Gingerbread Waffles (GF, vegan)

Yum yum!

DELICIOUS GINGERBREAD BELGIANWAFFLES! Perfect for festive winter mornings. Not pictured: I also made these with a Disney Frozen snowflake-shaped Belgian waffle maker that I got for Christmas, and it was phenomenal.

WAFFLES:

1 cup teff flour (or use some all purpose GF)

¼ cup coconut sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

½ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ teaspoon allspice

¼ teaspoon clove

¼ teaspoon xanthan gum (optional)

¼ teaspoon salt

⅓ cup coconut milk

1 large egg (or 1 flax egg, which is what I used)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 tablespoon agave nectar

3 tablespoon melted coconut oil

      ---> combine ingredients, waffle-ize in your favorite waffle maker (Belgian worked very well)

GLAZE: 

1 cup coconut sugar (powdered, if you want to be picky about consistency)

1 tablespoon coconut milk

1 tablespoon lemon juice

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

     ---> whisk together. You can also mix these ingredients by taste.

Enjoy!

Mint Chocolate Cake

What I made for St. Patrick's day:

Leprechaun-friendly.  Will trade for pot of gold.

MmmMmm. I made 4 mini cakelets.

THE RECIPE:

Flourless Chocolate Cake:

4 ounces fine bittersweet chocolate -- I used a little under 4 oz unsweetened chocolate, plus ~ 4 tbs coconut sugar
1/2 cup ghee (or other butter substitute)
3/4 cup coconut sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
pinch of salt

---> Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8 inch round springform pan, or four 4-inch springform pans.  Line bottom of pan with a round of parchment paper, and grease the paper.
Chop chocolate into small pieces. In a microwave safe bowl, Melt the chocolate over low heat, and stir in butter substitute until they are melted together.
Add cocoa, then whip in eggs, vanilla, and salt.
Pour the batter into cake pan(s).
Bake for ~25 minutes.  Let cool in springform pan.

Mint Frosting:
1 can full-fat coconut milk, chilled. --> scoop the thick coconut fat off the top of the can, after it has chilled. leave the watery stuff behind.
mint extract, to taste (i used ~1/8 tsp)
green food coloring (I usually don't use food coloring.... but i couldn't resist!!)
Add powdered xylitol and erythritol in 1:1 amounts until desired consistency
     Note: to make powdered xylitol/erythritol, add the granulated form to a magic bullet, with a dash of tapioca starch or potato starch.  The starch will help it to 'powder' easily. Bullet until powdered.

Topping:
Shaved mint chocolate bar.
    I used Endangered Species Chocolate, Mint Chocolate and shaved off curls using a vegetable peeler.

Assembly:
After cake has cooled in springform pan, pour frosting on top of cake. Chill until frosting is firm.  Then add chocolate shavings on top of frosting.  Garnish with mint leaves if desired.

To serve, gently remove sides of springform pan, then transfer cake onto serving platter.  Enjoy!

The Best Chocolate Cookies in the Universe

Note: sandwiching with mint chocolate chip ice cream only makes the best even better.

Best in the Universe? --prove me wrong, I DARE YOU.

They're fudgey, chewy, soft, gooey, crinkley, sweet, and delicious.  (And grain-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, dairy-free, of course.)

Recipe can easily be doubled for twice the aweseomeness.

Adapted from the 2013 Washington Post Christmas cookie section.


THE RECIPE:

Prep:
- toast 2 3/4 c chopped walnuts:  spread them on a baking sheet and place in a 350 degree oven, shaking sheet occassionally, for 8-10 minutes.  Watch carefully to make sure you don't burn them.

- separate 4 large eggs, saving the whites **

- powder 3 cups coconut sugar:  I used a magic bullet blender for this, powdering small amounts at a time.  A Vitamix could probably handle all of it at once and save considerable time.  I put ~1/2 c at a time in the bullet with a pinch of tapioca or potato starch each time, and blended until powdered. Adding starch helps create the 'powdered' consistency.

- locate parchment paper or silicone baking mats to line cookie sheets before dropping cookies.

- heat oven to 350 degrees

[** save those yolks and make some Gluten Free Pasta!! It's no coincidence that a double cookie recipe takes 8 whites, and a double spinach-pasta recipe takes 8 yolks..... :) ]


THE ACTUAL RECIPE:

1/2 c plus 3 tbs cocoa powwder
3 c powdered sugar
pinch of salt
2 3/4 c walnuts, toasted
4 large egg whites, at room temperature
1 tbs vanilla

Combine the cocoa powder, powdered sugar, salt, and walnuts - beat on low for 1 minutes.

With the mixer running, slowly add the egg whites and vanilla.  Beat on medium for 3 minutes, until the mixture has thickened slightly and looks lumpy. Do not over-mix, or the eggwhites will over-thicken.

Use a 2-ounce cookie/ice cream scoop (or let's be honest... a normal spoon) to scoop that batter onto the LINED cookie sheets.  Space cookies about 3 inches apart.

After placing cookies in the oven, immediately reduce temperature to 320.  Bake 15-20 minutes, rotating pans font to back and top to bottom halfway through. (note... this entire step is optional, but is included in the original recipe, and would probably would help for optimal results.)

Pull parchment paper with cookies onto a cooling rack and cool completely before moving cookies.

Eat and enjoy!

Gluten Free Pasta Verde, Homemade

Red & Green - this was my Christmas dinner.

 This is an adaption of the previous recipe that I posted on homemade GF pasta. It basically subs pureed spinach for some of the egg, and ends up being bright green! The taste doesn't change very much, so it's still good with a variety of sauces. I've preferred to keep it simple, and top it with a few grape tomatoes sauteed in olive oil, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, salt, and black pepper.

While we're on the subject of olive oil, I highly recommend Trader Joe's Spanish Olive Oil. It is fragrant and rich, not at all bitter, and everything that an EVOO should be! Get it.

I used my Cuisinart pasta maker for this again. I've tried it with the fettuccine dye, as well as the angel hair one. Worked great with both!

When I've made this, I've done a double recipe, and bagged the leftovers to feed myself for the next 10 dinners or so.  Below is the doubled version, because it's easiest to sub the spinach for one whole egg. To make less, I would sub the weight of one egg yolk for equal weight of spinach puree.

Angel hair extruding.

THE RECIPE: (feeds ~8) - (or more, if you're me)

6 oz garbanzo bean flour
6 oz millet flour
6 oz potato starch OR tapioca starch/flour
2 tsp psyllium powder
2 pinch nutmeg
2 tsp salt                           -----> combine dry ingredients (mix them in bowl of pasta maker)

1 L egg
8 L egg yolks*
5 oz fresh spinach leaves    -----> blend eggs and spinach until spinach is pureed. Slowly add to dry mixture and blend.

1 tbs oil (maybe)
1 tbs water (maybe)          -----> after your egg/spinach mixture is fully incorporated into the dry ingredients, evaluate the consistency of your dough.  It should be naturally clumping into walnut-sized chunks. (Although the moisture of the spinach may make it ball a bit more than usual- that is okay.)  If the dough resembles cornmeal, it is too dry.  If this is the case, add up to 1 tbs oil, and re-evaluate. This should be all you need- however, if you find it is still too dry, add up to 1 tbs water.  Get those walnut-ish chunks, one way or another.

Then, follow the instructions on your pasta maker to extrude the noodles. You should also be able to do this by hand-- google elsewhere for detailed instructions on how to do that.

Cook in a very large pot of boiling water for just a few minutes.  Fresh pasta cooks VERY quickly-- and overcooking it will make the noodle structure and shape fall apart. (aka, still tastes good, but looks crummy.)  It always finishes more quickly than I expect!

Top with some olive oil, salt/pepper, or your favorite sauce. Enjoy!

Fettucine in the stew pot!

Fettuccine, just about to be cooked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* STAY TUNED for the dessert that is the PERFECT PAIR to make with or soon after this pasta...... because it uses 8 egg whites! So, it's pretty much a requirement that you make them one after another.  Just don't explode from deliciousness overdoes when you do.

Gluten Free Pasta: Homemade

Yeah,  that's right. I made this meal for Girl's Night, and shared it with my non-weird-diet friends! Also.. disregard the overcooked (aka, flattened) ziti.  Still tastes awesome!

My new favorite meal is homemade gluten free pasta.  I have a Cuisinart pasta maker that mixes the dough and expels it out of a die, which makes the whole process super simple.  It should be possible to roll out the dough and cut strips without a pasta maker, too.

I've been using THIS recipe from GlutenFreeGirl. (Scroll down to the recipe in the box.)  I've use garbanzo bean flour instead of garbanzo-fava, and also tapioca starch instead of potato starch.  I did use a baking scale to measure by weight for the flours.

I usually have large eggs (not extra large, as the recipe calls for) at home, so the second time I made the pasta I used 4 egg yolks from large eggs, and 2 large eggs-- it came out the same.  Either way, just adjust the oil and water amounts if it ends up too wet or too dry.

Oozing out of the Cuisinart!

Plate of uncooked pasta.

Seriously, this pasta is delicious.  I eat it with some Spanish olive oil, salt, pepper, and a little basil. --Delish!

~~~~~~

Also:

I found this at my local Healthway:

Conte's frozen gluten free potato gnocchi.  Cooked up in under 10 minutes... I don't get insta-meals very often, so this was awesome. Pretty darn good, too!

Pumpkin Madness!

Pumpkin snickerdoodles!

A new post? Shocking, right-- seeing as I've been completely AWOL for a very long time.... sorry about that. This week I got caught up in the fall pumpkin-everything craze!  It started with pumpkin snickerdoodles and then progressed to pumpkin-sauce pasta. I still have some pumpkin left in the can... so there may be some pumpkin pancakes in store for tomorrow morning.

I still have been being food-lazy, so I mainly used other peoples' recipes for these creations.  I made the pumpkin snickerdoodles using the awesome recipe on The Nourishing Gourmet.  They are definitely some of my favorite cookies ever!! The pumpkin gives them a delightfully fluffy texture.

In the recipe, I used coconut sugar for the sweetener.  For gluten-free flour, I used 1 cup millet flour, and 1 cup of mixed garbanzo flour and brown rice flower.  I also threw in about 1/4 or 1/2 tsp guar gum for good measure.  I also added Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips to half of the batter...... but those do have cane sugar in them. (I was feeling adventurous!)  I love the combination of pumpkin and chocolate, but these cookies were so good they barely needed the addition.

Pumpkin (sauce) pasta

Now, for the pasta, I cooked up some gluten-free brown rice penne and twisty things (don't know the proper pasta-name!) and whipped up some pumpkin sauce with the left-over canned pumpkin.

I really just made the sauce by taste, and followed the basic seasonings listed here. The base was pumpkin, olive oil, almond milk, and pasta water.  The seasonings were salt, pepper, sage, onion powder, garlic powder, nutmeg, and cinnamon.  It ended up having a great blend of savory taste, plus the implied sweetness of the touch of cinnamon.  Definitely also a winning creation.

Happy fall! Now the big question.... what are you being for Halloween???

Chocolate Easter Bunny

Yes, it's belated. But pour it into a different mold, and it can be chocolate whatever-you-want!

Hi, I'm cute! Also, delicious!

 THE RECIPE:

2 oz unsweetened baker's chocolate
1 tbs coconut oil  (I used the kind that doesn't taste like coconut to make it more standard-chocolate-y)
1 tbs agave (or stevia to taste)

Melt and mix - then pour into a candy mold!
If you're feeling fancy, try to temper your chocolate... I wasn't, so I didn't.

Almost-deaf.

Waffle Cookies! (Wookies?)

Waffleization #1: Chocolate Oatmeal Waffle-Cookies!

Look like waffles, taste like cookies. True Waffleization.

Waffleized cookies are cookie batter cooked in a waffle iron.  I whipped up some chocolate-oatmeal batter, and popped it in my belgian waffle maker... instant waffle-cookies! (wookies?)

THE RECIPE:

1 c flour  (1/4 all-purpose GF, 1/4 brown rice, 1/4 c millet, 1/4 c GF oat)
3/4 c GF oats

1/2 tsp baking powder
3/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
3 Tbs cocoa powder
1 Tbs cacao nibs (optional)

1/4 c coconut oil
1/4 c agave
1/4 c coconut sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl, and separately whisk together all wet ingredients in a large bowl. Add dry ingredients, and stir/beat until well combined. (I did it by hand using a wooden spatula/paddle thingy.)  The batter should be cookie-consistency: Holds its form, but still moist/a little sticky.

Fire up the waffle iron! I used a medium-high setting, but still needed to watch them carefully.  It's a balance between cooking them long enough that they're firm enough to be removed in one piece, but also not cooking them too long/too high that the outside burns.  A little bit of dark toastiness is fine, and to be expected. The inside will still be gooier than the outside, which is also fine (and delicious)!

Scoop on blobs of the batter, and flatten them slightly.  I chose not to make them full-waffle sized, but any size should work.  Since I didn't fill the griddle, my "green light" was going off before the waffle-cookies were truly all the way done... so as I said, I had to check them to see when they were really done.

Overall, this worked very well! They taste just like normal cookies, but have the added benefits of being (a) waffle-shaped (thus possibly still passing as breakfast), and (b) TWICE AS BIG as normal cookies (thus allowing you to eat twice as much). :)

SUCCESS! Wookies rock.

Part 2 - Brownies w/ Irish Creme Frosting

I used the recipe from my Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cake, but doubled it and baked it in a 9x13 pan.  And then made Irish Creme Frosting using flavored agave. (What I REALLY wanted to do was incorporate whiskey flavor using my whiskey flavored tea from Scotland.... but then I forgot it at work!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan.

THE RECIPE:

1 c coconut oil
1/2 c ghee (or more coconut oil)
2 c coconut sugar
1/2 c light agave          ---> if oil is solid, heat on stove until melted; whisk together/stir continuously. Let cool slightly.  (the components may remain separate, but that's okay for now)

4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla    ---> after wet ingredients cool slightly, whisk in eggs and vanilla. At this point, stir until all ingredients are mixed.


Combine in a separate bowl:

1 1/3 c flour combination: oat, GF all-purpose, brown rice, millet, tapioca  (basically whatever you have!)

1/2 tsp guar gum

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 c cocoa powder    ---> combine dry ingredients in a bowl, then add them to the wet ingredients. Mix well.

Pour batter into pan, and bake ~30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Let cool.

IRISH CREME FROSTING:

I made this in a very small quantity, since I'm basically out of irish creme agave. Multiply the proportions as necessary:

1/4 c coconut oil  (softened, but not melted)

1/4 c irish creme agave   ---> whisk together until frothy/creamy

1 tbs cocoa (or more/less to taste)

1/8 tsp lemon juice (makes it less sweet)

If you want it thicker, place in fridge for a while.

Povitica v.2.0

Yum yum yum yum yum!

Much tastier version than the last, albeit not quite as authentic as far as the thin-rolling goes.

The following recipe makes FOUR LOAVES plus a bit extra filling.


THE RECIPE:

Dough:  Cream together...

1/2 c coconut oil
1/2 c ghee
1.5 c coconut sugar
4 eggs
1/2 c brown rice syrup

Mix and add....

2 c brown rice flour
1/2 c garbanzo bean flour
2 c millet flour
1 c gluten-free oat flour
1 c tapioca flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt


Filling:   Melt together...

1.5 c ghee
1.5 c almond mulk
1 c agave nectar
1 lb ground walnuts
3 tbs cinnamon
2 tsp guar gum (to thicken)


Separate the dough into four quarters- one for each loaf.  Roll out one portion between plastic. Spread cooled filling onto dough, then roll dough. Fit each portion into a greased loaf pan.  Bake at 350 for ~40 minutes.

Slice and enjoy!

Gingerbread S'mores Cookies

 

Happy New Year!

I know I've continued to be AWOL for a while, but I have several holiday recipes to post in the next few days. Also, will probably be updating my health saga on a separate page, since of course there's a new development on that front as well.

The good stuff: Gingerbread Marshmallow S'more's Cookies! Gluten-free, Sugar-free, Dairy-free, as always.  These were my favorite Christmas cookies this year- festive and quite delicious!

THE RECIPE:

Dough:

Look at that creaming action! So light! So fluffy!

1/4 c (non-virgin) coconut oil
1/4 ghee
3/4 c coconut sugar             

--> cream fats and sugar until mixture lightens in color and increases in volume (takes 5-10 minutes)

2 eggs
1/4 c brown rice syrup         

--> add wet ingredients, mix thoroughly

1 1/4 c teff flour
1 c millet flour
1/2 c tapioca flour
1/2 c gluten-free oat flour     --> combine flours

2 tsp ginger
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt                          --> add other dry ingredients to flour mixture

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients; mix thoroughly.

Roll out a portion of cough between two sheets of waxed paper, until 1/4 to 1/8 inch thick.  Cut with your favorite cookie cutters.  Grease cookie sheets with an acceptable oil/fat, or line with parchment paper to prevent cookie-sticking.

The un-broken (aka, un-eaten) batch.

Bake at 350 for ~6 minutes, or until top of cookies just begins to be firm to the touch.  They won't brown much, so don't wait too long to take them out!

If you didn't use parchment paper (which I did not), use a metal spatula to remove cookies immediately from sheet. If you wait til they cool (or the usual 10 minutes), they will stick and break! And then you will be forced to eat stomachfuls of headless, armless gingerbread girls to destroy the evidence.

At this stage, cookies can be eaten as-is, OR they can be TAKEN TO THE NEXT LEVEL and s'more-ified.


S'MORE-IFICATION:

You will need these two essential components:

Two gingerbread girls: one light, one dark...

1. vegan marshmallow fluff   (ingredients: brown rice syrup, guar gum... plus MAGIC)

2. chocolate filling/frosting:   (extra can also can be used as truffle shells!*)

4 oz unsweetened solid chocolate
3/8 c coconut sugar
3 tbs agave nectar
2 tbs coconut oil    --> use a double-boiled to melt chocolate over medium heat, then mix in other ingredients.

S'mored!

Take two cookies of corresponding shapes. Spread marshmallow fluff over one, and chocolate over the other-- then BAM sandwich them together.

Decorating options based on how lazy you are feeling:

Pretty Lazy - dip a toothpick into chocolate filling and 'paint' chocolate onto cookies
Medium Lazy - put chocolate into a piping bag, and pipe on decorations
Zero Lazy - make some other frosting, all-natural-food-color it, etc., and knock yourself out.

 

S'mored AND beautified. Check out Slutty New Year's Dress Girl on the left there.

* To use this as truffle coating:

Option A, and Option B. Option C? Eat that chocolate plain!

a) use silicone ice-cube trays, preferably pre-greased with coconut oil, and coat with chocolate. Add a dollop of whatever filling, then cover that with a layer of chocolate. Place in freezer to set, then move to fridge. (They will look pretty!

b) use waxed paper - place a 1cm-to-1inch sized dollop of chocolate on waxed paper. Then dollop your filling on top of that, and then seal it all in a final coat of chocolate. Place in freezer/fridge to set. (Lots of dollops. And they will look lumpy.)


I used extra povitica filling for the inside of the truffles... this recipe will be up next! Stay tuned.

Maple Walnut Pie

One again... ate 90% of it before a photo could be taken..... :)

Happy Thanksgiving! This is a festive pie that I actually made for a pre-Halloween pumpkin carving party.  It was delicious, and I liked that it was less traditional than your typical pecan pie. (and also... walnuts are cheaper than pecans! :) )

Crust:

1/2 c + 3 tbs millet flour
1/2 c garbanzo bean flour
1 tbs potato starch
1/8+ tsp salt           ---> combine dry ingredients
3 tbs ghee              ---> mix into dry ingredients to make velevety consisitency
3 tbs ghee              ---> mix coarsely to form pea sized balls
~1 tbs ice-cold water   ---> drizzle in, gently mixing until dough forms into a ball

Roll out for a 8.5" pie pan (8 or 9" would work too) on waxed paper. Place the pie pan upside-down on the rolled dough, and use the waxed paper to flip the crust into the pan. Repair any cracks that may form, then crimp edges
Prick bottom and sides of pastry with fork. Line edges of crust with double thickness of foil. Bake 8 minutes at 450 F.. Remove foil, them bake 5 minutes more or until crust is lightly browned cool. Reduce oven to 350 F.


Filling:


1.5 c maple flavored agave (or maple syrup, if you can eat it)
3 eggs
4 tbs ghee
2 tbs coconut oil
1/3 c coconut sugar
1/4 c erythritol (or more coconut sugar)
2 c chopped walnuts, toasted
1 tbs vanilla
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp tapioca flour


Beat eggs until thick and lemon colored, ~5 minutes. Add ghee/coconut oil (softened), beat in. Add all other ingrdients and mix, then fold in walnuts. Pour into crust. Bake on baking sheet for ~45 minutes, or until middle just begins to set but edges are not burned. If edges seem to be cooking too quickly (browning) before middle begins to set, turn temeprature down slightly.  Cool before serving.


Tastes like a cross between a pecan pie and maple stick donuts. :)

Apple Cider Donuts with Apple Cider Syrup

MmmMMmm... pre glazed.

Perfect for the fall.  TRUTH: I ate 48 mini donuts in 3 days.  Pretty easy to make, and the result has a true cake donut crumbly-but-melt-in-your-mouth consistency.  Top them with cinnamon coconut-sugar, or drizzle with home made apple cider syrup.... or both!


 THE RECIPE:

1/3 c brown rice
1/3 c teff flour
1/3 c tapioca Flour
1 c millet flour            (totals 2c GF flour)

1 tsp guar gum
1 tbs baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp nutmeg (or more to taste)
½ tsp cinnamon (or more to taste)

2 tbs applesauce
¾ c apple juice
5 (/7, or scant ¼ tsp) drops apple cider vinegar
3/4 c coconut sugar          
2 tbs agave
2 tbs coconut oil, melted
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 egg

Combine dry ingredients. Combine wet ingredients. Make sure coconut oil is melted—place in hot water bath/heat gently on stove if not. Mix wet into dry.

Preheat donut maker; fill donut wells—DO NOT overfill, these WILL rise well. To top, spray with sprayable coconut oil, then sprinkle with cinnamon+coconut sugar. For a sweeter taste, drizzle with apple cider syrup (and cinnamon-coconut sugar, if desired). The syrup does take away a bit from the delicate donut taste, though - so take your pick!

Apple Cider Syrup:

1 gallon apple cider

First, measure 2.5 cups cider into a large (at least a gallon) pan, and note the liquid level. Add the rest of the cider. Boil for approximately 5 hours, stirring frequently (especially at the end as it thickens), until volume is reduced to 2.5 cups. Pour into sterile (boiled) glass jars for storage. Keep refrigerated. Syrup will thicken as it cools.

Boil it down!

As it begins to thicken (~5 hrs) it will begin to froth! Exciting!

Dark Chocolate Ribbon Fudge

In addition to being delicious, this fudge is incredibly flexible when sliced into thin strips. The sculpting possibilities are endless, but of course I ate it all before getting around to shape more than a simple spiral. I also added raspberry sauce, home-made with raspberries from my back yard.

THE RECIPE:

1/2 c coconut oil
8oz unsweetened baking chocolate
1/2 c agave + small dump (~2 tbs)
1 c coconut sugar
1/3 c cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp sea salt (or, to taste)

Line a 8x8 baking pan with waxed paper.

Use a double boiler to prevent chocolate from burning. Before pan is hot, add all ingredients except vanilla and sea salt.  Turn heat on to medium, and stir continuously until chocolate is just melted, and all ingredients are combined. Do NOT overheat. Then add vanilla and salt, stir to mix.

Pour fudge into lined pan, and set in fridge to cool. (Takes about 2 hours)

After the fudge has set, when it is left out of the fridge for a few minutes, thin strips will be very flexible- hence, it's "ribbon fudge!"

Also-- RASPBERRY SAUCE
THE RECIPE:

~2c raspberries
~1/4 c orange juice concentrate
agave - to taste

Bring all ingredients to a boil and mix. Let cool, and keep in fridge.

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.

Golden Snitch Snack Balls

I open at the close.......

As I'm still behind in my posts, I made these in honor of the opening weekend of the Deathly Hallows, Part II, and ate them for lunch before heading to the theater to watch the show (complete with Dark Mark on arm.)

What did I think of the show? As with all of the HP movies, it wasn't quite as good as the book, and certainly botched a few key moments (like Neville's heroic moment! ...fail) but overall it was quality entertainment... and, succeeded in making me tear up on multiple occasions. I really lost it at the end when Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all grown up, sending their own kids off to Hogwarts. When I met the Harry Potter franchise, Harry was younger than I was-- and now all of a sudden, he was an adult, married, with children, and the magical saga had reached its conclusion. If Harry had grown that much over the years, where does that put me?

Sentimentality aside, these snitch balls are a super easy way to have a magical lunch.

THE RECIPE:

mozzerella soy cheese

Peeves, my first favorite character.

flaxseed meal

Snitch filling:
1/2 avocado
2(or more) fresh basil leaves
2(or more) spinach leaves
dash of salt                              ---> pulse in Magic Bullet until leaves are chopped and a paste forms

Roll in flaxseed meal to form a "golden" ball. ****
Slice soy cheese, and cut slices into matching diamond shapes. Stick into ball to form wings of the snitch.

Place mouth on snitch and let it "open at the close" ....of your mouth. As it explodes in flavor and awesomeness.

**** Really want to take it to the next level? Put a whole hazelnut inside to replicate the Ressurection Stone.

Luna Lovegood, my other favorite character (that's MEE!)

BONUS: take the Harry Potter Comprehensive Sorting Test HERE and let me know what you get!
(I'm an all-out Ravenclaw :) )

Magic Cookies Bars

Magic! (cookie bar)

Magic cookie bars (also known frequently as Seven Layer Bars-- although I'm nver quite sure what the 7th layer is... maybe the pan?!) are one of the first desserts I learned to make by myself. The original recipe came from an EagleBrand Sweetened Condensed Milk can. I remember layering the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, walnuts, and coconut flakes on many a late-night dessert-making spree, often accompanied assisted by friends, and often followed by gobbling up the whole pan while watching movies and gossiping in my basement.




Fast forward to now, and my current recipe is really just as easy to make and just as delicious to eat. (I may or may not have eaten it for breakfast all week... which actually worked great!) Benefit over the traditional version: no crushing graham crackers. Downside: spreading marshmallow fluff is a pain. Either way, they're still easy and worth it.

MmmMmm, pan of gooey deliciousness...

THE RECIPE:

Layer in a baking pan: (8x8, or 9x13)

Uncooked.

crust, in 2:2:1 ratio - almond meal, flaxseed meal, coconut sugar
melted coconut oil - add to crust, mix with fork until consistency is gooey but not wet, and covers entire bottom of the pan
vegan marshmallow fluff (I get mine at WholeFoods) - spread (or rather, lump/drizzle on) until it more-or-less thinly covers the whole pan
chocolate chips - use ~10 oz to cover the whole area
chopped walnuts - again, sprinkle or spread over surface
shredded coconut - sprinkle over surface


By now the chocolate chips, walnuts, and coconut should have entirely covered the gooey fluff layer-- thus, you can use your hands to gently press all along the top layer to compact the layers together. 


Heat oven to 350 and bake until chocolate is melted and coconut begins to toast - around 20 minutes.

Cooked, served, half-eaten.

 

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....