Black Bean, Jicama, Red Peppers, Avocado & Lime-Cilantro Dressing

My absolute favorite food is Mexican.

But with my "no dairy" and "no corn" issues,

I can't really go out for Mexican food anymore.

So this wonderful salad gives me that taste 

that I'm missing without cheese or corn.

Black Bean Salad

2 15oz cans organic black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 large or 1 small jicama, diced into small cubes 

2 red bell peppers, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbls minced shallots

2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tbls organic sugar or coconut crystals

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

6 tbls fresh lime juice

1 tsp lime zest

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

2 Haas avocados, diced

Combine all ingredients except avocado in a large bowl and mix well. Cover and chill for a few hours or overnight. Just before serving, mix in diced avocados. 

Faux Entemann's Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

*WARNING - this is not a neccessarily "healthy" dessert *

I don't think I've mentioned it before,

but my hubby is now gluten free for health reasons of his own.

He can have dairy and sugar

so I try to bake things he loves 

even if  I can't eat them.

This is one of those recipes.

Sometimes we sit together and reminisce

the things we used to enjoy eating.....

He mentioned the cream cheese and jam coffee cake

that we used to buy that was made by Entemanns.

So I decided as a surprise for him

I'd try to re-create it, gluten free style.

This is what I came up with :)

And according to my hubby and my son,

Entemann's ain't got nuthin' on this baby! :)

"Faux" Entemann's

For the "cheesecake" topping:

1 - 8oz block cream cheese, softened

1/4 - cup organic sugar

1 - large cage free organic egg

For the strussel topping:

2 - Tblsp butter

6 - Tblsp organic sugar

1 - Tblsp coconut flour

For the jam swirl:

1/4 to 1/2 cup jam of choice - depending on taste

For the cake:

1/4 -tsp baking soda

1/4 -tsp sea salt

4 - large cage free organic eggs

1/3 - cup canned organic coconut milk

1/2 - cup grade B maple syrup

1 - tsp g/f vanilla extract

1/2 - cup coconut flour

Using a hand held mixer, blend cream cheese, sugar and egg until smooth and set aside. 

Next, start on the cake. Mix first 6 cake ingredients (except the coconut flour) with a wisk until smooth and well incorporated. Then add the coconut flour and continue to wisk until a smooth batter forms. Pour into a 9 x 9 square cake pan, sprayed with coconut oil or olive oil. 

Drop tablespoons of the cream cheese mixture evenly over the top of the cake batter. Using the back of your spoon, smooth the cream cheese mixture. It won't be perfectly smooth or cover the entire top of the cake and that is just fine.

Heat the jam either in the microwave or stovetop until it can be poured and then pour it over the top of the cheesecake mixture.

Prepare the strussel topping. In a small bowl using a pastry blender or fork, mix the butter, sugar and coconut flour until crumbly. Sprinkle it over the top of the cake.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Allow to cool and then place in the refrigerator for a few hours to set the cream cheese. Keep refrigerated. Enjoy :)

3 Bean Goodness :)

With warmer weather on it's way

I thought I'd share a new family favorite.

It's great for bar-b ques or to take along on a picnic :)

This is so tastey and it just gets better

the longer it "sits".

You can make it ahead of time

and it's super fast and delish!

Three Bean Salad

1 - 15oz can Organic cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

1 - 15oz can Organic kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 - 15oz can Organic garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

2 - stalks organic celery chopped fine

1/2 - red onion chopped fine

1 - cup fresh flat-leaf parsley chopped fine

1 - Tblsp fresh rosemary chopped fine

1/3 - cup Braggs apple cider vinegar

1/3 - cup Coconut Crystals 

1/4 - cup Extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 -tsp sea salt

1/2 -tsp ground black pepper

I dump all 3 cans of beans into a colander and rinse them thoroughly  Transfer them to a large bowl and add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Chill in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight to allow the beans to soak in the flavors. 

Plenty More In The Kitchen

A big part of this last year for me

has been taking some of our family favorite

recipes and "tweaking" them into something we can actually eat.

"Plenty More In The Kitchen" is one of those recipes.

It can be found in the book Fix it and Forget it, 

Recipes for Entertaining.

The original recipe has corn, elbow macaroni and canned beef broth,

all of which we can't have.

So I replaced those naughty offenders

 and the outcome was pretty darned tasty.....

if I do say so myself :)

You're probably wondering what that amazing looking bread 

is doing on a gluten free recipe blog....

well I'll get to that in a minute.

Plenty More In The Kitchen

(for the slow cooker)

2 lbs grass fed ground beef

1 cup chopped onion

1 tblsp oil

26 oz jar organic spaghetti sauce (check ingredients for your sensitivities)

1 tsp sea salt

2 tsp chili powder

2 tblsp coconut crystals (or brown sugar)

2 15 oz cans cut green beans (drained)

4 cups water

2 tblsp Lea and Perrins Worcester sauce (yes...it's gluten free)

2 - 3 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces

Brown the beef and onion in oil. Combine all the ingredients into the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour. Turn to low and cook 4 more hours. This makes 12 - 16 servings, so there's "plenty more in the kitchen".

OK....you're wondering about these bread rolls.

 Well, I bought the "Better Batter" all purpose g/f flour mix

 and the recipe is on the side of the box. 

Easy Italian Bread Rolls. 

Only 4 ingredients 

and they are so close to what you remember regular bread to be.

 Pretty amazing. 

Unfortunately I can't eat them because they contain Tapioca,

 but they were a welcome treat for my hubby. 

I cut the remaining rolls in 1/2 and then put them into the freezer. 

That way I could pull one out at a time,

pre-cut because frozen rolls would be impossible to cut. 

Worked great! 

Just popped them into the oven to re-heat them 

and spread a bit of Earth's Balance coconut spread 

(looks and tastes like butter)

 on them and we were good to go!