Asparagus, Goat Cheese, and Bacon Pizza

Yes you did just die and go to pizza heaven.  

Right out of the oven

I found this idea on allrecipes as I was searching for asparagus recipes.  I hadn't made pizza in awhile and this sounded AMAZING so I went for it. You will need:

1 pizza crust. I used Pamela's bread mix and the pizza crust recipe on the bag. 

1 pound bacon, cooked to be slightly chewy-almost crunchy

1 bunch asparagus spears, cut in half

1 tablespoon butter

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 oz goat cheese

mozzarella cheese or any type of pizza cheese or italian cheese blend

This pizza crust had to bake for 25 minutes before it got topped so while it was in the oven I cooked the bacon and then sauteed the asparagus with the butter and some of the bacon grease until it was tender. I tossed the garlic in with the asparagus for its last 3-4 minutes of cooking.  When the crust came out, I drizzled it with olive oil and put lots of italian cheese blend all over it and then sprinkled on the bacon, placed the asparagus, and crumbled the goat cheese on top.  I should have sealed the toppings in with another layer of cheese blend.  Then back in the oven for 10 more minutes.  

This pizza was so delicious I wanted to just crawl inside the crust and die. I had probably 2 pieces too many and while I was putting it away I took a bit of each piece because I couldnt. stop. eating. it. 

"Corn" dog bites

Who doesn't enjoy a good corn dog?  Jenna sure does - that's her little hand trying to reach the plate as I snapped the picture!  A corn dog is probably the one thing I missed having at the state fair this year.  Lucky pinterest had me covered!  Check out the original post here.  These were so quick to whip up and tasted super amazing!  Grab some ketchup or mustard and go to town!

1/4 cup melted butter
3 eggs
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup almond flour, firmly packed
2 tablespoons coconut flour, firmly packed
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3-4 hot dogs, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Whisk together melted butter, eggs, and honey.
Stir in the flours, baking soda, and salt.
Scoop into a greased mini muffin pan, about 1 tablespoon of batter in each cup.
Place 1 hot dog piece in each muffin.
Bake for 14-17 minutes, until golden brown.

Pumpkin Muffins

Fall is such a wonderful time of year.  One thing I love about fall is anything made with pumpkin!  I took my favorite muffin recipe and switched out the bananas for pumpkin.  The result was delicious.


Pumpkin Muffins

3 cups almond flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 to 3/4 can of pumpkin puree

 3 eggs
1/2 cup honey or agave
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1 tsp. vanilla 

 

I added chopped pecans.  I was tempted to add chocolate chips!

Mix the dry ingredients first, then add the rest. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Oopsies

This recipe has been going around on Facebook and they looked delicious, so we decided to give them a try.  They are super simple and quick to make, and they don't taste bad.  Problem is that they really don't taste that good.  They are like eating air.  I could probably eat about ten and not even realize that I had eaten any.  The recipe on Facebook said that you could use them for hamburger buns, but they were much too delicate to hold up to a hamburger.  Here's the recipe, if you are interested.

Oopsies
6–8 depending on size.

3 eggs
100 grams (3.5 ounces) of cream cheese
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking powder or cream of tarter (can be excluded)

Separate the eggs, with the egg whites in one bowl and the egg yolks in another.
Whip the egg whites together with the salt until very stiff. You should be able to turn the bowl over without the egg whites moving.

Mix the egg yolks and the cream cheese well. If you choose, 1tsp of cream of tarter or baking powder (this makes the Oopsie more bread-like).

Gently fold the egg whites into the egg yolk mix – try to keep the air in the egg whites.

Put 6 large or 8 smaller oopsies on a baking tray.
Bake in the middle of the oven at 150° C (300° F) for about 25 minutes – until they turn golden.

You can eat Oopsies as bread or use them as a bun for a hotdog or hamburger. You can also put different kinds of seeds on them before baking them, for instance poppy, sesame or sunflower seeds.

Almond Flax bread

My cousin posted this recipe on facebook and it peeked my interest so I thought I would give it a try.  The recipe is from http://www.healyrealfoodvegetarian.com/almond-flax-bread/

Makes 1 loaf

1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
1/4 cup ground flax seeds
1 tbsp whole flax seeds
1/2 tsp unrefined sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 eggs beaten
2 tsp honey, optional
1/2 tsp raw cider vinegar
butter, to grease a loaf pan

Preheat the oven to 300°.
Grease a loaf pan.
Mix all ingredients together until thoroughly combined, then pour into a greased standard sized loaf pan and bake at 300° for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the bread’s center comes out clean.
Cool completely before serving.

I don't have whole flax seeds so I added a tbsp on oats instead because I love oat bread and the texture it has.  I also don't have raw cider vinegar so I just used regular apple cider vinegar and I greased the loaf pan with coconut oil instead of butter.

It smelled so good while baking, but after cooling for a little while it smelled a bit like turtle food.... 

it tastes pretty good though.  Really good after being smothered in honey butter :) ( I was this <---> close to drizzling buttermilk syrup on it but at the last second decided against it... would've been good though! 

Paleo Breakfast Bread

Found this here on Pinterest last night and tried it this morning!  Has to be one of the weirdest things I've made - from the list of ingredients I never would have guessed you'd get this delicious tasty "bread" for lack of a better word!  We loved it!  Kind of like a less dense, brown, cinnamon-y German pancake.  We had ours with scrambled eggs and Canadian bacon.  I have a feeling this will make a regular appearance at breakfast.

1/2 cup almond butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl with a whisk.  Pour into a greased (with coconut oil) 8x8 glass baking dish. Bake for 12-15 minutes.  13 minutes did it for me, but all ovens vary!

*UPDATE* This is also awesome with 1/2 cup of shredded zucchini thrown in.  takes a few minutes longer to cook.  Kind of like breakfast zucchini bread!

Carrot Muffins

Because we are no longer baking or eating bread, muffins are a wonderful alternative.  They are easy to make and satisfy that need for a baked good.  This recipe is from the Wheat Belly Cookbook.  I put them in the freezer and then take one out for breakfast or to pop in my lunch for later.  These muffins are like a yummy, little carrot cake.  Try with a little cream cheese--Yum!

1 1/2 cups almond meal/flour
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup ground golden flaxseeds
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon gound nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup shredded carrots
2 tablespoons orange peel (I didn't have any, so I didn't use any.)
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
2 eggs, separated (I have made this recipe twice.  One time I separated the eggs and beat the whites and the next time I didn't.  Didn't seem to make any difference.)
1/2 cup xylitol or 1/4 teaspoon liquid stevia or to desired sweetness.
1/2 cup sour cream or coconut milk
1/4 cup coconut oil, extra-light olive oil, or butter, melted
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Place paper liners in a 12-cup muffin pan or grease the cups.

In a large bowl, stir together the dry ingredients.  Stir in the carrots, orange peel, and raisins (if using).

In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, xylitol or stevia, sour cream or milk, oil or butter, and applesauce.

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on high speed, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff peaks form.  Gently fold the beaten whites into the egg yolk mixture until combined.  Fold egg mixture into the flour mixture until well combined.  (I skipped this step and added all the wet ingredients together.)

Divide the batter among the muffin cups, filling each about half full.  Bake for 40 minutes (25 minutes), or until a wooden pick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.  Cool in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes, remove from the pan and cool completely on the rack.

Important!  The first time I made these I baked them for the 40 minutes.  It was way too long and they were very overdone.  The second time I baked them for 25 minutes and they were just right.

Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins

I pinned these while babysitting last night and woke up this morning sooo excited to make them and have a delicious and nutritious breakfast.  Well, after waking up and not having any yogurt, eggs, or honey to make them, I hopped straight into the car (in my sweats, slippers, and glasses (not a pretty sight) and drove over to Sam's club to pick up the needed ingredients.  Then I got home and promptly whipped up a batch of Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins.  They go a little something like this:

Ingredients:
2.5 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup plain low fat greek yogurt
2 eggs
1/2 cup honey
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 TBSP ground flax seed
1 tsp vanilla
2 ripe bananas

Chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray tin with non-stick cooking spray or line 12 muffin tins with silicone or foil liners.
2. Place the oats in the food processor and pulse for about 10 seconds. Add remaining ingredients (except chocolate chips) to the food processor. 

3. Process until everything is mixed together and oats are smooth. Add chocolate chips.
4. Divide batter among cupcake liners, and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

I don't have a big enough food processor to mix the whole recipe up in one, so I just use my baby one to chops up the oats and then I mixed everything in a large bowl with my hand mixer.  I also mushed up the bananas with a fork on a plate before mixing it in.  I pulsed the chocolate chips in the food processor too because I am not a big fan of chocolate chips in things so I would rather have little flecks of chocolate in it then full chips.  I also did not have cupcake liners which I think would have been better.  But! All in all they are pretty delicious.  Not too sweet and I can feel good about eating them.  I ate 3 right out of the oven and they didn't make me feel super full and heavy. Just good clean food.
(and they don't have a very strong banana taste at all-which is good because I don't love bananas)

Cranberry Cinnamon Scones

*WARNING* 

I'm talking about traditional English scones, NOT deep fried bread (much to Jenna's disappointment - she wanted "a scone as big as my head!" like you can get at Granny Annie's.  Never again poor thing, our days of greasy, glutenous, fried dough balls are over.)

Cranberry Cinnamon Scones

1 cup ground golden flaxseeds

3/4 cup almond flour

1/4 cup coconut flour

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons xylitol or 8-12 drops liquid stevia or to desired sweetness (I used the stevia)

5 tablespoons cold butter, cut into cubes

1/4 cup heavy cream (*if using stevia use an additional 1 tablespoon heavy cream)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, mix the flaxseeds, almond flour, coconut flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and xylitol, if using.  Cut the butter into the flour mixture until it's the size of peas.

In another bowl, whisk together the stevia (if using), cream, eggs, and vanilla until combined.  Stir into the dry ingredients until well blended.  Add the dried fruit, and stir until evenly distributed.

Evenly dived the dough into 8 pieces and place on the baking sheet.  Flatten to approximately 3/4" thickness.

Bake for 18 minutes or until golden brown.

My Take: Thanks to the Wheat Belly Cookbook (which I'm convinced everyone should have!), whenever I feel the urge to bake I have tons of healthy, gluten-free recipes at my finger tips.  I'd been eyeing this one for a couple of weeks and finally broke down and bought the heavy cream so I could try it.  The recipe went smoothly, and I chose to shape the dough into triangles.  They turned out awesome, kind of how I think a whole wheat scone would be, a little more dense and substantial.  They're not very sweet (again, think traditional scones) but I enjoyed mine plain or with some butter.  I think they'd be yummy with some jam on top as well.  I individually froze half of them to pull out for a quick breakfast when I need it.  They are very filling!

It's a Wrap!

So I think it's safe to say I am becoming obsessed with flax.  Who knew flax, an egg and a microwave could be so versatile!  I could eat a mug muffin and this wrap for breakfast and lunch every day and be totally satisfied!!  Thank you Wheat Belly.

Flaxseed Wrap

3 tablespoons ground flaxseeds

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder (I use slightly less)

1/4 teaspoon paprika

pinch of fine sea salt or celery salt

1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted, plus more for greasing the pan

1 tablespoon water

1 large egg

Mix together the ground flaxseeds, baking powder, onion powder, paprika, and salt in a small bowl.  Stir in the 1 tablespoon coconut oil.  Beat in the egg and 1 tablespoon water until blended.

Grease a microwave safe glass or plastic pie pan with coconut oil.  Pour in the batter and spread evenly over the bottom.  Microwave on high for 2-3 minutes until cooked.  Let cool about 5 minutes.

To remove, lift up an edge with a spatula.  If it sticks, use a pancake turner to gently loosen from the pan.  Flip the wrap over and top with desired ingredients.

My Take:  Delish!  And super simple to whip up.  I put a little cheese, leftover rotisserie chicken, avocado, and spinach on mine.  I could barely finish it - super filling!  The wraps also fridge well.  I've made them for Joey to take for lunch the next day and they keep really well and taste great.  Excited to try a breakfast variation, breakfast burrito style!  Enjoy!

Yummy Muffins

This recipe was given to me by one of my great Kindergarten moms, Paige Davis. It is quick and so yummy. I keep them in the freezer and grab one for breakfast or lunch. Just microwave for about 35 seconds. Yum!

Banana Almond Muffins

3 cups almond flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 ripe bananas, smashed
3 eggs
1/2 cup honey or agave
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1 tsp. vanilla (or 1/2 tsp. almond flavoring for more almond flavor)

Mix the dry ingredients first, then add the rest. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Is Bread Really Worth It?

My experience with gluten-free bread has ranged from "not awful" to "it tastes like poison--ack, ack, ack." Mostly, I have just avoided bread and eaten a variety of vegetables, fruits, and meats, but every once in a while you really want to have a grilled cheese sandwich with fresh tomato soup or french toast for a special breakfast. I have bought several different brands of bread and have found Udi's to be the least bad. The major problem comes when you read the label and see that it is made of all kinds of rice, starch and tapioca--not all that healthy.

This recipe is one that I got out of The Wheat Belly Cookbook by Dr. William Davis. (His original book, Wheat Belly, is a must read if you want to start a gluten-free lifestyle--you will never want to eat wheat again!)

Basic Bread

1 1/4 cups blanched almond flour
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons garbanzo bean (chickpea) flour
1/4 cup ground golden flaxseeds
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
5 eggs, separated
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tablespoon buttermilk
1 tablespoon xylitol or 4 drops liquid stevia or to desired sweetness

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 loaf pan.

In a food processor, combine the almond flour, garbanzo bean flour, flaxseeds, baking soda, cinnamon (if using), and salt. Pulse until well blended. Add the egg yolks, butter, buttermilk, and xylitol or stevia and pulse just until blended.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on high, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Pour into the flour mixture and pulse until the egg whites are evenly distributed, but do not run the machine at a constant speed. Spread into the pan and bake for 40 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove and cool completely on a rack.

My Take: I didn't use the cinnamon, but I want to try it again with the cinnamon and some raisins, just cause I love cinnamon raisin toast. I didn't have any buttermilk and didn't want to buy a quart just for one tablespoon, so I used regular milk. I did use the xylitol. The texture of the bread is a little moist and spongy, because, let's face it--gluten is amazing and makes bread taste and feel great, but this was not awful. We tried it as toast with homemade raspberry jam and it was even better. The next morning, we tried french toast and it was very good. I sliced the entire loaf and put it in the freezer with the four other half loaves of store-bought, gluten-free bread that I never eat. The good news is that I didn't feel guilty eating it, because I knew it had good things in it and it is there waiting for me whenever I need it.

Coconut Flour Crepes - YUM!

One of the hardest things about going GF for me has been breakfast.  Don't get me wrong, I love my oatmeal, but it's got nothing on a big weekend breakfast of pancakes, waffles, crepes, and other gluten-laden goodies that I used to make when I had more time on a weekend morning.  I can't even tell you my excitement when I stumbled upon a GF crepe recipe here last week.  Naturally, I tried it out this past weekend.

• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
• Stevia liquid drops, to taste (about 10 drops)
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (can substitute almond extract)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons coconut flour, sifted
• small pinch of nutmeg
• pinch of cinnamon
• 1/3 cup whole milk (can substitute regular coconut milk)
• 1-1/2 cups blueberries (or other berries)
• Whipped cream

In a medium bowl with a wire whisk, beat together the eggs, oil, stevia, vanilla, and salt. Mix in sifted coconut flour, nutmeg and cinnamon; stir in milk.

Heat an 8-inch skillet over medium heat. When hot, melt a tiny pat of butter, coconut oil or palm shortening in the pan. Pour 1/8 cup of batter in the skillet and swirl around in pan until a thin layer of batter covers the bottom. The crepe should be about 6-inches in diameter.

Cook 1-2 minutes, or until batter is bubbly and cooked around the edges. Flip the crepe and cook the other side for 1-2 minutes more, or until done.

Fill the crepes with the berries, top with a little whipped cream, and if you wish a light dusting of coconut flour.

Makes about 6 crepes.

My Take:  Now if you're anything like me, the first thing you probably noticed was that it is supposed to make 6 crepes.  6 crepes!?  That's not even enough for me!  Well that's what I thought when I read the recipe, so the first thing I did was double it.  I also cut out any stevia/sugar since I never used to add any to the batter when making normal gluten-filled crepes.  In my opinion, pancake/waffle/crepe recipes should not need sugar since most anything you put on them is sweet.  Just me.  The batter behaved a lot like normal crepe batter, but it did take a little longer to cook and they seemed a little more delicate in the flipping process.  The finished product however acted just like any crepe should, and was absolutely delicious filled with strawberries, cinnamon sugar, or any other topping you can think of.  The only problem I ran into was that even with a head start I couldn't make them as fast as Joey and Jenna could eat them and we were all sad when the batter ran out.  Pleasantly satiated, but still sad.  Next time, I'm either tripling the batch, or making them when no one else is around!





Skinny Muffin in a Mug

1/4 cup ground flax
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. coconut oil, melted
1 egg
1 packet stevia or xylitol (or other sweetener of your choice)

Break the egg into the mug and beat with a fork. Add the dry ingredients and the coconut oil. Mix with the fork. Microwave for one to one and a half minutes. When it comes out of the microwave, invert onto a plate. So easy!

*check out the comments for some yummy variations!

Add-ins could include berries, banana, applesauce, chocolate chips or raisins. If you add too much wet fruit, you will need to add a little bit of cooking time.

Got this recipe from my hairdresser, Lora, who is also on a gluten-free journey. I tried it this morning and it was so quick and really tasted great. It took less that five minutes to mix and cook. To make it even quicker in the morning, Lora suggested putting the dry ingredients in a Ziploc bag ahead of time and then just adding them to the egg and oil before baking. It was tasty, filling, and a great way to use flax seed.

Purple Carrot Soup

Purple Carrot Soup, Coconut Flour Cheddar Drop Biscuits, and  fresh Lemonade

So this past week in my Bountiful Basket I got a couple of purple carrots.  I don't know about you, but before they landed in my kitchen, I had no idea they even existed.  Naturally, I went to the web to help me figure out what to do with them.  Turns out you can use them for anything you would do with regular orange carrots, but I wanted to do something special with them since I've never seen them before!  Thus I found a recipe for Purple Carrot Soup courtesy of The Indolent Cook.

Purple Carrot Soup (makes 2 entree-sized serves)

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium French shallots
1 small clove garlic, finely chopped
1 cm fresh ginger, finely chopped
1/2 tablespoon fresh chopped rosemary leaves
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander seed
1 very large purple carrot
1 medium potato
1/2 cup water
2 cups vegetable stock
salt, black pepper, and balsamic vinegar to taste

- Heat up the olive oil in a saucepan and fry the shallots until they brown at the edges. Add in the garlic, ginger, rosemary and and ground coriander seed and fry until fragrant.
- Add carrot and potato pieces. Pour in the water and vegetable stock, bring to boil, then simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes.
- Let it cool for 10 minutes and then puree in a blender in small batches. You may blend all of the mixture for a smooth soup or half of it for a semi-chunky soup.
- Return the soup mixture to the pot and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes.
- Season with salt, black pepper, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar to taste.

*This makes a light, yet still deliciously comforting soup. For a rich, creamy, non-vegan version, add cream to the soup at the step where the pureed soup is returned to the pot. Or you can still keep it vegan, and use coconut cream instead. Either way, the soup should turn a pretty pastel purple, and taste quite luxurious!


My Notes:  I didn't have any French shallots on hand so just used 1/2 of a small onion.  Couldn't find any coriander seed either (seriously, must be the only spice I don't have!) so I just didn't use it.  I used a couple of purple carrots, two small potatoes, and chicken stock instead of vegetable.  I opted not to add cream as the soup was plenty creamy on its own.  Also only added balsamic to my dish - my husband and daughter don't love it the way I do.  As a note, the soup didn't need it.  It turned out delicious!   The fresh ginger and rosemary flavors were YUM!  Will definitely be making this again, with any color carrots I can find!

My Bountiful Basket also came with a plentiful supply of lemons, so what was I supposed to do besides make a pitcher of fresh lemonade?

Lemonade

6 lemons
6 cups cold water
1 cup sugar

-Juice the lemons to make approximately 1 cup of lemon juice (I got slightly more, which is good because I like a strong head-banging lemonade!).  In a pitcher combine the lemon juice, sugar, and water (I strained my lemon juice as I added it to catch any seeds/pulp).  Serve chilled, over ice garnished with fresh lemon slices.  Enjoy!

Finally, in my world no soup is complete without some kind of biscuit side dish.  I opted to try a recipe for coconut flour biscuits that Jessica found, and they did the trick!  Thanks to the Heavenly Homemakers for this one.


Coconut Flour Cheddar Drop Biscuits

¼ cup coconut oil or butter, melted
1/3 cup sifted coconut flour
4 eggs
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon baking powder
½ cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Blend together eggs, coconut oil or butter, salt, and onion powder. Combine coconut flour with baking powder and whisk into batter until there are no lumps. Fold in cheese. Drop batter by the spoonful onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. For a cheesier biscuit increase cheese to ¾ cup.

This recipe makes about 10 biscuits.

My Notes:  I used coconut oil, and did add more cheese.  Also, I don't sift flour regardless of the recipe.  Sorry, just lazy.  They turned out awesome, although my 3 year old preferred them dipped in ketchup.  Oh well, to each his own.  Will definitely make again!