Yum, Yum, and YUM! GF Choco Chip PB Cookies

A while back I found a recipe for gluten free chocolate chip cookies (this was before I started eating GF but I wanted to make them for my dad). I needed to purchase quinoa flakes and it took me a while to find them (in the cereal section of Sonnewald) and then after purchasing them, it took me a while to make because the recipe called for 1 cup of peanut butter and that seemed like a lot for a batch of cookies. So I waited, and waited. Then I finally decided to make them for a family get-together. And I couldn't find the recipe. Ugh. Figures! Then, to my surprise, there was a recipe on the back of the quinoa flake box so I used that as my base and made some of the most delicious cookies ever, gluten free or not! The dough was to die for, I could have eaten it all raw! I think that they would make a great raw cookie dough cake pop, covered in chocolate! And these are also vegan! Interestingly enough these were called "crispy" cookies on the recipe, but they turned out chewy for me, perhaps because I shortened the baking time a bit, didn't want them to burn! They have the consistency of an oatmeal cookie due to the quinoa flakes.

GF Chewy Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies
Adapted from the recipe on the back of the Ancient Harvest Quinoa Flake Box
Made 18 large cookies

1/2 c raw and/or local honey
1/3 c sucanat
1/2 c (1 stick) Earth Balance vegan butter, softened or melted
1/2 c peanut butter (I want to try w/ almond butter next)
1 T vanilla
1 c rice flour
3/4 c quinoa flakes
1 tsp baking soda
dash of salt
dash of cinnamon
1/2 c chocolate chips (or nuts/raisins, but I wanted chocolate)

Preheat oven to 350. Beat honey, sucanat, sugar, butter, peanut butter and vanilla. (I did not use a mixer or hand beater, just a wooden spoon :) Combine flour, flakes, soda, salt and cinnamon in small bowl. Add to first mixture and beat until well blended. Add chocolate chips and stir. Drop rounded spoonfuls onto cookie sheet (I used both parchment paper and a greased cookie sheet and preferred the parchment paper). Bake about 12-15 minutes. Cool 1 minute on pan and then cool on baker's rack. Enjoy! And don't forget to lick the bowl!

Gluten Free Pizza

I have a bunch of GF pizza crust recipes I'd like to try. Problem is, many of them have a LONG list of ingredients, and I'm just not into that so much. Unfortunately I think that is the downside of GF baking b/c a greater variety of flours are needed to make a quality product. Other than the coconut muffins, I really haven't baked that much recently. And after baking some more things this week, I feel like I need to get back to the salad/cooked veggie routine and avoid baking, even GF. It's just not what my body needs/wants the most!

Either way, I need to have a way to eat pizza at least every once in a while and this turned out MUCH better than I thought it would after looking at the ingredient list. I used this recipe from the Free Coconut Recipes site by Tropical Traditions. There is a plethora of recipes, many of which are GF. I love ordering from Tropical Traditions, especially when they are having a free shipping sale or a sale on their coconut oil.

Gluten Free Pizza- I found the recipe made 4 slices, but not enough for 4 servings if it was the only food being served. With a salad, though, one slice filled you up! (Although I still ate 2 slices...) Use your favorite sauce (I used Nature's Promise Organic Garden Veggie) and toppings (organic moz and Parmesan, garlic, onion, parsley, oregano).

2 cups whole milk organic mozzarella cheese, shredded (I used an Organic Valley Italian blend)
2 large organic eggs
2 tablespoons flax meal (ground)
2 tablespoons coconut flour
½ teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut 2 pieces of parchment paper out for baking sheet. (Try to get one that is unbleached.)

Mix cheese, eggs, flax, coconut flour, and baking powder together until a sticky wet dough is formed. Spread with a spatula to ¼ inch thickness on a baking sheet lined with one piece of parchment paper. (I'm sure mine was thicker than this.)

Bake for 30 minutes in preheated oven. Halfway through the baking process, flip crust over by sliding it off the baking sheet with the parchment paper, placing the second piece on the sheet, and turning the crust over unto the new sheet and peeling the old paper off. (I was skeptical that this would work, but it did using a spatula to help turn so I didn't burn my hand- the crust was very hot!) Return to oven until done baking.

Remove from oven, slide off of parchment paper, and flip over again for cooling. Once crust is cooled (I did not wait for it to cool), top with sauce, pre-cooked veggies or meats, and cheese. Set crust with toppings under the broiler on high for a minute or two until cheese is melted and bubbly (Watch carefully! I left in a bit too long and the very edge of the crust was a little burnt). Slice and serve.

Artichoke Adventure

I am on a quest to include a greater variety of fruits and vegetables to my diet. I recently started eating (and enjoying) fresh steamed green beans (something I never liked before). At Sonnewald the other week, there were artichokes for just a little over a dollar each so I figured I'd give them a try. I just bought one, that way I wouldn't be out too much money in case we hated it! Almost every recipe I found online said to put olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and garlic cloves on the artichoke (after cutting off the stem and the top) and bake for over an hour wrapped in foil. Well, I did that. It smelled great. It looked amazing. It tasted alright. But the texture- yuck! You could chew on one leaf forever! I felt like a cow chewing the cud. So I don't know if I didn't cook it long enough, if I picked an artichoke that was not quite ready, or what the deal was. Any ideas? Needless to say I'm going to take a break from artichokes for the moment. Hopefully I can figure out what went wrong and try it again!

Gluten-Free Waffles

My kids enjoy having breakfast (waffles, pancakes, french toast) for dinner when it is just us. I don't mind making a "normal" recipe, but since I haven't had waffles in years, I wanted to try a GF version and see if it passed the "kid test". It did! I will warn you, don't like the bowl- the batter tastes horrible! Once I tried it I added mini chocolate chips! But once it was cooked it took on a whole new flavor- yum! It is based on this recipe from the Bob's Red Mill site (they have LOTS of recipes!).

1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp Sugar
1-1/2 cups GF all purpose baking flour
1 tsp xanthum gum
1 Tbsp vanilla
Dash (or two) of cinnamon
1 Tbsp melted extra virgin coconut oil
1- 11/2 cup milk (The original recipe only calls for 1/2 c but I found I had to add A LOT more to get the right consistency. I'm not sure how much I put in, so I would start with 1/2 and then add as needed.)
1 large egg

Optional- 2 Tbsp mini choc chips or 1/2 c blueberries

Blend all ingredients except for coconut oil with whisk until thoroughly blended. (I used my Pampered Chef batter bowl). Let batter sit for five minutes. While batter rests, preheat waffle iron according to manufacturer’s directions. Lightly oil hot waffle iron, if necessary (I use a Pampered Chef oil spray bottle instead of nonstick sprays- less chemicals and I haven't refilled the bottle yet- in over 2 months!). Pour 1/3 of batter onto heated waffle iron. Close and bake until steaming stops and waffle is deeply browned, about 4-6 minutes. Repeat with remaining batter.

Makes 3 waffles (although it should make 4, I think if I made it a thinner consistency I would be able to get 4).

For Pancakes: Just make the batter a little thinner, I separated the batter into 3 (one) cup amounts to make blueberry, chocolate chip and plain. Cook on heated griddle with butter. Once the pancake starts to bubble and become dry on top check the bottom and flip. The second side does not take as long as the first.

My Favorite Potatoes

Potato Chips and French Fries

These are both extremely easy and very tasty when made with coconut shortening! I used a Pampered Chef Simple Slicer on the smallest setting to make the chips. I used mostly sweet potatoes (I only had one small russet left) and found them to taste a lot like the Utz Naturals chips (I don't each chips often, but if I do it is these!).

Heat coconut oil (I didn't check with a thermometer) and test for readiness with one small chip. Fry each batch about 3 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon and let drain on cooling rack on baking sheet.

The chips did get a little soggy, so next time I will put on a cooling rack in the oven to help dry the oil off the chips. It was very hard not to eat these as they came out of the oil, since I had to taste one of each batch to make sure it was done enough!

To make the french fries, I cut the potatoes (I use a Pampered Chef apple slicer and then cut the slices into smaller slices), then soaked in cold, salted water for about 1/2 an hour.

Dry the potatoes well. Heat the oil, test a small piece of potato (I didn't use a thermometer at all). Fry the potatoes in batches for one minute, let cook on rack. Once cool, fry again for 3-5 minutes each batch (bummer, you have to keep taste testing to see if they are done :)  You can tell if the crispness is sufficient by looking at them or taking one out to touch (carefully, they are hot!). You may need to turn the heat down on subsequent batches as the oil will keep getting hotter. These tasted like Bricker's French Fries!

Coconut oil can be heated, cooled, and reheated without damage, so I saved this oil for another time. I used it to make fried shrimp, and it definitely had a slight "french fry" taste to it. Next time I'll save the oil and reserve it for a batch of potatoes. I want to try making with sweet potatoes next! (The roll in the picture was homemade and delicious, but now I can't remember what recipe I used, b/c it was a new one to me!)

Popcorn, My Favorite Snack

If you've read my fried chicken post, then you know that coconut oil is my favorite oil. Here is what my favorite snack is right now: popcorn! And it’s super easy to make! I don't even crave it when I go to the movies now, because I know I can make my own at home afterwards (and I'll feel SOOO much better afterwards!)

Popcorn (feeds 2-3, more if you don't love popcorn as much as I do :)
1/3 c organic corn kernels
2 T coconut oil (I use extra virgin, the coconut taste adds a lot without really tasting like coconut at all)
sea salt
medium sized pot with lid

OR if you want to make just a bit more :)

1/2 c organic corn kernels
2 T coconut oil
sea salt
large pot with lid

Melt oil on high heat, add corn, reduce heat a bit and cover. Shake occasionally. You will hear (and smell) the popcorn pop within a few minutes. Shake pot as it pops. When popping slows, check inside and see how it's doing, and perhaps reduce heat a bit more so you don't burn the corn or remove from heat and let a few more pops happen. Dump into lage bowl (you don't really want to eat it out of a hot pot) and add desired amount of salt, toss, and enjoy! Now really, this is not much harder at all than putting a bag in the microwave, and then you don't have all the nasty things happening to your food, as documented in this article! I won't go into it now, but PLEASE reduce the amount of foods you eat that are microwaved!

My New Favorite Breakfasts

I totally give credit for this recipe to my good friend Susan. She has been key in helping me into the low-carb realm (in fact, without this recipe I don't know that I would have been able to do it!). I LOVE this breakfast, which is ironic because before I could NEVER eat yogurt first thing in the morning (nor did I like berries in my yogurt). Now I eat this 6 days a week, love it, and feel full for hours! 

Berry Yogurt

6 oz yogurt (I use my homemade vanilla)
2-3 T ground flax (It is usually cheaper to buy your own to grind, I use a Magic Bullet)
handful of nuts (I eat walnuts and almonds- both raw)
1/2 c blueberries (I haven't tried any other berries yet, but would love to try black/raspberries and strawberries)
1-2 T melted coconut oil (I usually put it in a small Pyrex bowl and melt right on the small stove top burner. It takes very little time.)

Mix everything together except oil. Then add oil, it will be a little weird until the oil cools, then it will be incorporated alright. The picture doesn't do it justice!

 This next breakfast is my favorite Saturday morning post-run/workout breakfast. Gives me a break from the yogurt (but I'm always glad to get back to it on Sunday!). It is simple a cheese omelet (I get my eggs from a local farm) in a brown rice flour tortilla (Food For Life brand) with bacon Applegate Farms). Yum!  I will enjoy a smoothie (3 cubes frozen spinach, frozen berries, ground flax and water) to round out the meal. I used to make my smoothies with yogurt or milk but found out that having dairy with spinach can inhibit the absorptions of the good stuff in the spinach. Switching to water tastes great and has a nice texture but I will admit it isn't as pretty of a color.