Tag Archives: organic

GF Cranberry Banana Muffins

02 Friday Nov 2012

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

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Last fall at this time, I went through an insane cranberry craving.  I created several different cranberry baked goods.  I also stocked up on cranberries and froze them so that I would have them all year.  Luckily I still have several bags in my freezer stash, so I’m able to start posting recipes on my blog just before the organic cranberries are showing up in the stores.  Cranberry season should be starting soon!

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GF Cranberry Banana Muffins

Wet ingredients:
1/2 cup organic granulated sugar
1/2 cup organic light brown sugar
1/2 cup organic butter, softened*
1/4 cup organic rice milk
2 organic eggs
1 teaspoon organic GF vanilla extract

Dry ingredients:
1/2 cup organic tapioca starch
1/2 cup organic brown rice flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup almond meal**
1 teaspoon xantham gum
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon organic cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon organic nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Stir-ins:
1 cup organic mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium)
1.5 cups organic coarsely chopped cranberries (1/2 of a 12 oz bag)
1/2 cup organic chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)**

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Oil 18 muffin tins (I used organic canola oil).

In a large bowl, mix the wet ingredients with a hand mixer.  In a small bowl, stir together the dry ingredients.   Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir thoroughly.  Mix in the bananas, cranberries, and optional nuts.  Scoop batter evenly between about 18 muffin tins; they should be about 2/3 full.  Bake for 25 minutes at 350F.

*To make this dairy free, substitute palm shortening for the butter.

**To make this nut free, substitute millet flour for the almond meal (which carries a cross-contamination risk) and eliminate the nuts.

©NaturallyElizabeth.com

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Vegetable Lentil Soup

01 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by in Dairy Free, Egg Free, Gluten Free, Nut Free, Soups, Soy Free, Vegan

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While we’re back to warm weather in Central Texas at the moment, I’m sure it will get cold again… eventually.  This made a hearty soup earlier this week when the temperatures were a little cooler.

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Vegetable Lentil Soup

Adapted from “Easiest Black-Eyed Peas and Lentil Soup” in 1001 Low-Fat Vegetarian Recipes by Sue Spitler

3 medium organic carrots, sliced thinly
3 stalks organic celery, sliced
1 medium yellow or white organic onion, diced
4 cloves organic garlic, minced
2 tablespoons organic olive oil
8 cups organic GF low sodium vegetable or chicken broth*
2 cups filtered water
2 teaspoons dried organic thyme
1.5 teaspoons dried organic marjoram
1 teaspoon dried organic oregano
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon organic black pepper
1 organic bay leaf
1-15 ounce can organic white beans or black-eyed peas
1.5 cup dried organic lentils (I used a combination of red and brown)
1-15 ounce can Muir Glen organic diced tomatoes
2 cups packed organic greens, cut in small pieces (chard, kale or collard greens work well)

Sauté carrots, celery, onion, and garlic in oil in large pot for a few minutes until they soften a bit (or stick to the pan… that’s my signal it’s time to move on to the next step).  Add broth, water, herbs, beans, lentils, and tomatoes.  Cook over medium heat until the carrots and lentils are soft (45-60 minutes).  Stir in the greens and allow to cook for 5-10 minutes until the greens are done.  Discard bay leaf before serving.

Makes about 4 quarts.

*If making this vegan, obviously choose the vegetable broth rather than the chicken broth.

©2012NaturallyElizabeth.com

GFDF Blueberry Cobbler

01 Sunday Jul 2012

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

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My apologies for the long delay in between posts.  June was a crazy month around here.  I’ve been cooking and photographing when my health allows, so I will work toward getting up some new posts in the coming weeks.

This blueberry cobbler is scrumptious, especially fresh out of the oven.  The cobbler starts to get a bit gooey after refrigeration overnight and keeps getting gooier as the days progress, so I wouldn’t recommend making a bigger batch than you will eat in a day or two.  This is for a 9×13 pan, but the recipe easily cuts in half for an 8×8 pan.

GFDF Blueberry Cobbler

8 cups fresh organic blueberries
1/2 cup organic evaporated cane juice
1/2 cup organic sucanat
1/2 cup organic cornstarch
1 t organic vanilla extract
3/4 c organic tapioca starch
3/4 c sorghum flour
3/4 c almond meal*
3/4 c organic white rice flour
1.5 t xanthan gum
2 tablespoons organic evaporated cane juice (sugar)
3 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
2/3 cup organic palm shortening
1 cup organic rice milk
1 t organic vanilla extract
2 organic eggs, beaten
2 to 4 tablespoons organic evaporated cane juice (sugar) **
1 teaspoon organic ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly oil a 9×13 inch glass baking dish with organic canola oil.

Mix together blueberries, 1/2 cup evaporated cane juice, 1/2 cup sucanat, 1/2 cup cornstarch and 1 t vanilla extract.  Put mixture into the baking dish.  Place in the preheating oven while preparing cobbler topping.

In a large bowl, combine flours, starch, xanthan gum, 2 tablespoons evaporated cane juice, baking powder, and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Add milk, vanilla and eggs; stir just until flour is moistened.

Remove the hot blueberries from the oven.  Carefully spread the cobbler topping over the hot blueberries. The pan will be hot by this point!  Sprinkle top with remaining 2T-4T sugar mixed with cinnamon.

Bake in preheated oven for 19-23 minutes, or until top is golden brown.

The recipe can easily be cut in half to make an 8×8″ pan.

*Almonds are not true nuts, but they carry a cross-contamination risk.  To make this item nut free, substitute millet flour.

** I prefer less sugar topping; my kids prefer more.  If you like your desserts on the extra sweet side, go for the 4 tablespoons of sugar.  If not, add 2 tablespoons.

©NaturallyElizabeth.com

GFDF Cinnamon Cake

06 Wednesday Jun 2012

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

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For my birthday, I started out wanting a mint chocolate chip ice cream cake with chocolate cake.  Since I get migraines from chocolate, that wasn’t the best craving.  So I moved on to wanting some other kind of ice cream cake.  However, my friends convinced me through a Facebook discussion thread that I wanted cinnamon cake with homemade peach ice cream instead.  Thank heavens for friends who can get your creative juices flowing when you’re lacking for ideas!

The peach ice cream is ok, but not as great as we were hoping.  My older son and I both agree that next time we want peach sorbet instead.  The cinnamon cake, though, was really good.  All my gluten eating children felt this recipe was a “keeper.”

GFDF Cinnamon Cake

Cake:
2/3 cup organic sugar
¼ cup organic palm shortening
1 teaspoon organic GF vanilla extract
2 large organic eggs
½ cup organic rice milk
3/8 cup organic brown rice flour
3/8 cup organic tapioca starch
3/8 cup almond meal
3/8 cup sorghum flour
3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon organic ground cinnamon

Topping:
1 tablespoon organic powdered sugar
½ teaspoon organic ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F.  Oil an 8×8” pan and set aside.  (I used organic canola oil.)

In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, palm shortening, and eggs.  Add in all of the remaining cake ingredients and stir thoroughly.  Pour into the pan, and bake for about 25 minutes at 350F.

Mix together the powdered sugar and ½ teaspoon cinnamon.  Before serving, sift the cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the cake.

©NaturallyElizabeth.com

GFDF Fresh Blueberry Pie

31 Thursday May 2012

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Costco had organic blueberries available over the weekend, so blueberry pie made it onto the menu for the week.  Both the 9 inch and 10 inch versions of the recipe are below.

GFDF Fresh Blueberry Pie, 9 inch version
Makes one 9” blueberry pie.

Crust
½ cup organic tapioca starch
½ cup organic brown rice flour
½ cup almond meal
½ cup sorghum flour
½ teaspoon organic cinnamon
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon sea salt
2/3 cup organic palm shortening
1 organic egg

Filling
4 cups fresh organic blueberries
1 cup organic evaporated cane juice (sugar)
7 tablespoons organic cornstarch
1 tablespoons organic evaporated cane juice (sugar)

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Mix the starch, flours, cinnamon, xanthan gum and salt.  Cut the palm shortening into the flour mixture.  In a separate bowl, lightly whisk the egg.  Slowly add the egg until the mixture forms a solid dough.  You may not need the entire egg, or you may need to add a small amount of water to make the dough the right consistency.  Divide the dough into two pieces, roughly a 60-40 split.  Pat the 60% dough into a 9” pie pan.  Set aside the 40% dough.

In a covered medium saucepan, cook the blueberries and 1 cup sugar over medium heat until they lose a large amount of juice (5-10 minutes).  Pull out about a cup of the filling, allow to cool slightly, and quickly stir in the cornstarch.  Add back in the cornstarch mixture, stirring well.  Allow to continue cooking uncovered until the filling is thickened.  Add additional water or cornstarch as necessary to get the consistency correct.

Pour the filling into the bottom pie crust.  Using your hands, flatten out the reserved dough and make a mosaic of pie crust on top of the filling, covering as completely as possible.  Sprinkle with the remaining sugar.
Cover the pie with foil and bake for 15 minutes on top of a cookie sheet to catch any overflow.  Remove the foil and bake for approximately an additional 30 minutes (45 minutes total) or until golden brown.

©NaturallyElizabeth.com

GFDF Fresh Blueberry Pie, 10 inch version
Makes one 10” blueberry pie.

Crust
2/3 cup organic tapioca starch
2/3 cup organic brown rice flour
2/3 cup almond meal
2/3 cup sorghum flour
3/4 teaspoons organic cinnamon
1.5 teaspoons xanthan gum
1.5 teaspoons sea salt
1 cup organic palm shortening
1 organic egg
A few tablespoons of water

Filling
5 1/2 cups fresh organic blueberries
1 1/3 cups organic evaporated cane juice (sugar)
½ cup + 1 tablespoon organic cornstarch
1.5 tablespoon organic evaporated cane juice (sugar)

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Mix the starch, flours, cinnamon, xanthan gum and salt.  Cut the palm shortening into the flour mixture.  In a separate bowl, lightly whisk the egg.  Add the egg into the flour mixture.  Slowly add enough water to make the pie dough stick together but not become gooey.  Divide the dough into two pieces, roughly a 60-40 split.  Pat the 60% dough into a 10” pie pan.  Set aside the 40% dough.

In a covered medium saucepan, cook the blueberries and 1.3 cups sugar over medium heat until they lose a large amount of juice (5-10 minutes).  Pull out about a cup of the filling, allow to cool slightly, and quickly stir in the cornstarch.  Add back in the cornstarch mixture, stirring well.  Allow to continue cooking uncovered until the filling is thickened.  Add additional water or cornstarch as necessary to get the consistency correct.

Pour the filling into the bottom pie crust.  Using your hands, flatten out the reserved dough and make a mosaic of pie crust on top of the filling, covering as completely as possible.  Sprinkle with the remaining additional sugar.

Cover the pie with foil and bake for 15 minutes on top of a cookie sheet to catch any overflow.  Remove the foil and bake for approximately an additional 30 minutes (45 minutes total) or until golden brown.

©NaturallyElizabeth.com

GF Blueberry Streusel Muffins

28 Monday May 2012

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To me, fresh blueberries are one of the best parts of life.  Between fresh blueberries and fresh peaches in June in Texas, I could eat only fresh fruit and be quite happy.  I also love baking with them.  Frozen peaches and frozen blueberries just aren’t the same in baked goods.   I’d rather wait for the in season fresh fruit.

GF Blueberry Streusel Muffins
Adapted from the Betty Crocker 40th Anniversary Edition Cookbook

Muffins:
1 cup organic rice milk
¼ cup organic canola oil
1 teaspoon organic GF vanilla extract
1 organic egg
½ cup almond meal*
½ cup sorghum flour
½ cup organic brown rice flour
½ cup organic tapioca starch
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/3 cup organic cane sugar
5 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 cup fresh organic blueberries**

Streusel Topping:
1 tablespoon almond meal*
1 tablespoon sorghum flour
1 tablespoon organic brown rice flour
1 tablespoon organic tapioca starch
2 tablespoons organic light brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons organic butter, softened to room temperature***
½ teaspoon organic ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400F.  Oil a 12 cup muffin tin.

In a small bowl, mix together the streusel topping.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the milk, oil, vanilla, and egg.  In a medium bowl, mix together the almond meal, sorghum flour, brown rice flour, tapioca starch, xanthan gum, sugar, baking powder, and sea salt.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir thoroughly.  Gently mix in the blueberries.  Divide evenly between the 12 cups on the muffin tin.  Sprinkle half a tablespoon or so of streusel topping on each muffin.

Bake at 400F for 16-18 minutes until golden brown.  Allow to cool in the pan for about five minutes before removing.

*Almonds are not technically a nut but carry a cross-contamination risk. To make this safe for those who are sensitive to nuts, substitute millet flour for the almond meal.

**If you are substituting frozen blueberries for fresh, measure out 1 cup of blueberries and allow them to defrost to room temperature.  Thoroughly drain all liquid from them before adding to the batter.

***If you are dairy free, you can substitute palm shortening for the butter.

©NaturallyElizabeth.com

GFDF Peanut Butter Spice Cake

27 Sunday May 2012

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This is yet another one of my wacky cravings from the recesses of my brain.  I’m always amazed when these recipes come out so well.  It was best fresh from the oven yesterday, but it’s not bad as leftovers for breakfast today.

This recipe could easily be doubled and baked in a 9×13″ pan.

GFDF Peanut Butter Spice Cake

1/4 cup organic palm shortening
3/4 cup organic light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup Maranatha organic no-stir creamy peanut butter (includes palm shortening, sugar, and salt)
1 organic egg
1/2 teaspoon organic GF vanilla extract
3/8 cup organic brown rice flour
3/8 cup sorghum flour
3/8 cup organic millet flour
3/8 cup organic tapioca starch
3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon organic ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon organic ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon organic ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup organic rice milk
2 teaspoons organic powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together the shortening, brown sugar, peanut butter, egg, and vanilla extract.  In a small bowl, mix together flours, starch, xanthan gum, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, baking powder, and salt.  Add the dry ingredients from the small bowl to the large bowl, and gently stir.  Mix in the rice milk to create a thick cake batter.  Scoop into an oiled 8×8” pan and spread to even out the batter.  Bake for 30 to 35 minutes at 350F.

Cool.  Sift powdered sugar over the top before serving.

©NaturallyElizabeth.com

Pakistani Inspired Curry (GFDF)

26 Saturday May 2012

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This portion doesn’t actually have the peas stirred in so that my pea-hating family will eat it. I stir the peas in later for my serving.

When I was in grad school, I lived in a large beautiful Victorian house in the Boston area with nine other graduate students.  One of the other women was a nun from Pakistan named Josepha.  She quickly saw how much I loved to cook (though my cooking then was nothing like it is now) and offered to teach me how to make Pakistani dishes.  It was the first time I learned how to cook from sight and taste rather than from a recipe.  She was also the first person to introduce me to the idea of seasonal cooking, though she didn’t call it that.  Whatever was at the grocery store you used.  Substitutions are part of the fun.  So while the recipe below calls for beef, this could be made with chicken or pork though Josepha said they rarely ate chicken because it was so expensive.  I have put carrots, squashes and eggplants in it before.  Whatever is available, I throw it in with the basic ingredients.

This recipe probably isn’t incredibly authentic any more since I’ve changed it through the 18 years since I lived with Josepha.  It’s still a comfort food to me, though, and it always makes me think of her.

Pakistani Inspired Curry
a few tablespoons of organic oil
1.5 pounds grass fed ground beef
1 large yellow or white organic onion, diced
2 cups organic sweet potato or yam, diced
2 cups organic white/red/yellow potato, diced
1 large organic green pepper, diced
1 organic jalapeño (with seeds if you like it spicy), minced
2-3 tablespoons organic garlic, minced
2-3 tablespoons organic ginger, minced
1.5 teaspoons organic turmeric powder
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons sea salt
½ teaspoon organic black pepper
2.5-3 cups water
1 cup packed organic cilantro leaves, chopped
2 cups organic frozen peas, set out to defrost while the rest of the dish cooks

In a 3 or 4 quart pot, brown the beef with oil and the onion over medium heat.  When the beef is lightly browned, add in all of the remaining ingredients except the water, cilantro and peas.  Stir to mix ingredients. Add enough water to cover the contents of the pot.  Cover and continue cooking until the potatoes and sweet potatoes are soft (which takes about 30 minutes on my slow cooking electric stovetop).  Add in the peas and cilantro, and cook for a few more minutes.

Serve with rice if desired.

©NaturallyElizabeth.com

GF Strawberry Pie with Shortbread Crust

24 Thursday May 2012

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One of the staff members at my chiropractor’s office has been talking about the strawberry pie that she used to make with a shortbread crust.  I finally attempted to make one, and I am glad I did.  It’s amazing.  The shortbread crust really bumps it up a notch beyond the other strawberry pies I make.

This pie came out really oozy as the picture above demonstrates.  I am trying to get away from my perfectionist tendencies, so I’m posting a picture of oozy pie.  But it’s a delicious oozy.  Just watch out overnight in the fridge because the ooziness may multiply and spill all over the bottom shelf.  Not that it happened to me or anything.  I think this is a pie that is best made in a deep dish pan.  One of my 9″ pie pans is slightly deeper than the other and it withheld the oozing a bit better.

And the picture below?  Yes, it’s a rectangular pan for a pie.  I ran out of 9″ pie pans when I was cooking yesterday, so I turned to this great site to figure out which other pan of mine would work.  While the pie below is one I gave away, I’m betting it came out just as tasty in rectangular form as the round ones did!

Gluten Free Strawberry Pie with Shortbread Crust

Makes one 9” pie.  Inspired by Cooks.com and Allrecipes.com.

Crust:
6 tablespoons organic tapioca starch
6 tablespoons organic brown rice flour
6 tablespoons sorghum flour
6 tablespoons almond meal
¾ teaspoon xanthan gum
3 tablespoons organic light brown sugar
3 tablespoons organic powdered sugar
½ cup (1 stick) organic salted butter, softened to room temperature
1 organic egg
1/2 teaspoon organic GF vanilla extract

Filling:
About 3.5 cups sliced organic strawberries plus about 1.5 cups diced strawberries
3/4 c organic granulated sugar
5 teaspoons organic cornstarch
1/4 cup water

Optional topping:
1 cup organic whipping cream
6 tablespoons powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 425F.

To make the crust, mix together all of the ingredients on the crust list.  I used a stand mixer, but it could be done by hand.  It will make a soft dough similar to a cookie dough.  Using your hands, press into a 9” (preferably deep dish) pie pan.  Bake for 10-12 minutes at 425F.  The center of the crust may poof up, but press it down when it comes out of the oven and all will be fine.  Set aside to cool.

Mash the 1.5 cups of diced strawberries.  Add them and the sugar to a small pan.  Blend the cornstarch with the water and combine with the strawberries and sugar.  Cook over medium heat until it comes to a boil, stirring often.  Reduce to simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes, continuing to stir frequently.

Place the 3.5 cups of sliced strawberries in the pie crust.  Cover with the glaze mixture.  Allow to cool in the refrigerator for several hours before serving.

If desired, beat the whipping cream with 6T of powdered sugar using a hand mixer or stand mixer.  Continue beating until the cream is stiff.  Serve with the pie.

©NaturallyElizabeth.com

Horseradish Mustard Burgers

28 Saturday Apr 2012

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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