Caramel Apple Dip

I know I'm going a little crazy here, with two post in one day and all, but this one is really just a photo and an endorsement :-) The recipe belongs to my friend, Ali, of Nourishing Meals. I made her caramel apple dip tonight and took this photo. It was awesome, and so easy to make. How great to have a fall treat like this, and not feel guilty about it. The four of us ate half, and have the other half left over for tomorrow night. Can't wait :-)

And so it may not feel like fall here yet (it's still hanging around 90 degrees), but I can still pretend...

♥, Kelly

self portrait with chia coffee

Here I am in my kitchen right now taking photos and making up recipes. It's just so hot outside! I've waited five minutes, and it's still hot ;-) So I made up another coffee drink, and I think it's pretty sweet. My hubby came up from his office downstairs and gave it a big thumbs up too. It isn't frozen, but the chia seeds make it nice and thick. It would also be great with a dash of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice.

For dinner tonight we're having coconut curry inspired by Nepal's, based on the curry recipe in my cookbook on page 135. All I did was leave out the broth and substitute more coconut milk. I also doubled the recipe because I love the sauce so much I could just drink it :-)

Now off to read Betsy Tacy with my girls.

Chia Coffee

Add to blender:

4 pitted dates (soak first if they are too dry)

10 drops vanilla liquid stevia

1 cup strong chilled coffee

1 cup cashew milk

(How to Make Cashew Milk Video)

1/2 cup coconut milk

1 tbsp Chia Seeds (grind in coffee grinder or Magic Bullet first if you aren't using a Blendtec or Vita-Mix)

Puree.

Makes two fab chia coffee drinks.

♥, Kelly

Nepal's GF/CF in Estes Park, CO

Yesterday we decided to beat the heat down here in Longmont, and take a day-trip up to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. It's only about a 40 minute drive.

I'm sorry I don't have a photo of the food at Nepal's, but we left the camera in the car, and then picked it up afterwards. So we took this photo of the sign after we had already eaten.

Like most places in Colorado they were very familiar with gluten-free at Nepal's, and knew exactly which dishes we could order. All of the curries were gluten-free. Andy got the chicken curry, which was excellent, and the girls and I got the coconut chicken curry. This dish usually has a splash of cow cream, but they made it with all coconut milk for us.

I can't say it enough: It was the best coconut curry we've ever had. I mean out of this world. We had to order seconds.

It's that crazy good. :-)

I'm afraid I did have to update another restaurant review however, and not in a good way. Gluten-free patrons are no longer wanted at Oscar Blues. Click to read my update.

Aspen in fall color in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Walking a trail.

Hangin' by a creek :-)

Happy fall my dears.

♥, Kelly

Lovely certified gluten-free Oat Wafflesbased on Lexie's Kitchen

Update: I made these again, 9/26/10, and I soaked the cup of oats overnight. This morning I rinsed the oats in fresh water and strained them before adding them to my blender. I used only 3/4 cup of water since the oats were soaked. They were great :-)

"All grains contain phytic acid (an organic acid in which phosphorous is bound) in the outer layer or bran. Untreated phytic acid can combine with calcium, magnesium, copper, iron especially zinc in the intestinal track and block their absorption. This is why a diet high in unfermented whole grains may led to serious mineral deficiencies and bone loss. The modern misguided practice of consuming large amounts of unprocessed bran often improves colon transit time at first but may lead to irritable bowel syndrome and, in the long term, many other adverse effects. Soaking allows enzyme, lactobacilli and other helpful organisms to break down and neutralize phytic acid. As little as seven hours of soaking in warm acidulated water will neutralize a large portion of phytic acid in grains. The simple practice of soaking cracked or rolled cereal grains overnight will vastly improve their nutritional benefits." -Why it is Very Important to Soak Oats Before You Eat Them, High on Health

The other day Jae asked me on Spunky Coconut Facebook Page if I had tried my egg-free bagel recipe as a waffle. I think I have, and it did not work. I suggested my friend, Lexie's recipe which is egg-free, but not grain-free. Then yesterday my order of certified gluten-free oats came, and I thought I would try Lexie's recipe myself.

However, as I have mentioned before, my husband can spot buckwheat a mile away and won't eat anything that contains it. Zoe, Ashley, and I love buckwheat, but I wasn't up for making Andy a separate dinner (we eat "breakfast" for dinner a lot). Also, as I usually eat grain-free I am out of brown rice flour. So, I had to make a few substitutions.

I substituted 1/2 cup coconut flour and 1/4 cup tapioca flour in place of the buckwheat and brown rice flour. Also, I was out of lemon juice (which is incredibly rare, but there you go ;-) so I substituted apple cider vinegar.

I cooked them at almost the highest setting for five minutes, greasing before each.

If you can do certified gluten-free oats please try this recipe. It is phenomenal! All four of us loved them, and our neighbor (who came over as we were still eating and tried a bite) loved them too.

♥, Kelly

Stainless Steel Drinking Straws! & other news

We have been having an amazing day today :-) I know I don't talk about autism much, but it's worth mentioning: Ashley has been kicking some major autism butt the past few days! I had run out of two of her supplements: Cell Food, and MB12/Folinic/NAC injections. Yes, injections. Don't worry, she has numbing cream, fondly referred to as, "magic mayonnaise" ;-) and she doesn't feel a thing. But the difference is shocking, since she's been back on the injections and the Cell Food. Holy moly. Talking up a storm.

You can pick up the Cell Food at any health food store and sneak a few drops into any drink, but the injections, obviously, you need a DAN! doc to get. If you are near Maryland, I can personally recommend Dr. Love, and if you are near Colorado I can recommend Dr. Hamilton. They rock. If you have a DAN! doc that you love in another state, please let us know in the comments! You may really help out someone who needs a good one :-)

This morning we were invited across the street to our neighbors house for tea. Our neighbor had set up a little wooden kids table next to the adult eat-in-kitchen table. The kids table was set with cloth napkins in wooden animal napkin rings, yellow speckled plates, and tiny ceramic cups, teapot and silverware. It was adorable. She had fresh fruit in pretty bowls and carrots sliced thinly, arrange in a pattern. We had such a great time. I am so grateful to have her as a neighbor. :-)

When we got home we made pancakes with the leftover batter from yesterday, and topped them with hot applesauce:

Yum-O.

Then the girls and I decided to go to this rec center pool (photos from last year). We floated around the lazy river, laughing and talking and making up stories. It was so fun.

When we got home we made the smoothies in the photo at the top. They're frozen cherries, pineapple, water with orange Emergen-C, half a banana, Chia Seeds and a little coconut milk. The reason I wanted to show you these smoothies, however, is because of these cool new straws we got on Amazon. They are stainless steel, and they were only $10. We are loving them :-) So much better for the environment than plastic, and more durable than glass drinking straws.

♥, Kelly

Pumpkin Spice Waffles (grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free)

A while back one of you said that you like tripling my waffle recipe so that you have waffles ready for the week to pop in the toaster. I thought this was a great idea, so I tried it myself and put a photo of a huge stack of waffles on the Spunky Coconut Facebook Page. They were great heated up in the toaster for days later.

Today I got a little lazy though, and tripled the batch, but only cooked four waffles for breakfast this morning. I put all the leftover batter in jars in the fridge, and tomorrow I'm thinking of using it for pancakes maybe.

The reason they are so golden brown is I added a tablespoon each of cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. Keep in mind that was for a tripled batch. There are three teaspoons in a tablespoon (thank you Alton Brown ;-) so for one batch use a teaspoon of each.

We're getting ready to leave for the firefighters parade in Boulder. You may not have heard, but last week there was another fire just eight miles from my house. We could see the smoke from our driveway:

We just want to say thank you firefighters!

And finally, today is my husband's birthday. Happy Birthday my love!

♥, Kelly

Caesar Dressing (soy-free, dairy-free, gluten-free)

I've heard from several of you that you love the caesar dressing recipe in my cookbook :-) Thank you! But I've also heard from several of you that you can't do any soy, not even the tiny bit that is in Vegenaise Grapeseed Oil. So I decide to make a completely soy-free (dairy-free) caesar dressing, and it came out tasting exactly like the original. Yay!

Also, I added chia seeds, not for flavor (they don't add any flavor to the dressing), but to thicken it. This is something you could add to my cookbook caesar recipe too. Chia seeds are phenomenally good for you, and lately I've been using them to thicken lots of salad dressings and dips. A quick google of chia seeds (because it's hard to remember all the facts about them):

More Omega-3 than Atlantic Salmon
More Antioxidants than fresh blueberries
More Fiber than bran flakes
More Calcium than 2% milk
More Protein, Fiber & Calcium than flax seed

Cool. Love them! But on with the soy-free version of my recipe:

Caesar Dressing (soy-free, dairy-free, gluten-free)

I used my Magic Bullet for this. The Magic Bullet is great for when you need to puree a small amount, like a salad dressing. I also like to take it for smoothies when we travel because it's nice and small :-)

Puree:

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp cashew milk

(How to Make Cashew Milk Video)

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice would also work)

1/4 tsp Herbamare seasoning

about 1/2 clove of fresh garlic

1 tbsp Chia Seed (or 2 tbsp chia seed meal)

♥, Kelly

Packing a Healthy School Lunch with Teriyaki Veggie Cakes, Go Ahead Honey It's Gluten-Free!

I homeschool my girls, but we often pack a lunch for field trips and park days. Also, Zoe attends a once a week enrichment program offered here in Colorado where she takes foreign language, art, music, drama, and sports. It's a full day, so I get to make her a lunch to bring.

Before I get into this healthy school lunch, Ali's theme for this months Go Ahead Honey It's Gluten-Free , I have to talk about this fun, pretty bento box above. The reason for using bento lunch boxes is creating lead-free, BPA-free, Waste Free Lunches. "It has been estimated that on average a school-age child using a disposable lunch generates 67 pounds of waste per school year. That equates to 18,760 pounds of lunch waste for just one average-size elementary school." Yikes, right?!! Click for the link to order these at Lap Top Lunches, or you can also find neat stacking stainless boxes on Amazon and at health food stores.

We also take Sigg Bottles (for school and everywhere else) because polycarbonate plastic #7 bottles leach the toxic chemical, BPA, into your water, and because Americans add over 30 million plastic water bottles to our nation's landfills – everyday! It feels good not being a part of that, and keeping our family healthy at the same time.

One of the most important things I hope to teach my children is how to be good stewards of the earth. They are beginning to understand that we have to consume less, waste less, and reuse more, in order to protect our future. Sigg bottles, bento boxes, and cloth napkins are all ways we can help our kids choose to protect the environment, and our future.

And now on with the food! :-) Zoe loves cauliflower, lightly steamed or raw, and guacamole with crackers in her lunch. To make guacamole I cut the avocado in half, and remove the pit. Then I just mash the avocado with a fork while it's still in the skin. I transfer it to a bowl and add lemon or lime juice and Herbamare. These crackers are Sesmark, Gluten-Free Rice Thins.

I'm also very excited to share this Teriyaki Veggie Cake recipe with you. It's a spin on these veggie cakes that I make all the time, but I think this is my best version yet.

Teriyaki Veggie Cakes

gluten & dairy free, raw inspired,

full of omega 3 & 6 essential fatty acids

Add to food processor:

2 cups beans (I used navy beans for the cakes in this photo, which gave me this fantastic orange colored veggie cake)

1 cup carrots, roughly chopped

1.5 green onions, roughly chopped

1/4 cup sundried tomatoes

1/4 cup gluten-free teriyaki sauce

2 tsp hot sauce (for mild to medium cakes)

1/2 tsp

Herbamare

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Puree.

Add:

1/4 cup Hemp Seeds

1/4 cup Chia Seed meal (I grind it in my coffee grinder. Two tablespoons seeds = four

tablespoons

meal, or 1/4 cup)

1/2 to 1 cup almond meal flour

Puree.

Form into patties and dehydrate at 115 degrees for about 5 hours.

Makes six.

Click for the link to my dehydrator, the Nesco American Harvest

Also, see this video on why raw hemp seeds & chia seeds rock!

Why dehydrate these and not bake or grill them, you might ask? Heat destroys the omega 3 & 6 essential fatty acids, which are so good for you and vital to your health. For more on why I dehydrate, read

this post

. For more on how Ashley is recovering, read this post.

♥, Kelly

Russian Dressing (gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free)

We ate this salad with Russian Dressing tonight for dinner. The salad included carrots, chicken and hemp seeds. Y-U-M. The difference between Russian Dressing and Thousand Island Dressing is mainly eggs. Russian Dressing does not contain eggs. There is, however, a very small amount soy in the dressing because I use Vegenaise Grapeseed Oil in place of mayonnaise. Soy is the fifth ingredient in Vegenaise Grapeseed Oil. Not a lot, but good to know.

In other news, for all my Longmont/Boulder area friends I thought you should know there is another market for arts, crafts and food starting this Tuesday in the courtyard by Red Frog Coffee. Come on out and support local businesses! And if you want to participate, join in! :-)

Also, check out the roundup of Adopt a Gluten-Free Blogger over at Shirley's. It was a fun surprise to see that Jen, at Gluten Free Life with Jen had adopted me! See what she has to say about my Banana Fruit Bread recipe :-)

Russian Dressing:

I used my Magic Bullet for this. The Magic Bullet is great for when you need to puree a small amount, like a salad dressing. I also like to take it for smoothies when we travel because it's nice and small :-)

Puree:

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup Vegenaise Grapeseed Oil

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp sundried tomatoes

1/2 of a green onion, rough chopped

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp Herbamare seasoning

♥, Kelly

Peach Cobbler (gluten-free, casein-free, refined sugar-free)

I love peaches. Almost as much as I love nectarines. Usually we just eat them whole and raw, but this evening I decided to make a really simple peach cobbler. I had it all put together and in the oven in probably 15 minutes—it was so easy. I am eating it now, as I type—I couldn't even wait until I finished my serving to share it with you! :-)

Peach Cobbler:

Grease your dish. I used a deep ceramic pie dish.

Fill the dish with about six cups of fresh peeled sliced peaches (equal to about six peaches). You may need more or less depending on the size of your dish.

Puree the topping in the food processor:

1 cup walnuts

1/2 cup almond meal

1/2 cup tapioca flour

1/4 cup ghee (which is casein-free) or coconut oil (or 2 tbsp of each, which is what I prefer)

1/4 cup coconut sugar

pinch of sea salt

1 tsp cinnamon

Crumble the topping over the peaches.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

♥, Kelly