Mock Peanut Butter Cups, Our Spunky Easter Holiday

Even if my kids didn't have allergies, and I weren't celiac, I would still prefer homemade Easter candy. Do you know what drives me crazy about store-bought candy? The refined sugar, the dairy, the gluten, and the peanuts. Try finding candy without those four ingredients. It's nearly impossible. I know there are a couple out there that are refined sugar-, dairy-, gluten-, and peanut-free, but they are few and far between. However, this isn't meant to be a rant about candy :-) Besides, how amazing does this candy look...

Are we feeling deprived? No way!!!

Making it was easy, just a little time consuming (lots of steps).

Mock Peanut Butter Cups:

Add a couple teaspoons of melted dairy-free chocolate to about 12 mini paper cups.

(I melted about one bar over a double boiler. No, my chocolate isn't 100% sugar-free—I use Chocolove 73%)

If the chocolate in the cups is too warm, stick the tray in the freezer for just a minute.

Then, using the back of a spoon, brush the chocolate up the sides of the cups.

You want the sides to have a good coating, not too thin.

After each has a good coat of chocolate all around, put the tray back in the freezer while you whip up the filling. For the filling I used my Frozen Sunbutter Fudge recipe, cut in half.

Fill each one to the top, and freeze for a few hours, or until it's solid.

Optional: Pipe the top of each with frosting (cut this recipe in half also), and add sprinkles. I used Marigold Orange decorating sugar by this company.

Keep them in the freezer until serving. Perfect consistency approximately 15 minutes after taking them out of the freezer. They will liquify again at room temperature after an hour or two, so do keep them cold.

Also, here is my 5 months photo :-) I feel amazing. This pregnancy is so wonderful, knowing that I'm celiac this time. When I'm hungry I eat, and I feel satisfied. Such a difference. That doesn't mean that I wouldn't mind eating all day long (haha!) but it's a big change from when I was pregnant with the Zoe and Ashley, and I never felt nourished.

Thanks to those of you who have already sent me your entries for Our Spunky Easter Holiday, and for those of you who haven't yet, please do! If you don't have a blog, just email me your photo and recipe and I'll include it too. Click for the details here!

♥, Kelly

PS I hope to see you in Chicago! Click for my presentation time, and come see me as I'm selling books in the vendor fair :-)

DIY Glass Sippy Cup

Check out my new invention. Kelly has mentioned that we reuse glass jars for food storage. St. Dalfour jam jars are particularly suited for little kids' hands. Well, this morning we had a little accident where Ashley dropped the jar and her blueberry smoothie splashed everywhere.

To prevent this from happening again I turned the jar into a sippy cup. It just so happens that I own a special hole punch (in the photo above). You can buy these at arts and crafts stores. It's intended purpose is to punch through multiple pages of a homemade book, but it works equally well with this thin metal cap. The tool is used by hammering the back end like a chisel. I placed the lid on a block of wood, making sure to punch on the top side of the cap (so the sharp edge of metal is pushed inside away from the drinker). And voila! A glass sippy cup. We got the cool stainless steel straws on amazon.

Cheers,
Andrew

Eggs Julia

As you know if you follow me on Facebook, I've been obsessed with Elegance with Eggs, a video of Julia Child from 1964. Since watching the video (twice) I've made eggs in ramekins three times, the way Julia does in the video. They are so awesome, I had to bring them up one more time :-)

This morning we had Applegate bacon (which I cooked on a broiler pan in the oven at 400 degrees, till it was nice and crispy), and my homemade yogurt (with St. Dalfour jam on top) with what I'm fondly referring to as Eggs Julia. My mouth was so so so happy. Don't worry, my eggs were not undercooked (since I am five months pregnant today—woohoo!).

Eggs Julia

Based on this video video of Julia Child

Grease oven-safe ramekins well (I use ghee).

Add one or two eggs, depending on the size of the ramekins.

Optional: Add about a tablespoon of cashew milk. (How to Make Cashew Milk Video) Julia also recommends adding parsley, bacon, etc.

Place the ramekins in a pan of simmering water on the stove. I use a stainless steel pan like this one.

Let them simmer on the stove until the bottom of the eggs are slightly white (about 7 minutes).

Transfer the pan of water containing the ramekins to a 375 degree oven.

Set the timer for about 7 minutes.

Carefully remove the pan from the oven, using an oven mitt. (I like to tell my husband and kids that the stainless pan has been in the oven and that the handle is burning hot, so they don't grab it by mistake. I've done that—ouch.)

Use an oven mitt to take each ramekin out of the pan.

They will continue to cook slightly in the hot ramekin.

I take the kids' eggs out, but the adults eat them straight out of the hot ramekin.

♥, Kelly

PS I'm almost finished tweaking my new Easter candy recipe. I'll put it up as soon as it's ready :-)

Enjoy Life Cookie Review

Enjoy Life is so kind to send me samples of new products to try, which we happily do :-) We have been long-time fans of Enjoy Life. When we drove to Salt Lake City, we ate Enjoy Life trail mix. It was great—a road-trip must-have. This time they sent us three kinds of cookies. Just a heads-up—these cookies do contain cane sugar. But we only eat one at a time, and we don't have them often. That said, they are really good, like everything we've tried by Enjoy Life. They're soft and chewy, and I don't think anyone would ever suspect they're gluten-free. Zoe's favorite was the lemon, and Andy and I liked the snickerdoodle best.

In a couple days I'll be posting a new candy recipe for Our Spunky Easter Holiday. I'll give you a hint: It's inspired by a famous peanut butter candy... :-)

♥, Kelly

Our Spunky Holiday, Easter (gluten-free)

Usually I don't start thinking about what I'm going to make for the next holiday until a week before it arrives. At that point I go through my favorite recipes and blogs, planning the perfect holiday menu. Yesterday, Zoe looked at the calendar and announced that Easter is in five weeks. It got me wondering what all my friends would make, or rather, what my friends would make that I could use for our Easter :-)

Then I was driving to my midwife appointment (why do most of our best ideas come to us while we're driving?) and I got this idea: Let's all share our holiday recipes with each other, and I'll post a roundup of them here a week before the holiday arrives. This will give us enough time to decide what to make, gather our ingredients, and create our holiday meal. We can all benefit from each other's holiday recipes. What do you think?

So my honey, the designer, and I whipped up this badge, which you can use for your post. The letters will change to match the holiday approaching. (I got the idea from Google—Thanks, Google :-) This is our Easter badge. Next will be the 4th of July, followed by Thanksgiving, and so on. Want to play?

Here's what you do:

1) Grab the current Our Spunky Holiday badge from here (remember it will change for each holiday).

2) Post the badge with your holiday recipe on your site, and link to me in the post (I will link back to you when I post the roundup).

3) To participate the recipe must be gluten-free.

4) Email me the link to your post: Kelly(insert @)theSpunkyCoconut.com and I will feature your photo here on Spunky, with a link to your site and recipe.

For Our Spunky Holiday: Easter, I need your entries by April 14, so that I have time to post the roundup a week before Easter.

If you're new to the whole gluten-free carnival concept, check out this post to get an idea of how it will appear :-)

I think it's fine if you want to re-post an old recipe from your site for Our Spunky Holiday. Just please don't enter the same recipe more than once (like the same candy recipe for Easter and Halloween, or the same casserole for Thanksgiving and Christmas).

I will leave you with this photo for inspiration: My Raw Chocolate & Raspberry Candy, which I make for Easter.

I can't wait to see what candy or main dishes you make for Our Spunky Easter Holiday :-)

♥, Kelly

Raspberry & Almond Yogurt dairy-free, soy-free, refined sugar-free

Last week a friend of mine came to visit. So exciting. I wanted to make us some yogurt, but I decided to try a new flavor, based on my best yogurt recipe. Thinking she might be hungry after flying in, I brought her a jar to try on the drive home from the airport. She loved it =) All of us did. I hope you love it too.

Raspberry & Almond Yogurt

Dairy-Free Yogurt #3

dairy-free, soy-free, refined sugar-free

Add to pot:

4 cups cashew milk

(How to Make Cashew Milk Video)
2 cups water that has been blended with 1 tbsp almond butter
1 tbsp honey or coconut sugar
1/8 to 1/4 tsp chocolate raspberry liquid stevia (to your taste)

Bring to simmer. Watch carefully so it doesn’t boil over.

Reduce heat to low, whisk and simmer for about 4 minutes.

Turn off the heat.

Whisk in:

1 tbsp plus 1 tsp Gelatin (OR 1.5 tsp agar powder ) that has been dissolved into 1/2 cup boiling water.

Pour the liquids into a bowl and put that bowl into a larger one of cold (but not iced) tap water.
(Note: Omit this step if using agar powder, and let it cool down on it's own so the agar powder doesn't get lumpy)

Whisking also helps it cool down faster.

When you have reached about 92°F add:

The contents of about 9 probiotic capsules.

Whisk them in well. (I use Solaray Multidophilus, 3 Billion, non-dairy) Or 25 to 30 billion of any dairy-free probiotic.

Pour into jars and keep warm for about 15 hours.

I use my yogurt maker, but I love the suggestion of using a cooler with containers of hot water around the yogurt jars.

If there is a clear pool at the bottom, secure the lids tightly and shake the yogurt to mix it in before refrigerating. (Note: For agar option shaking isn't necessary)

Refrigerate for 8 hours.

My girls like to put their yogurt in a small dish and top it with a little raspberry jam. I use Crofter's Just Fruit Spread, but St. Dalfour is another one with no added sugar.

Click for the link to my yogurt making supplies.

♥, Kelly

Ashley's Smoothie

In this video Ashley and I make her smoothie. She likes to have this smoothie as soon as she wakes up in the morning.

My blender: Blendtec

My: BPA-Free Freezer Trays With Lids

My: Groovy Stainless Steel Straws

♥, Kelly

Vanilla Almond Strawberry Granola / Cereal (gluten-free, refined sugar-free, dairy-free)

Last week Zoe was asking me to buy cereal. Groan. We haven't been cereal people for years. I think it's the least healthy way to start your day. I'm all about keeping our blood sugar even, not spiking it first thing in the morning. My girls are homeschooled, so who would get to deal with the sugar crash? Yep, that would be me =)

About the same time Zoe was asking me to buy cereal, Andy was asking me to make my Chai Granola. He eats it throughout the day, by the handful. I don't know why it never even occurred to me to crumble it and make "cereal." Then the lightbulb went on, and we've been having chai granola cereal with cashew milk for several days now.

I started daydreaming about another flavor of granola/cereal. Vanilla almond strawberry. Mmm. So I bought some slivered almonds and strawberries, and followed the same process as the chai granola. It came out wonderfully. However, next time I'll cut the strawberries into tiny pieces and mix them in with everything else before dehydrating (this time I dehydrated the cut strawberries on their own tray). If your kids are like mine, they will want a bit of strawberry in every bite, so I think mixing the strawberries in at the beginning is the way
to go.

Vanilla Almond Strawberry Granola / Cereal

gluten-free, refined sugar-free, dairy-free

Soak 2 cups of walnuts & 1.5 cups diced or slivered almonds for about 8 hours.

Rinse and strain.

Add to a bowl with:

1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

1/2 cup almond meal flour

1 cup applesauce with no added sugar

20 drops of vanilla liquid stevia

1/4 cup coconut sugar , which is low glycemic index

1 tbsp vanilla extract

16 oz fresh finely chopped strawberries

In a separate bowl mix:

2 tbsp Chia Seed meal (I grind my chia seeds in a coffee grinder or Magic Bullet)

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp sea salt

Combine the two bowls.

Dehydrate at about 115 degrees overnight, or until it's dry and crunchy.

Serve with cashew milk.

(cashew milk video)

♥, Kelly

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

Click for more on why I dehydrate.

For more on chia seeds, and why they rock, read Lexie's post here.

So Simple Zucchini Noodle Soup

This soup is so simple it almost doesn't even need any explanation :-) I just sauteed carrots and celery, and added steamed zucchini noodles, broth and Herbamare. It would also have been really good with some chicken for chicken "noodle" soup. To make the zucchini noodles I used this nifty julienne slicer that Elana got me into.

I hope you enjoy this soup as much as we did.

So Simple Zucchini Noodle Soup

grain-free, dairy-free

Add to pre-heated soup pot (I use Le Creuset *):

A few tablespoons of oil, about 3 cups chopped celery & about 3 cups chopped carrots.

Saute till barely fork tender.

Add 1.5 quarts of chicken or vegetable broth & 4 zucchini that have been sliced with julienne slicer and steamed.

Bring to almost a simmer.

Add 1/4 to 1/2 tsp Herbamare (to your taste) & serve.

* If you frequent stores like Marshall's you can find Le Creuset for half price or better. That's how I got all three of my orange colored Le Crueset about three years ago. I've since seen others there in green, blue and yellow.

♥, Kelly

Cinnamon & Sugar Quinoa Flake Porridge & Pregnancy Stuff

People often tell me in private, either though emails or when I meet them face to face, that they know I don't like talking about autism or biomedical treatments much, but they would really love to hear more. I always assure them that I really don't mind talking about it, I just have to keep it in balance with everything else in my life. And I'm done watching and reading anything fear-based, like "the other side" of the vaccine debate (pro-vaccine)—so don't bother sending it to me ;-) I know what they say, and no amount of biased garbage is going to convince me otherwise.

For instance, I was up in Loveland last week and I bumped into someone (well, not literally :-) who knew my blog. She apologized, but said she really wanted to ask me how I had the courage to have another baby. I wondered if there are more of you who are asking yourselves the same question. Let me explain.

When Ashley was having her most severe period my husband and I decided we couldn't have any more children, like we had planned. At that point it wasn't so much of a worry that it would "happen again"—that we would have another child with autism. We were just franticly working around the clock with Ashley.

But eventually I did come to fear that if we had another baby, they may have problems like Ashley. And eventually, after we began chelation (removing poison), Ashley improved dramatically. You can read more about all that here.

Then a good friend of mine came to visit last summer. We took our kids to the park, where she asked me if Andy and I were going to have any more children. I said no, and admitted my fears to her. Her response really hit me. She said that we're all predisposed to probably lots of potential problems. It's really a matter of whether or not those things are triggered.

I thought about that deeply. For all I know, Zoe is also predisposed to autism, but for her it wasn't triggered. In my family's history are heart conditions, diabetes, depression, cancer, and more. I could be predisposed to many things myself.

But still, after that day at the park with my friend, I didn't think of having more children again.

Then in November I thought I was pregnant. Oops. Only I didn't feel panic. I didn't get scared. I was giddy. Andy was giddy. We couldn't stop smiling. But a few days later we were wrong. I wasn't pregnant. We were so disappointed.

After a lot of thought, and talking about it, we decided to just see. I didn't have the easiest time getting pregnant with Zoe and Ashley, especially considering how young I was (I was 24 when I had Zoe). It took over six months before I was pregnant with Zoe and Ashley. Andy and I thought that if I got pregnant this past December, that it would be meant to be.

Two weeks later I was pregnant.

We thought it was a good sign :-) Almost ten years after having our first, we were pregnant with our third, and it didn't take six months this time. Isn't it usually the other way around?

But there were some other things I considered, before deciding to "just see." Of course I was thinking about what my friend had said—that just because we may be predisposed doesn't mean it will be triggered. Also, I've been eating gluten-free for many years now, which is very important for a celiac's fertility. And, I've done detoxification of my own over the past couple years. I did a cleanse two years in a row, followed by a colonic. Plus, I finally got rid of my candida as a result of my diet and cleansing. (Phew.) I avoid toxins, eat organic as much as possible, and haven't had any mercury fillings put in or removed. And I won't have my last two mercury fillings replaced until after the baby has weaned.

Still, there are no guarantees. And that's okay. We try to lead a guided life, and we feel like this baby was meant to be :-) It was blind faith that led us to Colorado with no jobs and no money, and our lives have been blessed ever since.

And now that I've been so serious, I'll leave you with something light—my favorite breakfast lately, quinoa flake porridge, and a photo of the girls and I in their room this morning. Four months pregnant :-) I thought I would share a photo with you at the beginning of every month, so you can share in our excitement.

Cinnamon & Sugar Quinoa Flake Porridge

grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free

Add to pot:

3 cups cashew milk (cashew milk video)

1 cup coconut milk

Bring to simmer.

Add:

1 & 1/4 cups quinoa flakes

Reduce heat to low and stir until thickened (one or two minutes).

Add:

3 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup coconut sugar (which is low glycemic index)

1/4 tsp sea salt

Optional toppings:

Toasted shredded coconut, raisins, cooked apples, sliced bananas, walnuts.

Makes about 4 servings.

♥, Kelly

Chicken Enchiladas with Nacho Cheese by Go Dairy Free

I'm crazy for my new tortilla recipe. First I used it to make wraps , then fajitas, and now these yum-o enchiladas with nacho cheese sauce from the cookbook, Go Dairy Free.

They were really easy because I had the chicken leftover from the day before, so all that was left was to make the tortillas and cheese sauce.

First I shred the leftover cooked chicken—About 3.5 cups.

Then I mixed in a bowl:

1/3 cup salsa (I used gluten-free green chili sauce)

3 tbs tomato paste

3/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp garlic powder

I added the tomato & green chili sauce to the shredded chicken and set it aside.

Next I made the: tortillas

I added a few spoonfuls of the chicken mixture to the tortillas, and secured them with a toothpick. Then I put them in a pre-heated pan over medium heat with a little oil:

I browned three sides slightly (I didn't brown the toothpick side). Then I put them in the oven (at only 200 degrees), in a ceramic dish with a lid, to stay warm while I made the sauce. I kept the toothpicks in until I was ready to serve them.

I used Alisa's nacho cheese sauce (from page 170) in her cookbook, Go Dairy Free. I omitted the nutritional yeast and pimientos from the sauce, but otherwise didn't change a thing. It's an excellent recipe. When Andy came up from his office for dinner, he took a spoonful of sauce and said, "This isn't dairy?! How'd you do that?!"

This is the first "cheese" I've made from the book. I think the book is worth buying just for this one recipe, as well as all of the information on dairy in the first half of the book. I keep it by my bed and enjoy reading it often.

When the nacho sauce was done (it's really simple to make, by the way) I just place the enchiladas on our plates (I made 6 total), topped them with extra salsa, and the nacho sauce, and put them on the table. I set the tomatoes and sliced olives on the table for everyone to serve themselves.

Dinner was eaten up in no time. Happy mama :-)

♥, Kelly

PS Check out Shirley's review of Go Dairy Free by clicking here!