Molasses Cake from Kathleen Grissom's The Kitchen House (Gluten Free & Vegan)

Recently over dinner, one of my best friends said she has a proposition for me. Immediately, I thought she was going to come up with a brilliant idea for a money making start-up. I began imagining myself as a COO of a hip, up-and-coming, company filled with smart and innovative talent. She interrupted my revelry with an announcement about putting together a book club. I smiled, while my get rich quick hopes were dashed and we discussed the details. In all seriousness, the book club was a great idea! Five us meet monthly to discuss books, motherhood, life, and a variety of other female-centric topics.

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!

Vegan Grain Free Carrot Cake Breakfast Muffins

I usually enjoy a savory breakfast of greens and eggs on weekday mornings, but every once in a while, I miss the latte and muffin breakfast I used to have a long time ago. When I get nostalgic for a sweet breakfast, I usually bake these great grain-free vegan carrot cake muffins. This recipe was inspired by this post from Gluten-Free Dish. I've made these mini-carrot cakes countless times and they are always a huge a hit!

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!

Vegan Persimmon & Cranberry "Cheesecake"

Ever bite into a persimmon and feel like ants are running in your mouth? And nothing you do makes it go away? I absolutely hate that feeling but I love persimmons.

One Last Halloween Recipe: Ghoulish Green Sunflower Coconut Cookies

I'm not ready to say goodbye to Halloween just yet. I know, I know, I need to start concentrating on Thanksgiving and even Hanukkah, but I'm just not ready! Superstorm Sandy has put many people's lives on hold and in many areas Halloween has been postponed for the weekend. I wish we postponed Halloween for the weekend so that I had some time to get my act together.

When I'm not cooking and writing for the blog, I actually have a 9-5 job. I work for an Internet retailer of consumer products and Q4 (Oct, Nov, Dec) is our most busy time. As we head into the depths of our busy season, I'm finding it pretty hard to balance my family, my house, my blog, and my overall responsibilities. Something had to go this year and since my daughter is 3 and doesn't really understand, we kind of skipped Halloween this year.

Growing up, I couldn't wait to go trick-or-treating to collect large grocery bags of candy. One year, in Brooklyn, I filled 2 whole bags of sweet, sour, and even salty confections. Since my first trick-or-treating experience was when I was 6, I'm thinking I can still hide our daughter from this ritual for a couple of more years. I'm glad to get reprieve from figuring out how to allow her to enjoy this important American pastime and how to get her to trade candy for something more healthy.

To trade the "good" stuff for some actual good stuff, I have prepared for her a fun recipe: Ghoulish Green Sunflower Coconut Cookies. These cookies are made with no sugar and no eggs, plus they are gluten and grain free (just a little baking powder). Interesting fact: Sunflower seeds contain acid called chlorogenic acid and, when mixed with baking soda under certain temperatures, it will cause the sunflower seeds to turn green. This is a totally harmless chemical reaction that creates a wonderfully fun looking and tasty Haloween cookie! 

I adapted the recipe from a cookbook I recently bought, Nourishing Meals, by Alissa Segersten & Tom Malterre. Tom gave a talk for the Institute for Integrative Nutrition about the Elimination Diet that I love and they also have a blog, The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen, that I absolutely love. The book features lots of healthy gluten free recipes including smoothies, entrees, cookies, and pies. The recipe for Coconut Almond Sugar Cookies caught my eye, but I had run out of almond flour and had just soaked and dehydrated sunflower seeds, so I decided to substitute. The result is a delicious nutty sugar free, gluten free, vegan cookie that will satisfy any little monster.


Ghoulish Green Sunflower Coconut Cookies

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup Sunflower Seed Flour (I used this recipe from Empowered Sustenance) 
1 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup arrowroot powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder (corn free)
1/8 tsp Bright Earth Foods Himalayan Salt
6 tbsp Bright Earth Foods Vanilla Coconut Oil
6 tbsp unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 tsp lemon zest
25-30 drops of stevia

Process:
1. Mix all dry ingredients in a food process with an s-blade, pulsing for 90 seconds

2. Add wet ingredients and mix until a lump of dough is formed

3. Remove ball of dough and refrigerate for 1 hour

4. Either roll out dough between two sheets of unbleached parchment paper to desired thickness or using a small ice cream scoop create walnut sized balls

5. If rolling dough, use a cooking cutter to cut out shapes. If using walnut size balls, then press down until flat on parchment paper

6. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes

7. Let cool (cookies will turn green once they cool)

8. Enjoy!


Shared at: Too Many Jars in the Kitchen

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!

Why Do The High Holidays Make Me Crave Carrot Cake?

At sundown tomorrow, the Jewish Holiday, Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement begins, ending the "10 Days of Repentance." It marks the beginning of the Jewish New Year. During these days, Jews are asked to contemplate their wrongs and ask for forgiveness from the ones they have wronged. It's similar to the 4th Step, in the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12 step programs, where you are tasked to do a "moral inventory" and make amends to the one's you have wronged and harmed with you illness.

Yom Kippur itself is a day of fasting, which to me represents a physical cleanse after a week of spiritual and emotional cleansing. This Yom Kippur will be unique for me because I have spent the last 6 months on a cleansing journey that has been physical, emotional and spiritual. I have worked on ridding my body of the excess weight of inflammation and from the emotional weight of anger and resentment. In this practice, I have been able to find myself and fulfill my passion of sharing with others my love for real food and cooking. I am so grateful that there are over 500 people that have shared this journey with me. Thank you.


For whatever reason, I associate the High Holy Days with Carrot Cake. Whenever, it's time to dip apples into honey, I crave the spiciness and richness of a delicious carrot cake. This year to satisfy my craving, I came up with my own grain-free vegan carrot cake muffin recipe. I prefer to bake in muffin tins, because it's the best way to control portion size. The muffins turned out delicious and very tasty.

Grain-Free Vegan Carrot Cake Muffins
1 1/2 cups chestnut flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 3/4 cups carrot pulp (approximately 2-3 carrots juiced)
1/4 cup apple pulp (1/2-1 apple juiced)
1/8 cup coconut oil
1/4-1/2 cup Grade A Maple Syrup (I used close to 1/2 cup and found it a bit too sweet)
2 tbsp chia seeds & 9 tbsp water
1 tbsp Apple Spice
1 tsp Powdered Ginger

1/2 tbsp aluminum free baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp Celtic Salt


 Process
1. Preheat over to 350
2. In a bowl, mix chia seeds and water and let stand for 10 minutes
3. In another bowl mix all dry ingredients (flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda, salt)
4. Add wet ingredients to chia seeds (pulp, syrup, oil) and mix well
5. Using a mixer, mix on medium speed while pouring wet ingredients into the dry
6. Mix until all ingredients are well distributed, you should have a bunch of small chunks of dough
7. Line a muffin tin with baking cups
6. Take a heaping 1/4 cup of dough/batter and roll into a ball and place in baking cup and press until dough sits nicely in the cup

8. Bake for 20-22 minutes
9. Let cool on a wire rack.

Grain & Gluten Free Breakfast Ideas! The Best Waffles Ever & Swiss Chard Hash

Weekend morning breakfasts at our house are usually kind of generic, a version of eggs and toast. So when this weekend the hubby asked me to make him something special for breakfast, I came up with two grain-free (both), Paleo (Hash Only), GAPS (Hash Only) and SCD (Hash Only), friendly recipes that will surely satisfy. Saturday morning, I made a Swiss Chard Hash. Then, on Sunday, I was craving waffles, so I made my usual waffle recipe but substituted grain-free flours. The waffles turned out great! For toppings, I used Tula's CocoYO and my spiced plum compote.

Swiss Chard Hash
Ingredients
1 bunch Swiss Chard
1 tbsp Ghee
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp The Spice House Spanish Smoked Paprika 
4 eggs

Process:
1. Heat ghee in a pan
2. Chop Swiss Chard finely
3. Once ghee has melted add Swiss Chard, salt and paprika
4. Saute Chard for 6-8 minutes
5. Add eggs in sunny-side up fashion, cover, cook for 5-7 minutes or until whites are fully cooked
6. Enjoy!

Grain-Free Vegan Waffles
Ingredients
1/2 cup chestnut flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup coconut oil (melted)
1 cup water
2 tbsp raw honey
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Process:
1. Mix all dry ingredients together and separately mix all wet ingredients together
2. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix on medium speed with a mixer
3. Scoop heaping 1/4 cup of batter onto oiled waffle maker
4. Depending on your waffle maker, cook for 8-10 minutes
5. Add your favorite waffle syrup or toppings
6. Enjoy!

If you are interested in learning more about going grain-free, Jill at Real Food Forager is teaching a class to help you. If you want to sign up for the class use the coupon code NOGRAINS and receive an additional $20off. The coupon expires September 25th. And don't forget about my Spices Contest!