Gluten Free Bread

After much experimenting, this is the best gluten free bread I've enjoyed to date. First I make an all purpose bread mix which I store in a large container ready for use:

• 5 cups rice flour
• 4 cups sorghum flour
• 3 cups starch (I use arrowroot, but you can use corn or potato)
• 2 cups teff flour (I've been using brown teff, because it is easier to come by, but I prefer white)
  

Now for the bread:

• 3 cups flour mixture (from above) or if you don't want to make up a huge mix, you can use:(1 cup rice flour, 1 cup sorghum flour, 3/4 cup starch, 1/4 cup teff flour)
• 1 Tbs yeast
• 1 Tbs xantham gum or guar gum
• 2 Tbs sugar

Mix the dry ingredients together, then add

• 1 Tbs apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbs oil (unrefined coconut oil is delicious!)
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups hot water (melt the oil in the water if it is solid)
  

Mix everything thoroughly, it should be about the consistency of chocolate chip cookie dough. Spoon it out into a prepared bread pan (greased and floured). Let it rise until it fills the pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Cool completely before slicing.

That's it. I hope you like it as much as I do!

Blueberry-Mint Ice Cream

I just got an ice cream maker and am experimenting with different types of "ice creams" (can you call it 'ice cream' if it doesn't contain cream?). My goal here is to create treats for the kids, giving them lots of whole fruits. My 6 year old daughter requested mint ice cream and I've been wanting to use blueberries, so I decided to combine the two. We mixed it up and threw in a handful of mini chocolate chips for the fun of it (though the consensus was that it was better without). All my girls and a neighbor who was visiting gave it rave reviews (the neighbor girl even asked for the recipe so her mom could make it!).

Blueberry-Mint Ice Cream

1 cup raw cashews
1 cup water
1 apple, cored & diced
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
2 mint leaves (or you could use a bit of mint extract)
1/4 cup apple juice concentrate

Soak the cashews in the water for a few hours or overnight in the refrigerator. Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend well. Place in an ice cream maker (this is where I threw in a handful of chocolate chips) and freeze.

As an alternative you could put the mix in popsicle molds and freeze.

Update: I've found that the cashew base works better (ie: much creamier) if you do the following: Soak the cashews in the water overnight. Blend them together, then heat slowly on the stove, stirring constantly until the cashew cream thickens up to a thick sauce consistency. Cool it in the fridge before blending it with the other ingredients and freezing in the ice cream maker.

Corn Chowder

Near the end of the summer a neighbor gave us a bunch of corn on the cob. There was so much of it, I had no choice but to freeze a bunch. So, I had never made corn chowder before, but it sounded so good, I just had to learn how. I looked up several recipes on the internet, and decided to take what they had in common and simplify it. What I made turned out great! Everybody in my family loved it, even the ones who usually complain ate it and asked for more! With such raving endorsement, I couldn't help but share it here.

Corn Chowder

1 rib celery, diced
4 medium potatoes, diced
1 can of corn, drained (I used about a pint frozen corn kernels)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Just barely cover with water. Boil gently until the potatoes are tender. Turn off the stove and let the heat dissipate for about 3 minutes. Add 4 oz. shredded cheddar. Serves about 4.

Simple Whole Wheat Tortillas

I was at a cooking class this week with some friends. There I was introduced to a product I had never before noticed in the grocery store. Uncooked flour tortillas. They can be purchased in the refrigerator section. At Walmart they are located near the cream cheese. Just in case you want to buy them. However, I don't think I will ever buy them again. I taught myself how to make them and it is soooo easy. So, I'm going to share my super simple recipe with you.

4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups water
1 tsp oil

Mix everything together to make a ball of dough (adding more flour if necessary). Put a damp towel over the bowl and let it sit about half an hour. Then pinch a ball off about the size of a small dinner roll. Roll it out on a floured surface as thin as you can in a roundish shape. Invert a bowl over your rolled out dough about the size of your pan and cut around it with a table knife. Whallah! your first tortilla. Cook in your skillet to brown both sides on a low medium heat. Repeat with the rest of the dough. This recipe makes about 20 tortillas.

Spinach Hummus

This recipe was inspired from a recipe for Organic Spinach Hummus on OrganicToBe.org. I just switched the recipe up a bit, mostly leaving out the oil and making it more convenient for me. My girls and I all like it, so it's a successful hit around here!

Spinach Hummus AKA Spinach Dip

15 ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 cloves garlic
Water as needed
1 cup packed spinach leaves (washed well)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 tsp cumin

In a food processor, combine chickpeas and garlic and puree until smooth, adding a small amount of water as needed . Add spinach, lemon juice, & cumin. Blend thoroughly.

Serve with veggies or pita bread.

Owl Pellets (AKA Peanut Butter Balls)

A few days ago I tried a recipe for "Butter Ball Cookies" from NatureMomsBlog. There are often many good ideas posted there. Because I can never leave well enough alone, I didn't make the cookies exactly as written. I was sure I could cut down on the sweetener. So, I mixed it all together with half the sweetener. The mixture was way too dry and wouldn't stick together at all. It was also still way too sweet for my taste. I tried adding more peanut butter, without good results. Also, I used peanut butter I had made myself, which is quite a lot drier than the generic PB off the shelf. Since it still wouldn't stick together, my girls enjoyed eating the crumbs with a spoon.

I decided I'd try it again, only making up a recipe from scratch. My recipe doesn't have near the amount of ingredients listed on NatureMom. I wanted it to be a lot more simple anyway. I dubbed my version Owl Pellets, because that's what they look like. My girls love them and so do I. If you use peanut butter with anything other than peanuts in the mix, you might have to increase the oatmeal to keep the mixture from being sticky.

Owl Pellets (AKA Peanut Butter Balls)

1 cup peanut butter
1 Tbs cocoa powder
2 Tbs honey
1 cup oatmeal

Combine the peanut butter, cocoa and honey. Mix in the oatmeal. If the mixture is sticky add more oatmeal 1/4 cup at a time. Roll into balls. Enjoy!
Place the leftovers in a covered container and keep in the refrigerator.

Apple Rhubarb Pie

I love rhubarb crisp, so a couple years ago I planted a rhubarb plant. I had some extra rhubarb last fall, so I chopped it and froze it. It now seems it will be much more difficult to use it as it seems to require scads of sugar to sweeten it up. So now I'm looking for sugar free rhubarb recipes, I don't expect much luck in this endeavor. That's why I was so pleased (as well as skeptical) when I ran across a no sugar added apple rhubarb pie recipe. I'm sorry I forgot where I found the recipe, so I can't give credit where credit is due, but here is the original recipe:



Sugar Free Rhubarb Pie

The thought of sugar free rhubarb recipes makes your lips pucker. But, sugar free recipes that use rhubarb are easier than you think. For example, take rhubarb cake recipes or rhubarb muffin recipes. When directions call for sugar, replace it with fruit juice concentrates or mild tasting fruit, such as pears or Delicious apples. Here's a sugar free rhubarb pie recipe that will make you a believer.
4 cups diced, raw rhubarb
2 cups diced peeled sweet apples, such as golden delicious
1/3 cup apple juice concentrate
1/4 cup unbleached flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon 1 tablespoon grated orange rind
Line a pie pan with pie dough. Stir the rhubarb and diced apples together and arrange them on top of the pie shell. Combine the remaining ingredients and sprinkle them over the fruit. Dot with 2 tablespoons butter (optional). Cover the pie with well-pricked pie dough or with a lattice. Bake the pie in a 450-degree oven for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy!



I used four cups of rhubarb and four of apples. I really piled the fruit up. It was wonderful. The apples and the rhubarb go really well together.