Dave-approved Broccoli

Dave is not a fan of broccoli, or most veggies, really. I was happily surprised when he complimented tonight's dish.

Super easy Baked Broccoli, Dave-approved

Take two heads of broccoli, and trim the stems. Chop everything including florets and stems. Drizzle some EVOO in the bottom of a baking dish that fits the broccoli in a single layer. Drizzle more EVOO on top. Add a few splashes of balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle some minced fresh garlic on top (I used 3 medium cloves). Salt & pepper. Put in an oven preheated to 400*F. Bake uncovered until the tops are brown. I'm going to guess it was around 30-40 minutes. Serve to your veggie skeptics and enjoy!

chocolate coconut flour cupcakes

Most of the recipes I've found use honey or agave. This recipe uses sugar, but I subbed in 1/4c coconut sugar and 1/2 mashed banana.

avocado mayo

A friend just showed me this recipe for egg-free avocado mayo. I will give it a full review after we try it. Once we get more EVOO, because somehow, we are out...

Superfudge

Well, "fudge", but the variation possibilities seem endless!

http://www.thespunkycoconut.com/2008/05/frozen-sunbutter-fudge.html

zucchini candy?

i will try just about anything once. i am brainstorming ways to make this less sugary. good thing i have some time before "monster" zucchini season.

http://goddesshobbies.blogspot.com/2009/10/preserving-food-zucchini-candy.html

rhubarb!!

http://www.affairsofliving.com/imported-20100106014405/2011/6/14/a-farmers-market-demo-with-sweet-n-sour-rhubarb-pickles-and.html

gotta get to the market!! haven't been this season yet, due to a host of factors.

summer salad time is upon us!

from: molliekatzen.com

10 medium beets (about 2 inches in diameter)
5 or 6 oranges
1/4 cup raspberry vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 to 2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
Finely minced fennel tops, for garnish
Preheat oven to 375°F, and line a baking dish with foil. Trim the leaves from the beets, place them in the dish, and cover with foil. Bake until they are soft enough to be pierced easily with a fork (about 1 hour). Set aside to cool.
Meanwhile, use a medium-sized serrated knife to cut the peel from the oranges, then section them over a bowl to catch all the juice. (To section an orange, just cut with a sawing motion up and down the membranes to release the sections. Squeeze the remaining juice into the bowl, and discard the membranes.)
When the beets are cool enough to handle, use a small, sharp paring knife to peel them, then cut them first in half, and then into thin half-moon-shaped slices. Transfer to a medium-sized bowl, and add the vinegar, salt, garlic, and orange sections with all their juice. Stir until well combined.
Add the sliced fennel and stir again. Cover tightly and chill until serving time.
Serve topped with a light sprinkling of the minced fennel tops.

We swapped out the garlic for ginger. YUM.

Sandwich bread for Dave

grain-free sandwich bread, for Dave.

Easy Ketchup

Easy Ketchup

24oz tomato paste (four 6oz cans)
1/4C lemon juice
3/4C apple cider vinegar
2tbsp molasses
2tsp anchovy paste
1tsp minced, fresh ginger
1 tsp sea salt
pinch clove, cinnamon, pepper

Mix in a blender & store in a jar. Voila!

I have mine on the counter to see what happens - i.e. will it ferment nicely.

another (raw) coconut cookie recipe

Raw Maple-Cinnamon Coconut Cookies (Vegan, GF)

Cookie:
2 cups shredded coconut (I re-hydrated mine by soaking for a few hours because it was really hard, if you have softer coconut you probably don't need to soak)
6 tbsp coconut flour
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp maple syrup (for truly raw, you could sub agave or raw honey)
1 tsp vanilla extract (for truly raw, sub dried vanilla bean powder)
4 tbsp melted coconut oil

Maple-Cinnamon Icing:
1/4 cup packed dates
2 tbsp maple syrup (truly raw, sub agave or raw honey)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp coconut oil
Water to thin

Combine all ingredients for cookies. Roll into balls, place on a wax-paper lined flat surface and press into a round cookie shape. Combine ingredients for glaze in a food processor. Pipe onto cookies. Freeze until hardened. Makes 20 cookies.

Egg-free, nut-free, grain-free coconut flour cookies

Experimental cookies finally turned out!

Egg-free, nut-free, grain-free coconut flour cookies

1/4C coconut flour
3tbsp chia seed meal (i.e. chia seeds ground up in the coffee grinder) + 9tbsp warm water
1/4C coconut oil, melted
3tbsp maple syrup (more if you like things sweeter)
1tbsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp sea salt

In a small bowl, mix chia meal and watwe, stir and let gel. Set aside.

Mix maple syrup and coconut oil. Add chia gel. Add coconut flour, cinnamon & salt.

You should get a fairly workable dough at this point. I scooped out cookies with a 1/2tbsp measuring spoon. I rolled the dough into balls and then flattened them on the cookie sheet. I got ~28 cookies out of my batch.

Bake at 350*F for oh... I lost track of time. Maybe 30-45-60 minutes? Check on them and see. I used a silicon baking mat on a cookie sheet. Once they were browned on the bottom and sort of firm on the edges I brought them out to cool on a wire rack. I think if you use parchment paper your baking time will be different anyway.

Good luck!

Turkey Balls!

Once I find a nut/seed- and grain-free sub for breadcrumbs, I will try to make these: http://www.ehow.com/how_5777931_make-thai-coconut-chicken-balls.html. I may just used more coconut flakes. Yum!

Honey Mustard Chicken Wings w/Steamed Broccoli

24 whole chicken wings, trimmed and divided into drumettes and wings

Bake for 30-40 minutes at 400*F. I put them on two cookie trays, and lightly salted them.

---

Large head of broccoli, washed and trimmed

Steam until tender.

----
1C oil (We used palm)
1C apple cider vinegar
1/2C honey (maybe a tad more, up to 2/3C if you like things sweeter)
1C coconut aminos sauce (GF soy sauce will do)
big dollop (~1-2tsp) of prepared brown mustard (we use Eden)
~1tbsp fresh grated ginger
generous pinch of black and/or white pepper
teeny pinch of clove and allspice

Mix all sauce ingredients in a sauce pan. Bring to boil and then simmer until thickened. Will get nice and syrupy without needing to add starches to thicken. Set aside.

Toss chicken wings and cut up broccoli into sauce. Enjoy!

crafty and resourceful, just my style

hula hoop rug! just my style. now i can finally use up my recycled denim "yarn" i made. hopefully it will be a quick and fun, kid-friendly project.

Lots of Lovely (grain-free, egg-free) Links

I'm putting these recipes here, so I have a them all in one place when I'm ready to experiment again.

Marshmallows

Bagels

Sandwich rolls

Dehydrated coconut cookies

Grain-free Mini "Granola" Bites

Grocery shopping alone sounds wonderful, and it is in many ways. The peace and quiet is nice. However, for some reason, without my kids (and perhaps my routine?) I lose my focus and it takes me FOREVER. And I forget things, even with my list. I think I have grown to rely on Lily my taskmaster quite a bit.

This week, I went alone and forgot many things, things written right on my list, that I held in my hand, even. One of those things was a jar of pumpkin seeds, with which I intended to make mini granola bars or "granola bites". I pulled everything out this morning to make said granola bites only to find my base was missing. Me=discombobulated for sure. Time to improvise.

Grain-free Mini "Granola" Bites

1C ground flax seed
1C ground hemp seed
1C large coconut curls (shredded coconut is probably fine)
3 eggwhites
1/3C oil
1/4C honey
1/4C raisins or other dried fruit
1/4C chocolate chips
pinch of sea salt
pinch of vanilla powder (or vanilla extract)


Mix flax, hemp, coconut, salt & vanilla powder (if using extract, wait a step) in a bowl. Add oil & honey, mix in until well incorporated. Stir in raisins & chocolate chips. Set aside.

Whip eggwhites until frothy and soft peaks form.

Gently stir in egg whites until well mixed.

I used one 24-count silicon mini muffin tray + one greased cookie tray, with 20 "bites" on them. Each bite is 1.5tbsp of mixture.

Bake at 350*F for 15-20 minutes. The muffin tray needed 20 minutes, but the ones directly on the cookie sheet got a little over browned.

Omelet Muffins aka Crustless Mini Quiche.

I'm food nesting for when baby comes. (Hopefully aaaaany day now.) My freezer looks amazing, full of deliciousness. I'm wishing the baby here even sooner so I get to enjoy all my yummy creations. I'm focusing on for foods in the post-partum period that are easy, satisfying and above all densely nourishing. I've been meaning to try crustless quiche made in muffin cups (or as I like to call them "omelet muffins").

1 bunch of kale
1 med sweet onion
8oz bacon
12 eggs
sea salt
black pepper
paprika

Fry up the bacon. I like it crispier in these recipes, because then it crumbles easier, but whatever you like is fine. Fry the onions in the bacon grease, until they are nice and browned. Add rinsed & chopped kale, frying until kale is soft. Stir in chopped/crumbled bacon. Set aside and allow to cool.

Whisk 12 eggs together until well-blended. Add a pinch or two of sea salt, black pepper and paprika. And cayenne, if you like things a bit extra hot.

Grease two 12-count muffin trays. Put a plop of the veggie/bacon mixture into each cup. Maybe a tbsp or so? Top off with blended eggs until muffin cups are 1/2 to 2/3 full. (You may have a bit left over. I did, so I just fried it up like a traditional omelet for breakfast this morning.)

Bake at 350*F for ~15 minutes. They will fluff up and get firm to the touch. Once they've started browning at the edges they are more than done.

Once mine had cooled, I took them out, put them in two layers in a big glass pan with rubber lid, and tossed them in my freeze. My plan is to take them out one "double stack" at a time for an "instant" omelet/quiche at a moment's notice.

Cinquain Poems by Lily

Moon

Moon
Bright, White
Shining, Watching, Shrinking
I like the Moon
Luna

Food

Food
Yummy, Healthy
Helping, Feeding, Digesting
I like Food
Grub

Stars

Stars
Tiny, Pointy
Twinkling, Shining, Singing
Stars are Pretty
Fireball

Little Sisters

Little sisters
Messy, Funny
Playing, Interrupting, Chatting
I love my little sister
Aevryn

Grain- & Nut-free Granola

After searching and searching for a grain- & nut-free granola recipe, I finally just broke down and tried my own experiment. I ended up just using a variation of my pre-allergy life favorite homemade granola recipe, and I'm fairly pleased with myself.

2C soaked, sprouted & dehydrated (or roasted) sunflower seeds - not totally raw, but crispy is what you're aiming for
1/3C flax seed meal (equivalent to 4Tbsp flax seeds ground in my coffee grinder)
1/3C coconut oil
2-3Tbsp honey (I eye-balled it, and just used the rest of my jar)
1/2C coconut flakes
(1/2 tsp cinnamon)
pinch of sea salt
pinch of vanilla powder (I bet 1/2tsp of vanilla extract would be just fine)

In a saucepan, melt the oil & honey. Stir in remaining ingredients until every thing is evenly mixed. Pour in a thin layer onto two, lightly greased, cookie sheets. Bake at 300*F for 10-15 minutes. Turn off the oven and allow the granola to dry in the warm oven for about half and hour. (Or more, of course, if you start reading moon poems to your kids and loose track of time.)

We added raisins and coconut milk and ate it like cereal. If my chocolate chips hadn't mysterious disappeared (into my tummy) overnight, I would have omitted the cinnamon and added the chocolate chips to the cooled, dried mix, along with the raisins. I am not a fan of "baked raisin" flavor.

I'm sure this would work witha variety of seeds instead of, or in addition to the sunflower & flax- pumpkin, sesame, chia...

Yay for granola!

Number Poem

Down you run and 1 is done.
Around, and down, and out go you,That's the way to make a 2.
Around, and around, just like a bee,That's the way to make a 3.
Down, across, and down once more,That's the way to make a 4.
Short neck, belly fat,Number 5 wears a hat.
Down, around, in a circle you go,That's a six, just as you know.
Straight across, slide down from heaven,That's the way to make a 7.
First a snake, then come back straight,That's the way to make an 8.
First a ball and then a line,That's the way to make a 9.
Tall straight, circle then,That's the way to make a 10.

This poem has helped my 5yo remember which way her numbers face, and to remember to start at the upper left, moving right & down. My 3yo energetically follows along, in her "uh huh, me too!" phase. We like to get out the magnadoodles or go to the chalkboard and write along. The first few times we read it, though, we just traced our fingers in the air. We've done it every day this week and she's already memorized it, gleefully, very proud of herself.

Peanut Butter-coconut No-Bakes

EDIT TO FIX TYPO: It should read 1C peanut butter, not 1/2C. Sorry for the confusion!


One of the treats I included in my yearly "yummy basket of goodies" gift I give to family.

Peanut Butter-Coconut No-Bake Cookies


1C sugar/maple syrup/honey
4tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 C shortening/coconut oil/butter
1/2 C coconut milk/other milk sub/milk
1 C Peanut butter/other seed or nut butter
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3 C shredded, unsweetened & no-sulfite coconut shreds (can get them in bulk at Oryana)

* In a large saucepan, bring sugar, cocoa, milk & shortening to a boil. Boil for ~1-2 min.

* Stir in peanut/nut butter and vanilla, until melted and well mixed.

* Add coconut flakes, stir to mix well.

*Scoop by tablespoons onto wax paper to cool.

If they seem too sweet, decrease the sweetener, and increase peanut/nut butter.

These were our (Dave & mine) favorite treats I made this year, too, necessitating an entire second batch. :)