Oat Flour Breakfast Pancakes

photo by mandymooo on Flickr

My husband makes these for me because they are wheat-free. I'm not a celiac so I don't need gluten free oat flour, I can tolerate regular oats just fine...and when we use the Star Wars molds they seem to taste even better....Yoda's ears are the best!

Many wheat-free and GF recipes have a complicated mixture of flours that try to mimic wheat flour and it's glutinous properties.  With these little guys it doesn't need seem to be so important. Don't get me wrong, they are not thick and airy IHOP style cakes, they're a little thinner but they have a nice (almost creamy) oaty taste that I love!

What you need:

• 1 cup oat flour
• 1 large egg (from happy pasture-raised chickens)
• 1 Tbsp vanilla
• 1 tspn baking soda
• pinch of salt
• enough milk to make a batter, about 1/2 cup (we use almond milk)

How you make them;

• Mix oat flour and baking soda in a bowl and set aside.
• Beat eggs together with milk and vanilla and then add to flour bowl and mix well to form a thick batter.
• Let the batter rest for a few minutes while you heat a skillet - we use an electric skillet set to about 350 F
• Slowly pour batter onto skillet and let it spread out into 5-6 inch disks.  Cook for about 3 minutes on each side.  Place in a warm place while you finish the remaining batter.

If you use a shaped form, spray the form with oil (Pam) before filling with batter.

They are not as fluffy as regular pancakes, but much nicer than ones made with rice flour or GF mixes...well I think they are!

Serve with  fresh fruit, apple sauce or fresh fruit stewed with a little stevia and frozen until needed.

Dried Apricot & Nut Treats

I'm a bit of a raw ball freak these days, may be it's the cold weather or the fact they are so easy to make and I always have nuts and dried fruit in the pantry!

This is an adult version of a raw fruit and nut ball recipe.  I say "adult" as they are not very sweet because they are made with bitter dark chocolate powder that kids (and husbands) generally don't like.

What you need;
1/2 cup of almonds
1/2 cup of hazelnuts
dash ground ginger (about 1/8 to 1/4 of a tsp)
dash ground coriander (about 1/8 to 1/4 of a tsp)
1/2 cup dried apricots (roughly chopped)
2 Tbsps hazelnut oil (you could use any nut oil or flax or coconut oil)
2 Tbsps unsweetened dark coco powder 
Optional
dust lightly with stevia

How to make them;

• Put the nuts and spices into a food processor and mix until they resemble really coarse sand
• Add apricots, oil, coco powder and process until well mixed  
• Take rounded dessertspoon scoops and form into a ball in the palm of your hand; the ingredients should be crumbly, but hold it's form when pressed together
• Put the balls onto a tray or into small cake cups (if you have them)
• Put formed balls into the fridge to set for about an hour

There should be enough mix to make about 16 small walnut sized balls.  They will last a couple of weeks if stored in a cool dry place (tub/tin) if they aren't eaten before then :-)

Why not make a batch of Date & Nut Treats so you have a choice!

[vegan gluten-free dairy-free soy-free wheat-free]

Spinach Dip

My usual dilemma - what to do with green leafy stuff.  I blame it on the fact I grew up in Scotland; we had root vegetables and we imported citrus, everything else is sort of vague in my memory...though I do remember cabbage cooked in a pressure cooker.

Oh how I wish my mother was alive to taste this.

• The first thing you will notice is my spinach dip is green - It has spinach in it :-)
• It's not white with green flecks, it has spinach in it :->
• It has no cholesterol, but it does have spinach in it :-]

This is so easy, I can believe I didn't work this out years ago.

What you need:
1 bunch of fresh spinach (enough to fill a small 2 quart bowl...small soccer ball size...geeze I wish I'd weighed it!)
1/4 cup of cashew cream or sour cream or yogurt
1/4 cup Vegenaise (I use the grape seed oil version) or the mayonnaise of your choice
1 tsp onion powder
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Salt to taste - you shouldn't need much since the nutritional yeast mimics saltiness

How you make it:

• Put spinach in a food processor and pulse to reduce the volume so you can add the other ingredients
• Add the rest of the ingredients and pulse to mix
• Serve with organic wheat-free corn tortillas

This recipe makes about 1 cup of dip.

Optional Modification - if you need more dip but don't have the spinach you can double the quantities of cashew cream and Vegenaise to make a less-green version.  I don't approve, but it can be done in extreme circumstances ;-)

Fishermans Pie...Ahoy there matey

I love seafood and I love any kind of baked fish pie.  Before I moved to the center of the US I had moved over 15 times but never lived more than 50 miles from a coast and always close to an abundance of fish protein.

Luckily where I live now there's an  Irish Bar that has a Fishermans Pie on the menu that I used to love before I worked out that my system couldn't cope too well with wheat and I also got used to a lower dairy consumption due to my husband being dairy-free.  Now, after-effects of the flaky pastry top and creamy sherry sauce don't appeal quite so much. I longed for something similar to satisfy my fish pie craving.
 
I thought an easy potato top would be nice and I thought about making a sauce, but then I decided to keep it simple; all I needed to do was bake the fish with vegetables and that would probably provide the moisture for the filling, ah ha!

This is roughly what you need:

For the topping
1 lb potatoes (or less if you want it thinner than a 1 inch topping)
2-3 Tbsp of Natural Balance or coconut oil (I used a mixture of both)
Breadcrumbs or a 50-50 mix of almond flour and nutritional yeast



For the pie filling
2 medium size carrots
1 stick of celery
1 zucchini/courgette
1/2 cup frozen corn or peas
2 pieces of fish (about 12 oz, I used all salmon -  I would use a white fish and salmon next time for variety)
1 cup of prawns or scallops, lightly chopped
1 tspn salt and herbs such as dill or tarragon, or your favorite fish seasoning
1/2 cup cheese (I used Daiya, dairy free cheese) 
Juice of half a lemon (use the other half for a garnish)

This is how you make it:

• Peel the potatoes, chop into 3/4 inch cubes and boil for 15 - 20 minutes.
• Set the oven to 375 F

• Meanwhile, grate the vegetables (I used the grater blade on the Cuisinart, zoom, zoom), add corn, coarsly chopped prawns, cubed fish and toss together well with seasonings and cheese. 
• Add to baking dish and squeeze half a lemon over the top (I used a 9 x 7 inch dish)

• Mash the cooked potatoes with Natural Balance or Coconut oil and add to the top of the vegetable and fish mixture. 
• Sprinkle breadcrumbs (or a GF alternative) to the top to help make the top a little crispy.
• Bake in a preheated oven for about 40 minutes until the top is lightly browned and your kitchen starts to smell like there is a wonderful fish pie near by :-)  
• Serve with a wedge of lemon and enjoy.

Regular size serving (1/4 of recipe)

This makes about 4 average size servings, but could be split into two "hungry person" portions!

This came out pretty well; who doesn't like mashed potatoes when it's below freezing outside?  The filling was moist and I didn't miss a creamy sauce as the potatoes provided some creaminess to the overall dish.  I may add a dash of sherry next time and not add as much of the seafood seasoning as I don't think it needed it.

Date & Nut Treats

I've tried a few raw ball recipes and they are either too soft and need to be stored frozen or too rustic and not very appealing.  I dinked around and merged some of the things I liked from a few different recipes and came up with this version that has no added sugar and can be modified quite easily depending what you have in the pantry.  I find these a little too nice, it's difficult to eat just one!

 What you need
1/2 cup of almonds
1/2 cup of cashews
dash nutmeg (about 1/8 to 1/4 of a tsp)
dash ground cardamon
1/2 cup pitted dates
1 Tbsp hazelnut oil (you could use any nut oil or flax or coconut)
1/2 cup chocolate chips

How you make them

• Put the nuts, nutmeg and cardamon into a food processor and mix until they resemble really coarse sand.
• Add the dates and oil and pulse until they are mixed in well - see photo 
• Finally add the choc chips and pulse just to mix through
• Take rounded dessertspoon scoops and form into a ball in the palm of your hand; the ingredients should be crumbly, but hold it's form when pressed together
• Put the balls onto a tray or into small cake cups (I had some so I used them, but they are not a total requirement)
• Put formed balls into the fridge to set for about an hour

The mix should make enough for about 20 balls that will last a couple of weeks if stored in a cool dry place (tub/tin).  I once calculated the  nutritional value of them and I think they are about 60 calories each (if split into 20) have about 5 grams of carbohydrate and 1 gram of fiber. 

Substitutions

• You could probably substitute the cashews for macadamias or even walnuts 
• I bet figs would work as well as dates - I have some dried apricots and I'm sure they would be good too but may need more pulsing than dates (pulse separately if you try it)
• Cardamom could be replaced with cinnamon or even a pumpkin spice blend
• For a healthier option you could use cacao nibs in place of choc chips 

[raw vegan  gluten-free dairy-free soy-free wheat-free]

Coconut Oil...it kinda rocks!

Coconut oil has had a bad rap and that is so sad because it really is good for you, it's a good oil, it's one of the good guys. Take some politics and a little bit of misunderstanding and it was almost eliminated from our general food source in the 80s. Nutritional historians (if there is such a thing) will be talking about the injustice of coconut oil in years to come.  Just remember you read it here first!

What we now know is that not all saturated fats are the same and the fats in coconut oil are not the villains we were led to believe they were. The truth lies in the length of the saturated fats; medium chain fatty acids (MCFA) are not metabolized the same as long chain fatty acids.  In a few days of passive research I have found only good articles about MCFA in relation to coconut oil nutrition.  I find that quite revealing, because if you do a search on agave sweetener you get a mixed list of articles claiming it is the sweetener if choice because it is low glycemic and a bunch of articles claiming it is the same (if not worse) than high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).  I may write a blog post about "higher than HFCS agave" in the future, but for now I'm all about coconut oil. In fact the more I read about the medium chain fatty acids in coconut oil the more I want to shout out their virtues to the world!

I haven't tried to rewrite and summarize the words of good research writers and scientists, in this blog post I tried to provide a collection of articles and paragraphs that I found informative, fascinating and downright uplifting.  For the few days this post sat in my blog draft list I was overcome with a strange feeling of enthusiasm and joy, as if I had just discovered a cure for cancer, Alzheimer's and anti-aging all at once. This knowledge has empowered me, I truly believe the science and chemistry I have read recently will influence me for the rest of my life.

I know, I'm sounding like a religious coconut freak, so if you read only one article on coconut oil, please read this one by Dr Mary Newport and her husband - http://coconutoil.com/AlzheimersDiseaseDrMaryNewport.pdf  

It's a fact that coconut oil is high in saturated fat...we assumed that meant it was bad for us and would clog our arteries....so we stopped using it.

Audrey Kunin, M.D. had the same concern about the saturated fat content of coconut oil; http://www.doctoroz.com/blog/audrey-kunin-md/going-nuts-about-coconut-oil "I have avoided one of my favorite food sources due to my concern that it was high in "bad" fat. Warned about the high levels of saturated fat found in coconut oils, I sadly said goodbye to coconut milk-based sauces, macaroons, piña  coladas and Mounds bars. My palate protested the unfairness of a plant saturated with saturated fat!" 

However on further investigation Dr Kunin found that there is very good information out there to suggest we should all be eating more coconut oil!

"I discovered that my general health concerns about using either coconut or coconut oil in my recipes was unfounded. Coconut oil is composed of an unusual medium chain fatty acid. These fats don't wreak the havoc on the cardiovascular system that its saturated-fat cousins cause." 

The most ironic thing is coconut oil may be The Healthiest Oil on Earth says Dr Ray Peat.  He also has an excellent article here Coconut Oil and Its Virtues  - I have pasted my favorite paragraph here; 

"When I first used coconut oil I saw an immediate response, that convinced me my metabolism was chronically inhibited by something that was easily alleviated by "dilution" or molecular competition.  I had put a tablespoonful of coconut oil on some rice I had for supper, and half an hour later while I was reading, I noticed I was breathing more deeply than' normal.  I saw that my skin was pink, and I found that my pulse was faster than normal--about 98, 1 think.  After an hour or two, my pulse and breathing returned to normal.  Every day for a couple of weeks I noticed the same response while I was digesting a small amount of coconut oil, but gradually it didn't happen any more, and I increased my daily consumption of the oil to about an ounce.  I kept eating the same foods as before (including a quart of ice cream every day), except that I added about 200 or 250 calories per day as coconut oil.  Apparently the metabolic surges that happened at first were an indication that my body was compensating for an anti-thyroid substance by producing more thyroid hormone;  when the coconut oil relieved the inhibition, I experienced a moment of slight hyperthyroidism, but after a time the inhibitor became less effective, and my body adjusted by producing slightly less thyroid hormone.  But over the next few months, I saw that my weight was slowly and consistently decreasing.  It had been steady at 185 pounds for 25 years, but over a period of six months it dropped to about 175 pounds.  I found that eating more coconut oil lowered my weight another few pounds, and eating less caused it to increase."

If that doesn't convince you check out this from Oprah's doctor Dr Oz.

Photo of So Delicious coconut milk carton

 Coconut Oil Super Powers | The Dr. Oz Show

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/coconut-oil-super-powers-pt-1
http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/coconut-oil-super-powers-pt-2 

Dr. Oz reveals the 3 most powerful health benefits of this tropical oil. Learn how it can help you lose weight, treat skin conditions and ulcers. 

Below I pasted more of the amazing benefits of coconut oil from this article; http://www.coconutoil-online.com/Medium_Chain_Triglycerides.html (MCT)

"Digestion and Nutrient Absorption
The digestive health advantages of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA) over long-chain fatty acids (LCFA) are due to the differences in the way our bodies metabolize these fats. Because the MCFA molecules are smaller, they require less energy and fewer enzymes to break them down for digestion. They are digested and absorbed quickly and with minimal effort.
Metabolism and Energy  
The fact that MCFA digest immediately to produce energy and stimulate metabolism has led athletes to use them as a means to enhance exercise performance. Studies indicate this may be true.
Nature's Perfect Food in Nature's Nectar  
An important component of breast milk is medium-chain fatty acids, principally lauric acid. Lauric acid is also the primary saturated fatty acid found in coconut oil. Apparently nature thought it essential to the baby's health to include it."

Some of the important reasons medium-chain fatty acids are included in milk are improved nutrient absorption and digestive function. As noted earlier, pancreatic enzymes aren't even necessary to digest them. They also help to regulate blood sugar levels. Another very important function is that medium-chain fatty acids protect the baby from harmful microorganisms. The baby's immature immune system is supported by the antibacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal, and anti-parasitic properties of these vital fatty acids. In fact, without these unique saturated fats, the baby would probably not survive long. It would become malnourished and highly susceptible to a myriad of infectious diseases."

Another good list of Coconut Oil sites is listed here http://www.coconutoil.com/research.htm It is where I found my holy grail of articles by Dr Mary Newport; http://coconutoil.com/AlzheimersDiseaseDrMaryNewport.pdf  This article almost brought me to tears.

Photo of So Delicious coconut milk carton

www.sodeliciousdairyfree.com

You will notice the So Delicious brand of coconut milk is marketed as having medium chain fatty acids (MCFA), which by now you know means "really easy to digest (and not stored) good fat".  When you read at the nutritional information of a coconut product you have to pay attention to the type of saturated fat, it must be medium chain fatty acids (MCFT) or medium chain triglycerides (MCT) and not hydrogenated. There will be over processed and less healthy coconut products out there - be educated on the differences and be healthy!

And finally, how to get more coconut oil into your body;

• Always use it to saute vegetables

• Add a tablespoon to rice or mashed potatoes before serving

• Add to oatmeal in the morning

• Use it in place of oil, butter or margarine in baking

• Use So Delicious coconut milk and creamer instead of dairy and other non dairy creamers. So Delicious also makes coconut yogurt, kefir and ice cream :-)   

The Spunky Coconut had it right all along!  I'm so sorry I doubted you Kelly!  Check out the great GF CF recipes on her blog - http://www.thespunkycoconut.com/

And don't forget to use it on your skin, it is excellent for chronic dry skin!  You can use the same cooking coconut oil, no need to buy a special cosmetic version.


Where to buy
I'm actually surprised to see it more and more in regular groceries and stores.
If you start using coconut oil as much as you should you might want to buy it in bulk online;
http://www.nutsonline.com/nuts/coconut/oil.html
http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/ 


Note added a few days later....
You should know that coconut oil has a mild laxative effect.  It start to use coconut oil you need to start eating it in small amounts and gradually build up your tolerance.  The first week when I either drank a small glass of coconut kefir or ate a meal where I had used as little as 1 tablespoon of oil to fry onions I got a slight stomach ache about 20 minutes later.  The ache wasn't extreme but it was noticeable. My husband whined about it, but we all know men can't deal with pain as well as XX chromosome individuals (just kidding honey!). Anyway, be forewarned, take it easy, don't overdo it and gradually introduce those MCFA into your life!

Chia Seeds - You can eat them!

Popular Use for Chia Seeds
Say "Chia" and most people will start singing the Chia Pet TV ad., "Ch, Ch, Ch, Chia!" The seeds are not thought of as a food, they're seeds for a Chia Pet toy; the gag gift for Secret Santa games and people you don't know very well.

If you have never had the pleasure of receiving a Chia Pet you may not know how you get the seeds to stick on the clay pet and head forms (BTW - I've grown Scoobie Doo and Homer Simpson Chia heads in the past).   When you make a chia pet you soak the tiny black seeds overnight in water.  The seeds swell as they soak up water and the next day the globby seeds are spreadable and readily stick to the clay chia pet forms.

...But You Can Eat Them
What you may also not know is you can eat chia seeds! Nutritionally they're actually very good for you and the absorption effect of chia seeds can be used in cooking to thicken solutions.  They can be used in cases where wheat and gluten ingredients (flours) are used to thicken soups and sauces, and  in crock pot recipes that call for semolina to be added to create thicker sauce (semolina is the milled product of durum wheat).  So chia seeds can be an important aid to a gluten and wheat-free diet. You can add chia seeds to the following;

• To thicken home made chili
• To thicken stews and soups
• As a replacement for semolina in Crock Pot recipes
• As a replacement in recipes that call for the addition of flour at the end to thicken
• To thicken runny home made yogurt and puddings

They need to soak a while, so add to pots early in the cooking cycle and add to runny deserts and leave overnight in the fridge. In both cases they seeds will produce a semolina or frogspawn consistency, if you don't like that texture you can buzz them in a blender to make a smoother solution; in stews I hardly notice them.

Really, You Should Eat Them!
Those little black seeds are incredibly good for you. Chia seeds are the richest plant source of omega-3, in fact they contain more omega-3 than salmon or flax seeds. They are also easier to digest than flax seeds, don't need to be ground up and are more stable than flax seeds.  Little black chia seeds have more antioxidants than blueberries and they contain 9 amino-acids. More detailed information can be found here.

Check out what  Dr Weil  has to say about them!

There are some articles that state they aid with weight loss, however the findings are inconclusive so, at this time, you shouldn't assume they have that property, just eat them because they are good for you; 

• Treat them like ground flax seeds and sprinkle on cereal
• Bake in muffins like you would poppy seeds
• Add to salads and dressing

They're so good for you, you should just have a jar next to the salt and pepper and sprinkle them on everything you eat - just kidding! 

I buy them in bulk here from Nuts Online