Monthly Archives: April 2012

Horseradish Mustard Burgers

28 Saturday Apr 2012

Posted by in Dairy Free, Egg Free, Gluten Free, Main Dishes, Nut Free

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horseradish mustard burger on a Rudi's Organics wheat burger bun

Yesterday’s bizarre and inexplicable craving was horseradish mustard.  I have no idea why, but it was.  So I went with it.  I had horseradish mustard on a sandwich at lunch, and when the boys wanted burgers for dinner, I decided we were having horseradish mustard burgers.  I took my burger and added even more horseradish mustard to it but spared the rest of the family that overdosing!

Horseradish Mustard Burgers

1.5 pounds 95% lean grass fed beef
2 tablespoons Annie’s Naturals GF organic horseradish mustard
½ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon organic black pepper
¼ teaspoon organic garlic powder
1 organic green onion, sliced thinly

Mix all ingredients together and form into 6 patties.  Cook as you would normally cook burgers.  I broiled ours in the oven for 6 minutes, flipped, and broiled for an additional 6 minutes.  Serve with your favorite toppings.

©NaturallyElizabeth.com

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GFDF “Crack” Cookies

27 Friday Apr 2012

Posted by in Cookies, Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Soy Free, Vegetarian

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Within the past six months, recipes have started popping into my head in a way they never used to.  I will suddenly have the thought, “Oooh!  Wouldn’t XYZ taste good?”  And until I get around to creating XYZ in the kitchen, the thoughts of that recipe haunt my brain.  This is one of those recipes.

When I first made them, I thought, “Yeah, that’s ok.”  I ate one and walked away.  And then I needed another.  And then a third.  They have this addictive quality to them.  You don’t think they’re amazing, but they have you coming back for more.  I gave some to my friend Melia who dubbed them “Crack Cookies” and the name has stuck.  Another friend tried them, and she too refers to them as Crack Cookies.

They are a bit on the crumbly side which makes you feel obligated to eat the pieces that break off into the storage container so no one sees the broken pieces.  Crack cookies, I tell you.

You could leave out the dried cranberries or substitute raisins, but I think the cranberries are part of what’s so good about these.

GFDF “Crack” Cookies

Dry ingredients:
¼ cup organic coconut flour
¼ cup organic brown rice flour
¼ cup gluten free oat flour
¼ cup organic tapioca starch
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 cup organic light brown sugar
½ cup organic evaporated cane juice (white sugar)
1 teaspoon organic cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt

Wet ingredients:
¾ cup organic palm shortening
3 organic eggs
2 teaspoons organic GF vanilla extract

Stir ins:
3 cups gluten free quick cooking rolled oats
1 cup organic unsweetened shredded coconut
1 cup organic dried cranberries (which also contain organic sugar and organic sunflower oil)  (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.  In a smaller bowl, mix together palm shortening, eggs, and vanilla extract.  Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until well blended.  Stir in the oats, coconut, and cranberries.

Using your hands, shape the dough into approximately 3” flattened cookies.  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet a few inches apart.  They will not expand much.  Bake for 9-11 minutes at 350F.  Cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet and then transfer to plates or racks to cool completely.

Makes approximately 36 cookies.

©NaturallyElizabeth.com

Dairy Free Peach Cobbler

23 Monday Apr 2012

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On Saturday morning, the kids and I went to Whole Foods to do some grocery shopping.  There in the produce section we found nirvana:  Organic peaches are back!  We were perhaps a tad bit too happy about their return, but my older son and I are convinced that fresh peaches are one of the best parts of life.  I once offered to make him a peach cobbler out of frozen peaches when he was asking for one in November, and he declared that to be blasphemy.  I have to agree.  Frozen peaches aren’t even close to the fresh ones.

Since they are the first peaches of the year, we didn’t buy a ton because I was worried they wouldn’t be good yet, but they were heavenly.  We ate a bunch of them raw, and then the boys insisted on cobbler with the rest.  I only had enough to make a half cobbler (baked in an 8” x 8” pan), but they were happy with that.

This recipe is an absolute favorite of my boys.  My older son doesn’t like the gluten free version I created, so I still make this version for him during the summer months because it is such a favorite.  I love the gluten free version, though, so I will post that recipe the next time we get enough peaches to make it!

Dairy Free Peach Cobbler

8 cups fresh organic peaches, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup organic cane sugar
½ cup organic sucanat
1/2 teaspoon organic almond extract*
1.5 cups organic all-purpose flour
1.5 cups organic whole wheat or whole wheat pastry flour
2 tablespoons organic cane sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
2/3 cup organic palm shortening
1 cup organic rice milk
2 organic eggs, beaten
4 tablespoons organic cane sugar
½ teaspoon organic cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Lightly oil a 9×13 inch glass baking dish with canola oil.

Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, ½ cup sucanat, peaches and almond extract. Place the peaches mixture in the prepared baking dish.  Place in preheating oven while making the rest of the batter.

In a large bowl, combine flours, 2 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in milk and egg.  Carefully remove the peach mixture from the oven and spread the batter over the hot peaches.  It will be thick.  Sprinkle the top with remaining 4 tablespoons of sugar mixed with cinnamon.

Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until top is golden brown.

*Omit the almond extract for a nut free version.

©NaturallyElizabeth.com

GFDF Loquat Cobbler

22 Sunday Apr 2012

Posted by in Cakes, Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Nut Free, Soy Free, Vegetarian

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Last week a friend of mine gave me a bunch of loquats from her organic yard.  I had never had a loquat before, so I was up to the challenge of working with them.  She suggested cobbler, so that was my plan.

What I discovered is that loquat translates into “a whole lot of work.”  Wikipedia says that loquats have a 30% or more waste ratio, and I’d say it was more with the small loquats we had.  It took me well over an hour with my youngest son helping me for part of the time to get the 3 cups of peeled and seeded  loquats we used in this recipe.  They started out as 6 or 7 cups of loquats before the preparation.  In addition, they turned my fingers very brown– almost worse than cherries!

The loquats are good both raw and cooked.  My son and I thought that they tasted a lot like plums.

Because of how much work it was, this may be a “once in a lifetime” recipe.

GFDF Loquat Cobbler

3 cups fresh organic loquats, peeled and seeded
1/4 cup organic cane sugar
¼ cup organic sucanat
3/8 c organic tapioca starch
3/8 c sorghum flour
3/8 c almond meal/flour*
3/8 c organic brown rice flour
3/4 t xanthan gum
2 tablespoons organic cane sugar
1.5 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/3 cup organic palm shortening
1/2 cup organic rice milk
1 t organic vanilla extract
1 organic egg, beaten
2 tablespoons organic cane sugar
1/2 teaspoon organic ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly oil an 8×8 inch glass baking dish with organic canola oil.

Mix together loquats, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1/4 cup sucanat.  Put mixture into the baking dish.  Place in preheating oven while preparing batter.

In a large bowl, combine flours, starch, xanthan gum, 1 tablespoon sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add rice milk, vanilla and egg; stir thoroughly.  Remove loquat mixture from the oven, and carefully spread topping across the top.  It will be thick. Sprinkle the top with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar mixed with the cinnamon.

Bake in preheated oven for 21-23 minutes, or until top is golden brown.

*While almonds are not technically nuts, they carry a cross-contamination risk with other tree nuts due to factory processing.  To make this nut free, substitute millet flour for the almond meal.

©NaturallyElizabeth.com

GF Muffins That Don’t Taste Like Donuts

16 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by in Cakes, Gluten Free, Soy Free, Vegetarian

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At some point I came across a recipe on the internet for “Muffins That Taste Like Donuts.”  The recipe looked great, so I made it.  My oldest son ate a few bites and said, “They don’t taste like donuts, but they are really good!”  We all agreed, and so it went into the binder of recipes to keep.  The gluten free version I’ve created actually does taste more like a donut than the gluten version, but it still isn’t quite a donut.

GF Muffins That Don’t Taste Like Donuts
Inspired by Muffins That Taste Like Donuts.

Dry Ingredients:
½ cup organic tapioca starch
½ cup organic brown rice flour
¼ cup organic millet flour
¼ cup almond meal
½ cup sorghum flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon organic ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon organic ground cinnamon
1/2 cup organic light brown sugar

Wet Ingredients:
⅓ cup organic canola oil
1 large organic egg
¾ cup organic rice milk
1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract

Topping:
3 tablespoons organic butter, melted*
1/4 cup organic granulated sugar
1 tablespoon organic cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F.  Use canola oil to oil a 12 muffin cup pan.  Set aside.

Prepare the topping ingredients by melting the butter.  In another bowl, mix together cinnamon and sugar.  Set both aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, mix together the wet ingredients.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir thoroughly.  Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups.

Bake for 21-23 minutes.  Allow to cool for a few minutes, and then remove from the pan.  Allow to cool to a point that you can easily touch them.  Dip the top of the muffin into the butter, and then dip into the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

*You could substitute another fat such as margarine, coconut oil, palm shortening, or canola oil to make this completely dairy free.

©NaturallyElizabeth.com

GFDF Yellow Cake with Strawberry Filling

09 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by in Cakes, Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Nut Free, Soy Free, Vegetarian

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This was inspired by yet another one of my wacky cravings.  There are recipes for both a two layer and three layer version of the cake below.

GFDF Strawberry Filled Yellow Cake (two layer version)

Cake:
1 ¼ cup organic granulated cane sugar
½ cup organic palm shortening (plus extra for greasing the pans)
1 tablespoon organic GF vanilla extract
3 large organic eggs
2/3 cup organic brown rice flour
2/3 cup organic tapioca starch
2/3 cup organic millet flour or almond meal*
2/3 cup sorghum flour
1.5 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 teaspoon sea salt
5 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup organic rice milk

Filling:
1 pint fresh organic strawberries, diced (about 1.25 cups)
1/4 cup organic granulated cane sugar **
1/4 cup water
½ tablespoon organic cornstarch

Toppings:
8-10 organic strawberries
3 tablespoons unsweetened shredded organic coconut (optional)***

Icing or Frosting:
2 cups organic powdered sugar
About 2 tablespoons organic rice milk
1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract
¼ cup organic palm shortening

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Use some palm shortening to grease the bottoms and sides of two 8” cake pans.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, use a whisk or hand mixer to combine the sugar, palm shortening, vanilla extract, and eggs.  Add in all of the flours, xanthan gum, sea salt, baking powder and rice milk.  Use a mixing spoon to stir thoroughly.  Split the batter between the two cake pans.  Bake for about 28 minutes at 350F until lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cool in the pans for 10 minutes, and then invert onto plates or racks to cool.

While the cakes are cooking and cooling, places the strawberries and sugar into a small pot.  Mix the cornstarch into the water and add to the strawberries and sugar.  Heat over medium, stirring constantly.  Once the strawberries have softened and the mixture is thickened, remove from heat and set aside.  Allow to cool thoroughly.  Using an immersion blender or blender, puree the filling to a smooth-ish texture.

In yet another bowl, make the icing using an electric hand mixer, cream the shortening into the powdered sugar and vanilla extract, very slowly adding rice milk to get the right consistency.

Once the cakes have cooled completely, place one layer on the serving/storage dish.  Place a layer of the strawberry filling over the top staying about 1 cm away from the edges.  (If you have extra, it works well on toast.)  Place the second layer of the cake carefully on top of the filling.  Spread the icing evenly across the layered cake.

If desired, sprinkle shredded coconut across the top of the cake.  Cut the tops off the strawberries reserved for toppings.  Cut about 4-5 strawberries into slices lengthwise and make a circle around the top of the cake as pictured.  Cut another 4-5 strawberries into quarters or sixths (depending on the size) lengthwise and arrange around the bottom of the cake.

* If you use millet flour, there will be a stronger, nuttier flavor to the cake.  If you use almond meal, the flavor will be more neutral.  Almonds carry a cross-contamination risk from tree nuts, so be careful using them in food for the nut allergic.

** I was using early season strawberries which were not incredibly sweet.  If your strawberries are sweeter, you may want to cut the sugar back to 2 tablespoons.

***Do not use the coconut for a nut free cake.

©NaturallyElizabeth.com
GFDF Strawberry Filled Yellow Cake (three layer version)

Cake:
2 cups organic granulated cane sugar
3/4 cup organic palm shortening (plus extra for greasing the pans)
1.5 tablespoon organic GF vanilla extract
5 large organic eggs
1 cup organic brown rice flour
1 cup organic tapioca starch
1 cup organic millet flour or almond meal*
1 cup sorghum flour
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1.5 teaspoon sea salt
2.5 tablespoons baking powder
1.5 cups organic rice milk

Filling:
1 quart fresh organic strawberries, diced (about 2.5 cups)
1/2 cup organic granulated cane sugar **
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon organic cornstarch

Toppings:
8-10 organic strawberries
3 tablespoons unsweetened shredded organic coconut (optional)***

Icing or Frosting:
3 cups organic powdered sugar
About 3 tablespoons organic rice milk
1.5 teaspoons organic vanilla extract
6 tablespoons organic palm shortening

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Use some palm shortening to grease the bottoms and sides of three 8” cake pans.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, use a whisk or hand mixer to combine the sugar, palm shortening, vanilla extract, and eggs.  Add in all of the flours, xanthan gum, sea salt, baking powder and rice milk.  Use a mixing spoon to stir thoroughly.  Split the batter between the three cake pans.  Bake for about 28 minutes at 350F until lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cool in the pans for 10 minutes, and then invert onto plates or racks to cool.

While the cakes are cooking and cooling, places the strawberries and sugar into a small pot.  Mix the cornstarch into the water and add to the strawberries and sugar.  Heat over medium, stirring constantly.  Once the strawberries have softened and the mixture is thickened, remove from heat and set aside.  Allow to cool thoroughly.  Using an immersion blender or blender, puree the filling to a smooth-ish texture.

In yet another bowl, make the icing using an electric hand mixer, cream the shortening into the powdered sugar and vanilla extract, very slowly adding rice milk to get the right consistency.

Once the cakes have cooled completely, place one layer on the serving/storage dish.  Place a layer of about half of the strawberry filling over the top staying about 1 cm away from the edges.  Place the second layer of the cake carefully on top of the filling.  Spread the second layer with the remaining strawberry filling.  (If you have extra filling, it works well on toast.)   Place the third cake layer on top.  Spread the icing evenly across the layered cake.

If desired, sprinkle shredded coconut across the top of the cake.  Cut the tops off the strawberries reserved for toppings.  Cut about 4-5 strawberries into slices lengthwise and make a circle around the top of the cake as pictured.  Cut another 4-5 strawberries into quarters or sixths (depending on the size) lengthwise and arrange around the bottom of the cake.

* If you use millet flour, there will be a stronger, nuttier flavor to the cake.  If you use almond meal, the flavor will be more neutral.  Almonds carry a cross-contamination risk from tree nuts, so be careful using them in food for the nut allergic.

** I was using early season strawberries which were not incredibly sweet.  If your strawberries are sweeter, you may want to cut the sugar back to 2 tablespoons.

***Do not use the coconut for a nut free cake.

©NaturallyElizabeth.com

GFDF Peanut Butter Cinnamon Muffins

03 Tuesday Apr 2012

Posted by in Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Soy Free, Sweet Breads, Vegetarian

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I was craving chocolate in the worst way yesterday, but chocolate is one of my migraine triggers.  Hence, I decided not to indulge in chocolate because I really didn’t want the migraine no matter how bad the cravings were.  I decided to try making peanut butter muffins instead in hopes of staving off the chocolate cravings.  No such luck.  I kept thinking to myself how much I wanted the muffins to have some chocolate chips in them.

Despite the lack of chocolate in the batch I made, these muffins are good and peanutty.  I thought they tasted even today than yesterday.

GFDF Peanut Butter Cinnamon Muffins

3/4 cup organic sucanat
3/4 cup Maranatha organic no stir peanut butter (contains additional sugar, palm shortening, and salt)
2 large organic eggs
1 cup organic rice milk
1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract
½ cup sorghum flour
½ cup almond meal
½ cup organic tapioca starch
½ cup organic brown rice flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon sea salt
1.5 teaspoons organic ground cinnamon
3/4 cup vegan chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350° F.  Oil a 12 cup muffin pan (I used organic canola oil).  Set aside

In a large bowl, use an electric hand mixer (or do it by hand) to mix together the sucanat, peanut butter, eggs, rice milk, and vanilla extract.

In a small bowl, stir together the remaining ingredients except the optional chocolate chips.  Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.  Stir thoroughly.  Add chocolate chips if desired.

Divide the batter evenly between prepared muffin tins, filling each about 2/3 full.  Bake for 19-21 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan, and then remove to a plate or rack to cool.

Makes 12 muffins.

©NaturallyElizabeth.com

Chocolate Brownies with Chocolate Frosting (gluten and GFDF versions)

01 Sunday Apr 2012

Posted by in Cakes, Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Nut Free, Soy Free, Vegetarian

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These brownies are sinfully delicious.  They are every bit as moist and chocolatey as that photo looks.  I’ve been making them for many years, so I used to eat them back when I was still eating gluten and chocolate.  Making and photographing them was absolute torture for me, but since my now nine year old son wanted them for his birthday, I wasn’t going to say no.

I have not tried the gluten free version since chocolate isn’t worth the migraine to me, but I have heard they are good, too.

The recipe can easily be cut in half and baked in an 8″x8″ pan.  Just reduce the baking time by about five minutes.  If you are making these nut free, be sure to check that your cocoa powder doesn’t carry a cross contamination warning (mine does).

Chocolate Brownies (gluten version)

1.5 cups organic palm shortening
2.5 cups sugar
2 teaspoons organic vanilla extract
6 organic eggs
1/2 t sea salt
1.5 cups organic all-purpose flour
1 cup organic cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Oil the bottom of a13 x 9 inch glass pan (I use organic canola oil). Melt the palm shortening.  Beat the eggs with sugar, and add vanilla, flour, cocoa, salt and palm shortening. Bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, approximately 30 minutes. After cooled, frost with chocolate frosting.

Chocolate Frosting

1/3 cup organic palm shortening
1/3 cup organic cocoa powder
2 cups organic powdered sugar
1.5 teaspoons organic vanilla extract
Approximately 2 tablespoons organic rice milk (or other “milk” of your choice)

Beat all ingredients together with an electric mixer. Will ice a 13×9″ cake.

©NaturallyElizabeth.com

GFDF Chocolate Brownies

1.5 cups organic palm shortening
2.5 cups organic sugar
2 teaspoons organic vanilla extract
6 organic eggs
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/3 cup organic tapioca starch
1/3 cup almond meal
1/3 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup organic brown rice flour
3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 cup organic cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Oil the bottom of a13 x 9 in glass pan (I use organic canola oil). Melt the palm shortening. Beat eggs with sugar, and add vanilla, flour, cocoa, salt and palm shortening. Bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, approximately 30 minutes. After cooled, frost with chocolate frosting.

Chocolate Frosting

1/3 cup organic palm shortening
1/3 cup organic cocoa powder
2 cups organic powdered sugar
1.5 teaspoons organic vanilla extract
Approximately 2 tablespoons organic rice milk (or other “milk” of your choice)

Beat all ingredients together with an electric mixer. Will ice a 13×9″ cake.

©NaturallyElizabeth.com