Frozen Sunbutter Fudge

My daughter has struggled with yeast overgrowth in her body, so we avoid peanuts, which grow in the ground and carry fungus (not that this mold is really good for any of us). I came up with this recipe using Sunbutter (sunflower seed butter) because it has a similar taste to peanut butter and everyone loves it. We have made a dozen versions of this healthy frozen treat in the past two years. Sometimes we add Vitol Egg Protein Powder, and roll it into balls, sometimes we use cocoa powder and make it chocolate. You can also substitute almond butter or macadamia butter, even add Nutty Flax cereal for crunch - be creative!

Frozen Sunbutter Fudge:

1/2 cup liquified coconut oil

1/2 cup honey or agave

1 cup crunchy (or smooth if you prefer) Sunbutter

1/8 tsp vanilla liquid stevia

1/4 to 1/2 tsp Celtic salt

Blend with electric mixer.

Pour into a large dish, lined with unbleached parchment paper on the bottom.

Top with dairy-free chocolate chips like Enjoy Life.

Freeze for 2 hours, slice, and store in the freezer.

Strawberry Shortcake

I love this mix by Gluten-Free Pantry for scones. However, this is the first time I've made it since we moved to Colorado, and I forgot about the high altitude here. I've had to adjust a few recipes, adding less rising agents, to account for the elevation, but you can't take out some of the baking soda in a mix... So the scones puffed up like balloons in the oven - oops! They still tasted great though, so I just crumbled them up, and added some fresh strawberries, and cashew milk to make strawberry shortcake. You could also use my vanilla pudding as a topping, which I would have done if I this had been planned :-) 

Next time I'm going to add half of the ghee and oil, and half of the nut milk, and see what happens. Have you made these at high altitude? How did you do it? Have you made them at sea level? What did you think?  

Zolo Grill, Boulder, CO

This weekend we went to the Boulder Creek Festival, and had lunch beforehand at Zolo Grill. It's been a while since we've eaten there, because it's a little expensive for us, so it was a nice treat. They have a gluten-free menu, which you can preview on their website, and the food there is amazing. Unfortunately, there is only one gluten-free vegetarian entree, called Wild Mushroom Tomales, but it is phenomenal. The mushrooms are the best I've ever had, the tomales are scrumptious, and I love slightly wilted spinach. My husband, who is also gluten-free, says the gluten-free meat dishes are equally good, I just prefer to eat vegetarian most of the time. When we go back, I plan on trying the tortilla soup with, "Smoked tomato broth, jicama, tomato, radish, avocado, and crispy corn strips." If you have it first, leave a comment here, and let us know!

Frozen Cafe au Lait

Here is a photo of how I store my nut milks in the frig - almond, cashew, macadamia, coconut, etc. I like to use glass because plastic leaches toxins into your food and drinks. Also glass doesn't hold odors or stain like plastic. You can find these on amazon: Glass Jugs

If you are casein-free like me and you haven't made cashew milk yet, please do! I don't like cashews, but cashew milk is delicious, and it makes a great substitute for cream, like in my dairy-free frozen cafe au lait. I used to envy my friends with their Starbucks frappuccinos, but no longer! When I get that yearning I just come home and whip up one of these. Feeling deprived is a thing of the past :-)

Frozen Cafe au Lait: (casein-free, dairy-free, lactose-free, soy-free)

Add to high power blender or food processor:

1 and 1/2 ice cube trays of frozen cashew milk

12 drops vanilla liquid stevia

1/4 cup honey or agave

Pour refrigerated coffee over the cubes up to the 4 cup line. Blend.

For a seasonal twist add a dash of pumpkin pie spice.

Cashew Milk:

Add to high power blender or food processor:

1 cup raw cashews, soaked over night, rinsed in a bowl of fresh water and strained (repeat several times till the water is clear)

4 cups of purified water

1/4 cup agave or honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

Puree

Note: this is not meant to be stained though a nut milk bag, as with almond milk

Off topic: 30 today!

There are a few areas of my life which I think are interesting and worthy of a website. However, in order to really enjoy these many facets, I simply don't have time to blog them all. Today though, I'm breaking off-topic, in honor of my joie de vie! So here's a page from one of the books we got at the library this week. In celebration of being 30 years old on this beautiful May 23, an excerpt from Dr. Seuss, a long-time hero of mine.

Spring Thai Curry

I am in love! We were out past dinner time the other night, so we thought we would check out this Thai place on the way home to see if they had anything gluten-free for take-out, and wow was it good! They said that the only gluten-free dishes are the curries, which also happened to be dairy-free, as they are made with coconut milk - awesome! Come to think of it, last year at this time we were visiting Andy's best friend in Philadelphia, and ended up at a Thai place there, who reported the exact same thing about their curries. Joy! So here is what I say, "Get thee to a Thai place near you!" Because they may be "Gluten-free-no-dairy!" as Zoe says!

Spring Thai

88 Lamar St, #110

Broomfield, CO 80020

Tel: 303.438.2168

By the way, this place is too cute, it would make a nice gluten-free date night. Plus for dinner it was only 8 dollars an entree, and I got two big meals out of it! So great!

Tortilla Pizza

I have to give credit for this idea to my friend, Catherine. It never even occurred to me to make a pizza with a gluten-free tortilla, but now it seems so obvious, go figure! Well, you know that I love roasted garlic, and fresh steamed artichoke, so here is number three on my top five favorite foods list: caramelized onions. Ohhhh... my mouth waters just thinking about them...

Gluten-free Tortilla Pizza:

Preheat oven to 450

Food For Life, brown rice tortillas, I found them at Whole Foods

Top gluten-free tortilla with (whatever you want, but here's what I did):

extra virgin olive oil

sea salt and garlic powder

caramelized onions

goat cheese or vegan cheese if you don't tolerate goat cheese

tomato

Bake for five minutes

Note: For those who may be new to a gluten-free, and/or casein-free diet, I should clarify that gluten and casein are proteins. It is recognized that cow milk casein strongly resembles gluten on a molecular level. Goat milk is very similar to human milk and contains only trace amounts of an allergenic casein protein, alpha-S1, found in cow's milk. Although many of us find goat and/or sheep milk to be well tolerated and easier to digest, it does not work for everyone.
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/t032400.asp

Fiona's Quinoa Bar

We were able to meet Fiona, of Fiona's Granola, at the farmers market in Boulder, and I was thrilled to find out that a few of her treats are gluten-free, like the Almond Chocolate Chip Quinoa Energy Bar. It is really yummy. I am eating one now to tell you what it tastes like, and I am finding it difficult to put into words, but let me try. First of all it is sweet and moist. Oh I just got a bit of chocolate, who can complain about that? The texture is kind of like oatmeal, though this particular bar contains none. I can't stop eating it! So there you go - once you start eating it you can't stop - how's that for a review?

Chocolate Chip Bars

I have a confession to make. It could be said in the land of gluten-free baked goods, I have only one vice, my chocolate chip bars. They are so good I could just eat them all day, and why not? The almond butter and quinoa are full of vitamins, enzymes, and protein. The coconut oil is a medium chain fat, which converts to energy rather than being stored as fat in your body, and coconut oil is 40 percent lauric acid, which is incredibly anti-bacterial, and anti-viral. Still, they are so delicious, I have to remind myself how healthy they are, so I don't feel guilty eating them for breakfast!

Check out the benefits of coconut oil.

Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Bars:

3/4 cup honey OR agave OR coconut sugar

1 tsp spoonable stevia OR 1/2 tsp of liquid stevia

1 cup almond butter

1 tbs vanilla extract

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup coconut oil

4 beaten eggs

1/4 cup cream of buckwheat

1/4 cup tapioca flour

1/2 cup sifted coconut flour

2 cups quinoa flakes

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

2/3 cup dairy-free chocolate chips

Divide into two square, greased dishes.

Bake 350 for 22 minutes.

I like them cold from the refrigerator. The also freeze very well.

Banana Breadgluten-free, grain-free, casein-freeYum-ful =]

One thing I think we all have in common is the desire to recreate our mother's banana bread - gluten-free. I have fond memories of eating a warm, fresh slice of banana bread in my childhood kitchen, looking to my mom with such admiration for her cooking abilities. Who knew that baking banana bread qualified mothers as heros? But what was it about that banana bread that I loved so much? I remember... it was soft, fluffy, chewy and sweet. When I began baking gluten-free I couldn't achieve any of those qualities. My first gluten-free banana breads were as dense as lead. Then I started using coconut flour - an amazing, unusual flour. However, the challenge with coconut flour was capitalizing on it's textural abilities, but adding enough flavor to it so that everything didn't come out tasting like coconut and eggs.

This banana bread takes me back to my childhood. It's exactly as I remember it - soft, fluffy, chewy and sweet. I hope you like it too.

Gluten-free Banana Bread:

2 mashed bananas

4 beaten eggs

1/2 cup honey

3 tbs liquified coconut oil or ghee

1/2 tsp vanilla liquid stevia

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup tapioca flour

1/2 cup coconut flour, sifted

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder (Grain-free Baking Powder Recipe)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes

I like to top it with ghee and honey, as seen here, or eat it all by itself.

Apple Crumble

I gravitate towards more and more raw meals as the weather gets warmer, and this one became a staple in my frig last summer. As usual with raw food it's a zip to make, once the soaking is done. It just involves a few steps, all of which require the food processor. The author of this recipe, Kate Wood, calls for oat groats, which I know are up for debate in the gluten-free community. Personally, I think oats are just plain hard to digest, gluten or not, therefore I substitute with quinoa flakes, which give it a kind of dough-like quality, not to mention a complete protein. Otherwise I don't stray too far from the recipe in the book, Eat Smart, Eat Raw

Layer one - Filling:

Puree in food processor -

6 peeled granny smith apples

1 cup Hunza golden raisins, soaked one hour

2 tbs cinnamon

Layer two - Crumble:

Puree in food processor -

1 cup almonds

1 cup walnuts

1 cup quinoa flakes, soaked one hour and
strained through a nut milk bag

Layer three - Cream:

Puree in food processor -

1 cup cashews, soaked at least 3 hours, water drained

6 dates, pits removed

1/3 cup water

1 tsp vanilla liquid stevia

Berry Best Smoothies & Outside the Breadbox

Oh Boulder, land of the crunchy people, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways... four Whole Foods, three Vitamin Cottage, two Farmers Markets, tons of gluten-free restaurants, and one very happy family for me :-) Sigh.

Today was just bliss, as you can tell. First we had some coffee at Vic's in Prospect, where they carry gluten-free coffee cake. Then we headed down to Boulder for lunch in Pei Wei, my favorite gluten-free chain ever. After lunch we picked up some loose-leaf jasmine tea from Whole Foods on Pearl, before heading over to the farmers market by central park. It was so beautiful and full of goodies. However, one of the two "gluten-free" vendors had ingredients like oats and barley, so beware. 

Finally we stopped at Berry Best Smoothies, where the owners, who are gluten-free themselves, keep two freezers full of gluten-free baked goods. I love this place. Above is a picture of Zoe standing in front of the gluten-free freezers holding the blueberry bagels and teff rolls that we bought, which are made by Outside the Breadbox, who ships nation-wide. They are so good, you just have to try them! The only other bakery I know of that compares is the Francis Simun Bakery in Texas. Ahhhh... gluten-free is not-so-bad! 

Vic's Coffee, Prospect, Longmont, CO

Berry Best Smoothies, Boulder, CO

Outside the Breadbox, Colorado Springs, CO

Cucumber Soup

My girlfriend, Heather, made this last week, and I have been slowly collecting the ingredients to try it myself. Today the cucumber I needed came in my Door to Door Organics box, and my list was complete. I kept the recipe fairly close to the one from the book. It was so good and simple to make. I also ate some with gluten-free crackers, as it has a dip-like quality. Yum!

Add to Vita-Mix:

1 avacado

1 cucumber

1 tbs fresh dill

1 tbs fresh parsley

2 tsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp Celtic salt

a dash of garlic powder

Indian Rice Pudding

Unlike packaged puddings, mine is gluten-free, dairy-free and sugar-free, and you just can't beat that fresh homemade taste. I like it hot or cold, depending on my mood, and the weather. Tonight I topped it with cinnamon, and Hunza organic golden raisins, which I soaked for an hour to make them plump and moist. You could also add the raisins to the recipe and bake them in the dish.

Indian Rice Pudding:

This is for a big batch because I like to have lots of leftovers.

3 cans of coconut milk

4 beaten eggs

3/4 to 1 cup cooked brown rice

1/2 cup agave

1 dropper-full vanilla liquid stevia

Bake at 350 for one hour.

I love the crust that forms on top.

Namaste Pancakes

Namaste pancake mix is so awesome, I love it. It's gluten-free, casein-free and sugar-free, leaving me to add whatever I want. Like the Bisquick of the old days, you really can't mess it up, but this is
how I do it.

Add to blender:

2 eggs

2 tbs coconut oil

1/3 cup honey

1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup coconut milk

1 and 1/2 to 2 cups mix, depending on how thick you like them

Blend. Let rest for a few minutes before pouring. Top with real maple syrup or agave. Yum!

Coconut Cupcakes

The girls and I made cupcakes on this windy second day of May. After they cooled we topped them with melted dark (dairy-free) chocolate, and then dipped half of them in toasted coconut.

This recipe is inspired by one from Cooking With Coconut Flour.

Gluten-free Coconut Cupcakes:

Beat with electric mixer:

1/4 cup liquified coconut oil

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup apple sauce

1/4 to 1/2 tsp vanilla liquid stevia

1 tsp sea salt

10 eggs, I like to beat them in one at a time

Add:

1 cup sifted coconut flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp xanthan gum

Beat again.

Fill unbleached muffin cups nearly full.

Bake at 350 for about 24 minutes.

Makes about 18.

Chef Zoe

Wild rice with stir fry

I like to make the rice, Lundberg (gluten-free) Wild Blend, with half vegetable broth and half water, and sprinkle the stir fry with some garlic powder and sea salt. What made this one special though was the fresh chopped parsley and lemon thyme on top. I also roasted two heads of garlic to spread on some toast. Along with fresh artichoke, roasted garlic is one of my top 5 favorite things to eat. I could eat it by itself!