GF Crockpot Oatmeal :) Mmmm!

Hey friends - how do you tolerate GF oats? I know some people with celiac and other sensitivities to gluten can't even have them even the GF kind but some can. Anyways - if you can (or maybe there is another gluten-free grain you can sub for oats??? Maybe even brown rice? Not sure) - I have a SUPER YUMMY oatmeal recipe! I just bought GF oats to try. In fact - I'm experimenting tonight with putting it all in the crock pot on low overnight so Sunday morning (church day) we can still have a healthy, cheap and FAST easy meal - just scoop out of crock pot and into little bowls then stick crock bowl covered in fridge and off to church!

And it makes enough for more than one breakfast for sure! And I like it cold for dessert!

Anyways - I stuck 3 cups GF oats and 2 tablespoons of cinnamon, a pinch of salt, then 4 cups of drinking water, 1 cup almond milk, 1 cup hazelnut milk (I just threw that in for fun to see if it adds anything), 1 cup apple juice, 1 tablespoon of vanilla, 4 tablespoons of maple syrup. Then I grated (like with a cheese grater) 1 whole apple (peel and all!) - threw that in, a small handful of raw slivered almonds (they soak and aren't as crunchy), 1/3 cup raisins. It is amazingly good! Psst - I add a twinge extra cinnamon, vanilla and maple and salt sometimes.

Chicken!!

A friend brought us a most yummy meal while I was recovering from the birth of our daughter in August. It was SO good (I promise to get the recipe and also post it!) that we did our own version and it has also been a HIT!

So - here's the EASY meal: Big glass or metal pan (the kind you bake a turkey in). Cut into cubes a sack of red potatoes (organic in our case - avoid the fungicides as potatoes are a heavily treated crop). Cut up a bunch of celery and cut up two whole sweet onions. Put the veggies into the pan then stick a whole chicken on top. Pour in about 1.5 cups of water and pour 1/3 cup grapeseed oil (or olive oil, etc.) over the veggies and chicken. Lightly salt over the whole thing. Put in the oven for (in our case) 2 hours at 350. It is SOOOO good, healthy and cheap and something our entire family can eat! You can add other veggies also (I'd add carrots but someone in our family is allergic to them). Totall gluten free, casein free. No sugar, preservatives, colors, etc... just yummy protein and veggies!!

Yogurt/smoothies - Peach and strawberry.

For those avoiding ALL casein (not just cow's milk) - I suppose you could alter this and use some other type (coconut, almond, etc.) of "milk".

I bought a 32 oz container of plain goat's milk yogurt and divided it in two to make two different flavors. Even though it's yogurt - in the end (after adding the fruit) it's more like a smoothie.

Peach:
16 oz yogurt (or almond milk, etc.)
2 peaches (I skinned mine)
2 tbsp. coconut sugar
additional sugar (I used 1 tsp. beet sugar)

Strawberry:
16 oz yogurt (or almond milk, etc.)
8 oz strawberries (organic if possible - these are often high in pesticides)
2 tbsp. coconut sugar
additional sugar (I used 1 tsp. beet sugar)

Directions: Blend all together in a blender.

I poured some into bowls for my kids to enjoy fresh. I put some into home-made popsicle makers for some frozen treats later. The rest I put into containers in the fridge. Enjoy!

Kamut no more :(

Sadly - I won't be using Kamut in my near-future recipes as I think my son has now developed a sensitivity to it (probably still not as bad as wheat - lower gluten - but still not gluten-free so over time I think he's gotten more sensitive to it). I may try it again later but for now I'll be switching over. Feel free to use Kamut in some of my recipes even if I don't - if you (your child) can tolerate it.

All Natural Gluten Free Yellow Play Dough!!!

This isn't really something to "eat" but... it's something I did have to use a recipe for and cook and I wanted it to be safe for my kids in case they do decide to put it in their mouths.

I took a recipe I found online and changed what I needed to make it gluten-free and to add color.

Recipe:

1/2 cup gluten-free flour (I used all purpose gluten-free flour).

1/2 cup corn starch

1/2 cup salt

2 tsp. cream of tartar

2 tablespoons turmeric (spice for color)

1 cup of water

1 tsp. cooking oil

Stir in all dry ingredients in a medium sauce pan then add water and oil and place on low heat. Stir and it will thicken. Turn off heat when you've stired it into a sort of "ball". Take it out and place into a glass container/jar to cool - with lid. I put that in the fridge so it would cool faster. When you take it out just "play" with it - ball it up until it sort of mixes up - then it's ready to play with!!

Bagel with strawberries

If you're having trouble getting used to whole or sprouted grain (or if you're getting used to using gluten-free bread) here's one way to make it yummy!

Ingredients:
Bagel (I used a sprouted grain bagel) (or gluten-free bread/bagel/rice cake)
Organic Whipped Creme Cheese (or dairy-free creme cheese/tofu)
Strawberries (organic, sliced)

Chocolate Cupcakes!

What could possibly be better to start off the blog than Chocolate Cupcakes?
































































I looked at several recipes before deciding how I was going to make mine and what I was going to sub-out and into my recipe. Here's what I came up with and it turned out so yummy!

Ingredients:

1 cup Kamut Flour
1/3 cup Coconut Flour
1 &1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
1 & 1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
2 Tsp Salt
3/4 Cup Coconut Sugar, packed
1/4 Cup Beet Sugar


1/4 Cup Pear Sauce (or you can use apple sauce - I used pear to lower salicylates)
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

2/3 Cup Goat's Milk
1/3 Cup water
1/2 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder


Seems like a lot but bear with me here - it's worth it!!!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake pan with liners (I used un-bleached ones).
Bring water and milk to a boil in a small sauce pan. When it's boiling turn off heat and mix in cocoa powder. Let cool.

In large bowl mix the dry ingredients (flours, baking soda, baking powder, sugars, salt)
In a small bowl mix pear (or apple) sauce, eggs, oil & vanilla.

Blend ingredients from smaller bowl into large bowl. Then mix in the chocolate/milk mix.

Fill cupcakes 3/4 full and bake at 350 degrees for roughly 10-15 minutes - (ovens vary - just watch 'til you think they're done then do the "toothpick" test).

I also made Chocolate Gnoche Frosting!

Ingredients:
4oz unsweetened chocolate

Your choice sweetener(s) to your taste:
I used: 1/4 cup beet sugar
1/4 cup date sugar
1&1/2 cup coconut sugar
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons pear juice concentrate

1&1/2 cups goat's milk
1 cup coconut milk

Sweeten (put in same bowl as chocolate) with your choice of sweetener(s). You can use less or more - to your taste. What I made turned out semi-sweet.

Pour boiling milk into bowl and mix. Let it cool - I put mine in the fridge for awhile.

You can either put it as "icing" over the cupcakes or whip it up as "frosting" on them.

Note: I found that the taste was too strong/dark and not sweet enough but if you mix in more sweetener it doesn't mix well unless you boil more milk and pour in on top of the additional sweetener and mixture. Adding more milk will also help you achieve a more mild chocolate. Once cooled I added a small carton of whipping creme and whipped up the frosting (obviously NOT casein-free) - and couldn't find my cake decorating supplies so just cut a hole in a sandwich bag to pipe the frosting and make it look neat. My kids ate it up!

GFCF NOTES: To make either of these casein (dairy) free just sub coconut or some other non-dairy "milk" instead of the goat's milk I have on my ingredient list. I haven't tried it that way but I assume it would come out pretty good.

To make the cupcakes gluten-free - Kamut flour is not gluten free but is supposed to contain a unique form of gluten that is supposed to be easier to digest. You can read more about this grain here. I LOVE how the Kamut flour mixed with the coconut flour has made these turn out! If you cannot have ANY gluten in the recipe then I suggest subbing for a gluten-free flour. The coconut flour is gluten free.

Sugar notes: I did use some beet sugar, which is a refined sugar - not the healthiest thing but I'm making cupcakes here and can't use cane sugar so I'm seeing if the beet sugar has the same effect (negative, sensitivity) or not and was careful to use a smaller amount of it and use mostly other sugars/sweeteners. I'm sure you can sub out the beet sugar for more coconut sugar or pear juice concentrate or something.