Complete Proteins

BBQ Veggie Pita Pizza

First Mondays of the month I participate in a  phone call with a dietitian paid for by my insurance. I would prefer in person nutrition classes and the like, but this is what my insurance pays for. It's a bit like having a life coach for health. At the end of each call she asks me to set goals. I said I should keep the same goals since I was not satisfied with my follow through from last month. But then I realized, I also want to focus on making sure that I am eating enough complete proteins. Since I am no longer eating beef and I have greatly reduced my cheese intake, she was concerned that I make sure I am getting enough protein. I think I have been, but it's possible that some of my recent fatigue and negative emotions have been related.

We discussed what a complete protein is. Many people have told me that I need to make sure I am getting enough protein, or complete proteins if I am reducing and/or removing meat and cheese from my dietary habits, but one friend explained it as such:

"Any combination of 2 or more of these food groups makes a complete protein:
seeds &  nuts
beans & legumes
whole grains
eggs & dairy"

My dietician basically confirmed, and added that of course it is easier to get complete protein by eating meat, eggs or dairy, but if I'm going to focus on vegetative matter to get my protein, the above list minus the eggs and dairy is right. She also mentioned that the only complete protein found yet in a non meat or dairy food is quinoa. Complete proteins apparently have to do with amino acid chains or some such. I tried to look it up on diabetes.com as she suggested but haven't found it yet. Still, complete proteins are not impossible or even that hard to attain without meat or dairy, so I can still continue my quest to see how I do on less meat (no beef) and at least 50% less cheese (which I think is much more than 50% less at this point) For example in today's breakfast I had both the protein that was available from the veggies and almond butter. I'm not sure if that's technically a complete protein, but it's definitely healthier than one or the other. If I had put the peanut butter on some whole wheat toast it would have met the dietitians requirements. It also would have doubled my carb intake for the day, so I chose to forgo the bread. Not sure if that was the best decision or not protein wise, but it was good for my blood sugar. I'll run things like that by the dietitian next time. I did however make sure to get complete proteins in my lunch by having both whole wheat in the pita, and cheese on it. Plus I had good fiber, added extra veggies, and if I had made the cheese vegan by making it out of nuts it would have been non dairy but still complete proteins.

 Update on cheese changes. I have been asking myself the question "Do I really need or want cheese with/on whatever I am eating?" as I planned, and that has greatly reduced my cheese intake. Plus, when I do eat cheese, I am starting to eat 1/2 as much. For example on today's pita pizza, I decided that since I do not have any vegan cheese around right now, I did indeed want cheese on my pizza. BUT I used 1/8 cup shredded cheese instead of 1/4 cup. Also, I added salad greens to my pita pizza for some added herbal flavor, and I really enjoyed it that way! The full recipe is below.

 BBQ Veggie Pita Pizza
Ingredients:
1/3 Red Bell Pepper (I ate the rest on the side raw which was delicious)
 1/2 heritage tomato
 1 roasted serrano chili pepper
 1 cup of salad greens (I used a basil arugula mix)
1 tablespoon bbq tomato sauce (home made)
1 whole wheat pita

Instructions:
Cut roasted chili pepper into small bits and mix into bbq sauce spreading evenly over pita chop 1/3 bell pepper and 1/2 tomato into bite sized chunks and spread around pita. Sprinkle 1 cup of salad greens over all the rest sprinkle 1/8 cup shredded cheese of your choice on top cook at 250 for 10 minutes (for crispy crust cook the pita for 10 minutes before adding toppings)

Later I may combine chickpeas and sesame seeds to make a complete protein and eat a snack of veggies and hummus. And for dinner I will have quinoa with roasted veggies and a side salad. For desert I am asking Patch to bring home bananas which I can try eating since apparently bananas are only a mild food intolerance and not a complete allergy as I had thought. I have a recipe I have been wanting to try out for chocolate banana brownies. Meat Free Monday should be a success!

Green Smoothies are Not All Green in Color

I have found it harder to find things for breakfast that feel satisfying, healthy and are delicious until now. I noticed some of my Instagram friends were doing a 30 day green smoothie challenge by Simple Green Smoothies. In the past I have been frustrated that so many smoothies contain bananas and  afraid of the fruits in them spiking my blood sugar. So I spoke with a couple of nutritionists, and decided to test it out safely by testing my blood sugar before and after various types of smoothies (not all in the same day obviously)

In order to try it out and be safe, I decided to have one green smoothy every day for a week. I looked up various recipes, and tweaked them so that I did not have any allergens or too much sugar in them by my estimation, then set to it. I took my blood sugar before and 2 hours after each smoothie. Sometimes I also took my blood sugar 1/2 an hour after to see if there was any immediate spike and drop effect going on, because I was surprised at having 94's at the 2 hour mark, but I never did catch my blood sugar any higher in the middle then it was at the end. This is a good thing! Over all, my blood sugar has dropped since I started green smoothies. And my body seems to be able to tolerate sugar better, so that occasionally I can have a sweet dessert that someone serves. In part that is because I make sure to eat protein before I go out where they may be serving sweet desserts, and in part that is because of the increased greens in my diet, I'm sure. I do not recommend you do this without consulting a registered dietician and nutritionist if you have any health problems, because every one's body is different. But I am very happy with my results, and it has inspired me to get more creative! Most Americans do not eat enough fruits and vegetables in a day, so one added green smoothie a day would help most people regardless. But you do have to count the calories and carbs and make sure you get protein like you would with anything else. Again, consult a registered dietician. (I found some who were willing to barter or trade, which worked out great)

My previous blender is toast. It did not last. It was a nice gift, but the darn thing broke. So a neighbor gave me her old blender when she got a blend tec (some day...over the rainbow) and anyway, I have pushed this little old blender to it's limits, but it is still cranking along! But my next blender will be a Blend Tec because not only do I want to continue eating my green smoothies every day, but I also want to make my own flour, nut butter, and the like.

Tip:
- You can bag and freeze your ingredients before hand. I do this when my fruits and veggies are on their last les and if I don't freeze them they'll go bad. That way they do not go bad, but I do have quick and easy smoothy ingredients on hand.
- Blend your greens in your liquid until it is juice like and there are no more chunks (about 30 seconds to a minute depending if you've pre frozen your greens
- If using the rind or skin of something like sweet potato, add it after the lettuce and before frozen fruit, till mixture shows no lumps.
- Sweet potato needs to be cooked and cooled before adding to smoothies

Here are some of my favorite green smoothies, and no, not all of them will be green:

Simple Green Smoothie (vibrant green, not shown)
1 Cup Baby Arugula
1 Cup Dark Leafy Romaine
1 cup water (or almond milk)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (in the smoothie)
1/2 apple
1/2 cup honeydew (frozen)
1 cup of ice

Green Pumpkin Pie Smoothie (shown at left of page)
1 cup dark leafy romaine
.5 cup steamed and cooled spinach
2 cup coconut milk (or flax milk, or whatever dairy substitute you desire)
1 cup of pumpkin puree (this is why it's great to cook up those jack o lanterns before they go bad and can them for later)
1 cup frozen honeydew (for sweetness)
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon)
cinnamon on top

Peanut Butter and Jelly Smoothies:
This can be any nut or seed butter of course and any type of "jelly" fruits. So this is a great one to explore with and get creative!
1.5 cup red leaf kale (remove stems and clean well)
2 cup unsweetened almond milk (substitute as necessary for allergies)
2 Tablespoons nut butter
1 cup frozen berries (actually I only used 1/2 a cup of berries and it was fine but most people use more)
imagination for the next time so you can create your own PB & J Smoothie sensation
(makes 2 servings)
1 tablespoon chia seeds (if you're using blackberries you don't even notice chia seeds because they have a similar consistancy when blended)

Some fun protein sources to put on top: chopped nuts, hemp hearts, and the like. Get creative and let me know what you come up with!

Veggie Tuesday

Cinnamon Apple Casserole

Yesterday was supposed to be Meatless Monday in our house, but we're on vacation and forgot it was Monday. So while shopping at Sprouts in Ahwatukee, we remembered, and decided to make today Veggie Tuesday instead.

For this morning's Vegetarian Breakfast I mixed some Macadamia nuts and mixed bean sprouts in with Zen's Cinnamon Apple and Cactus Casserole. It is delicious, I will definitely be asking her for the recipe!

We will be going out for lunch. I'm not sure where, possibly here: http://www.pomegranatecafe.com/lunch.html as it would be fun to try a vegetarian restaurant we haven't tried yet. It's the last day of Staycation for Patch, so it would be a fun adventure.

And for dinner we bought all sorts of interesting veggies to put in a stir fry. I will take a photo of it when it's done and post the recipe if it's as delicious as we suspect.

Also while at Sprouts we discovered they had Golden Beats which are GORGEOUS and I decided I wanted to try them. Plus I bought a starfruit and a couple of persimmons which should be interesting fruit to mix it up a bit since I've been eating primarily apples and strawberries with the occasional orange. Getting in food ruts has always proven a bad idea in my life. Time to switch it up a bit!

Quick breakfast

Overnight oats and sprouted quinoa in cinnamon apple flavor, with an apple pear aka Asian Pear and some string cheese. Quick n easy! Only down side, this had more carbs than I usually eat. Still within the range I was told I can have, but more than I shoot for. Still, super quick and easy. Gotta love overnight muesl!

Tomorrow I'm going to try some with sprouted wheat berries and raw protein added. I haven't decided on tomorrow's flavor yet, but I'm thinking strawberry sounds good.

What do you do for a quick and healthy breakfast when you have to run out the door or don't have the energy to make something when you first get up? Do you have any favorite meals you make the night before and eat for breakfast?

Overnight (no cook) Breakfast Cereal

Overnight Breakfast Cereals by TheYummyLife.com

I am really enjoying Pinterest! Lately I've found some great recipes on there, and today I finally got up the guts to try sprouting some quinoa and making overnight breakfast cereal. Here's one of the main articles that inspired me to try my hand at this:
http://www.theyummylife.com/8_muesli_flavors

So first off let's get to the good stuff, here's the recipe.

Tips:
Sprouting the quinoa first is not necessary, but adds to the nutrients. I set mine out this morning after eating overnight oatmeal with the intention of making the overnight breakfast cereal I'm posting here.
Some people do not feel oats are gluten free. If you do not eat oats, you could make this with just the quinoa
Be sure to grind the flax seed or your body can't process it and you won't get the binding/thickening properties (I use a coffee grinder we have set aside for nuts, seeds, flax, etc)

Ingredients:
3/4 cup sprouted quinoa
1/2 cup dry whole rolled oats (or you could sprout oat groats to use in their place)
1/2 cup apple sauce
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons coconut palm sugar
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
1 dash of salt
1 cup coconut milk

Directions:
mix dry ingredients well, add to sprouted quinoa, then add 1 cup coconut milk (the light kind that is the same amount of fat and less carbs than 1% milk, not the whole fat kind that comes in a can although I'm sure that would be delicious as well)
Stir well, cover container and leave in fridge over night.

Makes 2 servings

Now to the cool (to me) part... how to sprout Quinoa. I have been wanting to learn to sprout various grains, seeds, beans, etc. for a while now, because it raises their nutrient value. It's a really cool little trick of nature, that when they start to sprout, apparently that's when the most nutrients are easily available to the body, because it's when the nutrients are trying to provide what the plant needs to grow. Obviously it's great to plant food and grow your own food, but if you're going to eat grains, seeds, nuts and beans, may as well eat them at the peak of their health impact right? Here's a neat little instructable on how to sprout quinoa: http://www.instructables.com/id/Sprout-Quinoa/ and here's a video using the same method: http://youtu.be/V0oam8VPFws plus there are some great kits out there, but all I used was a sealable plastic container, as shown above. It would probably be best to do this in a glass container now that I think about it, or anything but plastic. I put the quinoa in, put about twice as much water which turned out to be more than I needed, just need enough to cover the quinoa ... and then after the movie I got rid of the floaties, and put more water (from the filter) to just over the quinoa, then covered and let it sit all day, then rinsed again, and used it in the above recipe. They had started to sprout so I didn't feel the need to sprout them any further at that point.

Apparently some people do not do well with raw quinoa, so be aware of your body's response to eating such things, but I've never had a problem eating or processing raw foods. Actually, the entire meal could be considered a faw food breakfast, because nothing in it is ever cooked. I did heat mine up a bit in the morning just for a nice hot cereal feel, but it tasted just the same cold of course, so that's a personal preference issue.

Some people like to dehydrate their quinoa and use them in baking, or as the crispy part of foods like to make cookies have a crunch, on top of yogurt, to coat fish, etc. I'll try that out after we finish building our solar dehydrator and let you know how it goes! In the mean time, give this super easy breakfast cereal a try. It made it really great this morning when we were in a hurry to get out the door because I had a healthy breakfast all ready to go. Once my vegan protein powder arrives, I'll probably add that to it as well.

First meal

Half a bagel, peanut butter and organic strawberries. Yum!

Flax seeds

Flax seeds, when ground, are a wonderful thing to put in bread.  They add omega three oil, and if i'? Not mistaken, fiber. But... I have a difficult time putting them in smoothies because of the texture. Today i am trying them on my togurt. I am not really sure that will eork fir me either. Maybe if i bake them into a healthy granola i could put that on things.

What do you put flax seeds in? How else do you get omega 3's in your diet?

Making healthy foods fun

They say we eat with our eyes first, then our nose and finally our taste buds. For this reason, I try to plate food in a way that looks nice as well as tastes good.

But sometimes life calls for a little whimsy. So this morning we are joined by the breakfast monster.

Tasty, nutritious and fun. If you'd like to eat a breakfast monster  you can make your own and please show me the pictures! Or, if you'd like, feel free to use the following "recipe" to emulate mine.

Tips: Spinach can be lightly wilted if you'd like. I try not to eat too much fresh spinach as I've been told it can block some other nutrients from being absorbed by my body.
If you'd like to be a little more creative with the placement of the sunflower seeds and cranberries, please do! We had already mixed the salad the night before, but I think the cranberries would be delicious and look fun on the eyes around the middle and the sunflower seeds could be lined up as the lines between teeth.

Ingredients:
Eyes:
1 Whole Grain Bagel - Toasted
2 Tablespoons Smart Balance Omega rich Peanut Butter

Mouth:
1 teaspoon walnut oil
1 cup Spinach - wilted
1/8 cup sliced celery
1 tablespoon cranberries
1 tablespoon unsalted sunflower seeds
2 oz tuna fish

Directions:
Toast 1 Whole Wheat bagel and spread 1 tablespoon of peanut butter on each
Lightly wilt 1 cup of Spinach in 1 teaspoon of walnut oil
Mix Spinach with 1/8 cup celery, 1 tablespoon cranberries, and 1 tablespoon unsalted sunflower seeds.
Arrange on plate in desired mouth shape
Arrange 2 oz of Tuna fish as teeth or as the middle section of the lips

Or just get creative and make your own :)

This meal is rich in fiber, omega 3's and protein. And was inspired by the DTOUR diet, although I think 1/2 a bagel might be what they call for. http://diabetes.prevention.com/

Super Smoothie Yumness

Blackberries, Walnuts and Flax, oh my! This smoothie is meant to be a breakfast of champions. I found the recipe in my DTOUR book and altered it just slightly. It's DELICIOUS! I don't know if DTOUR dietitians would approve or not, but I do! It gets 3 thumbs up for yumness!

Tips:
If you like a little texture in your smoothies, blend the walnuts in
I prefer them sprinkled on top for added crunch
For my non dairy friends (vegan etc) there are non dairy yogurts you can use or a banana if you eat those
Flax seed must be freshly ground or from your freezer. If you do not keep flax cool after it's ground it can go rancid. I wasted a lot of money on a bag of flax seed meal thinking it would save me from having to grind it, and the darn thing went bad because I kept it in the pantry.

Ingredients:
1 Cup Almond Milk
3/4 Cup fat free plain yogurt of your favorite type
1/2 cup blackberries
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon 100% pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts

Directions:
Blend 1 Cup Almond Milk with 3/4 cup of your favorite fat free plain yogurt, 1/2 cup blackberries, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon 100% pure maple syrup. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts on top.

I forgot the flax seed meal DTOUR suggested in mine this time, but it should thicken up the mix a bit which would be nice. I miss the texture of bananas in my smoothies, but I don't miss the hives. I will try 2 tablespoons ground flax next time I make a smoothie. Let me know if you try it and how you like it.

Jelly-In-The-Middle Muffins - Vegan, Whole Wheat

Here in Laveen, we have quite a wonderful gardening group. If you are on Facebook you can find us there (https://www.facebook.com/groups/161227934003355/) talking about everything from desert native plants to exotic food plants, and occasionally recipes we make with them. We often share the food we grow, and although so far this season my garden has not has a lot of luck, I have high hopes for next season. And in the mean time, some of my neighbors sell or give away their locally produced foods. Today Patch made these awesome muffins and at my request she used the strawberry jam one neighbor gave me, and another kind from another, and locally produced cherry & fig preserves as well. They are SO GOOD!

Originally the recipe came from an old cookbook we have in the cupboard called Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook, but we altered it to be vegan since I'm allergic to eggs and milk doesn't seem to be reacting well with my stomach again these days. Right now Patch is also making a version with cheese and Jalepenos which I bet Milo could easily make vegan by using his Treese. I don't know if that's the right spelling, but it's a vegan "cheese" product he really likes :) Check out his Vegan Meal Adventures (https://www.facebook.com/keepingvegan) some time for some awesome recipes using it. In the mean time, here is the Vegan Jelly-In-The-Middle Muffin recipe Patch and I came up with:

Tips:
Start the chia seeds soaking before you do anything else, that way they are ready when you get to them in the recipe
Do not use baking cups on your muffin tin with these, spread veggie oil or veggie shortening (like the thick coconut oil) in the tin instead

Ingredients:
Egg Replacer:
3 Tablespoons water & 1 Tablespoon Chia seeds

Dry Ingredients:
1 & 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 & 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

Liquids:
3/4 cup Almond Milk (or your favorite milk replacement)
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Jelly:
12 teaspoons of your favorite jelly

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
Mix 3 Tablespoons water with 1 Tablespoon Chia seeds in small bowl and set aside for about 10 to 15 minutes to soak which will replace 1 egg (ground flax seeds can also be used for this)
Mix dry ingredients (1 & 3/4 cups whole wheat flour, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 2 & 1/4 teaspoons baking soda) and make a well in the middle
Mix egg replacer after it holds together in a consistency much like egg with 3/4 cup Almond Milk (or your favorite milk replacement) and 1/4 cup vegetable oil and pour all at once into the well in the middle of the dry ingredients.
Stir until mixture is just moistened (Do not over stir, batter will still be lumpy)
Lightly grease muffin tin (coconut oil might work for this, we use walnut oil,
Pour into muffin tin
Place 1 teaspoon of jelly on top in the center of each muffin, and it will sink inside as it bakes
Bake in a 400 degree oven about 20 minutes or until golden brown

Makes 1 dozen medium sized muffins (not the bite sized but not the large over sized ones either)
Edit: The butter you see out was used to grease the tin for the original batch which Patch made following the original recipe. Later, I helped her edit the recipe to make it vegan, and after that, she made a 3rd batch with jalepeno and cheese to have later with dinner.

GF PB Zucchini Bread - Take 2

Although the last batch was delicious, it was more like Gluten Free Peanut Butter Blondies than zucchini bread.
It was more of a dessert. I wanted a more substancial, slightly more peanut buttery zucchini bread that would be good at breakfast.  So this time I decided to try again with a slightly different recipe and it's looking good so far.

Tips:
If the dough doesn't seem wet enough you can add a bit more coconut milk.
Walnuts or peanuts would be delicious in this if you wish to add them remember to adjust your calories
After grating zucchini, press with paper towels to reduce water then fluff with a fork before adding to mix
If you don't have an egg allergy like me, feel free to use 1 egg in place of the ground flax seed meal to get brown sugar loosely packed, use the 1/2 cup to scoop the brown sugar out of the container. when brown sugar is dumped out of container it should fall apart a bit, not be in one hard lump

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups Grated Zucchini
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup ground flax seed meal
1/2 cup Polenta (Ground Corn Meal)
1/2 cup Steel Cut Oats
1/2 cup Almond Flour
1/2 cup rice flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon xanthum gum
1/2 teaspoon salt (fine, not the coarse sea salt kind)
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar (loosely packed)
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup smooth organic peanut butter
1/4 cup peanut butter chips (organic, no sugar added)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 and prepare bread pan (if it is not a non stick pan, lightly coat sides and bottom with oil or cooking spray)

Boil 1/2 cup water (see tips if in microwave) In a small bowl, mix 1/4 cup ground flax seed meal, 1/2 cup polenta, and 1/2 cup  steel cut oats, add boiling water, stir, and set aside.

Grate Zucchini and press between 2 paper towels, fluff with a fork, then set aside

Mix 1/2 cup Almond Flour, 1/2 cup rice flour,  2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon xanthum gum, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, then add 1/2 cup brown sugar (loosely packed) and mix till there are no lumps.


Add small bowl of damp flax, polenta and oats mixture and stir until there are no large lumps. Add 1 1/2 cup zucchini and mix well.

Add 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, 1/4 cup coconut milk, and 1/2 cup smooth organic no sugar added peanut butter. Mix well. If bread mixture is too dry and not sticking together, add a bit more coconut milk until damp enough to hold together well.

Pour dough into bread pan, pour 1/4 cup peanut butter chips over top, and place on center rack of the oven at 350  for 60 minutes (check with toothpick to see when done)

Eggless, Gluten Free Baking (Low Carb)

Recently I have been trying to find recipes to add zucchini to, and this has lead me to some interesting experiments with eggless, low carb recipes which turn out to be accidentally gluten free. Perhaps eggless recipes need a cook book of their own. 


Since low carb is helpful to regulating my blood glucose, I have been trying to add more low carb recipes to my routine, as well as more vegetables. I don't count vegetables (especially the green ones) as carbs. But we're not here for a discussion about blood glucose, we are here for yum-ness! Or at least I am. I'll leave the diabetes lectures to the nurses and dietitians.


These recipes both turned out delicious, but it was the first time I tried either and I had to replace quite a few ingredients due to allergies. There are a few things I learned and things I plan to try out next time. The Almond Blueberry Pancake recipe does not currently have zucchini because Patch is not a big fan.  That said, she did love the Zucchini Brownies. They are going fast! You can make these without the xantham gum if you don't have any; I will be making a post entirely on xantham gum in the near future. Buying some is well worth your while if you plan to cook eggless and/or gluten free recipes, especially baking.


Some things I've learned along the way:
Brownies are pretty amazing no matter what you make them with
Zucchini, when cooked, actually helps create a flour like texture, especially if finely grated
Replacing eggs in recipes is tricky, but a little xantham gum goes a long way and replaces the stickiness of gluten in a recipe as well. 
Apple sauce may sweeten your recipe as well as replacing eggs and/or fat
Don't forget you may be adding liquid in some cases
< span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">The more eggs a recipe requires, the more difficult it is to replace them, and the more likely the recipe will be too watery.
Just adding flour may not be able to save some recipes,  but give it a shot in small amounts>
Gluten Free flours vary widely and even within the same type (almond flour for example) can vary in moisture content, texture, etc. This can be taken as a fun adventure, or an irritation. I choose the first but feel free to ignore my reality and substitute your own. 


Adding zucchini to recipes can add moisture. Try pressing them against a paper towel lined strainer to get rid of some of the water before adding them to a recipe or you may end up with a batch so watery it won't cook properly at all. This happened to me the first time I attempted zucchini pancakes, major fail. I will be trying them again in the future as well as sweet potato pancakes and a combination. When I get them perfected, I will share them here.

The following recipes were delicious and everyone who tried them is either lying to me or they liked them too. 

Zucchini Brownies
A friend recommended Fast Paleo Zucchini Brownies but they have some things I'm allergic to so I altered the recipe slightly. They smell delicious when baking and were no disappointment! We ate all but one before remembering to photograph them. Photo coming soon. These were a bit more oily than I'd prefer, and I didn't cook them quite enough, so those in the middle tasted a bit more like zucchini than those on the outer edges which people did not guess contained zucchini. The middle however, was moist and delicious. Next time I might add 5 minutes to the baking time.

Minutes to Prepare: 20

Minutes to Cook: 30- 45

Number of Servings: 16

Tips

If you do not have a small whisk you can use a fork to mix the xanthum gum and apple sauce. This is the egg replacer. If you want, you can put a dark chocolate chip in the center of each right after they come out of the oven. I was told to wait to cut these after they cool, but they cut just fine for me right out of the oven.

Ingredients

Almond Butter, 1 cup
Zucchini, 1.5 cup, grated 

Maple Syrup, .33 cup
Almond Extract, 1 teaspoon
Baking Soda, 1 teaspoon
Cinnamon, ground, 1 teaspoon
Allspice, .5 teaspoon
Dark Chocolate Chips, 1 cup

Directions

Preheat oven to 350


Using a small whisk, mix 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce with 1/4 teaspoon xantham gum. Add all other ingredients and mix together.


Pour batter into a 9x9 greased brownie pan


bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until you can prick it with a toothpick and it comes out clean






Serving Size: makes 16 brownies 2.25 inches square

Almond Blueberry Pancakes

Dry Ingredients:

1 cup almond flour  1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 

Other Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons almond butter
• 3/4 cup blueberries
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup coconut milk 
• 1 Tablespoon 100% Maple Syrup (or your other favorite liquid sweetener)

In addition:

2 tablespoons butter or oil for frying pan

Directions:Place non stick frying pan on medium-low heat.

Once well blended, mix in all other ingredients. (except  the milk & butter)

Add milk slowly until the consistency is that you would normally expect for pancakes

Lightly coat frying pan with butter (or oil if you prefer)

Spoon onto warm, buttered pan and cook slowly until underside is brown, flip and cook until both sides are nicely browned.
The tops of the pancakes will not bubble like normal pancakes, but may start to appear slightly cooked around the time they are ready to be flilpped.

Recipe makes approximately 12 small pancakes or 24 "silver dollar" pancakes

Tips:

• Be patient. If you cook slowly  as they cook the batter will puff up around the blueberries
• Almond flour is really almond meal and the pancakes made with them can be grainy
• For softer less grainy pancakes, try adding 1/2 a cup of rice flour (tapioca or brown rice) it will raise the carb count, so if that's a concern try a 1/2 cup sweet potato flour (changes flavor)
• For puffier pancakes, you can use sparkling water or mix some xantham gum or guar gum into the mix. I find mixing it into the flour before adding wet ingredients helpful. I don't like sparkling water because carbonation seems to trigger my migraines, so I tend to use xantham gum but more on that later.

Accidentally Veggie

Vegetarian meals for the day:

Breakfast: pear, strawberries and blood orange salad with toast.

Lunch: mango date shake at the fruit and bread barn plus some of carlie's chili fritos. We were going to share the shake and sandwich, but it turned out the store put mayo and mustard on the bread without asking. They also gave us packets of mustard. I can't eat mayo and have always hated mustard, so missed out on the meatloaf sandwich. Interestingly enough, that meant a meatless day. Who knew? Didn't try for it, which is clear when you look over what I ate. Not enough protein, and not enough at all.

And best yet, a dinner of tomato, red bell pepper, dark lettuce, and jack cheese on french white bread, toasted. We bought the bread and veggies 2 days ago at the Fruit and Bread Barn and the cheese Patch got from her work. It was Deeeeelicious. You have got to try this sandwich, preferably with home made bread or freshly made bread from your favorite local bakery. Gotta tell ya, these tomatoes are incredibly flavorful and juicy. I can only imagine how much better they are straight off the vine. If my sister reads this she'll probably flip cuz I hated tomatoes as a kid. I still get a little squeamish when I think of it, but I know they are good for me, and I know that I like the taste if not always into the texture. This one however was amazing.

Snack: apples, crackers and cheddar cheese with unsweetened tea

Dessert: strawberries

PB&J Banana Bread

I probably should have taken a picture of this... maybe next time. I would definitely make PB&J Banana Bread again. We used Bob's Red Mill biscuit and baking mix plus 2 bananas, about a cup of peanut butter chips, and 3/4 cup dried cranberries. We also thought about dried apricots, but Jenn opted for the dried cranberries. I love baking with friends, and this recipe happened to be gluten free. So just follow the recipe for banana bread on the back of the bag, and instead of raisins add dried cranberries, and instead of  nuts the peanut butter chips. We made sure to get gluten free peanut butter chips (which should be gluten-free anyway, but we checked to be sure) I suspect this would also be great with dark chocolate chips, but I can't eat chocolate as it triggers my migraines.

If you choose to make this, let me know how it turns out! I think my vegan friends can easily alter this recipe but let me know if I'm wrong, and at first glance it seems to fit vegetarian restrictions, but as I'm not myself a vegetarian again, please clue me in if it's not. And more specifically, if you are a friend of mine and have food restrictions, please let me know if this is on your edible list as I might just make some for you some time!

We loved it best warm. I've been enjoying this as a breakfast treat. It has grain, protein, fruit and sugar, what more could you want in a breakfast!? Whenever I eat a slice I heat it up with some buttery type product on it. DEEEEEELISH!

Cranberry Citrus Muffins

It seems to be that I notice I have most of the ingredients for some recipe or other, and by the time I get the rest, something has been eaten. Or in this case, drunk as the orange juice seems to have disappeared between our recent shopping trip and baking these. The muffins I made turned out to be good, but a little lacking in flavor and sweetness. Good texture tho. Light and fluffy!  I altered the recipe off the back of the Bob's Red Mill biscuit and baking mix a bit, but it's really good with topping. I was not expecting these to rise as much as they did since I have heard horror stories about baking gluten-free, nor to be as fluffy as they are. I was pleasantly surprised.

2 cups Bobs biscuit and baking mix
2 tblspn Meyer Lemon Olive Oil
1 heaping cup of sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 lemon
1/2 cup cranberry apple juice
1/2 cup lemon-lime soda
1 heaping cup dried cranberries

Whisk oil, egg, sugar and vanilla. Continue whisking while slowly adding juice of 1 lemon, cran-apple juice, and lemon lime soda. Slowly stir in biscuit and baking mix until fully mixed, then add extra lemon-lime soda as needed until the consistency matches a slightly thick muffin mix.

Next time I'm going to replace 1/2 the sugar with something less fattening like apple sauce, and I'll use orange juice instead of the cran-apple, but I figured I was already replacing something in this recipe, why mess with it more. By the way, if you're watching your weight, you may want to use diet soda. I can't use most diet sodas for this trick as they usually have sugar replacements which trigger or worsen my migraines, but I'm keeping my eyes open. Suggestions?

Carlie helped me bake these, because running around the kitchen to get ingredients and then mixing them up is still a bit beyond my abilities, especially after a week of lab tests which have left me feeling drained. No pun intended. I'm glad Carlie likes baking with me on her days off, because I was feeling the need for bread in my life this morning and ended up deciding to turn a cranberry orange bread recipe into the slightly altered muffin recipe above. I figured I can portion out muffins better than I can a loaf of bread. Plus I was curious to see how the trick of adding soda to the recipe would lighten things up. Considering how yummy these are warm, with some margarine and orange marmalade, I think I may need to freeze some up to make sure we don't eat too many at once. We'll see how they hold up to the freezer.

Rustic Lime Potatoes and Gardening Thoughts

I've been looking at a lot of recipes which include butternut squash so that I could use up the rest of the squash leftover after the making of corn chowder. I hate tossing out produce even tho we do have a compost bin to put them in, and knew the squash would go bad if I didn't use it this morning.

All left over produce in our home be it rinds or uncooked unused fruit and veggies eventually end up in our garden. We use home made compost to help add nutrients to the dry, desert soil. Last year we only managed to grow a few tiny mutant carrots and a lot of pumpkin that the dogs ate before we could harvest it. This year we are hopeful for more success since there is now more healthy nutrients in the soil from a year of composting. Even the hybrid plum/nectarine fruit tree which we planted last year is starting to blossom and sprout it's leaves! Perhaps we will taste home grown plums and nectarines this year.

Growing our own fruits and vegetables will really cut down on the cost of eating whole, organic foods not to being the most locally grown you can get. Gives me a chuckle to think of all the gas saved and elbow grease spent..  It also allows us to choose NOT to put harmful chemicals on our food. Knowing where my food is coming from has become more important to me as I realized that I had eaten a lifetime of pesticides etc. And although part of me felt like tossing my hands up and saying it's too late now, I've seen enough people regain their health after improving their way of eating that I just have to give it a try.

This morning, I was wanting to use up the leftover squash tho, so all the compost bin got were the rinds and some seeds. Maybe some of the seeds will take sprout in the compost and I can transfer them into the garden. It's happened before, so who knows.

But enough of that! In looking at the various squash recipes in the gluten-free vegan, I found myself inspired. One recipe called for orange juice. We are out of oranges, but we do have lime juice on hand because I love the flavor of limes. I hear there is a lime flavored olive oil that would probably be great in this recipe...I'll have to keep my eyes open. I wasn't sure how much lime to put into this meal because I didn't want to overwhelm the sage and thyme, but it came out great. The following is the delicious meal I had for breakfast. I'd say this would make a great side dish for a main meal.

Rustic Lime Potatoes:
(serves 4-6)
4 medium red potatoes
1/4 cup lime juice
1/2 medium butternut squash
macademia nuts
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon sage
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Clean and cut red potatoes into large chunks. I cut each potato in half, each half into fourths and then halved the larger cubes. Seed, peal and cut butternut squash into chunks of a size similar to the potatoes.

Preheat oven to 350. Mix olive oil and herbs in medium mixing bowl. Add potato and squash chunks and stir until herbs and oil coat thuroughly. Add 1/4 cup lime juice and mix well.

Pour entire mixture onto a baking sheet and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until soft. Stir periodically making sure all sides stay well coated. I stirred after 5 minutes, and then about every 10 minutes. Poke largest chunks with a fork to test for firmness. I felt it was done properly when the texture was soft but not squishy as this is how I like my potatoes.

Serve with macedamia nuts sprinkled on top for a nice little crunch, their delicious flavor, and of course the added protein. I use them sparingly; these little babies do have quite a bit of fat in them. They'd be eve better. chopped up and sprinkled on top

Carlie has been avoiding my gluten free meals almost as if she's afraid they're going to be tasteless or somehow "too healthy" tasting, but we spoke about it today as we read a gluten-free Italian cookbook, and she decided to give my breakfast a try. She went back for seconds, so it must have been good!

Bread and Pancakes? Oh my!

Now you can have your bread and eat it too! That gluten free pancake and baking mix I mentioned turns out to be very versatile and delicious. Apologies in advance for the poor quality cell phone photos of my creations. Next time I'll try to get out my good camera and at least get photos that more accurately represent the food. These just don't do justice to the scrumptious fluffy nature of these two "bready" delights.

First I decided to use it to try and make gluten free Irish Soda Bread for St Patty's day. The recipe I had called for specific measurements of various gluten free flours and gums, but I had a premix to work with, so I made adjustments and ran into some problems to hurdle along the way. At first it was too much liquid so that the batter looked like oatmeal, not like bread. I suspected it might work out if I poured the mixture into a muffin tin, but instead I set aside some of the semi liquid batter placing it in a sealed container in the fridge hoping to use it the next morning for gluten-free buttermilk pancakes.  I then adjusted the recipe by adding more of the pancake and baking mix to the remaining batter. Soon it took on the texture of sticky bread dough, and I decided to give it a shot.

I was pleasantly surprised by some friends who called asking to drop by providing me with more taste testers! The bread turned out so good that even my friends and loved ones who are meat and potato type people went back for seconds. These weren't vegans, vegetarians, or granola/healthy type people, they were card carrying junk food addicted carnivores like me. OK, there's not really a carnivore card, but there IS a bumper sticker and t-shirt! All joking aside, the bread was soft, tender, and had that Irish Soda Bread flavor I was craving.

Below is the recipe I ended up with for these Mini Soda Bread Biscuits. Be forewarned, they do include milk and eggs. I mistakenly left out a couple of very important binding agents from the original method, so these did not have the perfect soda bread texture I was expecting, instead they were much more moist and tender, which ended up being a wonderful thing if you're expecting it. I am planning to create a vegan version next time Milo can come over, because these were too delicious not to try and share with my vegan friends. This recipe was inspired by Gluten-Free Girl and her Irish Soda Bread Buns. I would eventually like to get all the ingredients and try it her way...but since I was working with what was in my pantry, I came up with this version instead:

Mini Soda Bread Biscuits:

20 ounces gluten-free flours (I used Pamela's Gluten-free Pancake and Baking Mix)
2 1/2 ounces (1/4 cup) sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (you can also melt some later to cross on top if you'd like)
1 1/4 cups buttermilk (I actually made my own buttermilk from an online recipe)
2 eggs
1 cup dried fruit (this was made with Craisens, but currants are traditional)

Get out butter and other ingredients first, this gives the butter time to soften. Mix flower, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Using a fork, mix in 4 tablespoons softened unsalted butter. You can also use your hands, but this melts the butter a bit and I prefer mine with small balls of butter covered in flour and find the fork works best. Continue until the mixture looks grainy or as Gluten Free Girl said, like course meal.

Make a well in the flour and butter mixture. Set aside half the buttermilk, and mix 2 eggs into the half you are about to use. Pour half in and mix until evenly spread through the flour. Add th rest of the milk gradually until the dough is the correct texture. I found the full amount of liquid to be too much. I would have preferred a thicker mixture with a slight amount of flour making it easier to portion out into 8 to 16 segments. I found about 1/4 cup made for 16 biscuits. Mix in whatever dry fruit you wish.

Preheat oven to 400 and place mixture on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Put biscuits in over for 5 minutes. (thank the powers that be for oven timers!)

5 minutes into cooking time pull them from the oven. Using a tablespoon or so of melted butter if you so desire, dip a knife into the butter and make an x on the top of the biscuit. I found this part to be a lot of fun. And the butter kept the knife from becoming covered with bread dough. Replace in over and cook for 15 minutes or until slightly golden brown. These are AMAZING fresh out of the oven.

Today, I brought the leftover batter out and found it had risen a bit while in the fridge. I'll have to remember that trick for when I try to make muffins. But this time I added a bit more milk and it stirred up into the perfect pancake batter consistency which turned out to make for buttermilk pancakes that I believe anyone would like to eat. The recipe is the same as above, but with more liquid. Rice milk and lemon juice or vinegar could replace buttermilk. My first two spread further than I expected, so pour sparingly and give it a chance to grow to it's full size before pouring another. These would make great silver dollar pancakes because of the slightly crispy outside and soft fluffy inside. Perhaps tomorrow when I'm cooking for friends I'll try pouring them silver dollar sized like Mom used to make.

I'm going to save the rest of the batter to share with friends who are coming over Friday and see if they even notice that a different type of flour was used. I was pleasantly surprised at the light and fluffy texture of warm buttermilk pancake almost melting on my tongue. They went wonderfully with the plump boysenberries I sprinkled on them. No added butter or syrup was needed as far as I'm concerned they were perfect with just the added sweetness of the fruit and the nuttiness of the peanut oil they were cooked in.  Again, these are gluten-free but not vegan. If I come up with a yummy vegan pancake mix once I start working from scratch with various gluten-free flours I will of course share it!

I haven't cooked in years, so all things considered I am very proud of myself. This gluten-free food prep isn't as hard as some people make it sound. Of course, the trick is going to be learning to eat nutritious foods at the same time. It's one thing to prepare foods that taste good, a whole other thing to also make sure they meet all of our dietary needs. That's the goal: better health through yumness!

Pineapple Coconut Yum

Today Patch was feeling up to cooking. I encouraged her to wait another day because I don't want her overdoing it, but she was determined. I can't say I blame her, I know what it's like to be forced to rest when you want to be up and at 'em.

She prepared a sweet rice dish which is full of calories and full of yum. When she has made it in the past I have both craved and portioned it out so that the leftovers last for as long as possible and so that I don't use up all my weight watchers points in one sitting. It makes a great breakfast, snack or dessert. So now you've been fairly warned that this may add pounds to your midsection if overindulgence is the key word of your day.

That said, it is gluten-free goodness that she's been making for quite some time without ever trying! I like to notice when things we normally eat are accidentally gluten-free so that Patch can be encouraged that such a change won't be impossible.

Pineapple Coconut Rice  (Gluten, caesin, and soy free)
16 oz coconut milk
1 oz pineapple juice
8 oz rice
8 oz pineapple
4 oz shredded sweetened coconut
2 oz craisens (dried cranberries)

mix coconut and pineapple juice and bring to a boil. stir in the rice and bring it back to a boil, cover and turn to low, simmer rice in coconut milk 20 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and stir in the reset of the ingredients. Serve warm, or chill and serve.

I prefer this dish reheated on the 2nd day, and patch prefers it served cold. She says that's the way it is "supposed" to be. So the chef has spoken, but with a wink I say, it's your stomach, do whatever tastes right to you!

Related resources:
http://www.csaceliacs.org/gluten_grains.php#R <<--the down low on rice and gluten
http://oolong.co.uk/veganing.htm <-- breaking down vegan ingredients