Baked Apples (Grain/Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free, Soy Free, Paleo)

Other than the obvious pumpkin everything, nothing says fall to me like apples. Amazingly enough I didn't have my first baked apple until about a year ago so was pretty excited to recreate one at home based on our own tastes and needs...

This is really a recipe you can play around with, and I made two variations- with and without the pecans or using slivered almonds instead of whole. One time I made it I created a lot of extra filling and saved it as well so that I would have have it prepared for the next time I wanted them. I've eaten these for breakfast or dessert- a fantastic, healthy treat for whenever!

Baked Apples
(paleo, grain free, gluten free, soy free, egg free, dairy free, refined sugar free, vegan) 

Coring Apples
There are a few techniques for coring apples. If you have a corer like this one or this one
you can do it pretty simply, but I ended up just using a knife and once I figured out a good technique wasn't a big deal. I inserted my knife and carved a circle in each apple, making sure not to go all the way through. Then, i re-inserted the knife at a diagonal around the circle to remove the core. I then used a spoon to finish removing the core.





 

Filling

1.5 cups of pistachios, almonds, and pecans (or your favorite nut/seed blend)
6 dates, chopped
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon juice
1.5 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp coconut oil

Pulse all ingredients in a food processor until reaches your desired consistency. Sometimes I like it more chunky (like in the pictures), other times a finer sticky filling. Fill each apple with filling in a pyrex. If you like it a little sweeter, drizzle a little more maple over the tops.


Bake for 30 minutes at 375*F

Makes around 6 medium apples

 

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Egg Free/Grain Free Cinnamon Rolls (Paleo, Dairy Free, Soy Free, Refined Sugar Free)

I've been on a bit of a blogging break recently because of a host of new food and health issues that have left me scrambling to come up with basic meals for my family... Eliminating nightshades and eggs has been the most challenging changes, especially because grain free and egg free rarely go together!

Breakfast of course has always been a challenge, but recently especially because I've been relying on eggs so much. I saw a few pins recently on pinterest for cinnamon rolls (with eggs) and it's been a while since I've made them, so I thought I would give it a shot! So this recipe is dedicated to all those folks like me who need to be grain and egg free and finding it to be a bit tough :)

I shared this on my facebook page, but I highly recommend Benefit Your Life Almond Flour - I thought I was becoming intolerant to almond flour as well, but turns out it is only the pesticide-treated flours that I have difficulty with. The Benefit Your Life flour is similar to other blanched flours like Honeyville but without the added spraying of pesticide during the drying process.


Egg & Grain Free Cinnamon Rolls
(grain free/gluten free, egg free, soy free, dairy free, refined sugar free, vegan, paleo)

 Dough

Dry Ingredients
2 cups Organic Blanched Almond Flour
1/4 cup Organic Coconut Flour
1/4 cup Tapioca or Arrowroot Starch
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/8 tsp Sea Salt

Wet Ingredients
1/4 cup ground Chia Seeds mixed in 1 cup Water
1/4 cup melted Coconut Oil
1 tsp Vanilla or 1/2 tsp Powdered Vanilla
2 Tbsp Honey

Filling

1/4 cup Honey (1/2 cup if you like it more sweet)
1.5 Tbsp Cinnamon
3 Tbsp melted Coconut Oil

1/2 cup chopped Pecans (or other nut of your choice)
(raisins or chopped dates optional)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees farenheit.

In medium bowl, add chia seeds and water and whisk with a fork until starts to gel. Set aside.

Add dry ingredients to your mixing bowl and whisk/blend until well incorporated.

Add the rest of your wet ingredients to the chia mixture and mix.

Add the wet into the dry and beat with mixture until all the dough comes together.

On a Silicone Baking Liner/Silpat or parchment paper-lined jelly roll pan, roll out your dough until thin. If it sticks to your rolling pin, you can place another piece of parchment paper over it to roll, but I didn't have any problems with it. Or, your dough could be too warm and you could chill it a bit as well.

Mix the first three filling ingredients in a small bowl and spread over the dough. You don't need to be a perfectionist with this since it will be rolled. Sprinkle the pecans over the dough.

You can roll this two ways:

For smaller and more rolls, roll from the long side of the pan. This is what I did and prefer. Lift the edge of the silpat and gently pry the dough off to roll it. Continue to roll gently until you have reached the end. Then slice with a sharp knife into approximately 1" slices. If it sticks to the knife, wet it a little bit. Place flat side down on pan, evenly spaced. I had 16 rolls this way.

For larger rolls, roll from the short side of the pan. I have not tested this so I'm not sure how long it will take to bake.

Place in oven and bake approximately 15-20 minutes. Mine baked well at 18, but watch it carefully as the size of your rolls will change baking time. You want it slightly crispy on the top but not hard or dry.

Remove from oven when cooked and cool on baking rack for about 10 minutes until cooled and firmed some, but still warm and gooey. 

Frosting:
These are not overly sweet, so if you like, sprinkle some maple syrup over the tops, or I blended some coconut oil and maple syrup or coconut butter and maple, refrigerated it and made a bit of a frosting to put on top of some as well. I loved it as it is though, so if you have a sweet tooth, maple or more honey is fine to add either on top or inside.

Enjoy!!
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Grain Free "Oatmeal"

 

I walked into my cold kitchen the other morning and all I could think was I wanted something warm and comforting for breakfast.... something like oatmeal.  Of course breakfast cereals are totally out of the question for me, but I remembered seeing some Paleo recipes here and there for "n'oatmeal" or other similar types of non-oatmeal. I looked around but none seemed too appealing. I try to cycle nuts and seeds and not rely on one or the other a lot, so I decided to use a mix of sunflower and pumpkin seeds.

Anyways, turned out pretty well! Definitely an oatmealy consistency and did the job. I used my Blendtec to blend it all for about 40 seconds. I didn't mind still having little bits in it since oatmeal itself has little chewy bits in it too.

*One other thing- I blended a cup each of sunflower and pumpkin seeds but only used half so that it would blend better and that I could easily/quickly make it another time.


Grain Free "Oatmeal" Breakfast Cereal
(seed mixture makes 2 batches)

1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
1 Tbsp chia meal (ground seeds)
1 cup Coconut Milk 
1 very ripe banana (mashed)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp maple syrup 

In a blender or food processor, pulse or blend your seeds until a fine meal. (Don't overblend or it will turn into seed butter.) Mix it well.
 
In a medium size pot, add 1 cup of the blended seed flour (you will have 1 cup left over) with the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Turn on the heat and cook over medium heat for about 6-7 minutes until it has reached your desired consistency. If too thick, add more coconut milk.

Serve hot and top with your favorite toppings! I used a frozen organic berry mix from Trader Joe's and some slivered almonds on mine.

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Strawberry Tart (Gluten/Grain Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, Egg Free)

 
We went strawberry picking a few weeks ago and I knew I wanted something creamy to go with them but I didn't have a lot of time... instead of coming up with a totally new recipe I just based it off of the recipe for my Pear and Fig Coconut Cream Tart that I made last fall.  It's a bit different because I didn't bake it all together, but that's definitely an option if you want something a little different!  This tart is light and creamy and not too sweet- it lets you taste and enjoy the sweetness of the strawberries as well.

So to keep things simple, here is the recipe!

Strawberry Tart

Gluten/Grain/Dairy/Soy/Egg/Corn Free

Crust
2 cups almond meal
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 Tbsp chia meal in 2 Tbsp hot water
1/8 tsp celtic sea salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Cream
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 can full fat coconut milk
1/4 cup arrowroot flour

Strawberries for decoration

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
 

Prepare your crust:

Mix your chia and water and set aside to gel. Mix all of the ingredients together with a fork or whisk and press into a 9.5" tart pan(mine has a removable center). Place crust in the oven and bake for approximately 20 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Cream:

Over medium heat, warm your coconut milk, honey, and vanilla.  Once it is about to boil, whisk in your arrowroot.  Remove from heat and pour into tart shell.

Place in the refrigerator to firm up and cool off.  Gently place your fruit onto the coconut cream, remove from pan, slice and serve.

Enjoy!

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Blueberry Walnut Breakfast Cookies (Gluten/Grain Free, Soy Free, Egg Free, Dairy Free, Sugar Free)

 

Breakfast has always been a challenge for me... and now I've had to cut out sugar the past couple weeks (except for a bit of fruit) which has actually been okay, but I do use dates in a lot of things, especially breakfast foods. I was trying to come up with an easy but tasty, not too sweet option. I saw a few recipes here and there that might work but they they still weren't quite right, so I combined a couple ideas and came up with these "breakfast cookies" or "biscuits" as we like to call them at home since our rabbit is named cookie :) Probably the most inspiration for these came from Against all Grain, so check her's out as well if you want something even sweeter or with eggs.

I have enjoyed making this recipe because it's a one bowl kind of recipe- I just throw it all in the food processor and it's only one thing to clean!

Blueberry Walnut Breakfast Cookies 

Gluten/Grain Free, Soy Free, Egg Free, Dairy Free, Sugar Free

1/4 cup Organic Coconut Flour
1/2 cup Almond Butter
1/2 large banana (approx 4 inches)
3/4 cup Organic Shredded Coconut
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
2 Tbsp chia seed meal + 1/4 cup boiled water
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup frozen organic blueberries

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Prepare your chia meal by adding the boiled water to the chia and stirring with a fork. Set aside. Place the coconut flour, almond butter, and banana in the food processor and blend until uniform. Add in the rest of your ingredients except the walnuts and blueberries and pulse until it is well combined. Add the walnuts and blueberries and pulse a few times just until incorporated. 

 

Take the dough and make approximately 2" balls in your hand and lightly flatten into 12 disks, placing on a large greased, parchment, or silpat-lined baking sheet. 

Bake in the oven approximately 15 minutes until the edges are golden. Cool on wire rack before eating then enjoy! These stay well in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or so and can be frozen as well. I enjoyed them straight out of the refrigerator or reheated in the toaster oven. I don't have a microwave, so no idea how they reheat in there!

Enjoy!

 This recipe is also being entered into the Friday Foodie Fix at The Whole Gang - this week's theme is Blueberries!!

 

 

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Sweet Potato & Black Bean "Sausage" (vegan, gluten free, soy free, egg free)

 

 

I've had this recipe on the back-burner for a few months now... I made this for a brunch potluck and never had a chance to work on my modifications and revise it. I based it off of this recipe by the Gluten Free Cooking School - the original recipe includes brown rice and is fried, so I modified it to bake it and replaced the rice with sweet potato and a few other adjustments here and there... My friend Anne said I hijacked this recipe so this is dedicated to you Anne- sorry it took so long! :)

You can still fry this recipe if that's your thing, but I thought it was easier, faster, and healthier to just bake them.  My daughter loves these and they make a great snack or meal- whichever you're in the mood for!

I tried baking it straight on a greased cookie sheet and using a Silpat/Silicone Linerand the ones straight on the sheet turned out a little better (crispier) but either will definitely work. You can make either links or patties out of these and the cooking time is the same.

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Sausage

(gluten free/grain free, soy free, dairy free, nut free, egg free)

1 1/2 cup sweet potato, cooked
2 cups cooked black beans

2 tsp grapeseed oil

1/4 cup chia seed meal (ground seeds)

4 tsp onion powder
2 tsp rubbed sage
1 tsp fennel seed, ground (I used a mortar and pestle)

1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cumin

-Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees and prepare a baking sheet.

-Combine the black beans, sweet potato, and oil in a food processor. Pulse until all items are well combined - you will need to stop it and scrape down the sides a few times. Should be a creamy mixture.

-Scoop the bean mixture into a mixing bowl and add the chia meal and spices. Stir well to combine.

-To make the patties and/or links, divide the bean mixture into 24 pieces and rolleach piece into a ball and place them onto your baking sheet. If you want patties, gently smash them down onto the tray. If you want a link, roll the ball between your two palms until it is a log shape.

-Bake in the oven for 12 minutes, remove, flip them over, and place back in the oven for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool in pan for a few minutes then enjoy! 

**These can be stored covered in the refrigerator and eaten warm or cold or frozen and re-heated at a later time.

Before Baking

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Equal Exchange Coffee Review

I recently had the opportunity to sample a new product that I thought would be important to share with others- The Equal Exchange Congo Coffee Project coffee blend.

If you're not a coffee drinker, you might enjoy hearing about the project anyways or buy some for someone who is- I'm an occasional coffee drinker myself, but I really feel that if you are going to drink any, this is definitely one of the more important products to support.

First about the project:

A portion of the sales from this coffee is donated to the Panzi Foundation which supports the medical programs of the Panzi Hospital in the D.R. Congo which provides life-saving treatments, counseling and aftercare programs to more than 2,000 survivors of sexual violence each year. You can find more information on this project on their site if you are interested – http://www.equalexchange.coop/congocoffeeproject

From the site: "The challenge for the survivors of sexual violence and women with gynecological conditions to access primary as well as secondary health care remains significant. This is due to factors such as displacement, political insecurity and lack of capacity within the local health structures.  More than 5,000 women were raped in South Kivu alone during 2009, according to the UN."

For every bag of coffee sold, Equal Exchange will donate $2 to the Panzi Foundation.  All of Equal Exchange's products are fairly traded from small farmers, making this a great company to support.

So now the what is the coffee all about??! 
I really loved this coffee.  It is a blend of East African Coffees that is smooth and balanced, with rich chocolate, sweet vanilla, brown spices and a hint of fresh berry.  One of the things that bothers me about a lot of coffees is that either they are too weak or too bitter if they're strong. This blend was able to  remain bold without that bitter taste- it was smooth and rich and was able to hold its own without any cream or sugar added. My husband was a big fan of it as well and said that it was definitely one of the best coffees he has had!

To prepare it we ground the whole beans and brewed it in the french press. One day we even made mochas with it using a little So Delicious Chocolate Coconut Milk drink!

Thank you to Mambo Sprouts for providing me with the opportunity to learn more about this great company and its efforts! 

 

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Egg & Grain Free Pumpkin Spice Muffins - Gluten free/Egg Free/Dairy Free/Soy Free

Since I have gone egg free, I've reallynoticed how difficult it is to find good baked recipes without eggs in it. Ithink the flavor is still quite good in eggless desserts, but most of the timethey lack the fluffy texture that an egg can provide. I'm actuallyquite happy with the way that these pumpkin muffins turned out - they have agood texture and were easy to make. The cashew-date frosting is totallyoptional, but adds a nice bonus and can move the muffin from breakfast todessert :)

I ground my own almond flour for thisrecipe, so it had some larger bits of almond in it which I like- you can alwaysadd some nuts into yours if you like the extra crunch.

I am also submitting this recipe to the"OurSpunky Holiday" roundup.

Egg Free Pumpkin Spice Muffins
(gluten free, dairy free, soy free, grainfree, egg free)

2 Tbsp ground Organic Chia Seed meal
2 Tbsp Organic Flaxseed Meal
5 Tbsp boiling water

1 can organic pumpkin puree (15 oz/425g)
1/2 cup honey
1 cup coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup Organic Coconut Flour
1/2 cup almond flour (I ground my ownhere)
1/2 cup tapioca or arrowroot flour
1 tsp cinnamon
3 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp sea salt
1.5 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp baking powder

1. Preheat your oven to 350*F and grease your muffin pans (I made 12 large and 12 mini with this recipe)
2. In your mixing bowl add the boiled water to the flax and chia meals (grind your chia first and then measure). Mix well then allow to gel for about 5 minutes while you assemble your dry ingredients.
3. In a small bowl whisk together all of the dry ingredients and set aside.
4. Add the coconut oil and vanilla to the flax/chia combo and blend well (the heat of the water should melt it if your coconut oil is still solid)
5. Add in your dry ingredients and blend just until incorporated, stopping once to scrape the bottom and sides with a spatula
6. Pour into your muffin tins and bake for approximately 40 minutes.
7. Remove from oven when the muffins are dark and look firm. Test with a toothpick, but it will still be a bit gooey.

**Allow yourMuffins to cool on a wire rack! I enjoyed them warm, but they will stillseem like they're not cooked if you don't let them fully cool. Store onthe counter for up to 2 days or in the fridge- it will get a little harder ifrefrigerated. Top with cashew-date frosting if you like once cooled (seebelow).

Cashew-Date Frosting

1 cup raw cashews
3 dates
3 Tbsp coconut oil
Soak your cashews over night or in boilingwater (covered) for an hour or two. In another small bowl, your foodprocessor or blender bowl cover your halved dates with boiling water. Let soakuntil soft. Pour out the soaking water and reserve for later ifneeded. Blend the dates, cashews, and coconut oil until creamy. If youneed a bit more water to blend, add some of the date water. Place inrefrigerator just until chilled and then pipe or spread onto muffins.
Enjoy!

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