Fresh, Wild Caught Salmon Salad with a Creamy Dairy-Free Carrot Avocado Dressing

(Paleo friendly and potentially OK for GAPS in later stages when tolerating raw veggies)

2-4 servings

1 small fresh, wild caught salmon fillet per serving, poached and flaked

2 cups per serving of any mixture of organic lettuces or greens. (I used a mixture from our garden of kale, romaine, butter lettuce, purple cabbage and mixed green lettuce.) Chop into bite size pieces and combine them together.

1 small organic carrot per serving, julienned cut

¼ of an organic cucumber per serving, diced

½ of an avocado per serving, peeled and chopped

2 tlbs. raw almond slivers per serving (optional) (I like to roast these myself at home)

1 recipe of Creamy Dairy-Free Salad Dressing from She Let Them Eat Cake 

** Combine all salad ingredients in a big bowl. Top with flaked salmon and toss with Creamy Dairy-Free Salad Dressing


Creamy Dairy-Free Salad Dressing
Recipe from She Let Them Eat Cake 

2-3 chopped carrots (you could also use sweet potatoes)
half an avocado
1 medjool date, soaked and pitted
3/4 cup water
2 tlbs. flax oil
1 clove chopped garlic
1 1/2 tlbs. dijon mustard (we use grainy Dijon)
a shake of dulse (optional)
1/2 tsp. Herbamare or sea salt
1 quarter of a lime, juice only

Place all of the ingredients in your blender (you might want to chop your veggies first – depending on the strength of your Blender. If you have a Vitamix there is no need to chop the veggies.) Blend until creamy. If you find it too thick, add a bit more water.

*This dressing will taste even better the next day.

Enjoy this refreshing salad on a hot summer day.  It is full of omega 3's, antioxidants, good fats and will make you feel energized!

~Blessings~

Cherry Season

One of the reasons I love living where I do is that any time a fruit is in season I can go and pick it fresh from an orchard that is growing it.  Fresh and Local is what it is all about these days right?  I love supporting our local farmers and orchards.

Around this time of the year the cherries are in season and growing in abundance on the trees! This is the first time I have ever gotten to go to a cherry orchard that literally has hundreds of trees and pick fresh cherries off the trees.  Each tree was either loaded with sweet red cherries, Bing cherries or pie cherries.  Before now I didn't even know there were pie cherries!

I love picking fresh produce right from the plant because it helps my kiddos to know that food actually grows and doesn't just appear in a store!  It also helps them to understand that there is a lot of hard work and time that goes into harvesting fruits and vegetables.

We went with my Aunt, Uncle and Cousins and they brought one of their college friends too. Cody really enjoyed picking cherries with Johnny.

Corbin has a cherry in his mouth here.  They were so good looking it was hard to not taste a few!

Brother "love" time or wrestle time.

Our first bounty.

The whole crew.  Steve had to work that day as well as the second time we went :-(  He was missed. My parents were out of town the first time too. We took them when they got back into town though.  The pie cherries were more ripe then too.

The first time we went I picked 5 pounds of cherries and the second time I picked 7 pounds of cherries.  Another thing about local and fresh is the price!  They were only $1.00 a pound. 

I have had so much fun with these.  I bought a cherry pitter and pitted all of them.  I froze some for smoothies and to use later for cherry crisp and cobbler (Gluten free of course).  We also ate some of them for lunches. Then I made some Vanilla Dark Chocolate Cherry Ice Cream.  Oh my goodness was it good.  Click here for the recipe.  I didn't use alcohol or bittersweet chocolate. I used dark chocolate. I also added some vanilla.

This was divine.

With the second batch of cherries I made these Cherry Almond Muffins.  I used agave instead of honey and coconut oil instead of olive or grapeseed.  They turned out great.  I couldn't have a bunch of cherries and not make some cherry pie filling.  I made multiple batches of the filling.  The pie cherries really do make a difference.  They give the pie filling that little bit of tartness, that zing. Up next for the cherries, canning with my Mom and Aunt this week making Cherry Jam.  Yummers!

The next fruit in season that I can't wait for is peaches.  These are my all time favorite fruit.  I will be picking a lot of these!

Do you have any cherry recipes that you make every year?  How about family traditions with cherries or fruits that are in season?  I would love to hear about it.

~Blessings~

Ooh Babycakes!

As promised I told you I would tell you about some really yummy gluten free cinnamon and sugar donuts I made.  I have to tell you this creation was inspired by my friend Jessi.  She made them for me first and although I am not sure the recipe she used they were delicious! I thought about them for two weeks after I had them, that is - until I made my own!

In order for me to make these just like my sweet friend did I needed to get a mini donut maker.  Thankfully I had a gift card to Kohl's and was able to buy one during one of their HUGE sales (that they have all the time.)

This little guy has been so much fun!  We made these for movie night the first time and we about gobbled them all up before we even sat down for the movie. 

Before I show you more pictures that are going to make you drool and your stomach growl I will share the recipe with you.  This is a recipe I can't take credit for but I did adapt it a teeny bit for the donut maker. I found the recipe which was created by Nicole Hunn of Gluten free on a Shoestring here at Living Without Magazine's site.  Check out the recipe and then come back paaleeease!.  I will share with you what I did differently. 

• I did not make the cinnamon milk, I just used plain milk.
• I used a scoop and put the batter into the donut maker.
• I dipped the donuts in coconut oil before I coated them with cinnamon and sugar.

(Aren't I ingenious? I changed it up so much!)  Just kidding.  There are not usually many things I change about Nicole's recipes.  They are just plain good.

Here is what I started out with:

Then:

Whala! Bing Bang Boom~ Mini Donuts!

Aren't they cute?

Now it's time to dip them in melted coconut oil.  You can dip one side or both.  I just did one side.

Just ignore the fact that I accidentally focused the camera on my wrinkly hand!  It certainly was meant to be! I know you're more interested in donuts.

Time for cinnamon and sugar...

Oops, ignore THE hand again.

Heaven, I'm in Heaven.

And now for a bite...

Look how light and fluffy these are.  You would never guess they are gluten free.  The crunch of the cinnamon and sugar on the outside and the moist crumb of the donut make them delightful.

I hope you enjoy these.  If you don't have a donut maker maybe you can find one at Kohl's when they have their 95% off sale!  These certainly didn't last long around our house.  I really savored each bite because I am soon going to be cutting out sugar from my diet for about 3-6 months.  For health reasons.  I would never choose to willingly give up such a divine part of life ~ sweets. It should only be temporary and short depending on the results. Have fun and let me know how your donut making goes.  What other gluten free creations can you come up with for this fun little machine?


~Blessings~

Our household staple meals

Hello and Happy December!  It sure has been fun around here preparing for Christmas and focusing on the reason for the season - Jesus.  I plan on posting some pictures in a later post this week of what has been happening in our house lately.

Since this is December we have tightened our budget a bit.  Our tightening required me to really focus on inexpensive staple meals that we have around here on a regular basis.  Below I will share our staple meal list with you of dinners that we regularly have.  These dinners usually translate into leftovers for lunch the next day as well.  Since I have two growing boys and a hungry husband the portions around here have to be large.

First, I always have homemade chicken stock in the freezer.  It is so easy to make and I usually take a day that I know I am going to be home most of the day and make it ~ once a month or sometimes twice.  I also usually have homemade (non-fried) refried beans in the freezer.  I just tried making my own chili beans to freeze last week too.  I noticed that I buy quite a few cans of chili beans so I figured, why not make my own?  It was easy and they turned out yummy. I will probably continue to do this regularly.  We always have rice and lentils on hand as well as chicken and ground turkey. 

Before I write the meal list I want you to know that I am one who likes to try cooking one or two new meals a week.  However, when we are on a tight budget I can't venture out too much because sometimes the recipes require ingredients I don't normally have on hand. This list below is the basic list and when we have a little more to spend I get creative and try lots of new meals!

Our household staple meals (this list is not exhaustive):

* Bean and Cheese Burritos ~ I usually make my own Gluten Free Flour tortillas or if I am not feeling that ambitious I eat the beans and cheese with chips, sour cream and salsa.

* Tostadas  ~ we use the Gluten Free Corn tortilla shells

* Enchiladas ~ A family Favorite! Red sauce - only Rosarita brand and rotisserie white meat chicken make these to die for. I serve this with homemade Spanish rice, sometimes beans and a salad.

* Bobby's Goulash ~ Of course I make this Gluten Free by using wheat free tamari or Liquid Aminos and also Gluten Free Brown Rice Macaroni Pasta.  This feeds a lot of people if you make the whole recipe.  I usually only half it. I serve this with a salad.

* Homemade Pizza ~ Using a homemade pizza dough recipe from Gluten Free on a Shoestring - my favorite GF blog and Cookbook. 

* Benihana's Fried Rice ~ This recipe is from another one of my favorite cookbook series - Top Secret Restaurant Recipes. I add more veggies and peas to it and sometimes chicken if it is a "meat" night.

* Lentils and Rice ~ This is hearty and packed with fiber and protein.  You could always substitute Brown rice too. I serve this with a side of veggies, steamed or roasted.

* Hot Dogs ~ Actually this is not a staple in fact we rarely have hot dogs. It made it to my list this month because we happen to have them in the freezer.  When I make these I will wrap mine in a homemade GF flour tortillas or maybe make my own GF buns. Love having homemade baked beans with this and homemade potato salad.  Who say you can't have that in the winter?  We've even been known to roast them outside over the fire in the winter!

* Gluten Free Spaghetti and Meat Sauce (or just marinara depending on if it is a "meat" night.) ~ This is a quick simple throw together meal usually served with a veggie or side salad.

* Baked Potatoes with chili beans, cheese sauce and veggies (like steamed broccoli)

* Homemade Mac N Cheese ~ I change this up a little and of course make it Gluten Free with different flours and pasta.  This is such comfort food. I crave it! I serve this with some sort of veggie.

* Tacos ~ We love tacos.  They are so quick to make and filling.  They are an easy way to get veggies too. Sometimes if I don't have meat we make lentil tacos instead.  You just cook the lentils and season them with taco seasoning and serve the lentils as if they were the meat.  Yummy!

* Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup ~ during the winter this is so comforting. I crave this when I am sick (but usually I can't make it for myself.)  Now that we have a huge freezer I am going to start making double batches and freezing the extra to have on hand.  I will have to share my recipe sometime on here with you.

* Chili N' Cornbread (GF) ~ another easy meal. The cornbread lasts for a while so sometimes I have it for breakfast the next morning. 

* Spinach Lasagna ~ I spike mine with Alfredo sauce to make it even more irresistible! Of course I use Brown rice Gluten Free lasagna noodles too.

* Grilled Cheese Sandwiches ~ there are a myriad of ways to make these but most of all Steve and I like medium or sharp cheddar with brown deli mustard on ours.  Most people say "yuck" until they try it!  I make mine on my own homemade Gluten Free Sandwich bread.  The bread recipe I got from Gluten Free on a Shoestring

* Szechuan Meatballs with LoMein ~ Homemade and a recipe from GF on a Shoestring again.  This is a bit time consuming so I only do this one when I have more time to cook.  It is nice to have Asian food at home that I know is Gluten Free. Actually we had this tonight and I can't wait for leftovers tomorrow!

*BLTA Sandwiches (Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato and Avocado, ~ We don't always have bacon on hand but when it is on sale I do buy it.  We love avocados here too. Now that I make my own Gluten Free Bread I can enjoy these sandwiches once again.

I am sure there are more to add to the list but this was what I came up with for this month.  I think it is great to live on a budget and tighten the reigns when needed because it forces me to be more creative in how I use the food I have and even the leftovers I have.  Food is a Feast on Joy around here!

Victory! Gluten Free Blueberry Coconut Muffins

Can I tell you? I have been craving muffins for some time now.  With this new lack of gluten in my diet, muffins aren't easy to come by anymore.  Sure, I can go buy gluten free muffins but there is nothing like a homemade, fresh out of the oven, warm muffin making the house smell all good. I miss baking in a big way!

Last weekend I took a gluten free cooking class and learned some tips and tricks to gluten free baking along with some yummy recipes.  It was such a blessing to me.

In the cooking class one of the recipes that we made was a poppy seed muffin that was really good.  I couldn't wait go home and make some on my own but change it up a bit. First of all I needed to add a whole grain flour to the basic flour mix she gave us.  The original recipe didn't have any whole grains in it and it was nutritionally void. The idea behind the recipe from Terry (who created it) is that these are not something you eat very often.  She found a good mix of flours that works and wants to stick with it because GF baking is a tough job. She bakes daily for her restaurant and it is a treat for us gluten free folks to have a homemade muffin or basket of fresh baked bread with butter on the table while eating out. I am grateful for her basic starter recipe to be able to adapt it to use in ways that fit our family.  Something she kept saying was "a recipe is a guide not a rule book."  It is so true but you have to have a good basic recipe to start with.  And now I have one!

While I can't share her recipe with you I can share my recipe that I created from her base recipe. 

These are really yummy muffins. Please try them.  They have a slight coconut taste and are lightly sweet.  You can add any fruit like dried cranberries, raisins, fresh mangoes or peaches, strawberries, raspberries, etc.  Another note is that if you want to cut back on the sugar content you should be able to substitute half amount honey, banana or applesauce. This substitution would probably work for the oil too.  *I have not tried the applesauce or banana yet but plan on it next time. If you try it, let me know how it works out. Pretty please?

Gluten Free Blueberry Coconut Muffins
Adapted from a recipe by Terry Meihaus

2 cups gluten free all purpose flour mix (choose your favorite)
1 cup coconut flour (this flour is so nutritious for you)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum (if your all purpose flour doesn't have it in it already)
1 cup sugar (or half sugar subsitute like honey as mentioned above)
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk (can be almond or soy milk too)
1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp. gluten free vanilla extract
12 oz. fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. spray (with gluten free spray) 24 muffin cups or you can use cupcake paper liners.  Whisk dry ingredients together.  In separate bowl stir wet ingredients together (not blueberries).  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Do not overmix. Fold in blueberries.  Bake at for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.   Cool for 10 minutes on wire racks.  Makes 24 muffins. 

Blessings!

Pavlova with Lemon Curd and Berries

I had been wanting to make this dessert since before I was told to abstain from gluten.  After that diganosis I really wanted to make it because I knew it was gluten free and would still be decadent and yummy.  Thse are the things I tend to miss with a GF diet. (I am adapting though.)

The perfect opportunity came with Easter to make this Pavlova.  What a wonderful spring dessert!

Do you know what a Pavlova is? 

Basically it is a 7-9 inch round of perfectly cooked meringue shaped like a basket.  Slightly crispy on the outside and marshmallowy on the inside.  You can fill it with fresh berries and drizzle on berry sauce or you can put a layer of homeade, tangy lemon curd down first, then top with berries.  There are really endless possibilities. 

I highly recommend making this.  It is easy, beautiful, tart, sweet, decadent and gooey all at the same time!

Click on the title for the recipe I used...

Pavlova with Lemon Curd and Berries