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!

Why You May Need to be Grain Free! Watch & Consider

This five minute interview with Dr. Peter Osborne is worth watching. Some quick bullet points it covers:

• Typical gluten free diets include heavy amounts of corn and rice
• Proteins have been found in corn that are identical to proteins in gluten - the gluten-sensitive immune system reacts the same to these proteins, and don't heal
• Lectins, chemicals found in beans and seeds, act like gluten, creating leaky gut walls
• Leaky gut leads to more and more food allergies
• Seeds were created to produce and perpetuate life, and so they have protective chemicals to prevent extinction - when we eat these, they end up in our gut. Don't assume they don't harm you!
• Grains induce intestinal permeability and autoimmune disease
• Study published: 92% of celiacs did not recover on a "traditional gluten free diet"
• In comparison, often when a person goes grain-free, they are healed completely
• "Healthy whole grains" are promoted on commercials... but aren't healthy!
• Gluten is now tied to 190 autoimmune diseases!

My family has been 99% grain free since January (no gluten, dairy, or soy since last year), and it has worked wonders for my health and the activity of autoimmune disease in my body. PLUS, my basically healthy husband has lost 30 POUNDS (with no changes to his activity level - just food alone), has no more foot pain despite his 6-7 miles of walking on concrete floors at work each day, and more energy each day.

There is something to this, guys. Please watch and consider for yourself.

[Almost No Effort Required] Paleo Breakfast

Who would've thought? Giving myself a break has resulted in more energy and more Paleo meals and snacks than not, this weekend. I'm here to tell you that relaxing once in a while, and giving yourself more grace, can do wonders helping you feel better :)

Over the weekend I was inspired by some items in my refrigerator and came up with a very flavorful breakfast. Another item I purchased on my little grocery store trip to help me have a vacation from scratch cooking everything, was a package of Al Fresco Sweet Apple chicken sausages. I was informed by someone else with a garlic allergy that they are garlic-free, and you cannot quote me on that; if you are allergic to garlic, please check it out for yourself before trying! But so far I have not had any problems, and I can usually tell very quickly if I've had garlic (not being able to breathe is a good clue).

I know this isn't a great photo, but it gives you the idea:

Sauteed spinach & onion with chicken apple sausage + squash with pumpkin seeds and p.pie spice and maple syrup + Earl Grey tea with coconut milk

It's pretty self-explanatory, but here is a short run-down. I've bolded the key ingredients:

Put the sausage(s) into a skillet to heat. Dice onion and put into same skillet, and cover with two handfuls of organic spinach. I like to use the cast iron skillet with a little bit of leftover bacon grease (uncured bacon if possible). The flavors that you will taste from that combination is amazing!

Let the skillet cook everything for ten to fifteen minutes. Meanwhile, put the frozen squash "cube" in the microwave in a safe bowl with a splash of water and cook for four minutes. Stir well, and cook for two minutes more. Sprinkle with pumpkin pie spice, pumpkin seeds and drizzle lightly with maple syrup.

One of my favorite morning beverages is Earl Grey tea with all natural, full fut coconut milk added as "cream." It is delicious! It gives a little caffeine boost without being as acidic or hard on the stomach as coffee. 

Don't get me wrong, I love me some coffee! I try not to have it every day though. To learn more about that, read this interesting post from The Paleo Baby. Then, read this recent article from The New England Journal of Medicine. With all the varying opinions and research out there, I think it best to make your own informed decision about coffee, make sure you're in control of your consumption of this "legal addictive stimulant" (Tom Hanks gets credit for that line) and have peace with it.

Make it a great week, friends!  :)

[Fifteen Minute] Paleo Lunch

So it turns out that "jumping off the wagon" for a few days really did me some good!
The other day, in the midst of my dabbling into the world of Cocoa Pebbles and rice cakes and Swedish Fish - all in moderation mind you!) I had a burst of energy and made a very respectable, delicious grain-free lunch. It took fifteen minutes total - you can't fuss about that!

Spicy cod and diced avocado on a bed of organic spring greens

Fifteen Minute Lunch: Baked Cod and Greens
Serves 2

*The speed of this lunch starts with having ready-to-cook cod. When you buy frozen cod, put it into the refrigerator when you get home (I suggest setting it in a baking dish - many fish juice leaks all over my refrigerator taught me that!). In a day or two it will be thawed and you won't have to mess with a water bath to do that.

Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet (with rim) with parchment paper. Place cod pieces/filets on the paper, dabbing moisture off fish if necessary.
If you like, drizzle olive oil over the fish. Oil is not necessary, especially if your fish has some moisture to it, but it is optional.
Sprinkle about 1/2 tablespoon of the following on the fish:

• cumin
• cayenne pepper
• dried cilantro

Add a few turns of the pepper mill and a dash of salt to the fish, and put into preheated oven. Bake until fish is white (opaque) and flakes easily - ten to twelve minutes.

While fish bakes, fill plate(s) with layer of organic spring mix (or lettuce, spinach, whatever you like). Dice one avocado per plate, and set it to the side. When fish is done, lay pieces on top of greens dividing fish evenly between the two plates.

Wasn't that fast? You can modify the recipe using your favorite spices and raw veggies. It's a great way to get in some Omega 3 fats and quality protein (cod), vitamins and fiber (greens), and healthy fat (avocado).

A Very Hypoallergenic Afternoon :)

Recently, my husband and I received the gift of an afternoon out together, just the two of us. And how did we choose to spend it? We were out of town, and took the opportunity to visit some places we don't have at home: first, a stop at a gluten-free, vegan bakery for coffee and a treat, and then: wandering the aisles of Whole Foods for several hours, filling our cart with beautiful and hard to find where we live whole foods. (No pun intended!) Can you tell by our choice of date locales, that we love food AND eating this way?

The afternoon was so ... wonderful!

At the bakery, it took me a good ten minutes to decide what to get, as I told the clerk "I'm so overwhelmed that I can eat all of these things; I can't decide!" That was a wonderful problem to have :)
I finally decided upon a Linzer cookie, because it had more hazelnut meal flour than anything else - the closest to grain-free that I could get. I ordered a gingerbread hemp milk latte to go along with my cookie. Hubs ordered an almond milk latte and a berry scone. We sat at the bar in the window and thoroughly enjoyed our desserts and coffee. Oh, was the Linzer cookie a delight. Crispy crunchy sugary melt-in-your-mouth bites, and sweet sticky raspberry jam. Recreating that cookie is now on my ever-growing list of food to-do's!

I am so grateful for people who get inspired - either by personal necessity or for the people they love - and start businesses catering to us Celiacs and allergic. They possibly don't know how much it means to be able to enjoy an afternoon in a coffee shop or bakery with no worries of having a reaction to the experience. That's something I took for granted until I couldn't do it anymore!

My favorite picks from Whole Foods are:

• two jars of ghee (casein- and lactose-free clarified butter, made from organic cow's milk). I've heard that many dairy-allergics like me can safely have ghee. I have high hopes I'll be in that category too!
• two types of bulk dried coconut - organic medium shred, and conventional unsulphured wide chip. I love sprinkling these on my sweet potatoes and orange winter squashes
• organic chicken livers - Hubs gave me the O.K. to grind these up and add to a meatloaf, so he won't know they are in it but will get the nutritional benefits. Can't wait to try that!

What a fun and totally hypoallergenic afternoon it was. One for the happy-memories bank in my head :)