Thursday, April 29, 2010

Cookbook Giveaway: What's to Eat?

*** Congrats to Spooky!! Giveaway is now closed***

This is my personal copy of What's to Eat? The Milk-Free, Egg-Free, Nut-Free Food Allergy Cookbook. Some pages are bent and the spine is broken, but all the pages are there and I'm certain it will be of use to somebody. :)

If you'd like to enter the giveaway, just leave me a comment on this post. I will draw a random winner on Thursday, May 6th. US mailing addresses only, please.

Good luck!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Chocolate Cake Brownies

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Egg-Free, Soy-Free, Peanut-Free

This recipe was adapted from the March edition of Guideposts Magazine.  You could substitute regular flour for the rice and amaranth flour if gluten is not a concern. 

Ingredients:
3/4 cup coconut oil
3/4 cup honey
1 1/4 cup milk substitute
1/4 cup flaxseed meal
2 t vanilla
1 1/2 cups rice flour
1/2 cup amaranth flour
1 cup cocoa powder
1 t baking soda
3/4 t sea salt
2 t baking powder
1 cup organic walnuts
1/2 cup chocolate baking chips

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease the inside of a 9x13 pan with coconut oil.  Combine oil, honey, milk substitute, flaxseed and vanilla in order, then mix 1 minute on medium.  Gradually add flours and cocoa powder - mix one minute on medium.  Add baking soda, salt and baking powder in order, then mix 1 minute on high.  Add walnuts and chocolate chips - mix well.  Pour into pan and bake 17-20 minutes.  Store in fridge. 

Makes 12 brownies.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Kale Chips


I started making these at the end of last summer. In fact, I think it was the first time I had ever tried kale. I HAD BEEN MISSING OUT!!! Oh wow... kale ranks high on my favorite greens list. :)

I started out with this recipe at We Like It Raw and also enjoyed this vlog at Making Love in the Kitchen. There are also recipes that add other flavors, like these "cheesy" ones I still want to try. :)


Ingredients

kale
olive oil
lemon
sea salt (I use Celtic)
honey


Wash and dry the kale. I don't like the stems in mine (they are really hard to chew and take away from the crispiness of the leaf in my opinion), so I tear the leaves into large pieces and compost the stem. However, another option is to leave the stem and just eat around them. Leaving the stem in seems to help the leaf not stick so badly to the tray. That honey can be a pain sometimes! LOL!


I massage in each ingredient one at a time to make sure each leaf is covered. After massaging in the ingredients, you should be able to notice that the kale has reduced in size. If not, you need to massage some more. :)

Now, take a bite of it. If you enjoy the kale now, you'll really like it with the crispiness. Add more of whatever twang you want: sweet, sour, or lemon. You get them all in this recipe! :)

I've made these in the dehydrator and the oven. I don't really have a preference as to which does a better job, so I'll just tell you how I've done it and let you choose.

Option 1: Dehydrate. My dehydrator doesn't have a temperature control. I opened the vent all the way and turn it on. If memory served me correctly, they were done in 6 - 8 hours.

Option 2: Oven. The lowest temp on my oven is 170. I generally preheat my oven to this and stick the kale in for about 30 min - 1 hour. Then I turn off the heat and turn my oven light on. Let them sit over night. By morning there should be a gentle crispiness to them. Turn them over and let them sit longer for more crisp or eat for breakfast. :)

Option 2: Oven. You can also toast them for a quick treat, but you're gonna have to watch them. Heat to 350 for 10 - 15 minutes. (This would not be a raw version, btw.)


Enjoy!! I don't know how long these last as I usually end up eating the whole batch in a day. The kids don't really care for them, but I LOVE THEM!!! So they are MINE... ALL MINE!!!! :)