orange pie gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free

(you may click on the images to view them larger)

I was looking at some of my favorite blogs for recipes and inspiration yesterday, when I saw Orange Cake at Elanas Pantry. It was news to me, as Elana mentioned, that Starbucks has released a gluten-free orange cake. I go to my local coffee shop nine times out of ten, where they always have a good selection of gluten-free/dairy-free cakes and cookies, and when I do go to Starbucks I use the drive-though, which explains how I was out of the loop, but I digress.

I wrote down Elana's Orange Cake ingredients, and while we were out I swung by a Whole Foods to grab them. When this Whole Foods was still a Wild Oats grocery store, I bought almond meal flour there all the time, but now... it's gone. This is the second time I've lost a gluten-free product which Wild Oats carried, that Whole Foods doesn't. The last product I actually went ahead and requested, with those little pieces of brown paper which they display near the check-out. You know, the ones they hang up on a small board, with a note written below your own that says, sorry, but no.

I was disappointed, but I didn't feel like driving to Vitamin Cottage, where I should have gone in the first place. So I went home, and decided to make up my own version of an orange cake, using my own blend of gluten-free flours. I made one last night, but it needed a little tweaking, so I made another one this morning and I am very happy with the way it came out. It turns out that mine is not really a cake at all. It's an orange pie, and it's super yummy. I'm so excited about it that I'm going to take it to a pot luck this weekend. Cheers, Kelly

Orange Pie:

Boil 2 whole oranges (peel and all) for about 80 minutes.

Remove. Rinse in a bowl of fresh piping hot water for one minute.

Add the whole cooked oranges (peel and all) to your food processor, after putting in the blade.

Cut each orange in half, inside the food processor (they will be very soft).

Puree.

Add:

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup tapioca flour

1/4 cup brown rice flour

1/2 cup coconut flour, sifted

2 tbsp coconut oil

1/2 tsp liquid stevia

1/2 cup honey

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

Puree.

While pureeing, drop in 4 eggs.

Now for some reason my spring form pan drips oil onto the bottom of my oven (yes, even when it's properly assembled). So what I do is use a large piece of unbleached parchment paper, untrimmed, so that it comes right up the walls of the pan, and I pour the batter over. As you can see this creates a bit of a scalloped edge, that I think is pretty. If, however, you have a pan that doesn't leak like mine, you wont need this step =)

Bake at 350 degrees for about 34 minutes.

Let cool fully before dusting with ground xylitol (I use a mortar and pestle to grind mine).

It will take forever to cool, so if you are impatient (I am impatient, and it was driving me crazy :-)), you can skip dusting it and eat it hot.

*As always, be very careful that your pets don't eat any xylitol

Update: I have made this 3 times now, and I should mention that the size of the fruit really changes the texture and consistency. The first two were made with large organic oranges (I think it's especially important that they are organic, since we are eating the peel). The large oranges produce a pie-like dessert (can I call it dessert if I eat it for breakfast -Ha!). The last one I made for a pot luck last weekend used two much smaller organic oranges, and it came out more like cake. They were equally good, I just thought I'd pass that on. Today I'm making it with 2 lemons for a lemon cake to take to another pot luck tomorrow -yay!

Cookbook Giveaway!

Anybody want a free copy of my book, The Spunky Coconut Cookbook? 

Here's how to play:

Leave me a comment with:

1) your name

2) your email address (or send me a private email if you prefer: kelly@thespunkycoconut.com)

3) tell us the short version of why you're using the diet: for yourself or a family member, for gluten-free, dairy-free or sugar-free?

Want extra credit?

4) put a link to this post on your blog or website for an extra entry! -and don't forget to let me know so I can give you two entries!

Contest is open until Tuesday, June 2, at 9:00 PM, my time ;-)

You must complete at least the first three to be eligible to win!

Good luck!

Congratulations Kamilla Bell!

PS I just want to say that I wish I could give you all a free cookbook!!!

Dear Friends & Family,

I am trembling with excitement! The Spunky Coconut Cookbook, which Andy and I wrote, photographed and designed, is finally here! There is a link to it on the right, which will remain permanently in that spot. This book is made with a lot of love and I hope you enjoy it!

The cookbook contains:

115 Gluten free, Casein free, & Sugar free recipes

65 Color Photos (all by me)

100 Vegetarian Recipes

30+ Raw-Inspired Recipes

Using Natural Alternatives to Sugar: Honey, and Stevia

Beginning chapters: Introduction, Safe Cooking & Storage, Green Your Home, Avoiding Sugar, Why use Coconut Oil, Lemon Juice for Acid Reflux, Oxalates, Appliances & Products -Followed

Cheers! Kelly

"Inspired by raw food, Kelly incorporates nut milks and natural alternatives to sugar to create gluten free recipes so creamy and sweet no one would ever guess there was no dairy or sugar. Recipes free of gluten, dairy, sugar, peanut, corn and soy, including raw-inspired recipes..."

vanilla almond smoothie dairy-free, soy-free, sugar-free

It is 90 degrees here today, and so I want nothing to do with hot or cooked food. Instead, I had this nice, cool smoothie for lunch, and it was so delicious. Honestly, Vitol Egg Protein Powder is so yummy, it doesn't even need other ingredients. Still, I couldn't resist making it even more healthy and fabulous. :-)

Vanilla Almond Smoothie:

Add to blender:

6 cubes of frozen cashew milk

1/2 of a banana, frozen in pieces

1 tbsp almond butter

1 tbsp Vitol Egg Protein Powder

1/2 tsp Hemp Seeds, for essential fatty acids - omega 3 & 6

1 tsp honey or agave

water up to the 2 cup line

Blend

mini muffins, another use for almond butter gluten-free, casein-free, sugar-free

I needed to order more Vitol (the best protein powder ever) last week and I noticed that if there were anything else I may need, which could count toward the "super-saver," then I could receive free shipping. Hmm... Get a couple more things, if there is anything I need, and receive free shipping. Well, there was this one thing I "needed," which was a miniature muffin tray and mini paper cups to go with it...

So I ordered those too, and received free shipping, and yesterday when we returned from hiking there was a nice little box on the doorstep from Amazon. Heeheehee...

Then this morning I had two objectives: 1) to stretch the remaining few items in my kitchen by thinking of new ways to combine ingredients, thus not having to go grocery shopping for another day, and 2) looking for more uses for almond butter (since I get giant Mara Natha almond butter for like half price at Costco).

What to do? Create a million (well okay 48) miniature muffins, using what I had left in the fridge and pantry. If you could see my pantry and fridge you would think we were fasting, but we're not. I just get a kick out of seeing how long I can go between grocery shopping, and it forces me to invent new things to eat. ;-)

Mini Blueberry Muffins:

Set oven to 325 degrees.

Add to bowl:

3/4 cup cashew milk

(How to Make Cashew Milk Video)

1 cup almond butter

3 tbsp ghee (which is casein-free) or coconut oil, liquified

2 tbsp honey

3 eggs

1/4 cup tapioca flour

1/4 cup coconut flour, sifted

2 tbsp Vitol Egg Protein Powder

OR substitute another 2 tbsp coconut flour, sifted

1/2 tsp vanilla liquid stevia

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1.5 tsp baking soda

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

1/4 tsp guar gum or xanthan gum

Blend with electric mixer.

Add one (10 oz) package of thawed, drained blueberries

Stir to combine

I topped each with a sprinkle of shredded coconut for fun

Bake for about 12 minutes

Update: I just made these again, and I added two tablespoons of honey for my husband, who thought they should be a little bit sweeter (I just added it above). I think he was right -they were even better with that small amount of honey. Also I used frozen organic cherries this time, and I think the muffins were also better with cherries. I cut the cherries in half while they were still frozen, then let them come to room temperature on the counter. I also added some slivered almonds. We just polished them off, and let me tell you -they were so good!

bite-size freezer treats gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free

At a hike with friends this morning we were talking about uses for almond butter, which reminded me of these bite-size freezer treats. So we came home and made some! (After I accidentally sat on a cactus -ouch!) They were so good we ate half while we were making them!

Cinnamon Raisin Bite-Size Freezer Treats (which may or may not make it into the freezer ;-)):

Add to bowl:

1 cup almond butter

2 tbsp honey

1/2 tsp sea salt (for extra minerals)

1/4 tsp vanilla liquid stevia

Stir

Then add:

1.5 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp flax seeds &

1 tbsp Hemp Seeds (for essential fatty acids - omega 3, 6 & 9)

1/3 cup raisins

Stir

Then add:

2 tbsp Vitol Egg Protein Powder (my personal favorite, any protein powder would work)

Chill for about 10 minutes in the freezer, then roll into bite-size balls and coat in shredded coconut.

Store in the freezer. Yum!

mango salsa

Today we went for a really long bike ride, and stopped at the farmers market on the way for lunch. It was such a lovely spring day. Late this afternoon, when we got back, and the girls were playing outside with the neighborhood kids, I decided to make mango salsa. I could just eat this salsa with a spoon, but as a dip you could pair it with tortillas or sliced jicama. We put it on top of chicken and spinach tonight. 

Mango Salsa:

1 finely chopped sauteed onion

1 cup of finely chopped tomato

1 cup finely chopped mango

1 tbsp fresh chopped basil

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1/4 to 1/2 tsp Herbamare seasoning (to your taste)

banana chocolate chip muffins

This morning I wanted to use up some bananas, but I didn't want to wait an hour for bread. So we used our Banana Bread recipe, added some chocolate chips, and made banana chocolate chip muffins. I was out of vanilla stevia, so I substituted with some vanilla extract, and they were still very sweet. The recipe made 11 muffins, and I baked them for 24 minutes at 350. Yum!

Simple Roasted Chicken

My favorite way to eat chicken is roasted. Restaurants and grocery stores would like us to think this is not a luxury we could manage in our own home oven, and though I do sometimes feel drawn to those expensive rotisserie ovens which spin whole birds on a spic, I tell myself it isn't necessary. Regular old oven roasted chicken with sea salt and rosemary is so good! Here is how simple it is.

Set your oven to 450 degrees.

Fill the bottom of your greased dish with carrots, thinly sliced.

Sprinkle with some rosemary.

Top carrots with bone-in, skin-on chicken breast or whole chicken.

Add some sea salt, or our favorite, Herbamare seasoning, and rosemary to the chicken.

Roast for about one hour.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest about 10 minutes.

(I like to add the sea salt to the carrots after baking to preserve the natural minerals)

mother's day ideas

Little Green Pea

Featuring handmade, reusable sandwich and snack bags that are so cute! Perfect for the eco-friendly mommy!

Eoff Street Studios 

Featuring awesome hand thrown stoneware that is dishwasher safe and sturdy.

Pretty in Purple

Featuring handmade kitchen and tableware using great fabrics. I personally own one of these oven mitts, and I love it!

Note: These are photos of one of a kind pieces. The artists offer many other colors, patterns and styles.

Click on the titles to enter their stores! Happy shopping!

brown rice tortillas - I got it!

I know a lot of you have struggled with these, as I have. Sometimes they turn out, and sometimes they peel like a bad sunburn. But the other day I finally got it! I had purchased a spray bottle for the seeds we're starting in the house (pumpkin, squash and watermelon), and a light bulb went off in my head. Using fresh water from the purifier (not water that had been sitting in the plastic bottle for days), I sprayed the brown rice tortillas on both sides, before putting them in the hot dry skillet. While the tortilla sat in the pan, I gave it a few more sprays. *don't be shy with the spray bottle - these guys are dry!* Then I removed the tortilla and filled it with my ingredients. I put tooth picks in after it was rolled up, and sprayed it some more. No peeling, no dryness. Wahoo! Now I really want the cool glass spray bottle that I saw at the local garden center, but couldn't justify buying. :-)

Another tip: If you're making more than one, cover them with a wet kitchen towel that has been wrung out, so they don't dry again while they sit and wait to be eaten.