Grain Free Doughnuts

I bought coconut flour a few weeks ago just to have on hand in case I came across a recipe that needed it. When my kids wanted a special dessert, I found this coconut flour doughnut recipe that was perfect! The original recipe is at this link http://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/2013/09/coconut-flour-fried-donuts-low-carb-and-gluten-free.html#HAicyKtSix7lq1ro.99

The changes I made are below. 

Ingredients

Donuts:
• 1/2 cup Coconut flour
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 large eggs
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• Oil for frying (coconut, grapeseed, etc.)
Coating:
• 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• Cinnamon and brown sugar
• Chopped nuts
• Enjoy life chocolate chips

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Instructions

1. For the donuts, preheat oven to 325F and grease a donut pan well.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut flour, baking powder and salt.
3. Stir in eggs, coconut oil, almond milk, vanilla and honey
4. Mix with a hand mixer until well combined and batter is smooth.
5. Fill wells in donut pan about 2/3 full (you will have leftover batter and will need to do another batch).
6. Bake about 16 minutes, or until set and just barely brown around the edges. Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes in the pan, then flip out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining batter (I got 9 donuts out of my pan).
7. 
   
8. In a large skillet, add oil so it is about 1/2 inch deep. Heat over medium heat.
9. Once the oil is hot, add donuts to the pan. Flip after 30 to 45 seconds (they brown quickly), and cook the other side another few seconds. Remove from the pan and quickly dip each side in the topping of your choice, pressing lightly to adhere.
10. Let cool slightly on wire rack (they are really good warm out of the oil!).

Coating:

I took four paper plates and put a different topping in each one. One plate had shredded coconut, one had a mix of cinnamon and sugar,  one had the enjoy life chocolate chips and one had chopped pecans. For the coconut and sugar you can just place the top of the donut into the topping, press lightly, and then put on a wire rack. 

For the chocolate chips, put them in the microwave, on half power,  for 30 to 45 seconds to melt, then dip the doughnut into the melted chocolate. You can add the chopped nuts on too if you'd like. 

 

Gluten Free Tortillas

Not only are these tortillas gluten free but they are also low calorie and hold together better than corn tortillas! They come out thicker than flour tortillas but they have the best taste and texture. 

I found the recipe at this link http://slimpalate.com/cauliflower-tortillas-paleo-grain-free-gluten-free/#comment-11522

Also pasted below with a few of my changes

Ingredients

• ¾ a head of cauliflower riced or 2 cups riced and packed
• 2 eggs
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 Teaspoon of nutritional yeast

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
2. Toss ¾ a head of cauliflower cut up and most of the stem removed and pulse until you get a texture slightly finer than rice. (Once it's riced measure it to make sure you have 2 cups packed.)
3. Place riced cauliflower in bowl and microwave for 2 minutes and stir, then another two minutes and stir again then place in cheese cloth and squeeze excess water out as hard as you can. (You're going to want to get out as much water as you can)
4. Place drained cauliflower back in bowl and add two eggs, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper and mix until well combined.
5. Spread mixture onto a baking sheet into 6 small fairly flat circles.
6. Place in the oven for 10 minutes then pull out of the oven and carefully peel them off the parchment and flip them and place back in the oven for 5-7 more minutes.
7. Once they're done place them on a wire rack to cool slightly.
8. Heat a medium sized pan over medium heat and place the tortillas into the pan pressing down slightly and brown them to your liking. (Don't skip this step because it gives them slightly crispy on the edges and gives them a wonderfully nutty taste)

Acorn Squash Bowl

This recipe can easily be made paleo or vegetarian. 

Ingredients:

1 acorn squash

1/4 cup cooked brown rice (or riced cauliflower with gluten free soy sauce for paleo option)

1/4 pound cooked ground turkey or ground Italian sausage (omit and double the serving of mushrooms for vegetarian option)

1/4 onion chopped

1/4 cup mushrooms chopped

1/2 small apple chopped

1 egg

1/8 teaspoon sage

1/8 teaspoon rosemary

1/8 teaspoon celery salt

Salt and pepper

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 400

- Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray

-Cut acorn squash in half, remove seeds, sprinkle with salt and pepper and place, inside facing down, on cookie sheet 

- bake squash for 15 minutes in the oven at 400

- once squash is removed, turn oven temperature down to 375

-sauté onions, mushrooms and apples together until softened, about 5 to 7 minutes. Season with salt 

- season turkey with celery salt, sage and rosemary 

- combine turkey, with cookies veggies and egg in a bowl. 

- place acorn squash in baking dish with a half ounce of water.

- split mixture between both sides of the acorn squash

- cover with foil and bake at 375 for 25 minutes

- uncover and cook for another 20 to 25 minutes. 

Enjoy!

Gluten free/dairy free pizza

Two weeks into being gluten and dairy free I had a major pizza craving! I searched and found many recipes, most which were cauliflower.  I'm not a fan of the cauliflower mashed "potatoes" so I wasn't sure how this was going to turn out but decided to test a recipe out.  It turned out great! It also inspired me to find more cauliflower recipes, like cauliflower tortillas (blog post coming soon).

I tried the recipe at this link http://ifoodreal.com/cauliflower-pizza-crust-recipe/

The recipe below is the same with a few minor changes. 

• Ingredients:
• 1 head cauliflower 7 - 8" wide
• 1 egg, large
• 1/2 cup vegan shredded cheese (I used Daiya pepper jack)
• 1 tsp Italian (or rosemary, basil, parsley) herb seasoning
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and line with a baking sheet or pizza stone with parchment paper.
2. Rinse cauliflower, remove the outer leaves and separate into florets with a paring knife. Place cauliflower florets in a food processor and process until "rice" texture. 
3. Place in bowl and microwave for 4 minutes
4. transfer to a bowl lined with a double/triple layered cheesecloth. Note: The cheesecloth step can be skipped however you will have a soft crust that needs to be eaten with a fork. The flavor will be there but not the texture. However when you're having a lazy day, that is sometimes good enough. ;)
5. Then squeeze the liquid out of the ball, cauliflower inside the cheesecloth, as hard as you can. Be patient and do this a few times until barely any liquid comes out. Muscle work.
6. Increase oven to 450 degrees F. Transfer cauliflower to a mixing bowl along with egg, cheese, herb seasoning, salt, black pepper and mix to combine. Transfer cauliflower mixture onto the same baking sheet you used to roast the florets (I used the same parchment paper but you can swap it for a new one if it gets too soggy), and flatten with your hands until thin pizza crust forms.
7. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes and remove from the oven.
8. Top with your favourite toppings and bake again until cheese on top turns golden brown. Slice and enjoy.

I topped mine with pizza sauce, more vegan pepper jack cheese and grilled red bell peppers and purple onions. 

Storage Instructions: Refrigerate covered for up to 2 days. You can also freeze the crust tightly wrapped in plastic, for 1 month.

The Chessman Omelette

This first time my husband ever made me breakfast he asked if I wanted eggs and oatmeal.  I was thinking I would be getting scrambled eggs with a side of oatmeal however after about 10 minutes in the kitchen he came back with something that looked like an omelette! I was a little reluctant to try it but after my first bite, I was sold! This has been my breakfast almost daily ever since.  

Ingredients:

1 whole egg

2 egg whites

2/3 cup gluten free oatmeal

First combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. 

Next heat a frying pan to medium high heat and spray it with nonstick cooking spray. Pour the mixture into the frying pan and spread it out.

Once the edges start to look cooked, check the bottom, you're looking for a lightly browned look.  (This takes about 5 minutes) flip the omelette to cook on the other side. 

Cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes and serve!

You can eat this how it is or pick a topping.  Here are a few of our favorites:

Honey and salt

Peach preserves

Sliced bananas

Cinnamon and honey

Salsa

Cholula sauce

Peanut butter

The Fridge Dish

The Fridge Dish

Every once in awhile, usually towards the end of the week, I make a fridge dish, which is basically anything I can find in the fridge that will go together. 

Today I had leftover cooked brown rice from yesterday's vegetarian "meatballs", some veggies, eggs (we always have tons of eggs!) and luckily my husband bought a poblano pepper this week so that added some extra flavor! I found a can of black beans in the pantry which will make a complete protein along with the rice so I was set!

This dish turned out very tasty, only took about 20 minutes to make and is super filling. 

The Fridge Dish

2 servings

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked brown rice

1 cup black beans 

1/2 small red onion chopped

1/2 red bell pepper chopped

1/2 cup mushrooms chopped

1/2 poblano pepper, seeded and chopped

2 eggs

1 teaspoon oil (I used grapeseed)

Cumin

Chili powder

Garlic powder

Salt

Directions:

Sauté all veggies in frying pan on medium heat for five minutes. Add salt and garlic powder to taste. 

Push veggies to the sides of the pan. 

Turn heat up to medium high 

Pour oil into the middle of the pan. 

Add eggs into the oil and start to scramble. As the egg starts to cook, incorporate the veggies into the middle. 

Once your egg is cooked, add rice to the pan. 

Cook for about two minutes

Add black beans to the pan and then turn off the heat. 

Mix everything together and add chili powder and cumin to taste. 

Enjoy!

Vegetarian, Gluten Free "Meatballs"

Vegetarian and Gluten Free "Meatballs"

These turned out amazing! They are not as firm as a regular meatball but they still hold their shape well and taste amazing!

I used the recipe found at this link http://ifood.tv/meatball/1002261-lentil-and-mushroom-meatballs-with-arugula-lemon-sauce

However I didn't have red pepper flakes so I left those out and added some smoked paprika because I love the flavor. I also put the walnuts and the oats into the food processor along with the lentils so it made a paste. Then I added that to the rest of the ingredients. 

Rather than frying the meatballs, I baked them.  

I've pasted the recipe below with the way I made them. 

Ingredients

Cooked lentils 1 1⁄2 Cup (24 tbs) (cooked in broth) Cooked brown rice 1 Cup (16 tbs) Crumbled walnuts 1 Cup (16 tbs) Olive oil 1 Tablespoon (plus extra for frying) Small onion 1 , chopped Garlic 2 Clove (10 gm), chopped White mushroom 6 Large, roughly chopped Liquid amino/Tamari sauce 1 Tablespoon Oregano 2 Teaspoon Smoked paprika 1 Teaspoon Rolled oat 1⁄2 Cup (8 tbs)

Directions

1. In a saucepan, sauté small onions and garlic in olive oil for 5 minutes.
2. Add chopped mushrooms, liquid amino, oregano, and continue sautéing.
3. Add smoked paprika, salt and pepper to taste to the mixture.
4. Once done, transfer the sautéed mixture to a large bowl and mix cooked brown rice into it.
5. Transfer cooked lentils, walnuts and uncooked oats to a blender and blend the contents. Add the lentil mixture to the rice mixture and mix well.
6. Form balls and place on a cookie sheet.
7. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.
8. Serve with your favorite marinara sauce!

Read more at http://ifood.tv/meatball/1002261-lentil-and-mushroom-meatballs-with-arugula-lemon-sauce#g5ocSp7VyGzcoGVf.99