Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream {Dairy-Free, Vegan}

Pumpkin Pie. Coconut milk. Ice cream. Warm "autumn" spices.

I can't even pick which of those four things is my favorite, I love them all. So, when all four were combined into an incredibly tasty, cool dessert during the heat wave we experienced earlier this month, I was a happy camper.
And it explains why I have not one photo, not even a cell phone pic, of this frozen treat. We devoured each serving in such a happy daze of ice cream bliss, that no one thought to get the camera. We even made a second batch recently - no physical evidence of that either.
Enough said?
Try this ASAP!  :)

Homemade [Dairy Free, Vegan] Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

What you need:

• 2 cups pumpkin puree - I used canned Libby brand. Trader Joe's is another good option
• One can full-fat coconut milk - approximately 2 cups
• 1/3-1/2 cup pure maple syrup (sweeten to your liking)
• 1-2 teaspoons each: cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, ginger or 1-2 TB pumpkin pie spice (season to the flavor intensity you prefer)

What you do:

Pour pumpkin puree and coconut milk into blender or large food processor, and mix for 20-30 seconds to combine well. Drizzle in maple syrup through the top while it continues to mix. Stop machine, add in spices and blend another 20 seconds to ensure all the flavors are evenly distributed.
Pour into ice cream maker and process for 25 minutes (or otherwise noted in instruction manual).
Enjoy!

Red [Brown] & Blue Berry Muffins!

Just in time for the 4th of July, here is a recipe for Red and Blue colored muffins, free of gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, refined sugar, legumes, and very low in grains...

These muffins are delicious. Soft, moist (though a bit crumbly) in texture, the chestnut flour gives them a warm nutty flavor while the blueberries sweeten and the raspberries give a little tang. They are an achievement I'm most proud of!

I have tested this recipe three different times, changing at least one ingredient each time. The last test was done using mini-cupcake liners and my new mini cupcake tin I purchased in prep for Victory's first birthday.
They turned out well each time, which tells me that they are nearly foolproof muffins. It helps (and somehow feels more decadent) to eat them with a spoon in a little bowl; this way you're sure to get every last crumb in your mouth too!

This version I'm sharing with you was my third experiment. It uses the highest ratio of Chestnut flour, I'm guessing this is why these were the darkest in color of the three versions. It also uses the lowest amount of grains, so that's why I picked it to share. If you're interested in the other two (just as delicious) versions using rice flour and tapioca flour, comment and I will post them.

This recipe came about a few weeks back, when there was literally nothing to eat in our kitchen but a few ingredients. A few gluten free flours I wanted to get rid of, frozen berry blend mix from Costco, and part of a bag of Chestnut flour leftover from my birthday Carrot Cake Cupcakes. I pulled my Flying Apron Baking Book off the shelf and found a recipe for "Maple Berry Muffins." I modified it to be as Primal, grain-free and low-sugar as possible, and three baking sessions later, here are these muffins.

These taste so good, and look so pretty, that they may be making an appearance at Victory's 1st birthday party next month, complete with fresh blackberries from our garden! I hope you enjoy them as much as we have (that includes me, Hubs, my mom, our friends, our friends' kids, our neighbors... they are crowd pleasers)!

Red (Brown) & Blue Berry Muffins

Makes 10-12 traditional size muffins, 24+ mini muffins

What you need:

1 1/2 cups chestnut flour, such as Dowd & Rogers
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1+ cup water
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup grapeseed oil or olive oil
1/3 cup pure organic maple syrup OR 1/4 cup maple sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger, optional
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup fresh/frozen raspberries
1/2 cup fresh/frozen blueberries

*I have been reading Michael Ruhlman's Ratio, and I have to say, it pains me to list out these measurements for you, knowing that if they were weights instead, you'd be essentially guaranteed a perfect muffin. My blog may turn into a recipe-by-ratio, baking-by-weight destination in the future, because I am really loving that concept. In the meantime, go with your gut. Baking without gluten really isn't so intimidating or risky, just pay attention to the texture of your batter and have fun! That is what it's really about :)

What you do:


Preheat oven to 365 degrees. Prepare your muffin tin, using festive paper liners.
In small-medium mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients and set aside.
Using stand mixer, whisk together liquid ingredients on low until blended.
Slowly add dry ingredients to liquid mix, on medium speed, until smooth. Add water if mixture seems to need more liquid. Batter will be runny, similar to pancake batter, or a slightly watery brownie batter.
Scoop 1/4 cup batter into each muffin cup. Depending upon how much water used, you will get 10 to 12 traditionally sized muffins.
Drop berries (can be frozen still) on top of batter in each muffin cup.
Bake until golden and tops are slightly firm to touch. It took 20 minutes for my traditional size muffins to bake (check at 15), and less than 10 minutes for the mini muffins (check at 5 minutes).

Note: Don't stress too much about getting them perfectly done. The beauty of baking without eggs is that even if your muffins turn out to be not quite done, they won't hurt you!

Enjoy! (I know you will!)

These would be delicious set on top of a small bowl of coconut milk ice cream... Excuse me while I steal away to my kitchen to see if I have what's needed to make that happen ;)

Have a festive 4th of July with family, friends, fireworks, or whatever else helps you celebrate all that our nation's freedom has given you. We are so blessed to live in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. Happy birthday America!

California Summer Avocado Pie

Today I am featuring a recipe from an outside source: the above pictured California Summer Avocado Pie via the  California Avocado Commission. It comes from their website, avocado.org. I got their monthly email this week, and it is chock full of summer recipes using beautiful California Avocados. Don't worry, you can be in the loop too! Sign up for their emails and check out more recipes here.

Source: avocado.org

Okay, does this summer pie not look absolutely decadent and creamy - and yet also light and refreshing? The perfect treat for the summer ahead- reward yourself after a day of hard work in the yard, or share with friends at an afternoon BBQ. Whatever the occasion, with the right substitutions this pie won't hurt you; it's full of good things!

First, let's establish a fact: Avocados are wonderful. You can cut one open and snack on it in slices or with a spoon, just plain like you would any other fruit. Make guacamole in minutes (delicious on top of a burger or chicken) by mashing one with a bit of water -or lime juice if you can eat citrus-, minced jalapeno, and a dash of salt. Avocados are a lovely and satisfying replacement for dairy in your diet - they add smooth, cool flavor to spicy Mexican food and provide a delicious creamy topping to burgers ... they thicken and enrich the texture of smoothies... Avocados make all sorts of desserts, even pudding! (Have you seen this tip before? Blend avocado, banana, and cocoa powder, and you've got chocolate pudding that's the perfect texture, nutritious and free of gluten, dairy, eggs and sugar!)

Best of all, avocados give you a healthy dose of anti-inflammatory, good fats. For this reason, avocados have been a God-send to me while I've been exclusively breastfeeding and experiencing occasional malabsorption issues from UC flares.Thank you, avocados! Read more about the nutritional benefits of these green beauties here: Alligator Pear Benefits.

Avocado Pie

I won't write out the ingredients or full recipe, because they are quite simple and listed clearly - just follow the link to the recipe. However, I am thinking the recipe needs just a few tweaks to make it Paleo - here are my suggestions:

• Replace sweetened condensed milk with full-fat coconut milk
• Lime juice and zest could be more delicious than lemon!
• You can omit the graham-cracker crust altogether and pour the avocado mixture right into a glass pie pan or individual ramekins, and rename this "Avocado Custard" :)
• or, make a Paleo-approved crust. You can make up your own very easily by trying different ingredients. One option is to blend coconut oil, almond or hazelnut meal, and maple syrup until you have the right consistency, pack mixture into pie pan, bake for a couple minutes to crisp and brown.
• Nix the whipped cream
• Garnish with nuts if desired and lime zest curls for a pretty decoration!

Now it's time for pie :)

Birthday [Carrot Cake] Cupcakes

Thursday was my birthday, and I made myself a special treat. Carrot cupcakes. Free of grains, gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, almonds, refined sugar...

This was my first experience with chestnut flour - baking or eating - and I must say, it will definitely not be my last. (I'm glad I signed up to get a small bag of it every couple of months through Amazon.com Subscribe & Save!) The cupcakes turned out moist, soft, and cinnamon-y delicious. Chestnut flour has swag.

I frosted the cupcakes with a quick glaze-style icing I made from palm shortening, shredded coconut, maple syrup, local honey, and coconut oil. I spooned that on while it was still liquid, then topped them with leftover grated carrot and organic dried coconut flakes and left to set.
These were good by themselves, better enjoyed with a cup of coffee, and best with a bowl of coconut ice cream on the side!
The recipe made ten cupcakes, and it was the perfect amount to share with my husband and enjoy my birthday. I ate more than half of those ten in about twenty-four hours. It was my birthday and I indulged.

I saw the recipe featured last month at Brittany Angell's gluten-free, dairy-free site Real Sustenance, and bookmarked it for my special day. If you have never checked out Brittany's blog, head over there now and look at her recipes. I have made two of them now, these cupcakes and the Samoa cookies (original recipe). She is very talented and I'm so glad to have found her blog!

I made the cupcakes according to Brittany's recipe, with a few ingredient changes, less sweetener, and a misstep in mixing. It is a forgiving recipe, because they still turned out great! I give her all credit, however I only will list the ingredients I used and the steps I took to make these cupcakes.

[Grain-Free, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Egg-Free, Soy-Free, Almond-Free]

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Recipe credit: Brittany Angell, RealSustenance.com

What you need:

• 1/4 cup natural applesauce (no sweeteners added)
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1/4 cup grapeseed oil
• 1 teaspoon gluten-free, alcohol-free vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cup Chestnut flour
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon 
• 1/4 cup Sucanat
• 2 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1 cup washed, peeled, grated organic carrots (I minced mine in the small food processor)
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar*

What you do:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Line muffin tin with 10 paper liners.

Measure wet ingredients (applesauce, coconut milk, grapeseed oil, vanilla, and vinegar) into a large bowl, stir together to combine.

Add in the dry ingredients (chestnut flour, cinnamon, sucanat, baking powder) and blend with a spatula. Pour in grated carrots and gently fold together until batter is evenly mixed.

Scoop the batter into muffin cups and place into the oven. Bake for 30 minutes.

(Cupcakes will be finished when toothpick comes out clean.)

These cupcakes are delicious. It was fun sharing them and hearing the reactions - "full of flavor," and "If I hadn't been told already that these are gluten-free and dairy-free, I wouldn't have known!" "Yummy!"

I'm happy to report to you, grain-free does not mean delicious dessert free. You can come up with a special birthday treat for any diet. Do you have a favorite annual celebratory treat that needs converting or replacing, to be safe and healthy for you and/or loved ones? Do share and I'd love to brainstorm with you about substitutions and new ideas. And check out RealSustenance.com for more great ideas.

Playing around with cupcakes and my Gerbera daisy plate

It was a treat to find my Gerbera daisy plant blooming on my birthday.
I thought it didn't make it through the late ice storm we had,
but it's got two beautfiul red flowers on it now!

Another birthday, another year of life and many things to be thankful for. Every year I am a little surprised at how different a birthday is as an adult. I don't know why it's taking me such a long time to adapt to that difference from childhood. But it is better, especially when you have a best friend/spouse and a precious baby girl to spend it with. 28 years of life accomplished, and so many more to come!

[Coconut Milk] Ice Cream!!!

We did it. We finally made homemade ice cream. My mom and dad got us the ice cream maker attachment for our KitchenAid mixer as a housewarming gift - almost FOUR years ago. Hey, at least we're finally using it right?? :)

Do you know what my #1 favorite thing is about this ice cream? The price. I would go to the grocery store and buy a teeny tiny PINT of Coconut Bliss for $5.49 plus tax. And that was the cheapest price around! This ice cream makes TWO PINTS and it cost me less than $3. Two cans of coconut milk at $1.48 each, plus a few items you probably have in the pantry.

And the taste and texture were absolute perfection! We made our first batch for a Mother's Day dessert - coconut milk ice cream with fresh fruit, yum! The next week we made a peppermint chocolate-chip version - still gluten-, dairy-, egg- and soy-free, and very very tasty!

Coconut ice cream with fresh mango and strawberries

Homemade Coconut Ice Cream


What you need:

2 cans all-natural, full-fat coconut milk (I love Taste Nirvana!)
2 TB tapioca starch
1 tsp alcohol-free vanilla
1/2 cup shredded coconut

For Mint Chocolate Chip version:
(1/2 tsp gluten-free peppermint extract)
(1/4 to 1/2 cup dairy-free, soy-free mini chocolate chips - Enjoy Life Mini Chips)

What you do:

First, freeze the part of your ice cream maker that needs to be frozen ahead of time. Don't miss this step, or you'll be so disappointed that you won't have ice cream until the next day. How do I know that... ;)

Open cans of coconut milk and pour 1/4 cup into a small bowl. Measure out tapioca starch and whisk into small bowl of coconut milk, until blended together.
Pour the remaining coconut milk into a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat. Stir occasionally, until milk begins to boil. Whisk in the starch/milk mixture and continue stirring until whole pot of milk is thickened and smooth - this will take one to two minutes.
Remove saucepan from heat. Stir in vanilla (Mint Chocolate Chip variation: add peppermint here and mix). Pour into a heat-proof container and cover; put into the refrigerator to cool down and chill for four hours.

After ice cream "base" liquid is chilled (wait at least four hours), remove from refrigerator and get your ice cream maker ready.
According to your ice cream maker's instructions, start making ice cream! As far as I know, all ice cream makers are about the same - freeze the container for 18-24 hours, mix and chill your liquid base for at least 4 hours, then set up the appliance.
Turn it on first, pour your liquid base into the frozen container next, and let it mix and freeze and turn to ice cream - for about twenty minutes.

Ice cream in the making

You'll know it is ready because it will be fluffy and thick and creamy, like the best ice cream you've ever had - not like the smashed, packed ice-crystallized stuff at the store. I was so impressed!

*If you are making the Mint Chocolate Chip version, add the chocolate chips after twenty minutes and let them get mixed in well. It will cause a few "bumps" and "crunches" as the container continues to spin, but if you use the Enjoy Life Mini Chips, it shouldn't cause a problem.

Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream ready to go in the freezer in glass SnapWare

Try making this delicious dessert this summer, and come back here to tell me what flavor you tried. The flavor possibilities are endless! A little prep time, creativity, and you'll have homemade ice cream for just a few dollars and completely free of any chemicals, thickeners, or allergens! You won't regret it :)

Jumping Off the Wagon

You guys, I've jumped off the wagon for a few days. No, not by eating gluten, dairy, or even soy or eggs - I can't ever eat those things. Still no garlic or citrus or pineapple - that would not be good. Nothing I know will outright cause allergic reactions. I went to the store and bought a basket full of treats and snacks, and some of them are very definitely NOT Paleo. I needed some help getting me through this hungry/exhausted/frustrated/completely baffled week. Here's what I got:

Yes there are some grains in there (rice). And some outright un-Paleo, unhealthy, completely junk-filled Swedish fish. But the rest is not half bad right?  :)

See? I'm not perfect in any respect, and eating Paleo full time while trying to take care of your family and home, breastfeeding a nine-month-old, dealing with chronic illness daily "stuff," and freakish allergic reactions - well it just doesn't always work out.

Do you know how hard it is to find grain-free snacks that do not contain garlic? I would be all over some beef jerky, but it's got garlic. I ran into garlic or the vague "spices" term listed on so many ingredient labels. What is the deal with that?

Somehow, I got "glutened" or ingested some other allergen the other day. I am still completely baffled as to what it was. I know something happened because I had the worst reaction I've ever had - brain fog, complete and total exhaustion physically, emotional ups and downs, itchy, sinus stuffiness, joint pains, headache... Oh was it HORRIBLE! Hubs and I have been calling and looking up the manufacturer information for the foods we ate and still haven't come across a clue. (By the way, Kraft customer service is VERY nice! We called them about some uncured Oscar Mayer bacon -nope, it wasn't that-, and Hubs was on the phone for fifteen minutes including speaking with an executive! Go Kraft, you really are trying hard to be accommodating and sensitive to those with food restrictions!)

But it's been a tough couple of days. Whatever this was it threw my guts into a flare up and I have felt more than ever before that I am not absorbing anything from what I've been eating. Just getting up and walking across our tiny house feels like dragging a cart full of boulders behind me. I don't know how much it affects my energy level when in a flare like that, but I am still breastfeeding as well and I was dreading feeding Victory each time, because of how exhausted I felt. And that's not something I want to be feeling!

So.

I jumped off the wagon. I bought some food I can grab right out of the cupboard. And a few treats to boot. And I'm only sharing this so you see that I too, am human. I am learning that, particularly with Autoimmune disease and following the Paleo AIP, it doesn't matter as much that you're eating "perfectly," as much as it matters that you are dealing with stress and not putting unhealthy pressure on yourself. So this is my little vacation off the perfect Paleo highway, and I'll enjoy it, and get back to grain-free, crap-sugar-free soon.
I'm okay with that :)

Do you ever take a break from something in your life? "Jump off a wagon" that you intentionally were on to pursue health?
Sometimes it's more important to give ourselves grace and a little break, as long as we're still keeping health in mind. Pursuing health, especially when you have autoimmune disease, is a life-long journey, full of ups and downs and adjustments. What is important is to keep moving forward and brush off the guilt and tough moments.

Paleo "Apple Pie"

I deserved a treat today!

It was a long, uncomfortable weekend.

I visited an allergist on Friday, where I almost walked out twice because of the "culture clash" as the doctor described it. Note to Doctor, when you start off an appointment by saying that you "don't believe leaky gut syndrome exists," this really alienates your patients that attempt to be informed. Just because something isn't written up in your favorite medical journal, does not make it quack science.

I struggle with the resistance in allopathic medicine to listen to theories about the root of disease; I would think that a physician, someone who works in a helping profession, would at least be mildly curious about what is truly helping people (i.e. treating autoimmune and allergies by treating leaky gut with the Paleo diet, SCD, going grain-free, etc.)! OH well. I left on a good note, feeling like I planted a seed of awareness, and the doctor seemed to be mildly intrigued that my inflammatory and autoimmune conditions improved when I eliminated the reactive foods on my IgG panel two years ago. That's all you can do sometimes, is plant a seed. Much better than walking out and giving up :)

The doctor did run two allergy panel skin tests for IgE reactions. As far as the results are concerned, I only have true allergies to grass, weeds, cats and milk, and less significantly to peanuts, almonds and soy. 

Unfortunately my body says otherwise.

What seems to have happened is that I absorbed all of the substances that they injected me with for the test (wheat, milk, egg, soy, pollens, nuts, and so on...) and because I have IgG allergies to many of those things, it's been a miserable time.

I am finally coming out of the allergy fog, and feeling less stiff and enthesitis-y. 

Yes, I just made up a word  :) 

I finally felt a bit like myself again!

So I made Crock Pot applesauce. 

And then I made Paleo "Apple Pies!" 

(I suppose by composition, they are more like cobbler, but whatever.)

 These treats are something I came up with during our first month of eating Paleo, and I think you'll enjoy them quite a bit!

What you need:

First-

5-10 pounds peeled, cored, sliced and washed apples

1/2 cup filtered water

2+ tablespoons cinnamon (+ according to taste)

Later- 

almond meal

coconut cream (sold in cans or small aseptic boxes)

What you do:

First- make a batch of applesauce. This is easy to do!
You just need to adjust the size of your slow cooker and the cooking time depending upon how many apples you are working with.
For ideal cooking, the insert will be at least 1/2 full.
I used my six quart Cuisinart slow cooker and it was about 4/5 full of Braeburn apple slices.
I use a nifty apple corer/peeler/slicer gadget that we got as a wedding gift, and it makes this whole process fun and fast. I highly recommend getting one if you make applesauce often!

Fill an appropriately sized slow cooker insert with the clean, peeled pieces of apple.

Sprinkle cinnamon over the apples.

Pour water over everything.

Put the lid on, set to "Low" heat and let cook until apples are breaking down, water has absorbed and cooked out, and applesauce is the consistency you desire.

(I let mine go for six hours.)

Depending upon how long you cook it and how small your apple pieces were to begin with, you may want to mush applesauce with a potato masher to get a smooth texture.

(I leave mine as is; it's so soft the small chunks don't seem to matter.)

First, dish up some applesauce for yourself and whoever is with you, and make some "pies." 

Then store the rest: spoon applesauce into sterilized glass jars, let cool in the refrigerator overnight, and freeze. 

With just fifteen minutes of preparation and six hours of cook time, I have six jars full of fresh, homemade applesauce.
The ingredients cost under $5!

Making things homemade is a great way to save money and ensure your family is eating good food
without creepy preservatives or other undesirables.

For "pies"-

Spoon approximately one cup of applesauce into serving bowls. Scoop on one or two spoonfuls of coconut cream in each bowl, and sprinkle almond meal over the top. Coconut cream has a strong coconut flavor on its own, but when you stir everything together and take a bite, it really tastes like warm apple pie with a touch of cool whipped cream!

These are delicious.

Enjoy!

White Wine Roast Chicken and Vegetables

There's nothing like the smell of roast chicken permeating your home to get your appetite going. My family enjoyed this experience last night. I had a whole chicken in the refrigerator that needed to be used, and white wine gravy was calling my name. I made up a recipe, and thought I'd better share it here because it turned out a success.
If you're home today enjoying a relaxed family day, or tomorrow will be your slow-paced Sunday, try roasting a chicken. The smell and taste won't disappoint! You can save the bones and make a batch of nutritious, tasty bone broth - great way to get the most out of your food budget!


What you need:

Whole chicken, giblets removed and rinsed in/out
Sea salt
Black pepper
Sage
White wine like Chardonnay (nothing fancy, I love using the $2.49 "Two Buck Chuck" from Trader Joe's)

What you do:

Preheat oven to 450. Place chicken in a roasting pan with wings and legs tucked underneath. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and a dash of sage. Pour white wine around chicken in pan, about 1/3 bottle.

When oven reaches 450 degrees, put the chicken in the oven and let it brown and crisp on top for fifteen to twenty minutes.

It will look like this. Beautiful!

Now lower the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Grab a pot holder/oven mitt, pull the oven rack out a bit [carefully!], and baste the chicken all over with the white wine/drippings. I like to baste it five times or more. Close the oven and let it go for twenty minutes, then pull out the oven rack and baste, again.
Repeat this once more - twenty minutes of roasting, then baste. Check the thigh temperature with a meat thermometer. If it reads 170 or higher, you can take the chicken out of the oven. If it's not, put it back in for ten more minutes, and check again.
Once temperature is 170 degrees, take out of the oven, cover the roasting pan with foil and let sit for fifteen minutes. Remove the foil and check the temp. The thigh should be 180 degrees.

Voila! You roasted a beautiful delicious chicken!

At this point you can cut up the chicken into eight pieces - 2 thighs, 2 legs/drumsticks, 2 breasts, 2 wings. For help in doing this, check out this step by step: How to Carve a Roasted Chicken
Also, there are many videos demonstrating this culinary skill on YouTube.


This chicken can be served with steamed vegetables and if you like, white wine gravy* for a lovely dinner. Enjoy your meal!

Chicken and veggies - one of the best

*To make gravy, pour the wine/drippings into a small saucepan over low heat. In a small bowl, make a "slurry" with one teaspoon cornstarch and 1/4 cup water. Mix slurry with a fork, and add to the saucepan of warm drippings. Continue to whisk this mixture together while it heats. When it is thickened to the consistency you like, it's ready. Pour over your chicken and veg, and enjoy.

"Samoa" Cookies

A few months back I saw a great recipe at beautiful Real Sustenance blog: Gluten Free Samoa Cookies. (Grain/Egg/Corn/Soy/Dairy/Refined Sugar Free). Samoa cookies have always been my favorite, dating back to my year as a Junior Girl Scout. If you've ever read the label though, like me, you know that they are not very good for you. So I was very excited to find Brittany's recipe over at Real Sustenance, and saved it for a later date. Check out the recipe here.

I finally had the chance to make these cookies yesterday with a good friend. They weren't exactly like original Samoa, but they were EXCELLENT cookies, even compared with traditional cookies made with wheat flour and butter. We used spring themed cookie cutters - a flower, a tulip and butterfly. If I get the chance to make these again some day, I will just keep it simple with a circle cutter, because the shapes get covered by the blobs of caramel and you can't tell what they are underneath the delicious toppings. The shapes made it more festive though, so I'm still glad we did that.

The caramel is so delicious, the fact that you can't tell these are tulips, flowers and butterflies doesn't really matter!

First, I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Shortbread mix to make the base cookies. It was one of the last grain items left in my kitchen, so it needed to be used up. This made my cookies gluten free but not grain free. However, they are free of soy, dairy and egg.

I made the shortbread cookies with substitutions for the ingredients called for on the recipe on the bag, which called for butter, water and an egg yolk.

I used the new Spectrum butter flavored palm shortening in place of butter or soybean oil shortening, and instead of egg yolk I mixed a heaping tablespoon of golden flax meal with 1/8 cup warm water, into a yolky-textured gel. I had to add water throughout mixing the dough, to get it to the right texture to roll out flat, but they turned out very well - if a bit hard. The golden flecks of flax meal in the white cookies looks pretty.

Once the shortbread cookies were cooled, I made the caramel. The original recipe had several options for each ingredient - what a blessing when you have dietary restrictions! I made it with the following:

• 3/4 cup organic virgin coconut oil
• 1 1/4 cup brown sugar (another item in the small "gotta get rid of this" section of my cupboard!)
• 1/4 cup agave
• half can of canned, preservative-free coconut milk (I LOVE Taste Nirvana!)

I was surprised at how long it took to get the caramel past 200 degrees; it was a stubborn pot that didn't want to boil! But finally after about 30 minutes, the candy thermometer was creeping up and we had our caramel. It was delicious! I think it's pretty neat that you can make caramel dairy-free, and I want to make it again for a special occasion to top coconut ice cream.

For the chocolate topping, we used Enjoy Life allergen-free mini chocolate chips (those things are AWESOME!) and my unsweetened coconut flakes were organic, small shreds from the bulk section of Whole Foods that we toasted on parchment paper in the oven for about 5 minutes

A tulip

It was definitely worth it to finally try out this recipe. I would love to repeat it every year around Girl Scout Cookie time, so I feel less left out. It's good to treat yourself once in a while :)

Happy Spring! Are you as thrilled as I am that it's finally here?!

Fast Food Mondays: Breakfast Scramble

I've had Fast Food Mondays (my first themed series!) on the brain since it debuted way back at the beginning of February. (Did anyone try making those salmon croquettes? They are delicious. We've made them somewhere around ten times at our house since that first try. Yum!)

Today we're back looking at another way to prepare good, fast food on the most hectic day of the week - Monday! This recipe is a breakfast-y meal but it can be eaten morning, noon or night and you'll be satisfied. It is like an omelet, but without the eggs!

My husband gets the credit for coming up with this. One day I needed to eat before an appointment, and was racing around the house getting ready. Hubs knows I need protein in the morning and like to get started on my daily veggie intake with breakfast (he also obviously knows that I cannot have eggs). He came up with this "scramble" idea, and I just made a repeat to test out for all of you. Mix up the components according to what meats are in your 'fridge and what veggies are in season.

Egg-less Breakfast Scramble

What you need:

Zucchini, washed and sliced*

Baby spinach*

Basil (dried works fine; fresh is a treat)

Onion, diced

Black Forest ham (nitrate/nitrite free, gluten free) or other favorite meat, sliced/shredded

EVOO or grapeseed oil

*preferably organic, as these are two things that tend to have high pesticide levels when grown conventionally

What you do:

Heat oil in a skillet over medium low to medium heat. Toss in zucchini slices to get them cooking. Sprinkle with basil (about half a teaspoon to start; add more as you cook, to taste). A couple minutes later, when zucchini slices start to soften, add in diced onion. Toss everything together and continue cooking. When the onions are turning translucent, add in the ham and spinach leaves (tear them if you want truly bite size) and give everything a good stir to blend the flavors.

It is done when everything is warm, the zucchini and onion is tender, and the spinach leaves have wilted. Give it a taste. Sidenote: you should always taste while you cook; seasoning food is not science, and unless you're baking, there are no hard and fast rules ;)

Add more basil if you feel it needs it, and a sprinkle of sea salt to bring out the flavors - but not much when using ham, because it's already salty!

Did I forget anything? I hope not. I've been dealing with a hefty amount of brain fog for a few days. 

So here you go: a complete breakfast (lunch or dinner) meal from pan to plate in ten minutes or less.

Here's a picture of my breakfast plate, of course sitting next to my usual almond-almond latte and my morning meds and supplements...

...Don't judge me - most of that is Vitamin D, which does wonders for us up here in the Pacific NW  :)

I hope this helps someone out there that, like me, misses omelets terribly due to an egg allergy. Just take your favorite omelet components and try it without the egg as a "scramble." And let me know how it turns out; I'd love to hear your ideas!

Happy [Fast Food] Monday everyone!

How To: Butternut Squash [for Breakfast!]

I guess you could say I'm on a winter squash kick. I posted about Spaghetti squash a little over a week ago, and here I am about to tell you all about Butternut squash. I think I am just so excited to [finally] be cooking and eating this stuff on a regular basis, and I want to get all I can before spring rolls around and the season for these is over until autumn!

One of the reasons I am so excited about winter squash is because it is so satisfying. Roast some in the oven with a little bit of coconut oil and pumpkin pie spices, drizzle the top with a touch of maple syrup if you like, and you're going to check the clock because you'll think you just arrived at dessert!

It isn't difficult to go from this:

to this:

Paired with mango chicken sausage for breakfast, and you'll be more than satisfied

Let me show you what to do, and you'll have some sweet golden nuggets to dive into in no time!

What you need:

one whole butternut squash

OR a great shortcut: a bag or two of peeled, cubed squash from grocery store (such as Trader Joe's)

coconut oil

optional though highly recommended: 

pumpkin pie spice

maple syrup

[minimally processed, gluten free, MSG free, nitrite free] mango or apple chicken sausage (also found at Trader Joe's, other stores)

What you do:

First, let me say that it seems safer to me when wielding a chef's knife, to be cutting something softer than a raw squash. So I start out by poking holes into the [rinsed and dried] squash, about three in a row every inch or two around the the gourd. Then I cook it on high in the microwave for five to ten minutes. This will make the skin more tender. Wait until it stops steaming and hissing before removing it, and use oven mitts to protect your hands from the heat.

Next, you want to peel the skin off the squash. Use your best veggie peeler and go to town. In some spots you may be able to just peel it off by hand. Once you see beautiful bright orange all around, cut it in half and remove the strings and seeds. Cut it into fourths, even eighths if that works for you. 

Here's my squash, peeled and cleaned, ready to dice

Then, working your way around the pieces, dice it all into cubes, as uniform in size as possible. Put the cubes into a Corningware type baking dish. I used a tart pan this time - no rigid rules here:

Get a big spoonful of coconut oil and put little pats all over the squash, like you would with pats of butter on a pie. (Oh dear. Why did I bring up pie? Moving forward quickly...) 

Sprinkle your spices on top of everything.

Pour a little bit of water into the dish. 1/4 to 1/2 cup water works well. You can always check it once it's cooked for a bit, and add more as needed. I find that most cooking and food is gracious to you as the cook :)

(If you haven't figured it out yet, I'll tell you now - I am not a scientific, precise cook. Use your best judgement with all my vague directions. I believe this way of cooking will build your culinary confidence and help you learn to trust your own judgment and palette.)

Put the baking dish of prepared squash into a preheated 350 degree oven, and check after twenty minutes. Give everything a gentle stir and continue to cook until the cubes are softened, steaming, and smell delicious!
Pull the dish out of the oven and let cool for a minute or two. Spoon some onto your plate, and if you like, drizzle a teaspoon of maple syrup on top.

Your plate may look something like this:

A sunny looking dish for a cold winter morning

This baked squash experience was several days ago. Today I used the shortcut method with Trader Joe's bagged, butternut cubes and the microwave:

I gave the squash cubes a good rinse (even though the package says they are pre-washed, it seemed like a good idea to freshen them up). I added the coconut oil, spices and water just the same as when baking, and even put it all in the same baking dish.

I microwaved it on full power for fifteen minutes, stopping every five minutes to check and stir. After the last segment of five minutes, I left the dish in the microwave for another five minutes to steam everything some more.

I heated up (nearly burnt, actually...) a mango chicken sausage and had that with my "shortcut squash" today for a brunch time meal. Everything was delicious. The flavors all went together nicely, and I have to say I'd pick that meal over a typical dessert! YUM!

Humble brunch today, with an almond milk latte ;)

So, what do you think? The season for whole winter squash is winding down. Will you get out there, hunt down a squash and try this? If you do, I'm sure you'll be hooked and next fall you'll be so excited when the squash appear again :)

If you have any tips for cooking squash or favorite seasonings to prepare it with, share with us by leaving a comment below.

Happy March, everyone!

Buffalo Buorguignon

Have you seen "Julie & Julia?" Remember the cute story about Bouef Bourguignon, and the scenes where Amy Adams is cooking the dish and it just looks so beautiful and delicious? The movie played it up to be so romantic. Well, I won't lie: I want to make some. It's on my "cooking bucket list." Anyone else have one of those? No? I know, I'm a food nerd. I like it that way  :)

When I saw a recipe for slow cooker "Beef Bourguignon" at Crock Pot 365 [my favorite place to find gluten free, slow cooker inspiration] and saw that it was completely do-able as a gluten free, dairy free, paleoish meal, I got excited! I knew I'd found a simple way to see if I liked the flavors of a Bourguignon roast before attempting the more intense Julia Child recipe, and it just so happened that we had buffalo stew meat in the freezer. I gave it a whirl and I have to say, I was delighted at how much the Hubs and I enjoyed it. The flavors came together very nicely in the slow cooker, the meat was tender and not gamey in the least. Delectable! You must get your hands on some buffalo stew meat and try this!

Slow Cooked Buffalo Bourguignon

adapted from Crock Pot 365's Beef Bourguignon

What you need:

1 pound buffalo stew meat pieces (grass fed beef would work)

4 slices uncured bacon

1/2 red onion, sliced

1 cup chopped carrots

2 tsp Tuscan style Italian seasoning (Herbs de Provence if you're a stickler for the traditional)*

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

fresh ground black pepper

2 cups red wine (I used "Two Buck Chuck" Charles Shaw Merlot from Trader Joe's)

*I looked up Herbs de Provence planning to make my own. It is a blend of basil, fennel, marjoram, rosemary, savory, thyme, and sometimes lavender. When I got to my spice cabinet I discovered that the McCormick Tuscan Style Italian Seasoning from Costco was very close and used that instead. It is a blend of thyme, garlic, marjoram, onion, rosemary, oregano, basil, savory and sage.

What you do:

I used my 3 quart slow cooker. Make whatever size you have work; this is casual slow cooking :)

Lay two slices of bacon in the bottom of your slow cooker. Top with onion slices. Put stew meat into crock on top of onions and bacon, and sprinkle on seasonings.

Lay remaining two slices bacon over the meat, and top with the carrots.

Carefully pour red wine over everything in the crock.

Cover and set to "High," and let it heat up until you can smell the wine in the air. Change the temp setting to "Low" and cook until meat reaches desired doneness (it took 3 to 4 hours here - I forgot to write down the exact time). If you like, you can take the lid off partway through cooking and stir everything, but then you will need to plan on some more time for cooking. Dish is ready when the carrots are tender and the meat is cooked to your desired doneness.

Serve with steamed Normandy vegetables drizzled with olive oil, and gravy. Make gravy by whisking together a little bit of juice from the slow cooker with a tablespoon of thickener such as cornstarch in a small bowl, then add it to the rest of the juices simmering in a small saucepan and whisk until thickened.

As Julia would say, "Bon apetit!"

Dinner

Leftovers for lunch

Speaking of Julia, here she is, cooking her famous Bouef Bourguignon on the very first episode of "The French Chef." So much cooking wisdom in these twenty eight minutes. What a neat lady she was...

How to: Spaghetti Squash

Whether you're going Paleo or simply deciding to pick up more whole, colorful foods every time you shop - your choosing to do that opens up many new windows of opportunity to try new or forgotten foods you probably wouldn't have picked up otherwise. On that note: have you experienced Spaghetti squash?  If not, I think you should give it a try.

Hello sunshine!

It's popular in the diet crowd [sigh] as a substitute for pasta noodles. I don't like to think of it as a "substitute." I want to embrace it for what it is: a unique, delicious vegetable, full of nutrients and beautiful pigment. It happens to resemble a man-made creation (noodles) but squash was here first. So... the real truth is that pasta wants to be spaghetti squash, right?  :)

Another selling point of squash - it is very affordable! I picked up two HUGE spaghetti squashes a couple weeks ago for just $2, because they were down to 20 cents a pound at the produce stand! Score!

Once cooked, the squash strands ("noodles") are moist and soft but have a delightful "crunch" when you're chewing. 

I have tried it several different ways, and they are all winning combinations. So, let's get cooking. First we'll prepare the squash and then try a few serving suggestions...

The fastest way to prepare this is to cook it in the microwave. Rinse and dry your squash(es). Poke holes all over the skin with a strong fork or knife. Pop it (them) in the microwave and cook on full power for at least ten minutes. You can tell it's ready when your fork or knife goes into the skin without much fuss. Use oven mitts to take it out of the microwave, and let it sit to cool for a few minutes. Once cook enough to handle, cut it in half around the "waist." Be careful of steam! Use a spoon to scoop out the stringy innards and seeds. You can save the seeds, clean them up, sprinkle on a baking sheet with chili powder and roast them for a few minutes at 350 for a great snack!

Unedible strands and edible seeds

Once you have two clean halves, you can cut them again the other direction if you need better access to the squash "meat." Take your fork and start to pull at the yellow cooked stuff. Squash "noodles" will start to come off, and you can put them into a bowl. Do this with each piece of squash until they are all clean, and you'll have a bowl of spaghetti squash ready to eat!

You get a lot of "noodles" from one squash! Put it into containers to refrigerate or freeze

A "breakfast option"

Here are a few ways I like to enjoy this squash:

Breakfast - Scoop a bowl of spaghetti squash and top with organic raisins and raw pumpkin seeds (optional to add a drizzle of maple syrup or sprinkle of sucanat)

Sweet Treat - Lay a base of spaghetti squash and top with homemade unsweetened applesauce, a scoop of coconut cream and a teaspoon of cinnamon. Yum!

Hearty Dinner - First, cook up some chicken Italian sausage (I like Isernio's because their products are made here in the Pac NW and have no icky preservatives or questionable ingredients). Lay a base of squash and top it with the cooked sausage, sauteed onions, zucchini and/or bell peppers, and marinara sauce. Ooh!


So are you going to give this great veggie a shot? You really should. Don't be a wimp. ;)
If you already love spaghetti squash, leave a comment sharing your favorite way to enjoy it. Have a wonderful President's Day, friends!

Slow Cooking: Spicy Coconut Chicken

Slow cookers, a.k.a. Crock Pots. Do you have one? If so, do you actually use it? Confession: I have three slow cookers. Actually, four if you count our GIGANTIC Nesco roaster. They were all gifts-I'm not an addict. However, now five years into my "homemaking career," if you will, I use all of them. It just took me a while to get into slow cooking.

Truth: Slow cookers are not the most glamorous kitchen tool, and the food they produce isn't always beautiful for photos. However, it is always delicious, and so simple and easy to get it that way. I think slow cookers are making a comeback with savvy cooks. In some cases, you can have a delicious hot dinner ready in the evening after just five minutes of prep work in the morning. Slow cookers save money because they can make just about any cut of meat moist, and it's hard to overcook something. And they are rumored to be one of the best ways to cook with a low energy cost - as low as two cents per day!

This recipe evolved from a recipe for Tandoori Chicken over at Crock Pot 365. I only made that dish once, with Greek yogurt. After a few weeks post-partum, all my food allergies came back in full force, and I couldn't have dairy at all. I wanted to make it again sans yogurt, so I did a little thinking and came up with a new twist to the dish: canned coconut milk as a yogurt sub. I also modified the spices (I'm allergic to garlic, so that went away with the yogurt). After cooking this on four separate, but all delicious, occasions, and playing around with the spices each time, I've landed upon what I think is the perfect combination of flavors. I also think my creation is unique and tasty enough to deserve it's own name. I'm calling it...

Spicy Coconut Chicken

What you need:

3-4 quart slow cooker (If you have a larger one, simply double the recipe. Leftovers of this dish are WONDERFUL!)
Fresh/thawed boneless, skinless chicken pieces. Try this combo: 4 small chicken thighs and 2 medium chicken breasts (I like Trader Joe's fresh organic, free range)
One can of coconut milk (Go for a brand without preservative chemicals, such as Taste Nirvana or Trader Joe's)
Bag of frozen broccoli or cauliflower pieces

1/2 to 1 tsp* of the following ground spices:
turmeric
curry
smoked paprika
cumin
coriander
ginger
crushed red pepper flake

*Use your taste as a guide. We love spicy around here, so for the real heat I recommend 1 full teaspoon of each spice.

What you do:

Put chicken pieces into the slow cooker (I used my 3 quart Hamilton Beach). Gently -to prevent splashing- pour half a can of coconut milk on top. Scoop each teaspoon of spice right on top of the chicken and coconut milk. Once everything is in the slow cooker, take a fork and start turning the chicken pieces, working from the bottom to the top. Get both sides of each piece coated. The spices will mix together on their own while you do this. When everything looks good and well coated, put the lid on, set the heat at Low, and cook for three to four hours, depending on thickness of chicken and power of your slow cooker.

At this point, add your frozen veg and keep the heat on Low. If the veg pieces are small, it won't take long to finish - less than twenty minutes. Dish up a plate: a piece of chicken, a few scoops of veg, and some extra sauce as there will be plenty. You can serve this on a bed of "riced" cauliflower for something extra. This is a great, convenient Paleo meal, it is super easy using the Crock Pot, and it has plenty of the three components we need: 1) lean protein (chicken), 2) healthy fats (coconut milk) and 3) vegetables (broccoli and cauliflower)!

Like I said, the slow cooker doesn't always produce aesthetically pleasing dishes, but this really tastes wonderful. Give it a try tonight!