Tag Archives: soy-free

(Not Another) Pancake Post

Yesterday, I tweaked my recipe for dairy-gluten-egg-soy free pancakes. I’ve had trouble with egg-free pancakes.  They taste fine, but it’s hard to add nuts and fruit to them, they crumble easily, are held together by coconut oil and a prayer, and have a wet texture, even when fully cooked.  Well… yesterday’s tweaking gave me the best pancakes yet, so I wanted to add the updated recipe here. The biggest change is in the flour choice, no applesauce… and I forgot to add oil.  (Note: for my other “free” pancakes, click here and here (with eggs))

Ingredients:

2 cups Brown Rice Flour

1 cup Bob’s Mill general purpose gluten-free flour

4 Tablespoons honey

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoons-ish salt (I use my hand, what can I say?)

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon gluten free vanilla

3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

about 3 Tablespoons reconstituted milled flax seed

2 1/2 cups almond milk

To cook, melt coconut oil in a skillet on medium heat. Cooked covered with a lid.  This will help them rise, and make deliciously cakey and crispy pancakes. If they are not covered, they will not rise as well.

Note: the batter is very thick, it should glop and not run. I make the pancakes about 5 inches in diameter. This recipe will make 15-18 5 inch pancakes.

Note 2: to make these nut-free, you can use coconut milk, they just won’t rise as well.

 

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Pumpkin Cake

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One of the hardest things about eating GF (gluten-free) is finding a dessert recipe that tastes good and doesn’t have a weird consistency. Pinterest has been a great help in finding recipes, and I’m thankful for all the chefs experimenting in their kitchens and posting food blogs.

This recipe is the Paleo Pumpkin Coffee Cake from jaysbakingmecrazy.com.  I haven’t made the recipe strictly per instructions, although I think it looks fantastic.  Since I can’t have eggs, and I was missing a couple ingredients, I had to change a few things. So, if you aren’t limited like I am, use the recipe as is.  However, if you find yourself missing pumpkin pie spice and unable to digest eggs well, then here is the modified recipe:

    • 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
    • 1/4 cup honey
    • 1/4 cup coconut sugar
    • 1 cup canned pumpkin
    • 1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free General Purpose Flour
    • 1/2 cup Brown Rice Flour
    • 1/4 cup coconut flour
    • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
    • 1/2 teapoon ground cloves
    • 1-ish teaspoon cinnamon
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 2-3 Tablespoons reconstituted milled flax seed (in  water about 5 minutes, to be honest, I didn’t measure…)
    • 1 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
CRUMB TOPPING
  • 1/4 cup coconut flour
  • 1/2 cup brown rice flour
  • 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil
  • crushed walnuts (add a bit more oil and honey if you do this, or it will be crumbly; to keep recipe nut-free, omit walnuts)

I then followed the recipe’s instructions for adding ingredients and baking:

Instructions [from the blog]:

  1. Preheat oven to 325° and line a 9×9 pan with parchment paper.
  2. Make the crumb topping first: in a small bowl, combine coconut flour, [brown rice] flour, coconut sugar, cinnamon, honey, walnuts, and coconut oil. Mix well- it should resemble wet sand. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, combine coconut oil, honey, coconut sugar, and pumpkin. Mix well.
  4. Add in the brown rice flour, GF general purpose flour, coconut flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. [here add the ACV and flax seed] Mix until no dry pockets remain. Pour into prepared pan and top with crumb topping.
  5. Bake for 45-50 minutes.
  6. Store in fridge after the first day.

I let the dessert cool in the pan to help it stick together and it did not fall apart when I cut it and served it.  I’ve been told this also tastes good with vanilla ice cream or cool whip.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

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Roasted Sweet Potatoes

The sweet potato is an amazing food.  I’ve developed a new appreciation for it over the past year. (I hear they can even be made into doughnuts!) Anyway, here is my recipe for oven roasted sweet potatoes:

 

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Dice potatoes as shown

Sweet potatoes are much stouter than their russet potato cousins.  I’ve found that cutting the sweet potato across the midsection instead of lengthwise makes for a much easier time of it.

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Spices give this dish a full, savory flavor

I don’t measure my spices when I’m cooking.  I usually make 4-5 sweet potatoes at a time.  Add about 1/2 – 1 teaspoon salt for 4 potatoes.  More salt can be added after cooking according to taste.  My favorite spice mix is Mrs. Dash’s Southwest Extra Spicy (about 1 teaspoon) with 1/2 teaspoon of cumin.

However, nightshades (including cumin and peppers) have been eliminated (and I have to reluctantly admit that it has helped), so I use 1 teaspoon ginger, instead.  Ginger gives a nice, savory flavor to the potatoes.

Add 1-2 Tablespoons grapeseed oil to the potatoes and spices and mix until everything is fairly evenly coated.

 

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This is 4-5 sweet potatoes

Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degress F for 40 minutes.  I’ve found two good-sized sweet potatoes fill a glass 9×13.  If the potato cubes are more than about 2 deep in the dish, you will need to increase the cooking time.

Enjoy!

Pancakes II

This recipe is very similar to the other gluten-free, dairy-free recipe I posted here.  However, in an attempt to stick as close to my elimination diet as I can (and still eat pancakes, of course), I’ve left out the eggs… and added a few more things. So, here is the gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, egg-free version!

Dry Ingredients:

6 cups brown rice flour

6 teaspoons baking powder

3 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

4 teaspoons cinnamon

After combining the dry ingredients, add:

1/2 cup apple sauce (no sugar added)

1/2 cup honey

6 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar (I use Bragg’s)

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cup milled flax seed mixed with 3/4 cup water and set until it gels (5 minutes?)

5 cups coconut milk (no sugar added)

Stir all the ingredients together.  The batter will be slightly runny, like cake batter.  However, while it sets it will gel until it’s more like brownie batter.  This is OK! I used coconut oil to grease the pans.  Not only does this eliminate any soy from the non-stick spray, but it makes the pancakes crunchy and delicious.

Make sure the skillet gets up to heat so that it sizzles a little when you add the batter, but not so hot that it burns before the top side is almost done.  The pancakes rise the best when they are allowed to cook mostly on one side and then flipped for only 2-3 minutes on the other side.

The vinegar helps the pancakes rise well and the flax seed helps hold the batter together… one would hardly notice there were no eggs.  Except my tummy.  It’s oh-so-very happy I left the eggs out.

Look at them rise! Cook with a lid over the pan to help cook the top side and create a thicker pancake.

Look at them rise! Cook with a lid over the pan to help cook the top side and create a thicker pancake.

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Curry-less Curry Sauce

The basic sauce

The basic sauce

This recipe was an attempt to make an AIP-friendly sauce for hot pot. So far, I’ve used this sauce to cook bok choy, nappa cabbage, shrimp, lamb, and sweet potatoes.  All of these have tasted wonderful.  This sauce is as close to curry as I’ve been able to get for a while.

See, I love spicy food.  And curry.  Especially spicy curry.  However, about 6 months ago, due to circumstances beyond my control, I found that I could not eat spicy food (or a lot of other foods, for that matter). Long story short, I’ve come a long way in adding food back into my diet, but I’m still on a hybrid anti-inflammatory/autoimmune/whatever-doesn’t-hurt-my-stomach-and-give-me-heartburn diet.

I had been eating sweet potatoes with some spice because I didn’t want to give up my cumin.  Or red pepper flakes.  Or curry.  Seriously.  However, thanks to the company and prompting of sweet friends in my life (and the prompting of my stomach), I gave up the spices — mostly nightshades not allowed on AIP (autoimmune protocol diet).  Curry is not allowed.  However, I have found that ginger, tumeric, and garlic make quiet the trio. So, here it is…

Curry-less Curry Sauce

Ingredients:

3 1/2  cups Chicken broth (I used homemade that I had in the freezer.  The taste was not strong at all, and it contained no soy, dairy, gluten, or msg)

2 Tablespoons fresh grated ginger root

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

4 cloves garlic (I used 2 teaspoons minced garlic)

2 teaspoons tumeric

1 teaspoon dehydrated onion

1 Tablespoon tapioca flour (to thicken the sauce)

Salt to taste.

5-6 chopped green onions

1/3-1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Combine all ingredients except cilantro and green onions in a medium pot.  Non-stick is the easiest to clean afterward… and the sweet potatoes might not burn. :)

Heat on medium and stir until the tapioca flour is dissolved.  When the sauce starts to simmer add the meat and vegetables along with the cilantro and green onions.  These picture, I just used some sweet potatoes cut into wedges and then again into thirds as they cooked.  Lamb was still my favorite meat.  This is also a great sauce for nappa cabbage and bok choy.

Simmer/low boil until the meat and vegetables are cooked.  I would recommend adding the potatoes first.  The potatoes took about 15 minutes to cook.  After about 5 minutes, I added the meat.  The cabbage only needs about 5 minutes to cook, so I might add it slightly before the potatoes are done.

*Notes:

– The sauce gets thicker the longer it simmers.

– This sauce is enough to cook about 2 1/2 large sweet potatoes.

– Do not cook carrots in this.  The sweetness of the carrots did not mingle well with the flavors.

– I imagine cauliflower would taste good with this sauce.  We’re not on speaking terms, presently, though, so I don’t know for sure.

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Add the cilantro and potatoes. I ran out of green onions for this batch… and I missed them.

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“Curried” sweet potatoes. Comfort food, right here.

 

 

Saturday Morning Pancakes

Blueberry Pancake Happiness

Blueberry Pancake Happiness

Pancakes are one of my favorite foods.  When I was little, my parents made pancakes for us every weekend: round pancakes, bear pancakes, turtle pancakes, initial-letter pancakes.  And they were delicious!

These days, gluten, soy, sugar, and dairy aren’t my friends, but  I really don’t like the idea of giving up my pancakes just yet.  So, after some trial and error, I’m happy to present “The Free” pancakes.

Ingredients:

3 cups brown rice flour

3 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 Tablespoon milled flax seed

3 Tablespoons honey

1 Tablespoon Grapeseed oil

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 tsp. vanilla

3 eggs (can be omitted for egg-free pancakes, they just won’t be as thick)

2 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk (can also use rice milk (nut-free option) or coconut milk)

Add the dry ingredients first, then stir in the rest.  Some extra milk may need to be added.  The batter will need to be thicker than normal pancake batter, so make sure it isn’t too runny. Pre-heat your griddle — medium-high at first, then you may need to turn the heat down so they don’t burn. Make sure to use a non-stick skillet with a lid so that a.) the pancakes will actually flip and b.) they rise well.  I usually cover the pancakes while they are side 1 and let them cook most of the way with the lid on.  The bubbles that surface should pop and leave little holes when the pancake is ready to flip. Because of the ingredients in these pancakes, the cooking time will be longer than white-flour or buttermilk pancakes.

Some notes:

  • There is not a lot of oil in these pancakes. Make them in a non-stick skillet, otherwise the results will be disastrous.
  • I like to sprinkle any combination of chopped bananas, walnuts, pecans, strawberries, apples, blueberries (whole), and crumbled bacon (seriously) to the top of the pancakes as soon as I put them in the skillet.  Chocolate chips and peanut butter chips are also fun. I don’t like them in my pancakes, but I hear other people do.
  • If you don’t have milled flax seed, just add another tablespoon of oil.
  • For a corn-free option, omit the baking powder and use 3 teaspoons of baking soda. They won’t rise as much.
  • This morning, my brilliant friends put a combination of strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries in the microwave for several minutes to make berry syrup.  Don’t add sugar.  It is amazing.
Dangers of not using a non-stick skillet. And this was one of the better ones.

Dangers of not using a non-stick skillet. And this was one of the better ones.

Blueberry pancake in progress.

Blueberry pancake in progress.

Using a lid helps bake the pancakes so that they rise. So good.

Using a lid helps bake the pancakes so that they rise. So good.