Zoe's Cupcakes!

You can relax, dad, because Zoe can still make cupcakes even if we are in the midst of gluten-free baking! Last night Zoe, Constance & I made these delicious vanilla cupcakes with pink, vanilla frosting. They are gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free [vegan]. The ingredients list on the sprinkles looks like sugar & dye & preservatives so I'm assuming that they are vegan too. I chose this recipe from the Allergen-Free cookbook. Her recipes involve mixing up a big batch of "baking mix" from different flours & starches and then you use a cup of it as the base for most of the baked goods. It's like having a box of Bisquick that is gluten-free. Which, incidentally, I saw at the grocery store yesterday. It was really expensive! Make your own!

I asked Zoe if she wanted chocolate or vanilla cupcakes and she said VANILLA! which was unexpected. Constance is going to make some chocolate cupcakes, or a big 'ol cake, that is gluten-free for her sister's birthday this weekend. I think these vanilla cupcakes are an excellent indication that the chocolate version will come out nicely.

We have a new vegan friend via Bensational who is coming for dinner tonight. We have these cupcakes and also some vegan/gluten-free "oreos" for everyone to enjoy. Last night we made the cookie dough and the cream filling. The cream filling tastes EXACTLY - I MEAN EXACTLY -  like the filling in store-bought Oreos, except even better because it is fluffy and creamy. I am excited about these cookies. Can you even imagine eating Oreos that are not terrible for your health, they actually are chock full of whole grains and extra protein/nutrients, but still taste chocolate-y & delicious? How much would you pay for one of these?

Hush Puppies

I made these the other night to go with our bean soup for dinner. I think they look divine. I accidentally put in too much white pepper, and I thought the texture was a little dry, but they were still pretty good. It's been a long time since I've had hush puppies. These are made with an organic, gluten-free yellow corn meal, jalapeno, onion, and a little milk & an egg. I fried them in canola oil. Pete kept saying that he didn't know what hush puppies were and that he thought that a hush puppy was a cheap version of an Icee, and then I told him that he was thinking of a slush-puppy, but he still had no idea what a hush puppy was. There are no Long John Silvers in the Northwest, and only one decent BBQ place {the Frontier Room - yes, they have amazing hush puppies}, so it's no wonder that he thinks these are slurpees. I dipped mine in our favorite BBQ sauce from Kansas City - Cowtown. I can buy it here for about $7 a bottle at our local butcher/sauce shop. I can order it online and with shipping it sometimes saves me a buck a bottle. We only have 1/2 a bottle in the fridge right now. The tension level when we are low on BBQ sauce is palpable.

candied pecans

As a non-salad eater, I whole-heartedly endorse one salad in particular. I eat it most days for lunch. I think I could continue to eat this one salad for a long time: Lettuce [I like baby lettuces, and arugula, and frisee-type lettuces. Not iceberg.], diced apples [pink lady or honeycrisp], dried cranberries [craisins], chicken [simple saute with olive oil, sea salt, black pepper & cut into cubes], a little crumbled blue cheese [gorgonzola], and candied pecans or walnuts. I don't eat salad dressing unless I make it myself and it is fruit juice & olive oil. I don't put dressing on this salad, but I do make Pete a red wine vinegarette that he really likes.

Candided Pecans:

Boil 1 c of pecans in some water for about 3 minutes. Drain the water and then roll the nuts around on a paper towel to dry them. While they are still warm put them in a large bowl and toss them around until they are coated with : 1/4 c powdered sugar, a little sea salt, a dash of cayenne pepper. Lay in a single layer [they need room] on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes in a 325 degree oven. Stir them around 1/2-way through the cooking time. Let the nuts cool and the the sugar will crisp & dry out. They will be chewy while they're warm. Store in a bag for a few days if you can resist eating them up for this long! I like to make at least a double or triple batch if I have enough pecans/walnuts in the pantry.

green juice

Constance, in case you were curious -
Tuesday morning juice = spinach, pineapple, apple, carrot, ginger, lemon. It was good, yes?

voodoo carnage

While in Portland we went with Annie & John to Voodoo Doughnuts. Pete & I got the selection of a random dozen that a very slow-moving employee picks out based on what she likes and what the store needs to get rid of. Pete ate everything that was maple-flavored. I had something that was jelly-filled. And then we all picked at what was left until I threw them away this morning. Voodoo is famous. Their doughnuts are really good. And weird. I don't know why they are voodoo/vampire-themed. I haven't read the history. You can buy a little, pine coffin filled with 100 doughnuts. At their newest, Portland location they have a photobooth. There is ALWAYS a line at least 20 minutes long. The original location usually has a 45 minute wait. It's a tourist trap.
Needless to say... this late night treat [they are open from like 3pm to 3am?] was off our diet.

Buckwheat Apple Muffins

I made these delicious muffins this morning. They are from the Allergen-Free Baking cookbook. The recipes in this book are not always sugar-free, but they avoid all of the major allergens: gluten, soy, peanuts, eggs, dairy, tree nuts/stone fruit... I think she says there are 9 foods that account for 90% of all allergies. I could walk 30 feet and get the book, but everytime I walk away from the computer I get distracted for an hour. It has taken me all morning just to type this one paragraph.
anyhow.
The muffins are all buckwheat [which is not a wheat], and I added 1/4c. of flaxmeal for nutrition. I shredded the apple instead of dicing it, because that's how I've always made apple muffins. I don't like it when the muffin is wet/gooey around a chunk of fruit, and they fall apart too. The buckwheat is a powdery flour, so the result is soft and not at all grainy like my brown rice flour. Speaking of, she recommends a certain brand of "superfine" brown rice flour that is apparently the only one to buy if you are tired of the usual, gritty texture. She claims that it is available at Whole Foods, and I can order it online too. What I really want is the Grain Mill attachment for my KitchenAid, and then perhaps I can create my own superfine flours!

Zoe just asked me to make an ice sculpture. Hmmmm.

End of the Cleanse

Our cleanse officially ended over the weekend. I am still scheduling at least 3 "clean" eating days a week. I ate quite a bit of crap food while we were in Portland, and I definitely felt much, much worse than I have for the past 3 weeks. The only thing that makes a clean diet possible is cooking & eating your meals at home. And it also helps to have someone who wants to eat the same things. There are some things that you can find at restaurants - chicken, veg, brown rice - and you can even make smarter choices in the drive-thru [salad, water], but it is really tough. We went to dinner at a thai place and I tried to find something without soy, egg, peanuts, noodles, rice, fish, beef & non-fried. Then we were at a pub the next night and I settled on a wrap/sandwich with lettuce & chicken in it. Then when Pete got here we ate cheeseburgers & fries with soda. We had omelettes for breakfast. I made coffee. It was all very delicous. But I was sluggish and was actually craving some fresh juice and a glass of water. When we got home last night I made a fruit & almond smoothie for dinner.

This is so good: 1 c. unsweetened chocolate almond milk [Blue Diamond brand], a 1/4 c. of fresh almond butter, 1 c. frozen pie cherries [local/organic if possible], 1 tbl agave syrup. Blend until smooth. Add more almond milk or cherries to make it smooth or chunky. I've also made it with plain almond milk + unsweetened cacao powder. I think it's better with the chocolate almond milk.

Jack LaLanne died yesterday. We have his juicer. Pete & I had juice for breakfast this morning. It was kale, pineapple, apple, strawberry, mango, carrot & beet juice.

There is something weird going on with my vegetables. Everything is molding in the refrigerator. The broccoli, the asparagus, the celery... all dead. Is my fridge too cold? Or too wet? Both? I think I might be opening & storing them longer than I realize, also.

I have a new cookbook for allergen-free baking. The pictures are gorgeous! I took vegan chocolate cupcakes with sprinkles to Annie for her birthday. She liked them! I like them, too. Constance is going to bake some for her sister's birthday this weekend. She's not a vegan, just doing a gluten-free diet for a while.

Pete lost his entire extra-tummy weight and his face is thinner. Guys are lucky this way. He has to tighten his belt more and his shirts just hang on him. No bread, no sugar for just 21 days and he needs a smaller wardrobe! I have lost weight, too. I can tell because my pants are loose and my face isn't so puffy. But I have much more than just a little belly to lose, so the results so far are not as obvious. But I definitely feel lighter. When I get in the car there is more space between me and the steering wheel. My back doesn't hurt! My arms don't bulge out. My ankles are slim. It's not just the food, I really have been going to the gym 3 - 5 times a week too. It's work to change this much. I want to wear a pretty dress. And I want to fit into snowboarding clothes.

Teff Bread

After Zumba! last night Constance & I made a loaf of Teff Bread. Teff is an Ethiopian grain that is gluten-free and can grow in harsh environments using less resources than wheat. It is ground into a lightweight, powdery flour and used for creating many different foods, including bread. This is another vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free recipe. I was worried that this bread would be really delicous because Teff is expensive. It comes inside of this tiny, paper bag and one bag makes one loaf of bread. I was right to be worried, it is yummy. I really like the soft texture of the bread's interior. Brown rice flour is so grainy, everything has a sandy quality. This is smooth like wheat flour. The dough for this bread is very soft. I formed it into a wide log and baked it on a parchment-lined pan for about 2 hours. I have found that all of these breads that are made with alternative [to wheat] flours are not really "baking" as much as they are steaming. There is a lot of water in the dough and it is cooking the grains, the same way you would boil a pot of rice, and then the steam is released through cracks in the dough. The result is something dense. White bread has that delicious, light, air-filled quality and chewiness. Without eggs, sugar, milk, or anything artificial, the only thing you taste is the grain. So it's important that it be something worth eating. I think Teff made it onto that list.

Matcha Muffins

Last night I baked a 1/2-batch [6] of matcha muffins using the recipe from the Flying Apron cookbook. I don't think I made any changes, just needed to see what would happen. They are gluten/dairy/soy-free and vegan. And shockingly tasty. They are as light as bubble wrap. I guess I did add some lemon zest and used a non-toasted, unsweetened coconut. The recipe calls for toasted coconut. The small crunch of the coconut and the lemon zest made these muffins extremely satisfying. I miss baking ooey-gooey things and especially miss burning my fingers trying to tear apart a loaf of oven-hot bread just to get that first taste. Janie was here so we ate a couple, I saved one for this morning and sent the other 3 with her. I am definitely going to bake some more. Right now. I think they would be uber good with blueberries. And cream cheese frosting. And a vodka tonic.

Juice is a beautiful thing!

Beet juice tastes like dirt. Seriously. Just like it. But it is the most ravishing color. Sadly, very transient, so it's impossible to paint your wall with it and have it remain diabolically red. This morning Pete and I had a juice-breakfast made from Pink Lady Apples [my 2nd favorite apple], beets, carrots, ginger, a lemon, dinosaur kale, and mango. It was delicious, of course.

soup croutons!

Qunioa bread, sliced & toasted with olive oil is indeed delicious, especially when used to soak up million-bean soup. The toasting makes it crunchy and dark golden brown, but a little soup makes it chewy without any mush.

quinoa bread

Quinoa bread tastes exactly like a bowl of quinoa. This recipe has only a small amount of baking soda as leavening, so it doesn't really rise. It has a soft, chewy texture on the inside and a satisfying, thin crust.

I haven't tried to do anything else with the bread, but I think it will make delicious soup croutons. I'm also going to try slicing & toasting it with some olive oil & rosemary. Sounds delicious!

I am anxious to visit the Flying Apron Bakery in Fremont to taste their breads & pastries. I know that I don't like the overly-sweet non-gluten/vegan-style baked goods that give me headaches from the concentrated sacharin flavors. It's just too much. I bought a jar of brown rice syrup, which has a mild sweetness on it's own but is easily drowned out when mixed into a dough. So far I like agave syrup best as it has a similar flavor to cane sugar. It's a difficult challenge to avoid using cane sugar in baking. So I'm just going to do it when it needs to be done. I really don't want to eat anything just for the sake of using my teeth that day. It had better taste good.

In The Beginning

Using recipes from The Flying Apron cookbook, I now have a loaf of quinoa bread in the oven and dough in the fridge for tomorrow morning's blueberry-cinnamon scones. The bread smells exactly of quinoa, nothing more or less. It is not rising, but remains a small, foot-long log, exactly the same size and shape as it was an hour ago. I think that it will be sliced and toasted, like biscotti, and dipped in soup. Perhaps a sprinkling of sea salt and rosemary will liven it up.

Zoe sits behind me and sings "we like MILK, we LIKE milk, we like MILK, we LIKE milk..." and then adds "pink, white, brown! pink white brown!" between verses. I think this is UmiZoomi inspired.

My small, kitchen counter is cluttered tonight with the freshly purchased flours, rices, sweeteners, and oils that gluten-free vegans enjoy. I don't think that it costs more to eat fresh vegetables and fruit, but it definitely costs more to bake like a vegan. Especially an organic vegan. I am excited to see what brown rice flour can do for me. And I want to make Annie something special for her birthday.

I am imagining a small restaurant/cafe/food truck that serves vegan soups, breads, salads and ALSO specializes in healthy meaty dishes, too. For the past 10 days I've fed Pete lots of quinoa and broccoli, even smoothies with kale and chia - and he'll eat it as long as there is a nice piece of salmon along the way. And it's remarkable how delicious that piece of salmon can be even without a buttery sauce. And brocolli without cheese? Suspiciously edible.