Author Archives: PajamaLiving

Vegan Veggin’: Chickpea Curry

dairy free, egg free, gluten free, low fat, nut/peanut free, reduced refined sugar, soy free Leave a comment

“Life should be more than simply surviving successfully….”

For anyone keeping track, my usual every two to three weeks posts have not appeared for the past six weeks. Unexpected events pushed aside time I might have used to post. Some were unplanned but pleasant surprises such as an opportunity to write a song and create a video, a blast of inspiration for a new play, a push to apply for a writing fellowship, bookings for eight workshops in eight weeks, trips to see family and do college touring with my middle child. Others were not as welcomed occurrences. Friends and friends’ children struggling with depression and needing support, making time to visit a special family friend who may not be with us on this earth much longer, our oldest wrestling with issues requiring parental wisdom, extra responsibilities because of difficulties in the lives of others, our middle child being in a car accident.

Last night, a friend asked if I wanted to cancel and reschedule a get-together we had planned a couple of months ago for this coming week with a group of moms I know.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because there’s so much going on for you right now. You’re just trying to survive, aren’t you?”

“No, no I’m not,” I said.

And it’s true. I don’t believe in survival mode. The more difficult life is, the more likely I am to get together with a friend for lunch, take my son on a trip to a museum, go out to dinner as a family, dance with my daughter in the living room, or help a friend with a book edit even though someone might argue my time would be better spent elsewhere.

Life is short, and life can turn on a dime. I’ve been to enough funerals to attest to both facts, and I have now had two of my three children in car accidents which could have taken them from me without any warning. Life is not meant to be survived. It is meant to be lived. Every minute, every day, because you don’t know what you’ll have for time.

And that may be why I invest so much of my time helping people with their food issues. Physical necessity dictates not only that we have to eat but that we need to do so at regular intervals throughout the day. This means part of our “living” time is thinking about what to eat, making what we’ll eat, and eating. So, food, too, should not just be about surviving but about enjoyment and benefit, just like everything else we do in and with our lives.

This year my oldest decided she would become vegan, and recently my husband’s sister’s family decided to do the same. For my daughter, eating vegan means doing her part to make the world a better place to live. For my brother-in-law and nephews and niece, it’s about embracing a better, healthier lifestyle. For both, they are making choices to live lives which are not just about surviving but about being happy with the decisions they make about what to eat.

Given my dairy allergies and my son’s egg allergies as a child, a lot of what I make was already vegan, but I’ve begun experimenting with more recipes of late to expand my repertoire. Last month I made a vegan chickpea curry which the family really liked and which is so easy because it just cooks in the crock pot. I will share it below.

Chickpea Curry

Ingredients:

Two 16 cans no salt, no sugar chickpeas, drained and rinsed (you can save the liquid and use the aquafaba as an egg substitute or to make meringues or mousse or another recipe)

16 oz package thawed frozen cauliflower

16 oz package thawed frozen carrots

20 oz package thawed frozen chopped butternut squash

16 oz package frozen chopped kale

10 oz package frozen chopped red peppers

1 tsp olive oil

1 tbsp minced garlic

1-3 tbsp curry powder (if you like your curry very mild, use the smaller amount; if you like a stronger flavor, use 2 or 3 tbsp)

2 tsp paprika

one 14 oz can of petite diced no salt no sugar tomatoes

one 14 oz can of coconut milk or 1 1/2 cup preferred other type of vegan milk

1/4 cup gluten free flour

Cooking Instructions:

  1. In a 6 quart crock pot mix together the chickpeas, cauliflower, carrots, squash, peppers and kale.
  2. In a shallow pan, heat the olive oil for a minute, then add the garlic, curry powder, and paprika. Heat for a minute, stirring continually.
  3. Add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer, about 3-5 minutes.
  4. Add the “milk” and bring to a slow boil.
  5. Stir in 1/4 cup flour and whisk well, stirring continually until the mixture is smooth and begins to thicken.
  6. Pour the sauce over the ingredients in the crock pot and blend well.
  7. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or high for 3 to 4.
  8. Serve by itself or with rice or with bread.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creative Cooking: Partial Chocolate Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

dairy free, egg free, gluten free, nut/peanut free, soy free Leave a comment

“I told him you could probably do it….”

Last week on the drive home from church, my son told me that he’d told his Sunday School leader that I could probably make banana muffins for his group this week but that I needed to confirm for the leader that I could.

“Of course,” I said. After all banana muffins aren’t all that difficult.

Well, lesson learned: Always make sure to get all the facts before you agree to anything! It turned out that among all the boys in my son’s group, there were allergies to nuts, peanuts, wheat, eggs, soy, and dairy. The allergies wouldn’t be that difficult, given what I do, which is to make allergy friendly baked goods. But then I learned that one boy doesn’t like banana chunks; another boy will only eat chocolate muffins; a third prefers chocolate chips in a muffin versus being completely chocolate; and a fourth has to limit his sugar intake because it makes him bounce off the walls.

Any other person might have decided that there was no way to accommodate everyone, but I was determined to not be that person. So, I went to work….

Removing chunky bananas was easy. I simply pureed the bananas and no chunks! To make the muffins gluten free, I used Cup4Cup whole grain gluten free mix which was also dairy, nut and soy free. To replace the eggs, I only needed to increase the baking soda and use vinegar because the bananas would act as a binder, so we only needed to help it rise. For the liquid ingredients, I used safflower oil instead of butter and water instead of a milk product or substitute which would have had soy or nuts. In place of the sugar, I used Agave which allowed me to use only 1/3 the amount that the recipe would have called for sugar.

The question I was left with was how best to make a muffin that was chocolatey enough for the one boy but not too much for the other. After pondering for a while, I hit upon a solution. I stirred Enjoy Life allergy friendly mini chocolate chips into the dry ingredients and then poured boiling water on top before adding the wet ingredients and the vinegar. The result was that the hot water began to partially melt the chips which turned the batter chocolately but not completely so and left enough chips intact for the muffins to be banana chocolate chip muffins.

The result seemed to be a hit.

Partial Chocolate Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cup pureed ripe bananas (I needed four)

1/2 cup safflower oil

1/2 cup Agave

3 cups gluten free flour blend (I used Cup4Cup whole grain dairy, nut, soy free blend)

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

10 oz package Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips

3/4 cup boiling water

2 tbsp vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)

Baking Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 24 muffin tins with liners.
  2. Mix the pureed bananas with the oil and agave. Set aside.
  3. Blend together the gluten free flour blend, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
  4. Stir in the mini chocolate chips.
  5. Pour the boiling water on top of the dry ingredients.
  6. Pour the wet ingredients on top of the boiling water.
  7. Add the vinegar and then stir until the dry ingredients are completely moistened. Your batter will turn chocolately but a majority of the chips will remain intact.
  8. Divide the batter evenly among the 24 tins. The tins will be filled to the top.
  9. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the muffins have risen, are firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  10. Enjoy!

 

 

 

Healthy Habits: Coconut

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coconut-cake

“But it was scary and bad….”

Last week my high school daughter and I had a rather unpleasant experience. I had pulled into a parking spot behind another car near the seamstress who was going to alter my prom dress from almost 30 years ago for my daughter to wear to her prom this coming May. As we were getting out of the car, the gentleman who had been sitting in the car ahead of us, got out of his car and starting screaming profanities at me, shouting that I had hit his car.

We hadn’t hit his car, hadn’t even come close to his car, and as he pointed to his pristine, perfect-condition car and yelled, “Look at that damage you’ve done, you !@#$%,” I realized he clearly wasn’t in his right mind at that moment. Whether from a mental illness or substance abuse or something else entirely, I didn’t know, but I tried to reason with him until it became clear that he simply wasn’t going to stop cursing and screaming at me.

While this was happening, my daughter had begun to cry, and another gentleman who had been going into the apartment complex near the seamstress had come over and was acting as a shield between her and the driver, trying to help me to calm the man down. As time progressed, the man started becoming more profane and wouldn’t let me pass which brought the female owner of a nearby store out, who joined the gentleman from the apartment complex in now shielding both me and my daughter from the man.

Eventually the driver walked away into a nearby shop, and the man and the woman who had come to our aid, tried to soothe my daughter and made sure we made it safely to the seamstress’ store without any further issues. They both then stayed outside the shop door until the driver came out of the store he had been in and got into his car and drove away. After, they came into the seamstress’ store, let us know that he was gone, and asked if we were okay and if there was anything else they could do for us.

While all this was happening, my daughter had continually been crying and even after we began the fitting, she continued to cry, unable to stop. As we finished up the fitting, I pulled her into a hug, kissed her forehead and told her that she was safe, and everything was okay and that she needed to pull herself together. Her response was, “But it was so scary and bad, Mom. I don’t understand why you aren’t upset, too.”

“Because it wasn’t scary and bad to me,” I said. And it hadn’t been. For me, I had become angry because the man had frightened my daughter, but at no point had I feared that the man would become physical, and even if he had, we had been given protection in the form of two brave, kindhearted people who thought nothing of coming to the aid of strangers because it was the right thing to do. I pointed out to my daughter that what she saw as bad, I saw as positive proof that while bad things do happen in the world, there are also good people who do good things which we need to make sure to recognize and embrace and be grateful for.

Strangely, seeing the good in something seemingly bad is applicable to coconut. For the longest time, coconut was branded as bad for you because of its high fat content. In recent years, however, research has shown that coconut actually helps to lower bad cholesterol, is high in fiber and vitamins A and E, and may help the brain to better utilize glucose. This has led to a surge in uses of coconut oil, coconut milk, and coconut meat.

For folks with dairy allergies, coconut milk an be a good substitute for milk products, provided you don’t have an allergy to coconut or an overlapping issue due to tree nut allergies. For folks who want to cut back on products like butter, coconut oil works well as a substitute. For folks who simply like the nutty taste of coconut, adding shredded coconut meat to foods like oatmeal and cakes adds some of those nutritional benefits I mentioned above.

For a recent baking workshop I did, I experimented with making a coconut cake. I wanted something which wasn’t the traditional version of coconut cake which uses sugared, sweetened shredded coconut and a lot of sugar in both the cake and frosting. So, I opted to make a spiced coconut-pineapple bundt cake which wouldn’t need frosting and which would allow the taste of coconut to rise to forefront. Folks at the workshop loved it, so I am posting it below.

It uses finely shredded unsweetened coconut as well as coconut sugar for its sweetener. For folks unfamiliar with coconut sugar, it’s made from coconut which contains the fiber of its meat and therefore has a very low glycemic index level. It’s a nice replacement for sugar because it works just like sugar and folks can easily substitute one for one in a recipe, though I use half the amount because I don’t like foods to be overly sweet. If you do like things sweeter, you may want to increase the amount of either coconut sugar or agave which is used in the recipe below. I also used liquid egg whites in this recipe because there were folks attending the workshop who were watching their cholesterol but if you don’t have any health issues like that, I’d recommend using whole eggs because it makes for a moister cake and holds it together slightly better than just using the whites.

What is pictured above is the plain cake as it was cooling. For the workshop, I drizzled a tiny bit of a homemade gluten, dairy free vanilla glaze and sprinkled some additional coconut on top to give it a prettier presentation.

Coconut Pineapple Bundt Cake

Ingredients:

Shredded unsweetened coconut (amount depends on how much your bundt pan needs)

2 cups of your favorite gluten free flour blend

1/2 cup gluten free oat flour

1/2 cup gluten free millet flour

1 cup coconut sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cardamom

1/2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

20 oz can of crushed pineapple in 100% juice

2 cups finely shredded unsweetened coconut

1 cup safflower oil

1/2 cup agave

3/4 cup liquid egg whites or 3 whole eggs

2 tsp gluten free vanilla

2 tbsp vinegar

Baking Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 12 in bundt pan with your preferred method.  I used vegan butter. Then “flour” the pan with unsweetened finely shredded coconut to cover the pan entirely.
  2. Mix together the gluten free flour blend, oat flour, millet flour, coconut sugar, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
  3. In another bowl, mix together the crushed pineapple with its juices, the unsweetened shredded coconut, safflower oil, agave, egg whites and vanilla.
  4. Add the wet mixture to the dry with the vinegar and mix just until the dry ingredients are fully moistened.
  5. Carefully fill the bundt pan evenly all around. The pan will be full.
  6. Bake in the preheated oven until the Bundt has risen, is golden, and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  I checked mine at 50 minutes and it needed about another 10 and finished with 60 minutes of baking.
  7. Remove the cake to a wire rack and allow it to cool for at least 15-25 minutes before releasing it from the pan and allowing it to cool completely on the wire rack.

 

Healthy Habits: Aquafaba

dairy free, egg free, gluten free, informational, lesson, low fat, nut/peanut free, reduced refined sugar, soy free 2 Comments

website souffles

“What?”

I travel to libraries to give workshops on allergy friendly and healthier baking. Last weekend, at a workshop, I spoke with a group of about 30, and I received an email this week with a follow up question about aquafaba.

If you have not heard about the new rage, aquafaba, it’s apparently the words for water and beans and refers to the liquid you find in a can of chick peas or after you cook dry chick peas.  The chemistry of the liquid is yet to be determined but what is known is that it makes for a wonderful egg and dairy substitute. You can whip it like eggs to make meringues or replace eggs in baked goods or mayo or waffles and more.  You can whip it like heavy cream to replace dairy in whipped cream, mousse, or ice cream and more.

For my workshops, I always bring samples so folks will know that I’m telling the truth about being able to “have your cake and eat it, too”, and I try to provide a variety of desserts which are gluten, dairy, nut, peanut, soy and egg free. Depending on the season, the particular items I bake vary. For this workshop, I made meringues with the aquafaba and a chocolate cream pie with an aquafaba topping so folks could see how the aquafaba worked as both an egg and a heavy cream substitute.

The participant in the workshop who had emailed me did so because she was looking for the meringue recipe which wasn’t actually on this site. So, I’m remedying that situation by including it below. *grin* I’m also including some other tips for how you can use aquafaba in recipes.

Tips for using aquafaba:

  1. Purchase no salt, no sugar added versions of the chick peas if you are using canned chick peas. This helps you to control the sodium and sugar levels. You simply drain the liquid into a bowl and use your chick peas for another recipe at another time. If you prefer to use dry beans, soak them until doubled in size, bring the water to a boil, then simmer until the beans are soft. Drain the liquid into a bowl for your use and save the chick peas for another recipe.
  2. To use the aquafaba as a regular egg sustitute, simply measure out 1/4 cup per egg needed and whisk the egg with a fork just until frothy. Then use in your recipe as you would an egg. Works well for baked goods and French toast.
  3. To use the aquafaba as eggs which need to be whipped for angel food cake or Belgium waffles, start with room temperature aquafaba, add between 1/4 to 1/2 tsp cream of tartar and whip with the whisk handle of your mixer until stiff peaks form (as pictured above). Fold into your mixtures are indicated in your recipes.
  4. If you want to whip the aquafaba for a meringue topping or meringue cookies or to use as a whipped cream topping or as a substitute for heavy cream in ice cream, when you add the cream of tartar to the room temperature liquid, you should also add your sweetener at the same time. If you try to fold in the sweetener after you’ve whipped the aquafaba, it will deflate and soften. I find that powdered sugar works the best because it’s the lightest weight. Depending on how sweet you like your foods, 1/2 cup to 1 cup of powdered sugar per 15 oz can of liquid works well for most recipes. After you have added both the cream of tartar and powdered sugar, then you can whip the aquafaba to the desired stiffness. It’s best to check if the sweetness is to your liking when soft peaks have begun to form so you can add more if needed before you reach the stiff peak stage.

How to Make Aquafaba Meringues:

To make the aquafaba meringues you simply need a 15 oz can of chickpeas.  Drain the liquid into your mixing bowl and put the chickpeas in the fridge for another use.   Add at least 1/4 tsp and up to 1/2 tsp of cream of tartar.  Then add powdered sugar to your liking.  Start with 1/2 cup to 1 cup of powdered sugar. You can always add more later if you find it’s not sweet enough for you. Add 1 tsp of vanilla alone or with 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder if you want vanilla or chocolate flavor.

After you’ve put everything into your mixer, use the wire whisk handle to whip the aquafaba until it looks like the picture above.  It usually doesn’t take very long.  (When the peaks are still soft, check the sweetness to see if you need to add any more before whipping to stiff peaks.)

After it’s whipped to stiff peaks, put some into a gallon zip lock bag and snip off the end.  Preheat your oven to 250 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using the ziplock bag, pipe meringues onto the parchment paper.  I usually make them about tablespoon size. I also like to make the meringues pretty by sprinkling a mixture of unsweetened cocoa powder and powder sugar on top of each meringue before putting them into the oven.

Once you’ve filled the cookie sheet with your meringues, pop them into the oven and bake them for at least an hour.  Then check them.  When they are done, they’ll be hard and dry.  If they’re not quite done, cook them longer for 15 minutes at a time until they are.  (If you make them tablespoon size, they’ll be done after an hour.  If you made them larger, they may take more time.)

Once they’re done, turn off the oven and let them cool in the oven for half an hour.  Then take them out and let them cool completely on a wire cooling rack.  When you go to take them off the parchment paper after they’ve cooled, carefully lift them off and place them into a tupperware, using parchment paper or plastic wrap to layer them.  They’ll keep for a good while in the tupperware.

Valentine Greetings: Chocolate Surprise Cupcakes

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choc-surprise-cupcakes

“Yay! Another snow day!”

After a winter of warm days and relatively little snow, Mother Nature decided that we needed three feet to fall within a week and a half. My middle child is vexed that the three tests she was supposed to have had a week ago still have not been administered due to two snow days and three start of school delays. My oldest and youngest, however, have been thrilled for the extra time to hang out in dorms with no classes (my oldest at college) and to play at home with the family (my youngest in middle school).

As a family, we’ve made use of the snowbound time to catch up on the never-ending t0-do list and to spend time together since the youngest really wanted us to play with him. Many hours sledding in our backyard, playing board games, competing on the Wii, and watching reruns of old shows left the family in the mood for something “special” to eat.

Since Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, we decided to make some Chocolate Surprise Cupcakes, one of the family’s favorites. You make a chocolate raspberry center which you tuck into the cupcake batter so when you eat it, you enjoy a nice creamy flavor surprise.  What’s nice about this recipe is that it’s free of most foods folks tend to be allergic to, so just about anyone can enjoy them.

Chocolate Surprise Cupcakes

Filling Ingredients:

1 cup Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips

2 tbsp Polaner’s seedless raspberry All-Fruit

2 tbsp Earth Balance vegan, soy free butter

Cooking Instructions:

  1. In a microwave safe large glass container, place all three ingredients and microwave for 1 minute. Stir until the mixture is completely smooth.
  2. Place the container in the refrigerator and let the mixture cool and begin to thicken. It can take anywhere from 10-30 minutes, depending on how hot your microwave makes the chocolate, how exact your measuring is, etc…. What you want is for the mixture to be thick enough when you spoon it that you can mound the chocolate onto a cookie sheet.
  3. When the chocolate has thickened enough to form little mounds, place a piece of wax paper on a cookie sheet and create 24 chocolate mounds using a teaspoon to scoop out the chocolate mixture. You essentially are making a little “hershey kiss” of your own.
  4. Once you have 24 more or less equally sized chocolate mounds, put them into the fridge to harden while you make the cupcake batter.

Cupcake Ingredients:

3 cups favorite gluten free flour blend

1/2 cup unsweetened Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder

3 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup agave

3/4 cup safflower oil

2 cups water

2 tsp vanilla

3 tbsp vinegar

Baking Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 24 cupcake tins with cupcake liners.
  2. Mix the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt well and set aside.
  3. Mix the agave, oil, water, and vanilla and add to the dry ingredients with the vinegar. Mix well until the dry ingredients are moistened.
  4. Put 1 1/2 tbsp of batter into each of the 24 cupcake tins.
  5. Carefully peel and place one of the chocolate raspberry mounds into the center of each of the cupcake tins.
  6. Divide the remaining batter evenly among the cupcake tins (about 1 1/12 tbsp) to cover the chocolate mounds.
  7. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes. The cupcakes will be rounded, firm to the touch, and a toothpick inserted into the center will come out clean. My oven always bakes them in 15 minutes but a friend said hers took 20.
  8. Let the cupcakes sit in the tins for 5 minutes. Then remove them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
  9. Frost with your favorite frosting recipe or use the one below is one I’ve adapted from Elana’s Pantry.

Frosting Ingredients:

1 cup Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips

1/2 cup avocado oil

2 tbsp agave

2 tsp vanilla

your preference of “milk”

Cooking Instructions:

  1. Mix the chips, oil, and agave together in a microwave safe glass container.
  2. Heat the chips for 1 minute. Stir. If it needs to be heated more, do so 20 seconds at a time until you can stir the chips smooth.
  3. Add the vanilla and stir well.
  4. Transfer the mixture to your mixer bowl.
  5. Put into the freezer until the mixture begins to hard around the edges but is still softer in the center.  This can take between 15 to 30 minutes.
  6. Using your mixer, blend the chocolate mixture on high speed until the mixture becomes thick and smooth. You may need to scrape down the sides a couple of times.
  7. Add “milk”, a teaspoon at a time until the mixture is to the creamy consistency you prefer for frosting your cupcakes.

 

Healthy Habits: Tofu

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“The parts all contribute to the whole.”

As a drama director my job is to help folks bring every aspect of a character to life. Some excel at body language. Others mimic voices well. Most know how to speak with emotion but not always how to use facial expressions to enhance the emotion. When I work with folks, I get questions like, “But I sound just like an old lady. Isn’t that enough?” Or “What difference does it make how I walk?” And then I have to explain that every aspect of a character – how they speak, walk, dress, gesture – has to be spot on for the audience to believe in the illusion we are creating.

When I received an email this week from a wife who wants to get her husband to eat more tofu, I thought about the types of illusions created by food and cooking. Restaurant chefs learn how to garnish plated food artistically because “beautiful” food is better tasting. Right? Not necessarily but the illusion is created and our brains believe it, so our palate does too… sometimes. *grin* When we’re sad or upset, and we eat, it’s because somewhere along the line the illusion was created that “comfort” food is comforting. And sometimes it is, but most of the times it just makes us fat. *wry grin*

That doesn’t mean all illusions are bad, though, when it comes to food. For food like tofu, creating illusions is precisely what helps when a wife wants her husband to eat more of it so he can live a longer, healthier life. *grin* When one’s husband really wants a meat chili, what can you do to get his brain to believe in the satisfaction of a tofu chili instead? If he wants chicken in his stir fry, how can you make tofu an acceptable substitute?

The answer lies in the parts contributing to the whole. For example, what makes chili taste like chili? It’s the spices and the traditional add-in’s. Almost every chili recipe calls for chili powder or actual chili peppers. Most include onions and peppers, regardless of whatever else is also added. So, the key is to infuse all the part of a tofu chili with the flavoring which your taste buds associate with a chili. The other important factor in chili is the texture. People are particular about chili – that’s why you see all the debates about chunks of meat versus ground meat and meat only versus meat with beans. So, you have to mimic the texture of the type of chili you’re trying to substitute tofu into. I have a recipe below which I use which a lot of folks have liked in the past.

Another example of how to create illusions with tofu is baked tofu recipes. Commonly folks will substitute tofu in a stir fry or recipe by simply adding chopped tofu instead of chicken or beef. The problem is that folks were expecting a “meaty” taste and texture, but plain tofu is not going to supply that. Baked tofu, however, does. When tofu is baked, it becomes crispy on the outside and meaty, chewy in the center, the way beef and chicken can be. It’s obviously not the exact same, but if you flavor the tofu as you would the beef or chicken in a stir fry, you’ll find that the brain can buy into the substitution. Below I’ve pasted in some tips for making baked tofu.

Crockpot Tofu Chili

Ingredients:

2 cups chopped kale

2 cups sweet white corn

1/2 cup chopped onions

1 1/2 cup chopped peppers (I like to mix red, yellow and green for color)

2 cups chopped butternut squash

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp ground chili powder

1/2 tsp ground cumin

28 ounce no salt added diced tomatoes

16 oz can drained, rinsed no salt added dark red kidney beans

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp ground chili powder

1/2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp olive oil

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground chili powder

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp ground onion powder

2 14-16 ounce extra firm tofu

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground chili powder

1 tsp minced garlic

Cooking Instructions:

  1. Mix the kale, corn, onions, peppers, and squash with the garlic, chili powder, and cumin in a 6 cup crockpot.
  2. In a bowl mix the tomatoes and beans with the garlic, cumin and chili powder and then add them to the vegetable mixture in the crockpot.
  3. In a large pan, saute the olive oil with the cumin, chili powder, garlic and onion powder for about 30 seconds. Using your hands crumble the tofu into the pan so that they are in large chunks that look like ground meat. Mix the tofu into the hot seasonings well and saute until the water has evaporated out of the tofu mixture. Add to the mixture in the crockpot.
  4. Mix all the ingredients with the final dashes of cumin, chili powder and garlic. Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours.
  5. NOTE:  If you do not cook out all the water from the tofu, the chili will become watery. If that happens, simply use a spoon to scoop out the excess water and then remix your chili.

Tips for Making Baked Tofu:

  1. The tofu: Make sure you are using at least firm tofu. Extra or super firm is best.
  2. The seasonings: You can use whatever you want. Soy sauce, sesame oil, herbs, spices, pesto, black pepper, bottled sauces, whatever you like. You want to make sure to completely coat your tofu cubes well before you begin to bake them. If you use something like minced garlic, you should add that to the tofu later in the baking time so the minced garlic doesn’t burn. If you want to use a sauce, you can toss the tofu with oil and bake it and then toss them with the sauce after they’re done as opposed to before you bake them.
  3. Oil: Baked tofu works best if you have a little bit of fat to help with the crisping. I prefer to use oil. You can use olive oil or sesame oil or a nut oil or another plant oil… it all depends on the flavor you want and the seasonings you want to complement. Toss the tofu in the oil before tossing them with the seasoning you want to use.
  4. Shape: Cut the tofu into cubes for best baking. I like 1 inch cubes.
  5. Oven: 350 degrees is a good temperature to slowly bake the moisture out of the tofu and to create a crispy exterior.
  6. Baking Sheet: The best way to bake tofu is on a cookie sheet lined with parchment. It helps to absorb the moisture without causing the tofu to stick and allows the heat to reach all sides of the tofu.
  7. The baking: It’s good to place the tofu in a single layer and to turn them over at some point so the bottom side gets some of the circulating heat on it. The time will vary, depending on how watery your tofu is and how many you have on a sheet. Some tofu will be done in 15 minutes, others can take 30 minutes or longer. Some recipes will tell you to toss the tofu in cornstarch. This helps to reduce the moisture which can cut down on the time in the oven and can create a crispier texture. Other recipes will tell you to place items on top of the tofu to squeeze out the extra moisture before baking. This can cut down on the time, too. I never do that because I have no problem with baking the tofu a little longer while I do have issues with too many steps and the risk of squashing my tofu so I can’t have my neat little cubes.

Healthy Habits: Orange Cranberry Muffins and Pancakes

dairy free, gluten free, nut/peanut free, reduced refined sugar, soy free Leave a comment

“Of course you’re sick….”

It never fails. A day or two into our holiday break, one of the children or my husband starts sniffling and coughing. Then one by one, they all fall victim and within three to five days all four are sick. The same thing happens during the February winter break. The adrenaline which keeps their immune system pumping through the semesters seems to slow down, and their bodies’ immune systems drop their defenses. Fortunately, over the years, my body appears to have become immune to their sicknesses so 98% of the time now, I’m healthy as I nurse them as opposed to the earlier years where I was sick as a dog, too, but had to be the mom who took care of everyone else!

While everyone is sick, I’m always trying to find ways to get more good nutrients like vitamin C into them. One of the ways they prefer is when I make foods which have ingredients high in vitamins and minerals. Oranges and cranberries are both good for the immune system so I’ve created muffin and pancake recipes which the family likes to eat.

To help boost the “good” in the muffins and pancakes I use high fiber, high protein flours and add both orange juice and cranberries. I freeze fresh whole cranberries in the freezer in two cup bags which I can just pull out when I need them, and I keep unsweetened frozen orange juice concentrate in the freezer as well. For both recipes, I use the frozen cranberries and orange juice concentrate as is without any thawing.

Enjoy!

Orange Cranberry Pankcakes

(These make a lot: enough for a family of five with leftovers for the school week

so if you don’t want that many make half the recipe instead.)

Ingredients:

4 cups milk of choice (cow, soy, flax, etc…)

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/3 cup vegan soy free butter

1 tbsp safflower oil (or canola or grapeseed or sunflower or other type you prefer)

2 cups cranberries (fresh or frozen, not dried)

1/2 cup unsweetened orange juice concentrate (frozen is fine)

1/2 cup Agave

2 eggs (or 2 tbsp ground flaxseed mixed with 6 tbsp water or 1/2 cup aquafaba*)

4 cups of your favorite high fiber, high protein gluten free flour blend **

1 tsp salt

5 tsp baking powder

Cooking Instructions:

  1. Preheat a pancake griddle to 350 and grease with preferred method. If using a pan, don’t warm the pan until you’re ready to cook the pancakes and cook the pancakes on medium heat.
  2. Mix the milk with the lemon juice and set aside.
  3. Melt the butter in a microwave for a few seconds and mix it with the oil. Set aside.
  4. In a food processor, chop up the cranberries with the orange juice concentrate and agave. Stir in the milk and the butter with the two eggs. Set aside.
  5. Mix the flour with the salt and baking powder.
  6. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix just until everything is moistened and the batter begins to bubble a bit.
  7. Use a 1/4 cup to pour batter onto the prepared griddle. When the pancake edges are dry and the pancake batter begins to pop little bubbles, turn them over and cook a minute on the other side to complete the pancake.
  8. If making a lot of pancakes to store for the week, put them in single layers on a cooling rack to cool completely before putting them into the fridge. To keep warm for eating, put the pancakes on an oven proof plate in the oven on the lowest temperature setting.

Notes: *Aquafaba is the liquid from a can of chickpeas. To substitute for eggs, use 1/4 cup per egg and whisk until frothy (foamy but still clear and not white like a meringue.)

** See Food FAQs under Ingredients to see some recipes for GF blends https://pajamaliving.com/flour/

Orange Cranberry Muffins

Ingredients:

2 cups cranberries (fresh or frozen, not dried)

1/2 cup unsweetened orange juice concentrate (frozen is fine)

1/2 cup Agave

1 cup milk of choice (cow, soy, flax, etc….)

1/2 cup sorghum flour

1/2 cup quinoa flour

1 cup tapioca starch

1 cup potato starch

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cloves

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1/2 cup vegan soy free butter

1/2 cup Agave

2 eggs

Baking Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 cupcake liners in muffin tins or grease the muffin tins with your preferred method.
  2. In a food processor, chop up the cranberries with the orange juice concentrate and agave. Stir in the milk and set aside.
  3. Mix together the sorghum flour, quinoa flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, baking powder, salt, cloves, cinnamon and xanthan gum. Set aside.
  4. Cream the vegan butter with mixer. Scrape down the sides. Slowly add the agave, mixing on low until the butter is creamy.
  5. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing the first in well before adding the second.
  6. Scrape down the sides and add the dry ingredients alternately with the cranberry milk mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, scraping down the side as needed.
  7. Fill the cupcake liners evenly with the batter (will be about 3/4 full).
  8. Bake for 15 minutes until cupcakes are puffed, golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  9. Cool muffins on a wire cooling rack.

Happy New Year: Chocolate Torte

dairy free, egg free, gluten free, Holidays, nut/peanut free, reduced refined sugar, soy free Leave a comment

mint-torte

“It’s great! You get to choose….”

When I was a child in the ’70s, a new type of story was filling the market. It was a story book where you got to choose what happened. You’d be introduced to the characters and a situation but then you’d reach the end of the first chapter where you were told to choose which action then would happen. If you chose one, you’d be sent to a certain page. If you chose the other, you’d turn to another page. When you had finished whichever chapter you chose, you were given another set of choices, and this continued until you reached the end of the book.

For a young reader it was a fun way to extend the adventures in the book because you could keep reading the same book over and over, making different choices each time for a completely new story.

As an adult, I love the complexities of life which are subtly shown by this “pick the next action” type of storytelling. Our lives are made up of little daily decisions which lead to other little decisions, to regrets, to rewards, to joys, to sorrows, to bigger choices, to serious consequences, to surprises… and there are times when we wish we could go back and make another choice, and other times when we are grateful we made the choices we did.

New Year’s is usually a time when we find ourselves thinking back upon the choices of the year which just passed and thinking about the decisions we’ll need to make for the new year to come. For most, our years are a mixture of both good and bad, and New Year’s is when we think about how to make more good in the year to come. The truth, though, is that every minute of every day, all year long, is an opportunity because we continually are writing our life stories with every decision, every thought, every word, every action we pursue.

So, as we begin 2017, I invite and encourage you to consider the choices you’ll make for a healthier, happier you. Whatever the choices you make in 2017, my hope and prayer for you is that the new year will be filled with much light, much love, and much laughter.

And in the spirit of choices, I give you a recipe for a chocolate torte which allows you to choose how you want to make it to fit your particular dietary needs and preferences. You can make the cake layers plain chocolate, minty chocolate, almond chocolate or fruity chocolate. You can make the filling any of the same flavors and in a variety of ways. You can top it any way that you want.  You can make it gluten, dairy, nut, soy, egg or all of the above free. It’s your choice!

Happy New Year!

Chocolate Torte

Cake Layer Ingredients for You to Choose:

2 cups flour (favorite gluten free blend or whole wheat)

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (natural unsweetened or special dark)

1 to 2 cups sweetener (2 cups sugar or 2 cups coconut sugar or 1 cup agave)

3 tsp leavener (2 tsp baking soda and 1 tsp baking powder for gluten free flour or 1 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1 1/2 tsp baking powder for wheat flour)

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup binder (2 whole eggs or 1/2 cup liquid egg whites or 2 tbsp ground golden flaxseed mixed with 6 tbsp of water or 6 tbsp aquafaba**)

1 cup “milk” (if using wheat flour, any type of milk such as cow, soy, flax, oat, hemp, almond or if using gluten free flour any type of milk such as cow, soy, flax, oat, hemp, almond mixed with 1 tbsp either lemon juice or vinegar to make a buttermilk)

1/2 cup plant oil (safflower or sunflower or grapeseed or canola or light olive oil or a nut oil)

2 tsp extract ( 2 tsp vanilla or 1 tsp vanilla and 1 tsp mint or 1 tsp vanilla and 1 tsp almond or 1 tsp vanilla and 1 tsp orange extract)

1 cup boiling water

1 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice (white distilled vinegar or apple cider vinegar or raspberry vinegar or lemon juice)

Caking Baking Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare four 9 inch cake pans by either lining them with parchment paper or greasing and flouring them or spraying them with Pam spray. Move the racks in your oven so they are evening spaced for putting two cake pans on each rack.
  2. Mix together the flour, cocoa powder, sweetener (if using sugar or coconut sugar), baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
  3. Mix together the binder, “milk”, oil, extract and sweetener (if using agave).
  4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry with the boiling water and the vinegar or lemon juice. Blend just until dry ingredients are moistened.
  5. Divide the batter evening among the four prepared pans. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, switching the cake pans between the two racks halfway through. Cakes will be slightly puffed, pulling away from the edges, and a toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean.
  6. Leave the cake layers in the their pans and allow them to cool on a wire cooling rack.

Note: ** Aquafaba is the liquid from a can of chickpeas. To substitute for eggs, use 1/4 cup per egg and whisk until frothy (foamy but still clear and not white like a meringue.)

Torte Fillings for You to Choose:

Option One Ingredients: A Light Dairy and Egg Free Mousse-like Filling

Liquid from one 15 ounce can of chickpeas

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup dark chocolate or semi sweet chocolate (regular type or Enjoy Life allergen free type)

1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 tsp mint extract or 1 tsp almond extract

Cooking Instructions:

  1. If you have a Kitchen Aid or other heavy duty mixer, use it. Drain the liquid from the can of chickpeas into the mixing bowl. (Use the chickpeas for making hummus or a curry dinner entree or in your salad or for a roasted snack.)
  2. Add the cream of tartar and begin mixing the liquid on low speed, slowly increasing to the highest. As the liquid begins to become frothy and foamy, add the powdered sugar, one tablespoon at a time. Mix until the liquid becomes thick white peaks like an egg meringue.
  3. Put the chocolate pieces into a microwave safe dish for a minute and stir until the pieces are all melted or put the chocolate pieces in a pan over another pan filled with boiling water and heat and stir until the chocolate is all melted.
  4. Add the extract of choice to the chocolate and mix well.
  5. Add a little bit of the chickpea meringue to the chocolate mixture and gently fold it into the chocolate. Then add the chocolate mixture to the bowl of meringue, folding in just a little at a time until all the chocolate has been added and folded into the meringue. Transfer to the fridge to thicken until needed to fill the torte cake layers.

Option Two Ingredients: A Heavier Mousse-like Filling (can be made dairy free)

2 cups of heavy cream or cold coconut cream (put coconut cream into the fridge to cool overnight, turn the can over and open so that the liquid is at the bottom, drain the liquid, and use the cold cream in place of the heavy cream)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract or mint or almond or orange

1/4 cup sugar or 1/4 cup powdered sugar or 1/4 cup coconut sugar or 2 tbsp agave

Cooking Instructions:

  1. Mix the cream with the extract and beat at a high speed until soft peaks begin to form. Add the sweetener of choice, a little at a time, and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Put the whipped filling in the fridge until needed to assemble the torte cake layers.

Option Three Ingredients: A Creamier Filling

5 ounces chocolate pieces (dark or semi-sweet, regular or Enjoy Life)

12 ounce whipped topping, thawed (regular or dairy free coconut version)

8 ounce cream cheese (regular or dairy free soy version)

1 tsp vanilla extract or mint or almond or orange

Cooking Instructions:

  1. Mix the chocolate pieces with 1/2 cup of the whipped topping and microwave 30 to 60 seconds until melted and smooth. (Stir after 30 seconds to see if you need more time.)
  2. In a mixer, whisk the cream cheese until smooth. Add the chocolate mixture and beat well.
  3. Add the remaining whipped topping and blend well. Put into the fridge until needed to assemble the torte cake layers.

Options Four and Five: Thicker Fillings

Make your favorite mousse recipe as a filling or simply your favorite frosting recipe as the filling.

Assembling the Torte:

  1. On a cake platter lay the first cake layer. Spread one third of the filling you chose to make.
  2. Top the filling with the second cake layer and spread the second third of the filling.
  3. Top the filling with the third cake layer and spread the last of the filling.
  4. Place the last cake layer on top.
  5. Choose a topping option to cover the sides and top of the torte.

Topping the Torte:

Option One (which is pictured at the beginning of this post):

Melt dark chocolate or semisweet chocolate chips (regular or Enjoy Life variety) in your microwave and stir until smooth. using a frosting spreader, coat the sides and top of the cake with the melted chocolate in a very think layer. Before the chocolate solidifies, sprinkle the top with chopped chocolate pieces.

Option Two:

Make your favorite frosting recipe and frost the sides and top of the torte.

Option Three:

Make a ganache: Warm 1 cup heavy cream or coconut cream in a microwave just until hot to the touch. Pour over 8 ounces of dark chocolate or semisweet or bittersweet chocolate pieces (regular or Enjoy Life variety) and stir until completely smooth and silky. Allow ganache to cool to a spreadable consistency.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Holiday Happenin’s: Stick Cookies and Cranberry Drops

dairy free, gluten free, Holidays Leave a comment

holiday-cookies

“You’re done already?”

The summer between my sophomore and junior year of high school, a couple of my girlfriends and I decided to host a special dinner for friends of our who had graduated and would be leaving in August for college or boot camp. We spent hours scouring our parents’ cookbooks and one we took out from the library (no google back then!). On the day of the dinner, we worked for just as many hours in the kitchen, prepping, cooking, baking, and cleaning up.

When the guys arrived for dinner, we proudly served all the dishes we had literally slaved over all day long. Imagine our shock when in the time it took us to finish bringing out the entire meal, they had already scarfed down the food! It couldn’t have been more than 10 to 15 minutes from the time they began eating and the time they finished. (Did I mention these were football and baseball players?)

The guys didn’t understand why we were upset. We tried to explain that they hadn’t taken the time to enjoy the food we had spent so much time preparing, but in hindsight, I realize we 16 year old girls were expecting an awful lot from 18 year old boys!

I was reminded of that dinner when I received an email this week asking if there were any holiday cookie recipes which didn’t require all the rolling and cutting and fancy decorating. The mother explained that her children ate the cookies so quickly that the time put into them seemed far and above what one should invest. Remembering that fateful dinner, I understood exactly where this mom was coming from!

For our family, making the rolled sugar and ginger cookies I have on this site is a family tradition, and spending the day as a family, listening to Christmas music and decorating them together is something we enjoy. But for folks who are looking for an easier and shorter way to have family time, I have a couple of cookies which are just perfect.

The first are stick cookies. They are a peppermint candy cookie which you simply roll into a rectangle, cut into sticks and then bake. If you want to decorate them as my children did in the picture, you simply drop a few sprinkles on top and press. Easy, peasy as my son likes to say!

The other is a cranberry cookie which you just roll into a ball and flatten. On its own, it’s a nice, not too sweet cookie. If your children do want to have fun, though, they can roll them in colored sugar as my kids did in the picture before flattening them.

Cranberry Drops

Ingredients:

2 cups favorite gluten free flour blend

1/2 cup millet flour

1/2 cup sorghum flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips

1 cup julienne dried cranberries (If your store doesn’t sell them that way, just chop up regular dried cranberries in a food processor or simply use them whole instead in smaller pieces)

1 cup vegan butter

8 oz Toffuti cream cheese

1/2 cup Agave

2 tsp vanilla

Baking Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  2. Blend together the gluten free flour, millet flour, sorghum flour and salt.
  3. Stir in the chocolate chips and cranberries
  4. Cream the vegan butter until smooth, scraping down the sides.
  5. Add the tofu cream cheese and cream together, scraping down the sides.
  6. Slowly add the agave while the mixer is on low until the mixture is completely blended together, scraping down the sides.
  7. Add the vanilla and mix just until blended.
  8. Add the dry ingredients and mix well.
  9. Form balls made of 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough. If decorating, roll the balls into colored sugar before putting onto the prepared pan. If baking plain, just put onto the prepared pan. For both, flatten the balls a little bit with the bottom of a cup or your clean hands.
  10. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, rotating halfway through the cookie time until the cookies are puffed and firm to the touch.

Stick Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup vegan soy free butter

1 cup coconut sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp peppermint extract

2 cup favorite gluten free flour blend

1/2 cup sorghum flour

1/2 cup millet flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1 cup Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips

1/2 cup crushed peppermint candies

Baking Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  2. Cream the vegan butter until smooth. Add the coconut sugar and mix well, scraping down the sides.
  3. Add the egg, vanilla and peppermint extract. Blend well, scraping down the sides.
  4. Blend together the gluten free flour blend, sorghum flour, millet flour, and baking powder.
  5. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet.
  6. Add the chocolate chips and crushed candies.
  7. Chill the dough for one hour.
  8. On parchment paper sprinkled with flour and using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough into a large rectangle that is 1/4 inch think.
  9. If decorating, put sprinkles on top and gently press them into the dough. Cut the dough into sticks. We usually do one inch by 4 or 5 inches.
  10. Put the cookies onto the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 8 to 10 minutes until puffed and becoming stiff to the touch.
  11. NOTE:  If you want, after pressing in the sprinkles, this dough can be cut into shapes and not just sticks.

Creative Cooking: Brussel Sprout Chocolate Chip Cake

dairy free, gluten free, nut/peanut free, reduced refined sugar, soy free 2 Comments

brussel-sprout-cake

“The secret ingredient is what?”

After one day of Thanksgiving leftovers, my husband is usually ready for something different. So, over the past few days we’ve had a turkey shepherds’ pie (using leftover turkey, some of the roasted carrots and cauliflower, and the mashed potato timbale), turkey-vegetable soup (using leftover turkey, the rest of the roasted carrots and cauliflower, and the leek gravy), stuffing muffins (using leftover stuffing and some of the leftover turkey sausage stuffed mushrooms), cranberry waffles (using leftover whole berry cranberry sauce), cranberry muffins (using leftover cranberry-orange relish), and quiche (using the rest of the leftover turkey sausage stuffed mushrooms).

Yesterday as I was rummaging through the fridge to see what we still had leftover, I found the roasted brussel sprouts which I hadn’t used in any of the above meals. While searching online to see if there might be anything interesting I could use them for, I found a recipe for brussel sprout cake. I was intrigued but a closer look at the multitude of recipes — which I discovered to actually be the same two recipes just remade by many, many people — revealed a lot which I didn’t like about the cake.

One was simply that the cake seemed to be a variation of a fruit cake recipe, only with vegetables added, so the bake time was lengthy and the cake, more dense than I’d like. Two, the recipes called for two cups of sugar and two cups of oil.  Third, all the extras which make the cake more like a fruit cake — the raisins, walnuts or pecans, shredded coconut, etc… — were not ingredients my children would like in a cake. Four, the recipes, were of course, not allergy friendly for wheat, dairy and nuts.

So, I decided I’d create my own brussel sprout cake which used gluten free flour in place of the wheat, agave instead of sugar and in half the amount, applesauce for some of the oil, and a small amount of mini chocolate chips in place of the original “extras”. When the cake was done, we topped it with a dark chocolate frosting, and the result was an extremely tasty cake which now contained the health benefits of brussel sprouts which includes being high in protein and vitamins C and K.

Brussel Sprout Chocolate Chip Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups roasted brussel sprouts

1/2 cup safflower oil

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 cup agave

1 tbsp vanilla

4 eggs (if you are watching cholesterol, use 1 cup liquid egg whites instead)

2 cups gluten free flour blend (I used Pillsbury brand for this cake)

1 cup gluten free oat flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt (you can reduce this if you are watching sodium intake)

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 cup Enjoy Life allergen free mini chocolate chips

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Baking Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line an 11 x 15 pan with parchment paper.
  2. Coarsely chop up the brussel sprouts in a food processor for a few seconds or with a knife on a cutting board.
  3. In a large bowl, combine the brussel sprouts with the oil, applesauce, agave and vanilla.
  4. Beat the eggs and add them to the brussel sprout bowl. Set aside.
  5. Combine the gluten free flour with the oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves.
  6. Stir in the mini chocolate chips.
  7. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, along with the cider vinegar, and mix just until the dry ingredients are moistened.
  8. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the cake has puffed, is golden, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  9. Cool on a wire rack.
  10. Frost with favorite frosting recipe. (We made dark chocolate but I think a cream cheese frosting or vanilla or cinnamon frosting would be equally tasty.)

 

 

Holiday Happenings: Cranberry Sauce

dairy free, egg free, gluten free, Holidays, low fat, nut/peanut free, soy free Leave a comment

bags-of-cranberries

“Apparently cranberry sauce is underappreciated….”

My husband came home the other day and told me about a news story on the radio. The topic was cranberry sauce and how it was not as appreciated as other foods eaten during the Thanksgiving meal. This, of course, spurred discussion among our family about our own cranberry preferences. My son will only eat jellied cranberry sauce with no chunks. My oldest, my husband and I love cranberry sauce in any form. My other daughter won’t eat it, no matter the texture.

Cranberries, however, are very good for your health, containing antioxidants, fiber, and many nutrients needed by the body. What I find, though, is that because they have such a tart flavor, folks use way too much sugar when cooking with them. So, I like to make my own cranberry sauce instead of purchasing it from the store.

When I tell folks that I make cranberry sauce, they always seemed to be surprised, which I find surprising since cranberry sauce is the easiest food to make. You simply put cranberries into a pot with water and sweetener and let it cook down. The entire process takes about 10-15 minutes, at the most.

Where the creativity comes in is deciding what type of cranberry sauce you’d like for Thanksgiving. You can add other fruits to the cranberries like pears or apples or tangerines or oranges or apricots or cherries to add a contrasting fruity flavor to the cranberries. You can add red wine or port or bourban if you’d like a more complex flavor. You can add ginger or maple or anise or jalapeno if you’re looking to try something a little different this year. You can use water, orange juice, apple cider or any other liquid you can imagine to change the flavor. You can add nuts or dried fruits to add crunch and texture. You can even change up the texture of the sauce, making it chunky, relish-style or jellied.

And after Thanksgiving the cranberry sauce can be “recycled” in many ways. Swirl it into your favorite cheesecake recipe. Add the sauce as a fixing for your favorite sandwich. Mix it into a muffin recipe. Top pancakes or waffles with it. Combine it with another fruit to make the filling for a pie. Stir it into your breakfast oatmeal. Use it as a spread for a slice of quick bread like banana or zucchini. Combine it with cream cheese for a dip. Top vanilla ice cream with it. The ideas are endless.

A food as versatile as cranberry sauce is truly just begging for you to experiment this year. And what’s great is that unless you’re allergic to cranberries, people with food allergies can eat it!

Some tips:

  1. The cranberries: It doesn’t matter whether you use fresh or frozen cranberries. The general rule of thumb is that about 12 ounces of cranberries requires about 1 cup of liquid.
  2. The sweetener: For most recipes, for 12 ounces of cranberries, they’ll call for 1 cup of sugar. I’d suggest you cut that in half and save your health or use 1/4 cup Agave or 1/2 cup of coconut sugar or 1/3 cup truvia.
  3. The add-ins: Decide what type of cranberry sauce you’d like to make and add the ingredients in with the cranberries so that they all cook together and the flavors meld.
  4. Traditional Style: To make traditional cranberry sauce, simply put all your ingredients into a pot, bring the liquid to a boil, let it simmer for about 5-10 minutes until the cranberries pop and are the texture you’d like, remove from the heat, let it cool, and then refrigerate until you’re ready to use it.
  5. Relish Style: Simply use your food processor to chop up the cranberries, sweetener and additions and refrigerate. You should decrease the liquid, though, and only add just enough to moisten the relish.
  6. Jellied Style: Prepare the sauce as you would for the traditional but then push everything through a strainer, mashing the ingredients as much as you can to get as much as you can into the sauce and then refrigerate what you’ve pushed through the strainer.

 

Recipe Revamping: Tiramisu

dairy free, gluten free 1 Comment

website-tiramisu

“But you don’t like coffee….”

When we came to the States from Japan, we lived on a military base just outside of New York City which meant I had access to all the city had to offer such as Little Italy where you could go to a restaurant and get tiramisu freshly made with chef-made whipped cream.

For folks who know me, they are confused by my love for tiramisu because I am not a coffee drinker. I like to smell everyone’s coffee but I never drink it. I prefer tea. Coffee has a bitterness to it which I have never had an appreciation for. I do, however, like coffee flavored foods. Before I developed my dairy allergy, coffee ice cream was one of my favorites, and tiramisu was my favorite dessert splurge.

For folks unfamiliar with tiramisu, it’s an Italian dessert which layers sponge cake dipped in coffee between a mixture of mascarpone cheese and whipped cream or mascarpone cheese and egg yolks. Most recipes make it “mocha” style and call for sprinkling cocoa powder in between the layers and on top. You can also make cinnamon tiramisu which sprinkles cinnamon instead of the cocoa powder.

If you have gluten and dairy allergies, though, tiramisu can be a thing of the past for you… made the traditional way, that is. I’ve come up with a way to make it for me, though, which is not only tasty but just as creamy. It does, however, use coconut whipped cream, so if you have an allergy to coconut, I’m afraid my recipe won’t work for you.

I have learned, though, from folks that you can make whipped cream from canned chickpea liquid which I haven’t personally tried in tiramisu yet but I’m thinking I’ll experiment in the future with it. The recipes I’ve found say that you take the liquid from 2 cans of chickpeas, mix it with ¼ teaspoon of cream of tartar, 2 teaspoons vanilla and 1 cup of sugar, and then whip it all up into whipped cream. It may be that this version can be used as a substitute for the coconut whipped cream if legume aren’t an issue for you.

Tiramisu

Ingredients:

Two containers Tofutti dairy free cream cheese, at room temperature

One container So Delicious dairy free coconut whipped cream, partially thawed (I usually just take it out of the freezer and let it sit while I’m pulling together everything else)

Two containers Schar’s gluten free ladyfingers

4 cups strong coffee (I use double the coffee called for per cup)

unsweetened cocoa powder or ground cinnamon

Optional: shaved chocolate or cinnamon sticks

Assembling Instructions:

  1. Use a 8 x 11 rectangular glass pan. It perfectly fits the two boxes worth of ladyfingers.
  2. Using a mixer, whip the cream cheese until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides.
  3. Mix in the coconut whipped cream until well blended and creamy.
  4. Open one of the packages of ladyfingers and dip both sides of each ladyfinger into the prepared coffee. Layer the ladyfingers in the pan.
  5. Spread half of the whipped cream cheese/cream mixture over the ladyfingers and sprinkle either unsweetened cocoa powder or ground cinnamon over the top.
  6. Open the second box of ladyfingers, dip both sides of each into the coffee and layer the ladyfingers on top of the whipped cream cheese/cream mixture.
  7. Spread the remaining half of the whipped cream cheese/cream mixture over the ladyfingers and sprinkle either unsweetened cocoa powder or ground cinnamon on top. If you like, you can decorate it with shaved dairy free chocolate pieces or cinnamon stick shavings.
  8. Refrigerate for at least several hours. (This is one of those desserts which tastes even better the second day when everything has “settled” well.)