Category: Food

Gluten-Free Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies!!

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I don’t think this batch of cookies will last as long as it takes me to post the recipe!

These are the most “real” gluten-free I’ve had to date 🙂

I try to avoid using gluten-free flour mixtures because they can spike your blood-sugar more than regular flours so I found this recipe from Shockingly Delicious, and tweaked it a bit.

1/3 C Earth Balance
1/3 C Sugar (I used mostly brown with a bit of Organic white)
2 Tbsp Liquid Egg White
1 tsp Vanilla
1 C Gluten Free Oats (Bob’s Red Mill)
1/4 C Ground Flax
1/3 C Almond Flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder (I love Whey Gourmet Naturelle for my baking)

Melt Earth Balance and Sugar
Mix in Egg White, Vanilla, Oats, Ground Flax, Almond Flour, Cinnamon and Protein Powder
Chill in fridge or freezer (this is IMPORTANT)
Once chilled, place balls onto parchment-covered cookie sheet (I didn’t press them down at first, but noticed they were browning before they should be so pressed them down a bit about 5 minutes in)
Bake for 15-25 minutes at 350 degrees, rotating about half-way through
Remove and allow to cool, as hard as this will be to do!

A Labour Day in the Kitchen

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After an exciting three nights in Whistler competing in the Meet Your Maker 50 relay, I got home EARLY this morning and emerged from my kitchen many hours later!

What came out of my experimentation…

  • Steel-Cut Oat Muffins — adapted from Busy But Healthy (adapted from sugarfreemom.com)
  • Raw Cinnamon Buns — from Health Damy
  • Potato Salad

Steel-Cut Oat Muffins

My typical breakfast has been home-made granola and plain greek yogurt for the past…MANY years. So in a quest to switch it up a little, I found this beauty, which I altered slightly in an attempt to make a half batch and not use applesauce (mine had been sitting in  my cupboards for longer than I care to remember).

1 1/4 C Steel Cut Oats
1 tsp Cinnamon
2 Tbsp Ground Flax
1 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder
Pinch Salt
1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1 Mashed Banana
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 C Milk (I used Rice Milk)
1/2 C Water
1 Egg White

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 Minutes
Combine dry ingredients, combine wet ingredients; mix together
Fill muffin cups — I put Strawberry Jam in the middles; to do this, fill 1/3 muffin cup, add dollop of jam, add more batter

Raw Cinnamon Buns

My wheat-weakness is Cinnamon Buns so this recipe has been on my “to-try” list for a while now and I finally got around to it…and…although good, they won’t be replacing the real deal any time soon! But they ARE good. 

I followed this recipe pretty closely so I’m not going to write it out; however, the change I’d suggest is to cut down on the sugar!! I don’t think I’ll use any Agave next time as the dates are sweat enough.

 

 

 

Potato Salad

I always forget how much I LOVE red potatoes! Potatoes aren’t a staple in my diet, but I definitely have a soft spot for them and summer, although it’s nearing an end, just screams red potatoes!

3 Hard Boiled Eggs
6 Cooked Red Potatoes
1 Small Red Onion
3 Green Onions
1/2 Bunch Kale

Place chopped Eggs and Red Onion into a bowl
Mix in HOT cubed Potatoes — adding them hot soften the Red Onion just enough and really helps the flavours
Add Green Onion and chopped Kale

An Evening at Home

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I’ve been running around, a lot, recently and tonight, instead of going to a yoga class (as I had hoped to), I made the decision to spend some time at home; making some food I keep meaning to make — zucchini pasta with home made pesto followed up with a blueberry-strawberry crisp 🙂 I feel like I made a good decision!

Pesto
1 Large Garlic Clove
3 Tbsp Shaved Parmesan
1 Bunch Basil — I used one of the packages from Safeway
3 Tbsp Toasted Walnuts —I wanted to use the traditional Pine Nuts, but my local Safeway didn’t have any and I didn’t want to go to another store
5 Tbsp Olive Oil

Place Garlic, Parmesan, Basil, Toasted Walnuts into food processor and let it run
Scrap down the edges
Drizzle Olive Oil into the bowl while the food processor is running
**Adapted from the Cuisinart Food Processor Guide

Zucchini Pasta
Peel skin
Using a peeler, peel one area until you get close to the seeds, then work your way onto the next side
Place “pasta” into lightly oiled frying pan and soften
Add 1 Tbsp of Pesto and warm —stir a few times
**I wouldn’t suggest this as a full meal, but definitely an amazing side dish for some white fish or something

Blueberry-Strawberry Crumble
1 C Frozen Blueberries
1/2 C Frozen Sliced Strawberries
1/2 tsp Cornstarch
1/2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
1/3 C Earth Balance —or Butter, or whatever you use
1/3 C Brown Sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 1/2 C Oats —I use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free

Pour Berries into a baking dish —I use a 4×4 CorningWare one for these proportions
Sprinkle and stir in Cornstarch
Sprinkle with Pumpkin Pie Spice
Melt Earth Balance and Brown Sugar
Stir in Cinnamon and Oats
Pour Oat mixture over Berries
Cover with tinfoil and bake for approximately 15 minutes at 350
Remove tinfoil and bake until golden —approximately 10 more minutes

The Great Peach Experiment!

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After a somewhat successful Pumpkin Experiment, I decided I wanted to try peaches! And this is what came out of it…

Aren’t those cups cute!?

They collapsed a little bit because I tried to add some streusel topping – I need to work on my gluten-free streusel!

The (approximate, as always) basic recipe is:

1/2 C Ground Flax
2 Peaches – blended
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
1/2 tsp Honey (*my peaches weren’t fully ripe so I felt a little extra sweet was required, but I’m sure this can be omitted without hesitation)
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1 Egg
1 tsp Coconut Oil
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder

Whisk all ingredients and scoop into muffin cups. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes – until tops are golden.
You can try with the streusel – I combined sugar, Earth Balance, almond flour and cinnamon.
As with the Pumpkin Loaf, you can sub the egg to make these dairy-free as well as grain- and nut-free!
These came out eggier than the Pumpkin Loaf so I’m thinking less peach and/or more flax and/or some oat/almond flour next time.

Random Ginger Pumpkin “Loaf”…

The Simply1 Comment

I’m not really sure what to call this because, during all of my many moves, I have ended up without my mini loaf tins AND my muffin tins 😦 Both are on my “to buy” list!

I think this batter will definitely lend itself well to being a loaf and/or muffins and turns out extremely moist.

I finally did it! I made something gluten-, grain- AND nut-free! It could also be dairy-free by using egg replacer and vegan protein powder.

The following is a rather bland recipe and I will need to tweak it a bit, but it currently ticks off all the boxes that I needed it to! *Note: measurements are approximate.

1/3 – 1/2 C Ground Flax
1 1/2 Tbsp Grated Candied Ginger
1/2 C Canned Pumpkin
1 Tbsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 Egg
Pinch Salt
1/8 C Coconut Oil
1 Scoop Vanilla Protein Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda

(*I should have added 1 tsp Vanilla, but didn’t; I think I will also add Raisins next time)

Mix all ingredients (I used the whisk attachment of my hand blender). Pour into tin of choice and bake for approximately 20 mins at 350 degrees, until a knife/toothpick comes out clean and top is golden.

Hulk Shots!

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As part of my morning routine, I always have a cup of hot lemon water with honey and I make a smoothie.

My typical smoothie is:
1/2 Frozen Banana
Frozen Fruit (right now I’m enjoying frozen strawberries)
1 Scoop Whey Gourmet Naturelle Vanilla Bean Protein Powder
1 Scoop Amazing Grass Green SuperFood
Original Unsweetened Rice Milk – to cover the above ingredients

I blend this all up with my hand blender and enjoy and it’s wonderful!

As amazing and clean as the above is, I thought I’d try to bump it up a bit! And voila the Hulk Shot was born!

My first attempt includes:
Whole Foods Unpasteurized Carrot, Apple, Celery juice
Bunch of Kale
1 Avocado
1 Kiwi
Splash of Lemon Juice

It all went into my blender and I put it on the “crush ice” setting. They don’t look good, but I think (hope) when mixed with my 1/2 Banana, Protein Powder and Rice Milk!

Best “cookies” EVER!

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Thank you to a random post on my facebook news feed between two friends, I was introduced to this most amazing “cookie” recipe from Kumquat; she calls them breakfast cookies, but I find myself eating these any time, any place!

My interpretation is as follows:

1 1/2 C Oats (I use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free)
1 C Unsweetened Coconut Flakes
1 Tbsp Ground Flax
1/2 tsp Salt
3/4 C Pecans (this last time I used Pecans & Walnuts)
1/2 C Dried Blueberries (I usually use a combination of Blueberries, Cranberries, Raisins & Chocolate Chips)
3 Ripe Mashed Bananas (I use my hand blender to get them really mushy)
1/4 C Liquid Coconut Oil
1 Tbsp Agave (I have some Agave that I need to use up, but once it’s gone, I’ll probably change this to Maple Syrup or Honey – here’s some information on Agave)
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mash/blend bananas, mix in coconut oil, vanilla and agave. Combine with all other ingredients. Press 2 tablespoons of mixture into a 2 1/2-inch round cookie cutter on parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Bake for 25 minutes, until golden, rotating approximately half-way through. I store mine at room temperature in an air-tight container for about a week — if they last that long!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

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Sometimes life gets crazy and as much as I’ve wanted to post, I’ve also wanted to get some sleep at night! Novel idea, I know!

I went to bed last night with the best of intentions to go on my second LSD (long slow distance) run since signing up for my first half marathon (which, btw, is on August 11, but let’s not talk about that right now…dun dun dun), BUT baking won out when I woke up this morning!

I’ve been meaning to play around with making gluten-free cookies that don’t focus on nuts (just ’cause) for a while now and I finally got around to it this morning! And they aren’t bad! I feel that they might be better as muffins, but that will take a little more playtime (read, a few more months)…

But for now, here are the basics:

1 C Oats (I use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free)
1/2 C Almond Meal
1/4 C Honey
1/2 C Canned Pumpkin
1 tsp Vanilla
1 Tbsp Pumpkin Pie Spice (or some random combination of yummy spices)
1 tsp Coconut Oil
1 Egg
1 scoop Protein Powder (I love Whey Gourmet Naturelle Vanilla)
1/2 C Raisins

Combine all ingredients – I excluded the raisins from the whisking; then stirred them in.

Bake on parchment paper (or greased cookie sheet) at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes – I rotated the sheet three times so they’re golden all the way around.

So for this first batch, I totally forgot to put in some baking soda and, after making them, I think the baking soda will turn them into great muffins!

Enjoy!!

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

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I feel like my last couple of posts were quite deep and serious, so it’s time for another recipe!

This is from a few weeks back, but with a picture that looks this good, you know it needs to be shared! For the most part, staying wheat/gluten-free hasn’t affected my life; however, I MISS PIZZA!! There are many pre-made gluten-free crusts out there, but I have two issues with them: 1) they don’t taste very good, and 2) they’re typically made from white rice flour, tapioca starch and other things that have zero nutritional value and spike your blood sugar through the roof! Sooo, when I learned about Cauliflower Crust, I had to give it a shot! And I’m SO HAPPY I did because, frankly, it changed my life!

There are many recipes out there for this amazing crust, but I’ve stuck to the following one from the word go — it’s easy and has passed all picky eater tests.

Hanna is about six! My friend’s fiance also exchanged his pita crust version for ours the first time we made it.

So, without further ado (thank you to Eat. Drink. Smile.)…

1 C riced, cooked Cauliflower
1 C shredded Mozzarella
1 beaten Egg
1 tsp dried Oregano
1/2 tsp crushed Garlic
1/2 tsp Garlic Salt
Pizza sauce and toppings of choice

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees
2. Rice the cauliflower — place chunks in a food processor and pulse until the cauliflower looks like grain
3. Place riced cauliflower in a microwaveable bowl and cook for 8 minutes (no need to add water)
4. Mix the beaten egg, oregano, garlic and garlic salt together
5. Add the cheese and egg mixture to the cooked cauliflower
6. Dump the mixture onto a sprayed/greased cookie sheet and spread out VERY thinly, leaving the edges a little thicker; don’t worry, it will all come together as you push it around
7. Place in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes, until golden
8. Remove from oven and top — some tips here: make sure toppings that require cooking are pre-cooked, avoid toppings that add moisture, make sure toppings are light and spread thinly
9. Broil until cheese starts to bubble
10. Remove and enjoy!!

I haven’t tried this, but I’ve been told that goats cheese will melt appropriately for the crust so can be used instead of full fat (yes, you need the full fat kind as this is what holds the cauliflower together) cows milk mozzarella.

Grain-Free Protein Chocolate Chip Cookies!

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Are you ready for the sharing to begin!? I’m IN LOVE with these cookies and have adapted the recipe from Detoxinista.

1C Nut Butter (I use a random combination of smooth peanut butter, almond butter and cashew butter)
1/3C Honey (I love honey so am totally ok using the full amount, but I’m sure you can mix and match with Agave and/or Stevia)
1 Egg (you can also use a Flax Egg, but I haven’t experimented with that yet)
1/2tsp Salt (if your nut butters are unsalted)
1/2tsp Baking Soda
1/2C shredded Coconut (optional and no modifications are necessary with omitting)
1 scoop Protein Powder (I used Natural Vanilla by Whey Gourmet and added about a tablespoon of  Original Coconut Milk to avoid the cookies becoming too dry)
1/2C Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350. Combine everything but the chocolate chips – I throw it all into a bowl and use the whisk attachment of my hand blender to combine. Fold in the chocolate chips. Scoop onto a greased or parchment covered cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 mins (until golden), rotating half-way through. Leave on the cookie sheet to cool as they come out of the oven very soft!I tested them on my friend’s fiance and they passed with flying colours!