Coconut Shrimp: Gluten Free, Lectin Free*

 * I don't really know what a Lectin is. I just know I'm not supposed to eat them right now. I also know that shrimp, coconut, and olive oil are all on my "OK" list, and therefore do not contain significant amounts of lectins.

So, I've pretty much been in a food funk since the start of my new anti-leaky gut diet restriction, BUT this recipe kicks ass because it's the only thing I've been inspired to make-- AND it's absolutely delicious.  I've been making it for dinner on Fridays, then finishing it up for brunch over the weekend.

THE RECIPE:

raw shrimp, peeled and deveined, (tail on is ok)
3 tbs coconut flour
3 tbs shredded unsweetened coconut
pinch salt
smaller pinch pepper
coconut oil and/or extra light olive oil, for frying

Combine coconut flour and coconut in equal parts in a bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Heat a frying pan / skillet with enough oil to cover bottom of the pan, over medium heat. Throw a couple shrimp in the bowl of breading materials, and toss to coat. (Optionally, you can dip the shrimp in egg first to help the breading to stick.) When oil has heated, place breaded shrimp into pan- they should sizzle and begin to fry!

When the shrimp turns from clearish blueish (uncooked) to look whiteish pinkish (cooked), flip each to brown the other side. Remove when the breading on this side is golden brown. Keep cooking until you've used up all your shrimp- make sure that there is oil in the pan at all times, since this helps conduct heat into the shrimp PLUS adds deliciousness. If the oil gets "dirty" with bits of burned breading, wipe out the pan and heat fresh oil to continue.

5-Minute Fudge

yummo.

 FUDGE!
I may or may not have gained ten pounds from eating two batches of this in four days. (The uncertainty comes from the fact that I refused to get on a scale!) No worries though, it was worth it!

Now, you may think that the name (5-Minute) comes from assembly time, but that's not entirely the case-- it's more like, that's how long it will last before being completely devoured, because it's that deliciously addictive. (I'm only sort of kidding.)

 Can you actually make this in five minutes? Try it and let me know. I probably can't, because I'm perpetually mis-estimating time, BUT it only has four ingredients, and really all you need to do is mix them in a bowl, spread the goop into a pan, and pop that baby into the fridge. (Fridge setting > 5 minutes- it doesn't count!)


THE RECIPE:

1/4 c coconut oil
1 c almond butter (I used raw creamy unsalted)
1/2 c agave
3/4 c cocoa powder

Combine all ingredients, stir until mixed.  Line an 8x8 pan with waxed paper, pour in fudge goo, and place in fridge to set (~30 mins, or until firm), or, if you can't wait- just eat it wet. And then smooth over the area you ate to destroy the evidence! :)

 This stuff is delicious, and super rich. It's kind of like gold, in food form, only chocolate colored instead of gold colored. (Also, you don't have to dig and dig and diggety dig for it.)

Oh, oh, also, this recipe's raw! (provided you use raw almond butter, and whatever cocoa powder you accept as 'raw')

 ~~~~~~~~~~

 Also, I got a new surfboard! Thanks to my mom for a FANTASTIC yardsale find, scoring me my first longboard.

MmmMmmm, beeeeaaaaach....

"Little Debbie" Be My Valentine Snack Cakes: Sugar-Free. Gluten-Free. Dairy-Free.

Little Debbie snack cakes.....  I had forgotten about these little devils! And then someone brought a box to work.

And, suddenly I was flooded with memories of mind-blowing sweetness! Litte Debbie Vanilla Be My Valentine Snack Cakes... even when I last ate these circa age 6, I could tell that these were far too sweet and artificial to really even be considered food.

And, of course, I knew I needed to whip up some of my own.

Out of curiosity, I checked the ingredients on the real things before I started. Do you really want to see it? Probably not if you are planning to eat one of these in the near future. Or, you can do what I did: read the ingredients and then run to make the ACD healthier version!

Little Debbie "Be My Valentine" Cakes: Vanilla --- the real deal:

INGREDIENTS (for diabetes):

Sugar, Vegetable(s) Shortening (,, Soybean(s) Oil Partially Hydrogenated, Cottonseed Oil Partially Hydrogenated ),, Corn Syrup, Water, Flour Enriched Bleached (,, Wheat Flour, Niacin, Iron Reduced, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Folic Acid (Vitamin aB) ),, Dextrose, Egg(s) Whites, Color(s) (,, Caramel Color, Red 40 ),, Whey from Milk, Leavening (,, Baking Soda, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate ),, Salt, Emulsifier(s) (,, Sorbitan Monostearate, Polysorbate 60, Mono and Diglycerides, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Propylene Glycol Monostearate ),, Corn Starch, Sorbic Acid To Retain Freshness,, Egg(s), Soy Lecithin, Flavor(s) Natural & Artificial

 I bolded the ingredients that I deem acceptable on my diet. Water, egg whites, and baking soda-- now that's a tasty combination (blergh!!) Also note that foodfacts.com (from which I got this list) gives them a health score of 32/100, and marks it with "AVOID" and "CONTROVERSIAL INGREDIENTS." Yep, I thought so.

Now let's take a look at what my packaging label might look like:

INGREDIENTS (for awesomness):

White beans, eggs, coconut oil, agave nectar, erythritol, coconut flour, strawberries, ghee, tapioca flour, almond milk, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, lemon juice, liquid stevia, salt, liquid chocolate raspberry stevia

 Looks a whole lot prettier, huh? Shorter, more natural, more healthy. 

THE RECIPE:

1 cup white beans  ---> puree in high power blender (Vitamix)
1/8 cup coconut oil, melted
1 tsp vanilla
24 drops stevia
2 1/2 tbs agave -----> add, puree well
3 eggs***

1 1/2 tbs coconut flour
1 tbs tapioca flour
1/8 tsp sea salt
3/8 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda  ----> mix all dry ingredients well, then add to wet and puree again

*** There are two ways to do this to vary cake consistency. For a dense (pound cake-y) cake, blend eggs with wet ingredients. For a lighter, fluffier cake, separate egg yolks and whites. Add yolks to wet mixture, but beat eggs separately in a bowl, until stiff peaks form. After adding dry ingredients to the wet mix in the Vitamix, fold the batter into the egg whites. This will also yield a higher volume of batter, which will end up making more mini cakes.

I used heart shaped silicone cupcake molds to make these. Fill each one halfway, and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the middle of the largest one comes out clean.

WHITE FROSTING:

1/2 c powdered erythritol* or, soy milk powder to desired consistency, plus extra stevia to sweeten
1 tbs ghee, sort
1 tbs coconut oil, soft
1/2 tsp vanilla (will slightly brown the color)
1 tbs almond milk (add slowly to make it the right consistency)

* Make your own powdered erythritol! Put ~1/2 c granular erythritol into the Magic Bullet small cup, and pulse for about 20 seconds with the crossblade. BAM-- powder!

To make frosting, blend all ingredients in the magic bullet. Add almond milk as necessary to make it a nice whipped consistency.

PINK FROSTING:

1/4 c coconut oil
1 tbs agave
1 tbs strawberry puree (I magic bullet-ed this first)
1/2 tsp lemon juice
dash of salt
8 drops chocolate raspberry stevia
1 tsp powdered erythritol (optional-- thickens consistency)

Blend all ingredients in the Magic Bullet. This should be a thin consistency which will harden in the fridge.

ASSEMBLY:

Middle frosting layer.

Slice a heart mini-cake in half, and spread white frosting between the two layers- then re-assemble them. Next, coat all visible sides of cake in pink frosting. Finally, pipe white frosting on top in a spider-webby pattern. (I was lazy and used a ziploc bag with a tiny hole cut in one corner, instead of a real piping tip.)

Result? Something delicious, and just about as (sickeningly) sweet as the real deal. But, it's low GI, (sucrose) sugar-free, gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, aaand pretty much awesome!!

Now, I'm not saying that I should (or could) eat these every day (there's a reason I only made six!) But, they certainly are perfect for a rare (non)sugar fix.  Happy (belated) Valentine's Day!

~~

Also-- what's the deal with hating Valentine's Day? It's an excuse to eat chocolate and celebrate love of any sort- whether it's for yourself, a lover, a pet-- who cares? Just enjoy the day!

~~

Also: check out February's SOS Challenge at Diet, Dessert, and Dogs, with challenge ingredient stevia!

I got off to a rocky start with stevia, back in the day. When I started exploring the world of ACD baking, the only stevia we had around the house was a powdered form left from my mother's dabbling in vegetarian healthfood... which was probably in the 60s. Or 70s. Or sometime when they made pretty poor quality stevia, SLASH it had just gone bad by this current millenium. At any rate, everything we baked using that stuff had a sickening taste... soapy, if you will. Not quite to the "bitter" realm, but just all too "stevia-ish". I could taste a grain of that stuff anywhere... in anything. It haunted me. And ruined many a baked good.

I avoided all baked goods cooked with stevia, subbing in anything from vegetable glycerine, to agave nectar (when I got to the point I could handle it). But as I did my research, I raid many accounts claiming that with the right quality stevia, the disgusting taste problem really wasn't a problem at all.

So, I decided to give stevia another shot. I would buy a new batch. This time, I opted for the liquid form, and purchased a bottle of SweetLeaf SteviaClear (from good old vitacost.com). And it worked wonders! Gone were the days of ruined baked goods.

Stevia still can be a finicky sweetener when used carelessly, and certainly isn't for those with a heavy hand when it comes to measuring. Basically, its sweetening curve looks something like this:

 

Yeah-- tough. But as long as care is taken while sweetening, stevia can work wonders. I especially like it to sweeten beverages-- like when making chocolate almond milk!

So, in summary, I am a stevia convert. I still use it primarily in conjunction with other stronger sweeteners, but stevia does have its place in my baking arsenal. 

And who knows? I just might grow it in my garden this year. 

Chocolate Covered Waffle Sticks

Chocolate covered Waffle sticks, featuring the Sweet 'n' Savory Challenge ingredient of the month: Coconut Oil!




Coconut oil is one of my kitchen staples. Great for baking, great for a butter-substitute, it's all-around delicious and healthy. Plus, it has the unique property of a melting point around 76 F. This means that at warm temperatures, it is a liquid just like olive oil-- but at cold temperatures (aka, now) it is completely solid.

With all of the recipes in which I use coconut oil, for this month's challenge I wanted to pick a recipe that exploits the oil's high melting point. Really, no other oil can be substituted for this chocolate coating.

So, I present to you: Chocolate Covered Waffle Sticks-- a breakfast in dessert's clothing.  (...which obviously still makes it a breakfast.... right??)

Any type of waffle will due for dipping in this delicious chocolate sauce, but I opted for my trusty Cinni-Teff waffles.




THE RECIPE:


Cinni-Teff Waffles:

1 egg or egg substitute equivelent
1 tbs extra light olive oil                        ----> whip
1 cup milk substitute (rice/soy/almond/coconut)
1 tsp vanilla (alcohol-free)                    ----> mix
3/4 cup teff flour
1/4 cup cinnamon (or more/less to taste... I like lots!)
1 tsp baking powder                           -----> mix
1/8 tsp salt

Bake on high in (Belgian) waffle iron, then let cool. (Try not to eat them all at this stage...) These proportions make about 4.5 x 5 inch waffles.

Chocolate Dipping Sauce:

3 tbs coconut oil
3 tbs cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp agave nectar (or to taste)

Melt coconut oil in a small pan over low heat. As soon as it is melted, remove from heat. Stir in cocoa powder, vanilla, and sweeten to taste with agave. Let cool until mixture just begins to thicken. To speed the process, luke-warm pan of chocolate can be placed in the fridge for short periods of time. Just be sure to check/stir it frequently to prevent the coconut oil from hardening prematurely.

Assembly:

Slice waffles into strips, or alternately cut bite-sized peices around each square. When sauce has begun to thicken, dip each piece into the chocolate sauce. If chocolate sauce thickens too much for dipping, spread with a knife onto waffle. If desired, roll in shredded coconut, nut pieces, or other small delicious item. Place on a waxed paper-lined plate/cookie sheet to harden. To speed hardening, place cookie sheet in fridge.

Long long ago, I used to eat chocolate covered waffles from Whole Foods. They were delicious. So are these. Really, absolutely the same. Which = success!

Also: in nine weeks, I am incredibly excited to report that I will be visiting a friend in Trinidad for Carnival 2011. This will involve parading through the streets in this costume, which will require looking phenomenal, which will require cutting back on the dessert (and all other food...) for the next nine weeks. Which, in turn, requires me to not bake any more desserts for quite some time. So, be prepared for a temporary dessert-hiatus-- yet I will try to post some veggie/entree recipes.

Anyway. Chocolate covered waffle sticks? These aren't desserts! They're just waffles. Good old, breakfast-certified, waffles.