Farinata Pizza: Gluten Free & Delicious

Have you heard of Farinata?? If you haven't then you are seriously missing out! Farinata is chickpea flour pancake that is popular in Tuscany and the Tuscan coast. It's incredibly easy to make and is incredibly delicious. The texture is rich and luxurious and the flavor is nutty and delicious.

Grain Free & Gluten Free Vegan Zucchini Bread

One of the biggest battles I've been fighting this pregnancy is some killer sugar and chocolate cravings. I'm pretty sure that its most likely related to mineral deficiencies. I've been doing more research on the topic and found this fascinating article linking sugar and chocolate cravings, specifically to a magnesium deficiency. After taking magnesium transdermally only once (via magnesium oil spray), I didn't have any cravings all day and couldn't even look at chocolate for the first time in months.

Since I was feeling so great, I decided to do some baking, but since I've been eating so much sugar and chocolate, I decided to bake something that's low in sugar and healthy. So I've come up with a grain-free, gluten free & vegan zucchini bread, made with olive oil and chestnut and hazelnut flours. Chestnuts are high in Vitamin C and Vitamin B6 and also contain other minerals such as magnesium, potassium, and phosphorus. Hazelnuts are very high in magnesium, iron and manganese.

I also added unsweetened chocolate bits to the recipe just because it sounded good. The bread turned out to be deliciously nutty and naturally sweet from the nut flours. Additionally, the psyllium husks and chia seeds make for a very moist cake. Finally, the olive oil adds a nice savory flavor. The best part: my daughter's been gobbling it up!

A Crafty Gourmet's Version of The Spunky Coconut' Persimmon Scones

A few weeks ago, one of my favorite bloggers, The Spunky Coconut posted an incredible recipe for Persimmon Scones. I'm a huge fan of persimmon, which is why I made a Vegan Persimmon & Cranberry Cheesecake for Thanksgiving. I'm also a fan of persimmon for all of its health benefits, specifically its ability to treat gastrointestinal inflammation and hemorrhoids. We've also been seeing a significant resolution in our daughter's "lung heat" since she's been eating more persimmons.

I decided to try making her Persimmon Scones, but since I'm avoiding almond flour right now, I decided to substitute sunflower seed flour. Also, the recipe seemed to call for a bit too much sugar for my taste so I reduced the sugar. Finally, I didn't have psyllium husk powder, so I used ground flax seeds. The scones or cookies, which ever you prefer, turned out very well, so I'm sharing the recipe with you! This recipe is vegan, grain-free, nut-free and paleo friendly.

The Spunky Coconuts Persimmon Scones 
(A Crafty Gourmet Remix)
Dry Ingredients
1 cup sunflower seed flour
1/3 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1 tbsp ground flax seeds
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla

Wet Ingredients:
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
2 tbsp water
1/4 tsp vanilla liquid stevia

1 large ripe Hichaya or 2 ripe fuyu persimmons

Process:
1. In a bowl, mix all dry ingredients and then using a mixer add in wet ingredients. You can also use an "S" blade on your food processor to do this as well.

2. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out dough onto a sheet of parchment or Silpat mat and press down in the middle to create a little pool for the persimmon

3. Peel the persimmon and mash with fork to create a puree

4. Using a spoon, place puree into the dents in the scones

5. Bake for 12 minutes at 375 degrees

6. Let cookies rest for 10-15 minutes. The Spunky Coconut recommends you freeze them to let them harden.

7. Enjoy!

Super Moist Grain Free Vegan Blueberry Muffins Made with Tula's CoCoYo

I lived in communist USSR until I was 5 years old. Even at my young age, I still remember the long lines for food rations.When we came to the United States, the extreme abundance was overwhelming. Our fridge was consistently packed with cheap processed food, which, at the time, seemed so incredibly and miraculously affordable.

My new American diet consisted of sugary cereal and homogenized milk for breakfast, tater tots and breaded chicken patty sandwiches with corn syrup sweetened chocolate milk for my free school lunches, and for dinner we would celebrate our homeland with a more traditional dinner. My family also liked to shop at Costco, where we could stock up in one shopping trip and eat for the whole month. Almost every trip we made to Costco, we'd buy their muffin pack filled with 12 variety muffins. At 620 calories a piece and 32g of fat, these monster muffins were my favorite comfort dessert. My favorite was blueberry. I still can't believe how many of these I consumed as a child.

 

Nowadays, I steer clear of Costco unless I'm shopping for a birthday party and, every once in a while, I find some gems there like Wild Planet's Sardines and TruRoots Three Bean Trio. On a recent trip, I spotted those infamous blueberry muffins and decided to bake a much smaller and more healthy version as an homage. 

My secret ingredient in my blueberry muffins is Tula's CocoYo. This is my new favorite "yogurt." I usually eat it with homemade raw buckwheat granola to reap the benefits of the 80 billion CFU live probiotics (a lot!) per 1/2 cup serving. For this recipe, I decide to use the delicious stuff to add moisture to my muffins. It's honestly the best alternative to dairy yogurt I've ever tasted. Tula's CocoYo is all natural and is made with just 5 ingredients: raw young coconut meat, raw young coconut water, alcohol free vanilla, probiotic cultures, and stevia. I guarantee that you will not find a more natural yogurt substitute.  Tula's also has a line of Coco Kefir, which comes in the 3 flavors: Regular, Apple Cinnamon, and Citrus. The Coco Kefir, like the CocoYo, has a high volume of probiotics (15-25 CFU per 1/4 cup serving). I tried the regular flavor and really enjoyed its sweet and tangy flavor.

Crafty Grain Free Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients
1 1/2 cup Blanched Almond Flour
1/2 Coconut Flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp aluminum free baking powder
1 tbsp Chia Seeds with 3 tbsp water
1/4 tsp Celtic or Himalayan Salt
1 cup Tula's CoCo Yo
1/4 cup coconut sugar
1 cup blueberries
2 tsp vanilla powder
1/3 cup melted ghee or coconut oil





Process:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees 

2. Mix chia seeds and water and let stand for 10 minutes

3. Combine almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, sugar and vanilla in one bowl

4. In another bowl, mix yogurt, oil/ghee, chia gel, and blueberries

5. Add wet ingredients into the bowl of dry. Using a mixer, mix until all ingredients are well blended

6. Scoop batter into lined muffin tin (makes 12 small, 10 medium muffins)

7. Bake for 22-25 minutes

8. Let stand in oven for another 5 minutes and then let cool on rack

9. Enjoy!