Easter and my first GF Bread

Happy Easter!

The plan? Have the family over for a full on GLUTEN free, SOY free, safe, Easter meal prepared by my mom and I, and celebration of Jesus' resurrection together as a family.

Not in the plan? Me getting sick, yes sick, on Saturday. I never get sick, but this 24-hour bug just happened to catch me while I was down. School has been really stressful and busy lately, top that off with a 6+ hour plane flight home, +3 hour time change and the "post-stress let-down effect" and bingo, it got me. I haven't been this sick in ages, and it was not fun. Interestingly (sorry to gross you all out) throwing up was the best part, as it made me feel so much better (even if it only lasted about 15-20 minutes). Anyways, we heard from the family that a 24-hour thing had been going around, we assumed that's what I got, and today I am better. So it was definitely a 24-hour thing. I am still recovering (think barely any food and only juice/sprite while I was sick), and I hope to be 100% soon. Needless to say, it was a VERY different Easter than what I expected. Oh, and I forgot. The family stayed away. Wise decision!

The Easter meal, however (yay, I can eat real food again), was anything but a letdown. Mom made the pot-roast like she always does (family tradition, we have it at nearly every major holiday except Thanksgiving). Then we did a potato dish, steamed green beans, green peas (I couldn't really stomach the thought of grean beans on my recovering stomach), and bread.

Bread? Yes, bread. In my childhood days Mom used to always have a fresh loaf of bread for dinner straight out of the bread machine. It was homemade bread heaven every night. Needless to say we started learning about nutrition and that practice was thrown out the window. And now that I am gluten free, I remain especially nostalgic about the bread she used to make. Her bread machine oatmeal bread was by far, my favorite. Close behind was the apple-walnut, and cinnamon raisin, but the oatmeal bread "took the cake" - pun intended.

I have been searching for a good bread recipe for a while, and have had a few in my bookmarks on my computer, but haven't quite dug in and tried one. Finally, I found one that I had all the ingredients for, wasn't going to bake my back (in the complication factor) to make it, had GOOD reviews, and wasn't overly time consuming. Too good to be true? Only slightly.

Amazing Gluten-Free "Oatmeal" Bread

from Recipezaar.com ^^

(my substitutions listed here)

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1/2 cup white sorghum flour

1/4 cup millet flour

1/4 cup tapioca starch/flour

1/4 cup arrowroot starch

1/4 cup ground golden flaxseed meal

3 tsp xanthan gum 

2 tsp active dry yeast

1/2 tsp salt (I used normal table salt, not sea salt)

2 eggs + 2 egg whites (use 4 large brown AA organic yada yada eggs)

1 cup room temperature water

2 tbsp honey

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1. Preheat the oven to 200F degrees.

2. Mix wet ingredients in your stand mixer, and mix your dry ingredients in a separate bowl.

3. While the mixer is running, pour the dry into the wet and mix well on low/medium speed for about 2 minutes. There should be no lumps.

4. Turn into a olive oil sprayed (I always use my Misto) 9x5 loaf pan.

5. Turn off the oven and put the bread inside.

6. Let rise for about 90 minutes or until the top of the bread is noticeable (as viewed from the side) over the edge of the pan or until it just meets the top.

7. Then turn the oven on to 350F (try not to open the oven during the rise and during the transition to 350) and bake for about 40 minutes. The crust will be golden brown, cover with tin foil as needed to prevent over-browning.

8. Remove from oven and cool on a rack for 10 minutes then turn out onto the rack and cool until no longer warm. Slice when just a touch warm or totally cooled.

I say only slightly because as you can see, the bread collasped after it's journey from the oven. I had kind of expected this to happen (some reviewers mentioned this problem) but just prayed it wouldn't happen to me; after all, not everyone encountered this phenomena. But it did. It didn't lack in the flavor or texture department. In fact it tasted exactly like my childhood oatmeal bread, even better! I am going to have to tweak the recipe so it DOESN'T fall in, but this recipe is certainly destined for greatness. It left my mom, my dad and I smacking our lips in pleasure. WE LOVED IT. Oops that was in capitals- wait, I meant to do that, hehe! It was soo good. We will definitely be making this again, and again and again. I might actually put it into muffin tins and do a "dinner roll" type. In fact, it was so good we demolished a WHOLE half loaf! And easily could have eaten the whole thing. I can't take credit though- this wasn't my recipe. Click the link and enjoy. Lots of different substitutions work well, so play around with it. I will update you will my new recipe as I bake more versions. Trial and error will get it right eventually.

Easter tasted so good! I only wish it could have been spent with family.

Corn Pancake, Egg-Fried Quinoa

I shouldn't really be blogging, but I can not stand the fact that I would have only one post in a month. Pitiful. So here I am, and it's gonna be short.

Yesterday for breakfast I had a thought, I need a pair for my yogurt. There's no more granola... Time to experiment. I could make a skillet cornbread type pancake, and crumble it on top? Perfect.

So I started thinking and soon a recipe was born, and 30 minutes later, it was carried out. The results were not perfect, but it was good for the first try. The only reason why I say it's not perfect is because the outside edges burnt. The pan was too hot, I learned later (I even melted my spatula, oh well, it was only a 99c cheapo), and I realized that the pan was way to hot for the wet-factor of the pancake and the density-viscosity factor. I should have realized that and I did think about it before I poured the batter.. but I thought, who cares if I burn it a little. Char is yummy! Especially when that char involves some yellow cornmeal, or cornmeal of any variety!

I also realized later that the burnt layer on both sides peeled away to reveal a lovely fluffy texture inside (as you can see from the photo). Ooh, so good! I could even expand it and make a cornbread! The amount is perfect for one person for breakfast, so plan accordingly for more people.

Cornmeal Pancake

1/4 cup Arrowhead Mills Organic Yellow Cornmeal

2 T Bob's Red Mill Coconut flour, packed

2 T Bob's Red Mill Organic oat bran

~1 T amber agave

1/2 tsp stevia

1/3 cup soured raw milk

1 amazing egg (free-range, veg-feed, organic)

1 tsp coconut oil

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

To make the pancake:

It was easy: mix the dry, mix the wet, mix the both together and crack the egg in and mix in with a whisk. Wahla! The batter will be thick and sticky but easily stirred around with a spatula. Heat a skillet on low-medium heat (or medium-high heat if you want the peel away yummy char factor), pour the batter on top and smooth. Cook until the edges start to come together and there are some bubbles. Work your spatula CAREFULLY under the edge and work around the pancake, then flip it carefully to the next side. Cook until its done, which will be a shorter time than the first side. This recipe fits perfectly in an 8 inch skillet - that really helped the shape of the pancake. Enjoy!

I cut mine in half and crumbled half on top of my yogurt, and ate the other half on a plate with a fork like a pancake :) Drizzle with agave, and top with some raw nuts and you have a lovely and nutritious breakfast. It almost looks like an omelet! My nuts were organic RAW walnuts and organic RAW valencia peanuts. Look at the color of the untouched photograph!

I love quinoa. It's better for you than rice, pure protein and super easy to make - and fast, which is equally as important as all those other things! I got the idea of doing an egg-fried quinoa because I had some celery that needed to be used and a small green pepper (thank you cafeteria). This recipe is so simple and so good for you. I thoroughly enjoyed it :) It reminded me of all the chinese food I miss so much. (Whoever opens an allergen free chinese place might just become the next Bill Gates).

Egg-Fried Quinoa

For the quinoa:

1/4 cup uncooked quinoa

1 cup water

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 small green bell pepper - finely diced

6 6-inch celery stalks, cut down the middle and finely diced

1 T olive oil

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 egg

spices to taste, I used:

garlic

kelp granules

black pepper

salt

cayenne

To make your quinoa:

1. In your 8-inch skillet, cook the pepper and celery until crispy and cooked through and a little blackened (the oil will disappear). When they are done, turn the heat down (so you don't kill the egg).

2. In a sauce-pot, bring the quinoa to a boil and simmer until ready. How fast your quinoa cooks (and tastes) depends on if you rinsed it first and what brand you bought.

3. When the quinoa and stir-fry is done, add the quinoa to the pepper/celery skillet and cook for about 3 minutes. Then stir the quinoa mixture into half of the pan, and in the other half add the egg. Cook the egg and scramble into the quinoa/peppers/celery.

4. Transfer this to a separate bowl and add spices and little bit more olive oil. Toss. Put it on a plate and EAT! I had mine with a sweet potato, which I loove.

That was long a long post. I just can't do short posts! I am going home for Spring Break soon, and I can't wait. Easter recipes will definitely appear so stay tuned!

Coconut Bread, Apple Crisp, and Kiwis

Oh goodness, it's been so long! I have really busy... really busy. This past month (has it really been that long?) has been filled with tests and studying. Next month will be no different, and the next.. until May that is. I have been cooking, just not posting. Now it seems like I have so much to post, but whenever I go to sit and write, nothing comes up. Call it writer's block, call it whatever you like.

It isn't that simple. See, I've been working on this recipe in my head. It's similar to a brownie, but with no chocolate involved. Tomatoes instead. What? You ask. You will just have to wait and see. Problem is, I had this idea- it came to me in class one morning (I seem to get inspiration at completely random times). I've written it down, and gone over it and over it. I haven't made it yet. This is probably because I was waiting for ingredients, which were coming in the mail via Vitacost.com (which I love) and then it was just finding time. Hopefully I will find that time tomorrow night. But actually, tomorrow morning I will set foot in a Whole Foods market. I am shocked, but elated and filled with anticipation. I miss good food stores. Frankly, I have a love affair with Whole Foods... just don't tell anyone, ok? And perhaps best of all? It's right on the water. Pacific Ocean, here I come!

One thing that is a success, however, is this bread. I've wanted to make this coconut bread for a LONG time now, and have never ever gotten around to it, until now.

The problem with most gluten free bread recipes is that they are so complex. Well, maybe not complex in procedure, but certainly complex in ingredients. Some recipes I've found contain at least 20 ingredients, if not more! As a college student, I just can't have all those ingredients waiting for my beck and call. It has to be simple, the few the ingredients the better. That's how it is with this bread.

If you Google "coconut egg bread" or just "coconut bread" you will undoubtedly find this recipe. It's pretty common and I believe it comes from Bruce Fife's book, Cooking With Coconut Flour. I do not own this book, but my mom actually has his Coconut Oil Miracle book, which was very good. It has a few recipes in it which I am going to try someday, but just haven't gotten to it yet (am I alway saying that?)

Anyways, the bread does not rise too much, and it is very dense, like pound cake. It tastes like an eggy coconuty pound cake with a hint of sweet and its full of moisture. I was a little over anxious to get it out of the pan, tried too hard when it wasn't fully cooled, and so the top half of the bread came off one half of the loaf! Ooops. I won't do that again. So I have resorted to eating it with a fork. Slicing will have to happen on the next batch (I will definitely be making this again).

On the next go I might try adding some flax, some whole grain teff, and MORE baking powder. I don't want to go over board on the leavening agents though because I don't want the bread to fall, but I will experiment until it does! 

Coconut Bread

6 eggs (organic, free range, brown AA large)

1/2 cup coconut oil, melted (or you can use butter)

3/4 cup coconut flour (I use Bob's Red Mill)

1 tsp baking powder (I did almost 1.5 tsps and will up it next time)

1/2 tsp sea salt

2 Tbsp agave or honey (I used Madava amber agave)

Mix well so there are no lumps! Sift the coconut flour well. Beat the eggs separately. Combine dry into wet in stages. Or just put all the ingredients in a food processor and whiz to mix. GREASE your loaf pan liberally. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes. Enjoy!

By the way, the large dent you see in the picture is what I ate of it for dinner. Soo good.

My second picture is apple crisp. HAH. I should call it "college crisp" because it is so easy, and CHEAP to do! Stock up on apples from the cafe and viola! College Crisp! I did not know going into it if this recipe was going to be blog worthy, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, so I might as well pass it on.

College Apple Crisp

6 apples of choice (I used 3 red delicious, 2 granny, and 1 yellow delicious)

amber agave

cinnamon to taste (about 1-1.5 tsp)

topping:

1 handful GF steel-cut oats (probably about a 1/4 cup)

1 tbsp coconut flour

2 tbsp amber agave

1 tbsp coconut oil (not melted)

cinnamon to taste

salt to taste

stevia

Cut apples into half moons like you would to eat them (I left the peels on, you can peel the apples if that is what you prefer). Place them in your glass baking dish. Sprinkle with cinnamon and agave to taste, and toss until the coating is evenly distributed over all the apples. In a separate small bowl, put agave, cinnamon, salt (enhances the sweet), coconut oil and coconut flour. Mix with your fingers, add oats. Mixture should have a fine crumb (like when cutting butter into flour for the bottom of a pie) and no large lumps. Sprinkle stevia evenly on top of apples, and then sprinkle topping over apples. Drizzle one last time with agave syrup.

Bake covered with tin foil at 350 for about 40-50 minutes or until apples are tender. Allow 10 more  minutes with the foil off for the top to brown. Let cool for at least 5 minutes and serve! I ate mine plain and it was fantastic. Coconut/goat milk ice cream would be perfect on top as well. Next time I will use more golden delicious apples. Enjoy!

The kiwi, random, I know. But they were at the grocery store for 2/$1. Not organic, but still. Variety in the diet is good, and kiwis are good for you. I bought some for H because she loves them, and I got some for myself as well. 4 kiwis for $2. Your kidding. 2 for her, 2 for me. Now, I struggled with the way to eat them. I thought of using a spoon, but didn't think it would work. I was wrong. Upon searching the internet I came upon this article: How To Eat A Kiwifruit. It was just what I needed before enjoying my next kiwi. It worked splendidly, and I will never eat a kiwi another way again.

I hope to post that new recipe soon. I am dying to see if it will work as I have imagined it. Stay tuned.

How has your month been?