celebrating one year... !

before october ends, i just wanted to take a moment to note that my one year gluten-free blogging anniversary just passed...

it has been an incredible year, with many ups and downs, adjustments, and more importantly-- lots of good food :) i started this blog pretty suddenly - most likely as a way to cope with my health and the changes i was making (for the better), and it has become a great way for me to not only keep track of my own recipes, but to be connected to others in a way i never thought would be possible.

so a BIG thank you to the blogging community for being an incredible support in what was has definitely been the biggest adjustment of my life. i know i have gained incredible amounts of information from other people that i would not have been able to, had it not been for these wonderful individuals. each person takes time out of their own busy lives to share their own experiences from daily life, recipes, and more. of course most of the blogs i follow are listed under my links and i recommend them all, especially if facing issues with food or looking for a healthier way of living. i know many people read this blog from all around the world (thank you Google Analytics) so please continue to leave your comments, questions, etc... and to all of my non-gf friends, thank you as well for all of your support! it really means the world to me.

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apricot and apple stew over lentils

i honestly was not sure what to call this one... "apricot-date stew, "tagine", "curry," "mix of what i had in the fridge," etc....

anyways, my husband is a big fan of fruit cooked in food. me- not so much. but as marriage serves the purpose of growing, i suppose my taste buds have expanded to include such dishes.

so i made this the other night as a little gift for him but ended up liking it a lot myself as well, and of course- it was simple to make which always makes me happy.

one more thing- i used chicken, but this would be great without it as well. can also add in chickpeas.

so here we are:

Lentils:
1 cup lentils
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp pepper


Stew:

1 onion, sliced
1 lb chicken breast, cubed
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper or chili flakes
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp saffron in 1/8 cup hot water
3 chopped organic carrots
1 apple, sliced and chopped
8 dried apricots, quartered
2-3 dates
1 stalk celery
3 Tbsp olive oil
1/8-1/4 cup water or broth

Lentils:

-Wash and pick over the lentils thoroughly- you don't want any crunchy rocks in your food.
-Cook according to your package (i believe i used 2 cups water for the one cup of lentils, and cooked for approximately 20 minutes). Check to taste that they are done when all of the water has evaporated.
-Mix in salt and pepper when they are cooked.

**To make saffron:
grind your saffron with a mortar and pestle. add boiled water to it and let sit for approx. five minutes.

Stew:

-Saute you onions in the olive oil until golden but not overcooked.
-Add all your spices except for the saffron and stir for a few seconds. Add chicken and cook until halfway done.
-Add chopped carrots, apple, and celery.
-Cook for a few minutes then add your apricots, dates, and prepared saffron.**
-Add water or broth and let simmer on low for approximately 10-15 more minutes depending on if your chicken is cooked and how much water is left in the pan. if too dry, add more liquid. Taste, add more seasoning if needed.
-Serve over the lentils and enjoy!

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gluten, dairy, and soy free pesto pizza with sun dried tomatoes

"but what do you do about pizza?!?!?!!"
-almost everyone.

although i never ate pizza that often, i am definitely a fan of a good quality fresh and tasty slice of pizza. and yes, i do miss it. i had finally come up with a gluten free dairy free pizza that i liked, but it used soy cheese (which i still think is a great cheese if you can eat soy). after i found out i had a soy intolerance as well, that eliminated most alternative cheeses except for this one cheese: Galaxy Nutritional Foods Rice Vegan- Soy and Casein Free Cheese Slices. There are three different types (american, pepper jack, and chedder, but only in slice form). If you are only dairy free, they have a variety of lactose and soy free cheeses. I avoid casein, so i can only have the sf/cf slices. Anyways, they don't melt very well, so they were out for pizza.

so anyways, i'm all for making everything from scratch, as i tend to do, but i'm really finding that i need to buy a few prepared things to not make myself starve and go crazy waiting for food to be ready. so i bought some frozen pizza crusts on a whim the other day at my new favorite grocery store. they are kinnikinnick foods 7" pizza crusts. to me they resemble a greek style gyro bread if you just heat them up, but they make a lovely pizza crust. it's hard to describle, but what i liked most about it was the flour texture on the outside that is like bread made on a well dusted board, similar to regular pizza crust. i think this is due to the sweet rice flour that's added to the dough when rollng it out.

so this is what i did for my simple and super fast and tasty pizza:

1. made some pesto (unfortunately these measurements are all approximate because i was just throwing them all in):
-approx 1.5 cups packed organic basil, 1 cup packed cilantro, 1/4 cup pine nuts, 1/4 cup cashews, 3 Tbsp chopped garlic, 1/4 tsp sea salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast, 4 Tbsp good tasting olive oil
-throw the ingredients except the olive oil into a food processor and mix. gradually add the olive oil until well blended. taste, adjust flavors to your taste and go!
*i usually make a lot of pesto then store it in a container with extra olive oil on top which can later be used for pasta, eggs, etc.
*the nutritional yeast adds a bit of a cheesy flavor that's a great sub for parmesan

2. lightly oiled the top of the crust with olive oil.

3. spread pesto on top

4. spread toppings on (for my first one i used sun dried tomatoes and all natural cilantro chicken sausage from trader joe's (pictured above). for my second one i used sun dried tomatoes and roasted red peppers (pictured below). i also sprinkled soem crushed red peppers on top.

5. put in oven at 400 degrees for approximately 10 minutes (check periodically depending on your oven).

kind of silly to even give a recipe, but it was a great assurance that good pizza can be enjoyed even without all of the dairy, gluten, etc... (and quickly!)


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carrot muffins

carrot muffins/cake has of course been done numerous different ways... when coming up with this recipe, i was trying to mix flours and flavor in a way that would give me a lot of protein, fiber, and other vitamins along with the natural sweetness of the carrots. so this recipe can of course have a number of substitutions depending on your taste, and i continue to play around with it depending on my mood. it's a favorite of my niece and nephew, so is definitely kid friendly :)


Carrot Muffins

1/3 cup millet flour
1/3 cup Teff Flour
1/3 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
*1/4-1/3 cup almond meal (if you like a more nutty flavor)
1 tsp xantham gum
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt (i use Celtic Sea Salt)
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp cinnamon (i use saigon cinnamon-fairly strong)
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
*(you can also sub 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice for all of the spices)
1/2 cup-3/4 cup agave nectar -0r- 1/2 cup agave+1/4 cup Sucanat (depending on how sweet you want it)
2 TBSP blackstrap molasses
1/2 cup grapeseed oil
2 eggs (or egg substitution)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup hempmilk, rice milk, or almond milk
1/4 cup water
1 cup grated carrots (i use 2 organic carrots)
*if you like them sweeter you can add pineapple or another juice
*if you like nuts, they would be a great addition as well. i've also added cocoa nibs too.

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease muffin pans
-Whisk the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl.
-In your mixer bowl, mix your eggs, agave, water, milk, oil, molasses, and vanilla until incorporated.
-Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until just combined.
-Add grated carrots to the batter and stir in by hand. - do not overmix! (i shred mine in the food processor in a matter of seconds) if your batter is too thick, add a little more water.
-Fill your muffin cups about 3/4 full and bake for about 15 minutes. ** the oven in our new place is a bit off with temperature, so i would say bake for 10, check them, and then every five minutes after check again, because each oven time will vary.
-cool on a wire rack

You can eat these as is, or you can also ice them with this wonderful coconut cream frosting made with agave from Elana's Pantry.

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