Fresh4Five

Paleo Meyer Lemon Dreamcake

2012-02-23T21:04:00.001-05:00

Once upon a time, I came across this Dream Cake recipe onone of my favourite blogs, “My New Roots” When I gave up dairy, I said goodbyeto cheesecake forever; and then WOW, like a dream I found this healthy Cashew *cheese* cake!!! But wait…oh yea, I amnow allergic to nuts:( I will neverget to taste this…”I’m so hard done by” as the saying goes… At that moment, Ireally was stuck in the feeling sorry for myself state…how was I ever going toshake it.

Time has gone on and I have begun to understand my allergiesand oral allergies better and I am now optimistic about my health and the future,and about the food I CAN eat. I had my mind set on some day making a version ofthis Dream Cake that I COULD eat; a symbol of moving on from the grieving stageof food allergies. Today is that day my friends :) :)

I thought at one time I would make a white bean *cheese*cake after getting the idea of making beans sweet! (Inspired by this recipe)but I never got around to making it. Recently I have been very intrigued with thePaleo diet. I know that grains bother me, and I do better without any (evengluten free ones) but what about beans? Well I know that beans bug me also, butreally I have always just assumed it's because they have so much fibre…I meanthere is a song about it; “Good for your heart, the more you eat them the moreyou .....?” well you get the idea…Thinking maybe if I ate them more often mybody would get use to them…or maybe as suggested by the paleo diet…we are justnot meant to eat legumes.

I have noticed it’s pretty common to find cauliflower oreven rutabagas in paleo recipes for thickening pies, and sauces. I was eager togive it a whirl in my personal Dreamcake. The Result was AMAZING if I do say somyself! Dreamy creamy and so muchlighter than beans would be. I think I have a new obsession; finding ways touse vegetables in desserts

So without further ado, I share this recipe dubbed Acceptance with you. Cheers to reaching the final stage of grief. Thank youfor following my journey, and if you are still in the grieving stage yourself,I hope you too, find your Dreamcake some day. xxo

This recipe is Grain free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, Nut Free, Refined Sugar Free, Paleo Friendly

Paleo Meyer Lemon DreamCake

Crust

1-1/2 cups ground sunflower seeds

½ cup ground pumpkin seeds

1 cup coconut flakes

½ cup coconut sugar

1/3 cup coconut oil, liquefied

Preheat oven to 350F

Line Springform Panwith parchment paper (bottom)

Place all ingredients in a bowl and using a fork mixtogether until large crumbs form.

Press firmly and evenly in the bottom of the pan

Bake for about 12 minutes, until lightly golden; melt sugarto help harden the crust.

Set aside to cool

Vanilla *Cheesecake* Layer

500g bag of frozen cauliflower cooked until tender

1 cup coconut butter (not oil, you want the butter)

½ cup pure maple syrup

½ tsp ground vanilla beans

Place all ingredients in your food processor with the Sblade attachment. Blend until smooth.

Now line the sides of the spring form pan with parchmentpaper.

Pour the vanilla mixture into the pan and spread evenly andsmoothly on top of the crust. Place in the fridge to cool and set slightly

Lemon Curd

(This recipe is adapted slightly from my dairy free lemoncurd recipe so it becomes slightly thicker, for stability on the cake)

6 egg yolk

½ cup fresh squeezed Meyer lemon juice

1-1/2 tbsp Meyer lemon zest

½ cup pure maple syrup

2tbsp coconut oil

4 tbsp coconut butter

2 tbsp tapioca flour

In a glass or stainless steel mixing bowl (that fits in apot as a double boiler – or your

double boiler if you have one) whisk egg yolks, lemon juice,zest and maple syrup.

Place on top of simmering water and whisk constantly for10-12 minutes until a thick and fluffy mixture forms. Remove from heat.

Now add the coconut oil, and butter and whisk to combine.Now add the tapioca flour one tbsp at a time. Set in the fridge to coolslightly.

Pour the Meyer Lemon curd on top of the Vanilla layer in thespring form pan and allow it to set in the fridge for several hours (I left itover night)

Remove the cake form and parchment paper. Using a damppallet knife you can smooth the outside edges if you desire.

Enjoy

I shared this recipe with:
The Wellness Weekend @ Diet Dessert and Dogs

Have Your Cake Eat it Too | Tessa The Domestic Diva

2012-02-17T09:36:00.001-05:00

I am so pleased to have Tessa; author of the blog "Tessa The Domestic Diva," writing a guest post for me today. She shares how her family celebrates birthdays and a number of her amazing recipes that are sure to please your little one on their special day:

Perfect Chocolate Birthday Cake

Every kid deserves a birthday party. It's a time to shine the spotlight them, and them alone. In families with multiple kids, this is even more true! When we started making things allergy free in this house, I had this attitude: all for one, and one for all. I was certainly NOT going to be making separate things for the whole family...gee whiz...making fresh wholesome food daily is hard enough! My job was to make this work for everyone with as few grumbles as possible. My kids still have no clue that Mommy is feeding them wholesome foods that are nourishing for their bodies, and they don't have to: I know it!

When birthdays come around in our house, the big deal is the cake. No one seems to care what it tastes like (except me), the kids want the colors and the frosting (translation - SUGAR!)! So that is what I give them. It is not my personal style to do giant party productions. While I certainly appreciate all the efforts so many mom's go to, I prefer to keep things more simple, especially the younger my kids are.

In the garage, LOL! She loved it

One year, we just celebrated w/ the neighbors!

Here is what we do in our household:

a cake of my kids choosing (we pick from Easy Cut Up Cakes, refer to vanilla cake post)

a small party or a few best friends over for a play date

the day's menu planned by my birthday kiddo

some balloons, a special birthday sign hung up in the house

If you are setting out to host a party that is allergy friendly..remember that no one has to know it is allergy safe!! Just make some delicious food, throw up a few decorations, maybe plan an activity or two. Kids are simple beings and are easily pleased. If your attitude is that nothings different, theirs will match. The important part is to arm yourself with a handful of kid-friendly recipes. Here are some to get you started (there are LOADS more on my site too!):

Cakes:

"Eat Your Veggies" Cake

Lemon Poppyseed Cake (could be made vanilla)

Vanilla Cake and Easy Cut-Out Cakes

Kid-Friendly Treats & Party Snacks

Peanut Butter Dip

Perfect for your Fruit Tray: Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

Serve Frozen or as a Pudding

My daughter asks for these ALL the time: Chocolate Chip Cookie Pops

Find more Kid Friendly Recipes here

Be sure to check out the other contributions to "Have Your Cake, Eat It Too" Here

Simple Chocolate Pudding | Vegan

2012-02-13T06:26:00.007-05:00

The next experiment in my quest for Agar agar knowledge was “Simple Chocolate Pudding.” Actually it didn’t end up being that simple! Sometimes I make something up and the first try is pretty good; it just needs minor tweaking. For some reason I had several straight-up fails with this pudding, my daughter complained it was bitter and lumpy everytime. Though I actually like the dark chocolate taste, I wanted it to be something for the kids (and my husband who also loves sweets).

I tried using coconut sugar, maple syrup, apple sauce and dates. The final product received rave reviews from my critics; a rich, thick and creamy chocolate pudding; the perfect addition to their school lunch.

Once again I used 125ml jars for setting the pudding. I also found these cute Valentines Day Circle Labels, printed them out and glued them to the snap lids.

This recipe is Dairy Free/Vegan, Gluten Free, Nut Free, Soy Free, and Refined Sugar Free.

Simple Chocolate Pudding
1 can of Coconut milk
1/3 cup dairy free milk (Rice milk, Hemp milk etc.)
¼ cup Maple Syrup
3 Majooled Dates + boiling water for soaking
¼ tsp ground vanilla bean
2tbsp dairy free cocoa
2tsp Agar agar FLAKES

Pit the 3 dates and place them in a mug or bowl. Cover with boiling water and allow it to soften for a few minutes. Place in blender or magic bullet and blend until mostly smooth. Use a little date water if needed (I imagine a Vitamix would not need the help!). Add the 1/3 cup of dairy free milk and continue to blend smooth and place in a medium sauce pan.

Combine all ingredients in the sauce pan. Use a fine strainer for the cocoa to prevent lumps.

Heat on medium/high heat until bubbly, set the timer for 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Pour the hot mixture through a fine strainer again to remove any lumps before pouring into the 125ml jars. (I had issues with the pudding being lumpy if I didn’t strain it)

Place in the fridge to set.
Remove Pudding *Skin* before eating…or sending to school!
Makes 6-125ml jars.

I shared this Recipe with:
Allergy Free Wednesdays
Whole Foods Wednesday
The Wellness Weekend

Chocolate-Orange Ganache Tartlets

2012-02-08T12:12:00.010-05:00

These tarts are unbelievably rich and decadent! Oh My Goodness, I am in heaven!

When I was creating the recipe for my Chocolate Orange Truffles, I made this amazing Ganache like sauce. It was so good just on its’ own; I knew I would have to turn it into something special. I found these 4 little tartlet pans at a local shop and set out to create chocolate - orange bliss in the form of a tart-let!

I was also stuck with a dilemma; which recipe to enter into Fork and Beans V-Day Bake off? Should it be the truffles or the tarts? The answer was both!

(Gluten free, Dairy free, Soy free, Nut Free, Sugar free)

Chocolate-Orange Ganache Tartlets
Crust
1/2 cup oat flour
1/2 cup ground sunflower seeds
4tbsp arrowroot flour
1/4tsp ground vanilla bean
Pinch of sea salt
1tbsp maple syrup
2tbsp soy free earth balance

Whisk together the oat flour, sunflower seeds, arrowroot, salt and vanilla. Add the maple syrup and earth balance. Using a pastry cutter or potato masher, cut the earth balance into the flour until just combined into a dough.

Preheat oven to 425F

Prepare 4 tartlet pans (mine have the removable bottom)

Using your fingers, press the dough into the bottom and sides of the pans and set on a baking sheet.

Bake for 8-10minutes

Filling
1/4Cup Sunflower Seed Butter
3tbsp maple syrup
2tbps apple butter
2tbsp coconut oil
2tbsp orange zest
3tbsp fresh orange juice
1/3 cup dairy free milk
1/4 tsp ground vanilla bean
1.5tsp agar agar
2.5ozs dairy free chocolate (71% or 100%) (I used 10 squares)

In a small sauce pan, whisk together all of the ingredients except for the chocolate. Heat at a medium temperature until smooth and bubbly...Allow it to bubble gently for about 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Chop chocolate into small pieces. Add to the slightly cooled mixture, and whisk smooth.

Now place chocolate mixture into a blender or magic bullet and blend (just to smooth out the orange zest)

Pour mixture into the 4 tart shells, and place into the fridge to set.

Enjoy,

I shared this recipe with:
The Wellness Weekend @ Diet Dessert and Dogs
Allergy Friendly Fridays @ Cybele Pascal
Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays @ SSGF

Chocolate Orange Truffles

2012-02-01T20:42:00.009-05:00

♥Valentines Day is around the corner, time for some holiday recipes♥

Christmas 2011 was officially the first Christmas where I did not stray from my dietary restrictions. Usually, I tell myself; “Oh it’s Christmas” but then I pay for it for weeks afterwards until my stomach literally heals.

We had a delicious Allergy Free Christmas Dinner…and that is all I made…so even our guests had to eat it and they didn’t seem to mind. I made sweet things, indulgent things, allowed myself to eat them without guilt because they were made from only “safe for me and my family” ingredients…Happiness ♥

So when Christmas was all said and done, there was one thing I really missed… a Chocolate Orange!! I love the orange chocolate combination, but for some reason I only really eat it around Christmas time… I guess because that is when you see the orange foil wrapped balls (the ones you smash and then eat) on the store shelves. I told myself I would come up with a safe healthy alternative for Valentines Day, and these delicious, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, Nut Free, Date Free truffles were the answer to my cravings!

Note: you will notice in the pictures some of the balls rolled in nuts. My Hubby made a request because he doesn’t like cocoa coating…seeing as how he’s My Valentine ♥, I made some that way for him.

I made a chocolaty orange gooey Grenache like mixture on the stove; it was so good it almost didn’t make it to the food processor to blend with the sunflower seeds; in fact it inspired a completely different dessert that I will post about soon :)

To top it all off, I am so excited to be entering these Truffles into Fork and Bean’s *I Baked My Heart Out! Valentine’s Days Bake Off* All entries must be in by February 6ths, and the 3 winners will be announced on February 11th!! Wish me Luck

Chocolate Orange Truffles
¼cup apple butter
3T maple Syrup
2T Coconut Oil
2T Sunflower Seed Butter
2T Orange Zest (likely 2 oranges)
2T fresh Orange Juice
4oz or 14 squares of dairy free chocolate (I used Camino71% or 100%)
1 cups sunflower seeds

Coarsely chop chocolate squares into small pieces to speed up melting.

In a small sauce pan combine all ingredients except for the 1 cup of sunflower seeds.

On Med-Low temperature heat the mixture stirring constantly until all melted together and bubbly. Remove from heat. (Be careful not to burn the chocolate)

Place the 1 cup of sunflower seeds in a food processor with the S-blade attachment. Process the seeds until they become a fine meal. Add the chocolate orange mixture and process until dough like ball forms.

Scrape mixture in a bowl and set in the fridge to harden for a couple of hours.

Use a teaspoon to measure out balls and roll in cocoa and/or chopped pecans.

Makes 25-30balls

I shared this Recipe with:
The Wellness Weekend @ Diet Dessert and Dogs
Allergy Friendly Lunchbox Love @ Allergy-Free Vintage Cookery
Allergy Friendly Fridays @ Cybele Pascal
Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays @ SSGF

Homemade Fruit Jell-o

2012-01-31T20:36:00.006-05:00

I have been playing around with Agar agar, trying to figure out how it works with different liquids; how much is needed to achieve the desired thickness. If you have not heard of it; Agar agar is a vegetarian substitute for gelatine, made from Algae.

I figured the best place to start would be to simply make Jell-o! This is a simple treat that only required 3 ingredients and my kids loved it. To quote my daughter, because it was just about the cutest thing she has ever said; “Oh Mommy, it’s just how I imagined!” My poor deprived child, eating Jell-o for the first time at age 5!

I have had issues recently with containers spilling in Ainnsley’s lunchbox when ever I pack something liquid-y; it never fails! I had a brilliant idea and decided to use some of my 125ml mason jars…. I have so many floating around right now; mid winter as we use up all of our preserves, they are taking over my cupboards! Why not put them to use?

Online, I found these super cute free printable lunchbox notes and I glued them to the top of the jars. Check them out here.
Now I totally want a circle cutter!

I made several batches, starting at 2tsp of agar agar and I ended up liking 3.5tsp the best. When I tried popping 1 out of the jar like a mould, it did break off a bit…maybe because it wasn’t a proper mould or maybe I will try it again with 4tsp of agar agar. I also think in the future I might water down the juice a little, as 100% juice is expensive and actually quite sweet and strong in flavour…watering it down a bit (as long as it still tastes good) would be more economical.

Fruit Nectar Jell-o
2-1/2 cups of 100% juice (not from concentrate) or nectar
3tbsp maple syrup
3-1/2tsp Agar agar FLAKES

Place 1 cup of juice in a pot with maple syrup, the agar agar and whisk, allow the mixture to sit for a few minutes so the agar begins to dissolve.

Bring the mixture to a boil over medium high heat. Set timer right away for 1minute. Remove from heat and add the remaining 1.5 cups of juice.

Pour liquid into jars and allow them to set over night or several hours

Makes 7 - 125ml jars

I shared this recipe with the following Weekly Round-Ups...check them out!
Allergy Free Wednesdays @ Tessa the Domestic Diva
Whole Foods Wednesday @ Beyond the Peel
The Wellness Weekend @diet Dessert and Dogs
Allergy Friendly Lunchbox @ Allergy-Free Vintage Cookery

Homemade Fruit Roll-Ups

2012-01-26T13:22:00.014-05:00

I am not attempting to reinvent the wheel with this recipe, I mean homemade fruit strips have been done; in fact it was this picture on pinterest that piqued my interest in the first place. I have been trying to come up with some ideas for a treat table at my sons up-coming birthday party and these seemed like the perfect addition.

They are a bit finicky to make as I found out, so I wanted to share with you the things I learned using the oven (I do not have a dehydrator)

Having the puree evenly spread out is very important, otherwise there will be brittle crispy spots and other spots that are not fully dehydrated

I found in my first 2 batches, one side of the pan was too dry and brittle compared to the other side; turning my pan half way through cooking helped with this.

I got the best results when I took them out while still a little bit tacky and not completely smooth.

Opening the oven a crack for a while to let some of the moisture out, sped up the process (you can see all of the evaporation coming out of the stovetop vent)

It is important to roll up and store right away, as it seemed to get brittle quickly in the air.

Do not add refined sugar…why make sweet fruit unhealthy?

Do not use plastic cling wrap on your tray…It was like a 4 alarm fire going off in my head when I saw this in the link above…don’t cook with plastic of any kind. Bleach free parchment paper seems like a better choice.

All in all this is a super easy thing to do if you are just hanging out in the house for the day, or in the evening before bed, as it takes about 4 hours. The kids LOVE this stuff...I have made 6 batches. Ainnsley had been bugging me to buy Fruit Roll Ups for her lunch...ick! These are much better!

Check them out here in Ainnsley Lunch: The Clean Bento

P.S. If you happen to make a crispy batch or 2...don't fret! we called them fruit chips and the kids still ate them :)

Blueberry Fruit Strips
2 cups organic blueberries (frozen or fresh)
3tbsp pure maple syrup

or........

Mango Fruit Strips
2.5 cups diced frozen mango (cut the frozen chunks up smaller)
3tbsp pure maple syrup
2tbsp water

Preheat oven to 170F (or lowest)

Place the ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and boil for a few minutes until blueberries are soft and coming apart or Mango is soft and smooshy (like making jam). Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool. Pour mixture into a food processor/blender and puree smooth.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the puree evenly covering the tray.

Place the tray on the middle rack for 3-5 hours, turning the tray half way through, and allowing the oven to vent occasionally by propping the door open slightly. (The blueberry dried faster than the mango, your timing will depend on thickness of puree)

Immediately cut into strips with a pizza slice roller. Then set each strip on a fresh strip of parchment paper and roll, secure the roll with string, and store in a sealed container.

I added this recipe to
The Wellness Weekend @ Diet Dessert and Dogs
Allergy Friendly Fridays @ Cybele Pascal's
Allergy Friendly Lunchbox @ Allergy-Free Vintage Cookery
Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays @ SSGF
Allergy Free Wednesdays hosted by a group of ladies including Tessa the Domestic Diva!
Whole Foods Wednesday @beyond the peel

Seed-Sational Paleo Breakfast Bars

2012-01-15T20:05:00.009-05:00

Inspiration comes from all sorts of places for me, but nothing inspires me more to get into the kitchen than my family. My baby brother called with a few questions, he has made the switch to the Paleo diet and is training hard right now with some Reebok Crossfit folks, for his upcoming season with the Edmonton Rush NLL lacrosse team. I am seriously excited to see him eating this way, instead of all those powdery protein shakes that are just full of garbage.

He said he was tired of eating eggs for breakfast and wanted something different, but still with a lot of protein. So, I found myself in the kitchen trying to think of something where he could make and freeze several days’ worth. I was thinking of a crunchy granola bar, but in the end, what I came up with was soft and chewy, but still holds together like a bar; it can also be eaten on the run.

I pulled out my basket of goodies from the fridge. This is a great way to store all of those little baggies of things that can go rancid; such as nuts and seeds. I also store my organic dried fruits (cranberries and such) in the fridge basket. It keeps everything in one spot, and helps keep them from spilling all over the fridge. I chose sunflower seeds because Grady and I are allergic to nuts, but I bet almond meal could easily be used in its place; they have a similar texture. I just buy whole raw sunflower seeds and grind them up in my magic bullet. I think one could also use pureed majooled dates in place of the apple butter. Dates seem to bother me these days, so I didn't go that route.

Place the sticky wet mixture into a greased 8”square baking dish and use a wet spatula to flatten it out evenly. I then sprinkled some pumpkin seeds, coconut flakes, and cranberries on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 325 F; the outside edges will be darker in colour.

This bar is full of protein, healthy fats, and fibre. It is Paleo friendly, gluten free, nut free and vegan. If you are about to head to the gym, maybe top it with a bit of nut or seed butter, have a green smoothie on the side and your meal is complete!

I would suggest cutting it into 9 or 12 servings, depending on whether you want them for your breakfast or just a snack.

Seed-Sational Paleo Breakfast Bars

¼ cup apple butter

¼ cup oil (I used olive)
3tbsp pure maple Syrup
1 cup ground sunflower seeds
3 tbsp tapioca flour
½ cup pumpkin seeds (more for topping)
½ cup coconut flakes (more for topping)
½ cup dried organic cranberries (more for topping)
3tbsp chia seeds
3 tbsp raw sunflower seeds
½ tsp baking soda
Pinch of sea salt

Preheat oven to 325 F

Whisk together the apple butter, oil and maple syrup in a medium bowl, add all the dry ingredients and mix well.

Place the slick batter into a prepared 8x8 pan and using a wet spatula spread it out flat and evenly. Sprinkle the top with a few pumpkin seeds, coconut flakes, and cranberries.

Bake for about 25 minutes. Allow to cool before cutting into squares, store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Makes 9-12

I added this recipe to:
Slightly Indulgent Tuesday hosted by Simply Sugar and Gluten Free
Whole Foods Wednesday @ Beyond the Peel
The Wellness Weekend @ Diet Desserts and Dogs
Allergy Friendly Fridays Hosted by Cybele Pascal
Allergy Free Wednesdays
Be sure to check out their line up of weekly recipes!

Welcome 2012

2012-01-09T16:05:00.001-05:00

Welcome 2012!! I feel a little late getting this New Year post out, but life only now seems to be settling down a bit. We have had a wonderful holiday, our house guests have all gone and we are starting to pack up our Christmas stuff and get the house back to *normal.* The kids returned to school today and I think that this is when I start to really feel back in the ~Groove~ Funny how I don’t think of myself as needing routine, but after Christmas and spring break I am always ready for its return.

This year I have some of the *same old* goals, and some new ones.

1. I of course want to continue to improve and understand my dietary needs, and focus on my health. That is *same old* stuff…

2. This year I am adding a new goal to my list “Find my ~Zen~”

I still struggle at lot with my weight. I still struggle to stick to eating *clean and whole* 100% of the time. Why? I seriously lack coping skills and I get overwhelmed easily.

I give myself some credit; I mean I was the mother to 3 under 6 years old - one who is greatly affected by autism, and another with epilepsy, all three my greatest blessing!! Life is stressful and overwhelming, but as we get into the ages 8-5-3, I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel! I need to now find the time to not just *get through the day* but truly live my “life on purpose” as that saying goes…No more being dragged behind the horse, instead jumping on with a “Yeehaw, I got this” attitude…and for that, I have come to the conclusion that I need more relaxation, and less stress. I need to embrace things that I at one time thought were kind of hokey….like the effects of positive thinking, the benefits I could get from meditation, or yoga, or just getting outdoors everyday (being outside is my happy place even with all of my allergies!) I need to take the time to just be quiet, instead of going in circles…

3. I also MUST get organised; Make lists AND refer to them often!

I have been searching through blogs about organization and planning. I love iHeart Organising, and Peaceful Mom. Both offer some great free printables as well as advice.

To help me get focused on the New Year, I printed and filled out this really cute inspiration board.

I have it pinned up on the mirror in my bedroom, so I can refer to it every day, and keep my focus. I now need to break these goals down into more step by step actions to really get them moving forward.
I am excited and hopeful about the New Year!

Did you make any resolutions or set and goals?

Hot Chocolate Drop Cookies

2011-12-17T19:28:00.004-05:00

I have made these cookies for a few years (back in the days of butter and white flour) They look great in a box or tin of goodies to send to friends and neighbours. I found them in a Christmas Cookie edition of the magazine, “Taste of Home” They were called Chocolate Mallow Drops, but from first sight to me it was like eating a drop of hot chocolate.

When I set about to adapt this recipe, I knew I had to figure out the marshmallows. I have never made homemade marshmallows before, but once I did, I felt like a genius! Strutting around the house like I won first prize in something! I told my daughter when I picked her up from school “I made marshmallows!! How Cool is that?!” and she was sort of like “Meh, ya so Mom, you can make anything” lol and as proud as I felt to hear that from my 5 year old, I was still trying to convince her it was cool, I mean, I made the white fluff of chemical mystery in my kitchen, with maple syrup!!

I searched online for recipes, there was one with honey I liked for the kids (but I am allergic to honey) and I was thinking of trying to convert it…but then I spotted this recipe on the blog; “Naturally Knocked Up” It was the easiest recipe in the world to make, I just went out and bought a candy thermometer, although Donielle says you don’t necessarily need one. I did change one thing in this recipe and that is the powdered sugar for coating. Instead I put some unsweetened coconut in my magic bullet and ground it up into a fine powder. Check out the recipe here: Maple Syrup Marshmallows.

This will potentially be way more marshmallow than you need for these cookies (unless you make a lot of cookies) but the marshmallows are delicious on their own

If you follow my facebook page you will have seen that I was struggling with getting the cookie recipe to be moist and not crumble apart. My first batch I used beans, then I was using millet flour (which I think is what was making it gritty) and I used several different oil amounts. In the end I just couldn’t bring myself to use ½ a cup of oil, so I added some apple sauce, and switched to Teff flour. I feel quite happy with the recipe now!

Hot Chocolate Drop Cookies (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Sugar Free, Nut Free)

1 batch of Maple Syrup Marshmallows (you will need to cut 24 small squares for this recipe)

Dry Ingredients
1 cup brown rice flour
½ cup teff flour
¼ cup tapioca flour
½ cup of ground raw sunflower seeds
½ cup of organic cocoa
2 tbsp coconut sugar (optional)
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp fine sea salt

Wet Ingredients
1/3 cup of coconut oil liquefied
½ cup of pure maple syrup at room temperature
½ cup of rice milk (or other dairy free milk) at room temperature
¼ cup apple sauce
1 egg
1tsp vanilla

Drizzle
½ cup of allergy friendly chocolate chips
½ tsp coconut oil

In a med bowl mix all dry ingredients

In a large bowl combine oil, maple syrup, milk, and apple sauce. If not at room temperature the oil will harden up again, you can just warm up the whole bowl at this point if you like, melting the coconut oil. Be sure it isn’t too hot as it will cook the egg. Now add in the egg and vanilla.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well.

Set mixture in the fridge for 45 minutes to firm up slightly…to go from a slick muffin batter consistency to a thicker drop cookie consistency.

Preheat oven to 375 F

Drop rounded tablespoons of batter on to a non stick cookie sheet. Bake for 8 minutes. Immediately press marshmallows into the top of the cookie, so that they melt slightly and stick to the cookie. Set on a cooling rack.

Melt chocolate chips and oil together until smooth. Place in a Ziploc bag and snip one corner, drizzle the chocolate over the tops of the cookies

Makes 24 cookies

Sharing this recipe with Allergy Friendly Friday hosted by Cybele Pascal
A Gluten Free Holiday hosted by Maggie at She Let Them Eat Cake
Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free

Reindeer Krispie Pops

2011-12-12T20:15:00.006-05:00

Once again, pinterest has inspired me! I saw this picture of a cake pop and knew exactly how I would change it up to fit into our diet. Using pipe cleaners for the antlers made me think why not just use all craft supplies instead of the candy eyes and nose, and glue it to the plastic package? Instead of cake, I knew I could repurpose my Pumpkin Krispie Treats into a *pop* and coat them in chocolate…My plan was set.

When I made up an advent calendar for the kids (pinterest yet again), I didn’t want something filled with chocolate and candy. I loved this idea of filling boxes with crafts, notes of places we would go that day, things to see, and things to bake. I did manage to buy and fill 24 boxes with ideas; however I didn’t get around to cutting out a board of some kind to nail the boxes to. So this year, the kids search through a bag in my closet for the box with the correct date on it. Next year, I will strive for a proper board to display the whole thing on. Haha

The kids opened the box today to find pipe cleaners, googly eyes, red balls and lollipop sticks…they were very intrigued about what they were going to use it all for, but had to wait until after lunch when Ainnsley got home from school.

We made a batch of my Pumpkin Krispie Treats, pressed it into an 8inch square baking pan and let them begin to set in the fridge for about 1 hour.

We then melted some Enjoy Life Allergy Friendly Chocolate Chips (about ¼ cup with tsp coconut oil) and with damp hands I broke off pieces of the Krispie Treats and pressed them into a ball. The kids dipped the sticks into the chocolate for me, and then I pushed them about half way into the balls, sort of reforming their shape. I then set the balls into the freezer to harden for and hour or so (which is likely more than enough time…that is just when we got back into the kitchen)

We then set out to dip the pops into the chocolate. I melted the rest of the bag of chocolate chips + 2 tsp coconut oil and combined with the earlier chocolate. What an adventure this was! The kids were hilarious really…what a fun mess! They each made 2, and then I took over to dip the rest. They were starting to get warm and break apart. I put them back into the freezer for a few minutes while I cleaned the kids up, and found them something to do. I poked the dipped pops into an upside down egg carton to keep them standing up (forgot to take a picture) and then set that into the freezer again for a few minutes to harden. (Look on You Tube for many, many great tutorials on dipping cake pops)

I got the kids back to the table once more so they could make their reindeer. Grady thought he was so funny to have used *2 noses* for the eyes on one of his reindeer.

Owen also made one, but then the bowl full of eyes was just too much sensory fun to resist :)

I think they turned out pretty cute!

I would let them warm up a bit before putting in the bag next time to avoid moisture, and

the felt balls for the nose didn’t stick very well with the glue in the end, compared to the little hard sparkly balls. I think the felt just absorbed the glue instead of sticking! The harder balls had no trouble at all (just wish I bought bigger ones)

Reindeer Krispie Pops

1 batch of Pumpkin Krispie Treat recipe found HERE

1 package of Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips

1+ tbsp coconut oil divided

24 lolipop sticks

24 Wilton plastic bags for cake pops or other plastic covering

Brown pipe cleaners

Googly eyes

Red craft balls for noses

Makes 24 pops (depending on size)

I shared this recipe in this weeks Slightly Indulgent Tuesday over at "Simply Sugar and Gluten Free"
The Wellness Weekend Hosted on Diet Dessert and Dogs
Allergy Friendly Friday hosted by Cybele Pascal

Acorn Squash baked with Turkey Sausage Quinoa Stuffing

2011-12-01T08:10:00.003-05:00

I have been saving this recipe so I could link it up with week 4 of "A Gluten Free Holiday" hosted by Daily Bites. Be sure to check out all of the great recipes in this weeks theme; holiday entrees and side dishes.

This stuffed squash recipe has all of those wonderful holiday flavours rolled into one dish. It is perfect for a holiday dinner party, or if you are making Thanksgiving Dinner for 2 and don’t want to go through the trouble of roasting an entire bird.

The kids got a really big kick out of eating from a *Squash Bowl*. They took so much interest that they helped me with this entire recipe and we had a fun time cooking a meal together. It was nice to do with them, since really they mostly only seem to help me with the baking of sweet things. Of course I want to instil in them the knowledge of cooking meals from scratch too, so this is a great opportunity. I am sure we will do this more as they get older and can use more than a butter knife.

To break up the prep in this recipe, I would suggest you cook the quinoa and sausage the night before. For sausage I, will either brown it in a skillet and then set it in the oven to finish cooking through, or boil it first and then brown it in a pan. The turkey sausage seems to be less dry this way.

Acorn Squash Baked with Turkey Sausage Quinoa Stuffing

¾ cup of dry quinoa
1-1/2 cups of water or broth
1 pkg of turkey sausage (or alternatively use 1 cup cooked beans to make this vegan)
3 whole acorn squash
2 tbsp olive oil
1-1/2 cups of diced yellow onion
4 cloves of garlic pressed
1 large red pepper
2 cups of loosely chopped kale ribs and stems removed
1 large green apple diced
1 cup of the broth of your choosing
1 tsp dry Summer Savory herb (or thyme)
1 tsp fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4-1/2 tsp dry sage
1/8-1/4 tsp cinnamon
Topping
2 slices of Gluten/dairy free bread
1 tsp dry parsley
A pinch of the following: salt, pepper, cinnamon, garlic powder

Preheat oven to 375F

In a medium pot, bring 1-1/2 cups of water or broth to a boil. Rinse quinoa and add it to the boiling water. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for about 20 minutes. Set aside (or do this the night/day before)

Thoroughly cook 1 package of turkey sausage as described above and set aside (or do this the night before)

Slice squash in half and scoop out the seeds and goop, season with salt and pepper. Place face down on a baking sheet prepared with either a spray of olive oil, or a thin layer of water. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until tender, not mushy.

Toast bread in the toaster. Leave it sitting in the toaster to dry out.

While the squash is baking, prepare Quinoa Stuffing.

Heat oil in a large skillet, reduce heat and add onion; sauté for about 7 minutes over low heat. Add in the garlic and sauté for another 5 minutes, add red pepper and sauté another 3 minutes or so. Add the cooked quinoa, all the seasoning (summer savory or thyme, salt, pepper, sage, and cinnamon) and the 1 cup of broth. Simmer for a few minutes.

Lastly, add the kale and chopped green apple and simmer for a few minutes. The kale should be wilted and the apple softening yet still crisp (this is why I leave them until the end). They will cook further in the oven, and the apple is much better with a bit of crunch, and not mushy.

Once most of the water has evaporated, remove from heat and divide evenly amongst the cooked squash.

Prepare topping by breaking up the bread into chunks and placing it in a blender/food processor ( I used my magic bullet) add the seasonings and process until you get a fine crumble.

Sprinkle on top of each squash.

Place the filled squash back into the oven for 20 minutes.

Serves 6 or more (my kids split one)

P.S. This packed up great in my husbands lunch the next day!

Have Your Cake Eat it Too | Grady's 3rd Birthday

2011-11-17T10:01:00.013-05:00

My first installment: Buzz Lightyear

I love birthdays!! I especially love celebrating my children’s birthdays. I also enjoy making cakes; check out my cake page if you’ve not yet had the opportunity. I know…I know…sugary fondant! time to change...

I have been so torn about how to make Grady’s birthday party food and cakes feel just as festive and special as his siblings and friends. Last year I made his Curious George Cake for the guests and then I made him these pretty plain cupcakes. They were delicious and he didn’t seem to mind, but in the end I felt like I fell short for the birthday boy himself.

This year, with more time under my belt creating recipes specifically for his diet, I was determined to make a totally allergy friendly birthday, that fit any theme of his choosing. He asked for Buzz Lightyear! I have been planning and looking for inspiration for weeks. I fell in LOVE with Pinterest! I have found so many great ideas searching through images. I gathered my plans and set out to adapt them all to meet Grady’s dairy, soy, gluten, nut allergy etc.needs. Check out my birthday board on Pinterest.

This post has 2 original recipes created by me (the sugar cookies and the dip) Everything else I made using some tried and true recipes from other bloggers. I didn’t want to have to stress about experimenting on everything, so I went with some recipes that I have tried and loved in the past

The Party table was set up as Pizza Planet! We served pizza made on frozen glutino pizza crusts topped with a simple sweet pea pesto and diaya cheese. This is a collection of ideas from some wonderful
Craft and birthday blogs, all linked in that birthday pinboard above.

The frozen Banana Pops were a big hit! I have not thought about making them in years; that is until I saw Lexi’s Kitchen's cute and healthy Halloween Treats. Check them out! Her icing recipe using Cocoa butter wasn’t going to work for us, so I decided to look for another recipe. This Refined Sugar-Free Frosting from Maggie at She Let Them Eat Cake worked perfectly! I used India Tree All Natural Food Colouring to get just the right shade of green. I threw all of the ingredients in my magic bullet, blended and set it in the fridge to chill. I used a butter knife to spread it all over the frozen bananas and added the candy eyes. I kept them in the freezer until it was time. These are meant to be eaten frozen like a popsicle. Remove the eyes before eating if you have diet concerns.

Next we have the Veggie Dip Cups. I loved this idea when I saw the pictures on Pinterest. I set out to make a dairy free ranch style dressing. I used white beans, rice milk a blend of herbs and lemon juice. It ended up being a bit spicy so I plan to tweak the recipe this week and post it. The kids loved eating them out of the *fancy* wine glasses. I saved all the glasses and we have been eating everything *fancy* these days :)

Boy did I have a hard time making these cupcakes the right colour! I made a test batch on the Tuesday (November 8^th) Grady’s actual birthday for just us. I wasn’t happy with the colouring. To get really bold colours using this all natural food colouring you had to use a LOT of it, and it never really turned out to be the green or purple that Buzz wears…but in the end it is better than being artificial right? Then when I went to make them for his party, I ran out of the Blue colouring after mixing the purple! These India Tree colours are so $$$$. Honestly, I don’t think I would buy them again. I could probably have done better with the colours just boiling some blueberries and I don’t know… something green! So the green you see around these cupcakes is half natural and a drop or 2 of artificial colour.

The cupcakes themselves are The Spunky Coconut’s Vanilla Bean Cake recipe. I love this cake! So moist…you can’t go wrong! I used maple syrup instead of honey, as I am allergic to honey. I also used olive oil instead of coconut. I also adapted her Coconut Buttercream Frosting recipe. Again, I adapted it using pure maple syrup, and instead of the coconut butter I used ¼ cup of pureed white beans and ¼ cup of soy free earth balance spread.

Why take out just some of the coconut? It is my annoying Oral Allergy Syndrome…I know that eating coconut upon coconut upon coconut will set me off…there seems to be a line that I must balance on for a number of foods. You do not need to do this, unless you have issues, the cake is delicious in it original form!

Buzz’s face is made on a delicious sugar cookie recipe that the kids and I perfected testing it out 3 times before the big day. This post was long enough, so I posted the cookie recipe separate. Check out the recipe here This recipe could easily be made vegan by using a chia egg substitute. I used the Refined Sugar-Free frosting here again to coat the cookie, (no colouring added) and then the Coconut Buttercream for the other features. The eyes I made with these Presidents Choice Christmas chocolate balls, and I used the edible ink to add colour...again remove these if you have issues.

I am not sure if this cupcake looks just like Buzz Lightyear to be honest :) but my little guy lit up, and knew just who he was supposed to be :)

Happy 3rd Birthday my Sweet Grady :)

Question: When you plan a party for your child with food allergies, do you make seperate food for the other guests?

If you have any allergic party advice, recipes, or ideas please send me an email, or leave a comment!

Cheers

I shared this post on the Wellness Weekend hosted by Diet Dessert and Dogs, Allergy Friendly Fridays hosted by Cybele Pascal, and for the first time Slightly Indulgent Tuesday hosted by Simply Sugar and Gluten Free, check out all the other great recipes!

Have Your Cake Eat It Too | Allergy Friendly Children's Birthday Parties

2011-11-15T22:15:00.003-05:00

I am starting a series of post on Fresh4five that will provide inspiration and recipes for Allergy Free Children's Birthday Parties! Some of my own recipes, *round ups* of things that inspire me on the web, and I am also asking for reader stories, photos, recipes and ideas to be feature in these posts!! I hope to make this an easy *go to* resource for planning a wholesome, allergy friendly birthday party.

If you have any Birthday Party recipes, photos, advice you would be willing to share please contact me at fresh4five @ gmail [dot] com (oops I wrote wrong address!! fixed now!!)

When sharing, just be sure it is allergy friendly in some way, wholesome; not processed, sugary or with that yucky white flour. It doesn't have to be overly commercial; I would love to see how we all celebrate differently.

I can't wait to share the first installment; Grady's 3rd Birthday

Gluten Free & Dairy Free Sugar Cookies

2011-11-14T08:17:00.003-05:00

Sugar Cookies are one of my kids’ favourite things to make and decorate for each season, or just when they want to get their hands into something! This recipe is nice and large, making enough dough for each of them to have a ball to work with and cut out any shape they want. And.. there still be enough for me to use it for what ever I need; like these Buzz Lightyear cupcakes…cutting out a lot of ovals was not exciting enough for them :) I managed to get some protein into these cookies using ground, raw sunflower seeds, and then I picked a mixture of light coloured flours to bring the rest of the cookie together. This recipe does have one egg in it, but I am sure you could easily switch the egg with some chia seed egg substitute. The dough will need to rest to firm up a bit in the fridge; 1.5-2 hours is best. I have also left it over night, and just warmed it up a bit in the microwave in the morning and they came together perfectly.

Ice your cookies using She Let Them Eat Cake’s Refined Sugar-Free Frosting

More info on these cupcakes in another post Grady's 3rd Birthday

Gluten & Dairy Free Sugar Cookies
1cup oat flour
1cup sunflower seed ground into a meil
½ cup brown rice flour
½ cup tapioca flour (more for rolling)
½ cup coconut sugar
½t baking soda
½t baking powder
1 large egg
½ cup of liquefied coconut oil
1/3 cup of pure maple syrup
1tbsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350F

In a large bowl whisk together the oat, sunflower, rice, and tapioca flours with the coconut sugar, soda and powder.

In a small bowl whisk together the egg, coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla

Combine the wet ingredients with the dry and mix well with a wooden spoon, cover and set in the fridge for 2 hours or more.

Once firm and workable knead the dough slightly on a tapioca floured surface, and roll out quite thin. Cut desired shapes, and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake in oven for about 8 minutes. These cookies are meant to be crisp, and dark slightly dark around the edges…honestly it is a whole different taste if you take them out just golden brown on the bottom.

Quinoa Turkey Meatloaf

2011-11-09T21:06:00.003-05:00

I didn’t grow up eating meatloaf. Honestly the whole title of the meal is not that appealing to someone who is just barely a carnivore. Meat moulded into a loaf? Hmm I will pass…HA! But wait! Then I tried it and it is GooD! Not only is it good, but it is a meal where you can cook once, eat twice, and with my busy family, that makes it the most divine meal I could ever create!

This recipe has so much goodness packed into it; just throwing a salad on the side would make it a complete meal! Though honestly there has been a crazy day or 2 in my life where I just popped a piece out of the freezer, heated it and ate it (by hand in a napkin!) running out the door…but hey it is better than skipping lunch right?

In place of the typical breadcrumbs, I used cooked quinoa; the mighty grain that it is makes this a protein upon protein loaf. Throw in some greens like the kale and chopped tomatoes…and viola!

When I was looking around online at meatloaf recipes, a lot of them sort of glazed the loaf with (what was usually) a soy/ Worcestershire mixture. Since we have a soy allergy in our family I had to come up with something different. So I used a vinegar based sauce (basically like a salad dressing), and it added a really nice flavour.

Quinoa Turkey Meatloaf

¾ cup of dry quinoa
1-1/2 cup of water or broth
2 packages of extra lean ground turkey
2 tbsp olive oil
1-1/2 cups of diced yellow onion
4-6 cloves of garlic pressed/minced
2 packed cups of kale chopped
1 cups of cherry tomatoes sliced in half
1-1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp summer savory herb (or thyme)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Note: I added 2 tsp of my salted herbs instead of the sea salt.
Glaze
3 tbsp of vinegar (balsamic or red wine) lemon or lime would work too.
2 tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 tbsp pure Maple Syrup
1-1/2 tsp dry mustard powder
¼ tsp sea salt
½ tsp dry summer savory or thyme
Freshly ground black pepper

In a small pot bring water to a boil. Rinse the quinoa thoroughly and add to the pot. Reduce heat to minimum and cook for 15-20 minutes. Turn off heat and let stand for 5 minutes. (You could do this the day before)

Line two loaf pans with parchment paper
Preheat oven to 350F

In a large skillet, heat oil and add the onion, Sauté on low heat for 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic and sauté another few minutes over low heat to bring out all their flavour. Add the tomatoes, kale and all the seasonings, and sauté for another 5 minutes (add water or broth as needed to keep from sticking instead of more oil) Now add the cooked quinoa and mix well, sautéing for a few minutes to combine all the flavours.

In a large bowl combine the 2 packages of raw ground turkey meat and the quinoa mixture. Use your hands if you like to be sure everything is mixed well.

Divide the mixture between two loaf pans pressing down with a spatula.

Place in oven and cook for about 50-60 minutes. While it is cooking, whisk together the glaze. At the 40 minute mark, brush the glaze over the loaves and then pour some of the glaze over each loaf. Continue to cook until thermometer reaches 170F.

Allow the load to rest 5-10 minutes before slicing.

I sliced my extra loaf and froze it that way, so it was handy in the freezer and would thaw faster.

Enjoy!

I added this recipe to Cybele Pascals Allergy Friendly Friday Check out all of the great recipes listed there!

Pumpkin Krispie Treats

2011-10-19T11:16:00.007-04:00

This picture was a weird mistake, that I thought was more cool than bad photography

These super cute Pumpkin Krispy Balls are really simple to make and a big hit with the kids. I have made a plain peanut butter version of these many times; a recipe from the cook book, " Super Natural Cooking" and I used that idea for the base of this recipe. Over the last week or so, I have served them in so many different ways; cut as squares, cut with Halloween cookie cutters, on a stick, and covered in chocolate and then dipped in coconut. I saw a picture like this picture browsing around Pinterest (I can't find the other picture on there anymore, I am a pinterest rookie) and thought this would be a really cute way to serve them, but switched up *Au Naturel* style with dark chocolate stems and mint leaves. No food colouring or marshmallows. I was clearly thinking pumpkins when making these (like the above link), but when I asked my daughter what she thought they were, she said, “Apple!” Ha! So I guess there is more than one interpretation!

I mentioned on my facebook page that I lost my laptop in a coffee spilling accident and I have yet to claim all of my pictures from the hard drive. I hope to later add some of the chocolate dipped pictures that I took, this recipe worked really, really well for cake pops. I am thinking of serving them at my sons 3rd birthday party in a few weeks. He devoured them!

I am excited to be adding a recipe to "Our Spunky Holiday" hosted by Kelly over at The Spunky Coconut for the first time! Be sure to check out all the great halloween treats!

I also added this recipe to the Wellness Weekend, hosted over at Diet Dessert and Dogs
Fresh Bites Friday on Real Food Whole Health
Allergy Friendly Friday hosted by Cybele Pascal
Be sure to check out all the wonderful recipes shared this week!

Pumpkin Krispie Balls

¼ C nut butter (I used a combo almond/cashew once and sun butter another time to be school friendly)
¼ C pumpkin puree
½ C pure maple syrup
½ tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
Dash of ground ginger
Pinch of salt
2 tsp Agar flakes
4 cups whole grain brown rice krispies (gluten free)
A couple of ounces of dark chocolate (dairy free) or the Enjoy life mega chunks
A few springs of mint.

In a small sauce pan combine all ingredients except for the dry rice cereal. Heat until it gets nice a bubbly, and let it bubble for just a minute. Stir constantly so it is well combined and does not burn. Set aside.

Place the rice cereal in a large bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir well making sure all the cereal is evenly coated.

Place in the fridge to harden and set for at least 1 hour.

Shape the cereal into round balls with your hands. I found having damp hands made this easier (run under the tap, then patting excess water off with a towel) Place in the fridge again to set. Once firmed up, gently stick in the chocolate and mint leaves.

White Bean Pizza

2011-09-26T21:43:00.001-04:00

We had pizza night last week and made yummy white bean personal pizzas. This was a first for us and it turned out amazing. A nice way to get some extra fibre and protein on our pizzas…and it was sooo flavourful, much like using pesto on pizza instead of tomato sauce, but without the fat from oil (although pesto is usually good fat)

The boys and I used the Glutino ready made pizza crusts and Tyler and Ainnsley used whole grain pitas

We topped them with onion, pablano peppers, kalamata olives, cherry tomatoes, diaya cheese, and even snuck on some turkey pepperoni (eek processed! I guess it is my *bacon,* that hard to give up *meat*)

Grady and I used the left over spread on crackers for lunch the next day

White Bean Pizza Spread
1-15oz can of white beans
2 large cloves of garlic
1/3 cup of fresh chopped basil
1 tbsp fresh oregano
The juice of ½ a lemon
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.

To make Pizza:

Preheat oven to 400F

Top pizza crust first with bean spread and then add any toppings you choose. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes. I also then put it on broil for a moment, to get things nice and crisp on top.

Enjoy.

Allergy-Friendly Popcorn Balls

2011-09-09T19:20:00.010-04:00

Back to school, back to school...♪♫

Well, it’s that time of year again; time for all that rushing around, craziness and cursing myself for not packing lunches the night before! Ainnsley is headed back to school today for a couple hours (they do a gradual entry for the kindergartener kids) and then she will be full time starting Monday. This felt like the fastest summer in history, where did the time and warm weather go?

I have been compiling a list of lunch and snack foods to pack for her; protein being a big priority. My guys will eat their greens, eat those carb filled foods, but protein is a concern. We only eat fish and fowl and we don’t eat any processed meats. Ainnsley will happily eat tuna, salmon, or egg salad sandwiches, but last year at school one day the kid beside her said “I hate when you bring that stinky lunch” and she has refused to eat any of those things at school since. So that left us last year with chicken salad, sun butter and jelly and a lot of hummus to dip…all of which she grew tired of by the end of the year. This year I just hope I can sneak a bit of protein in everything and have her come home acting like less of a bear…a bad attitude is a tell-tail sign that the sugar has dropped in my kiddos.

Here are a couple recipes that I have found that are on my list:
Diet Dessert and Dogs, Chocolate Bean Butter
She Let Them Eat Cake’s Chocolate Cereal Bars
Also, my own Raspberry Lemon Muffins and Roasted Chickpeas

In this months issue of Eating Well Magazine they share a couple of recipes for Wholesome Popcorn Balls; neither recipe being allergy friendly, or school friendly for that matter since most schools like ours are Peanut and Nut Safe Schools. I made a version of these using sunbutter, maple syrup and adding in some healthy goodies like a blend of Chia seeds, flax seeds, and hemp hearts, mixed with dried apricots and Enjoy Lifes Mini Chocolate chips. I then rolled them in some unsweetened coconut and they were a HUGE hit with everyone in the house! Yeah!

Allergy-Friendly Popcorn Balls

6 cups organic popcorn
1/4 cup room temperature sunflower seed butter
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1 tbsp chia seeds and or flax seeds
1 tbsp hemp hearts
1 tbsp chopped dried organic apricots
2 tbsp mini Enjoy Life chocolate chips
¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Place popcorn in a large bowl

Combine seeds, hearts, apricots, and chocolate chips in a small bowl

Place coconut in a small shallow bowl

In a small sauce pan blend sun-butter and syrup over medium heat until smooth. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring often. Remove from heat.
Pour the sun-butter mixture over the popcorn and stir it right away evenly coating the popcorn. Add the small bowl with the seed mixture ASAP while the popcorn is still warm.

Using your hands make 2 inch balls out of the popcorn mixture, packing slightly firm. Toss in the coconut.

Set on a lined baking sheet in the fridge until hardened, store in a sealed container. I like them in the fridge cold. The do still hold together if left on the counter.

Makes 12-15 balls

Enjoy!

Check them out packed in my kiddos lunches today: The Clean Bento

I added this recipe to:
Allergy Friendly Friday on Cybele Pascal
The Wellness Weekend on Diet Dessert and Dogs
Fresh Bites Friday on Real Food Whole Health
check out all the great recipes these two events offer!

Raw Zucchini Pasta

2011-09-02T22:38:00.001-04:00

I purchased a julienne peeler, excited to try my hand at making raw zucchini *spaghetti* noodles. I was so happy with how they turned out! The texture is actually very similar to real spaghetti noodles, everyone really enjoyed them. This is a sneaky way to get your kids to eat something green.

excuse my messy plate, close up view of the noodles

I made them once with a warm marinara sauce and again with a simple basil pesto, making it a completely raw meal. It was so strange not to use the stove for spaghetti!? Both dishes tasted fantastic, unfortunately for me, I reacted to both of them. For whatever reason, in the last month I have added watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumber and now zucchini to my *CANNOT EAT* list. This Oral Allergy Syndrome is insanely frustrating. Apparently these things are all in the Ragweed Pollen family and my body is now cross-reacting to them. I guess it is about time for me to go back to my allergist, and see if maybe allergy shots will help my symptoms. On the positive side, if I cook some of these foods, I seem to react to them less. So I am going to be making some sautéed zucchini spaghetti in the days to come, so stay tuned for that recipe.

To make the noodles is quite simple. First peel your zucchini with a typical peeler to remove all the green skin. You can then simply slide the julienne peeler down the zucchini length wise until you reach the seeds (using the seeds changes the texture of the noodles).

You can also use summer squash!

Place your *noodles* in a colander and slightly salt them, the salt will draw out the moisture from the noodles and soften. Let them sit for a few minutes until they reach your desired texture. (I added too much salt the first time, and they were too salty even after rinsing and too soggy as well)

Now you need to squeeze out any of the excess water from the noodles and I found using my clean hands worked the best. Throw them into a bowl and toss them with what ever sauce you like. It does take quite a few zucchini to do this for your whole family. I think one plate would equal 4-6 zucchini depending on the size of them…just think of all that veggie goodness your kids will be eating!

Enjoy!

Les Herbes Salées

2011-08-31T16:43:00.004-04:00

I am so excited about these herbs! My girlfriend always talks about the yummy salted herbs her Grandmother will send her from PEI (they are not sold anywhere here in Ontario.) This is what it looks like store bought; Herbes Salees

This year, she joined a CSA and decided to make her own salted herbs, and I jumped right on that band wagon.

Les herbes salées is traditional in French Canadian Cuisine, as I have read and will add amazing flavour to soups, stews, mashed potatoes, etc. How fun to make something uniquely Canadian!? I am always looking for new ways to make my fresh organic summer herbs and vegetables last through the winter…especially the long Canadian winter.

I know being health conscious, salt is something we should limit; however it is still something I cook with. I only use sea salt sparingly and as Danielle (just love her name!) from One Green Tomato says, “since I rarely consume anything processed or traditionally canned my sodium intake is very low, so it all balances out.”

First batch, too much salt

I made 3 different batches of the herbs. The first batch, I am not sure I will be able to eat. I did the typical Danielle thing and I jumped in headfirst. My friend said, “you just layer salt then herbs salt then herbs and so on”….so I did…to the ratio of about ½ cup of herbs for 2 cups of salt! Now of course it wasn’t until I was standing in my kitchen doing this I started to ‘think’….hmmm I wonder how much you need of each for it to be properly preserved and to well, taste good and not salty…so then I started looking online for recipes

¼ cup of course sea salt to every 1 cup of herbs seems to be the consistent ratio when I was reading recipes online. However the types of herbs used seems to differ greatly. I think one could make up several different recipes meant for different dishes, like a *chili mix* with dried chili peppers to give it a little heat, or a *gumbo mix* using a lot of celery herb, and dried hot peppers.

I also used 2 different methods. The first 2 batches I layered in the jars. This worked well, but in the end, after the brine forms and the herbs break down some, you get left with a lot of wasted head space in the jars…not a big deal as it still works and tastes great. The third batch I tried layering first in a large corning ware dish with a lid. I placed it in the fridge and let the brine begin to form for 10 days. I then placed that mixture into jars. That seems to have saved the head space.

Ready for Fridge

After 10 days, a nice liquid brine is forming

Ready for Processing

Everything I read online says there is no need to process the jars in a water bath or pressure cooker, stating that the salt will preserve the herbs. However, I just didn’t feel comfortable not having a sealed lid, so I went ahead and threw them into a water bath for 5 minutes; enough to get the lids to pop.

Batches 1 and 2 were made up of mostly garlic scapes and green onions, and baby leeks. The third batch was made up with added celery herb and carrots, summer savory, thyme, oregano.

Les Herbes Salées
¼ cup coarse sea salt
1 cup fresh chopped herbs

In a sterilized jar, layer the salt and herbs starting and ending with salt. The layers of salt will be fairly thin.

Process the salted herb filled jars in a water bath for 5 minutes. ..or not.

Store in a cool dark place or at least 4 weeks before using

Add 1-3 Tbsp of mixture to flavour your soups and stews.

Raspberry Lemon Breakfast Muffins | GF DF SF

2011-08-24T22:27:00.014-04:00

This has to be my favourite creation so far; a recipe I am very proud of. These muffins are so good! They are perfect for breakfast and full of protein, courtesy of the white beans and eggs. They will easily hold you over until your next meal. I have also found that they freeze really well and work with any berries you have on hand. I think I will try with some chocolate chips next.

Things are so crazy at our house in the mornings (like most families) trying to get everyone ready and out the door on time. These Raspberry Lemon Muffins have been a life saver in the freezer. I will absolutely be packing them into the kids’ lunches once school starts again. Finding a protein source that Ainnsley would eat became challenging by the end of the last school year. Grady has also had some blood work come back with his sugar levels lower than normal, so having a protein source to help keep him stable has become a big focus of mine.

Today we ate the muffins with a Green Smoothie. I made the Smoothie quickly throwing together the ingredients I had in the house. I added; 1 whole pear, a large handful of pea shoots, a couple large handfuls of spinach, a small piece of ginger, the juice of one lime, and a pinch of parsley, some water to make it a bit thinner. Everyone happily drank it except for Grady…he would rather have berries in his.

*Cheese*

I have these Gluten, Dairy and Sugar free, of course, however even my husband who doesn’t always *love* my GF/SF/DF baking raves about these. This week I did purchase some Rye flour. I have had some luck eating this Organic 100% Rye, Yeast Free bread I found at the grocery store. So I am interested to see if I can add in back into my diet in other places. I am going to look into swapping it out in this recipe; I will let you know how it turns out.

I also wanted to point out that in this recipe I added some water to the beans to help them blend smoothly in my little food processor. My last big one (a Wolfgang Puck) bit the dust on my last batch of raw energy balls I purchased a little black and Decker $20 processor to use while I research my options on another big one... and this little guy needs some help. I actually did the can in 2 batches, adding 2 tbsp of water to each batch… you may not need to do this if you processor is more powerful, but then it may change the thickness of the batter if you don’t add it, I am not sure, so you will have to use your discretion.

Raspberry Lemon Breakfast Muffins (GF/DF/SF)

1-15 oz can of white beans (navy or cannellini)
4 tbsp water
¼ cup olive oil
½ cup pure maple syrup
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1.5 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon zest
3 large eggs or Chia seed egg replacer if you are vegan or sensitive to eggs (1tbsp chia seeds+3tbsp water)
1 cup brown rice flour
½ cup tapioca flour + 2 tbsp
1 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 cup raspberries
Pure Maple Sugar for dusting (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 325F

Place beans in a food processor adding the 4 tbsp of water and blend until smooth and creamy.

In a large bowl combine the beans, oil, syrup, eggs, vanilla, lemon juice and zest, mix well with a wooden spoon.

In a small bowl sift together the rice flour and ½ cup of tapioca flour, baking soda and powder.

In another small bowl toss the berries with the 2 tbsp of tapioca flour set aside (this helps keep the raspberries from making your batter pink)

Now add the dry flour mixture to the large bowl with the bean mixture and combine with your wooden spoon.

Gently turn in the berries

Spoon mixture into prepared muffin pan, just over ¾ of the way to the top, and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Immediatly sprinkle with maple sugar

Allow them to completely cool before removing, the berries will be steamy hot and wet, making them a bit hard to get out of the pan right away without falling apart.

Makes about 15 muffins.

I am very excited to add this weeks recipe to the *Weekend Wellness* event hosted on the antastic blog Diet, Desserts and Dogs. I you are looking for more Healthy, Vegan Recipes check out the link below:

Cantaloupe Cucumber Pops

2011-08-21T21:00:00.000-04:00

I made the kids some delicious popsicles last week; Cantaloupe & Cucumber. A few weeks ago I made myself a drink from the LCBO’s Food and Drink Magazine. It was a slushy made from cantaloupe and cucumber and of course some melon rum. It was delicious, and it occurred to me that the kids would love this combo in a Popsicle.

Cantaloupe Cucumber Popsicles

½ a cantaloupe melon pureed
1 large cucumber pureed
3 tsp maple syrup
Juice of ½ a lime

Mix 1 tsp of maple syrup into the cantaloupe puree and pour the mixture into the Popsicle moulds until ½ full. Freeze (about an hour)

Mix 2 tsp of maple syrup and lime juice with the cucumber and pour on top of the already frozen cantaloupe.

Place in freezer until frozen and enjoy.

This filled 8 of my moulds. I separated the mixtures just for the layered look. You could also just blend this all together…tastes great this way also.

August 6th is National BBQ Day

2011-08-02T11:31:00.002-04:00

I am a big supporter of eating and buying local food. I am continuously working to change the way I feed my family. Over the years, I have done things like; purchasing Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), hitting the farmers market, and canning/freezing local foods for winter use. I believe in the importance of supporting our local farmers and economy and you just CAN'T beat that fresh taste of local, in season food!

Next Saturday, Meal Exchange is calling on all Canadians across the country to host a BBQ with locally-grown food in support of our local food economy. Every Canadian deserves access to healthy, nutritious food and this starts with you!

If you register your BBQ online you can enter for a chance to win 2 free tickets with WestJet.

How you can WIN WestJet Tickets by hosting a BBQ!

1) Sign-up to participate

Participants must sign-up to be eligible to win the WestJet tickets.

2) Buy Local

Buy your BBQ fare locally. Buying local, means buying food and goods that are grown, raised and produced close to home whenever possible.

3) Grill!

Have a BBQ with your friends, family & neighbours! Enjoy good local food, the company of good friends and take this opportunity to discuss how you can continue to support your local food economy.

4) Grin and WIN!
Tell us about your BBQ to WIN 2 WestJet tickets! There are 3 ways to win:

1.Share your BBQ stories & pictures with us at nationalBBQday@mealexchange.com
2.Post on www.facebook.com/mealexchange
3.Twitter using #nationalBBQday for a chance to win!

So Next Saturday Please Join My Family in Hosting a BBQ and Support The Meal Exchange

For more information check out this link: National BBQ Day

About: Meal Exchange

Pear and Currant Conserve

2011-07-27T18:33:00.002-04:00

A while back, I came across a recipe for a Pear and Cranberry Conserve. It looked amazing and the thing that appealed to me most was the fact that they turned that conserve into vinaigrette. While at the farmers market a couple weeks ago, one of the organic growers had some fantastic looking black currants. I picked up a few thinking they would be great in a conserve like the one in the Canning Magazine. So I set out to adapt that recipe to contain currants and also nix the 4 cups of refined sugar.

I am known for giving out homemade goodies at Christmas time; whether it is jam, halved peaches, salsa, and in recent years my husband has become a pickled pepper connoisseur. I decided to process the conserve in the little 125ml jars so that I could give them away around Christmas time. Each jar will make 2 small batches of the vinaigrette. It is quite easy to dress up the jars a little bit with some fabric, string, raffia, tags, and in this case a small whisk. I found them at a kitchenware store for .79 cents each.

I must say it turned out amazing, the perfect thing to dress my salad!

Pear and Currant Conserve
6 medium firm ripe pears (I used organic Bartlett)
1 pint fresh organic black currants
1 cup raw honey
½ cup water
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp orange zest
1/8 tsp cinnamon

Peel, core and chop pears. Place all ingredients except the currants into a heavy pot and bring to a boil over medium heat stirring until honey dissolves. Boil gently, stirring often for 10 minutes

Add currants to the pot and continue to boil gently for another 10-15 minutes or until the mixture thickens and sheets off a metal spoon.

Ladle hot mixture into sterilized mason jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Wipe rims, adjust lids

Process the filled jars in boiling water bath for 10 minutes, makes 8-125ml jars. Remove and cool.

Vinaigrette
3 tbsp Conserve
2 tbsp White Balsamic Vinegar
1-2 tbsp Etra Virgin Olive Oil
~whisk

Blueberry Oat Squares

2011-06-22T17:24:00.003-04:00

These Blueberry Oat Squares are so delicious and easy! I was inspired by the June SOS Kitchen Challenge that is hosted by Affiars of Living and Diet, Desserts and Dogs to make something using blueberries. I decided to try to turn this recipe into something gluten free, dairy free, and sugar free. My first attempt got the thumbs down from my husband and daughter, saying it wasn’t sweet enough (though Grady and I ate it happily). I made a few tweaks yesterday and they gave it 2 thumbs up! *Phew* they are a tough crowd :)

I also tried out a new flour at our health store; Fonio. It is a fantastic ancient grain that contains all 8 amino acids and is rich in the following: protein, B vitamins, calcium, iron, folic acid, zinc, magnesium and potassium. It worked really well in this recipe.

The squares held together really well and I was able to eat them by hand. I did have the kids use a fork, because they had just finished having a bath.

Blueberry Oat Squares

Crust
2.5 cups oats
1 cup fonio flour
½ cup tapioca flour
2 tbsp ground flax seeds
1 packed tbsp organic orange zest
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup olive oil
½ cup apple sauce
1 cup packed coconut sugar
Filling
3 cups blueberries
1/3 cup orange juice
½ cup maple syrup
¼ tsp ground vanilla bean
2 tbsp arrowroot powder
1-2tbsp water

Preheat oven to 350F

Zest and juice 2 organic oranges, set aside

In a medium pot, place blueberries, orange juice, pure maple syrup, and vanilla, bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer until berries are tender.

Dissolve arrowroot powder in water and add to the blueberry mixture. Return to heat and stir constantly until thickened (a pie filling consistency) set aside.

In a large bowl combine oats, flax, fonio, tapioca, orange zest, salt, and coconut sugar.

Stir in the apple sauce and oil, mixing with your hands until it is a crumbly consistency.

Press half of the crust mixture firmly into the bottom of a lined or prepared 8 inch square pan. Pour the berry mixture on top and then crumble the rest of the crust mixture on top of the berries.

Bake for 35-30 minutes.

Makes 12-16 squares depending on how you cut it.

Check out all the other great recipes in this months challenge here: SOS

Slow-Cooker Brown Rice Pudding | GF DF SF

2011-06-15T21:48:00.002-04:00

A super simple, slow-cooker rice pudding that my kids loved! I threw it in the crock at about noon and it was ready for dessert that night after dinner. I also packed it into my daughter’s lunch the next day. This recipe is Gluten Free, Sugar Free, Dairy Free, and Soy Free.

Slow Cooker Brown Rice Pudding (GF, DF, SF)
4 cups dairy free milk (I used 1/2 So-Delicious Unsweetened Coconut and 1/2 Ryza Organic Brown Rice milk)
½ cup dry whole grain brown rice (I used basmati)
¼ tsp ground vanilla bean (Naked Sweet Shop)
½ tsp Cinnamon (optional)
3 tbsp arrowroot powder

Whisk milk, rice, vanilla, cinnamon and pour into slow cooker. Set on high (4 hours). Stir hourly.

After the 4 hours, dissolve arrowroot powder in a bit of water, and pour into crock-pot mixture, stirring thoroughly. Set on high again, and cook for 1 more hour.

Serve warm

Makes 6-8 servings

Asparagus Tetrazzini in a White Bean Sauce

2011-06-02T22:36:00.002-04:00

One big thing I have missed since we cut out dairy is a creamy pasta sauce. My husband always made the most amazing Chicken Tetrazzinni! Being that I am on this Bean Frenzy lately, I thought, “how good would white beans be as a creamy pasta sauce!?” I was right! Although I think I am a genius, I am sure this has been done many other ways by many other people. But here is my take on it:

Asparagus Tetrazzini in a White Bean Sauce

1 cup dry white beans (I used white kidney beans) soaked over night
5 cups water
1tsp herbamare
Fresh ground black pepper
½- ¾ cup dairy free milk (I used rice)

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ small white onion finely chopped
5 cloves of garlic passed through a press
1 bunch asparagus chopped (compost tough bottom)
1 cup sliced brown mushrooms
½ cup red bell pepper or cherry tomatoes
½ tsp sea salt
Fresh ground black pepper
1.5tsp dry basil (if I had fresh, it would have been even better! Add for garnish also)
1 cup veggie broth or more
½ cup dairy free milk or more
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 whole package of rice fettuccini noodles cooked

Bring soaked beans and water to a boil and simmer for about an hour until soft (this can be done ahead of time.) Rinse beans in cold water and place in food processor. Add herbamare, pepper and blend. Slowly add milk until it becomes nice and creamy. You may need more or less of the milk, so add slowly and use your judgement to your taste. I used about 1 cup and the beans were the consistency of a bean dip.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a deep pan, add onion, and lower the heat and sauté for 2 minutes. Then add garlic, sauté another few minutes on low to bring out a nice flavour. Add the asparagus and peppers, sauté 5 minutes until tender. You may need to add a bit of broth here to keep things from sticking to the pan. Lastly add the mushrooms and basil, salt and pepper and sauté until mushroom are tender.

Scoop the bean mixture from the processor into the pan, and stir. Slowly add the 1 cup of broth, stirring constantly. Finally add the milk slowly, again stirring constantly. Add nutritional yeast.

In the recipe I suggest *or more* to these last ingredients… I ended up adding a few splashes more of each to get the sauce to my desired thickness…it is something you can easily play with, no right or wrong.

Toss the sauce with noodles and serve hot. This was a HUGE hit with my kids…a meal everyone ate; the table was silent! Ha-ha. Even if you are not vegan or Dairy Free, can you imagine the fat and calorie difference in a white bean sauce compared to a cream/butter sauce! The nutritional difference also. Beans are so good for you! You have nothing to lose trying this recipe

Made 8 servings or so, (enough for lunch the next day!)

Adzuki Bean Salad

2011-05-24T20:07:00.001-04:00

Long time no post! That’s just the way it is, for now…I am sure my first CSA share will inspire me to get back into the kitchen. This weekend we headed to Circle Organic Community Farm for their annual plant sale. We expanded and planted our tomato garden this weekend! Happy First Long Weekend of summer!!

I thought I would share this Adzuki Bean Salad with you. Bean salads have become a staple in our house. I am just so over chicken these days…I have been finding my protein in other sources. This spicy salad is a lot like a tomato-less salsa. I usually top it with some tomatoes; I just find they get soggy if I put them in when making a large batch of salad that is expected to last us a few days.

I have been known to eat this salad a couple ways;

as a Lettuce Taco

(Romain lettuce leaf topped with quinoa, adzuki bean salad, sliced grape tomatoes, and diaya cheese)

as a Taco Salad

(GF tortilla formed in 5in small cake pan toasted in 400F oven for a few minutes, adzuki bean salad tossed with baby arugula, and topped with sliced grape tomatoes)

or stuffed in mini peppers

(Mini sweet bell peppers, stuffed with Adzuki Bean Salad, topped with Diaya Cheese)

Adzuki Bean Salad

1 cup dry Adzuki Beans (soaked over night)
2/3 cup Dry Split Yellow Peas
½ cup chopped red onion
1+ cup chopped bell pepper ( any colour)
1 cup lightly steamed green beans
½ cup roughly chopped cilantro
2 tsp cumin seeds

Dressing
¼ cup fresh lime juice
¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp chilli powder
½ sea salt
Fresh ground black pepper to taste

In a large pot bring water to boil (enough to cover at least 2 in above soaked beans) add beans and reduce heat to low cooling about 40 minutes (until beans are just tender)

In another pot add dry split peas and enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low and cook about 40 minutes or until tender. (I use separate pots so the peas don’t change colour with the red adzuki beans)

Once both are cooked to your liking, rinse with cold water to cool and combine in a large bowl. Add the bell pepper, green beans, onion, cilantro and cumin seeds and stir to combine.

In a small bowl whisk together all dressing ingredients and pour over bean salad. Stir to coat evenly. Refrigerate until serving.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies | Vegan, Gluten and Sugar Free

2011-04-11T20:38:00.001-04:00

There is nothing better than a soft, chewy oatmeal cookie!

I have been tinkering with this recipe for a few weeks. I have been in need of a new *go to* cookie recipe since I eliminated banana’s from the diet of Grady, Owen and myself. In the past, the Nikki’s Healthy cookie from 101 cookbooks was what I made several times a month, but it calls for Banana’s.

I find it handy to have a quick and easy cookie recipe. You end up making it so often, that you don’t even need to look it up. You can throw it together in a few minutes in the evening, on a commercial break from you favourite show and toss it into lunches for the next day. This Oatmeal Chocolate Chip recipe is exactly that!

The recipe is allergy friendly. It is Gluten, Dairy, Soy, Egg/vegan, Sugar Free. I did however, make this recipe with Gluten for my husband to test. I used the same measurement of spelt flour as the rice. The cookies were a hit according to my husband and daughter, although both will happily eat the gluten free version. But if you don’t stock gluten free flours in your house, whole grain spelt flour will work nicely.

I have also chose carob chips over chocolate in the past. However, now that Grady is gluten free, he cannot have the *malt sweetened* carob chips. I went out on a limb and tried these *Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips* the label reads free of the top 10 allergens, including dairy, nut and soy, or gluten. As long as Grady wasn’t going to react to the cocoa, they would be perfect! The results are in, and he had no gastro, or skin reaction to these suckers, and he just LOVES these cookies! YEAH!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (gluten free, dairy free, egg free, sugar free)

¼ cup olive oil (or canola, coconut)
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
½ cup apple sauce
1 tbsp chia egg replacer (1tbsp ground chia seeds, 3 tbsp water- whisk and let rest a moment)
1 tsp vanilla
1-1/2 cup gluten free certified oats
¾ cup rice flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp cinnamon
½ cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F

Place oil, syrup, apple sauce, chia egg replacer, and vanilla in mixer on low speed

In medium bowl combine flour, oats, baking soda, and cinnamon, add to mixer,

Stir in chocolate chips.

Bake for 12 minutes

Makes about 2 dozen.

Chickpea and Quinoa Salad with Tomato Vinaigrette

2011-03-28T20:09:00.001-04:00

I really enjoyed this salad! The texture and taste are great and it was really satisfying. It ended up holding me over all day!

You can really add any number of vegetables to this salad. I picked green beans and red bell pepper. I steamed both veggies briefly before adding them to the salad…with my crazy allergies, I seem to do better with things that are cooked and the kids prefer that anyway.

The prep time for this salad can be cut way down if using canned chickpeas, or if you have some cooked in the freezer. I like to cook my own, so I let them soak over night, and then cooked them on the stove for about an hour.

Before cooking, I soaked and rinsed the quinoa well, to remove its coating; “saponin, which protects the plant from insects and fungal attack. This is a soapy substance which can be washed out of the quinoa pseudograin. It has a bitter taste, and possible minor toxic effects.

Because of the bitter taste and possible toxicity, it is important that you wash out most of the saponin before cooking the quinoa. It certainly is not a very dangerous substance, nor is it as bitter as fish bile, so you do not have to take the same care with washing your quinoa as you would with preparing a puffer fish or something.”
Source

I coated all the ingredients with this Tomato Vinaigrette, the full dressing recipe will be more than you need for this salad, so toss to your liking, and then store the rest in the fridge for other salads that week.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Chickpea and Quinoa Salad with Tomato Vinaigrette
1 cup rinsed quinoa
2 cups green beans chopped
2 cups cooked chickpeas
1 sweet bell pepper chopped
1/3 cup toasted sunflower seeds
Vinaigrette
1/3 cup diced organic tomatoes (or fresh, I used can and saved the rest for a recipe that night)
3tbsp white wine vinegar
3 tbsp EV olive oil
1.5 tbsp raw honey
1 large clove of garlic pressed
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
¼ tsp dry basil
¼ tsp dry oregano
½ tsp sea salt
black pepper to taste
a pinch of red pepper flakes

Cook quinoa in 2 cups of boiling water, heat reduced for 12 minutes, cool

In a saucepan or steamer briefly steam green beans and pepper.

In a large bowl mix together the quinoa, chickpeas, sunflower seeds, beans and peppers

Place all vinaigrette ingredients into magic bullet and blend well.

Slowly pour over the chickpea mixture until desired coating is reached (you will have vinaigrette left over)

I threw a serving of this mixture onto a bed of greens. It was amazing!

Serves 6.

Food Allergies and Cross-Reactivity

2011-03-26T21:58:00.001-04:00

I have been busy these last few weeks, trying to find time for everything now that I am not home all day, and my blogging has suffered.

I have also had some new issues with my food allergies and cross-reactivity. It has made me a little nervous experimenting in the kitchen. I am not talking about intolerances, which can make me uncomfortable (such as dairy and gluten) but straight up food allergies that make me quite ill.

If you are not familiar with cross reactive food allergies, here is some information;

“Understanding Food Allergies
Prior to getting a good handle on cross-reactivity in food allergies, a closer look at the nature of a food allergy is in order. The Food Allergy Network defines food allergies as bodily immune reactions to a nutrient input that is mistaken as being injurious. Antibodies are created, and symptoms of the bodily reaction include - but are not limited to - swelling of the mucous membranes, cramping, vomiting, skin rashes, and in extreme circumstances even anaphylaxis resulting in death.

Identifying Cross-Reactivity
Cross-reactivity pits an antibody against an antigen that structurally mimics a known allergy causer to which the body reacts. It is noteworthy that in the biochemical sense, as defined by Med Terms, this cross reactivity actually refers to the ability of an antibody to recognize similarities in antigens, such as they are present on proteins.

On Cross-Reactivity as it relates to Food Allergies
At first glance this form of cross reactivity is a useful bodily function. Consider that it spurs on the immune system to create antibodies when it detects an antigen that is similar to one determined in the past to be harmful. While for a variety of bodily processes this is a useful response, when it comes to food allergies, it can have devastating consequences.”
Source

Here is a sample list of food associations

Image Source

In addition to the info above, I have come to sadly find out, the lists are really much much longer than the one above.

Last year I tested positive for an avocado allergy. The Dr. did warn that I could also react to other foods in the latex category in the future, but I had been fine up until a few weeks ago. I also wasn’t expecting my body to go beyond that and also attack the birch, ragweed and grass foods, and honestly who knows what else…I am feeling a little depressed and overwhelmed about it at this time to be honest…I mean I LOVE some of these foods!! I didn’t care so much about avocado, but my list (untested) at this point has now grown to include; cashews, coconut, peanuts, bananas, mango, sunflower seeds, stevia, carob, dates, walnuts and APPLES for goodness sakes!! Now it seems if I cook (toast) sunflower seeds and cashews and only eat a small amount I do not get sick (as in full on gastro-intestinal reaction, which feels like food poisoning).

So…I have sort of taken a break from anything fancy, trying to build up the courage to try some of these things again 1 at a time to be sure before testing. In Ontario the testing for allergies is not covered, so it is $36 a pop! I want to narrow it down and be sure before spending the money, but at the same time, I don’t want to put myself through the pain. Some days I wish I was still filling up on fast food, I never would have started to incorporate all of these delicious and nutritionally optimal foods, that I have grown to love…I love just throwing raw sunflower seeds on a salad, or pureeing a cup into fine flour to make a delicious cookie, or energy ball. I was eating the most amazing peanut butter oats everyday for breakfast until the peanut butter turned my stomach…it just plain sucks!!

It seems there are potentially more than 93 foods I could become allergic to, so just need to avoid all together? No more carrots or celery?? Really? Melon??

Anyway, I am writing this whinny post in hopes that someone will come across it, and share their story, how they have learned to cope, their strategies to avoid these foods, find food they CAN eat, and well, how they didn’t just dig themselves a hole to crawl into it.

Citrus Salmon Oat-Hash

2011-03-03T08:25:00.001-05:00

A recipe for a main course dish that includes oats? How bizarre! All the more reason to try it!

Once again inspired by the clean eating magazine, I switched up a salmon apple oats hash recipe for something with a more citrus-y zing. After all, it is one of my favourite flavour combinations.

Citrus Salmon – Oat Hash
1 large salmon fillet grilled
2 tsp olive oil
1 cup of gluten free certified oats
1 medium onion chopped
2 cups boiling water
3 celery stocks chopped
1 tsp dried dill
Juice of 1/2 orange
1/2 tsp herbamare
1 large orange membrane removed and chopped into chunks
Chopped fresh dill for topping

Heat indoor or outdoor grill, season salmon fillet with salt and pepper and grill. Remove skin. (Or cook with method of your choosing)

In a large skillet heat olive oil and toast the oats, onion and celery for a few minutes.

Pour in boiling water, reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until oats reach a desired consistency. Remove from heat to allow thickening.

In a small bowl, combine orange juice, dry dill and herbamare.

Gently stir the orange mixture, salmon and orange chunks into the oats. Garnish with fresh dill.

Chia Crusted Crackers | Grain & Dairy Free

2011-02-27T18:51:00.004-05:00

I spent today experimenting on a recipe for Grain Free Crackers. They turned out great. They went over well with everyone, but my 4 year old daughter. 4 out of 5 ain’t bad!

The dough is made easily in a food processor. I cut the dough in half, just for ease of use (rolling).

I then rolled the half ball of dough into a log with my hands, laid it on some parchment paper, and set another piece of paper on top. Using a rolling pin, I rolled the dough very thin (the thinner the crispier).

Removing the top piece of paper, I then sprinkled the dough with chia seeds and used the roller again to gently press the seeds in to the top of the cracker.

Using a knife I cut out the crackers into the size I wanted. I then put them in the oven to bake.

I allowed them to cool before using an egg lifter to loose them from the paper.

For a snack, I topped them with a slice of cherry tomato, a sprinkle of garlic powder, daiya cheese, and dried basil. I placed them under the boiler for a few moments, and man, they were so good!

Chia Crusted Crackers (Grain-Free, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup quinoa flakes
1/4 cup hemp hearts
1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/4 sesame seeds
1 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1-2 tbsp raw honey (depending on taste)
1-4 tbsp water

Preheat oven to 300F

Place coconut flour, quinoa flakes, hemp hearts, sunflower and sesame seeds and sea salt into food processor and process into a fine meal for a minute or so.

Now, drizzle in oil and honey while processing.

Add water 1 tablespoon at a time until mixture comes together into a ball of dough.
(I needed 2 water and 2 honey....or 1 honey 4 water)

Follow the process in pictures above to roll and cut the crackers

Bake at 300F for 10-15 minutes depending on rolled thickness of crackers.

Adopt a Gluten Free Blogger | February 2011

2011-02-26T11:04:00.000-05:00

I am excited to be participating for the first time this month in “Adopt a Gluten Free Blogger.” It seems like a fun way to get to know the gluten free community, and learn from the ladies who have been gluten free for some time. The event is being hosted this month by Lexie’s Kitchen. I recently discovered her blog and I have been poring over all of her fabulous looking recipes.

Now that Grady also needs gluten free foods, I find myself jumping head first into the world of gluten free baking. Trying to be sure he has what he needs for nourishment, and also has some variety so he doesn’t feel left out. I am on a mission to make some sweet treats, and I came across Kim’s Holiday Black Bean Fudge recipe, so I adopted Affairs of Living this month!

I think this is the first recipe that I have made from Affairs of Living, though I have been reading Kim’s blog for some time. Her recipes are always nourishing, beautifully photographed and her enthusiasm for healthy, wholesome eating and living is infectious. Thank you Kim!

This fudge recipe is really simple; all you need is a food processor, or vitamix (still trying to convince my husband that I NEED a $600 blender) a loaf pan…oh, and a fridge!

I pulled some black beans out of the freezer that I had soaked and cooked previously (It comes in so handy to do beans in large batches and freeze them). Once the beans had defrosted, I set out to make this fudge. I have only used stevia once before, and that was a liquid version. Some time ago, I read some controversy about whether or not stevia is actually good for you, so I just sort of shied away from it, and stuck with my maple syrup. I have recently noticed a lot more positive press about stevia and thought why not give it a try!

I bought some organic powdered stevia at my local health store! Crazy $10.99 for this little bottle, but it has no filler like some of the packet stevia I have seen such as Truvia. Kim has a nice write up on her blog about Stevia, with a conversion chart, and also links to recent research: Stevia Conversions

Once everything was blended smoothly in my food processor (which I let run for several minutes), I spread it evenly in a lined loaf pan and set it in the fridge. I cut it into little squares and they lasted literally a few hours in my house! I had planned on making a carob version for Grady, and then a cocoa version for everyone else (after Ainnsley’s reaction to my carob brownies) but she LOVED it! Based on this, I didn’t’ bother with cocoa, saving her from the extra calories and caffeine. Most importantly they were a hit with my Monkey and his little monkey.

Once again,check out Kim’s Black Bean Fudge recipe: Here

Socca with Garlic & Caper White Bean Tapenade

2011-02-25T08:33:00.003-05:00

This snack was a big hit with my olive loving family. I saw a recipe in Clean Eating Magazine for Chickpea Pancakes with White Bean and Basil Tapenade. It looked like something I could easily pack to snack on, in my travels to Owens therapy. I had never heard of “Tapenade” so I looked it up. It is a traditional Provençal dish of pureed olive, capers and anchovies which is popular in the South of France. The name comes from the Provençal word for Capers (Wiki).

I am not really sure what it is about white beans and basil, that made the magazine call the spread a tapenade, but I thought I would create a bean dip with a few of the more *traditional* ingredients. I decided to make a Garlic & Caper White Bean Tapenade, and top it with some delicious kalamata olives.
I was excited to see a gluten free recipe in the magazine. Chickpea pancakes sounded wonderful. Searching online, I came to learn that these pancakes are traditionally called Socca or Farinata. The recipe took me by surprise; as it calls for the flour to soak in water for 1 hour, and I was ready to eat! It was also a little tricky to get off of my pan. I tried it again the day after I re-seasoned my cast iron skillet (which it really needed) and then things came together more easily.

I also found the recipe turned out better with less water, so I have made the adjustment here. I wish I had more than one skillet, as this takes 30 minutes in the oven, and in the end, you only end up with 16 wedges, which is not a lot with a family of 5 waiting to snack on it! However, there isn’t really a lot of work to it, so in the future, it will be something I make the night before, when I can make a couple batches while watching TV.

Socca with Garlic & Caper White Bean Tapenade

(dairy free, gluten free, soy free)

Socca

1cup chickpea flour
5tbsp olive oil
1 cup luke warm water
½tsp herbamare

In a medium bowl add 1 cup of water and slowly add the flour, whisking smooth. Let rest 30-60minutes

Once time is up preheat oven to 450F

Add 2tbsp olive oil and herbamare, combine.

Heat a cast iron skillet on medium high heat for a minute or so. Add 2 tbsp of oil (important to heat skillet before adding oil) The temperature is right if the oil is smoking, but not burning.

Pour in the batter and cook for 30 seconds on the stove.

Do not flip and place skillet in oven and bake for 20-25 minute.

Gently remove pancake and cut into 8-16 wedges depending on size desired.

Garlic & Caper White Bean Tapenade
1cup cooked white beans (I used white kidney)
Juice of half a lemon
2 tbsp fresh chopped basil
2 tbsp capers
2 cloves of garlic
½ tsp herbamare
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
Sliced kalamata olives for topping

Place all ingredients except olives in a food processor and blend until smooth.

Store in air tight container in fridge

Chicken Waldorf Salad (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Soy-Free)

2011-02-23T15:56:00.004-05:00

In preparation for my new traveling way of life, I have been creating some easy to pack lunch recipes. Inspired by the latest issue of Canadian Living, I decided to make a dairy/soy free Chicken Waldorf Salad. I thought I would try to make a creamy dressing out of hummus; and it turned out amazing!

I bought a package of skinless bone-in chicken breasts and grilled the whole package to use up this week. I needed 4 breasts for this recipe.
I toasted some pecans and sliced my apples and tossed them with a bit a lemon juice.

I mixed everything together and viola, it was a filling, high protein salad that packed nicely into a sealable glass container.

Chicken Waldorf Salad (Gluten, Dairy, and Soy free)
Dressing
½ cup hummus
1 tbsp rice milk (or other dairy substitute)
4 tbsp fresh lemon juice divided
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp herbamare (or sea salt)
1 large clove of garlic pressed
2 tsp raw honey
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
Salad
4 cooked chicken breasts (bone skin removed)
1 tart green apple thinly sliced
½ cup red grapes halved or quartered
3 celery ribs thinly sliced
½cup fresh chives finely chopped
1/2cup chopped parsley
½cup toasted sunflower seeds or chopped pecans
6 servings of salad greens

Toast sunflower seeds or pecans in a skillet on medium heat for 2 minutes. Set aside to cool

Core apple into 8ths, and then thinly slice. Toss in 2 tbsp of lemon juice and set aside

In a small bowl whisk together all other dressing ingredients. Set aside

In a large bowl toss together chicken, grapes, celery, apple, chives and nuts or seeds.

Pour in dressing and stir to cover evenly.

To serve, lay a bed of green on plate or in lunch container, top with chicken mixture.
Enjoy.
Serves 6

Chocolate Brownies (Grain-free, Dairy-free, Sugar-free, Soy-free)

2011-02-21T15:00:00.004-05:00

Before the days of healthy eating, before the days of this blog, and WAY before the days of gluten/dairy/sugar free living, THIS was my *go-to* Brownie recipe. What is not to love about this recipe? It had 2 cups of sugar and 1 entire cup of butter! I mean honestly, what was I thinking when I made this recipe!? Well…other than the fact that it was really delicious!

I made it my mission this weekend to transform this recipe into something I could happily feed my family and I think it turned out terrific! This recipe is so moist and chocolaty; it is everything a brownie should be.

I decided that I would switch the white sugar with maple syrup and therefore remove one egg to reduce the liquid. I then replaced the brown sugar with coconut sugar. I also cut the amount of sweetener in half. When it came to the 1 cup of butter, I chose coconut oil, but 1 cup! Wow that is a lot of oil, and expensive, so I cut it in half and added apple sauce. The flour I switched out with a blend of coconut and tapioca flours. I made one batch with carob powder for Mr. Grady, and it was fantastic! Even my husband liked them. I also made a batch with cocoa powder, and they were equally delicious, or more so, if you ask my 4 year old. She will eat carob chips in things, but I guess the straight up carob brownie was just too much carob for her. In the winter I make *hot carob* for Grady, and when Ainnsley tried it, her face was priceless, and she asked for her hot cocoa instead.

So, I set out by sifting my flour and carob together, and starting my eggs in the mixer with the whisk attachment. I let the eggs whisk until pale light and fluffy, this will take several minutes.

I then scooped the mixture into silicon muffin cups, and it made 10.

I served it with a scoop of homemade coconut milk ice cream. (I don’t have and ice cream maker YET) so I just poured a can of coconut milk with a capful of vanilla, and 2 tsp of raw honey into a bowl placed it in the freezer and I would stir the mixture often. It takes a couple of hours, and is something simple enough to do if you are going to be in the house all day.

Chocolate Brownies (Grain-free, Dairy-free, Sugar-free, Soy-free)

3 large eggs
½ cup of coconut sugar*
½ cup of pure maple syrup
½ cup of melted non-hydrogenated coconut oil
½ cup of apple sauce
2tsp vanilla
¾ cup of carob powder or cocoa powder*
½ cup of coconut flour (or almond if you can’t find coconut)
½ cup of tapioca flour
½ sea salt

Preheat over to 300F
Melt ½ cup coconut oil and set aside to cool

Add eggs to mixer with a whisk attachment and whisk until pale in colour and light and fluffy

In a medium bowl sift together coconut and tapioca flour with carob or cocoa powder

Add the coconut sugar to mixer and whisk for 1 minute, then adding the pure maple syrup whisk for 30secs.

Now add to the mixer the cooled coconut oil, apple sauce and vanilla (you will lose some egg volume here) whisk to 30 secs

Finally add in the sifted flours, mix until combined.

Pour into a prepared 8in square pan, muffin or mini muffin cups.

Bake for 30 minutes or until tooth pick comes out clean

Enjoy!

* I found when using cocoa, the brownies were not as sweet as they were with the carob. I would suggest increasing coconut sugar to 2/3 cup to make up for the bitterness of unsweetened cocoa.

Change on the Horizon

2011-02-13T18:43:00.001-05:00

Life as I know it, is about to drastically change. In making my way through this world of autism, big change is nothing new. When you are a parent of a special needs child, your life always seems to be changing unexpectedly, to meet their needs. My oldest son Owen, who is almost 8, has classic autism. Owen was diagnosed in 2004 at 18 months old, after a lot of pushing on our doctor by me. My sweet little baby was always a bit different. He was in some ways an easy baby/toddler, always on his own, independent, never wanting or seeking interaction, and a little quirky to say the least. As a mother, I immediately went into the; what can I do to help him mode…researching, researching, and researching. Signing him up for therapies; speech, occupational, sensory integration, IBI/ABA behaviour therapy, and learning very quickly that in Ontario, Canada, all you are going to do is a bunch of waiting. We waited a year for Speech therapy, 6 months for occupational therapy, and almost 3 years for IBI therapy! We did pay for a number of things privately while we waited…it was just too gut wrenching to see my son just stagnate and not get any of the EARLY INTERVENTIONS that professionals talk about as being so important. My husband and I vowed at that moment to do what ever it took to give Owen what he needs.

My husband did a 1 year tour in Iraq as a contract fire fighter. It was the only way we could earn enough money to pay for private therapy for Owen. 2005 was the hardest year of my life, but it was so important for my sweet little boy. The Toronto Sun actually ran a story on us in an effort to create awareness about the wait times in Ontario, and I was able to find a link!

Toronto Sun Article

Tyler returned from Iraq, and took a new job that caused us to move an hour east. I was also expecting our 2nd child. This ended up being such a blessing, as the wait list for the IBI therapy was much shorter in this area, and Owen was picked up off the wait list within 9 months. I burst with excitement! It was such a blessing. Owen started to have in home IBI therapy. The rules for in home therapy are that someone 18 years of age or older must be home at all times, for insurance reasons. I was stuck in the house all day, everyday, with a baby. It was a sacrifice that I was happy to make. Owen was finally going to get the therapy program he needed. After about 6 months in the home, they opened a centre. Owen was going to go to a school like setting, and was able to be around other kids. It was going to be so good for him! I was excited to get out of the house some…do some mommy-baby programs with Ainnsley! I just had to drop Owen off at 9 and pick him up at 3.

Owen was thriving, he was at the centre for a year and a half and suddenly without much notice, the government put some pressure on (because of the HUGE waitlist) and the other 4 boys in the centre were discharged (they all magically stopped making gains at the exact same time!....insert sarcasm…disdain). Owen the youngest, and being in the program the shortest amount of time, was spared. However, we were back to having therapy in the home. Because we live in such a large county, the new kids off the wait list were all too spread out, to make it feasible to continue with the centre. So just like that, our life is tossed up in the air and changed, and I was expecting our third baby at this time.

Bringing us to present day…(if you have stayed with me this far, thanks for reading!!) Owen has been receiving in home IBI therapy for over 2 years. I have been stuck in this house with a preschooler and a baby/now toddler for 2 years! It can be hard and isolating for me, and Grady AND Owen (Ainnsley has been in full-time school this year, so great for her). I try not to complain too much, as I know it sucked even more on the waitlist, and WOW is Owen making progress in this therapy program. I am really grateful.

So…the big change!! The “life as I know it” change, once again, the point of this whole ramble is…that Owen is now been given the opportunity to attend a centre again, a school like setting, a way to teach him school routines, and to work in a room with other people and distractions, before he is discharged and starts typical school. This would hopefully last for at least 2 years…they never give me any guarantees, because who knows when the government is going to crack the whip again and try and get that wait-list moving WITHOUT adding more money to the program..

So, this means big changes. The centre is an hour away. I have to drive Owen every day. This means for the rest of the school year, we will have to pay for before and after school care for Ainnsley, in order to get Owen to his centre on time. We are also going to try and get Ainnsley enrolled in a school close to Owen for the next 2 years, starting in September…so that will be a lot of change for her also. It also means that in order to try and save gas money, and wear and tear on our vehicle, Grady and I are going to have to find things to do in this town an hour away and not drive home in between therapy and school.

It is going to be interesting to try and bring this healthy way of eating with us. Packing lunches and snacks for all, and not being able to start dinners until I get home. It is going to be like I work outside the home. The one thing I get told all the time by people who have seen us make this healthy eating transition is that it is easier because I stay home with the kids. It is the reason they are not able to do it. To be honest I am a bit nervous! I mean it is going to take A LOT of preparation and forward thinking to make this work and not fall back into the ways of fast food eating. Though honestly I can’t even imagine not making it work… with that, I invite you to join me, March 1, 2011, as I try to make this thing (my life) work as a mom who is away from her home all day! Wish me luck! If you have any tips or suggestions, please share!

Homemade Raw Cashew Butter

2011-02-11T09:21:00.000-05:00

I needed some raw cashew butter for a recipe last week. I could not find it anywhere. I was able to find roasted cashew butter, but not raw, so I decided to make some myself. I looked online and found that it was pretty simple. You just process the raw cashews in a food processor until they start to release their own natural oils and become creamy. Some recipes suggested adding a touch of oil, if it didn’t come together, but I didn’t have that trouble at all. I just let it process for a long time 5-10 minutes and it happened on its own.

I don’t really know a lot about the raw movement. I did see on some discussion boards people talking about soaking the nuts first and then dehydrating the moisture back out of them before processing…I did not do this as I don’t have a dehydrator, but I can see why one would. Here is a link to some info I found about Soaking Nuts
I don’t really have a *recipe* to share, simply add nuts (a cup or 2 what ever you need) to a processor and blend until a creamy butter forms. YUMMY!

Orange Rosemary Broiled Salmon

2011-02-08T10:47:00.003-05:00

I broiled-up this delicious salmon the other night. It was really flavourful and was a hit with my whole family. In an effort to reduce the amount of chicken we eat, I am trying to add more fish into our lives, in addition to meatless meals. This was really a simple way to do salmon a little differently, for us anyway, as I typically grill my fish, or pan fry it.

I quickly whisked up the fresh orange juice, rosemary, maple syrup, oil, sea salt and pepper, letting the salmon marinate for about an hour…it might have been longer. I then set it on a tray lined with parchment paper, and broiled it for 12-15 minutes.

Orange Rosemary Broiled Salmon
1 large salmon filet cut into 4 portions
Juice of one large orange
1 tbsp maple syrup
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp dry rosemary (more for topping)
Sea salt and pepper to taste

In a small bowl, add fresh squeezed orange juice, maple syrup, oil, and seasonings. Whisk really well.

Place salmon portions in a sealable container and pour marinade on top. Let it rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Set Oven to Hi Broil and give the oven time to heat.

Remove salmon from marinade and onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with some extra rosemary, sea salt and pepper.

In the centre rack of oven, broil salmon for 12-15 minutes (depending on thickness)

Peanut Butter Nibblers (Gluten Free, Sugar Free, Dairy Free, Vegan)

2011-02-06T19:30:00.000-05:00

Ok…these will be one of the most bizarre cookies you have ever eaten. The texture, the taste…but if you are a peanut butter lover, you will love these cookies.Two of my kids gobbled them up (Owen was not a fan)

I looked online for a gluten free peanut butter cookie recipe. All over the internet, was this really simple recipe, it included only 1 cup of peanut butter, 1 cup of granulated sugar, 1 egg, 2 tsp of baking powder. I thought I would try to make these without the sugar of course, and also without the egg. I have never tried the other version, so these likely don’t compare, I mean 1 cup of sugar would be pretty sweet!

My version turned out to be this strange sweet ball of peanut butter that at first, leaves you unsure of what to think, but then the next thing you know, you turn around and have eaten them all! My husband didn’t really know what to think, at first, he felt it was weird that they instantly stick to top of your mouth like you just ate a glob of peanut butter, but then the hint of chocolate and smooth texture just keeps bringing you back for more…I love peanut butter, I will dip apples in it, spread it on some celery, or even in a rush when I need a little something to eat, I grab a spoonful of peanut butter and eat straight from the spoon. These little nibblers are a perfect treat to satisfy your sweet craving. I call them “nibblers” because that is the best way to savour them.

Peanut Butter Nibblers (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Sugar Free, Vegan)
1 cup all natural peanut butter
3 tbsp maple syrup
3 tbsp sprouted flax seeds (or ground golden flax seeds)
1 ½ tsp of baking powder
1/3 cup of carob chips roughly chopped (or chocolate of your choosing)

In your mixer add peanut butter and begin to mix. While mixing, add maple syrup, baking powder, flax seeds in that order.

Once a ball of dough has formed, mix in carob by hand

Form into 1 inch balls, and place on parchment lined baking sheet. Press balls down with a fork, should make a small 2 bite cookie.

Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes at 350F

Cookies are fragile; allow cooling before removing from baking sheet.

Makes 15-17 (2 bite) cookies

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chilli in a Tortilla bowl

2011-01-23T10:10:00.008-05:00

My daughter declared that this was her “most favourite chilli” followed by; “Mommy you make the best dinners” This was really good!

I love the black bean and sweet potato combination. They really compliment each other and together make the most wonderful winter chilli.

When I was making the menu plan, I recalled the tortilla bowls that I have made in the past for chicken or salmon salad. A friend of mine, Jen, gave me this yummy idea a few years ago, and I thought it would be fun to eat chilli in an edible bowl. I then remembered this fantastic Cilantro-Cabbage Slaw I had eaten over a stew I cooked from a recipe in The Whole Life Nutrition website. The stew in this recipe is REALLY good! And the slaw, WOW, I don’t think I will ever eat chilli again without this topping. It just makes it feel like you are eating a taco in a bowl.

Making the tortilla bowls is really simple. You gently press the tortilla into a muffin pan, careful not to tear a hole in the bottom of the *bowl.* I used a gluten free rice flour tortilla, and they are not as soft and pliable as a flour tortilla. You will have an easier time with flour if you choose, but in the end I thought my bowls looked fun and interesting. The one in the picture above started to sort of unravel and I think it looked even prettier on my plate.

YUMMY!

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chilli
1 cup dry quinoa
2 tbsp of oil (I used olive)
2 med sweet potatoes peeled and diced
2 medium onions chopped
1 tbsp cumin
1 large bell pepper chopped
4 cloves of garlic pressed
2 tbsp of chilli powder (to taste)
1 tsp sea salt (or to taste I didn’t really measure)
Fresh ground black pepper
1 box of veggie broth (almost 4 cups) be sure gluten free if needed
4 cups of cooked black bean (well rounded scoops)
28 oz can of diced tomatoes
Juice of 1 lime
8 tortillas (more for leftovers)
1 batch of Cilantro-Cabbage Slaw

Cook quinoa according to directions. Set aside

Prepare tortilla bowls

In a large pot add olive oil, onion, cumin and sweet potatoes. Sauté for 5 minutes, add garlic, bell pepper, chilli powder, sea salt and pepper, continue to sauté for 2-3 minutes.

Add the broth and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add beans, tomatoes and lime juice, cook for another 5 minutes.

To serve, scoop a layer of quinoa into the bottom of the tortilla bowl, fill the rest of the way with Chilli, and top with the Cilantro-Cabbage Slaw
Serves 12
(or my family of 5 twice)

Roasted Chickpeas

2011-01-17T15:07:00.003-05:00

I saw in a magazine, a recipe for Roasted Chickpeas. I forget which magazine it was. It arrived with my daughters Chirp magazine, in November. I am a salty snack eater, and these looked amazing with sea salt and pepper. I have since made them many times; I even came up with a couple of variations; Curry and Chilli/Lime. Chickpeas are a healthy source of fibre, and are an ideal snack for anyone with sugar issues like me. wiki

For this snack, you could easily use canned chickpeas, but I find personally that the canned peas have a “taste.” I don’t know why they have this “taste”, but they do to me and I use many other canned things like black or kidney beans. I also found that soaking the peas with the spice added more flavour in the end, compared to soaking them in just plain water.

Curried Roasted Chickpeas

1 cup dried chickpeas
2 tbsp Jamaican curry powder divided
1 tsp olive oil
Sea salt and pepper to taste

In a medium bowl cover chickpeas with water until it is about 2 inches above the peas. Add 1 tbsp of curry powder, and soak for 4-6 hours.

Drain and rinse chickpeas.

Place them in a pot and cover with water. Add the other tbsp of curry powder and boil for 10 minutes.

Drain chickpeas, and then toss them in a bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Make a single layer of peas on a baking sheet and roast in the oven at 400F for 25-30 minutes, stirring the peas around about 3 times.

Allow to cool and enjoy!

Chilli/Lime Roasted Chickpeas
1 cup dried chick peas
2 tsp chilli powder divided
1 tsp olive oil
1-2 tsp fresh lime juice
Sea salt and pepper to taste
In a medium bowl soak chickpeas in water and 1 tsp chilli powder for 4-6 hours.

Drain and rinse chickpeas and then boil in a pot for 10 minutes.

Drain chickpeas again and toss into a bowl with olive oil 1 tsp chilli powder and sea salt and pepper.

Cook a single layer of coated chickpeas on a baking sheet for 25-20 minutes stirring 3 times.

Remove from oven and place in a bowl, once slightly cooled. Toss the peas in the 1-2 tsp of lime juice (depending on your taste)

Let cool and enjoy!

Welcome 2011

2011-01-15T08:56:00.000-05:00

Finally…I’m working my way back into the kitchen in 2011, the kids back in school, sickness gone! I am feeling motivated in the kitchen again, but yuck, I was faced with this pantry!

Last year when I started the *whole foods* eating thing, I overhauled my pantry, throwing away anything and everything that was processed and not clean or whole foods. I totally recommend this step, because it removes the temptation for a quick fix, or bad food. I put everything into pretty mason jars, and it was so organised…but, by the end of the year I did get a bit lazy about filling up the jars, and here I am left with a bunch of half empty bulk store bags, of random flours, nuts, and clutter.

So, I tackled the mess this week, and made a list and restocked the things I was missing! It feels great to look into my cupboard, and know I have the ingredients I need to make just about anything.

Dairy Free Peanut Butter Blossoms

2010-12-14T12:31:00.001-05:00

I am starting my Christmas baking, and as much as I want to make everything super healthy and sugar free, I am finding that there is just not enough time to do any real experimenting 11 days before Christmas! So we will call these a special Christmas treat

I switched up my Peanut Butter Blossom recipe a bit to make it Dairy and Soy free for my little guy. I also swapped ½ of the all purpose flour with whole wheat pastry flour. The original recipe calls for shortening, which is hydrogenated soy bean oil, so with Grady’s allergy I made a switch to Non-Hydrogenated Coconut oil. I also traded the 3 tbsp of milk for rice milk.

They turned out perfect! Grady’s Cookies have a little Carob chip in the centre, and the rest of the cookies were stuck with the same yummy Hershey’s Kiss. I believe Hershey's makes a dark chocolate kiss, but I was not able to find them to see if they had dairy in them or not.

I rolled them into a ball, and then tossed them in some granulated sugar for a little sparkle, and then baked them in the oven for 12 minutes.

Merry Christmas

Peanut Butter Blossoms
1/2 cup Non hydrogenated coconut oil
1/2 cup all natural smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 egg
3 tbsp rice milk
1tsp vanilla
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar (for coating)
carob chips (dairy free) or Hershey's kisses

Preheat oven to 350F

In mixer place coconut oil and peanut butter and blend until smooth. Add both sugars, baking powder and baking soda, blend until combined scraping sides,.

Beat in egg, vanilla, and rice milk, slowly add flour.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls, and toss them into the 1/4 of granulated sugar. Place balls 2 inches apart on a non stick cookie sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes

Immediately press carob chips or kisses in the centre of each cookie.

Makes 54 cookies

Crispy Asian Chicken

2010-11-18T09:36:00.000-05:00

Last week, I made two recipes from the latest issue of Clean Eating Magazine. The first was this; Crispy Asian Chicken. I just loved the idea of rice crispy coated chicken and wondered why I had never made it before! I did switch the recipe up a little bit. Instead of using egg whites to coat the chicken I used rice milk. I also switched the soy sauce for Worcestershire Sauce because of Grady’s allergy.

This was a really big hit with everyone... so moist. The kids loved it and asked for seconds!

Crispy Asian Chicken (adapted from Clean Eating MAgazine)
½-¾ cup rice milk (or 2 egg whites)
1-1inch piece of ginger peeled
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce (or soy sauce)
1 tbsp arrowroot
2 cloves of garlic
4 small boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cup unsweetened all natural brown rice cereal
Olive oil cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350F

Place milk, ginger, Worcestershire, arrowroot, and garlic into magic bullet and blend.

Transfer to a shallow dish and add chicken turning a few times to coat, and set dish aside for 10-15 minutes (time to prepare a side dish maybe)

Spread cereal onto a piece of wax paper.

Remove chicken from milk mixture and press each side into cereal. Place on a large baking sheet that has been prepared with olive oil spray. Also gently spray the tops of the chicken.

Bake for about 25 minutes or until cooked through

Seed Packed Granola Bar

2010-11-09T09:22:00.005-05:00

I am finally satisfied with my Granola Bar recipe! A friend sent me a request a long time ago, and I have been working on it since then. I have tried many different combinations of different oils, seeds, fruit, and chocolate. I have a recipe now that I have made several times with the same results; a yummy bar that holds together, is good for you, and is happily eaten by my kids. This bar is of course gluten, dairy and sugar free.

This bar is packed full of many different seeds; sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, flax and chia. Chia seeds are relatively new to me, I started putting them on my oatmeal a few months ago, and when I decided to throw them in this granola bar. I Googled some information about the tiny little seeds;

Chia is grown commercially for its seed, a food that is very rich in omega-3 fatty acids, since the seeds yield 25-30% extractable oil, mostly α-linolenic acid (ALA). It also is a source of antioxidants and a variety of amino acids.[2] Chia seeds are typically small ovals with a diameter of about 1 mm (0.039 in). They are mottle-colored with brown, gray, black and white. Chia seeds typically contain 20% protein, 34% oil, 25% dietary fiber (mostly soluble with high molecular weight), and significant levels of antioxidants (chlorogenic and caffeic acids, myricetin, quercetin, and kaempferol flavonols). The oil from chia seeds contains a very high concentration of omega-3 fatty acid — approximately 64%.[5] Chia seeds contain no gluten and trace levels of sodium.[6] Source

For centuries this tiny little seed was used as a staple food by the Indians of the south west and Mexico. Known as the running food, its use as a high energy endurance food has been recorded as far back as the ancient Aztecs. It was said the Aztec warriors subsisted on the Chia seed during the conquests. The Indians of the south west would eat as little as a teaspoon full when going on a 24hr. forced march. Indians running form the Colorado River to the California coast to trade turquoise for seashells would only bring the Chia seed for their nourishment.

If you try missing a spoonful of Chia in a glass of water and leaving it for approximately 30 minutes or so, when you return the glass will appear to contain not seeds or water, but an almost solid gelatin. This gel-forming reaction is due to the soluble fiber in the Chia. Research believe this same gel-forming phenomenon takes place in the stomach when food containing these gummy fibers, known as mucilages, are eaten. The gel that is formed in the stomach creates a physical barrier between carbohydrates and the digestive enzymes that break them down, thus slowing the conversion of carbohydrates into sugar.

In addition to the obvious benefits for diabetics, this slowing in the conversion of carbohydrates into sugar offers the ability for creating endurance. Carbohydrates are the fuel for energy in our bodies. Prolonging their conversion into sugar stabilizes metabolic changes, diminishing the surges of highs and lows creating a longer duration in their fueling effects. Source

I experimented with the amount and type of oil in this recipe a lot; in the end I used ½ canola and ½ coconut oil. When I tried it (2 different times) with canola only, it just didn’t hold together as well.
I have this little leather note book where I jot down all of my recipes in the making... Check out the Surprise Grady left for me. Good thing I remembered most of it! Gotta keep this book out of reach

I also went looking around online for some tricks that other people used to help hold the bars together. I found this recipe that is a lot like mine, and he toasted or warmed up his oats before adding them to the mixture : Vegan Dad This seemed to do the trick, and it held together perfectly! I plan to try these yummy looking hemp bars next!

I let the bars cool completely before cutting, a couple of hours in the fridge is best. I also store the bars in the fridge in a sealed container….mostly because I like them cold and a bit crunchy…they became chewy sitting on the counter, which some may prefer.

See them here in my daughters lunch: The Clean Bento
Enjoy!

Seed Packed Granola Bars
4 cups rolled oats (GF)
1/3 cup quinoa flakes
1/3 cup ground flax seeds
¼ cup sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, chia seeds
2/3 cup of chopped dried fruit (I like apricots) have used raisins and cranberries
½ cup carob chips
¼ cup non hydrogenated coconut oil
¼ cup canola oil
1 cup Maple Syrup
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Spread oats out on a baking sheet and warm in the oven for 10 minutes stirring 2-3 times. Remove and set aside

In a large bowl mix all other ingredients, using your hands to make sure everything is well coated with the oil and syrup. Add in the oats and continue to combine.

Place in a greased or lined 9x13 baking pan, press FIRMLY into pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until sides become golden brown.

Let cool completely before cutting.

Seafood Gumbo

2010-11-04T09:54:00.004-04:00

GUMBO!!!

Oh My Goodness! Why do we not make this more often? Every year, we say the same thing, but maybe that is what keeps it special? Nah, I think it would be delicious once a week!

Over the years my husband and I have perfected a Gumbo recipe; I mean PERFECT. You cannot fail with this recipe! It is our tradition to make it around Christmas time, if we are home on Christmas Eve, Boxing Day, or even New Years Day, depending on the schedule of other family get-togethers. We had a craving this week and went out and bought all of the ingredients.

Now, when we lived in the south, where my husband was born and raised (until 6 years ago when we moved to my home in Canada), you can get *real* ingredients; I’m talking shrimp caught right there with our cast net, Blue Crab caught right there in our crabbing basket, or at the very least, fresh caught for sale in the grocery store. Here in the North, we buy frozen shrimp and canned crab meat, but it is still fantastic!!

You start of by making what they call the *holy trinity*diced celery, onion and green pepper. Our original recipe called for Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning, but this time we decided to use our own dried hot pepper.

We browned the sausage, sort of breaking it out of the casing, and browning it in a skillet. (we don't always add 1 pkg of sausage)

Made the roux, and added the trinity. (forgot to take pics of the roux and original recipe calls for bacon grease, but I no longer eat redmeat or pork; so we used canola oil)

Then combining all ingredients in the large soup pot. Delicious!

I am posting the original saved recipe, you can make the same switches I did (red pepper flakes instead of Tony's and canola instead of bacon) or not, it is delicious!

Seafood Gumbo

Rutabaga Soup

2010-10-29T09:46:00.003-04:00

I am so excited to share this soup recipe! It turned out amazing, and I am feeling quite proud of my creation. We received a tonne of veggies at the end of season CSA, so I was trying to come up with a way to use up a bunch of them before they spoil. I cooked and pureed a pumpkin and a squash and froze them. Feeling creative, I thought I would try a rutabaga soup. Looking for inspiration online, I could only find Creamy versions, but that wasn’t want I envisioned at all, I wanted rutabagas in a broth, with other veggies.

I pictured the white rutabagas and beans, with bits of golden quinoa accented by the orange and yellow of my colourful carrots. I then remembered I had an entire Kale plant in the fridge from the CSA box, and thought it would be a perfect finishing touch.

I really want to call this a *kid* friendly recipe. My kids devoured this soup, asked for seconds and picked up their bowl at the end and drank every last drop. Even Owen ate the soup, though for some reason, even with all of his texture aversions, he loves almost any soup. Then as I watched with pure delight my kids pick the long slices of kale out of the bowl and drop it in their mouth; the way they would spaghetti noodles, it occurred to me… I have finally done it! My kids EAT HEALTHY food! When I started this journey, and this blog back in January, I would call a recipe *kids friendly* thinking if my kids (who have eaten junk all of their lives) will eat this stuff; anyone will…now watching them eat that kale I am thinking, “I am not sure most kids would eat that.” What a great feeling of accomplishment! Please don’t let this discourage you from trying this soup with your kids. I mean my kids are still kids, and are still finicky; but I am so excited about how far we have come in 10 months! It is possible!

Rutabaga Soup

2 large rutabagas diced
4 carrots chopped
2 medium onions chopped
4 cloves of garlic pressed
1 tbsp oil of your choice
2 tsp cumin seeds
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
8 cups of broth (veggie or chicken)
¾ cup of dry quinoa
1-19oz can of white beans drained and rinsed
1.5 tsp paprika
1 tsp sea salt
2 bay leaves
Fresh ground black pepper
1 Large bunch of kale sliced
4-6 cups of water (enough to cover everything keeping in mind the quinoa will absorb some liquid)

In a large skillet sauté onion for 3-4 minutes, add garlic, cumin seeds, and red pepper flakes, sauté for another 3-4 minutes, add carrots and sauté for a final 3-4 minutes.

In a large pot place the broth, rutabaga, quinoa, paprika, sea salt, bay leaves and pepper, add the sautéed veggies from your skillet and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Add kale and beans and simmer for an additional 20-30 minutes.

Serves 12 or more…this makes a large pot, leaving plenty for lunches through the week, or to freeze for a quick meal when needed.

Spelt Pumpkin Muffins with Carob Chips

2010-10-14T11:00:00.008-04:00

We received a beautiful pumpkin in our Thanksgiving CSA share. I didn’t end up making a pumpkin pie, deciding instead; to see what else could be made from pumpkin. I set out to make some pumpkin muffins, and decided to do so with some whole spelt flour, giving my husband a break from Gluten Free flours (he is not a big fan). I am the only one in the family that needs GF and really…I don’t need to be eating a bunch of muffins anyway.

So…I went ahead and made up the pumpkin puree. I used the same technique that I used to make the kids baby food. I cut the pumpkin in half and cleaned out the seeds and goop.

I then set the pumpkin halves skin up on a baking sheet, and put it in the oven to bake at 400F for 40-50 minutes.

Once tender, I let them cool for a while and then scooped out all of the pumpkin meat and put it in my food processor. From there, I blended it until smooth; this took a minute or two. I placed it in an airtight container in the fridge until I was ready to use it (I made the puree the night before).

The next day I made 3 batches of muffins, with plenty of pumpkin puree left in the fridge to make more. The recipe still needed to be dairy-free, and sugar-free, so I used maple syrup and canola oil.

They have been a huge hit!! You can’t taste pumpkin at all, so really it is just like eating a chocolate (or carob) chip muffin. Pumpkin is the perfect thing to try and hide in your kids’ food, as a way to get them to eat some veggies…or fruit I guess!

Pumpkins are chocked full of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants;

The bright orange color of pumpkin is a dead giveaway that pumpkin is loaded with an important antioxidant, beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is one of the plant carotenoids converted to vitamin A in the body. In the conversion to vitamin A, beta carotene performs many important functions in overall health.

Current research indicates that a diet rich in foods containing beta-carotene may reduce the risk of developing certain types of cancer and offers protect against heart disease. Beta-carotene offers protection against other diseases as well as some degenerative aspects of aging.

Pumpkin Nutrition Facts
(1 cup cooked, boiled, drained, without salt)
Calories 49
Protein 2 grams
Carbohydrate 12 grams
Dietary Fiber 3 grams
Calcium 37 mg
Iron 1.4 mg
Magnesium 22 mg
Potassium 564 mg Zinc 1 mg
Selenium .50 mg
Vitamin C 12 mg
Niacin 1 mg
Folate 21 mcg
Vitamin A 2650 IU
Vitamin E 3 mg
Source

Spelt Pumpkin Muffins with Carob Chips
***see them featured in my daughter's lunch here: The Clean Bento***
(Dairy-Free, Sugar-Free)
1 large egg
¼ cup canola oil
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1 cup Pumpkin Puree
1.5 cups whole spelt flour (slightly packed)
1.5 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp sea salt
½ cup carob chips

Place the egg, oil, syrup, and pumpkin in mixer

In large bowl mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, add to the mixer

Toss in carob chips at the end and mix for a moment.

Place into lined muffin tin, and bake at 350F for 20 minutes

Makes 12.

***Vegan Option***

Today I started out to make this recipe, and discovered I was out of eggs. I went ahead and made the muffins with 0 eggs, and added 1/4 cup of ground flax seeds. It turned out perfectly! I actually also used up some winter squash I had in the fridge instead of pumpkin, baking and pureeing in the same manner.

Pumpkin

Cornmeal Crusted Eggplant

2010-10-05T14:08:00.005-04:00

I have been dying to try some battered eggplant since reading The Clean Eating Mama’s Crispy Eggplant recipe. This looks AMAZING! Of course I needed to change the recipe to be Gluten Free for me... Thinking back to my Grandmother-in-laws visit 2 years ago, and her southern Fried Green Tomatoes, I decided to use cornmeal; and it turned out perfect!

I followed the Clean Mama’s lead and used some dairy free rice milk, and seasoned it with freshly pressed garlic and dried oregano. I mixed the cornmeal with brown rice flour, and seasoned that with garlic powder (love garlic!) sea salt and pepper.

I sliced the eggplant and cut it into small pieces; tossed them into the milk, and then in the cornmeal mixture. I then laid them on a lightly sprayed baking sheet and baked them for 10 minutes per side.

I boiled a bag of brown rice noodles, and warmed a jar or marinara sauce; yes a jar of sauce. This was meant to be a quick meal as tonight is dance class night for my daughter, and we have to eat and run.

Everyone happily ate dinner. Grady just picked them up by hand, and would say "cookie" when asking for more! They must be good if they remind him of a cookie :)

Cornmeal Crusted Eggplant

1 large eggplant

½ cup cornmeal
¼ cup brown rice flour
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup dairy free milk (such as rice milk)
1 clove of freshly pressed garlic
½ tsp dried oregano
Olive oil cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350F and light coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

In small bowl mix dairy free milk, pressed garlic and oregano, set aside

In shallow bowl mix cornmeal, rice flour, sea salt, pepper, garlic powder.

Slice eggplant and coat with milk mixture, and then cover with cornmeal batter. Place on oiled baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes flipping eggplant ½ way.

Place eggplant on top of a bed of noodles and cover with your favourite marinara sauce.

Enjoy.

Maple Apple Crisp

2010-10-02T09:00:00.005-04:00

Last weekend, we took the kids apple picking with my brother and sister-in-law. It was a lot of fun! I was anxious to get home and make some Apple Crisp, one of my favourite fall desserts. I ended up making 1 large crisp, and 12 “muffin” sized mini crisps. I made the mini’s so I could pack them into lunches.

I also of course, needed the recipe to be sugar free, dairy free, and gluten free (which also makes it vegan if you want to throw in another title). Don’t let this scare you away! It was DE-LIC-IOUS!

For the filling, I peeled and chopped my apples (smaller pieces for the mini crisps) added some maple syrup and a bit of flour to thicken it (I chose gluten free flour) and of course some cinnamon, nutmeg and a pinch of salt

For the topping I used gluten free certified oats, ground flax seed, rice flour, non-hydrogenated coconut oil, and maple syrup. I chose coconut oil because I felt it would act the most like butter, but I am sure you could switch to canola oil to lower the amount of fat, and calories.

For the Mini Crisps, I filled the little silicon cups with the apple mixture, and then topped it with plenty of the oat crust mixture, and then baked them for 25 minutes.

You can see these mini's in my daughters lunch here: The Clean Bento

I used a large 2.8 litre corning ware dish for the crisp, and baked it for 35-40 minutes.

It turned out amazing!
I will post 2 recipes (basically the same) but so you can have measurements for both the large and mini.

Apple Crisp
Filling
5+ cups peeled and sliced apples (I used “Fortune” a good cooking apple according to the man at the farm)
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp sea salt
4 tbsp brown rice flour (or flour of your choice)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, and fill your baking dish
Topping
2 cups gluten free rolled oats
1/2 cup ground flax seeds
1/2 cup brown rice flour
¼ cup non hydrogenated coconut oil
1 cup pure maple syrup

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and cover apples in baking dish
Bake uncovered at 350F for 35-40 minutes.

Mini Apple Crisps
Filling
3 cups diced apples
¼ cup pure maple Syrup
2 tbsp brown rice flour
½ tsp cinnamon
Pinch nutmeg
Pinch sea salt

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and then place mixture into silicon muffin cups, leaving room for topping.

Topping
1 cup gluten certified rolled oats
½ cup pure maple syrup
2 tbsp non hydrogenated coconut oil
¼ cup ground flax seeds
¼ cup brown rice flour

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and then top evenly over apples in each silicon muffin cup.

Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes.

Spring Rolls

2010-09-24T09:09:00.001-04:00

What a busy time with my first child into full time school! We are adjusting to the new routine, and keeping it really simple in the kitchen. I have not been my creative self lately, and haven’t had much to share. This week however, I pulled out the rice paper that has been in my cupboard for a while, and decided to try some *spring rolls* for lunch. They turned out really tasty. I was a little hesitant to use the paper, thinking it would be complicated (why they sat in my cupboard so long) but it was really simple! I was thinking they would be fun to pack in my daughters lunch, but I think the texture would be a bit much for a 4 year old (a bit sticky and moist) though I do plan to try her with some when she is home at lunch time this weekend…you never know!

I prepped my filling; pulled chicken, pea shoots, carrots, cucumber, and spinach.

The instructions on the rice paper said to place a damp paper towel on top of one sheet of rice paper, and I did that at first but it took FOREVER. I decided to pour some water on a plate and I laid the paper in the water, letting it soak for 30 seconds or so. It was nice and pliable.

I then placed some filling in the centre, with a small amount of salad dressing (honey mustard)

And wrapped them up.

Delicious!

Maple Syrup as a Sugar Substitute

2010-09-16T14:00:00.002-04:00

Maple syrup has become one of my top sugar substitutes since I made the commitment to be sugar free at the beginning of this year. I am actually sipping coffee sweetened with maple syrup as I type this! Being Canadian, you can’t get a more local source of unrefined goodness.

Pure Canadian Maple Syrup holds a special place in my heart with many warm childhood memories of making our very own syrup at our family cottage in Muskoka. My dad would take us up there every spring, when the roads were not even cleared out enough to drive on. I remember walking for what seemed like miles just to get to the cottage and then spending our spring break, and weekends up there tapping trees, ~~drinking~~ collecting sap, and boiling it down over an open fire. We had so much fun!

Here are a few pictures of our sweet set up when I was growing up:

This is me and my sister collecting the sap...I am in the red coat!

Today my Great Aunt and Uncle have taken over, and things look much different, with a real *Sugar Shack*

This is Owen my oldest when he was just a year old!

This is also the last time I took part in making maple syrup, I so miss it, I think we will visit next season :)

I was recently contacted by the Quebec Federation of Maple Syrup Producers. They kindly sent me 4 small samples of the 4 grades of Quebec maple syrup to try in a recipe. They also sent some information on a new study regarding the health benefits of Maple Syrup.

I am really excited about the findings; Antioxidants! One 1/4 cup serving of maple syrup contains as much antioxidant activity as a serving of raw tomato or broccoli.
University of Rhode Island Study

NEW YORK – March 24, 2010 – In a new research study conducted by the University of Rhode Island, Dr. Navindra Seeram discovered more than 20 compounds linked to human health in Canadian maple syrup, 13 of which were discovered for the first time in maple syrup. Seeram, assistant professor of biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences in URI’s College of Pharmacy, unveiled his findings Sunday, March 21 at the American Chemical Society’s Annual Meeting.

“We already know the maple tree has strong antioxidant mechanisms,” Seeram said. “Now we are looking more closely at the tree’s sap.” Several of these antioxidant compounds are also reported to have anti-cancer, anti-bacterial and anti-diabetic properties. “People are increasingly interested in healthier food alternatives,” Seeram said.

Making the switch in recipes to maple syrup instead of sugar and other liquid sweeteners like corn syrup is really simple. You can use a 1 for 1 substitution, and just reduce some of the other liquid in your recipe, such as water, milk, or even an egg.

The Quebec Federation of Maple Syrup producers have a fantastic website Pure Canadian Maple where you can find even more information on how Quebec maple syrup is made, the health benefits, and the best part RECIPES! Chef Kathleen Daelemans is the new Face of Quebec Maple Syrup, and you can read her monthly mouthful, and try her delicious maple syrup creations.

Here on Fresh4five you can incorporate maple syrup in a few of my favourite recipes:

Maple Barbeque Chicken (adapted from Simply in Season)
Peanut Butter Krispy Treats (from Super Natural Cooking)

Also my most recent recipes using their samples:
GF Carrot Muffins and GF Zucchini Bread

Zucchini Bread

2010-09-13T14:09:00.006-04:00

There are two kinds of people in this world; those who like nuts in their bread, and those who don’t. I am one of the *do not’s!* No nuts, thank you…I like carrot, banana, and zucchini bread just plain, so if you are one of the *do’s* please feel free to add ½ a cup of what ever to my recipe.

This Zucchini Bread recipe is sugar free, dairy free, and gluten free. I broke down a recipe from the site Joy of Baking that caught my eye. If you don't want it to be gluten free, you can just substitute 1.5 cups of whole wheat pastry flour, or follow their recipe, but please take out that nasty refined sugar!

I decided to try Bob’s Red Mill, gluten free flour blend. It worked really well.

I also, of course, switched the refined white sugar for maple syrup using a sample kindly sent to me from The Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers Pure Canadian Maple,

The kids gobbled up this bread in no time! I did keep 1 egg in this recipe so, it is not vegan, but I plan to try it again without the egg. I will let you know how it goes! I am proud to say that it only took 2 tries on this recipe (unlike the 5 batches of carrot muffins) to get the recipe just right! Hopefully I am getting the hang of this recipe creating thing.

Zucchini Bread

1-1/2 cup grated zucchini
½ cup apple sauce
1/3 cup maple Syrup
¼ cup olive oil or canola
1 large egg
½ tsp vanilla
1-1/2 cups gluten free flour blend
1tsp baking soda
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
1-1/2 tsp xanthan gum
½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Place zucchini, apple cause, maple syrup, oil, egg and vanilla in a mixer on low/medium speed

In a large bowl, whisk flour, soda, powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and coconut

Add the dry to the wet, and mix briefly, just until combined.

Place in a greased loaf pan, and bake in a preheated 350F oven for 25-30 minutes.

Creamy Potato Leek Soup

2010-09-11T22:51:00.003-04:00

It is starting to feel a bit like fall. The night air is getting cool and the sun is going down earlier everyday it seems. This weather has me in the mood for some homemade soup. I received some leeks and potatoes in my CSA share last week, and I thought “hey…the prefect combination!”

This is a vegan recipe, so it is dairy free, and also soy free since Grady is allergic to soy as well. In this recipe, I used rice milk as my dairy replacement, but I am sure it would be fantastic with soy or cow milk if you wanted to switch it up.

Cutting of the tops, and using mostly the white parts I sautéed 3 large leeks, one small yellow onion, and 3 cloves of garlic. My kitchen smelled heavenly!

I boiled the potatoes and threw them in my food processor (boy do I need a hand blender!) I processed until creamy and then added ½ the leek mixture, leaving the other half in the pot to give the soup a bit of texture. It was delicious!

Creamy Potato Leek Soup
5-7 medium new organic potatoes (skin left on)
3 large leeks
1 small yellow onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 tsp sea salt (or to taste)
½ tsp pepper
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
3-4 cups rice milk (depending on the desired consistency)

Bring a large pot of water to boil (or even veggie broth) with potatoes and cook until tender (about 15 minutes)

While potatoes are cooking, in a large pot sauté the leeks, onion, garlic, salt and pepper in the olive oil, slowly over a low heat to get a really nice full flavour.

Once potatoes are cooked, drain and add to food processor along with 1/2 the leek mixture blending until smooth.

Return leek/potato mixture to the large sauté pot with the other ½ of the leeks, and add in your milk slowly stirring continually until well blended and your desired consistency.

Gluten Free Carrot Muffins

2010-08-28T08:37:00.007-04:00

I did it! Finally, on batch number 6, I think I have found Gluten Free, Carrot Muffin perfection! This is my first time experimenting with gluten free baking. You can’t just switch one for one when it comes to wheat flour and gluten free flours. First I tried to make a high protein muffin using both chickpea and quinoa flour, but discovered I really don’t like the taste of quinoa flour in sweet baking. I also tried to bake them without any gums (xanthan gum) and although they tasted good, the muffins just crumbled and they wouldn’t be something I could send to school, or eat on the run. I am not really sure why I was trying to avoid using the gums. They just seem foreign to me, but they are completely natural, and wow the difference in the texture, and how much the muffin rises!

So, yet again, I switched up my Great Grandmothers’ Carrot Cake recipe. If you were looking for a Gluten version of this recipe, you could easily make muffins out of it. This time I switched up the flour, but I also added pureed pineapple, it allowed me to cut the oil required in half! Bonus!

I sweetened the muffins with some Pure Quebec Maple Syrup that was kindly sent to me from the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers. You can find more information about the health benifits of maple syrup and more recipes at their website: Pure Canadian Maple

So this is a Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Sugar Free, vegan, muffin!

So without further ado here is my first original Gluten Free baking recipe (yes I am proud!) I hope you like it too!

Gluten Free Carrot Muffins

2 .5 cups grated carrots
1 cup pureed fresh pineapple
½ cup maple syrup
¾ cup canola oil
1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup chick pea flour
½ tapioca flour
¾ tsp xanthan gum
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp sea salt

In a bowl (or mixer) add carrots, pineapple, syrup, and oil. Mix to combine

In a large bowl combine flours, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Then add it to the wet ingredients

Fill oiled muffin tin and bake for 20 minutes at 350F.

Makes 15 muffins.

Bruschetta

2010-08-19T19:56:00.004-04:00

We have so many little cherry tomatoes on the counter right now ready to be used. When we planted the garden, we thought we planted 3 Heinz tomato plants and 2 cherry tomato plants…in the end; it was only 1 large tomato plant and the rest bitty ones!

I thought I would try some homemade Bruchetta mix to use up the ones I had picked, that were crowding my kitchen window sill. It turned out so pretty, just slicing the little tomatoes in half instead of chopping a whole tomato. I think it also made it a little juicer, compared to seeding and dicing a whole tomato, and I was able to use less oil in the recipe.

I bought a crunchy whole wheat baguette for the gluten eating members of my family

I sliced almost 2 cups of the little red cherry tomatoes, and 1.5 cups of the small orange ones, which are, by the way, the best tomatoes I have ever eaten!

Mixed in the spring onion, basil and garlic

Topped the bread and threw them in a 450F degree oven on the top rack.

Perfection! It was sooo good!

This was my plate, using gluten free brown rice bread.

Bruschetta

3-1/2 cups sliced cherry tomatoes

3 cloves of garlic pressed

1/3 cup finely chopped spring onions (mostly white ends)

1/3 cup chopped fresh basil

1/4 cup olive oil

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Pile mixture on top of sliced bread, and bake in the oven (oven rack up on the highest setting) at 450F for 12-15 minutes. Serve warm (makes 10-12 slices)

Turkey Burgers with Mango Salsa

2010-08-17T08:30:00.003-04:00

We had had some friends over for a BBQ this weekend. I knew I would be serving turkey burgers, but wanted to make something a bit different. I remembered seeing in the last issue of Clean Eating Magazine, a number of summer BBQ burger ideas, including a Turkey Burger with Mango Salsa. They offered seasoning suggestions for the meat, but no recipe for the salsa (implying store bought). We can’t have that now, can we?! I decide to make up my own recipe from scratch, and it turned out great. Organic Mangos happened to be on sale this week, so I actually had 3 sitting in my basket on the counter. I went out to our garden and picked a green pepper and 2 jalapenos (so fun to have your own garden) and I was set after grabbing a few other pantry items.

It turned out fantastic! This is the first time I have ever had mango salsa, but it certainly will not be the last! I plan to use the leftovers this week to top some chicken salad wraps. I actually ate it on top of a portobelllo mushroom burger yesterday (on a gluten free english muffin) and it was great!

I seasoned the ground turkey with freshly pressed garlic and some chilli powder. I didn’t measure. You will also need a whole wheat bun, lettuce, and pepper jack cheese.

Mango Salsa
2 ripe mangos chopped
1 large onion chopped
1 large Green pepper chopped
2 jalapeno peppers seeded and finely chopped
1/3 cup fresh cilantro chopped
Juice of 1 lime
Sea salt and pepper to taste

combine all ingredients, chill and serve
To assemble burgers, place lettuce on the bottom bun, top with turkey burger,pepper jack cheese, then the mango salsa

Black Bean Salsa

2010-08-15T15:32:00.000-04:00

I have been on a bit of a black bean kick since making This Dip 2 weeks ago, so I decided to try a black bean salsa. It turned out really good! Hubby and I ate it for a snack one night, and then I served it at a BBQ with friends yesterday. It is really simple to throw together, and the flavour only gets better the next day. Today I had a salad for lunch and just used the salsa as dressing. It was a yummy taco salad.

Back Bean Salsa
1-15 oz can of black beans drained and rinsed
2 ripe tomatoes seeded and chopped
1 large onion chopped
1 large green pepper chopped
2 jalapeno peppers seeded and finely chopped (more or less to taste)
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
Juice of one Lime
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together chill and serve.

Grilled Veggies 2 Ways

2010-08-12T20:17:00.002-04:00

I love cooking on the grill. Summer is so limited here in Canada that we take full advantage of the nice weather and cooking outdoors. I love my veggie basket for the grill. We use it all the time to roast our vegetables. I have 2 favourite mixtures; a Root Vegetable mix and a more Summer Vegetable mix. Both of these are a hit with everyone in my house. Nothing fancy, but it is what we are eating these days :)

The root veggie basket is simple. I toss some potatoes, beats, turnip, carrots, onion, garlic and herbs in olive oil and then put them on the grill for almost an hour on low heat.

The Summer Veggie Basket consists of peppers, mushrooms, onion, zucchini, squash, garlic, and fresh herbs all tossed in balsamic vinegar and oil. Throw them on the grill and they take a little less time to cook compared to the root vegetables.

I don’t really have any exact measurements for these baskets, just use enough that it would feed your family

a kid size portion :)

Root Veggie Grill Basket

2 med potatoes chopped
2-4 beats chopped
2-4 turnip chopped
2-4 carrots chopped
1 large onion
3 cloves of garlic pressed
1 tbsp rosemary (a must!)
1 tbsp summer savoury
1 tbsp marjoram
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil to coat

Mix all ingredients in a bowl, place in grilling basket over low heat for 45-60 minutes stirring often

Summer Veggie Grill Basket
2 bell peppers chopped
1 zucchini chopped
1 summer squash chopped
1 cup of mushrooms
1 large onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic pressed
1 tbsp fresh thyme
1 tbsp fresh oregano
3-4 tbsp balsamic vinegar (I used white)
olive oil to coat
sea salt and pepper to taste
mix all ingredients together in a bowl, let sit for about 30 minutes in the fridge before tossing in a grilling basket over low heat for about 30-45 minutes stirring often.

Spicy Cashew Shrimp Skewers

2010-08-10T11:54:00.006-04:00

We are home from a wonderful week’s vacation up at the cottage. The weather was perfect, and the kids had a blast! The only down side was our sweet Owen NOT sleeping…Autism has some difficult challenges, and sleep is on top of my list!

We are home, unpacked and laundry is on the go. I am glad to be home and back into the routine. I do however, miss this view.

Last night, Tyler took a turn in the kitchen making dinner. A month or so ago, he made the most amazing grilled shrimp. I have been anxious for him to make them again so I could share the recipe with you all. They are SO Freakin good!

He marinated the shrimp for about an hour in this cashew mixture that he made in the magic bullet.

He then skewered the shrimp with some veggies from our own garden and our CSA share.

Throw them on the grill, and they are done in no time.

We served them on a bed of brown basmati rice.

Tyler’s Spicy Cashew Shrimp Skewers

1 bag frozen raw Shrimp (about 3 cups peeled/thawed)
3 cloves garlic
1/2 small onion
Pinch of tarragon
Pinch of rosemary
1 tsp sea salt
1 dried red chilli (seeded) or chilli flakes
1/3 cup raw cashews
Juice of one lemon
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp agave nectar

Place all ingredients (except shrimp) in a food processor/blender; Process until a smooth texture. Place shrimp in a sealable contained and coat with cashew mixture, refrigerate for 1 hour.

Skewer shrimp along with your favourite skewer veggies (such as onion, tomato, mushroom, zucchini) baste the shrimp with the cashew mixture, and then grill for about 5 minutes/side

(made: 8 skewers)

Black Bean Dip

2010-07-29T10:07:00.004-04:00

Recently, my husband and I went out for dinner to celebrate his new promotion. We went to a local restaurant called Black Bean’s Steak House and Lounge (no steak for me). When we sat down, they immediately brought us this wonderful Black bean dip and corn chips. It was delicious! I knew right then, that I would be attempting to recreate it at home, and I did so with great success!

I have been enjoying the dip for the last couple of days. It is a perfect snack, added protein to a salad, or as a spread on a sandwich or wrap. The best part about Black Beans?

Health Benefits

Black beans are a very good source of cholesterol-lowering fiber, as are most other legumes. In addition to lowering cholesterol, black beans' high fiber content prevents blood sugar levels from rising too rapidly after a meal, making these beans an especially good choice for individuals with diabetes, insulin resistance or hypoglycemia. When combined with whole grains such as brown rice, black beans provide virtually fat-free high quality protein. You may already be familiar with beans' fiber and protein, but this is far from all black beans have to offer. Source

I really liked it with some Garden of Eatin Blue Chips

and topping my salad with Simply Natural dressing; both of which contain all clean ingredients.

Every one in the house has been eating it…ya can’t beat a kid friendly snack!

Check it out! No mayo, no butter, just yummy healthy black beans!

Black Bean Dip
2-16oz cans of black beans (or soaked and cooked dried beans)
1 tbsp toasted cumin seeds
2 Tbsp fresh chopped cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Toast some cumin seeds on a dry skillet until fragrant

Place all ingredients in a food processor, and blend until smooth. If you desire more texture, you could easily just mash it with a fork.

Enjoy

Homemade Popsicles

2010-07-27T09:17:00.006-04:00

These are the most wonderful summer treat! My kids are just going crazy for these things, and I must say, so am I! Ainnsley has already requested them at her birthday party!

The other day, while I was supposed to be looking for a Dora DVD for my oldest son, I walked by the clearance section in Zellers and saw these Popsicle moulds. I was so excited to go home and puree some of the fresh fruit and berries we picked up at the farmers market on Saturday. When I got home and looked at them, and thought about how little they cost, I started to wonder about the plastic, and realised they did not specifically say BPA Free. I don’t know about you, but I have formed the habit of needing to see “BPA Free” right on the label, even though a few years ago there were plenty of things made of plastic that did not have BPA and didn’t label themselves that way. I also find that this seems to be a North American thing, and products from other countries don’t necessarily have the BPA free label, yet they are in fact BPA free. I have come across this a lot with my recent Bento box purchases. Anyway, I did find a little number 2 on the handle of the Popsicle mould and that is a good plastic!

So I looked around the house, and started to think of different flavour combinations. I decided on:

Dairy free strawberry creamsicle using Strawberries and coconut milk

Red White & Blue fruitsicle using strawberry banana, blueberry banana, and just plain coconut milk
Mighty Melon with cantaloupe and watermelon

They all turned out fantastic! I did especially enjoy the coconut milk part, and my second favourite would be the blueberry banana section

Dairy Free Strawberry Creamsicles
2 cups fresh cut strawberries
1 cup coconut milk
1tbsp agave nectar
2tbsp water

Throw strawberries into food processor with water. Whisk agave into coconut milk, and then add it to the processor. Add stick, and place in freezer until set.
Made 4 servings

Red White & Blue Fruitsicles
1 cup cut strawberries
1 lrg banana
1 cup wild blueberries
1 cup coconut milk
1tsbp agave nectar
Water

Place strawberries and ½ banana in the food processor. Add 1 tbsp of water. Pour mixture into 1/3 of the Popsicle mould and let set about 1 hour in freezer
Whisk Agave into coconut milk, pour into the next 1/3 of the mould, and allow setting about 1 hour or until firm in freezer
Place blueberries and other ½ banana in processor, add 1 tbsp of water. Pour mixture into the last 1/3 of mould. Add stick and freeze

Mighty Melon Popsicle
1-1/2 cup of cantaloupe
1-1/2 cup seedless watermelon
2 tbsp water

Place cantaloupe and water in food processor. Pour mixture into ½ of the Popsicle mould. Let set in the freezer for 1 hour in freezer.
Place Watermelon into food processor. No water needed for this one. Pour mixture into last ½ of mould, add stick and freeze

Tomato Basil Pizza

2010-07-26T09:34:00.000-04:00

This isn’t a, “from scratch” recipe, or anything all that original, but after watching a show on TV about the best Pizza in America, I had a craving to make a delicious pizza just like the one we saw on TV. I wanted to use simple ingredients...basil, tomato, and cheese. I bought a Bobs Red Mill gluten Free Pizza Crust Mix to test out for the first time. It was really simple to make and tasted really good, even if you can eat gluten!

The kids helped me top the pizzas. We didn’t have any fresh tomato, so I opened and drained a can of organic diced tomatoes and tossed them on the crust first. I then added the basil (picked fresh from my garden-yipee) and some real mozzarella cheese on one pizza, and then I used that delicious Sorrel Cashew Cheese Spread on the other pizza for Grady and me.

A quick and easy dinner, that the kids enjoyed helping make. I love opportunities to have my kids help in the kitchen, and see that real food has to be prepared, and that it is enjoyable and worthwhile.