Posted in Christmas, Dairy Free, Dessert, Egg Free, Gluten Free, Holiday, Soy Free, Sugar Free, Thanksgiving

No Bake Pumpkin Pie

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 can full fat coconut milk (room temperature, liquid and fat)
  • 1 cup Swerve brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup arrowroot flour
  • 1 TBSP powdered gelatin
  • 1 cup Organic 100% Pumpkin Puree
  • 2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
  • 1/4 tsp Redmond Salt
  • You will also need 2 9 inch store bough pie crusts or baked ones of your choice.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Without heat, whisk the first 4 ingredients in a medium sauce pan really well.

2. Add medium-low heat until mixture becomes thick, 8 to 10 minutes. Whisk often.

3. Remove from heat.

4. Add remaining 3 ingredients. Whisk thoroughly.

5. Pour filling evenly into the 2 pie crusts. I used ready-made pecan pie crusts.

6. Put in the pies into the fridge without the lids on for about 30 minutes.

7. After 30 minutes, put the lids on, put back into the fridge and chill for 4 to 6 hours.

Dishing on this Dish: This easy pie was a hit, easy to travel with, and gives a break from baking. What I love about this recipe is that the coconut milk is used at room temp. If yours is already refrigerated, just pull it out and let it warm up awhile. It will still work. And yes, you add the liquid and the fat. Also, the gelatin is added without blooming it first. How easy is that?! Be sure to whisk the first four ingredients together, before adding heat. This ensures the arrow root doesn’t get clumpy when warmed. Setting the pies in the fridge for 30 minutes without lids prevents condensation from sticking to the lid covers. It offers a better presentation of the pies if you are sharing them with others. I also like this recipe because it makes 2 pies. You’ll need them!

Posted in Cane Sugar Free, Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Gluten Free Cookies, Soy Free

Oat Flour Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

  • 5 eggs
  • 3/4 cup Monk Fruit Sugar
  • 3/4 cup Monk Fruit Brown Sugar or Swerve brown Sugar
  • 1 TBSP Pumpkin Pie Spice
  • 1 TBSP baking soda
  • 3/4 TBSP Celtic salt (to taste)
  • 1 and 1/2 cups Ghee or Coconut Oil (softened or melted)
  • 1 TBSP Organic Vanilla
  • 3 and 3/4 cup Organic Oat Flour (*see note below)
  • 3 and 3/4 cups Organic Rolled Oats
  • 1 and 1/2 cups Lily’s Dark Chocolate Chips
  • 1 and 1/2 cups Organic Raisins or cut up prunes (optional)

Directions:

  • Warm Oven to 350 degrees F
  • Add the first seven ingredients to a very large bowl and mix with electric mixer
  • Add the Organic Oat Flour and mix
  • Add the Organic Rolled Oats and mix
  • Add the raisins and choc. chips and mix
  • Form 1 and 1/2 TBSP- 2 TBSP size balls of dough and put on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
  • Flatten the balls a bit as they will not flatten on their own
  • Bake 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees F
  • Let cool a few minutes then transfer to a cooling plate or rack
  • Enjoy!

What’s in the Cupboard: *Oat flour – you don’t need to buy this. You can simply use a food processor and grind up your rolled oats for a few minutes and Presto! You’ve got oat flour. When measuring, use a spoon to transfer it to your measuring vessel. Processing it will cause it to be fluffier so you want to measure again after processing. Indeed, you need both the processed flour and the 3 and 3/4 cups of the rolled oats.

You can substitute Cinnamon and Nutmeg for the Pie Spice using 1 and 1/2 tsp of each instead. You can use ghee or coconut oil or a mix of both. Use any sugar you like, I just prefer Monk Fruit to make the recipe sugar free. You can add 3 TBSP of molasses to this recipe for enhanced taste as well. If you are fresh out of raisins, but have prunes, they work great in this recipe! I just cut them into small pieces first. I have not made these using chia seed or flax eggs, but I don’t see any reason why that would not work. If you can, use duck eggs, they really enhance the body of the cookie.

Dishing on this Dish: We have made these for years, and they are always a hit! We found using duck eggs makes a firmer cookie. These are pretty firm with chicken eggs, but they need a bit of time to cool and set up after pulling them out of the oven. This is a nice large recipe. It makes about 6 dozen small cookies or about 4 dozen large cookies. This is great for large families, or for freezing. These cookies freeze so nice! Just pull them out when you are ready to use them. They travel well too. What is the benefit of using oat flour? Low Oxalate! The chocolate chips will add some oxalate for sure, so use more raisins and less chips, or just omit the chips all together.

Posted in Dairy Free, Egg Free, Gluten Free, Snacks, Soy Free

Oat Crackers

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup water
  • 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp pink Himalayan salt (or to taste)
  • 4 tsp nutrional yeast
  • a pinch of organic dandelion herb (optional)
  • 4 cups organic, gluten free oat flour

Instructions:

  1. Whisk the first three, wet ingredients in a large bowl
  2. Add in the baking powder, salt, yeast, dandelion and whisk them.
  3. Add the oat flour and stir with a large, metal spoon, until thick.
  4. Knead the dough into a nice, smooth little ball.
  5. Pull the ball into 4 equal parts. Since you’ll work with one ball at a time, keep the other balls covered.
  6. With a rolling pin, roll out one ball at a time between parchment paper. You want the dough to be very thin, like a cracker. Go for 1/16 of an inch.
  7. Using a round pizza cutter, cut the rolled dough both vertically and horizontally so that squares are about 1 x 1 inch. You can make them larger if you wish!
  8. I like to use a fork to quickly but gently puncture each cracker, encouraging even baking.
  9. Since your scored dough is already on parchment paper, simply move the whole thing – paper and cut dough – onto a nice big baking sheet. A professional 1/2 size pan is perfect.
  10. Bake at 350 Fahrenheit. Check the crackers at about 10 minutes. Ovens bake at varying times and I usually check mine at 13 and see that they need a little more time. But they should bake up with a nice, light color. The outsides will bake first, so you can easily remove these and then continue to bake the more centered ones, gradually removing them, getting closer to the center as they get baked.
  11. While your crackers are baking, you can roll out the next ball in the same manner.

What’s in the Cupboard: You can add other fresh herbs if you like, you may just need to add a bit of water to the recipe if you are adding a lot of extra dry ingredients. If you are fresh out of coconut oil, you can substitute olive oil although it changes the flavor to a more bitter cracker. You can also use ghee.

Dishing on this Dish:1. You can make oat flour using a food processor to grind up whole oats or steel cut oats. Grinding a few cups of oats first on low and then on high for a couple minutes each makes a really nice, soft, flour. If you spoon your flour from the processor into the measuring device you may find you need to add a couple more spoons to the recipe to be able to knead your ball. When you spoon it versus pouring it the measured amount is slightly less, so just add a bit more if your dough ball is too sticky to knead. 2. This recipe is low/no oxalate. If your looking for a cracker that is keto minded, click here.3. Crackers are really easy to make once you get all the kinks figured out. The biggest issues are rolling them thin enough. 1/16 – 2/16 of an inch is just right. They will bake quickly and crisply. Also baking them just right by removing outer squares while leaving the center ones to bake a little bit longer is key. It just takes a few times to get into your cracker baking ‘zone’. This recipe provides four dough balls so you’ll be an expert by the time you are done. This is enough crackers to snack for the day as well as having enough to box up in savvy bags and boxes for gifts or snack trays for parties. These crackers are thin yet hardy enough for topping with salsa, avocado, meats or cheeses. Air-tight containers will keep the crackers for several days.

Posted in Dairy Free, Dessert, Gluten Free, Keto Friendly, Soy Free

2 Layer Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Cake Ingredients:

  • 12 Eggs
  • 4 tsp Vanilla
  • 3 tsp Baking Powder
  • 2 Cups Lakanto MonkFruit Powdered Sugar
  • 1 large Cup Ghee
  • 1 tsp Redmond’s Real Salt or Himalayan Salt (finely ground)
  • 1 cup Coconut Flour

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl add the eggs and beat them really well for a couple minutes. Add all the remaining ingredients except the coconut flour. Mix very well with a mixer. Mix on low first and then on high to really mix well, about 3 to 5 minutes. Last, add the coconut flour and continue to mix it well for a couple minutes.

Evenly divide the batter into two round cake pans with a spatula. I like to line the bottom of the cake pans with parchment paper. I cut a circle to just cover the bottom.

Bake for 20 minutes. I use an oven with a convection setting, so your oven may take longer to bake. Just use a knife to check the center for doneness. It should come out clean, with no batter. Although there may be some moisture there, but no batter.

Allow cakes to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting Ingredients

  • 4 large avocados
  • 8 Tbsp organic baking cocoa
  • 1.5 cups Lakanto Monkfruit Powdered Sugar
  • 2 tsp Vanilla
  • 1/4 cup Ghee

Frosting Directions

Mix all ingredients well with a mixer until creamy and smooth. You can refrigerate it for a bit if needed while waiting for cake to cool. If it gets too hard or stiff, just let it sit out and stir. It will perfectly spread onto a cooled cake. Frost the first layer, then add the second layer; frost it. Then frost all the sides.

Posted in Dairy Free, Dessert, Flour Free, Gluten Free, Soy Free

Breakdance Brownies

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 heaping cup Gluten Free Oats
  • 1 cup total any combo of honey and maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup coconut sugar or desired sweetener
  • 1.5 tsp Sea Salt
  • 1.5 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1/4 heaping cup cocoa
  • 3.5 cups cooked, drained, and rinsed Black Beans
  • generous 1/2 cup Coconut oil (melted)
  • 1 Bag Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips (save for stirring in last)

DIRECTIONS

  • Put Oats into food processor and pulse for a bit if oats are Old Fashioned. Otherwise, just add Quick Cooking Oats.
  • Add all other ingredients EXCEPT Chocolate Chips and process until well mixed.
  • Stir in Chocolate Chips
  • Put into 9 x 13 baking pan lined with Parchment Paper
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes
  • Allow to cool fully before eating.

WHAT’S IN THE CUPBOARD

You can use either Old Fashioned Oats or Quick Cooking Oats for this recipe. Just give the Old Fashioned Oats a few pulses to grind up the larger oats first. You’ll want to add this ingredient first so that you can pulse it without anything else being in the food processor. You can use a substitute for the Chocolate Chips, but don’t omit them.

DISHING ON THIS DISH

These are hands down the best brownies you will ever have. If you’re not already breaking out in dance because there is NO FLOUR NEEDED, then you will when you taste the flavor of these moist and fudgy treats. Bonus for the healthy black beans and yes, they taste and look phenomenal. This recipe produces a large 9 x 13 pan of thick, full bodied brownies that are not wimpy, oily, or thin yet have the perfect fudgy texture. I debated on calling these Breakdance brownies because they are fabulous enough to make you dance or Phantom Brownies because they will disappear before your very eyes. Enjoy!

Posted in Cane Sugar Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free, Gluten Free, Peanut Free, Soy Free

Avocado Snicker Doodles

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 Tbsp Chia
  • 6 Tbsp filtered water
  • 1.5 Cups Coconut Sugar (Xylitol will work too)
  • 1/3 Cup soft (not melted) Enjoy Life Soy Free Butter
  • 1/2 avocado
  • 2 tsp Vanilla
  • 3 cups gluten free Bob Red Mill 1:1 Baking Flour or King Arthur Flour
  • 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1/2 tsp Sea Salt
  • TOPPING:
  • 4 TBSP Coconut Sugar (or Xylitol)
  • 1 tsp Cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

  • Tilt a mixing bowl to one side and whisk together the Chia Seed and Filtered Water. When thickened, set the bowl down flat.
  • On the other side of the mixing bowl, mash the butter, avocado, vanilla, and sugar together with fork. When mixed well, go ahead and blend into the thickened Chia Seed so that now all ingredients in the bowl are well combined.
  • Add the Flour, Baking Soda, and Sea Salt. Stir until it becomes easier to just mix with your hands. You will have a dough that is very thick.
  • Using a TBSP measuring spoon, scoop out rounded balls onto parchment lined baking sheets. This recipe makes exactly 4 dozen.
  • Take the dough balls and roll the tops through the Sugar and Cinnamon topping.
  • If desired, you can slightly press the dough down so it is more flat. It won’t flatten on it’s own while baking. You can leave it as a ball though, if you wish.
  • Chill the cookie dough balls on sheets for an hour in the fridge. This step isn’t required, but is recommended for texture.
  • Bake them at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes, but be very careful not to over-bake. 8 minutes was good enough here.
  • Let them cool completely before eating.

DISHING ON THIS DISH: So, yeah, avocado in my Snicker Doodles? Yep. It’s excellent. You can’t taste it and your cookies won’t be green. This is a fabulous way to save money on expensive dairy free butter. Try not to be put off by having to chill the dough balls in the fridge for an hour, they are worth the wait!

WHAT’S IN THE CUPBOARD: You don’t have to use an avocado in this recipe, but the cookies are extra soft and fantastic with it. If you have an allergy or are just freaked outyou can simply use 1 Cup of Earth Balance Butter instead if you prefer.

Posted in Dairy Free, Egg Free, Gluten Free, Main dishes, Soy Free

Chicken Pot Pie

INGREDIENTS FOR CRUST

  • 1 1/2 Cup Garbanzo Bean Flour
  • 1/2 tsp Sea Salt (or Himalayan Pink Salt)
  • 1/8 tsp Xanthum Gum
  • 1/2 Cup Cold Earth Balance Butter
  • 3 TBSP Coconut Milk (or other)

INSTRUCTIONS FOR CRUST

  • Mix flour, salt, and xanthum gum into a large bowl. Whisk together.
  • Cut in 1/2 Cup Cold Butter until crumbly.
  • Add 3TBSP milk. Stir until able to mix with hands and shape into a ball.
  • Roll out between two large pieces of parchment paper, shaping into the rectangular size of your pan.

INGREDIENTS FOR SAUCE

  • 1/4 Cup Gluten Free Flour
  • 2 cups Chicken Broth or Filtered Water
  • 1 cup Coconut, or other, milk
  • 2 TBSP Earth Balance Butter

INSTRUCTIONS FOR SAUCE

  • Melt butter in a saucepan
  • Add Chicken Broth (or water) and Milk.
  • Warm the mixture a bit then stir in Flour.
  • Simmer on medium low heat until thick.
  • Season if needed with Sea Salt and Pepper.

INGREDIENTS FOR PIE

  • Cooked Chicken (or Turkey)
  • Organic Corn
  • Organic Peas
  • Organic Broccoli
  • Sea Salt (to taste)
  • Seasonings to taste. I like Rosemary, Thyme, Parsley, and Basil

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PIE

  • Warm all the ingredients for about 15 minutes in a large pan.
  • Strain liquid if there is any.
  • Put well mixed ingredients into a 9 x 13 baking dish.
  • Pour the Sauce over the top and stir in.
  • Place crust on the top and shape and form to the edges of the dish.
  • With a knife, slay a few slits in the top of the crust so steam can escape.
  • Bake at 425 for about 30 to 35 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

DISHING ON THIS DISH: I love making this Pot Pie for so many reasons. First, it’s in one dish and easily feeds four. Second, it handles leftovers. Third, all of the ingredients are versatile. Use chicken, turkey, steak, pork – anything that is cooked or left over – go ahead and toss it in. Same with veggies – add red bliss potatoes, carrots, or cauliflower if you like. Fourth, this can be a quick meal. I’ve completely left out the sauce, many times, and just tossed in left over turkey or chicken with frozen veggies, added the crust and popped in the oven. That’s my kind of fast.

Posted in Cane Sugar Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free, Gluten Free, Soy Free

Homemade Granola

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 Cups Gluten Free Oats
  • 3 Fresh, Organic Apples (cubed, can sub other fresh fruits)
  • 1/2 cup melted Coconut Oil ( can use olive oil)
  • 1/2 cup Maple Syrup (honey or agave will work)
  • Raisins (or other dried fruit) Save for after baking.
  • Cashews ( or any alternative or omit completely) Save for after baking.

DIRECTIONS

  • In a large bowl, measure out oats.
  • Add fresh, cubed apples
  • Stir in Maple Honey
  • Add Coconut Oil
  • Mix ingredients very well
  • (Save nuts and dried fruit for later)
  • Pour mixture onto large, rimmed baking sheet. I line mine with parchment paper.
  • Bake at 350 Degrees for about 20 minutes (stirring a couple times to ensure even drying/roasting.) Bake a few minutes longer if needed for desired doneness.
  • After pulling the sheet out, add nuts and dried fruit. Stir into cooling mixture and let it all sit and cool together.
  • I scoop cooled mixture into glass jars for storing.

DISHING ON THIS DISH: We love granola but I rarely buy it because of sugar content, allergens, and cost. This recipe puts you in control of all three and it’s fast enough to make fresh in the morning yet flexible for huge batches and storing. It’s perfect for a fast breakfast and travels well for a snack on the go. Be sure to add any dried fruit and nuts after baking, otherwise, they’ll burn. You can add any fresh fruits to the mixture and bake those with the oats, though. Other ingredient ideas: fresh apricots, peaches, or strawberries, dried cranberries, dates, coconut shreds…make the mix unique with your own preferences.

Posted in Dairy Free, Egg Free, Gluten Free, Peanut Free, Soy Free, Sweets

Orange Pumpkin Spice Cake

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 TBSP ground flax seed
  • 2/3 cup filtered water
  • 2 tsp Cinnamon
  • 2 tsp Nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp Ginger
  • 1 tsp Baking Soda
  • 2 TBSP Baking Powder
  • 1 tsp Sea Salt
  • 1 1/2 cups Monkfruit Sugar
  • 1 Cup (generous cup) melted Coconut Oil (or preferred)
  • 6 TBSP Lemon (or orange) juice
  • 2 cups Organic Pumpkin Puree
  • 3 cups Bob’s Red Mill (gluten free) All Purpose Baking Flour

DIRECTIONS

  • Tip a large mixing bowl on it’s side and add flax seed and filtered water.
  • Whisk and let it thicken up a bit. Set the bowl down flat.
  • To the other side of the bowl, add seasonings, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
  • Add melted oil and whisk everything together.
  • Add Pumpkin Puree and Lemon Juice. Stir with a large spatula or spoon.
  • Add Flour and stir with large spoon or spatula.
  • Spoon into 8 inch round cake pans that are already greased and floured if needed, or use parchment paper.
  • Bake 20 – 25 minutes ( when knife in center comes out clean) at 350 Degrees.

FROSTING

  • 1 1/2 Cups Ghee
  • 1 pound MonkFruit Powdered Sugar
  • 2 tsp organic Orange Flavoring (or you can just use Vanilla if preferred)
  • 1 tsp Redmond’s Real Salt (finely ground)
  • Mix all ingredients with a hand mixer
  • Frost cake when completely cooled.

DISHING ON THIS DISH: This is a fabulous cake for birthdays in the Fall or for the holidays. Be sure to use a full cup of oil, slightly overflowing. It really brings on the moisture and flavor of the cake. We grow a lot of pumpkins in our garden and I love using our fresh, organic puree for this recipe. You could use other ideas for a topping such as an orange glaze with Stevia or Stevia drops, home-made dairy free ice cream, or whatever you might come up with. It’s a very flexible recipe.

Posted in Gluten Free, Main dishes, Meat, Soy Free, Veggies

Meat, Red Potato, Cabbage Skillet

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 to 1 1/2 pounds organic hamburger
  • 5 to 6 organic red potatoes, cubed
  • 1/2 to 3/4 head of organic cabbage
  • 2 Tbsp Organic Coconut Oil
  • cilantro, basil, rosemary, salt, pepper (if desired)

DIRECTIONS:

  • Brown hamburger somewhat, then push to one side of skillet
  • Add coconut oil to the other side and melt.
  • Add cubed potatoes and let them fry for a bit, turning every few minutes.
  • Once potatoes are becoming fried somewhat, mix them into the hamburger.
  • Add desired seasonings.
  • Add the cabbage into a huge heap over the hamburger and potatoes.
  • Once the cabbage is starting to steam down a bit, mix it into the potatoes and hamburger.
  • Let the entire mixture cook, stirring when needed, for about 10 to 15 until cabbage becomes soft.
  • Serve over rice, quinoa, spaghetti squash, or spoon into gluten free tortillas.

Dishing on this Dish: During the summer, this is my go to for quick dinners. We spend a lot of time in the pool and when we are done, the kids are starving and I need a nutritious meal fast. You can easily cube the potatoes while the meat is browning, then cut up cabbage while the meat and potatoes are cooking. No time is wasted! Start rice before hand and it should all be done about the same time.

I love that this meal is so flexible! One of my favorites is to spoon this into GF tortillas alongside a side of fresh, home-made guacamole with lemon. Yum! You can also sub chicken for hamburger.