Cherry Pumpkin Seed Corn Bread; gluten-free

Okay, it's not exactly the time for Christmas trees and snowmen, but my boys love anything baked into those shapes any time of year. Especially if it's corn bread. And one of the best things about corn bread (as if you needed another!), is that it's so easy to add yummy and nutritious tidbits to your recipe. 

An easy one, this recipe took about 45 minutes total, mostly baking time. And I wanted to show everyone my new bigger than life mixing bowl. When i first got it, I thought, 'what am I going to with suck a huge bowl'. But it's now my favorite. Nothing ever spills out and I feel very fancy every time I use it. Which in turn makes everything I bake taste better! 

Ingredients

• 1 & 1/2 cup brown rice flour
• 1 & 1/2 finely ground cornmeal
• 1/2 cup tapioca flour (or starch)
• 1 tbs & 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar (or any of your choosing)
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup melted butter (or if vegan: coconut milk; fat and liquid blended together)
• 1 tbs mixed ground chia and flax seeds (optional)
• 6 drops liquid stevia (use 1/2 cup sugar if not using stevia)
• 1 cup milk (or any non-dairy alternative)
• 1/2 cup dried cherries (halved)
• 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds (chopped)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat muffin pan with butter or oil. Set aside.

In a big bowl combine rice flour, cornmeal, tapioca starch, baking powder, salt, and sugar.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, butter (cooled), seeds, and stevia. 

Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and mix with an electric mixer until combined.

Now add in your goodies (meaning cherries and pumpkin seeds or whatever suits your sweet tooth).

Fill muffin tins almost full. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean.

If using muffin mold pan for fun shapes, cut baking time to 15 minutes. 

Enjoy with butter, honey, or jam. 

Gluten-Free Waffles with Berry Sauce

Oh my! After many attempts, the recipe is perfected and totally gluten-free. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and oh so good. Make this with or without the berry sauce, but just make it because you won't be disappointed. Use pre-made gluten-free flour mix to make it a bit easier if needed. We love Bob's red mill gluten-free flour. 

Ingredients:

Waffles:

• 1/2 cup brown rice flour
• 1/2 cup arrowroot (you can also sub potato starch or cornstarch)
• 3/4 cup tapioca flour
• 2 cups milk (or milk sub)
• 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar 
• 1 tbs ground flax and chia seed combo (sub 1/4 tsp xanthan gum)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 eggs (separated)
• 1 Tbsp butter, softened or melted (sub coconut oil or veggie oil for vegan)
• 3 tbsp. coconut sugar (sub 1 drop liquid stevia)
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Berry Syrup:

• 2 cups berries
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 3 tbsp coconut sugar

For waffles:
Preheat waffle iron. Now get a bunch of bowls out and begin.
Soft all the flours, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a medium sized bowl, mix milk, vinegar, and add in flax and chia seeds.
 Let sit for 5-10 minutes to curdle and activate the jelliness of the seeds.
In a very small bowl, separate your eggs and reserve the yolks. Beat your whites until they form stiff peaks. (Don't over beat, or they'll fall)
And in the biggest bowl, mix butter, sugar, and cinnamon.
Now add in the egg yolks, mix.
Add in the flour, mix.
Add in the fluffed yolks and fold in carefully to not deflate too much.

Batter will be pretty watery, so test first on waffle press. Add flours if needed.
Cook on waffle iron until a medium golden color. It will take longer than you expect.

For berry sauce:
Blend all sauce ingredients.
Heat or leave cold.
Serve on top of waffles or dip waffles in sauce on the side. I preferred on the side.

Gluten-free Chicken Tenders

Chicken tenders were a big part of my diet growing up in the Bronx. But thy were unfortunately from McDonald's and I'm not sure if they were really chicken after all. But I thought I'd never be able to enjoy my love for the small but mighty chicken tender again, until....

There's a stand in town called the cultured Caveman and I had the best checken tenders there. They are a very unique cart and fry their tenders in beef tallow. Needless to say, I wasn't about to go out and render some beef tallow and I figured coconut oil is about the healthiest way to fry if you're gonna fry to begin with. Success! The kids and my honey ate them all up. These can be reheated the next day if needed. You can use either coconut or brown rice flour, I think coconut works best. 

Gluten-Free Mac and Cheese!

I have to admit something embarrassing, I've never had home made mac and cheese....until tonight!

And it was as good as it looks. The ultimate in comfort food but with no wheat to speak of. Here's how. 

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. Gluten-free elbow pasta (I like Ancient grains quinoa pasta, tastes lovely and not gummy)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 tbs. butter (1/2 stick)
• 3 cups grated mozzarella cheese 
• 4 cups milk ( I used goat for better digestibility)
• 2 tbs. arrowroot
• 2 tbs. brown rice flour
• 2 tbs. tapioca flour (also called tapioca starch)

Note: If you'd like to make it super easy, just use some Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Baking Flour in place of ingredients after milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

Cook noodles until almost done.

In a saucepan, bring milk slowly to a boil and then shut off heat. Make sure not to burn!

While milk is heating, melt butter in a small pot and stir in flour, cook for 5 minutes.

Pour in milk and whisk until sauce thickens up, about 4 minutes.

Next, put noodles in a baking dish.

Pour sauce over noodles, put half of cheese over top and mix lightly. Put the rest of the cheese on top.

Bake in oven for 20 minutes. Increase heat to broil and bake for 6 minutes more. 

Best served hot! I'm going for seconds now, see ya' later. dddddd

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Banana Cake

                                     

It's high time that I tried another banana-chocolate chip combo. This is much like my old stand by banana chocolate chip bread, but bunt style and a bit moister. And my absolute favorite part about this ake, is it's great texture!

This recipe is adapted from the great Bette Hagman's The Gluten-Free Gormet Cooks Comfort Foods. She has a great guide to gluten-free flour mixes that is simple and has always turns out great. I made this a mini-bunt cake simply because I thought it'd look really cute. And I was right. I also made a cupcake and a mini loaf version to and they turned out perfect! 

Ingredients: 

• 2/3 cup and 1 tbs brown rice flour
• 2/3 cup and 1 tbs tapioca flour
• 2/3 cup and 1 tbs arrowroot
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 large very ripe mashed bananas
• 2/3 cup buttermilk, or milk alternative (add lemon juice to milk if not using buttermilk, but recipe works best with diary milk.)
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup coconut sugar (use 1 and 1/2 cups sugar if not using stevia)
• 10 drops liquid stevia
• 2 tbs ground chia-flax seed mix
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup chopped sunflower seeds
• 1 cup vegan chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 340 degrees. Use a greased or non-stick bunt pan. 

In a medium bowl, shift all dry ingredients. 

In a large bowl. cream sugar, stevia, and butter. Then add in ground seed mix, eggs, and vanilla. Mix well.

Add in mashed bananas and mix with an immersion blender or hand mixer if you have one (cuts down on mashing time). 

Add in flour mix a bit at a time until it's all a nice consistency. Mix for about 1 minute.
Stir in nuts, seeds, and chips.
Pour into pan and bake for 40 minutes. Bake for 55 minutes if making mini loaves.
Let cool a bit before turning over onto a plate. Powdered sugar or your favorite glaze would work well, but we just do it plain and love it. Marvel at your creation!
Now go eat!

Berry Berry Granita Smoothie

My boys are crazy about this newest special treat creation. Treats are a big thing at our house and it's hard to keep it healthy. But I think I've done it. Tons of berries and a few scoops of superfood powders make this very high in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. And it's the easiest recipe I've ever posted. Try it, this batch had to be guarded while in the blender so watch those little hands! 

Ingredients: 

• 2 cups strawberries
• 2 cups blueberries (any mix of berries will do, frozen or fresh)
• 1 banana (very ripe is best)
• 1/4 pear
• 3 tbs. coconut milk
• 2-3 cups apple or berry juice
• 8 ice cubes (add more if using fresh berries)
• optional:
• 1 scoop Amazing Grass Green Superfood powder- berry flavor
• 1 scoop Innate Response Formulas Kid's multivitamin powder
• 6 drops stevia liquid (if you prefer a sweeter treat)

Now, throw it all in a blender, I love my Ninja, absolutely great for blended treats like this one. 

Blend in high for 1-2  minutes or until it's smooth and to your liking. 

It should resemble the consistency of very soft ice cream. 

Have spoon waiting and ready, serve and enjoy watching everyone go crazy! 

Berry Coconut Bar- gluten-free

I love coconut. And this bar has tons. Coconut is not only tasty, but it is one of the best fats you can eat. And good fats are not only help your skin and hair shine, help you get the bad fats out of your system, but also help you and your kids developing brains. The brain is made of fat, and it's nerves are coated with even more fat to help transmissions. So the lesson here is eat more good fats. But also add some tasty berries.

Recipe:

• 3 & 1/2 cups gluten free flour mix (I used the featherlight mix by 
• 3/4 cup shredded coconut
• 3/4 cup coconut sugar (or regular sugar)
• 12 drops liquid stevia
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 stick of butter (8 tbs) or 8 tbs coconut oil
• 4 egg whites
• 4 cups of mixed berries (I used blueberries and strawberries)
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts