Try This! Asofoetida
Posted: October 24, 2011 Filed under: gluten free, Stage 1, Travel Foods, Try This!, world cuisine Leave a comment »
Aso…wha????
Yes a funny name for a spice with an even funnier smell. Asofoetida is a spice indigenous to India that is a resin the exudes from an underground rhizome that’s then dried. The smell when raw is rank to say the least! It’s so strong that you have to store it in it’s own airtight container so it doesn’t mess with your other spices. It has a pungency all it’s own. So why even mess with it? Well, when you cook it, the flavor mellows alot and becomes sort of garlic-ky. If you are into umami, this is one spice that should be in your arsenal.
Check out your Indian market (brick and mortar or online) to find this. If you can’t find it, of course onions and garlic will do, but we all know about those already! Expand a little and try something new! Oh, and when I run out of onions and garlic, or don’t have onion or garlic powder, I reach for this! You don’t need alot of it to make a statement!
Sugar-Free Kettle Corn
Posted: April 15, 2011 Filed under: desserts, Erythritol, favorites, gluten free, Inulin, Snacks, Stage 2, Stevia, Travel Foods, vegetarian 1 Comment »
Kettle corn is super addictive! Salty and sweet with plenty of crunch to go along with it. Once a bag is open, the only motivation to stop is when your hand is only scooping up the crumbs!
Kettle corn is not at all hard to make at home. The most difficult part is not burning the sugar.
Since there won’t be any sugar used here, making kettle corn just got a whole lot easier!
With very few ingredients, make sure you use the best! Using ghee will give a really nice slight buttery flavor that plays really well with the sweet and the salty. I also use organic popcorn and a really good sea salt.
The proportions I saw in other recipes just didn’t give enough yield, so I doubled them! Kettle corn goes fast!
Sugar-Free Kettle Corn
1/2 cup ghee
1 cup popcorn kernels
1/2 cup USB
sea salt to tasteIn a large pan, melt ghee and add two popcorn kernels. Ghee will be hot once both kernels are popped. Working quickly, add the rest of the kernels and sprinkle over the USB. Put the lid on and move the pan back and forth to get everything mixed together. Once popping begins to slow, remove pan from the heat. When popping stops, transfer popcorn to a big bowl, add salt to taste and toss. Let popcorn cool for at least 5 minutes so that the coating will form. Serve and enjoy!
Dried Cranberries, Revised
Posted: December 1, 2010 Filed under: fall, favorites, gluten free, Snacks, Stevia, Travel Foods, Vegan, Vegetable Glycerin, vegetarian | Tags: cranberries, dried, free, glycerin, Stevia, sugar Leave a comment »
After drying trays and trays of cranberries for granola, carrot cranberry muffins, oatmeal cookies, and nut & seed crunch, I’ve figured out how to do it without too much mess, effort or time.
It’s best to use cranberries that have been frozen and then thawed. This makes them squishy.
Rinse well, then put on some rubber gloves and squeeze each berry until it pops. You need to do this so the sweeteners can get inside the berries. Otherwise you’ll have a sweet outside and a sour inside! Not good! Squeezing the berries may seem tedious, but it actually doesn’t take very long. You can get a 16 oz. bag done in less than five minutes. Less if you have kids willing to help!
Toss with your sweeteners. I’ve been using vegetable glycerin and stevia to taste. Spread on a parchment lined baking sheet and dry in your oven at the lowest setting for several hours.
Candied Pumpkin Seeds
Posted: May 26, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast, favorites, gluten free, Quick cook, Snacks, Stage 1, Stevia, Travel Foods, Vegan, Yacon Syrup 4 Comments »
Sometimes, I feel like I live in an all-or-nothing food world. Either I eat a meal or I don’t eat at all. Sometimes I don’t really want to eat a full meal, but I don’t want to be hungry. Usually, I just put off eating until I can’t stand it anymore and eat a full meal so that I don’t eat my arm off.
I would eat more if I had more snacks, but since store bought snacks are not an option, I have to make mine. Yeah, I know I could have carrots, celery sticks, nuts, etc, but I swear, raw veggies keep my stomach occupied for about 30 minutes-long enough for the water to be squeezed out of them, then I’m thinking about what to eat next. I’m also nutted out. I’ve consumed way too many, and I need a little balance now. I could probably live without nuts for the next 6 months and not even really miss them.
So I do have seeds. I found some pumpkin seeds last week in my fridge, and came up with another spicy, sweet way to eat them. I made these to go on top of a pumpkin muffin recipe I was testing (it was nice and cool and had a can of pumpkin puree I found in the pantry), and they were so good, I almost ate them all before the muffins were finished baking. It’s now a nice quick and easy snack that keeps my stomach occupied a little longer than raw radishes.
Candied Pumpkin Seeds
1 cup pumpkin seeds
1/8 teaspoon each of
*cinnamon
*cardamon (I’m having a cardamon love affair right now!)
*ginger powder
*stevia
pinch salt
2 tablespoons yacon syrupIn a dry pan, toast pumpkin seeds on low to medium heat until slightly brown and fragrant. Stir constantly to prevent burning. Add all dry ingredients, stir in with the seeds and warm until fragrant. Add yacon syrup, remove from heat and stir to coat all seeds. Spread seeds on parchment paper and let cool to room temperature before eating. Try not to eat them all in one sitting!
*Yacon syrup candies beautifully, meaning it gets hard when warmed and then cooled. It does not take much heat, so be careful not to scorch the syrup.
*Double and triple this once you try the recipe and like the results.
*You can also do this in the oven. Don’t toast the seeds before hand and mix all the ingredients together. Spread on parchment and bake at 350 for about 10-15 mins.
Would you like coconut with your coffee?
Posted: March 23, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast, drinks, Travel Foods, Vegan, world cuisine 6 Comments »
Another good use for powdered coconut milk: dairy-free creamer!
Coconut milk, being obviously dairy free, has the added benefit of being a medium chain triglyceride (MCT), which is an energy booster.
Commercial dairy free creamer in abysmal. There is so much hydrogenated oil and chemicals in it that it surely cannot be classified as food. I think it’s worse than the coffee itself.
I’m not really a coffee drinker, but I love chai tea! I love the addition on coconut milk powder in my chai. I think the slight coconut flavor takes it up a notch!
The only problem I have with coconut milk powder is that it’s hard to find one without sugar and preservatives. I have
found only two brands to date: One by Caravelle (which I’m having a hard time finding now) and this one.
Banana almond muffins
Posted: February 28, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast, desserts, Erythritol, gluten free, Inulin, Snacks, Stage 3, Stevia, Travel Foods, vegetarian, Whole grains 1 Comment »
These muffins are not really candida friendly. I’m doing some experimenting. In an effort to reduce the amount of sweeteners used in baked goods, I’ve been playing around with the idea of using whole fruit for some sweetness.
Most of you know about my stance on cooked fruits. I don’t like the idea, especially for candida sufferers, because cooking fruit takes away the water and breaks down the fiber, so the sugar is too concentrated. I’m expanding my recipe base for people who would not necessarily need to avoid fruit, but would like to keep the sugar content as low as possible. I also did some toying with not using added fat, but only ingredients with natural fat, like the eggs and coconut milk.
I’m going to give this a Stage 3 for those CRC folks. You may have an occasional “avoid” high quality sweetener on the list, and I would just count the banana as the avoid sweetener. Try the carrot cranberry muffins if you want something much less intense or if you really want fruit, try blueberries.
Banana almond muffins
Dry ingredients:
2 cups gluten free flour mix
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cardamomWet ingredients:
1 medium banana, cubed
1/2 cup almonds, chopped
2 eggs
1/2 cup lite coconut milk
1/2 cup USBGluten free oats for the tops (optional)
Preheat oven 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, mix together wet ingredients.
Sift together dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined. Spoon batter into oiled, paper-lined, or silicon muffin cups (I used silicon), sprinkle tops with oats if using and bake for about 25 mins or until golden brown and inserted knife in center of muffin comes out clean.Makes 12 muffins
*If you decide to use a different milk sub that is low fat, you’ll need to add 1/2 cup of oil, like grapeseed.
My own mustard! Finally!
Posted: February 23, 2010 Filed under: gluten free, Quick cook, Snacks, Stage 1, Travel Foods, Vegan 2 Comments »
I stopped eating mustard about the same time I stopped eating bread. So it’s been about four years since I’ve had anything that’s had mustard in it. Or on it for that matter like potato salad, or a good soft pretzel, or good vegan sausage……ok must…snap… out of it!
Why would I make mustard if it’s so cheap and easily available? Perhaps you missed the part where virtually everything has to be scrutinized. And when you check the back of the bottle of any mustard, there are two very familiar, but forbidden ingredients: vinegar and sugar. Sometimes there’s fancy ingredients like white wine and honey, but it just makes it fancy and forbidden.
The good news is there’s only a few things you have to leave out and a whole lot of things you can put in when you make your own. You can go all out if you want by adding all kinds of herbs, spices and sweeteners.
Making mustard is easy if you cheat and use powder. That’s what I do when I’m on the road. Using seeds doesn’t take very long, but you need a blender.
Joi’s basic mustard mix:
1/4 cup mustard powder
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
Mix together and let sit (sometimes for a few days) to let the flavor meld and the heat build. Play around a little with the liquid content to get as thin or thick of a mustard you like.
Don’t stop there! Add whatever you like:
*chili powder
*dill
*yacon syrup to make it dark and sweet
* onion or garlic powder
*roasted garlic, etc.
The fun gets better when you use seeds, but I’ll have to post that recipe when I get a chance to be closer to my blender.
And as soon as I get my yeast free pretzel recipe down, you guys will be the first to know!
Roasted Edamame
Posted: February 1, 2010 Filed under: favorites, gluten free, Snacks, Stage 1, Travel Foods, Vegan, world cuisine Leave a comment »
I didn’t forget about the daifuku. I will post the recipe. I have to tweak the instructions just a little.
Meanwhile I have something else I want to share with you.
I love Seapoint Farms dry roasted edamame, but it costs up to $2 for a 4 oz bag. Ouch!
I was shopping in my local grocery store, and while in the freezer section, I spotted some frozen shelled edamame by the same company for only $1.68 for 16 oz. Now, that was a deal! Not only did I get way more for my money, but I could roast them myself and season them the way “I” like them.
And just how is that! Salty and spicy!
Roasted Edamame
1 16oz package frozen shelled edamame, thawed
2 tablespoons Bragg’s liquid aminos (or soy sauce if you can have it)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
just a pinch of salt (I told you I like them salty!)Preheat oven 400 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a bowl, toss all ingredients together until the edamame is well coated. Spread on baking sheet and bake for about 40-45 mins. until they are golden brown. Turn the heat down to 350 and continue baking for another 15-20 mins until the beans are dry and crispy.Easy! Season them anyway you like!
Oatmeal Coconut Cookies
Posted: January 10, 2010 Filed under: desserts, favorites, gluten free, Snacks, Stage 2, Travel Foods, Vegan, Whole grains, Yacon Syrup Leave a comment »
I experiment with cookies alot, but I was going through my posts and realized I don’t have alot of cookie recipes here. I’ll be sure to change that. I promise!
One of the ingredients that has brought some fun back into my life is certified gluten free oats. Oats are gluten free naturally, but since they get processed with wheat, it’s a problem. The seemingly high price for a two pound bag of the certified ones have been worth it for the piece of mind and inspiration.
Oatmeal Coconut Cookies
1/4 cup vegetable shortening or solid coconut oil
2/3 cup yacon syrup (You can use 1/3 cup of yacon syrup and 1/3 cup vegetable glycerin or agave)
1 Tablespoon Milled flax seeds
1/2 teaspoon sugar free alcohol free vanilla extract
3/4 cup all purpose gluten free flour mix
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups gluten free oats
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup hazelnuts, chopped (optional)Preheat oven 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, cream together shortening, yacon syrup, flaxseeds, and vanilla until smooth. If I use vegetable shortening, I just whisk everything together. In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. Add flour to shortening mixture. Add in oats, coconut and hazelnuts.On a parchment lined baking sheet, drop cookies about 2 inches apart. You should have about six cookies per sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for about five minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool, if you can keep from eating them!
Makes about 18-20 cookies
Micro(wave) Cookies
Posted: September 15, 2009 Filed under: Agave Nectar, desserts, favorites, gluten free, Quick cook, Snacks, Stage 1, Travel Foods, Vegan, Vegetable Glycerin, Whole grains Leave a comment »
I want alot of things.
I want a better camera. The one I have is great for simple snapshots. Simple snap shots don’t work well when you want fantastic pictures of food.
I want to cook in my own kitchen. One where everything in it is organized to my liking. One where I can hog the whole fridge with all of my strange ingredients. One where I can leave the dishes until tomorrow and not feel guilty about it.
Right now, I want to be able to cook in any kitchen, since I’m on the road. I’m dying for an oven where I can bake something and taste the toastiness on my tongue.
The only oven I have access to right now is the microwave oven.
I want cookies and I have only a microwave oven. Luckily, cookies can be made in the microwave and actually come out slightly crispy and very tasty.
1 cup all purpose gluten free flour
1/4 cup soy nut butter or any nut butter you like
2 tablespoons agave or vegetable glycerin
pinch salt
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon milled flax seeds mixed with 3 tablespoons of water
about 1/4 cup of seeds or coconut
In a mixing bowl, combine nut butter, agave or glycerin. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Add flour and flax seed gel to nut butter mixture and mix until a thick dough forms. Pinch off golf ball size pieces and form into balls. Place on parchment lined microwave glass plate and press with fingers or fork to flatten. Press seeds and/or coconut on top and microwave 4-6 cookies at a time for about 3 minutes on high heat. Watch closely to prevent burning. Remove cookies and let cool for about five minutes for them to firm.
Makes about 12 cookies. Just enough for me!
