Grain Free French Toast Muffins

Those that know me, know I don't bake. So why I decided to try and make up a muffin recipe all by myself is beyond me. And then to make the leap to making it grain free? Crazy I tell you. But it worked! I think next time I'll go for 20 minutes instead of 25, because they got a little too brown on the bottom, but the middle was light and fluffy, slightly sweet and hit the spot. I am right proud of myself if I do say so!
-Amanda

Grain Free French Toast Muffins

3/4 cup of almond flour
2 tbsp coconut flour
1 tsp baking soda
3 eggs
4 tbsp butter
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup maple syrup
5-10 drops of stevia
1 tbsp palm sugar

Mix everything together in a big bowl EXCEPT the palm sugar. Scoop into paper lined muffin tins, about 3/4 full. Sprinkle a bit of palm sugar on the top of each muffin. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. While still hot, add a pat of butter to the top of each muffin to soak in. This made 8 muffins.

Please if you try this, let me know what you think and if you made any changes!

*I submitted this post to Kelly the Kitchen Kop's Real Food Wednesday!

Grain Free BLT

 

For me, a BLT (Bacon, Lettuce & Tomato) Sandwich is comfort food. Of course, since I usually don't like tomatoes, I'd normally just fix me a BL. But I do like cooked tomatoes, so today when making this sandwich, I took the time to grill some cherry tomatoes while the bacon was cooking. Using homemade "bread" and homemade mayo made with healthy fats makes this a pretty awesome, nutrient dense sandwich!  For the bread, I borrowed the Paleo Bread recipe from Elana's Pantry, but instead of cooking it up as a loaf, I made savory pancakes out of it. They came out so delicious!

-Amanda

Paleo (Grain Free) Pancake Bread

1 ½ cups almond flour
2 tablespoons coconut flour
¼ cup golden flaxseed meal
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
5 eggs
¼ cup coconut oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Mix the almond flower, coconut flower, flaxseed meal, salt and baking soda together. Melt coconut oil, if your oil is solid and whisk it together with the eggs, honey and apple cider vinegar in a second bowl. Mix the wet ingredients with the dry. Ladle about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of batter on a medium heat griddle. I found I need to smoosh the batter down a bit with my ladle and even finger tips, because it was pretty thick. When the first side sets, flip over and cook the second side. Let cool on a cooling rack and store in a zip bag in your fridge.

Fried "Rice"

I'm so funny about carbs lately. One day they are fine and the next I'm all about eliminating them. Overall, I'm definitely trying to reduce the amount of carbs, especially grains. The more I read about wheat the more concerned I get. The wheat we eat today is not the same wheat our great grandparents ate. It physically is a different plant not by natural selection, but by genetically modifying the plant to something a lot of people think is not truly digestible for humans. And as for other grains, like rice, I hear conflicting things about too! Only eat brown rice, wait! Too much phytic acid, white rice is actually better. But white rice is more processed, eat brown! And back and forth. Anyway, all this is to say, that I am trying to make more recipes that are grain free, and this is my latest addition.

Using a trick I've read about here and there on the internet I decided to try a "rice" replacement, you take cauliflower and pulse it in your food processor raw until it makes small rice sized pieces. Then you steam it and use it in place of rice. Everyone in the family ate this meal last night, it was really good! And I did not taste a strong cauliflower presence. While I'm not a huge fan of substituting an ingredient, using a whole food like this didn't bother me. The meal may or may not feel like Fried Rice to you, but it was still a good bowl of American-Asian flavored vegetables and ham!
-Amanda

Fried "Rice"

1 large head of cauliflower
1 tsp soy sauce
2 carrots
1 cup of peas
1/2 cup bean sprouts
5-6 button mushrooms
4-5 oz ham
2 eggs
2 green onions
2 tbsp lard
1 tbsp butter

sauce:

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 freshly grated garlic clove
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp fish sauce
2 tbsp arrowroot powder

Pulse cauliflower in a food processor until you get rice sized crumbles. I found doing 1/3-1/2 of the head at a time gets the best results. Place in a bowl and put a pat of butter and a 1 tsp soy sauce. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 2-3 minutes. Set aside.

In a large skillet, heat lard. Chop carrots to bite size pieces and start cooking them in the skillet on med-high heat. Add mushrooms, peas, bean sprouts and ham. Beat eggs with a tbsp of water and  pour them in a smaller non-stick skillet on high heat. You don't want them to scramble, but make more like an egg pancake. When it starts to brown, flip it over. Remove from heat to a cutting board and cut into strips. Reserve.

Mix together sauce in a small bowl with a whisk. Taste and adjust to your preferences. Add steamed cauliflower to vegetables and add the sauce. Pour sauce over vegetables and stir gently until thickens. Add eggs and mix together. Last add chopped green onions.

This post is linked using The Healthy Home Economist Monday Mania.

Apple & Bacon Salad

 

I'm trying to add a few more salads into the rotation because they are usually pretty quick to make and for summer, salads just seem right. This was a very hearty and tasty salad that was approved by everyone. John said he thought the avocados were a bit odd in it and I think my girls were just going to eat the bacon until I encouraged them to taste a bit more! I think some dehydrated cranberries would be good in this too!

-Amanda

Apple and Bacon Salad

1/2 head of lettuce

2 handfuls of fresh spinach

1 package of bacon

1 avocado

1 large apple, chopped

1 cup of slivered, freshly toasted almonds

1/2 a cucumber, sliced

1/4 purple onion

homemade honey mustard dressing (see below)

Cut bacon into bite size pieces and cook until crispy. Chop lettuce and spinach into bite size pieces. Wash and dry thoroughly. Add to a very large salad bowl. Add diced apple, avocado, toasted almonds, chopped cucumber, thinly sliced onion and drained bacon. Toss. Serve with honey mustard dressing. Made enough for two adult portions. 

Honey Mustard Dressing
(these are NOT exact amounts, I just eye balled it!!)

1 tsp mustard (I got to use my homemade mustard!)

2 tsp honey

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1/4 cup avocado oil

1/4 cup olive oil (If you don't have avocado oil, just use olive oil)

1 grated garlic clove

salt and pepper

pinch of dried herb such as thyme, tarragon or oregano (optional)

In a small bowl, whisk honey and mustard together. Drizzle oils in slowly whisking continuously. Add rice wine vinegar, garlic and salt. If it is too thick and the flavor is good, add a bit of water. Otherwise adjust oil and vinegar until you get the acidity level that is good for you.

Grain Free Casserole

This was a winner in the house tonight! I don't know if I was super hungry from swimming or if it was just that good, but I went back for seconds! Good thing the recipe makes enough for two casseroles so you can freeze one. Just remember if you plan on freezing one, line your casserole dish with aluminum foil. Place the ingredients in the casserole and bake. Then you can cover and freeze. Once it is frozen solid, remove the foil "casserole brick" from you pan, wrap it with plastic wrap, label and put back in the freezer. That way you can use your pan for other uses. When you want to reheat, unwrap the plastic, put the "brick" back in the pan you cooked it in, and reheat in the oven.

I got the recipe for this casserole from Family Living Simple, but it was Paleo. I added cream, cheese, more tomato paste and  an extra egg.
-Amanda

Grain Free Casserole

2 zucchini
2 carrots
1 sweet potato
1 can of tomato paste
2 lbs of ground beef
10 button mushrooms
3 cloves garlic
1 onion
4 eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream
lots of mozzarella and parmesan
oregano, basil, salt and pepper

Cut your zucchini and carrots into thin noodles using a mandolin. If you don't have one, slice into thin slices and then cut each slice into small strips. Use a cheese grater or food processor to grate the sweet potato. Put the zucchini and carrot strips and grated sweet potato in a very large bowl. Toss to mix. Start cooking your beef and add chopped mushrooms, onion and garlic to it as it cooks. Add tomato paste, herbs and seasonings and mix well. Allow meat mixture to cool down.

Grate cheese into the vegetable mixture and toss. When meat mixture cools, add it to the vegetables and mix well. Beat four eggs and heavy cream together and pour into meat mixture. Using your hands, make sure everything is well incorporated and transfer to two oiled baking dishes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake for 20 minutes covered and 20 minutes uncovered.

Vegetable Cheese Casserole with Chicken (Grain Free)

Is there a good way to photograph a casserole? I meant to take a photo of an individual portion, but it got gobbled up too quickly. This was a hit for the entire family and we didn't miss the pasta or rice that is traditionally in a chicken & cheese type casserole. By the way, I really didn't measure on this recipe so go with your instinct on this. It is pretty forgiving.
-Amanda

Vegetable Cheese Casserole with Chicken

1 head of cauliflower (or one bag frozen)
2-3 carrots, chopped in circles
1 head of broccoli (or one bag of frozen)
1/2 onion
1 tbsp oil/bacon grease
1.5 cups shredded or diced chicken - I used leftover from my homemade stock
cheese- LOTS of cheese About 3 cups of your favorite types
6-8 oz of cream cheese OR strained yogurt to make it thick
1 tbsp grainy mustard
2 tsp of oregano
2 tsp basil
3/4 cup of heavy cream or raw milk
1 heaping tbsp of arrowroot (I prefer not to use cornstarch, since it is highly processed)
salt & pepper to taste

Dice onion and saute it until it is very caramelized in oil or bacon grease. Cut up one head of cauliflower and one head of broccoli, boil both is a pot of water with the chopped carrots. If you are using any frozen vegetables, add them after the fresh ones start. You want all the vegetables to be about the same amount of "fork tender" in the end.

While the vegetables are cooking, start grating your cheese. I always use block cheese, because chemical additives are added to pre-shredded cheese to make it last longer. (One thing I'm learning about labels, is if it is an industry standard it does NOT have to be put on the label!) Plus, I love using Raw Milk Cheddar and Raw Milk Monterary Jack. You can only get cheese that is aged past 60 days raw in America. So you won't find Raw milk mozzarella or any other softer cheeses. At the most you can look for Whole Milk Mozzarella. (Learning how to make it on my own is one of my future projects!) Anyway, for this recipe I used: Cotija, marble jack, Parmesan & cheddar. Then I grated some mozzarella and more Parmesan for the top. All in all I used about 3 cups (including the cream cheese) for the filling with just a bit on top.

In a bowl, mix your cheeses, cream cheese, cooled onion, spices and mustard in a very large bowl. When vegetables are fork tender, drain them very well and return them to the hot pot. Keeping it on the flame, gently stir them a bit to dry them out some more. Add the vegetables to the cheese mixture. Add 1.5-2 cups of shredded or diced chicken and stir some more. Pour into a casserole dish and pack it down. In a small bowl, mix heavy cream and arrowroot. Pour heavy cream over vegetable cheese mixture and encourage it to seep down into the dish. Top with a bit more cheese and bake at 375 for 45-50 minutes.