Gluten Free Fast Food. Is that like Santa Claus?

There is a free ebook you can download that tells you which restaurants offer Gluten Free menu items.




Download your FREE ebook for Gluten Free Fast Food HERE

Black Bean Chocolate Cake

I got tricked into eating Black Bean Chocolate Cake the other day at Zumba.
It didn't taste like black beans. Just chocolate cake.

The recipe was easy enough. A box of chocolate cake mix, a can of black beans-- drained and pureed, and a half a cup of water.

The problem is, I am not that interested in boxed cake.
Too many ingredients I can't pronounce.

So I decided to try my own tonight from scratch.
And it was fantastic.

Black Bean Chocolate Cake

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
1 can black beans, drained, and pureed in the blender
1/2 cup water

Powdered sugar for dusting-- no need for frosting with this recipe unless you really really want too.

I added some Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips for fun as I think there is nothing that goes better with chocolate than chocolate. But they aren't needed.


I mixed it all together in my KitchenAid.

Preheat Oven to 350.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until done.

No milk, no eggs, no oil or butter!
Most of my ingredients were organic to boot!
Awesome awesome awesome.
I love when we can eat well and not feel deprived as we try to eat real food.

Free ebook from Earthbound Farms 25 Salads

Follow this link through Earthbound Farms for a free ebook featuring 25 Fresh Salad recipes.

Free Salad Recipes

3 Free Ebooks from American Family Slow Cooker Recipes and Cupcakes

Join today and get a FREE Slow Cooker Recipe Ebook .
Most of these recipes will be easy to convert by using organic ingredients.
And you can feel good that you are saving trees by going with an Ebook.



You can also choose a FREE Ebook for Cupcakes



And lastly, an Ebook for Brownies



I am not sure if you can download all 3 when you sign up or if you have to choose only 1. So pick your favorite first just in case! I will update when I found out if you can get all 3.

Recipe: Baked Pear Crumble

Baked Pear Crumble

This is a very simple and easily modified recipe for breakfast, brunch, or dessert.
I made this with pear, but you can use apples or peaches as well.

I used organic ingredients for nearly everything.
The flaxseed makes this healthier than your kids will realize.

Lightly grease an 8X8 dish with butter.
Wash, Peel, and Cut your fresh organic fruit.
Put them in the bowl with a little bit of LEMON so they don't brown.

Mix in a cinnamon/sugar mix of 1 TB cinnamon and 1/4 cup sugar.
( I used organic fair trade raw sugar)

Set aside.

For Crumble:

2 cups oatmeal flakes
1 cup organic wheat flour
2 TB ground flaxseed
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 cup softened butter

Combine all ingredients. When mixed well, pour on top of the fruit.
Put it in the oven for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees.

Serve warm with whipping cream or vanilla ice cream.

I took pictures and then somehow deleted them. Awesome.

Simple Organic Printable Coupons

Simply Organic keeps a nice list of printable coupons on their website.
Next time you need to buy a spice or baking item, check here first.

Simply Organic Coupons


 

I need your help with a recipe: Cream of Chicken Soup

I make my family a recipe called Haystacks.
It starts with rice.
Then you add shredded cheese and chicken.
Then you add a cream of chicken sauce.

Topping include peas, chow mein noodles, almond slivers, pineapple chucks, coconut, green onions, etc etc etc. Really whatever you want. It sounds super weird, but it is one of the few things I can get my entire family to eat-- mostly because they can customize their toppings to their preferences.

Here is the problem. One of my resolutions is to be an MSG FREE home. We can't avoid it at restaurants or when we are invited to eat at someone else's house, but I can choose what comes in my home. Campbell's Cream of Chicken Soup has MSG in it. Even the "healthy" version.
I can't find a good replacement.
So I want to learn to make it from scratch. I want a nice rich creamy sauce that isn't too difficult to make.

Do you have a recipe?

PLEASE leave your recipe in the comments below.

THANK YOU!

Melinda

UPDATE: Thank you to Melinda (not me another one) for submitting this recipe. It tells you how to convert a basic recipe into Cream of Chicken, Tomatoe, or Mushroom. Nice!
Cream of Chicken Soup Substitution

All about Quinoa Plus a Plethora of Recipes

First things first: it's pronounced KEEN- WA. That's right Noah has nothing to do with it.

And secondly-- let me tell you the best thing about Quinoa. It's a perfect protein--- and it's a vegetable!

(No, I'm not mistaken. Although it looks like a grain, it is actually related to spinach and thus a vegetable)


A perfect protein means it contains ALL 9 amino acids. It is also rich in phosphorus, iron, and magnesium. It is a good source of dietary fiber. And it's naturally gluten-free.

And guess what? It tastes good.

Most people use it anywhere they typically use rice. Other's use it as an oatmeal replacement.
It's encredibly versatile and it's combination of great taste and texture lend it to recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert!

The easiest way to serve Quinoa is to prepare it just like you would rice and serve it plain as a side dish. Or as a breakfast oatmeal with brown sugar and milk.

First you need to know how to cook Quinoa. There are several different methods, but this lady seems to know her stuff, so I am including her directions:

How to cook Perfect Quinoa  by Wendy Polisi


In fact, if you sign up for her newsletter you can download her FREE Quinoa Cookbook HERE



And here are a plethora of recipes for you to experiment with:
If you try one, please let us know how it goes! We love feedback from you.


Quinoa Pancakes

Quinoa Raisin Muffins

Quinoa Burgers

Quinoa Spinach Bake

Quinoa Black Bean and Mango Salad

Breakfast Quinoa with Mango and Coconut

Blueberry Breakfast Quinoa

Lemon Garlic Quinoa Cakes

Quinoa Stuffed Artichokes

Quinoa Zuchini Bread

Top 10 Quinoa for Dessert Recipes

Have anything to add about Quinoa? A great recipe? Nutritional information?
Please comment below.
Thank you fotosearch.com for the free stock photos.

Simply Organic Baking Coupons

Many times organic coupons will not be found in the Sunday paper or on popular coupon sites like coupons.com.

Why?

It's simple. Organics are the little guys. They are mom and pop farmer and co-ops fighting for real food. They don't have the budget to pay for advertising.

It doesn't mean they don't want to issue coupons and give you deals however.
In order to keep costs down, they usually put the coupon directly on their websites.
This way they aren't paying outside advertising fees. Heck- they aren't even paying for paper and ink- since you are printing these at home.

What it does mean is that you have to do more of the work. Go to each and every website of the organic food companies and sign up for their newsletters and look for printable coupons. I am working on a list of these for you to cut down on your browsing time, but as you can imagine, it's a big job and it's going to take me a while. In the meantime, head on over to Simply Organic and Print These Coupons for baking mixes, spices, extracts, etc etc.

Recipe: Baked Kale Chips

Kale is a leafy green in the cabbage family. It can be baked into a light crispy chip in a matter of minutes. A great snack to munch on instead of potato chips or cookies. Experiment with seasonings to mix it up and keep it exciting. For this recipe I went with a basic Seasoning Salt.

 Preheat over to 400 degrees. Wash your Kale. It's very curly so I make sure to get in between the curls on both sides. Then pat dry with a paper towel.

Cut the stalks off and discard (or feed to your guinea pig, chickens, or compost pile). Cut or tear them into bite sized pieces and arrange on a cook sheet.

Using a brush, lightly oil the Kale on 1 side with olive oil, or your favorite oil. In a pinch you can spray with a cooking spray. Then sprinkle on your favorite seasons. Salt and Pepper. Seasoning Salt. Garlic Salt. Be adventurous. Bake in the over for up to 10 minutes. Check them after 5. They brown quickly! If it's really thick Kale you might need to turn them once. They are done when they are light, crispy, and browned on the edges. Taste test one to doneness, you don't want them chewy.

I attempted to store the left overs in an air tight container and they immediately started wilting again. So I suggest making just enough to serve immediately. My first child tolerated them. My second child loved them. And my third child wouldn't even try one. I'd love to hear how this went down in YOUR house.

Recipe: Frittata

Frittatas are a delicious and fun way to use up leftover veggies. Serve for  a weekend breakfast or have breakfast for dinner! (Yum)

½ large onion, chopped

3 small garlic cloves, minced

Olive oil

2 handfuls spinach

1 cup swiss cheese, grated

¾ cup diced cooked carrot (leftover roasted carrot is ideal)

1 heaping cup diced cooked potato

4 pieces thick-cut bacon, cooked and crumbled

Sour cream, avocado, green onion for serving

8 eggs

1 cup milk

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Heat some olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed skillet. Add the onions and cook for about 5 minutes on medium heat until onions are soft. Add garlic and spinach and stir until spinach is wilted. Transfer mixture to another bowl.

Whisk together eggs, milk, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Stir in the bacon, potato, carrot, cheese, and onion/spinach mixture.

Heat the same skillet you cooked the onions in (oil the pan if necessary). Pour in the egg mixture and cook over medium-high heat. Once the eggs start to set around the edges and the bottom is cooked finish cooking the top under the broiler until set and lightly browned.

Cut into wedges and serve. Top with sour cream, avocado or green onion.

Customize your frittata:

Instead of bacon try diced ham, Canadian bacon or pancetta

Instead of Swiss cheese try Fontina, Gruyere, sharp Cheddar or Feta

Try leeks, apple, red bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, kale...

Endless possibilities!

Recipe: Double-Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Last night I was having a major cookie craving after the kids went to bed. I knew these cookies would be my best and fastest option. They are chewy and chocolatey and I only have to wait about a half hour to get one into my face. Perfecto!

Did I mention they have oats and whole wheat and antioxidant rich cocoa powder? Also, the recipe only calls for one egg, remember these chocolate delights for those times when you need to bake but only have a lone egg left in the fridge.

Double-Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

1 stick butter

½ cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 ¼ cups flour (I used whole wheat)

3 tablespoons cocoa

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 ¼ cups oats (I used rolled)

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Cream the butter and brown sugar together in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the egg and vanilla.

Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

Add flour mixture to butter mixture and mix well. Add the oats until completely moistened and then stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop heaping tablespoonfuls onto a baking sheet (flatten slightly with your fingers as these cookies don’t spread while baking). Bake for 9-11 minutes. I would say closer to 8 or 9 minutes—DO NOT OVERBAKE, the cookies will still be very soft. Let them finish baking on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes before letting them cool completely on a wire rack.

Makes 18 cookies.

Recipe from Chocolate Never Faileth

Roasted Carrots

Carrots are naturally sweet and when roasted become even sweeter. They couldn’t be easier to prepare.

I try to make healthy eating as fun as I can for the kids so we take turns naming our food at dinnertime (a la ‘I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato’).

My kitchen assistants

Preheat oven to 400° F. Plan for at least two medium-sized carrots per person. Wash and peel carrots.

For Sliced carrots (a.k.a. ‘carrot buttons’ in our house)

Slice carrots to 1/8”-inch thick.  (These went over like gang busters on Christmas. People were exclaiming things like "I don't usually like carrots!", thought you should know.)

For Peeled carrots (‘carrot ribbons’)

After peeling outer skin off carrots just keep on peeling lengthwise on one side of the carrot to form “ribbons”. Arrange loosely on the baking sheet.

For Whole carrots ("Eh, What's up, Doc?")

            Trim ends, done!

For Carrots, Parsnips, and white Sweet Potatoes

Slice carrots. Wash and peel parsnips (slice parsnips lengthwise and quarter them at the fat end so they end up around the same size as the carrot slices). Wash and dice sweet potatoes small so they will cook as fast as the carrots and parsnips. 

Place prepared carrots on a cookie sheet. Generously sprinkle carrots with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Go ahead and add any spices you would like—fresh or dried thyme is really excellent or throw some Creole seasoning on if you really want to live! Drizzle with some extra virgin olive oil (you can get in there with your hands to make sure they all get coated, go for it!).

Bake for 15-20 minutes, stir them around and continue baking another 10-15 minutes or until desired doneness. The longer they go the more caramelized and tender they will become.

I buy organic produce whenever I can and carrots are sometimes just as affordable as non-organic. Costco sells a 10-pound bag of organic carrots for under $4 at certain times of the year! It lasts us a few weeks.