Coconut Lemon Shortbread

I've been on this clean-eating kick for a few weeks and have not made cookies until now. I decided to try to make shortbread using the base of the delicious lemon bar recipe but use pureed soaked raisins instead of sugar. Since shortbread is a low-sugar item anyway, I thought it might work to slip in the pureed raisins. The dough was fantastic! The cookies were, too! 

1/4 cup soaked raisins (measure 1/4 cup *after* soaking)
1/2 cup coconut oil
a few drops high-quality lemon essential oil, or 1/2 tsp. lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1 cup Pamela's GF flour blend

Puree the raisins in a food processor, then pulse in the coconut oil, essential oil or zest, and vanilla. Pulse in the coconut and Pamela's. Pat into a parchment-lined 8x8 pan and bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool and cut into squares.

Variations: This would be amazing with almonds and almond extract! I'm sure you could try it with half oatmeal, too.

Haystacks

I was desperately praying for an idea of something to serve the missionaries and my GFCFSF friend, and this idea popped into my head! Thank you!! Here is a link to the basic idea:

http://www.seededatthetable.com/2013/07/23/hawaiian-haystacks-or-chinese-sundaes/

I'm going to stew some bone-in chicken and shred it. I will make a sauce by making a roux with Pamela's and olive oil, then adding some of the homemade chicken broth, curry powder, salt, and canned coconut milk. Then I will mix it with the shredded chicken and keep it warm in the crock pot, and cook some rice in the rice cooker. I can make all of this ahead which is key because the missionaries have to eat at 5:00.

Toppings (my GFCFSF friend can skip the dairy stuff):

creamed chicken

millet/rice ramen (instead of chow mein noodles) suggested by a friend https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VWJRUGK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

shredded cheese

sour cream

mandarin oranges

chopped celery

chopped tomatoes (this is in the recipe but doesn't sound good....)

chopped green onions (maybe I'll use garlic chives from my garden)

shredded coconut

chopped green pepper

crushed pineapple

slivered almonds would be great for people who don't have nut allergies in the house

Blackberry Custard Pie Bars

I was looking for something to use my home-grown blackberries in and found this recipe which I adapted to make GFCF.

http://www.gonnawantseconds.com/2014/06/blackberry-pie-bars/

Crust:
Pamela's - 1 1/2 Cups
Sugar - 3/4 Cup
3/4 cup coconut oil minus about 2 tablespoons
2 tablespoons water

Filling:
Large Eggs - 2 or 3
Sugar - 1 Cup
1/4 cup Pamela's
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Fresh Blackberries - 16 Ounces (about 3 cups)

Preheat oven to 350 and line 8x8 pan with foil. Pulse the crust ingredients in food processor or mixer until it resembles coarse crumbs. Remove 3/4 cup of this mixture and reserve for crumb topping. Mix the filling ingredients except the blackberries. Press crust mixture into pan and bake for 12-15 minutes until lightly browned.

Place the berries on the partially cooled crust, then pour the filling mixture on top. Cover with reserved crumb topping mixture. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the filling is just beginning to turn golden and is set. Cool bars completely on a baking rack, then refrigerate if desired.

1.5x recipe for 9x13 pan:

2.25 cups pamela's
1.125 cups sugar
1 cup coconut oil
3 tbsp water

3 or 4 eggs
1.5 cup sugar
3/4 cup pamela's
3/8 tsp vanilla
4.5 cups berries

Blackberry cobbler from cafemom message board

NOT TRIED YET

1/2 cup butter (substitute scant 1/2 cup coconut oil)
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour (substitute Pamela's)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
2/3 cup milk
16 oz bag berries (about 3 cups?)

Melt butter in 2 qt baking dish. Mix sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, and milk in medium bowl and then pour over butter (do not mix) (I think with coconut oil I would mix it). Spoon berries over mixture (do not stir). Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Fresh Salsa Recipe

From my daughter's in-laws.

 

½ white onion

½ Anaheim pepper (with the seeds out)

1 whole green pepper

2 cloves garlic

1/3 bunch cilantro

1 t salt

Chop, then add

28 oz can of tomatoes (I chop the tomatoes too)

New Year's Eve Slush

From my daughter's in-laws.

New Year's Eve Slush Recipe

 

6 bananas, mashed or pureed in blender

2 cups sugar

6 oz lemon juice

12 oz orange juice, diluted as directed

46 oz can of pineapple juice

 

Pour into ice cube trays or in a cake pan, freeze. Mix in a blender with sprite to a slushy consistency

Delicious Lemon Bars GFCF

Crust: 
2 cups Pamela's GF flour blend
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup coconut oil minus 2 tbsp.

2 tbsp. water. 

Filling:

4 eggs

2 cups granulated sugar

1/4 cup Pamela's

1/3 cup lemon juice (from your Meyer Lemon tree!! ;) )

Preheat oven to 350. Line 9x13 pan with parchment. Mix crust ingredients until it resembles coarse crumbs. Press into pan and bake for about 15 min. Combine filling ingredients and pour into crust that has partially cooled. Bake 20-25 min or until set. After done and cooled I like to lift the whole thing out with the parchment paper, set it on the counter, and cut the squares with a bench scraper. I use Trader Joe's organic white sugar and it's awesome. Note that I don't include salt because the Pamela's flour blend includes salt.

Coffee Cake Muffins

These were a huge hit with my young missionary friends. Replace the wheat flour with Pamela's, the butter in the batter with cooking oil, the milk with coconut beverage or another milk substitute, and the butter in the topping with coconut oil.

http://www.macheesmo.com/coffee-cake-muffins/

Calzone Dough GFCF

3.5 cups Pamela's flour mix
2.5 tsp. yeast
1 egg
2 tsp. baking powder
1.25 cups warm water
1/4 cup oil

Mix all ingredients thoroughly then use an ice cream scoop to scoop out a ball onto tortilla press lined with parchment paper. Press into a circle and transfer to baking sheet. Put in fillings then fold and press edges down, cut vents, bake.

Delicious Herbed Lime Rice

I made this to go with carne asada burritos, inspired by Chipotle's lime rice.

1 onion, diced
olive oil
2 cups rice (I used Trader Joe's organic basmati rice)
4 cups chicken broth
Trader Joe's 21-Seasoning Salute, or Mrs. Dash
Juice of 1 fresh lime
Salt to taste
Chopped fresh green herbs such as chives, garlic chives, cilantro, etc.

In a pot with a lid, saute the onion in some olive oil. Add the rice and stir for a minute or two until it's coated with oil. Add the chicken broth, juice of 1 lime, and seasonings, and bring to boil. Turn down the heat, cover the pot, and steam the rice for about 20 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. Stir in chopped green herbs (I used garlic chives from my garden).

Gluten-Free Dairy-Free GFCF Apple Roses

About 2.5 cups Pamela's flour mix
1/2 cup cooking oil
1/2 cup milk substitute (I used Trader Joe's unsweetened coconut beverage)

2-3 apples with pink or red skin
1 lemon
Cinnamon and sugar

Oil Crust:
Preheat oven to 400. Quickly mix flour, oil, and milk substitute in a bowl using your hands (I wear disposable gloves). Don't overwork the dough, and it should look "marbled", not uniform in color. It will be on the damp side. If it's soggy add a little more flour. If making a pie, press half the mixture into a pie plate. You can also roll it out between sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap but keep in mind this is wetter than traditional dough.

If making tarts or roses, press a walnut-sized ball of dough into a parchment-lined muffin tin. For the roses, sprinkle the inside of each tart liberally with cinnamon-sugar.

Core and thinly slice the apples, add a little water and juice of one lemon, and microwave for about 2 minutes or until the slices are pliable but not falling apart. (See video below.)

Lay out about eight apple slices in a row on the counter, overlapping them as shown in the video. Roll up the slices (it will be harder to keep them together than in the video which uses puff pastry to help, but just do the best you can and they will look great) and place the roll of slices in the dough in the muffin tin. It should look like a rose. Sprinkle the tops generously with cinnamon-sugar and bake for about 20 minutes. Remove the parchment muffin liners and cool apple roses on a rack.

See this video for how to roll up the roses. She uses puff pastry so just ignore that part. I also didn't use apricot preserves, and I think other apples are prettier and tastier than red delicious. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rGrwvEjZIQ

Apricot Oatmeal Bars

These are based on this recipe, but I reduced the sugar and used gluten-free flour and coconut oil.

http://www.yourhomebasedmom.com/apricot-jam-bar-cookies/

1½ cups Pamela's gluten-free flour blend
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup brown sugar
1½ cups gluten-free old fashioned oats
¾ cup coconut oil

3 tablespoons water

dash of almond extract

dash of pink Himalayan salt

1/2 - 1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup apricot preserves

Preheat oven to 350. Dump everything except the apricot preserves into a big bowl and mix it together with your hands. (I like to wear disposable gloves.) Pat ⅔ of this mixture into a 9 x 13 baking pan lined with parchment paper (if you have it). It might look pretty crumbly but the jam will make everything stick together. Spread with jam. Top with remaining flour/oat mixture. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. Grab the edges of the parchment paper and lift the whole thing out and let it cool on a rack, then cut into bars.

Chunky Granola

I started with this wonderful recipe: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/chunky-granola

It worked perfectly and was absolutely delicious, and nice and chunky. Then I adapted it to reduce the sugar. If you increase the sugar/honey closer to the original recipe, it will be chunkier. I make this every week and like that I can do it using only one measuring cup.

3 cups oats
1 cup sliced or chopped almonds
1/2 cup hemp seeds
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup agave or honey
1/3 cup coconut oil
Dash of Himalayan or sea salt

Preheat oven to 300. Line a baking sheet (with an edge all the way around) with parchment paper. Mix everything together and spread it out on the baking sheet, baking for about 30 minutes or until lightly browned. When done, grab the edge of the parchment paper and slide the sheet of granola onto a rack to cool. When completely cool, break into chunks.

Gluten-Free Bagels

This is the first yeast bread I have made gluten-free that I really like. My taste-testers liked these bagels, too. I followed the recipe on the back of the Pamela's bag, but substituted 1 cup of tapioca flour to make them more bouncy, and some baking powder to give them a little better rise.

2 1/2 cups Pamela's Gluten-Free flour blend

1 cup tapioca flour

2 1/4 tsp. yeast

2 tsp. baking powder

generous pinch pink Himalayan salt
pinch of garlic powder

1 1/3 cups warm water

1/4 cup oil

Toppings: Poppy seeds, sesame seeds, salt, onion flakes, garlic powder

Get a saucepan of water boiling on the stove. Preheat oven to 400. Use a heavy-duty stand mixer or an electric hand mixer. Combine everything except toppings and mix on medium for 3 minutes. Put on disposable gloves and rub gloved hands with oil. Use 1/2 cup of dough for each bagel and form round bagel shape with a hole in it. This will be softer and stickier than wheat dough so just do your best; the gloves with plenty of oil on them will be your best friend. Drop a bagel into the boiling water and leave it there until it pops to the surface (you might need to unstick it from the bottom of the pan). Remove with slotted spoon and place on greased baking parchment/baking sheet. Sprinkle desired toppings (we like all of them together), then bake for 25-30 minutes.

I haven't tried this but it sounds inviting: FOR FRESHLY BAKED MORNING BAGELS: Prepare dough, shape bagels on greased baking sheet, cover and refrigerate overnight. Bagels will rise while in refrigerator. In the morning, preheat oven to 400º, boil bagels, then bake for 25-30 minutes.

Cinnamon Raisin Bagels

Use the above recipe but with the following changes:
--Soak 1/3 to 1/2 cup raisins in warm water for about 15 minutes
--Don't use garlic powder or toppings
--Add 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 tsp. honey, and 1 tsp. cinnamon to the dough
--Drain raisins and add them to the dough
--The wetness of the raisins will require more flour so keep adding Pamela's and tapioca flour until the dough is firm enough.

Easy Yummy Vegetable Beef Soup

This is not for Sam because it has tomatoes, corn, and packaged chicken bouillon but it was a winner because it satisfied both my limited-gluten diet and my husband's taste buds.

1 pound ground beef

1 onion, chopped

1 can chopped tomatoes

water

a few spoonfuls of Knorr Chicken Bouillon (this in not gluten-free so substitute your own if you want)

a few dashes of Mrs. Dash

sea salt

2 potatoes with skin on, cut into 3/4" chunks

frozen mixed vegetables (peas, corn, carrots, and string beans)

Brown the ground beef with the chopped onion until beef is done and onion is soft. if there is a lot of fat you can drain it off. Puree the can of tomatoes with a can of water in the blender and add to the soup. Add 2-3 more cans of water, the bouillon, Mrs. Dash, and potatoes, and simmer until potatoes are tender. Add the frozen vegetables and simmer until just heated through. Season with sea salt.

Zucchini Hamburger Rice Casserole

2 cups cooked brown rice

1 pound ground beef

1 32-ounce jar prepared spaghetti sauce

Zucchini, thinly sliced

Mozzarella cheese

Brown and rinse the ground beef. Mix in spaghetti sauce and brown rice. Layer in a greased casserole dish with the zucchini. Top with cheese. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until zucchini is tender.

Even without cheese, this tasted really good with plenty of fresh sea salt and black pepper. It felt quite a bit like lasagna.

Zucchini Muffins GFCF

Adapted from simplyrecipes.com

3 cups grated fresh zucchini
2/3 cup melted unsalted butter (substitute coconut oil)
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons baking soda
Pinch salt
3 cups Pamela's GF flour mix
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup walnuts (optional)
1 cup raisins or dried cranberries (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl combine the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in the grated zucchini and then the oil. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Stir these dry ingredients into the zucchini mixture. Stir in walnuts, raisins or cranberries if using.

Coat each muffin cup in your muffin pan with a little vegetable oil spray. Use a spoon to distribute the muffin dough equally among the cups, filling the cups up completely. Bake on the middle rack until muffins are golden brown, and the top of the muffins bounce back when you press on them, about 25 to 30 minutes. Test with a long toothpick or a thin bamboo skewer to make sure the center of the muffins are done. Set on wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from the tin let cool another 20 minutes.

Note: If you are including walnuts and dried fruit, you will likely have more batter than is needed for 12 muffins. Simplyrecipes got about 14 muffins from this batch, and that included filling the muffin cups up as far as they could possibly go (above the surface of the muffin tin).

Granola

 * 3 cups rolled oats (not instant)
    * 3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
    * 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    * 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
    * 1/3 cup honey
    * 1/4 cup vegetable oil
    * 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    * 1/2 cup small-dice dried fruit
    * 1/2 cup coarsely chopped raw or toasted nuts or seeds
INSTRUCTIONS
    1. Heat the oven to 300°F and arrange a rack in the middle.
    2. Place the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl and stir to combine; set aside. 

    3. Place the honey, oil, and vanilla in a small bowl and stir to combine. Pour over the oat mixture and mix until the oats are thoroughly coated. 

    4. Spread the mixture in a thin, even layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, then stir and continue baking until the granola is very light golden brown, about 5 to 15 minutes more. 

    5. Place the baking sheet on a wire rack and cool the granola to room temperature, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. (Note: It will harden as it cools.) 

    6. Add the fruit and nuts or seeds to the baking sheet and toss to combine. Store the granola in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. 

Gluten Free Muffin Rolls

Because I had to have something to toast, and quick! This is based on the blueberry muffin recipe a few posts down.

1 tablespoon yeast
1/2 cup warm water
pinch of sugar
1/2 cup Trader Joe's coconut oil in liquid form
2 organic eggs
2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 1/4 cups Pamela's gluten-free flour blend

Dissolve the yeast and sugar in water and watch to make sure it proofs. Combine it with all other ingredients, then use an ice cream scoop to scoop into a muffin tin (this made nine with my size of scoop). Let rise while oven preheats to 375. Bake for 15-25 minutes, until done.

FABULOUS Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Apple Crisp!

Just follow this recipe and use coconut oil instead of butter (adding a little salt), and gluten-free oatmeal. It was the best apple crisp I've ever had.

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/apple_crisp/

Dad's Stir Fry With Rice Sticks

Coconut Milk Sour Cream Base for Dips and Spreads. Gluten Free Dairy Free Sour Cream.

When I took my first taste of this, for a moment I totally forgot that it did not contain dairy. When you can trick your own tastebuds, well that's something. It is amazing to me how easy it is to disguise coconut flavor! Use herbs and spices you have on hand combined with food-grade essential oils to customize this sour cream to whatever flavor you want. Use a toothpick to add the oils, since a little goes a long way.

1/2 cup cream skimmed from the top of a can of full-fat coconut milk (I used Thai Kitchen)
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Himalayan salt or sea salt, to taste
Food-grade essential oils to taste and/or garlic powder, Mrs. Dash, etc.

Chill the can of coconut milk so that the cream separates from the liquid; reserve the liquid for smoothies. Combine cream with coconut oil, then stir in other ingredients. Chill until firm enough to use as a dip or spread.

Variation #1, Cream Cheese: Use more coconut oil, and a dash or two of smoked paprika to warm up the color.

Variaton #2, Smoked Salmon Spread: Make the cream cheese version, then mix in some canned salmon, more lemon juice, and liquid smoke. I didn't have salmon so I used tuna and added some smoked paprika to make it pale pink and add a nice flavor.

Lime Snowball Cookies. Gluten Free Dairy Free Vegan.

These cookies were phenomenal! I do not think anyone would guess that they were GFCF. You can make lots of variations to this recipe, adding chopped nuts, omitting the citrus ingredients, adding mini chocolate chips, etc.

I based my recipe on this one: http://www.food.com/recipe/a-big-dose-of-lime-snowball-cookies-145013
2 cups Pamela's gluten-free flour mix
1 cup coconut oil, in solid form
1/2 cup powdered sugar, plus extra for dusting
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice
zest of one lime or lemon
8-16 drops of food-grade lime essential oil (start slow and taste as you go)

Preheat oven to 350. If the coconut oil is solid, combine all ingredients except essential oil with your hands (the heat from your hands will melt the coconut oil just right). Gradually add the essential oil and taste the dough until you like the flavor. Form walnut-sized balls of dough and baked them on parchment lined ungreased cookie sheets for 15-20 minutes or until brown around the edges. Remove from oven and dust tops of cookies with powdered sugar while still warm.

Note: If you add chopped nuts and omit the citrus, use another liquid such as dairy-free milk to replace the citrus juice.

Incredibly Fabulous Three-ingredient GFCF Vegan Chocolate Truffles

When I got tired of eating the chocolate pie (see next post) I decided to scoop some of the filling into a ball, roll it in coconut, and pop it in my mouth as a truffle. Absolutely incredible. These even passed the test of my friend who is a caterer and lover of all things dairy. She could not believe there was no dairy in these.

1 can full-fat coconut milk, chilled (I used Thai Kitchen organic)
12 oz. Trader Joe's chocolate chips
Food-grade essential oils for flavoring the chocolate, such as peppermint or orange (optional)
Shredded coconut, nuts, cocoa powder, crushed organic dye-free peppermints, etc. for rolling

Open the can of coconut milk and drain off any liquid (you can use it in a smoothie), then dump it in a saucepan with the bag of chocolate chips and melt them together until combined. Let the mixture cool to room temperature, then stir in essential oils (start with just a drop, especially of peppermint) until desired flavor is reached. Chill in the fridge for at least two hours.

Form chocolate mixture into balls and roll in desired crumbly stuff. Keep in fridge until time to serve.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The first time I made these they were fine but the truffle mixture was too soft, even after chilling. To redeem this situation, I melted 1/4 cup coconut oil and stirred it into the truffle mixture, then chilled it again before forming the truffles.

Fabulous Two-Ingredient GFCF Chocolate Pie Filling

This seems too good to be true but it was a Thanksgiving miracle yesterday. Melt 12 oz. chocolate chips in a sauce pan with 1 can chilled full-fat coconut milk, stirring until all melted and combined. Pour into prepared crust and chill for at least two hours. The texture and flavor were perfect and there was no coconut flavor.

There are many GFCF crusts out there. I just combined uncooked oatmeal, a couple tbsp. sugar, a couple handfuls of shredded coconut, dash of salt, a couple tbsp. Pamela's, and 1/2 cup coconut oil in the food processer. Then I pressed it into a pie dish and baked at 350 for 10-15 minutes . (Cool before adding filling.)

IMPORTANT NOTE: Some instructions say to drain off the liquid from the can of coconut milk after chilling. I didn't do this the first time and it was fine, but the second time it was too runny. To redeem this situation, I melted 1/4 cup coconut oil and stirred it into the pie filling, then chilled it again.

Lentil Soup

I adapted this recipe from the New York Times Cookbook. This is pretty plain-looking but delicious and easy and even
better the next day.

1 lb. package dried lentils
2 ½ quarts water (I just eyeball it. You might need to add more later.)
2 tbsp. oil
About 2 carrots, sliced
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
5 gluten-free organic hot dogs, sliced (optional)
2 chicken bouillon cubes (optional)
Fresh ground black pepper
Salt to taste (but I don't use if I'm using bouillon & hot dogs)

In a soup pot, saute carrots, celery, onion, garlic & hot dogs in oil until onions are limp (and until hot dogs are a little browned). Add water, bouillon, lentils, & black pepper, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer gently about 2 hours. (The lentil package says it only takes 45 minutes, though.)

The New York Times book suggests you puree the soup through a food mill(if you're not using hot dogs) but I usually don't.    

Jeni's Spice Mix to Make Anything Taste Like Sausage

Provencal Spice Mix - Excellent on pork chops or really anything!
From Fine Cooking's Oct/Nov '94 issue #5

Zest of 2 lemons
1/3 C thinly sliced garlic
1/3 C fresh rosemary leaves
1/4 C fresh sage leaves
1/3 C kosher salt
1/4 C freshly ground black pepper

The recipe says, "In a food processor, put in the lemon zest with the motor going, and then add the rest of the ingredients. Process briefly until the mixture is the consistency of wet sand."

Jeni says she has been making this for YEARS and didn't get a Cuisinart until last Christmas. She just always chopped everything up really fine and it worked just as well. It will keep in the fridge for 2 weeks. She keeps any leftovers in the freezer and it keeps indefinitely! She pulls it out any time she wants to flavor something like sausage—be it eggs, ground turkey, etc.

Lisa's Tri-Tip

Tri-tip

2 tsp. rosemary

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

1 tsp. sea salt

2 tbsp. olive oil

2 tbsp. red wine vinegar

Lisa served this at her son's wedding reception and it was absolutely delicious! Marinate, then bake at 350 (covered) until internal temperature reaches 160.

Beef Curry Puffs or Mini Tarts

(Click on the recipe to enlarge it.) These are really delicious. Substitute the flour for Pamela's mix and the margarine for coconut oil and a little water. The extra filling is good with rice. Update: When I made these a few days ago, my crust was tough and I know I could make it flaky with some extra care and attention but I don't want to have to put extra care and attention into it, so I got thinking about alternatives. I decided to make a biscuit dough and press it into mini muffin tins. That means very little handling of dough, no rolling, thus a lot less mess and a lot less opportunity to make it tough. These little tarts were absolutely amazing! The crust was flaky and tender and delicious!! Biscuit-style Crust for Mini Tarts: 1 cup Pamela's flour mix 1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1/4 cup coconut oil, in solid form 3/8 cup milk substitute with a splash of vinegar in it (I used rice milk and rice vinegar) Preheat oven to 375. Grease a mini muffin tin with coconut oil. Combine the dry ingredients and cut in the coconut oil with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Ad the milk and stir it just enough to make a dough. Press a walnut-sized glob of dough into each muffin opening, pushing it up the sides; you want it to be less than 1/4" thick. I wore thin disposable gloves to keep my hands from getting sticky. This dough was a little on the wet side (it would have stuck to a rolling pin had I tried to roll it out) and it turned out fine. Add a spoonful of filling and bake for about 12 minutes. Oh, man. I'm going to make pizza ones and pumpkin pie ones and breakfast ones and I'm going to freeze a bunch of them to pop out and heat up in the toaster oven!

Double Blueberry Muffins (Gluten-free Dairy-free)

I chose this recipe because it had five stars and lots of good reviews, and then I just substituted coconut products for the butter and milk, and Pamela's flour mix for the wheat flour. I also used 3/4 cup of Trader Joe's organic turbinado sugar in place of 1 cup white sugar. They rose up nice and high, with attractive browning and cracks in the top, and were the best blueberry muffins I have ever tasted.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gale-gand/double-blueberry-muffins-recipe/index.html

1/2 cup Trader Joe's coconut oil in liquid form

3/4 cup Trader Joe's organic turbinado sugar

2 organic eggs

1 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla

2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

2 1/2 cups frozen Trader Joe's organic blueberries

2 cups Pamela's gluten-free flour blend

1/2 cup Trader Joe's canned coconut milk

Demerara sugar or other large-crystal sugar for the tops (optional)

Preheat oven to 375. Grease or line a 12-cup muffin tin. Smash 3/4 cup of the blueberries with the back of a fork, then stir in coconut oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla, baking powder, and salt. Stir in half the flour, half the milk, then the rest of the flour and milk. Fold in the remaining blueberries. Use an ice cream scoop to fill the muffin tin. Sprinkle the tops with demerara sugar, then bake for about 25 minutes, until risen and golden. Allow to cool for 30 minutes in the pan before removing. (Yeah, like I could wait!)

Vegan Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies (updated November 2014)

This is different from the recipe that I've shared before. The cookies are chewy and even better than any I've ever made.

1/2 cup organic coconut oil
1/2 cup Trader Joe's organic brown sugar
1/2 cup Trader Joe's organic white sugar
2 tablespoons ground flax seed mixed with 6 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon gluten-free real vanilla extract
1 cup Pamela's gluten-free flour blend, plus 1-2 tbsp. extra
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 scant teaspoon sea salt
1 cup gluten-free oatmeal (optional)
1 cup Trader Joe's chocolate chips
1/2 to 1 cup coarsely chopped almonds (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix flax seed with water in a small bowl. Combine coconut oil and sugars in a large bowl. When flax mixture has gelled to the consistency of beaten egg (it only takes a few minutes), combine it with oil and sugars along with the vanilla. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt. Then add oatmeal, chocolate chips, and almonds. Use a cookie dough scoop, scoop one scoop of dough onto cookie sheet. Bake for 9-11 minutes; don't overbake. If this looks good (not too greasy looking or runny around the edges), scoop and bake the rest. If it doesn't look good, add 1-2 tbsp. more flour and bake another test cookie. Let cookies rest on pan for one minute before transferring to cooling rack. Note: The longer you let the dough sit in the bowl before baking, the higher and less flat the cookies will be after you bake them.

Coconut Lime Cookies (gluten-free, vegan, with Lime essential oil)

1 cup Trader Joe's organic white sugar

1/2 cup Trader Joe's coconut oil, in liquid form

1 flax egg (1 tbsp. ground flax seed + 3 tbsp. water)

Juice of one organic lime

Zest of one organic lime

10 drops food-grade lime essential oil

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1 1/3 cups Pamela's gluten free flour blend

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

Preheat oven to 350. Combine everything except the flour, salt, baking powder and soda, then stir those in. Then take a bite of the dough because it is delicious! Scoop onto baking sheet and bake for about 8 -12 minutes.

You could roll these in more sugar first; they were a little on the tart side. You could also roll them in coconut.

This recipe is still a work in progress as I wasn't able to get them to puff up and crinkle down as they would if I had used butter, so you will either want to flatten them after scooping, or roll them out and cut them out with cookie cutters.

Delicious GFCF Waffles! Or Flower-Shaped Pancakes:)

I actually used ghee instead of oil in these but I'm sure you could just use oil to make them GFCF. Here is the original recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/classic-waffles/

2 cups Pamela's gluten-free flour mix
1 tsp. sea salt
4 tsp. baking powder
2 tbsp. organic white sugar
2 eggs
1.5 cups warm rice milk or other milk substitute
1/3 cup melted ghee, or oil
1 tsp. gluten free vanilla

Preheat waffle iron. Beat eggs with other wet ingredients. Add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Cook on waffle iron until done.

Update: Today I didn't feel like dealing with cleaning the waffle iron so I made this in my quesadilla maker instead, which is was much easier to clean and made really cute flower-shaped waffles! The "petals" break off really easily.

I also used watered-down coconut milk from Trader Joe's as my milk substitute, and it worked great. You could probably try this with muffin batter, and make all kinds of variations.

Spinach Rice

This is one of the first items of what we call "Sam's Food" that my daughter started asking for when we changed his diet.

Ground beef
Cooked brown rice
Onions or onion powder
1 bag washed fresh spinach, chopped with kitchen scissors
Black pepper
Coconut Aminos or Soy Sauce

Brown the ground beef with diced onions until onions are soft. (Or brown the meat first, then rinse to get the fat off, then add olive oil to brown the onions in.) Stir in spinach and let it wilt, then stir in cooked brown rice and season with aminos or soy sauce, etc.

Coconut Oil Pie Crust

Just take your favorite pie crust recipe and substitute chilled coconut oil for shortening or butter, and Pamela's for wheat flour, and you are good to go. I used this recipe as a general guideline, and for fun, I used almond milk instead of water.

http://www.freecoconutrecipes.com/index.cfm/2010/8/6/coconut-oil-pie-crust

Coconut Aminos Marinated Grilled Chicken

Coconut aminos (tastes like a slightly sweeter soy sauce and is naturopath-approved for the whole family!)

Fresh lemon juice

Garlic or garlic powder

Pink Himalayan salt

Fresh black pepper

Olive oil

Marinate chicken, then grill.

Delicious Rice Pasta Primavera

Note that although ghee is a dairy product, my daughter and I are allowed to eat it on our plan. This was absolutely delicious. It was all I could do not to top it with fresh parmesan, but I resisted and the result was that I was really able to enjoy the other flavors.

Cooked Trader Joe's organic brown rice pasta (rotini)

Canned coconut milk (optional)

Ghee

Fresh mushrooms, cut in half

Fresh baby spinach, torn

Fresh cherry tomatoes (from my garden!), cut in half

Freshly ground pink Himalayan salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Trader Joe's brown rice pasta is amazing. Its only fault is that it gets hard when cold, but if you re-heat it, it is fine. As long as you don't overcook it, to me it is just as good as wheat pasta. The batch of cooked pasta I had leftover in my fridge had some canned coconut milk mixed into it (maybe about 1/4 cup?), which I guess contributed to the deliciousness of this dish but there was no perceptible coconut flavor.

Brown the mushrooms in a saute pan in some ghee. Add the cooked pasta and stir until spinach until pasta is warm and spinach is wilted. Throw in some more ghee if desired, then the tomatoes. Season with fresh salt and pepper.

Oatmeal Quick Bread

Oatmeal does contain some gluten, although you can buy gluten-free oatmeal. Sam's diet is so strict that he is not even allowed to have oatmeal, but I think this is fine for the rest of us. I substituted Pamela's for the wheat flour, almond milk for the milk, I didn't grind up the oats super-finely, and I baked it in a medium-sized loaf pan. It didn't rise that high but it was moist and tasted good; the crust was especially yummy. I based my version on this recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/oatmeal-whole-wheat-quick-bread/

1 cup uncooked oatmeal

1 cup Pamela's flour mix

2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 1/2 tablespoons honey or organic sugar

2 tablespoons melted coconut oil

1 cup almond milk

Preheat oven to 450. Quickly pulse oatmeal in blender to grind it a bit, leaving some larger pieces. Combine dry ingredients, then stir in wet ingredients; you don't have to mix it very long. Pour into greased medium-sized loaf pan or muffin tins. Bake 20-25 minutes for a loaf and less time for muffins.

Flaky Coconut Oil Biscuits (Vegan Gluten-Free Dairy-Free)

I am a really good baker and even make my own bagels, and this morning I was really missing my beloved toast with butter. I have a friend who has absolutely perfected GF yeast bread but I haven't practiced with her recipe yet, so for now I decided I'd rather not eat bread than eat store-bought GF bread. But I have had success with muffins and cookies so I decided to give biscuits a try. I just took my grandmother's wonderful recipe and made 1:1 substitutions to make this GFCF. They were crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, flaky, and delicious!

2 cups Pamela's flour mix

1/2 tsp. salt

4 tsp. aluminum-free baking powder

2/3 cup milk substitute (I used rice milk)

1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

2 tsp. organic sugar

1/2 cup coconut oil, chilled

Preheat oven to 425. Mix dry ingredients, cut in coconut oil until mix resembles coarse crumbs. (These pockets of chilled coconut oil are what make these flaky.) Add milk all at once and stir until dough forms loose ball. Pat together with your hands (don't overwork the dough) and pat or roll out 1/2 inch thick and cut into rounds. (Instead of rolling out the dough, I used an ice cream scoop, scooped the dough onto baking parchment, and patted it into biscuit shapes! Much faster, cleaner, and easier!) Bake 10-12 minutes.

Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies

I would like to try this with ghee or coconut oil instead of butter, but as of this moment, I am still eating butter although not any other dairy product.

I found this on simplyrecipes.com and made the following alterations [in brackets]. Delicious. (Especially the dough!)

3 cups flour [substitute Pamela's gluten-free flour mix]
1 cup organic granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup soft butter [try ghee or coconut oil]
1 egg, slightly beaten [flax seed egg substitute]
3 tbsp cream [unflavored coconut yogurt]
1 tsp vanilla (I use gluten-free)
[zest of one lemon]

Chill. Roll 1/4 thick and cut out cookies. Bake on ungreased sheet at 400 for 5-8 minutes just until edges are slightly brown.

The lemon zest and sour cream [coconut yogurt] made these so good!

   

Shepherd's Pie

Sam's diet doesn't include potatoes but ours does. We are just going to have to learn to love this without the cheese.

 

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/30-minute-shepherds-pie-recipe/index.html

Easy Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Cream Puffs

I found this recipe for easy cream puffs in the Our Best Bites cookbook and substituted coconut oil for butter and tapioca flour for wheat flour, but they were too flat, so I added in some almond flour which perked them up and made them delicious. And they look exactly like regular cream puffs. I think they were still a little on the greasy side so next time I will use a little less coconut oil and a little more flour. http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/04/tutorial-cream-puffs/ The cream filling is coconut cream from the top of a can of Thai Kitchen Organic Coconut Milk, chilled, and whipped with a fork with a little organic honey and some Trader Joe's Pure Bourbon Vanilla Extract. I got the idea from this blog: http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/01/16/chocolate-frosting-shots/ The ganache is organic honey (not much) and equal parts cocoa powder and coconut oil, microwaved to melt everything together, then chilled to harden it.

Spicy Sweet Potato Soup

My friend, Lori, sent this to me from a chef she used to work with. Thanks, Lori!

Mineral rich Grade B Maple syrup is cheaper than Grade A because it is not as refined; thus there is more flavor. Canned coconut milk works well in this soup because it is richer, however any dairy or non-dairy milk can be substituted with equally great results. If you don't care for spice but want to retain the smoky flavor of the chipotle chili, remove the stem and all the seeds and add only the skin of the chili.

Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Yield: 5 Cups

2 Medium Sweet Potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces (large chunks), about 4 cups
1/2 Medium Spanish (yellow) Onion, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces (large chunks)
2 Cloves Garlic, peeled
1 ½ cups of water plus more to adjust consistency if necessary
1/4 Cup plus 1 Tbsp of Grade B Maple Syrup or ¼ Cup Agave Nectar (I used less and it was still sweet)
½ Chipotle Chili in Adobo (found in Hispanic section of Grocery Store) (I used dried chipotle chili powder)
2 Tbsp Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice or Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Cup Canned Coconut Milk
1 tsp Sea Salt and 1 tsp Black Pepper to taste plus more if desired
Green Onions, thinly sliced, to garnish

Place Sweet Potatoes, onion and garlic in 4-quart plus-size tightly lidded pot and add the water. Bring to boil and reduce heat to medium. Cook until Potatoes are tender–about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly to make handling easier. Transfer to blender and add maple syrup, chipotle chili and coconut milk  and puree until smooth. Return mixture to heat and bring up to almost a boiling point. Turn off heat and add lime juice and salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with sliced green onions.

NOTE: Using 1/2 of a chili (as directed) is perfect if you don't like spicy food (gives it a 'kick' but not too much).

My note: This was too sweet for my tastes so next time I will use less syrup.

Puffy Oven German Pancake

Substitute Pamela's flour mix for the wheat flour, use an appropriate milk substitute, and use ghee instead of butter. The recipe below recommends heating an oven-proof skillet on the stove before baking the pancake, but this is how I did it as a child: Put the butter in a glass or pyrex pie pan while the oven is preheating, and this heats the pan as well, then pour the butter into the batter, and bake.

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/german-oven-pancakes/319273e2-2f36-4cbf-8cce-3fede62a94b4

You can also make this in muffin tins for individual pancakes:

http://www.makeandtakes.com/pop-up-pancakes

Thai Hand Rolls

These delicious hand roll wrappers are naturally gluten-free! Traditional recipes include tofu and peanut sauce which are no-no's, but you can put vegetables and chicken, seafood, or meat and any sauce you want in them, and roll them up.

Tools for the Diet Newcomer

I enjoyed the transition to the new diet a lot more when I discovered it was an excuse to develop a SYSTEM. I love systems. Here are some tools that have helped me, especially since the rest of the family is still eating a traditional diet.

Amazon Prime. Totally worth it! For a yearly fee, you get free two-day shipping on any prime-eligible items. This has been a HUGE blessing as we've done this special diet.

A Second Freezer. At first, you will be spending more time cooking and it is very nice to be able to make extra food and freeze it. I keep mine stocked with organic turkey bacon, other organic meats, organic turkey lunchmeat, frozen vegetables, homemade sorbet, and fruit for smoothies. I actually have an extra refrigerator, so the freezer side has that stuff, and the fridge side is full of bags of washed organic greens and other fresh vegetables, and sometimes extra bottles of homemade water kefir.

4oz. disposable souffle cups with lids from Amazon or your local restaurant supply store. These hold one ice cream scoop of homemade sorbet.

Ice cream scoop. Doing all this cooking is a lot more fun if you have the right tools, and it is fun to buy kitchen gadgets. I love to use my ice cream scoop to fill muffin tins with cupcake or muffin batter!

Cookie-dough scoop. This is just a smaller version of an ice cream scoop, and it is great for cookie dough but also for meatballs and rice balls.

Disposable rubber gloves. I like to keep a box of these from Costco or the drugstore on hand. Make sure you get the latex-free powder-free ones (some kinds are powdered with cornstarch). It makes it a lot easier for me to mix up meatballs or rice balls or touch meat if I have gloves on.

Pamela's Gluten-Free Flour Mix. My local regular grocery store actually stocks this, but it's cheaper from amazon. I store it in the fridge after opening just because my flour tends to get bugs in it. Even though it has some sugar in it, it is naturopath-approved. I use this exactly in place of wheat flour in all my muffins, cupcakes, cookies, and sauces.

Vitamix Blender. I have thought about this for a long time and finally took the plunge. I got the cheapest one they had on Amazon which was about $400. My teenage daughter and I drink green smoothies from this every day and she ASKS me to make them for her. It is worth it to have the kale and frozen peas, etc. ground up into tiny, drinkable bits.

Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker. This was reasonably priced and recommended by a friend and I haven't had any problems with it. It was so rewarding when we first started this diet to see my little boy enjoying the homemade sorbet I made for him from just coconut milk and pureed organic fruit. It works super fast. And now it comes in a whole bunch of cool colors! Definitely buy a pretty one. :)

Annie Chun's Brown Rice Noodles (Pad Thai): These are just made with brown rice and water and are the kind that are used in Pad Thai but it is not a Pad Thai mix. They sell them at the natural grocery store but I found them cheaper, for a while at least, on Amazon. Boil the water, plunge the dry noodles in, turn off the stove, and wait about five minutes. The trick to decent rice noodles is not to overcook them. Toss in some olive oil to keep them from sticking. What I love about international "carbs" like rice noodles and Brazilian Pan de Yuca is that many of them were intended to be gluten-free in the first place! So they are not weird imitations of something else--they are the real thing of what they are supposed to be.

Tapioca Flour/Starch. You need this to make delicious Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pan de Yuca). I have a recipe on this blog for Pan de Yuca that uses mashed potatoes instead of cheese. We even make mini pizza crusts with it and it is delicious. Apparently you can also use this instead of cornstarch to thicken sauces and gravies.

Countertop Electric Grill. I have a George Foreman but my friend has a Cuisinart and loves it. Marinated meat and chicken just taste better when grilled and with an autistic kid running around it is not always easy to fire up the barbie.

Celtic Gray Sea Salt. It was an exciting day when my naturopath told me that salt can be GOOD for you! I bought this on amazon and as the reviewers said, it comes kind of "wet" so I did spread it out on a dishtowel to dry, before I added it to a salt grinder which was just an empty pepper grinder from Trader Joe's.

Disposable Hot Drink Cups with Lids. I'm showing the Amazon link here but I get them from the local restaurant supply store. My teenage daughter says it is easier to drink green smoothies when she can't see them, and it's nice to be able to grab this at breakfast time and take it with me.

Thai Hand Roll Rice Paper Wrappers. These are made from rice and water and are naturally gluten-free. They come dried and you moisten them with just enough water to make them pliable, then you fill them with whatever you want and wrap them up.