors and textures will amaze you. And no need to warn everyone that these are gluten, dairy, egg, and refined sugar-free. They'll never know!

Ingredients:
Base:
3/4 cup blanched almond flour (78 grams)
1/2 cup raw cashews (63 grams)
1/4 cup coconut flour (34 grams)
3 tablespoons shortening (Spectrum Organic is soy-free)
1/3 cup coconut palm sugar (49 grams)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Caramel:
1 cup raw cashews (106 grams)
1 cup powdered coconut palm sugar (147 grams)*
4 tablespoons Earth Balance Coconut Spread (sub: shortening, butter, ghee)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Chocolate Glaze:
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2 tablespoons coconut oil (sub: Earth Balance coconut spread, butter, ghee)
3 tablespoons coconut nectar (sub: any liquid sweetener) *have at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Sea salt to sprinkle over chocolate (use sparingly)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit inside an 8 x 8 inch baking dish. Cut it big enough that the paper will go up the sides; you'll use this to take the base easily out of the baking dish.
Combine all of the base ingredients in a food processor until they come together into a ball. Press evenly into the baking dish. Bake for 18 minutes. While base is baking, soak the 1 cup of cashews called for in the caramel sauce in a bowl of hot water. Set aside.
Remove baking dish from oven and allow to cool to room temperature in the dish (you can place it in the fridge to speed this process up once it cools some).
While the base is cooling, rinse and drain the soaked cashews. Wash out your food processor then place the cashews, alone with the rest of your caramel ingredients in it and puree until smooth. Once base has cooled, remove from baking dish and carefully place on a flat plate. Smooth caramel onto the base. I find it's easiest to place it in large glops, then smooth it all down with a knife.
Now it's time to make your chocolate. Heat the chocolate in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring often. Once the chocolate is almost completely melted, add the rest of the ingredients and stir until a smooth consistency is formed. Drizzle over the caramel sauce and then smooth over with a knife. Sprinkle sea salt lightly over chocolate. Chill in the fridge until the chocolate has hardened. Cut with a sharp knife into 16 squares. I find it is easiest if you clean the knife in between cuts since it gets a bit sticky. Serve chilled.

* To powder the coconut palm sugar, place it in a blender. Make sure the blender is completely dry inside first. Blend the sugar until it's the consistency of powdered sugar. Time will vary depending on your blender.

Makes 16 squares

Want to make a nut-free version?

Try this shortbread base recipe.
You can use Brittany's recipe for caramel and my recipe above for the chocolate glaze.

Have a recipe you'd like me to adapt for your dietary needs for a future Experiments in Gluten-Free Baking 101 post? Drop me an e-mail at iris@thedailydietribe.com with your recipe and dietary restrictions, and I'll see what I can come up with!

Basic Cream Sauce (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Egg-Free, Soy-Free, Nut-Free)

2012-01-30T00:47:00.003-05:00

Raise your hand if you miss mac and cheese! How about creamy fettuccine sauce? Enchiladas with cream sauce? Is your hand raised? Mine is! I'm also getting really hungry...

Not that I don't love you all, but I might have to cut this post short so I can go make dinner. I'm thinking shrimp, smothered in basil cream sauce, and served over a bed of garlic sautéed greens. Who wants to join me for dinner?

It's pretty simple. All you have to do is dice a sweet potato, a rutabaga (yes seriously, a rutabaga), and a leek, throw 'em all in a casserole dish, and pour full-fat canned coconut milk over it all. Bake for an hour at 350 degrees F and you're practically there. You can spend that hour making the rest of your meal, enjoying a glass of wine, or dancing with your sweetheart. Or perhaps watching an episode of Downton Abbey, this newfangled British show I hear is all the rage? (I watched the first episode this week and I have to admit it is thoroughly entertaining. I fear I'm hooked.)

Once your hour is up, throw (or gently place) everything in the blender, puree until smooth, and you're golden. A thick, creamy sauce that literally melts on your tongue. Eat it as is or dress it up and turn it something worthy of a fancy title. Pesto cream sauce. Cilantro avocado cream sauce. Roasted red pepper cream sauce. I could go on... But I won't. Because I have shrimp to cook, and you have cream sauce to make. Seriously. This is amazing! Even if you can eat cheese, you'll still want to make this!

Basic Cream Sauce (Gluten/Dairy/Egg/Soy/Nut-Free) (Print-Friendly Option)

Enjoy this rich sauce over your pasta, drizzle it on your enchiladas, or use it as a cheese substitute for lasagna. Alternatively, you can serve it chilled as a dip and enjoy it with veggies or chips. Or if you're like me and you just need a quick pick-me-up, grab a spoon and have a couple of bites on their own. It's seriously that good.

Ingredients:
1 large rutabaga, peeled and diced (about 2 cups diced)
1 large sweet potato, diced (about 3 cups diced) - I use the lighter sweet potatoes; the darker ones will taste just as good, but give you a deeper color to your sauce
1 leek, the white part sliced thin (save the dark green part for another day)
1 13.5 ounce can full-fat canned coconut milk
(Optional) Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
(Optional) Fresh basil or parsley, minced

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Place diced rutabaga, sweet potato, and leek in a casserole dish (this fits perfectly in my 8 x 11 inch dish). Pour coconut milk over the top and stir to coat evenly.
Bake for an hour, taking the dish out briefly after 30 minutes just to stir the ingredients for even baking.
Take dish out of the oven and puree the ingredients in a blender until creamy. I prefer my sauce thick, but you can add extra coconut milk or other milk to thin the sauce out if preferred. Taste and add salt and pepper if desired (I found it was just as good without salt as with). Garnish with minced fresh basil or parsley. Serve hot, use as a base for casserole dishes, or serve chilled with chips and vegetables.

Variations:
Mushroom cream sauce: Sauté mushrooms and add them to the sauce after pureeing.
Roasted red pepper cream sauce: Puree roasted red peppers along with everything else.
Pesto cream sauce: Stir in some pesto after pureeing.
Italian cream sauce: Add in sundried tomatoes when pureeing, then stir in diced artichoke hearts.
Cilantro avocado cream sauce: Puree 1/4 avocado and a handful of fresh cilantro with everything else.
Enchilada cream sauce: Add in chopped green chiles, green onions, and fresh cilantro.

Yield: Approximately 3 cups

This recipe is linked to Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten-Free. The theme this month is Foods that Heal, hosted by Maggie of She Let Them Eat Cake.

A little about the health benefits of this cream sauce:

Coconut milk:

High in potassium
Good source of medium chain triglycerides, which are burned rapidly in the body, making it a good fat option for those watching their weight
BUT, when buying canned coconut milk, there are some disadvantages to take into account, and this article outlines them well. I personally like to buy Native Forest coconut milk, which is an organic brand that I trust.

Rutabagas:

High in vitamin C
Good source of fiber

Sweet Potatoes:

Good source of beta-carotene, which is absorbed well by the body when combined with fats (coconut milk) in your meal
High antioxidant status may reduce the risk of damage due to heavy metals and other toxins in the body (this is great for those of us with digestive problems!)
High in vitamin C, manganese, vitamin B6, and fiber

Leeks:

High in vitamin K, vitamin A, manganese, vitamin C, and folate
High concentration of antioxidant polyphenols helps blood vessels from oxidative damage

And most importantly, these ingredients work well for a lot of people with food sensitivities, making it a great addition to any dinner table!

Experiments in Gluten-Free Baking 101: Pineapple Muffins (Gluten-Free, Vegan)

2012-01-26T01:31:00.002-05:00

For today's post, I'm going to do something a little bit different. In honor of a new website called The Balanced Platter, I want to help you all find a little of that balance in your own kitchens. Which, to me, means feeling comfortable adapting recipes to work with your own needs. Having a great recipe is important, but understanding how to play around with ingredients is key to enjoying your favorite foods. I always look at recipes and think about how I would like them to be different for my diet, and I'm sure you do the same.

When Brittany and I began working on our gluten-free baking guides, it was with the knowledge that there were a lot of you out there feeling pretty confused in your kitchens. We could just hear the questions going through your heads (mostly because they were also going through our heads). "How can I make this recipe without eggs?" "What can I use instead of garbanzo bean flour?" "Can I use a gluten-free all-purpose mix in place of the flours in your recipe?" Our goal was to create a resource to answer all of those questions, and we did that. Of course, this is where I shamelessly plug our books and tell you to go pre-order both parts 1 and 2. You'll get the answers to all your questions, plus recipes for cinnamon rolls, pizza pockets, angel food cake, naan, and even a vegan, yeast-free sandwich bread recipe! Each book contains over 50 recipes, conveniently organized by main flour used. Wondering how to use up that amaranth flour you bought? Just skip to the chapter on amaranth and you'll find a bunch of recipes that you will love! Want to know how to use coconut flour without eggs? We have a number of egg-free recipes in our coconut flour chapter that will delight you and have your kids asking for more.

Now, while I know you'll benefit from having our books as a handy reference for your baking, I also want to teach you what I learn as I continue along in my own baking experiments. Perhaps a year ago, one of my readers asked me how I go about making substitutions in baking. I've been thinking about that question ever since. I knew there was no simple way for me to respond. Writing a baking guide was my first answer. This is my second one. I've decided to start a series here on how I bake. Rather than just sharing my final recipe with you, I'm going to take you through all the steps I go through to get there. I'll let you know what recipe I start with, how I make substitutions, and what my thought process is. If all you want is the recipe, it will be there for you. But if you're interested in how I got from point A to point B, I'll share all the fun details and you can learn right along with me!

First, here are some pointers on adapting recipes:

Start with a recipe you trust. Either use a recipe you've tried before or a recipe from someone you know is a good baker.
Only make one change at a time. If you change too many ingredients at once, you'll have no way of knowing how each individual change affected the recipe.
When possible, make half or even quarter batches (which is easy with muffins). That way, if you don't like your end result, you won't have wasted as many ingredients.
Use a scale. If you don't have one, buy one. A cup is a cup is a cup, right? Wrong! I have measured a cup of almond flour and gotten measurements from 95 grams to 140 grams. Just imagine how different your recipe will turn out if you measure 95 grams of flour one time and 140 grams the next time. In general, my measurements come out pretty similar, but sometimes the numbers are extremely different and it is important to keep track. When I'm testing recipes, I try to write down the weight of every ingredient so that I can be as exact as possible when retesting. It's also a lot easier to cut recipes in half when you have the weights.
Write everything down, not just ingredients. Keep notes on how your recipe looks, feels, tastes, and any thoughts you have. Don't assume you'll remember what you thought, because you probably won't. Just put everything in your notebook so you can reference it the next time you work on that recipe.

Okay, ready to start? Today we're making Pineapple Muffins. Why? Because I had a can of pineapple tidbits in my pantry that I wanted to use up. This is how many of my recipes come about, and it's as good a reason as any to learn to adapt recipes. How many times have you had to run to the store because you were missing an ingredient? Most of the time now, I just use what I have and try to make it work!

Step 1: Start with a trusted recipe. I decided to use this recipe for quick bread from my co-author, Brittany. I've used it before, and know that she tested it probably over twenty times until she had it perfect. I also know that it's a "basic" recipe, meaning that you can make a lot of changes and it will still work.

Step 2: Start adapting. Here's where you're supposed to make one change at a time. I have to be honest and tell you that I never follow that rule, even though I'm telling you to. I'm way too impatient. However, I've also had a lot of flops and that's probably why...

Brittany calls for 2 cups of gluten-free all-purpose flour. My personal favorite blend these days is a 1:1:1 ratio (in cups, not grams) of coconut flour to rice flour to starch. I've used this successfully in many recipes in place of all-purpose blends. In this case, I decided to use brown rice flour since it's more nutritious than white rice flour. I chose tapioca as my starch simply because I was running out of potato starch, and arrowroot starch is expensive. I often use potato and tapioca starch interchangeably, although there are subtle differences between the two. So for my 2 cups of flour, I used 2/3 cup of coconut flour, 2/3 cup of brown rice flour, and 2/3 cup of tapioca starch.
Brittany calls for 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum. In general, when I'm replacing xanthan gum, I start with 1-2 tablespoons of flax seed meal, chia seed meal, or whole psyllium husks (or a combination of two). Sometimes, I find it works best to make a gel by mixing the ingredient with hot water, but with muffins, you can often just add the psyllium, flax, or chia without any extra water. Muffins hold together pretty well on their own, so I decided to just use 1 tablespoon of whole psyllium husks, added to the dry ingredients. I could have gone with flax or chia seed meal, but whole psyllium husks are really good at keeping baked goods from deflating after baking. Since coconut flour is so dense, I thought these muffins might need that extra little help.
Brittany calls for 3/4 cup milk + 1 teaspoon of vinegar. The purpose of this is to curdle the milk and make a "buttermilk." However, you can replace 1 cup of buttermilk with 7/8 cup of juice in many recipes. I decided to use 3/4 cup of pineapple juice. Technically, I should have used a little less than 3/4 cup, but since I didn't add any hot water with the whole psyllium husks, I figured a little extra juice would be fine. (You'll see that I was wrong about that...)
I added 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and 1/8 teaspoon of ground allspice to give the muffins a little oomph.
I used 1 1/2 cups of yogurt instead of 1 1/4 cups, using So Delicious plain coconut yogurt as the yogurt called for. In all honesty, I only did this because I read her recipe wrong, although it worked out fine. But here's another tip for you. Pay attention when you're reading the ingredients list.
I followed everything else in Brittany's recipe as it was written. For the granulated sugar, I used regular old refined cane sugar. It's cheaper, so I tend to use that when testing recipes, and then test out the final version with coconut palm sugar or another unrefined sugar. I did not add in pineapple tidbits in my first version.
Brittany's quick bread is supposed to be baked at 330 degrees F for 50-120 minutes (depending on ingredients). For muffins, I decided to go with 350 degrees F and simply baked them until a knife stuck in the middle came out clean, which took a full 27 minutes.
Results? My first batch was very sweet, leading me to think I could get away with using less sugar on the second round. The pineapple flavor was tasty, but a bit too "one-note" so I decided to increase the spices and add in a little ground ginger. My testers thought they would be tasty with some chopped fruit or nuts, so I threw in some pineapple tidbits. They also took a long time to cook and even then were a tad bit gummy inside, so I used less liquid on my second try. They didn't collapse after baking, but looked like they wanted to, so I added more pyllium husks- not a lot though since I didn't want to affect the flavor at all.

Step 3: Make them again, using your notes from last time and making new changes.

I increased the whole psyllium husks from 1 tablespoon (3 teaspoons) to 4 teaspoons. This time, I added them to the wet ingredients rather than the dry so that they could begin to expand in the liquid a little sooner.
I cut the sugar down from 3/4 cup to 1/2 cup since the pineapple juice was so sweet.
I cut the pineapple juice down from 3/4 cup to 1/2 cup since the muffins took so long to bake all the way through.
I increased the cinnamon from 1/4 teaspoon to 1/2 teaspoon, the allspice from 1/8 teaspoon to 1/4 a teaspoon, and added 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger.
I added in 1 cup of pineapple tidbits to give the muffins a heartier bite.
Results? These muffins were just perfect! They still took a good 25 minutes to bake, but were moist without being gummy, and had just a hint of spice. From there, the only other thing I wanted to change was to test them again with coconut palm sugar.

Step 4: Test them once last time, making any final changes.

I replaced the 1/2 cup refined cane sugar with 1/2 cup of coconut palm sugar. The result was a muffin that was darker in color, with a mildly sweet flavor. They were moist, delicious, and of course healthier than the original muffins made with refined sugar. I found that the texture was best after they had been allowed to cool completely.

My thoughts on future variations:

I would love to try these again with chopped walnuts or pecans added in with the pineapple tidbits.
It would be fun to try these with apple juice and chopped apples instead of the pineapple juice and pineapple tidbits.
Since the original recipe I started with called for 2 cups of all-purpose mix, it would likely work just as well to make these with your own all-purpose mix rather than the flours and starches called for. But I haven't tried it myself...
If I took out the psyllium husks and added an egg, they would likely rise more. I might need to reduce the amount of liquid a tiny bit to add in the egg. I would probably reduce the oil rather than the pineapple juice since both oil and eggs are sources of fat. But not having done this, I don't know if it would work. More often than not, I bake without eggs these days since more people can eat my baked goods that way.

Have a recipe you'd like me to adapt? Leave a comment or send me an e-mail, letting me know what recipe you want to change and what your dietary restrictions are. If I can successfully adapt your recipe, I'll feature it in one of my Experiments in Gluten-Free Baking 101 posts. Or if I fail, I just might include that too! It's just as helpful to know what doesn't work as what does.

Pineapple Muffins (Print-Friendly Option)
Enjoy these sweet treats for breakfast or an afternoon snack. Try adding in some chopped nuts for added protein and a nice hearty bite.

Ingredients:
2/3 cup coconut flour (80 grams)
2/3 cup brown rice flour (88 grams)
2/3 cup tapioca starch (84 grams)
1/2 cup coconut palm sugar (76 grams)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/3 cup mild-flavored oil- canola, grapeseed, extra light olive (70 grams)
1/2 cup pineapple juice (104 grams)
1 1/2 cups yogurt (I used 2 6-oz containers of So Delicious plain coconut yogurt)
4 teaspoons whole psyllium husks

1 cup pineapple tidbits (170 grams)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 12 cup muffin tin with liners or by greasing the cups.
In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut flour, brown rice flour, tapioca starch, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the oil, juice, yogurt, and psyllium husks. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry until no longer lumpy. Stir in the pineapple tidbits.
Fill the muffin tins about 3/4 full. Wet your fingertips with water or oil and smooth the tops of the muffins.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool for a few minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

Makes 12 muffins.

The Balanced Platter is an amazing new website devoted to healthy living and eating. It was created by Amy Green of Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free, and Maggie Savage of She Let Them Eat Cake. I have found it to be a wonderful resource and I think you will too!

Curry Braised Chicken Thighs with Apples and Leeks

2012-01-24T15:35:00.005-05:00

I made this dish three times last week. Partly because I wanted to be sure I had it right before I shared it with you. But also just because it was that good. I've been missing comfort food. You know, the kind of hot meal you eat on a cold winter night while watching a movie? With multiple food sensitivities, comfort food often goes out the door, replaced by lots of fish and veggies. Delicious, yes. Healthy, certainly. Comforting? Not exactly. These Curry Braised Chicken Thighs with Apples and Leeks gave me exactly what I was craving. Warm and mildly spiced, it made my mind and my stomach happy. And that's no easy task!

Curry Braised Chicken Thighs with Apples and Leeks (Print-Friendly Option)
Enjoy a nice curry sauce without using any starch as a thickener. Flax seed meal is a great alternative to using tapioca or cornstarch, and this makes a delicious, low-glycemic meal your guests will love.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon coconut oil (sub: ghee, butter)
1 tablespoon ground flax seed meal
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
2 organic chicken thighs
1 leek, just the white part, sliced thin (save the dark green parts for making broth or soup)
1 apple, diced
1/4 cup water
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat coconut oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. You want the pan to be hot but not smoking. Mix the flax, cumin, curry, and salt together in a large bowl. Rinse and pat the chicken thighs dry, then dredge them in the seasonings. Add to the pan and cook for 3 minutes, until chicken is browned.
Turn chicken over and pour any seasoning that was left in the bowl over it. Add the leeks, apple, and water. Put the top on and simmer for 15 minutes. Depending on how hot your stove gets, you may need to turn the heat down to medium-low. You just want the dish to be simmering, not boiling.
After 15 minutes, turn the chicken over again, stir the apples and leeks to ensure even cooking, and put the top back on for another 5 minutes. Add freshly ground black pepper to taste and serve hot.

Serves 2.

Banana Chocolate Chunk Cookies (Gluten-Free, Refined Sugar-Free, Vegan)

2012-01-19T13:03:00.011-05:00

What does the New Year mean to you? To many, it means a chance to reflect on where they've been and where they would like to go. It is an opportunity to make meaningful changes and identify those areas in their lives where they are ready to commit to something new. My friend, Hallie, author of The Pure Kitchen, understands that desire to use this time of year as a stepping off point. A bridge, not to a "better" you, but to a happier you. Because ultimately, that is the goal in life, isn't it? I asked a client recently how she wanted to live her life, and she told me, "I just want to be happy." Isn't that all any of us wants in the end?

How are cookies going to help you be happier? As part of a "New Year, New You" January event (hosted by Hallie and Lexie), I'm sharing a recipe with you today that focuses on healthier sweeteners. I want to help you step away from anything refined or chemical (e.g. regular old table sugar, splenda, equal) and find your way to working comfortably with unrefined sweeteners. What are we talking about then? I like to use sugar alternatives like sucanat, turbinado sugar, maple syrup, raw honey, coconut palm sugar, stevia and more. Sucanat and turbinado sugar are both less processed forms of table sugar, while the other sweeteners are made from different plants or trees (or bees). Today we're going to be using coconut palm sugar, a low-glycemic alternative to refined cane sugar.

Here's the basic story of what happens when you eat refined cane sugar. Sugar is released quickly into your bloodstream, causing your blood-glucose levels to rise (glucose is a type of sugar). This stimulates your pancreas to secrete insulin. You know what insulin is, right? It's that thing they talk about in relation to diabetes. Basically, insulin is your body's way of regulating your blood sugar levels. When insulin levels rise (like after eating a batch of banana chocolate chunk cookies made with regular sugar), it tells your body to get rid of all that sugar circulating around. It's sent into your fat tissues for storage, which can then lead to hypoglycemia or low blood glucose. The result is that you end up tired and craving that very thing that sent you into a tailspin in the first place: more sugar. Because your blood sugar is now way too low, your body wants a quick dose of sugar to bring it back up. You end up going back and eating more of those cookies that didn't make you feel good in the first place and then wondering once again why your cravings got so out of control.

How can you regulate your blood sugar so that you don't vacillate between high and low blood glucose levels?

Include a source of protein and/or healthy fats at each meal or snack. Protein and fat counteract the effects of insulin and slow down the absorption of sugar into your cells. These cookies contain coconut oil, a healthier fat than you'll find in most commercial cookies.
Choose foods that are low on the glycemic index. The glycemic index is a measure of a food's effect on your blood glucose levels. Refined sugar rates an 80 on that scale. Coconut palm sugar rates a 35. When I bake goodies with coconut palm sugar, my housemates tell me they feel much better afterward. On the other hand, when I bake those same recipes with refined sugar, I notice my housemates going back for seconds and thirds more often. It's that insidious nature of sugar to spike your blood sugar, drop it down, and make you want more. Coconut palm sugar won't do that.
Eat every 2-3 hours to keep your blood sugar from dropping too low. No matter what you're eating, if you go long hours in between meals and snacks, your blood glucose levels are going to drop. Once they get too low, you go from being a nice, normal person to being a crazy lunatic who will eat anything in sight. Because sugar is the fastest way to get your blood sugar up, that's what you're going to want. This isn't about willpower. This is about your body's chemistry. Give your body a steady source of energy so that it doesn't start screaming for a quick fix that you'll regret later.
Finally, keep in mind that baked goods (unless they're made with low-glycemic flours like almond flour and coconut flour) are going to raise your blood sugar levels regardless of how you sweeten them. That's because the flour itself is high in carbohydrates, which will break down to sugar in your body. Luckily, sorghum flour (which is the flour I use in these cookies) is a good source of both protein and fiber.

My recipe for Banana Chocolate Chunk Cookies is included below, but be sure to also read my guidelines under that. I've added instructions for how to make lots of substitutions to these cookies, including what to use if you don't want to make them with bananas, how to add extra protein to your cookies, and how to substitute other flours. I've played around with this recipe a lot and it's very adaptable, so don't be shy. Get in your kitchen and experiment!

Banana Chocolate Chunk Cookies (Print-Friendly Option)

These cookies are a crowd pleaser. When I asked my friend for his honest opinion, he told me they were addictive. I believe his exact words were, "I would get sick eating these. I would eat them until I vomited." Maybe I shouldn't be quoting him on that, but I couldn't help myself. I took it as a compliment.

Yield: 16 cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup sorghum flour (136 grams)
1/3 cup arrowroot starch (40 grams)
2/3 cup coconut palm sugar (104 grams)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
6 tablespoons pureed banana (92 grams)
6 tablespoons melted coconut oil (68 grams)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup chocolate chunks (104 grams)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Set out 2 cookie sheets. You can grease them, but I find it's generally not necessary with these cookies.
Whisk together the sorghum flour, arrowroot starch, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add the banana, oil, and vanilla extract. Stir until completely mixed.
Stir in the chocolate chunks. I used a dark chocolate bar and just broke it up. Of course, chocolate chips would work just as well.
Roll heaping tablespoons of dough into balls and flatten slightly. If you use some of the substitutions below, your dough may be stickier and you will not be able to roll it into balls. In that case, just drop the dough onto the cookie sheets as you would any other drop cookies. Those will spread slightly.
Bake for 12 minutes. Let cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Now for the fun part! I have made about ten different variations on these cookies, and I've included everything I've tried below. I found it was almost impossible to mess them up! Not completely impossible though...I did try one variation that resulted in a giant brittle cookie that required an overnight soaking of the cookie sheet to unstick it. Obviously, that variation is not included!

Note: With all of my substitutions, I substituted by volume (cups), not weight. I found substituting by weight often resulted in flatter cookies that spread. If you want to use weight, just keep in mind the consistency of the original batter and add small amounts of flour, if needed, to thicken it. If it's too thin, the cookies will spread more than you might want.

How to replace:
Bananas: Use an equal amount of unsweetened applesauce.
Arrowroot starch: Use an equal amount of tapioca or potato starch.
Sorghum flour: Use an equal amount of buckwheat, teff, garbanzo bean, millet, brown rice, white rice, or quinoa flour. Keep in mind that your cookies will take on the flavor of whatever flour you choose, so pick one that you like! This recipe does NOT work with coconut flour. I am pretty sure the recipe could work with almond flour, but I have not yet figured out the exact proportions. Once I have that down, I'll post the recipe for you. If you want to start playing around with almond flour, here's a tip: skip the oil completely, use more almond flour, and chill the dough for an hour in the fridge before baking.
Chocolate: Commercial chocolate bars are hard to find without refined sugar. You can make your own stevia-sweetened chocolate bars, or you can use an equal amount of something else. Try chopped walnuts, pecans, raisins, or even sesame seeds!
Coconut Oil: Use an equal amount of any type of mild-flavored oil, such as canola oil, extra light olive oil, or grapeseed oil.
Coconut Palm Sugar: Use an equal amount of sucanat or turbinado sugar. If your sugar is particularly coarse (the crystals are large), run it through your blender quickly to make the crystals smaller. If all you have is regular table sugar, you can use that too. Just don't eat too many!

How to use an all-purpose mix: Choose a mix that does not contain xanthan or guar gum. I tested mine with Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Mix. Take out the sorghum flour and arrowroot starch and substitute in 1 1/3 cups of the all-purpose mix.

How to add more protein:
As I mentioned above, having protein with your carbs will lead to a steadier blood sugar level throughout the day. For vegans, you can add chopped nuts or seeds to your batter with the chocolate chips. For non-vegans, eggs are a great way to increase the protein in your cookies:

Add 1 large egg with your wet ingredients. Cut the banana puree down from 6 tablespoons to 2 tablespoons. Cut the baking powder down from 1 teaspoon to 1/2 teaspoon.

To help you get started with natural sweeteners, Hallie is hosting a giveaway this week for a gift pack of natural sweeteners from Wholesome Sweeteners. Stop by to enter for your chance to win!

Other bloggers swapping out their sugar for natural sweeteners:
Amy from Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free shares her point of view on swapping sweeteners.
Diet, Dessert, and Dogs made a Low-Fat Cinnamon-Walnut Loaf using stevia powder.
Daily Bites made Soft Island Bliss Cookies using honey.
Lexie’s Kitchen made some Candied Walnuts using coconut sugar.
Maggie of She Let Them Eat Cake made Cookie Dough Milkshake using molasses and dates.

Simple Sautéed Brussels Sprouts

2012-01-08T03:16:00.001-05:00

I have a problem with brussels sprouts. It's the fact that there's an s after brussel. It took me a long time to learn this, and an even longer time to accept it. I still don't really. I think whoever decided on the spelling should be posthumously invalidated, and brussels sprouts should be spelled correctly. As brussel sprouts. Which is how we pronounce them. Apparently they were named after the city in Belgium, but since they are not believed to have originated there, I think we should take the name back.

I'm not sure why this bothers me so much. Maybe because I won two spelling bees back in elementary school, and it hurts my pride to know I've been spelling this word wrong for years. Like in this recipe for roasted brussels sprouts from 2010. Maybe I should stop taking so much pride in winning a spelling bee almost 20 years ago. 20 years? Ouch... I would say OMG, but I just suddenly realized I'm too old for that. Although the kids probably aren't even saying that anymore these days. They're saying something else that I'm too old to know about. Sniffle sniffle.

I'm kidding. At least about being upset over my impending thirties. I'm not kidding about taking too much pride in my spelling bee wins (okay, I only won one; I came in 4th the second year). However, Brittany and I have been feverishly working on our cookbooks for their deadline on January 15th, so I'm a little bit slaphappy right now. I shouldn't actually be writing a blog post because I have way too much book writing to do. But clearly writing about brussels sprouts was important and it had to happen right away.

Simple Sautéed Brussels Sprouts (Print-Friendly Option)

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 pound brussels sprouts, sliced thin
Sea salt to taste
1/2 inch piece of ginger, minced
15 drops liquid stevia (or 1-2 teaspoons maple syrup for non-stevia people)

Directions:

Heat coconut oil over medium heat in a large sauté pan. You want the pan to be hot enough to sear the brussels sprouts, but not so hot that the oil begins to smoke. Add the brussels sprouts and sprinkle with sea salt. I would give you an exact amount, but I know everyone's preferences for salt are different, so just go with your instincts here. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until the brussels sprouts are browned.
Add the ginger and stevia, and stir the brussels sprouts. Cook for another 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally if needed. Serve hot.

Serves 2.

In more exciting news - although really, what could be more exciting than brussels sprouts - our books' covers have been finalized, and both of our books are available for pre-order on Amazon! I am beyond excited! You can click on the photos below to be taken to the links on Amazon. And if you wanted to order a copy (or two), I certainly wouldn't stop you!

(p.s. The winner of the Flackers giveaway is Carolyn. She has the most hysterically funny blog, which I spent too much time reading last night! I highly encourage you to go read it!)

Flackers (Flax Crackers) Review and Giveaway

2012-01-05T01:09:00.001-05:00

Traveling while gluten-free is never easy. Traveling while gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, sugar-free (etc. etc.) is even harder. Yet I've done a lot of it this year, and I'm finally beginning to feel like I know what I'm doing (sort of). It requires planning, trips to the grocery store in every city, and fortitude. It also requires having a few snacks on hand to get you through the times when you don't have any available options. Apples will only go so far, and while baked sweet potatoes work for me, they're not the most convenient snack to carry around. There are no gluten-free snack products on the market that I can eat at this point - at least none that I've found. Except Flackers.

Flackers are raw (sprouted and dehydrated) flax crackers made with minimal ingredients, created by a company called Dr. in the Kitchen. They're not readily available in most stores yet, but I've been able to find them reliably at Whole Foods stores. I first tried them this past summer when I was visiting my sisters in California. Reading the ingredient list, I was surprised to see that they looked like they might be okay for me. So I bought a box and immediately ate a cracker. And another one. And then another one. They were delicious and tasted great on their own (no dips or spreads needed). I waited a minute to see if I would feel the tell tale puffy jaw that I get when I'm reacting to a food, but nothing happened. Woohoo! A snack I can actually buy at the store and have on hand? It's a miracle!

After I got back to Seattle, I had trouble finding all of the flavors, so their company kindly sent me a package of all three flavors to try out. Believe me though, I would be writing a review for them even if they hadn't sent me any because I am so happy to find a product I can eat. I continue to purchase them whenever I find them in stores. For those of you who avoid soy, I'll note that I am also eliminating soy from my diet right now, but that I don't seem to have any reaction to the soy in Flackers. I did notice that of the three flavors, two of them gave me mild heartburn due to chili peppers in the ingredients (I also avoid nightshades), but I had no problem with the Rosemary Flackers.

Ingredients in Rosemary Flackers:
organic flax seeds, organic apple cider vinegar, non-GMO vegetable protein from non-GMO soybeans and purified water, organic rosemary, organic sage

The Giveaway:
Dr. in the Kitchen is offering one reader a pack of all 3 flavors of Flackers: Rosemary, Savory, and Dill. To enter, you can do any of the following. You can receive multiple entries, just leave a comment for everything you do. Please make sure you leave an e-mail address or way for me to contact you!

How to enter:
1. Leave a comment. Simple!
2. Post about this giveaway on Facebook and leave a comment letting me know.
3. Post about this giveaway on twitter and leave a comment letting me know.
4. Follow Dr. in the Kitchen on twitter or Facebook and leave a comment letting me know.

Deadline:
This giveaway will close at midnight on Saturday January 7th.

How to Make a Vision Board plus Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cookies (Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free, Vegan)

2012-01-03T03:00:00.008-05:00

I've written about vision boards a lot over the past couple of years, and I often get asked how to make one, so I thought I would share my personal vision boarding process. I really don't think there is a right or wrong way to make one, but this is what works for me. Of course, you can make it at any time during the year, but I love the idea of starting a new calendar year with a fresh vision board. In all honesty, I have yet to make mine this year because the timing hasn't felt right. I've got a big board, lots of photos and magazines, but a somewhat misty vision. After being gone from home for two and a half weeks, there's a lot of emotional dust that needs to settle before I can be clear on what I want this year. But I can tell it's almost time...

Okay, so you want to make a vision board? Here's what you'll need:

A couple of hours of free time (you might be quick and do this in 30 minutes or less, but it takes me a while...)
A large piece of paper, poster board, or cardboard
Pens, pencils, markers, paint, glitter
Magazines, photos, your imagination
Glue, tape

Basically, go back to being a kid and get out as many art supplies as you can find! Then what?

Spend ten minutes getting your "meditative" brain on. In other words, rather than wracking your brain trying to decide exactly what you want to happen this year, spend ten minutes just being in your body and letting your monkey brain float around. You can try: meditation, yoga, dancing, or listening to music. Sometimes I like to grab some crayons and a piece of paper and just let the colors flow on the paper, without regard to what I'm actually drawing. The act of letting go of the outcome seems to open me up to my own creative process.
Once you're feeling the introspective juices flowing, you're ready to vision board away. No TV in the background please, but certainly put on some of your favorite music if you want! This is the fun part. Tear out pictures from magazine, cut photos, write down words or phrases that come to mind. Just make a big pile of everything that's coming to you, and don't judge or question why something feels right. If you like a photo, but don't know what it represents, put it on there anyway. If you cut something out, but then it doesn't feel right when you place it on the board, let it go. Your vision board can be all pictures, all words, it can be something you draw yourself or just photos you've cut out. It can be literal or metaphorical. It just has to speak to you in some way.

So what's the point in doing a vision board?

Once you've got all the images you want, turn your board into a beautiful collage. This is like a visual mantra for you this year. I put my board up on my bedroom wall where I can see it when I'm meditating or doing yoga. Of course, the idea is to make manifest all of the visions on your board. The cool thing is that you really never know exactly how that will happen. I like to keep past vision boards on a separate wall, where I can look at them and be reminded of where I've been and where I'm going.
Why do I make vision boards? Because they allow me to clear my mind of all the clutter and simply focus on where I'm going. When I look at my vision board, it reminds me what I'm working on, mentally, emotionally, and physically. And it is that rather than any magical power of the board that makes vision boards work. And I do believe they work.

Which is why I still need to make my vision board, and why you should make one too.

Now, for cookies.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cookies (Print-Friendly Version)

After tasting these, a friend declared that they reminded him of cinnamon toast crunch cereal. But unlike the super sweet cereal of your childhood, these cookies have a subtle flavor that can be enhanced by the sugar on top. I used coconut palm sugar on the cookies, but play around with whatever type of granulated sugar you like. If you want to stay completely sugar-free, just skip the cinnamon and sugar on top altogether. These would also be delicious as cookie sandwiches with caramel sauce!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup dates or prunes
2 tablespoons flax seed meal or chia seed meal
1/2 cup boiling water

1 3/4 cups (270 grams) sweet white rice flour (see note below)
1/3 cup (50 grams) teff flour
2/3 cup (115 grams) potato starch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon stevia

2 tablespoons coconut palm sugar (or any granulated sugar)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly oil or grease 2 cookie sheets.
Pour boiling water over dates and flax seed meal in a blender. Set aside for ten minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk together flours, starch, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt.
After the dates (or prunes) and flax seed meal have sat for ten minutes, add the coconut oil and stevia to the blender. Blend together until pureed.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir together until well mixed, then knead until a dough forms. Roll the dough out between two sheets of parchment paper. You want the dough to be 1/8 - 1/4 inch thick. Use cookie cutters to cut into whatever shape you like. This dough is delicate, so I only roll out about a handful at a time and use a spatula to transfer to the cookie sheet.
Bake for 12 minutes. Allow to cool a few minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to a cooling rack.

Makes approximately 42 two-inch round cookies. Will last for weeks stored in an airtight container at room temperature (I know this because I sent them to a friend; they got lost in the mail and arrived a month later, and were still good!)

Note: Sweet white rice flour is also called glutinous (not glutenous) rice flour or mochiko. It's usually found in Asian grocery stores or even the Asian section of your local grocery store (that's where I get mine). It is NOT the same as white rice flour, and if you try subbing in white rice flour in this recipe, I have no idea what kind of result you'll get. None. No clue. Don't even want to waste my flour to try it.

12 Goals for 2012

2012-01-01T11:56:00.003-05:00

2011 was a pretty grand year. The fearful pessimist in me wonders if 2012 is bound to be horrible, since I can't really have two great years in a row, can I? But the optimist in me says that I made 2011 what it was, and I can do the same for 2012. The optimist in me says that I can choose how I live my life, and so that's what I'm going to do. No resolutions for me. I stopped making them years ago. But I have some goals, and perhaps you'll find they resonate with you as well. So I'm writing them down and sending these intentions out into the universe. I think 2012 is going to be amazing; don't you?

Laughter. Laughter is my word for 2012. I've always been a bit too serious and lacking in the laughter department. So this year my goal is to be more like my housemates, the laughter twins. I'm not exactly sure how one learns to laugh more, but gosh darn it, I'm going to figure it out!
Don't worry about what was or what will be. Thanks mom, for this piece of wisdom. You know me. Always a worrywart. Always thinking about how things used to be or how things will be. This year I will continue my everlasting quest to focus on how things are...now.
Dance. Dancing is like my meditation. It seems to be the only thing that shuts down the wheels in my brain. So I resolve to dance every day, even if it's in the grocery store aisle and everyone's looking at me funny.
Get enough sleep. I've finally come to accept that I need 8-9 hours of sleep a night to feel good. If you're one of those lucky people who runs on 5 hours a night, more power to you. I am a cranky, miserable person when I don't get enough sleep. So for everyone's sake, I'm working on shutting down my Facebook and turning out the light earlier at night.
Post recipes I can actually eat! I have a horrible habit of making things I can't eat. It comes from my love of baking, but for right now, my gut can't seem to handle any baked goods. It doesn't seem to matter what they do or don't contain. My body just doesn't want them. So while I probably won't be able to stop myself from baking (it's a sickness), one of my biggest goals this year is to work more on recipes for the blog that won't make me sick.
Tune out the clatter. Don't we all need this sometimes? Facebook, twitter, US Weekly...my brain is all abuzz with everybody else's business. I should just ignore it all and go dance!
Tune into the world. While I'm busy checking everyone's Facebook status updates for the umpteenth time, I forget to read the news and find out what's going on in the world. There is a world outside of blogging and baking, and it would do me good to remember that.
Believe in myself. This is a constant. I am always working on renewing my faith in myself, reminding myself that no one can hold me back - except my own fear. So I just have to believe and push forward.
Replace negativity with mindful breathing. Too often, I find myself feeling annoyed/envious/angered/jealous of or by others. And when I take a step back, I know that the situation doesn't warrant the negative vibes I'm emanating. So I want to stop myself whenever I'm silently muttering hateful thoughts. Just stop and instead focus on my breath. There's nothing wrong with allowing myself to feel all my emotions, even the negative ones. But there's something right about letting the negativity go and just breathing instead.
Learn to ride a horse. I've been telling people I want a horse for years. I think it's about time I buy myself some horseback riding lessons. Nothing philosophical here. I just love horses.
Do everything that scares me. Okay, maybe not everything. Some things would be plain stupid. But in 2011, I just scratched the surface of the scaredy cat box. This year, I want to take on every opportunity that terrifies me. What's the worst that can happen? I get over my fears?
Be healthy. I've spent the last few years struggling to feel right. Even last night, I watched as everyone drank champagne while I sipped on the ginger tea I'd made in an attempt to quell my raging headache. I'm determined to go into 2013 feeling happy, healthy, and energetic. Which first requires working on the last 11 goals.

Here's to 2012! To following your dreams and making them reality. (And to Elise, because I believe in your dreams too.)

11 Lessons From 2011

2011-12-31T03:00:00.011-05:00

Listen to your gut. Literally and figuratively. When you eat something your body doesn't like, your stomach will tell you. Too often we ignore those little signals, telling ourselves it's not a big deal. But over time, those small pains become bigger and bigger, until you can't ignore it any longer. Don't wait until it gets to that point. If you know something isn't sitting well with you, cut it out of your diet. At least until you figure out why's it causing you a problem. Same goes for life problems. If your instincts are telling you something isn't right, listen. Ignoring it won't make it go away.
Don't let history repeat itself - unless you want it to. When I'm faced with a problem, I ask myself how I've responded to similar challenges in the past. Then I ask myself if I got the desired result in the past. If I did, great. I know how to handle it. If not, I do the opposite of whatever I did last time. I've been doing a lot of the opposite this year.
Vision boards work. Make one. No, seriously. I made my first vision board in January of 2010. I made my second one in January of 2011. Today, I'm making my vision board for 2012. When I look at my vision boards from the last two years, I see that everything on them actually happened, including the words and pictures that didn't even make sense to me when I first glued them on. Okay, in all honesty, there's one thing on my vision board from this last year that hasn't come true...I never finished the romance novel (it's okay, you can laugh) I started writing way back in college. It's still one chapter away from being finished. Unless I get motivated and finish it tonight?
Our bodies hold a lot of buried emotions. From the time we're born, we begin to take on emotions. They settle deep in our bodies, in the cricks in our necks, the headaches behind our eyes, and the dull throbbing behind our breastbones. When you begin to move in new ways (yoga, dancing, etc.), those emotions can pop up. It can feel painful or amazing, but the more you let those emotions out, the more open your body will be to new, joyful emotions to settle into those now empty spaces.
The best things in life are not planned. Remember when you were little and you had a life plan? I was going to be married and having babies by the time I was 24. I hated NYC and never wanted to live there. And there was no way I would ever live on the West Coast. Oh yeah, and I was going to follow in my mom's footsteps to be a daycare provider. Turns out the world had a different plan for me. Thank God.
There are no animals in this world that sit and stare at a computer screen for hours on end. None. Sometimes I'd rather be a monkey. My shoulders would probably hurt a lot less. But then I'd miss out on all this fun blogging business...
If you have thyroid problems, you're not supposed to eat a lot of cabbage and brussels sprouts. Of course, this would be the year I discovered I love both of these vegetables and could happily eat them every day. And most of the time, I still do.
Applegate Farms beef hot dogs rock my world. They're made from organic, grass-fed beef, have no sugar, and are one of the few processed foods I can eat with no reaction. None. Nada. Yes, my world has been rocked.
There's no point in being in school if you're not in the right frame of mind to learn. Everyone has something that comes easily to them. School has generally been that thing for me. But I can get A's without actually learning, and it took me a year to realize I was going to waste my degree (and money) if I continued in that vein. So I took a quarter off, wrote a cookbook instead, and am now ready to actually appreciate my classes. I'm just taking it a little bit slower this time.
Taking the easy route is bound to be...well...easy. And you might look successful to the people around you, but you're probably not going to feel all that proud of yourself. When you take on a challenge that you're not sure you can do, you'll learn more than you ever have in the past. You'll grow in ways you couldn't imagine. And you'll feel truly proud because you know you worked harder than you ever have.
When all else fails, there are two things that can make me feel better: talking it out or dancing it out. Either way could end with tears or laughter, and in both cases I'll feel happier.

My 11 favorite recipes from 2011

See you in 2012! Happy New Year's Eve!

Gluten-Free Curried Spinach and Chickpeas For a January Detox!

2011-12-29T20:17:00.009-05:00

Oh January. Month of new beginnings. Month of bitter cold. Month of getting back on the diet band wagon. I know how it works...I used to work for Jenny Craig, remember? January is the month when you tell yourself everything will be different and you'll make a permanent change.

Right.

Let's not talk diets. Let's not talk extremes. Let's not talk about "willpower." Let's talk about digestive health instead.

The 2012 Core Values Detox is a 10-day program that you can do from home, beginning on January 9th. I've been working with Andrea Nakayama for the last few months to develop recipes for her program that will have you feeling satisfied and keep those annoying carb cravings at bay. Andrea is a functional nutritionist whose programs are designed to help each individual discover how to eat right for his or her body. With the Core Values Detox, you might lose weight as a side benefit, but that's not the main purpose. This is:

ditch the routines that make you feel disheartened, deprived and defeated
determine where your digestion is preventing you from looking and feeling your best
develop healthy habits that will feel so good you'll be inspired to make them last a lifetime
dive into delicious and nutritious options that appeal to your cravings and your waistline

To join in on the Core Values Detox, click on this link (or any of the others in this post), and scroll down to the Core Values Detox bar. The class begins on January 9th, but you can get started today with a survey once you sign up. This will help Andrea to understand what your personal needs are for this program. And don't worry, you won't be alone. Although I already have the recipes (I designed them), I'm excited to sit in on Andrea's classes and learn from her, so I'll be doing the detox right along with you!

And just to give you an idea of what some of the recipes will be like, here's a vegan recipe I designed for the program (which will include a mix of vegan, vegetarian, and chicken/fish recipes).

Curried Spinach and Chickpeas
(Print Friendly Option)

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ medium yellow onion, diced

1 large garlic clove, minced

1 5-ounce package frozen spinach

1 cup full-fat canned coconut milk

1 15-ounce can organic garbanzo beans (or 3.5 cups cooked beans)

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons curry powder

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

¼ teaspoon sea salt

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preparation:

Heat oil in large sauté pan over medium-low heat. Add onions and cook until translucent, about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir in the rest of the ingredients (except black pepper) and turn heat up to medium-high until the coconut milk begins to boil. Turn heat back down to a gentle simmer, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add black pepper to taste. Serve hot.

Serves 4.

Now onto 2012! What would you like to see more of here in the new year? I'm in the mood for some fun changes, so let me know what you like and what keeps you coming back!

Apples with Caramel Dipping Sauce (Gluten-Free, Refined Sugar-Free, Vegan)

2011-12-17T23:49:00.001-05:00

I'm sitting on a bus headed to New York City. I left Brittany's house about seven hours ago, armed with my bags, my lunch, and a box filled with baked goods. Last Saturday, I flew to Massachusetts, where my parents picked me up; On Sunday I took a train to Rochester, NY to spend the week working on my cookbook photo shoot. After five straight days of working from 8am 'til midnight, Brittany, our photographer, and I have a beautiful portfolio of shots for our books. I wish I had some on my computer to show you, but in the meantime, if you want you can see some of the images on my Facebook page.

Now, I'm headed to the city to spend a few days with friends before going back to Massachusetts for the holidays. I haven't been back to the city since I left over a year ago, and I'll admit to equal parts excitement and sadness. I'll spend the next couple of days catching up with old college friends, my roommates from grad school, and friends from Jenny Craig. It was hard enough to leave that I haven't been ready before now to go back. I'm still not quite sure I'm ready.

I have the tendency to compartmentalize my life into segments. New York (and by New York, I really mostly mean Brooklyn) feels like a different part of my life. I made a decision to move and start fresh in Seattle, and the universe has been telling me since that it was the right choice. And yet it's difficult not to feel my heartstrings pull at the thought of being back in my old world, at seeing how it's changed, how people have changed, and how life has moved on.

I've moved on. And that is both glorious and heartbreaking.

I always thought life was black and white. I think I read too many books of the "happily ever after" variety. It turns out that life is seldom so simple. Our parents were right when they told us that things only get more complicated. But as a good friend recently told me, sometimes all you can do is make a decision. And then keep going. The universe will do the rest.

And so I'll visit my friends in New York, laugh at old memories, probably cry over a few as well, and make some new ones. Then I'll go back to Seattle and take a walk over the bridge near my house and watch the sunset.

While the universe is spinning with the force of all of our energy, let us enjoy this wonderfully crazy time of year. And while we're at it, delight in the simple pleasure of fresh fruit dipped in caramel sauce.

Caramel Dipping Sauce (Print-Friendly Option)

Ingredients:
1 cup coconut palm sugar
2 tablespoons tapioca starch or arrowroot starch
1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water 4 hours to overnight
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
4 tablespoons shortening (I use Spectrum Organic Palm Shortening)

Directions:

Start by making your powdered sugar. Place the coconut palm sugar and starch in your blender. Make sure the blender is completely dry inside first. Blend the sugar and starch until it's the consistency of powdered sugar. This takes me a few minutes. Once it's ready, set it aside.
Rinse and drain the cashews, and puree them in a food processor with the lemon juice, vanilla extract, and salt. Continue to process them until the mixture is a thick, smooth consistency, scraping down the sides as necessary.
Add the shortening and process, then add the powdered sugar a little at a time, until you've reached the consistency you like. This is great for dipping with fruit or can be thickened with more powdered sugar to make a filling for cakes, cookie sandwiches, or whoopee pies.

Home For The Holidays: Cream Cheese Cookies (Gluten-Free, Soy-Free, Vegan) Plus 3 Book Giveaways

2011-12-12T00:56:00.006-05:00

I'm very excited to be joining you today as part of Home For The Holidays, a special event created this month by one of my favorite bloggers, Shirley Braden, of Gluten Free Easily. Every day until December 23rd, a different blogger will be sharing a favorite holiday dish (gluten-free of course). Yesterday, Ricki at Diet, Dessert and Dogs shared her recipe for Chocolate Mint Truffles. Tomorrow, Stephanie at Gluten Free By Nature will be bringing us a special holiday treat. Three prizes will be given away each day, and thanks to Shirley and the generosity of this event's sponsors, there are three crazy awesome grand prizes. Yes, not just awesome, but crazy awesome (it's okay, you can roll your eyes at me for that). What are they?

A VITAMIX blender. I almost wish I wasn't participating as a blogger so that I could win this!
$150 Shopping Spree at Free From Gluten. Again, feeling a bit jealous over here.
A gift package from Caveman Cookies worth $89. I've heard tell that those caveman cookies rock.

So how do you win these goodies? Every time you enter to win one of the daily prizes, you are automatically entered to win the grand prizes. Which means what? Today is the 12th and this event continues until the 23rd. So if you enter every day, that's at least 12 entries...plus there are multiple ways to enter, so you could get even more entries than that. And with close to 100 prizes in total, your chances of winning something fun is pretty high.

Now, before we get to the giveaways, I want to share my holiday recipe with you. I've been baking a lot of cookies for my upcoming gluten-free baking guides with Brittany Angell. But today, I wanted to make something close to home. My grandma always made cream cheese cookies for Christmas. For those of you who have never had a cream cheese cookie, they're soft and buttery and have just a hint of that sour cream cheese flavor. I wish I could describe them for you better, but that's the best I can do. Suffice it to say, if you've never had a cream cheese cookie, you're missing out. But now you don't have to! These cookies taste remarkably similar to my grandma's, and are free from gluten, dairy, eggs and soy. They can also be made without refined sugars. I made them a few times with different types of sugar, and I'll admit I preferred the cookies made with refined sugar...they tasted more like my grandma's cookies. But I also loved the cookies made with coconut palm sugar. Coconut palm sugar has a deep flavor with molasses undertones, but while I love the texture and flavor of those cookies, the palm sugar has a tendency to overwhelm the more subtle flavors of the cream cheese. So if you want a "cream cheese cookie," I would use regular sugar or perhaps something like xylitol. But if you like to use coconut palm sugar and just want a tasty cookie, go ahead and use palm sugar.

Cream Cheese Cookies (Gluten-Free, Soy-Free, Vegan) (Print Friendly Option)

Ingredients:
1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water 4 hours to overnight
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 cup Spectrum Organic Palm Shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar*
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
zest of one medium lemon

1/3 cup coconut flour (40 grams)
1/3 cup white rice flour (52 grams)
1/3 cup tapioca starch (40 grams)
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons psyllium whole husks**
6 tablespoons boiling water

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 2 cookie sheets.
Rinse and drain the cashews, then blend them in a food processor for about 30 seconds. Add the apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, shortening, sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest. Blend until smooth.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the coconut flour, white rice flour, tapioca starch, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
Pour boiling water over psyllium husks in a small bowl, whisking the whole time to prevent clumping. Pour quickly into the food processor and blend. Add the flour mixture and blend until smooth, scraping down the sides if necessary.
Drop by the scant tablespoon onto the cookie sheet about 2 inches apart or use a piping bag to shape cookies. Bake for 12 minutes. Let cool on the cookie sheet. They'll be softer when warm and need to cool before they can be moved.

Makes 24 cookies (or more depending on the size of your cookies)

*You can use any granulated sugar in this recipe, such as regular refined cane sugar or coconut palm sugar. Coconut palm sugar will darken the cookies to a caramel color, as shown in some of the photos above. The palm sugar also gives them a caramel undertone in flavor, much like brown sugar does. If you prefer the white color of traditional cream cheese cookies, you can use any white granulated sugar or sugar substitute, such as cane sugar or xylitol. Regular white table sugar will make them taste more like the cream cheese cookies you remember. Your choice...they're delicious both ways!

**Psyllium Whole Husks are different from psyllium husk powder. Make sure to purchase the whole husks, which can usually be found in your grocery store or drug store in the supplement aisle. The brand I buy is Yerba Prima. I would have tried these with ground chia seeds as well, but I ran out. I suspect that they would work fine with 2 tablespoons of GROUND chia seeds, but I can't say for sure. If you end up trying this, I would love it if you came back and left a comment letting me know how they turned out!

Now, for today's giveaway, we have three great books for you!

Dangerous Grains by James Braly and Ron Hoggan

Sugar Nation by Jeff O'Connell

Gluten Free Goddess E-Book: Best Loved Recipes by Karina Allrich

To enter to win these books (and be entered into our grand prize drawing):

Leave a comment telling me what your favorite holiday dish is.
Share this post on Facebook, twitter, or your blog. Leave a separate comment for each way you share it.
Stumble this post. Leave a separate comment letting me know you did so!

This giveaway will be open until Wednesday, December 14th at 11:59pm. Shirley will announce the winners at Gluten Free Easily next week! Note that you must leave an e-mail address so we can contact you if you win! Update: this giveaway is now closed.

How else can you join in on the holiday fun? Share your own favorite gluten-free holiday recipe on your blog! Grab Shirley's Home for the Holidays badge and play along with the rest of us!

DAY 1 Shirley Braden at gfe–gluten free easily … Nutmeg Shortbread Flats
DAY 2 Diane Eblin at The WHOLE Gang … Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Toffee
DAY 3 Heidi Kelly at Adventures of a Gluten-Free Mom … Gluten-Free Fritters
DAY 4 Ali Segersten at The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen
DAY 5 Sunny Busby at And Love it, Too!… GF, DF Chocolate Pecan “Toll House” Pie
DAY 6 Stacy Toth at Paleo Parents … Paleo Monkey Bread
DAY 7 Maggie Savage at She Let Them Eat Cake … GF, DF Candy Cane Ice Cream
DAY 8 Melissa McLean Jory at Gluten Free For Good …Red Chile Enchilada Casserole
DAY 9 Kim Maes at Cook IT Allergy Free … Cinnamon Bun Cake
DAY 10 Lexie at Lexie’s Kitchen ..Chocolate Pomegranate Clusters
DAY 11– Brittany at Real Sustenance... Gluten Free Babka Bread.
Friday, 12/9–Elana Amsterdam at Elana’s Pantry
Saturday, 12/10–Kelly Brozyna at The Spunky Coconut
Sunday, 12/11–Ricki Heller at Diet, Dessert and Dogs
Monday, 12/12–Me! Cream Cheese Cookies
Tuesday, 12/13–Stephanie Fourie at Gluten Free by Nature
Wednesday, 12/14–Jules Shepard at Jules Speaks Gluten Free
Thursday, 12/15–Silvana Nardone at Silvana’s Kitchen (and Easy Eats)
Friday, 12/16–Heather at Gluten-Free Cat
Saturday, 12/17–Carol Kicinski at Simply…Gluten Free
Sunday, 12/18–Alisa Fleming at Alisa Cooks
Monday, 12/19–Linda Etherton at The Gluten-Free Homemaker
Tuesday, 12/20–Gigi Stewart at Gluten Free Gigi
Wednesday, 12/21–Zoe at Z’s Cup of Tea
Thursday, 12/22–Lillian Medville at Lillian’s Test Kitchen
Friday, 12/23—Shirley Braden at gfe—gluten free easily

December Sanity Challenge

2011-12-08T04:22:00.001-05:00

It's December 8th. Do you know where your sanity is?

Mine flew out the door a long time ago, and I've only just begun to accept that this is simply the way I operate. I used to think, "When I'm not in school, I'll be more relaxed," or, "Once this cookbook is done, I'll stop stressing out," or how about this one? "Once I'm married and have kids, my life will be simple." Um...right. I see all you moms and dads out there with kids...your life is anything but simple. My parents were right when they said that life only gets more complicated the older you get. But I'm also realizing that I make things complicated. I was talking with The Assistant on the phone last night about my short-term life goals, and I could hear the sigh in his voice as he asked, "Wow. Is there room for me in there?" Mind you, I was baking bread even as we spoke, prompting his query of, "Are you beating something?" Why yes. Yes, I am. I'm beating this gluten-free, yeast-free, gum-free, vegan bread batter into submission.

Why? Because I like taking on too much. I mean, I must enjoy it, right? Because I do it all the time. Even as I'm telling people, "No, no, I need to simplify," I add on another task, job, or plan. I told The Assistant that once the cookbook was done, I would have a life again. And then I laughed and said, "Who am I kidding? I'll just find something else to take over my life." And you know what? I'm not complaining. It feels good to take on a project and tackle it full-force. Kind of like when I used to play rugby, except without the bruises. And my health has taken a little upswing lately, which means I'm no longer working constantly through the dense cloud of brain fog and fatigue.

But here's the caveat. Because I have a tendency to be Ms. Go-Go-Go, I can also be Ms. Stress-Stress-Stress. My new doctor called it at my recent appointment, when she said my stress test showed that despite my outward appearance of calm, I simply don't relax. I could have told her that. Right now, I'm in the final stretch of recipe testing for my cookbook. On Saturday, I fly to the East Coast where I'll be spending 5 days with my co-author, Brittany, baking up a storm for our book's photo shoot. Then off to NYC for a few days to see friends, then home for the holidays. My mind is a whirl and I wake up every morning wondering how I'm ever going to get everything done. By all rights, I should be a basket case. And don't get me wrong, I have my moments and plenty of them. But overall, I'm handling it all pretty well. And I have Cheryl Harris and her December Sanity Challenge to thank for that.

You were wondering where I was going with this, weren't you?

Cheryl, of Gluten Free Goodness, decided she didn't want to spend December being all "Ahhhhh!" so she came up with the idea of a Sanity Challenge. What is it? In Cheryl's words:

"The challenge—post on what you plan to do to make your holidays sane, happy and healthy. Make it specific! Not just “I’ll get more sleep," but “I’ll get at least 7 hours of sleep, 5 days a week”. Not just “I won’t go crazy making desserts," but “I’ll make a maximum of XX desserts, and space them out over XX time”. You know what you need to do to keep this doable, and writing it down will help you get there!"

So here's what you do. Write a post on what your goals are for this month and link back to this post (or any of the co-hosts listed below). Leave a comment with your link. Make yourself accountable by putting it in writing! Anyone who joins in on the December Sanity Challenge will be entered into a giveaway for a $50 gift certificate to Nutsonline.com (they are not sponsoring, Cheryl is just that awesome).

See what the other Sanity Challengers goals are:
Dec 1st Cheryl of Gluten Free Goodness
Dec 15th Valerie of City Life Eats
Dec 22nd Carrie of Ginger Lemon Girl

My goal? I kept it simple. Of course I wanted to make a whole list of goals. I will exercise for 30 minutes every day, I will meditate every day, I will eat tons of vegetables every day, and so on and so forth. But I decided to pick a goal that I would actually stick with. Something so easy and yet with a big payoff. I asked myself for 5 minutes a day. 5 minutes in which I set my timer, lie down, and breathe. That's all. I can't put music on, can't text or go on Facebook; I just lie there. I don't tell myself I'm meditating because then I'll give up in disgust when my mind jumps all over the place. I just tell myself I deserve 5 minutes a day of doing nothing. The rest of the day I can jump through my own hoops. But for those 5 minutes (and I seriously kept it that short because I knew I wouldn't stick with anything longer), I'm on vacation. Honestly, even giving up those few minutes is hard for me. Sometimes I lie there and think about everything I should be doing. And then I realize that that's exactly why I need to be lying there. Doing nothing.
When the timer goes off, I go about my day. But I like to think that those 5 minutes are making a difference. And I'd like to think that after December, I will continue to give myself a few minutes every day to simply be sane in this insane world.

Tangy Cilantro Dressing

2011-12-01T18:11:00.002-05:00

There's a strong love-hate kind of thing going on in the world with cilantro, isn't there? There's a whole blog devoted to the hatred of cilantro (and the author just happens to be a friend from Brooklyn).

Me?

I love cilantro. It's the perfect garnish for soup, takes salsa over the top, and makes an awesome pesto. Plus, it's supposed to be helpful in ridding your body of heavy metals. At an appointment this week with my new doctor, I was told a large portion of my health issues are being caused by an overabundance of aluminum in my body. Yikes! But not that surprising, is it? It's in our deodorant, our baking powder and baking soda, our pots and pans, and who knows what else! It's hard to avoid. But I, for one, won't be quite so complacent about it from now on. Deodorant with aluminum? Throwing it out! Already bought aluminum-free baking products. And no more using the aluminum cookware in our house. But what about getting rid of the stuff already mucking around in my body? Well, I need to wait for next week's doctor's appointment to get a better handle on that. But in the meantime, I see no reason not to eat cilantro whenever I can! And since I love it so much, it's certainly not a hardship...

My favorite way to eat this dressing is over a salad of raw kale and roasted sweet potatoes. It can also be used as a dressing for meat or fish. Which is exactly what I'll be doing tonight with the sole I have in the fridge...

Tangy Cilantro Dressing & Marinade print-friendly

adapted from this recipe

Ingredients:
½ cup packed cilantro, stems removed

4 dates

1/3 cup fresh lime juice (2 limes)

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

4 large garlic cloves

½ teaspoon sea salt
1 cup extra virgin olive oil

Preparation:

Blend cilantro, dates, lime juice, apple cider vinegar, garlic, sea salt, and cilantro in a blender or food processor until smooth. Add olive oil in a steady stream, continuing to blend. Store in an airtight glass container in the fridge.

Makes 16 ounces

In other news...

Cheryl of Gluten Free Goodness is hosting a December Sanity Challenge to motivate us all to be kind to ourselves this month! I'll be posting on the 8th about what my goals are for myself this month, and I encourage you to join in! Read Cheryl's post for more information...

Shirley of Gluten Free Easily has been hosting Home For The Holidays, a whole month+ of special holiday recipes and giveaways. I'll be posting a recipe and hosting a giveaway (via Shirley) on December 12th, but until then, stop by Gluten Free Easily to see what you could win each day!

How to Make Gluten-Free, Vegan Pancakes and Waffles

2011-11-26T17:15:00.005-05:00

(Most of my pancakes came out fluffier than the ones in this picture...but they got eaten before I could take a picture...the pancakes in this picture were actually my failed pancakes)

In June, I decided to take on a challenge I felt completely unprepared for. Writing a guide to gluten-free baking. Thankfully, my co-author was much more adept in the kitchen, and I just prayed I would catch on. I had asked The Assistant at the time if he thought it was a good idea. I believe my exact words were, "Do you think I'm crazy?" And he told me that taking on any project was a wonderful thing because no matter what, I would learn. And learn I have. Through trial and error, and lots of flops, I've created over 40 gluten, dairy and soy-free recipes since June. Almost 6 months later, I am astounded at how much I've learned. When I started making recipes for the book in June, I spent days and days on each recipe, often giving up in disgust and accepting a mediocre result. Now, I can go back and look at those recipes, and immediately pick out what I did wrong and how to fix it. I know how to avoid gums in recipes now, I know which flours work best with eggs and which work without, and I know that my waffle how-to guide that I wrote last year was not perfect. I also know that a lot of the recipes on this blog need reworking, and I plan on spending time this year updating my older recipes.

The first recipe I wanted to rework was indeed my waffle guide. After realizing my ratios were slightly off (and I apologize to anyone who used that guide and was unhappy with the results!), I decided I wanted a recipe that would work for ANY flour, that was vegan, and that could be used for pancakes AND waffles. Three days and over 24 batches of pancakes/waffles later (seriously...), I have a recipe that makes me happy.

I tested this recipe out on:
Blanched Almond Flour
Millet Flour
Teff Flour
Buckwheat Flour
Quinoa Flour
Sorghum Flour
Amaranth Flour
Garbanzo Bean Flour
Sweet White Rice Flour
White Rice Flour
Brown Rice Flour
Coconut Flour
Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Baking Mix

I tested it on potato starch and tapioca starch.

I tested it using cups and using grams.

I have never seen so many pancakes in my life. But the last thing I wanted was to post another guide only to realize it wasn't right! So I got out my OCD tendencies, made a chart, and went to work. Here's the recipe, and please read below for my notes on which flours have the best texture and flavor, and which ones weren't so pleasant. Take note that this recipe WILL NOT work for coconut flour. Don't even try it...I did, and it was a huge waste of flour.

Gluten-Free, Vegan Pancake & Waffle Recipe (Please scroll down and read the tips before making these!) (Print-Friendly Option)

1 1/4 cups or 158 grams flour (or mix of flours)***
1/2 cup or 86 grams starch
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tablespoons oil
1/2 to 1 3/4 cups liquid

*** I know that cups and grams are different for each flour. HOWEVER, I tested this recipe out with EACH FLOUR with cups AND grams. Whether you measure your flours by cups or the gram measurements given, your pancakes/waffles will work. If you use almond flour, you'll only need about 1/2 cup of liquid. If you use a thick liquid like full-fat coconut milk, you'll need more (up to 1 3/4 cups). Otherwise, you'll need about 1 cup of liquid (milk, water, juice, etc.) regardless of the flour.

1. Whisk together your dry ingredients.
2. Whisk together the applesauce, oil, and 1/2 cup of liquid. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet, and stir. Add more liquid slowly (I do it by the tablespoon so as not to pour too much) until you've reached the consistency of a thick pancake batter. Always start with less liquid and test the batter on one pancake or waffle first. If it's too thick, you can add more liquid, but you can't take liquid away once you've added it!

To make waffles, make sure to oil the iron frequently and keep the batter thick. It won't spread on the iron, but you can use a spoon to spread the batter out evenly on the iron. If the batter is too thin, it is much more likely to stick.
To make pancakes, you can use a little more liquid than with waffles (about 2-4 tablespoons more), depending on how thick you prefer your pancakes.

Tips (Read These Before Making):

Potato starch is the best starch to use in these recipes. You can use tapioca, arrowroot, or cornstarch, BUT potato starch makes the insides fluffier.
Almond flour makes the best pancakes, hands down! They taste buttery and sweet. The batter should be equally thick for pancakes or waffles. HOWEVER, this recipe DOES NOT work with only almond flour. You have to use the starch, and you'll get amazing pancakes. If you try using just almond flour without starch, your pancakes will be horrible excuses for pancakes that will make a mess of your pan. If you can eat almonds, I highly recommend you make this your go-to pancake mix.
Millet flour pancakes taste somewhat like biscuits, and are my second favorite flour to use. However, millet does tend to have a bitter aftertaste, so beware.
I love the flavor of buckwheat and teff. For a hearty mix, try either one or both.
Coconut flour DOES NOT work. AT ALL. BUT, you can add a few tablespoons to your mix if you want. You'll just end up increasing the amount of liquid needed.
Sweet white rice flour, amaranth flour, and white rice flour all tended to be a little gummy inside, so I wouldn't recommend using these. Brown rice flour had a nice texture and was good for a basic mix, although a bit bland for my liking.
Quinoa, sorghum, and garbanzo bean flour all made pancakes and waffles with great textures. The flavors aren't my personal favorites, but they can be jazzed up with the addition of other flavors.
If using an all-purpose mix like Bob's Red Mill, skip the starch (the mix already has starch in it), and use 1 3/4 cups of mix or 244 grams. I didn't use an all-purpose mix with xanthan gum in it, so I can't say how it will work if your mix has gums. I recommend buying a mix without gums, or better yet, skip the mix and just buy your favorite flour and starch.
For the sweetener, you can use 2 tablespoons of any granulated sugar. OR you can use 2 tablespoons of a liquid sweetener. Just add it to the wet ingredients instead. I personally thought the granulated sugar gave the best texture to the pancakes though.
For the applesauce, you can try using any puree...try banana, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, etc. I liked applesauce best in terms of texture though.
I tested these recipes with water and I liked the flavor. But any liquid can be used. If you use something like full-fat canned coconut milk (which I like to do), you'll need more liquid than if you use water or milk. Using water or milk, almond flour only needs about 1/2 cup of liquid, whereas most of the other flours need closer to 1 cup.

That's all! If you test this out and like it, I'd love for you to come back and post how you made your pancakes/waffles in the comments for other readers to try!

Cinnamon Chocolate Cookies (Gluten-Free, Vegan, Refined Sugar-Free)

2011-11-22T00:52:00.002-05:00

This was not the recipe I meant to post today. I meant to post this one.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cookies. But despite having made these cookies many times, I apparently have never written down the complete instructions. So I'll have to make them again to be sure I tell you everything exactly right. In the meantime, I'm going to leave you with a new recipe that only came about because I ran out of sweet white rice flour. I was planning on making my vegan snickerdoodles, but didn't have enough flour. So I improvised. I used less sweet white rice flour, added in some unsweetened cocoa powder, and took out the gums. The results were a hit. My friend actually told me she lost her taste for her favorite Pamela's chocolate cookies after she had mine. She also said they reminded her of chocolate teddy grahams. I think that's a pretty good reason to give these a try, don't you?

Cinnamon Chocolate Cookies (Print Friendly Option)

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon flaxseed meal
1 tablespoon whole psyllium husks
6 tablespoons boiling water

1 cup sweet white rice flour (156 grams) (see note below)
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (60 grams)
1 cup potato starch (153 grams)
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup shortening (sub: coconut oil)
1 cup liquid sweetener (I used half brown rice syrup, half coconut nectar; you can use honey, agave nectar, or maple syrup, all of which will yield a slightly different flavor)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease 2 cookie sheets.
In a small bowl, stir the boiling water into the flax and psyllium mixture. Let sit for 5 minutes.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, starch, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and sweetener. Whisk the flax and psyllium mixture in completely (don't leave any clumps or your cookies will come out in weird shapes). Pour the dry ingredients into the wet, stirring until completely mixed.
Drop by the spoonful onto cookie sheets and bake for 9 minutes. Let sit for a minute before removing to a cooling rack.

Makes approximately 2 dozen cookies.

Note: Sweet white rice flour is also called glutinous (not glutenous) rice flour or mochiko. It's usually found in Asian grocery stores or the Asian section of your local grocery store (that's where I get mine). It is NOT the same as white rice flour, and if you try subbing in white rice flour in this recipe, you'll end up with something more like a chocolate biscuit. Which could be tasty if that's what you're going for, but since I haven't done it myself, I can't vouch for it.

Squash Pie (Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Nut-Free, Sugar-Free, Vegan)

2011-11-14T21:59:00.003-05:00

With Thanksgiving around the corner, and having recently realized that I feel best on a grain-free diet, I've been a bit of a curmudgeon. A grump, if you will. Although I'm hosting a Thanksgiving potluck on Sunday, I really haven't been in the mood to attend the holiday festivities on Thursday and watch everyone else eat. Oh, I know the holidays are about family, friends, and being together. And of course, giving thanks. And I give thanks every day for these crazy health problems that have fueled my passion for nutrition. Seriously, I do. Even when I'm simultaneously cursing them.

But. Yes, there is a but. But, I really want to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal that I, being now grain-free, nut-free, sugar-free, egg-free, and dairy-free, can eat! Is that too much to ask? (Did you hear the whiney little curmudgeon come out there for a second?)

While Thanksgiving is fast approaching, I've been busily holed up in my kitchen baking for the cookbook. This hasn't left a whole lot of time for nourishing myself, but I'm doing my best. And this week, that meant taking the time to make myself a pie. A butternut squash pie, to be exact, with pumpkin pie spices and a hint of orange zest. I loved it. In fact, I ate almost the whole thing in just a couple of days. I had to give away my last piece today after I decided enough was enough. Despite the lack of sugar in this recipe, it's extremely rich and chock-full of healthy fats, like coconut oil and chia seeds. Is it as good as the original? Well, it certainly did the trick for me, but then again I'm an avid fan of stevia. If it had an aftertaste, I couldn't tell you since I don't really notice that anyway. Those of you who don't love stevia might want to choose your own sweetener for this, perhaps honey, coconut nectar, or maple syrup. You'll have to play around with the amount and just add a little at a time until the flavor is right for you. As for the crust, I can't say I was elated. I found this idea on allrecipes.com, and while I like it okay, I definitely want to play around with it. But considering my restrictions these days, I was still pretty stoked. After all, when's the last time I ate pie, felt like I was eating something sinful, and didn't suffer a reaction afterward!? I don't even know...

Squash Pie (Print-Friendly Option)

I made this pie with a butternut squash, but you can easily use any type of squash, pumpkin, or sweet potato. If you use pumpkin, you may need to add more stevia, while sweet potato would require less.

Ingredients:
Crust:
3 tablespoons coconut oil
1 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut

Pie:
3 tablespoons chia seed meal
1 cup full fat canned coconut milk
2 cups baked squash (canned or homemade both work)
3 tablespoons coconut oil
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
20 drops liquid stevia
Zest of half an orange

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease a pie pan. Process your crust ingredients in a food processor for a few minutes. When the coconut sticks to the side of the food processor (you'll know when this happens), it's done. Press into the pan pie and bake for 20 minutes. It won't cover the sides, just the bottom of the pan, and it's difficult to press since it's so sticky (use some melted coconut oil or light olive oil on your fingers to make it easier).
While the pie crust is baking, make your pie filling. Start by putting your chia seeds and coconut milk in the food processor and letting them sit for a few minutes. Then put the rest of the ingredients in the food processor and blend until it's completely smooth. This will take a few minutes, and when you think it's blended enough, give it another minute. It gets creamier the longer to blend it.
Once the crust is done, allow it to cool completely before pouring the filling into the pan. Chill overnight or at least a few hours in the fridge. It will hold up within a couple of hours, but is best if allowed to set up in the fridge overnight.

This post is linked to:

Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten-Free at Real Sustenance

Chocolate Sweet Potato Smoothie

2011-11-10T19:24:00.003-05:00

The world is supposed to end in 2012, right? Or the world as we know it. Some people think it will be some sort of catastrophic disaster. Others believe humanity will enter into a higher level of consciousness. And many believe it's all hogwash. With all of the political shifts and Occupy movements, I think it's easy to feel a sense of excitement. That there's change in the air. I certainly feel it.

But then again, it's November. I feel a shift with every season. And I wonder if every generation feels that something big is coming. I'd like to believe this movement in our internal psyches is happening right now, that the collective unconscious is undergoing a subtle grinding of gears that will leave us facing the world with a new understanding.

On a personal level, this past year has been a tumultuous upheaval of all I know and I have on occasional felt literally pushed into my present. In the last two years, I started a tradition of making a vision board in January. Everything I want in that year, I put smack dab in the middle of that board. I tack it to my wall. I stare at that board, during yoga or meditation, and focus on a word. This year, the words that have popped out at me the most have been "let go," "release," and "expand." And in the crazy way that only comes from a place of deepest desire and simultaneous fear, I have seen my vision boards come to life. Yesterday, I took out my 2010 vision board and stuck it on the wall next to my 2011 board. Side by side, it's like seeing a metaphorical storyboard of the last two years of my life. Well, the triumphant parts at least. What is missing is all the heartache that sits in the valleys when you try to climb mountains. But it's there, and I feel it as deeply as I feel the joy.

This is simply to say, whatever happens in 2012, I'm rooting for the shift in consciousness. Call me an optimist, a dreamer, or a romantic, but I feel the movement. I'm ready. And I have a feeling you are too.

What's coming for me this year?

Brittany and I officially signed our cookbook contract with Triumph Dining yesterday. Triumph Dining is the publisher of my favorite gluten-free dining out guides (see the link on my sidebar?), so being a part of their "Essential Gluten-Free" series is beyond exciting. By the end of December, I'll be done with this project that has taken on a life of its own this year, and I could not be more proud of anything I've done in my life. (So far...?)
I'll be following my passion and going back to my first love soon by taking on private weight-loss clients. I'm waiting until the cookbook is finished and sent off to the printers, but then I'll be pumped to start the new year doing what I love: helping women get back to the place they're meant to be; feeling awesome and loving themselves and their bodies. Why not take on 2012 from a fabulous place of peace and happiness!
In January, I'll be starting classes at Bastyr again, this time around taking it slow and not worrying about rushing through classes. Instead of graduating in 2012, I'll be finishing in 2013, which gives me time to pursue my other loves: this lovely little blog, weight loss counseling, and a few other projects I've got up my sleeves.

Let's take 2012 by storm, beautiful people!

This chocolate Sweet Potato Smoothie is for the shifter in all of us. It's a nutrient-dense breakfast that leaves you feeling light...which is exactly what you need to be present and ready for whatever comes.

Chocolate Sweet Potato Smoothie (Print-Friendly Option)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 tablespoons raw hemp seeds
1 cup ice cold water
1 cup pureed sweet potato
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa*
1 tablespoon coconut oil (room temperature)
1 tablespoon ground chia seeds
1/2 cup packed fresh kale (or spinach)
10 drops liquid stevia
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon plus extra for sprinkling on top
unsweetened coconut flakes for garnish (optional)

Directions:

Blend the hemp seeds and water first, until they look like milk (about 30 seconds). Add in the rest of the ingredients and blend until completely smooth. Sprinkle cinnamon and coconut flakes on top if desired.

* Extra cocoa can be used if you want a stronger chocolate taste. I only use a small amount because cocoa is high in amines, so I need to tread lightly. If you add more, you might need to add more stevia to counter the chocolate bite! And if you can't do chocolate, just leave it out. It will taste just as good!

Perfectly Cooked Onions

2011-11-07T21:02:00.004-05:00

That's quite a claim, isn't it? I was going to call this post "Caramelized Onions," but after looking at a number of pictures online, I decided my onions aren't cooked long enough to be caramelized. But I did cook up an onion with kale for lunch today, and after eating it, was so in love that I immediately sliced another onion, cooked it and ate it on its own. I also walked around with my bowl, asking all my housemates, "Want to taste a perfect onion?" Silly, I know...

But I'll tell you something about onions. If you cook them on a higher heat with extra virgin olive oil (as I'm often guilty of doing), the olive oil will smoke and create free radicals, which are highly inflammatory. Not so good for a gal with an autoimmune inflammatory disorder like Hashimoto's. Not so good for anyone really. Cooking onions at a lower temperature with fats that can withstand heat is a much better option. Butter would be my fat of choice since it gives onions a wonderful flavor, but I can't do dairy these days. However, ghee (clarified butter) seems to be fine for me. Coconut oil is another fat that can handle heat well. But I don't love the taste of vegetables cooked in plain coconut oil or ghee. Vegetables with coconut oil taste too much like...coconut. And ghee tastes like I'm almost having butter, but not quite. It just tastes a little off. But mix coconut oil, ghee, and olive oil together, add salt, and you get the perfect flavor, slightly sweet and salty, just like butter. If you prefer not to cook with olive oil at all, you can always use just coconut oil and ghee, but I like the melding of all three flavors. And since I'm cooking at medium-low heat, I don't worry too much about the olive oil.

Health Benefits of onions:

High in anti-inflammatory phytonutrients, like quercetin
May help protect against certain cancers and heart disease
High in vitamin C
May promote bone health (so important for women!)

Perfectly Cooked Onions (Print-Friendly Option)

I sprinkle my onions liberally with salt. Since I don't really eat processed foods, I don't worry about consuming too much salt. If you need to watch your salt intake, use less. And if you can eat dairy, go ahead and just use 2 teaspoons of butter instead of the ghee, coconut oil, and olive oil here!

Ingredients:
1/2 teaspoon ghee
1/2 teaspoon coconut oil
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 small to medium yellow onion, sliced
sea salt, to taste

Directions:

Heat ghee, coconut oil, and olive oil in a pan on medium-low heat. Add onions, sprinkle liberally with salt (I use about 1/4 teaspoon) and allow to cook for about 8 minutes, until the onions become translucent.
Turn the onions, and cook another 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serves 1

Halloween Treats Giveaway Winners

2011-11-05T03:25:00.000-04:00

Thank you to everyone who entered last week's Halloween Treats Giveaways! I wish I could send you all treats, but alas, I only have eight to give away. For those of you who didn't win, I'll be back soon with something much better...a recipe I can actually eat! I just have to come up with one first...

My goal for November is to only post recipes I can eat - as opposed to my cherry pie, which tasted amazing, but wasn't exactly headache friendly for me. So this means no gluten/grains/dairy/eggs/peanuts/tree nuts/nightshades... I'm sure there's more, but you get the picture. Time for me to get creative again!

The winner of the Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil is:
Heather Collea

The winners of the NuNaturals Stevia are:
Cassie
The Mommy Bowl
aliw515
Fartygirl

The winner of the Kettle Cuisine Soup giveaway is:
Amy

The winner of the Gluten-Free Goodie Box and Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cookies is:
Seeks

The winner of Go Dairy Free is:
Adrienne