Yummy Creamy Avocado Dressing

It's hard to believe,

but yesterday it was 94 degrees outside

and it's only the first week of March.

This kind of weather makes me want to eat

cool fresh salads.

Unfortunately for me, I have so many food

sensitivities that I can't just buy

salad dressing at the store...

 I have to make it.

So here is one of my new favs!

I can just imagine this poured over

a crisp wedge of iceberg

or even as a dip for fresh veggies!

Yummy Creamy Avocado Dressing

(the coconut milk does not add coconut flavor)

1 - 13.66 oz can Thai Kitchen Organic Coconut Milk

1 - large ripe avocado - peeled and cut into chunks

2 to 3 green onions - chopped

1/4 cup minced parsley

1 clove garlic minced or minced shallots

1/4 tsp dried dill weed

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

Add all ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Store in the refrigerator. Makes 2 cups.



Poor Man's Pepper Steak and Cauliflower Rice

Every Sunday after church I make lunch for the entire family.

It's something I love doing

and the time we share laughing and eating is priceless.

Changing our eating habits has been expensive!

(to say the least)

I've tried to be creative in stretching my shopping dollars.

With grass fed beef steaks at $9.99 a lb,

I chose grass fed ground beef for $5.99 a lb as a substitute.

Hence the "Poor Man's Pepper Steak" recipe was born!

And since some of the family is now grain free

we used Cauliflower Rice in place of white rice.

Poor Man's Pepper Steak

1 lb ground grass fed beef

1/4 cup gluten free soy sauce (Coconut Aminos)

1 clove garlic (or shallots) minced

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 cup green onion -thinly sliced

1 cup red or green bell peppers cut into 1 inch squares

2 stalks celery -thinly sliced

2 tomatoes cut into wedges (optional)
1 tblsp arrowroot starch (or potato starch)
1 cup water

Brown ground beef in large skillet over medium heat. Do not drain pan juices. Add soy sauce and ginger and stir into cooked beef for about a minute. Turn the heat up and vegetables and toss until tender. Add starch to the cup of water and stir until dissolved. Pour into pan and stir to thicken. If using tomatoes, add them after the other vegetables are done cooking and just heat through. Serve over white rice or cauliflower rice.  (Serves 4)

Cauliflower Rice

1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets

3 tblsp olive oil

1 large onion, minced

4 cloves garlic or shallots, minced

3/4 cup chicken broth

4 tblsp Earths' Balance Coconut spread

1 tsp sea salt

Pulse cauliflower florets in food processor. The cauliflower will break down a bit as it cooks, so you don't want to chop it too fine. Do it in batches for the best results. Heat oil in large saucepan and saute onions and garlic until soft. Add the chopped cauliflower and chicken stock. Cover with lid and cook on medium-low heat about 10 minutes. Remove lid and add Earth Balance spread and salt and cook for another 5 minutes to allow some of the liquid to cook out. Stir constantly. Remove from heat and serve.



Pumpkin Black Bean Chicken Chili ( for the slow cooker)

I'll admit, that until recently

when my food choices were severely limited,

I was not one to venture out and try new things.

In my book, pumpkin was something you ate in a pie.

It was sweet and had cinnamon and nutmeg involved.

I didn't grow up eating pumpkin.

Guess what?

A pumpkin is a squash.....a vegetable.

Not sweet at all.

Kinda neutral in taste.

But loaded with great stuff for your body.

Who knew? ( apparently a lot of people besides me)

Anywhooo...I'm a big fan of pumpkin these days

and we eat it often.

So here is the chili recipe that we had on Christmas Eve.

(My nephew said it was a good thing

I didn't tell him it had pumpkin in it

until after he ate it)

Our entire family loved it.

I served it with coconut flour muffins

and you can find that recipe here.

The muffins taste very much like cornbread

and you can bake the recipe in an 8 x 8 pan

instead of muffin tins for a more traditional "corn bread".

Hope you love it too.

Pumpkin Black Bean Chicken Chili

1 cup chopped organic onion

1 cup chopped organic yellow bell pepper

3 cloves garlic - minced ( or shallots)

2 tblsp olive oil

1 1/2 tsp dried oregano

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp chili powder

4 - 15oz cans organic black beans - rinsed & drained

2 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken

1 - 16oz can organic pumpkin puree

1 - 14 1/2 oz can organic diced tomatoes

3 cups chicken broth

1 - 14oz can organic unsweetened coconut milk



Saute onions, yellow pepper and garlic in oil for about 8 minutes or until soft. Stir in oregano, cumin and chili powder and cook for 1 minute more. Transfer to slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 7 - 8 hours.

The Best Darn Spaghetti Sauce Ever!

If your house is like our house,

then spaghetti is your "go to" food.

Everyone loves it.

It's quick and easy and oh so tasty too.

The problem I've run into is that even most of the organic

spaghetti sauces have things in them that I can't have

like sugar and garlic.

Luckily for me my wonderful Daughter in law

 shared this recipe with me.

Try this once, and you'll never buy sauce in a jar again!

The Best Darn Spaghetti Sauce

2 - tblsp Olive oil

1 - organic onion - diced

1 - small organic red pepper - diced

2 - 14 1/2 oz cans organic diced tomatoes (with the juice)

2 - 8oz cans organic tomato sauce

2 - tsp dried basil

1 - tsp dried oregano

1 - tsp sea salt

Heat oil in pan and saute the onion and peppers until soft. (You could certainly add a few cloves of minced garlic at this point as well)  Add remaining ingredients and simmer until slightly thickened. If you have children or picky eaters that don't like chunks of tomatoes you could use an immersion blender to puree the sauce or carefully transfer the sauce to your food processor and pulse for a few seconds. I added browned grass fed ground beef, but you could add chicken or any other meats as well. This sauce is seriously fabulous! And yes....it's just that easy! Serve over your favorite g/f pasta or spaghetti squash and enjoy!!!



Mock Peanut Butter Cookies (aka Sunflower Butter Cookies)

If you know anything about me,

you know I love peanut butter cookies!

My mom would make them from time to time

and suprise me with my very own tin of cookies :)

Yes, I'm 50 years old and my mom still bakes me cookies....so what? :)

Since pretty much every ingredient in regular peanut butter cookies

is on my "poison" list these days,

I've been wanting to find a replacement.

So today, the Mock PB Cookie was born!

Mock Peanut Butter Cookies (Revised 3/2/12)

G/F, Casein Free, Corn Free, Sugar Free

1/2 cup homemade Sunflower Seed Butter (find recipe here)

1 cup Coconut Crystals (sugar alternative)

2 free range eggs

1/2 tsp g/f pure vanilla

1/4 cup Coconut flour (sifted)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together sunflower seed butter, coconut crystals, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in sifted coconut flour.

I use the back of a spoon and sift it directly into the bowl.

The batter will be runny but it will thicken a bit after a few minutes.

I bought this "whoopie pie" pan at Michaels with my 50% off coupon.

It's made by Wilton and works great for lots of g/f cookies.

It gives them a nice uniform shape.

Use the backside of a slightly wet spoon to shape the cookies into nice flat rounds.

Bake for 15 minutes. Makes 1 dozen.

Cool on wire rack. 

Try not to eat them all in one sitting :)

Homemade Chicken Broth

Today is a big day for me for lots of reasons.

First let me start by saying how excited I am

to finally own a cast iron stock pot.

For the past 15 years I have been so weak and so full of daily pain

that I couldn't even lift one of the lids on these beauties.

 I thought for sure I'd never be able to cook with one.

But low and behold, no more pain for me

 and this gorgeous red pot is mine.

So for her maiden voyage (so to speak)

I'm making homemade chicken broth.

The only store bought chicken broth that I can have

with my food sensitivities costs about $4.00 per quart.

This pot will yield 2 quarts plus a beautifully cooked chicken as well

for around $12.00 total.

( I pay about $10.00 for a whole free range chicken)

Homemade Chicken Broth

2 1/2 pound whole free range chicken
2 organic celery ribs
3 organic medium carrots, cut into chunks
2 organic medium onions, quartered
2 bay leaves
4 tsp sea salt (optional)
1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
1/2 tsp dried thyme
8 whole peppercorns
2 quarts cold water

Place all ingredients in a soup kettle or dutch oven. Slowly bring to boil. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 2 hours. Set chicken aside until cool enough to handle and remove all meat from the bones. Strain broth. I add the cooked vegetables to some cooked rice along with some of the chicken for a tasty meal. Refrigerate the broth overnight and remove cold layer of fat if desired. I've noticed that with the free range chicken there is almost no fat the remove the next day. So that's it! Super easy and healthy! AND cost effective! Try it.....you'll like it!

Gluten Free & Sugar Free Pumpkin Muffins

One of my favorite things about the fall is

pumpkin bread and muffins!

One of the things I've noticed about gluten free baking is that most people who go gluten free for health reasons, totally overlook the ill effects of cane sugar.

For me it's not an option because I am glucose intollerant.

Coconut crystals have been a real find for me. They look and taste like brown sugar and are made from the coconut flower. Coconut crystals have 1/2 the glycemic index of sugar and that makes it a great alternative for me and my baking!

I've been playing around with some different recipes and so far this one is my favorite.

The house smells divine while they are baking and these yummy little bundles of deliciousness are free of gluten, gliaden, corn, dairy, and sugar.

Gluten Free Sugar Free Pumpkin Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

1/2 cup + 1 tblsp fine brown rice flour (or white rice flour)

1/2 cup potato starch
1/2 cup coconut crystals (natural sugar alternative)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp g/f corn free  Hain baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp guar gum
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 of 15oz can Organic Pumpkin puree
1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
2 free range eggs (at room temp)
1 tsp g/f pure vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients together and with a whisk add in wet ingredients and mix thoroughly. Spray muffin pan with olive oil spray. Pour batter into muffin tin about 3/4 full. Gluten free batter doesn't rise the way regular flour does so you don't need to worry about it overflowing during the baking process. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. I like these better after they have cooled. The taste and texture actually improve the next day.....if you can wait that long!

Sunflower Seed Butter

Sunflower Seed Butter

2 cups raw sunflower seed (shelled)

3 packets Sweet Leaf Stevia

1 Tablespoon Coconut Crystals (sugar alternative)

4 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 1/2 tsp sea salt

First let me just warn you that this stuff is addicting. I mean seriously yummy! For those of us who can't have tree nuts or peanuts, this is heaven!!! I tried making this without toasting the seeds first and just leaving them raw (because I'm lazy sometimes) and it was awful! I threw the entire batch in the trash. It tasted like olive oil....period. Yuck.

Ok...so on to the recipe. First toast the seeds in a dry pan over high heat, stirring constantly until they become a lovely golden brown and you can smell the nutty goodness :)

Allow them to cool for a few minutes and then transfer them to your food processor. Chop the seeds until they they resemble beach sand. This can take up to 15 minutes depending on the power of your food processor. (only took 1 1/2 minutes in my new Kitchen Ninja...

but that's a story for a different day)

Add in the Stevia, Coconut crystals and salt and pulse to combine. Then slowly add in the oil through the top of your processor. After a few minutes you'll have Sunflower Seed butter!

You need to store it in the refrigerator. I have no idea how long it will stay good because I've been eating it all in about 2 days :)

Super tasty on an organic brown rice cake :)

Also super tasty right out of the container with a spoon

while standing in front of the open refrigerator......

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do :)

A bit of Cuban Flavor :)

One of my hubby's favorite foods growing up in a Cuban household is "Platanos Tachinos".

These are Plantain bananas that have been fried twice.

And I found out after doing some on-line research that plantains are actually anti-inflammatory and have lots of great health benefits!  I knew I had to add them to our diet. These are delicious and very quick and easy to prepare.

Platanos Tachinos

2 Green plantain bananas

olive oil

coarse sea salt

First of all, use only green plantains. If they have begun to yellow, they will not work with this recipe. Green plantains are not sweet and remind me of potatoes.

Peel plantains. Cut into 3/4 to 1" slices. Pour about 1" of olive oil into heavy frying pan. When the oil is hot, (340 degrees) not smoking, add plantains and fry 3 minutes. Remove from the oil to a cutting board layered with paper towels. I use the smooth side of my meat hammer to pound the fried banana chunks into flat discs. It usually only takes one well placed hit from above. This is a great way to work out any aggression as well! Re-heat the oil and return the discs to the hot oil and fry for another 3 minutes. Remove from oil and sprinkle generously with coarse sea salt.

                                                     Aye Que Bueno!

Coconut Flour G/F D/F C/F Brownies!

I'm so excited about coconut flour! It doesn't taste like coconut and it has more than double the fiber of other flours. And because I can't have tree nuts, almond flour is out of the question for me. One of the most amazing things about coconut flour to me is that it takes so little to make something wonderful! This recipe only takes 1/2 cup of flour and it makes an 8 x 8 pan of brownies! The texture and taste is fantastic! You won't be disappointed :)

Coconut Flour Brownies

(Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Corn Free)

1/3 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup cocoa powder

6 eggs

1 cup coconut crystals (natural sugar alternative)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup sifted coconut flour

Ghirardelli Semi Sweet Chocolate Baking Chips (optional)

In a saucepan at low heat, blend together coconut oil and cocoa powder. Remove from heat and let cool. In a bowl, mix together eggs, coconut crystals, salt and vanilla. Stir in cocoa mixture. Whisk coconut flour into batter until there are no lumps. Pour batter into greased 8 x 8 x 2 pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips across the top and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.