The Food Game Changer

Posted on May 28, 2012 | 2 Comments

I’ve been wanting to blog about this for the last three weeks. I REALLY wanted to when the emotion was raw the day I found out.

I’m glad I waited. I knew whatever would have poured out on this page wouldn’t have been rational or without the pity party. I’ve had time to collect my thoughts, motivation and realization that I CAN do this. So what is it, I’m sure you’re wondering.

I’ve known something was up for a while; never feeling well, always tired, achy, headaches, stomach pains…I got validation on these symptoms on May 7th after having some blood work done. They came back with severe allergies to Gluten/Wheat, Casein/Lactose and eggs.

Ouch. It was like a punch to the face for someone who loves to bake and had been actively developing recipes. So, what does this mean for the food blog? My love for cooking hasn’t changed, it’s just been altered. Baking is still a challenge. I have to relearn how to do this to meet my dietary needs. I’ve already made a few recipes with success and look forward to developing more recipes of my own in the future.

In the meantime, I feel awesome! Almost no headaches, joint pain, tons of energy; it came just in time to have a very fun, relaxing and much needed vacation to California to visit family.

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Wine tasting in Napa.

So, this blog will be taking a different turn. The biggest change will be that glutenous baking recipes will now be replaced with their gluten-free cousin. The recipes I’ve already posted on this blog will remain. So, I will leave you with  this recipe I tried last night. They are amazing and I’m not ashamed to say I ate four.

Dark Chocolate Brownies

5 ounces high quality 60-70% cocoa dark chocolate (I used supreme dark chocolate, 72%)

1/2 cup organic coconut oil

1 cup light brown sugar (not packed)

1/2 cup almond meal

1/4 cup brown rice flour

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 organic free-range eggs, beaten

1 tablespoon bourbon vanilla* (I used regular vanilla extract)

Read more: http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2006/01/dark-chocolate-brownies.html#ixzz1wBNlDZ33

I also added a 1/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips and a 1/4 cup of raw cocao nibs. Out of this world!

Happy cooking!

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Pear and Kiwi Smoothie

Posted on April 24, 2012 | 1 Comment

Our room was on the second floor where the big window is.

My husband and I spent this past weekend at a beautiful Bed and Breakfast called The Bee & Thistle Guest House in Vancouver, B.C in celebration of our 8th anniversary. Our Sunday morning breakfast included a Pear and Kiwi Cooler. It was so light and refreshing! So, yesterday I wanted something like that (as it was nearly 90 out and I was trying my hardest to not turn on the air conditioning!) and found that I had everything on hand to recreate it! I hope you enjoy it as much as myself and the kiddo did!

Pear and Kiwi Smoothie

Serves 4

4 kiwi’s, skin removed, chopped into fourths

1 can of Pear halves in pear juice

2 cups of cold (preferably from the refrigerator) water

2 tbsps of Agave

Place all of the ingredients into a blender (including juice from pears). Blend until smooth. There will be Kiwi seeds. We left ours (as did the B & B) but you can strain them out if desired. Serve immediately or chill before serving. Enjoy!

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Date Squares

Posted on April 24, 2012 | 2 Comments

This recipe was adapted from the The Eat-Clean Diet Favorites Magazine. The original recipe didn’t come out the way that I had hoped so to get a more desirable consistency, I tweaked the measurements. I hope you enjoy these super easy, healthy and low calorie date squares as much as I do!

This recipe is to fill a 9×12 or 9×13 pan.

Filling:

1 1/2 pounds of pitted Medjool Dates (I only found pitted ones, so if this is what you use, just remove the pits before dicing)

3 tbsps of Agave

2 1/2 c of water

2 tbsps of lemon juice, freshly squeezed

2 tsps of lemon zest

Base and topping:

3 1/2 c of Oat or Spelt Flour

3 1/2 c of Oats

1/2 tsp of Baking Powder

1/4 tsp of Sea Salt

1 1/2 c of unsweetened plain or cinnamon Apple Sauce

5 tbsps of Olive Oil (not extra virgin)

3 tbsps of Agave

Cinnamon, for dusting on top

Olive Oil cooking spray for greasing pan

Preheat oven to 350. If not pitted, remove pits from dates and dice. You can also place them in a food processor and pulse a few times. Combine dates in a large sauce pan with agave, water, lemon juice and lemon zest. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes. It should be nicely thickened when done. Meanwhile, combine dry ingredients for crust and topping. Stir together the wet ingredients and then add into the dry ingredients. Stir until thoroughly combined. Place 3/4 of mix into bottom of prepared pan and press down to make an even and firmly packed crust. Pour thickened date filling onto the top of crust and smooth evenly over the layer. Crumble the rest of the crust mixture evenly over the top. Sprinkle with cinnamon and place in preheated oven and bake for approximately 25 minutes or until filling bubbles and topping is browned. Let cool completely before cutting.

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Upside-down Apple Ginger Coffee Cake

Posted on April 17, 2012 | Leave a comment

The final recipe from the April 9th Healthfully Decadent Desserts Class for B.E.S.T Weight Management. This is the recipe that I made at home and brought to the class. I’ve made it several times and have tried it with pineapple rings instead of apples and like it just as much! This is a great healthy dessert “coffee cake” as well! Enjoy! Continue reading →

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Orange Coconut Squares

Posted on April 17, 2012 | Leave a comment

Another delicious recipe made at the April 9th healthy cooking (or in this case, baking) class! They are delicious! Definitely need to let them cool completely or they tend to fall apart, as the class participants saw. Certainly doesn’t effect the taste, though! Enjoy!

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