Blog Archives

Yes, I promised you a chocolate cake over a week ago. I apologize. I considered making the cake once more so I could retake the photo. Then we had an illness in our family, and that didn’t happen. (Thankfully, that family member is on the mend!) And then, this week, there has been a lot of drama about a certain (not-so) gluten-free pizza situation in the gluten-free community. I’ve been a bit distracted. No more excuses though.

Because cake just can’t wait.

Especially chocolate-y, moist, delicate cake with a rich, fudgy, coconut-y frosting.

Most especially when that cake is grain-free, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free, and is a bit more nutritious than most. It also has a secret ingredient. Well, not-so-secret anymore, since I put the ingredient in the title of this post. When serving this to guests (or your kids!), however, you don’t have to tell them about the zucchini. It can be our little secret. Since the zucchini is pureed, there are no detectable little green shreds in the bite of cake. In fact, the texture is rather uniform. And since the cake is a rich brown from the cocoa powder, the green is completely hidden. What the pureed zucchini provides is excellent moisture and a bit of structure. Made alone, this cake would be an excellent “snacking” cake – rich wtih chocolate and not overly sweet, but satisfying.

But frosting makes everything better, right? Lately, I’ve been working on a cinnamon roll recipe, and I’ve been opting to top it with a lightly sweetened coconut butter instead of a sugary icing. I fell in love with that bit of richness, and a light bulb came on - what if I tried to make a frosting using coconut butter? Adding coconut butter and even unrefined sugar alone was too sweet – but with a bit of coconut cream and some starch to thicken it, I had a lovely, spreadable frosting, fudgy and rich. Seriously, I could eat this stuff all by itself. (And I bet with a touch less coconut cream, you could totally make fudge with it. Maybe that’ll be a future project!) But on this cake, it provides that little extra something. It elevates it to “special” – perfect for a birthday celebration, Mother’s Day (hint, hint) or even because you wanted to have something chocolate.

Whatever the reason, you won’t regret this little cake.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake (grain-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free)

3 T coconut flour

1 1/2 c blanched almond flour

1 t salt

1/2 t baking soda

1/4 c raw cacao powder

1/2 t finely ground coffee (optional)

3 eggs at room temperature

3 T coconut oil, melted and cooled

1/4 c agave nectar or honey

1/4 t vanilla stevia extract

1 t vanilla extract

2 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted

1 c pureed zucchini (I just cut mine into chunks and threw it in my food processor)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9-inch cake pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together coconut and almond flours, salt, baking soda, cacao powder, and coffee. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, coconut oil, agave, stevia, vanilla extract, and melted chocolate. Whisk in zucchini puree. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix to combine well.

Scrape batter into cake pan and spread out evenly. .

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Coconut “Buttercream” Frosting

1/4 c coconut butter (such as Artisana, or you can make your own)

1/4 c raw cacao powder

1/4 c coconut oil (cool and semi-solid, but not rock-hard)

1/3 – 1/2 c powdered unrefined sugar (I made my own in my coffee grinder with raw turbinado sugar)

1-2 T arrowroot starch

1 t vanilla extract

1 T coconut flour

1/3 c coconut cream (cream from the top of the coconut milk in a can)

Place all ingredients in the bowl of a mixer with a whisk attachment. Mix on medium until well-blended, adding a touch more starch if too thin, and a bit more coconut cream if too thick. If mixture starts to look oily or come apart, refrigerate for a while and re-whisk to get it to thicken properly and set.

Spread frosting over top of cake.

Refrigerate cake until ready to serve.

posted on Thursday, May 10th, 2012 by altawrites Posted in Baked goods,Dairy-Free,Desserts,Gluten-Free,Vegetarian 11 Comments

I’ve mentioned before that cookies are my go-to baking treat. I wasn’t lying. If I get the urge to bake and experiment, the first place I go to is cookies. There’s a lot of room for successful experimentation in gluten-free cookies. They’re also easy to share, which is what I often do with my baked goods. My coworkers receive a great many of my creations. (Although the hubby’s coworkers received these – gotta spread the wealth from time to time!) And, they’re cookies. Cookies are awesome!

So I had a few minutes the other night, waiting for dinner to finish in the oven, and so I threw together these little babies. I made a small batch (but you could definitely double the recipe!), since I was experimenting, just to see how they’d turn out. They looked promising out of the oven, but they were even more delightful once they cooled. Comforting, sweet (but not overly so), a bit soft, a bit chewy. A perfect little bite after dinner, or to help through a long afternoon.

Of course, this means that other recipes that I’ve promised (like the chocolate zucchini cake pictured here) will have to wait a few more days. You see, I had requests for the recipe after I posted the photo on Facebook, so I went ahead and bumped these to the front of the line. But I promise, the cake will come. Soon. For now, enjoy this simple little treat.

Black Walnut Cookies (grain-free, dairy-free)

3/4 c blanched almond flour

2 T arrowroot starch

1/4 t baking soda

1/4 t salt

1/2 c sucanat, coconut palm sugar, or brown sugar

1/4 c almond butter

1 egg at room temperature

1 t vanilla extract

2 T coconut oil, melted and cooled

1/2 c chopped black walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, arrowroot, baking soda, salt and sugar. In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond butter, egg, vanilla, and coconut oil. Mix together the wet ingredients into the dry until well-blended. Stir in walnuts.

Scoop tablespoonfuls of dough and roll into balls. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden on the edges and bottoms. Allow to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, and then remove to finish cooling on a cooling rack.

Makes 12-14 cookies.

This post is linked to Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays at Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free and Whole Food Wednesdays at Beyond the Peel.

posted on Friday, May 4th, 2012 by altawrites Posted in Baked goods,Dairy-Free,Desserts,Gluten-Free,Kid-Friendly,Quick and Easy,Vegetarian 16 Comments

When I started a gluten-free diet, I inevitably reduced my crackers/chips/salty snacks intake. Sure, there are options available (more now than ever), and some brands sell pretty tasty gluten-free crackers, but most of the time, they aren’t exactly full of healthy ingredients (and sometimes, I can’t tolerate the ingredients in them), and they’re rarely cheap. For those reasons, I have grown accustomed to not eating too many of these kinds of foods.

But every now and then, a (gluten-free, dairy-free) girl needs a cracker. And not just any cracker. A “cheesy” cracker.

How does one make an enjoyable “cheesy” cracker without the cheese, exactly? By using some clever flavor combinations, of course – a mix of nutritional yeast flakes, red pepper, onion powder, lemon juice, and a touch of cayenne seems to elicit that “cheese” flavor to me in these crackers.

By the way – making your own crackers is way easier than it sounds. This cracker dough doesn’t stick (especially since you roll it between sheets of parchment paper), and it only takes a few minutes. I love making crackers, and these are my favorite so far. They are highly seasoned and perfect as is (I served them alongside some chicken soup), but I imagine they’d be delicious as a vehicle for scooping up mounds of hummus or baba ganoush.

“Cheesy” Crackers (Vegan, Gluten-Free)

1/2 c blanched almond flour

1/2 c almonds

2 T quinoa flour

1/2 c sunflower seeds

2 T hemp seeds

1 T flaxseed meal

2 T nutritional yeast flakes

1/2 t kosher salt

1/4 t onion powder

1/8 t cayenne powder

1 T coconut oil

1 T lemon juice

1 T roasted red pepper (from a jar or freshly roasted – your preference)

1-2 T water

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. In the bowl of a food processor, add the almond flour, almonds, quinoa flour, sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, and flaxseed meal. Process until ground and no chunks of nuts remain. Add nutritional yeast flakes, salt, onion powder, cayenne pepper, coconut oil, lemon juice, and red pepper and process again until the dough comes together. Add water as needed to make the dough stick – it shouldn’t be wet; it should look kind of dry but wet enough so that it holds together when you form some into a ball.

Place a large sheet of parchment paper on the counter and transfer the cracker dough to the paper. Cut another sheet of parchment paper and place on top of the dough. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough between the two sheets of parchment paper, lifting and repositioning the paper as needed, until the dough is about 1/8 inch or less and is as rectangular in shape as you can get it. Peel off the top piece of parchment paper. Using a pizza cutter, cut a grid of 1-inch squares.

Carefully transfer the entire sheet of parchment to your baking sheet, keeping the grid of crackers in tact. Bake for 20 minutes or until crackers are golden brown. Remove from oven and run the pizza cutter along the cut lines again. Allow to cool, then separate and serve.

Makes about 30 crackers.

What are your favorite gluten-free crackers? We’re sharing our favorites over at Udi’s Gluten-Free Living Community – a free, gluten-free resource for anything gluten-free!

This post is linked to Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays over at Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free.

posted on Sunday, February 26th, 2012 by altawrites Posted in Appetizers,Baked goods,Dairy-Free,Gluten-Free,Healthy Meals,Kid-Friendly,Vegetables,Vegetarian 26 Comments

chewy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, full of autumn flavors

Have you ever baked with pumpkin? Or tried to make pumpkin cookies? Pumpkin makes lovely breads and cakes. It bakes up light and fluffy, and provides lovely moisture. Unfortunately, light and fluffy aren’t good cookie characteristics, in my book. I love chewy cookies – especially chewy chocolate chip cookies. When pumpkin season came, I wanted to bake up pumpkin cookies, but didn’t want them all fluffy. What’s a chewy cookie lover to do?

So I started to think. What is it about pumpkin that turns those cookies into cake-like, fluffy treats? It dawned on me that pumpkin has a lot of moisture. Good for cakes and breads, to be sure, but it was ruining my perfect cookie. So the key? Remove some of the moisture from the pumpkin.

I got to work. I made a big batch of pumpkin butter from a gigantic cushaw squash I recently acquired. But rather than just adding pumpkin butter into a cookie recipe, I opted to reduce it further. I put some pumpkin butter in a saucepan and set it on medium-low heat, and I cooked it. And cooked it. Stirred and stirred, until it no longer looked like a pumpkin-y puree, and instead took on a thick texture more like tomato paste. Less moisture = less fluffy, I hoped.

I also opted to remove the egg white from the cookie recipe, figuring that an egg white would contribute to lift – something I didn’t want in my cookies. I left the yolk in, however, to hold things together and provide some additional fat.

Finally, I proceeded to wing it. I wanted to keep the cookie grain-free, so I went with almond flour. And while this recipe isn’t technically dairy-free (I used ghee), it is casein-free, so those with casein intolerance can still indulge. (I find that while I can’t tolerate regular or even grass-fed, cultured butter, I can tolerate a bit of ghee here and there.) If you can’t do ghee, try substituting coconut oil. Because I really wanted the pumpkin pie spice effect, I threw in extra cinnamon and nutmeg. I also added chocolate chips and some chopped pecans, just because.

It’s my cookie, and I can do what I want.

The result was more than I’d hoped. These cookies are tender, but chewy. Moist, but not overly so. They are indeed chocolate chip cookies, but they are so much more than that. They are like chocolate chip cookies and pumpkin pie got together and had a love child.

Gluten-Free, Grain-Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

7 T pumpkin butter paste (simmer pumpkin butter over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until texture resembles tomato paste)

1/4 c melted ghee (or coconut oil)

1/2 t vanilla extract

1 egg yolk

3/4 c brown sugar or coconut palm sugar

2 c almond flour (I tried this recipe with both Honeyville blanched almond flour and Bob’s Red Mill – both work, but I prefer Honeyville)

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t kosher salt

1/2 t cinnamon

1/4 t nutmeg

1/2 c dairy-free chocolate chips

1/3 c chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, mix together the pumpkin butter paste, ghee, vanilla extract, egg yolk, and brown sugar. In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry until combined. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans.

Scoop rounded tablespoonfuls of the dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes or until just starting to brown on the edges. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to finish cooling.

Makes about 1 1/2 dozen.

This post is linked to Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays at Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free.

posted on Tuesday, November 8th, 2011 by altawrites Posted in Baked goods,Desserts,Gluten-Free 11 Comments

The Daring Baker’s October 2011 challenge was Povitica, hosted by Jenni of The Gingered Whisk. Povitica is a traditional Eastern European Dessert Bread that is as lovely to look at as it is to eat! Jenni explained in our challenge that Povitica (pronounced po-va-teet-sa) is traditional Eastern European dessert bread that is traditionally served during the holiday season. It is also known as Nutroll, Potica, Kalachi, Strudia, just to name a few. Basically, the dough is rolled so thin that it’s see-through, and filled with a nut paste, rolled up, and baked so there are lovely layers of nut filling and sweet bread all over. It’s gorgeous. Just look at it.

I am enamored by the work and beauty that goes into this baked treat. But how to make it grain-free and dairy-free? I have been staying away from grains for a while now, and I didn’t want to work on a bread that I wouldn’t eat. (Guess I’m kinda selfish that way!) So obviously, I’d have to take the spirit of the challenge, and adapt to my own needs. I imagined what this bread would taste like (having never indulged in it before), and thought about creating a nut paste of my own and incorporating it into a grain-free bread. I’d noticed that Elana over at Elana’s Pantry recently posted a paleo bread recipe that I’ve been dying to try. However, I knew this bread would be a quick bread – a batter that definitely wouldn’t be kneaded or rolled. I’d have to swirl my nut paste into the bread, which obviously wouldn’t be an exact replication of a true povitica, but I hoped it’d be a good approximation.

Whether it was indeed an approximation to the original, flavor-wise, I won’t know. However, this was a tasty, not-too-sweet bread that held together well (a definite plus for gluten-free/grain-free bread!), with a subtle flavor of chocolate and cinnamon in the swirl. It also had the bonus of filling the house with a delicious aroma (even my husband commented about how good it smelled). I’d love to continue to work on various flavors of “swirls” in the bread – I used to be a fan of cinnamon raisin bread back in my gluten-eating days, and it’d be lovely to enjoy a slice of it again as a treat. A big thanks to Elana for working on a paleo-friendly bread that’s sandwich-worthy and delicious – it definitely helped make this challenge a possibility in my kitchen!

Grain-Free, Dairy-Free “Povitica” (a.k.a. pecan-swirl bread)

1 recipe paleo bread

1 cup raw pecans

5-6 pitted dates

1 T honey

1/2 t ground cinnamon

1 t cocoa powder

1 T coconut oil

3 T coconut milk

1/8 t Vanilla Creme liquid stevia

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a small loaf pan and set aside. Prepare the Paleo Bread batter as directed in the recipe, and scrape out of the food processor into a bowl. Place the pecans in the bowl of the food processor. Pulse until they resemble a coarse meal. Add dates, honey, cinnamon, cocoa powder, coconut oil, coconut milk, and stevia. Process until everything comes together into a paste, stopping and scraping down the sides as necessary.

Scoop half of the Paleo Bread batter into the loaf pan. Spoon out half of the nut paste and place spoonfuls all over on top of the batter. Scoop remaining Paleo Bread batter over and spread out. Spoon out remaining nut paste and place evenly over the top of the batter. Using a butter knife, swirl batter around, making a zig-zag motion, from one end of the pan to the other. If needed, smooth out the batter on the top with the back of a spoon.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, and remove from pan and place on wire rack to finish cooling.

posted on Thursday, October 27th, 2011 by altawrites Posted in Baked goods,Dairy-Free,Desserts,Gluten-Free,Vegetarian 15 Comments

 The Daring Bakers go retro this month! Thanks to one of our very talented non-blogging members, Sarah, the Daring Bakers were challenged to make Croissants using a recipe from the Queen of French Cooking, none other than Julia Child!

Yeah, when I read that, I got a lump in my throat. You know the kind – it was exactly like a cartoon character, facing imminent doom, swallowing that lump with the audible “gulp”. Scary.

Why so scary? Well, in addition to making gluten-free croissants (Kate over at Gluten-Free Gobsmacked has successfully made those, and they look amazing), since I really haven’t been consuming grains lately, I wanted to make them grain-free. And who has heard of grain-free, dairy-free, yeast-free croissants? Not me. But I figured I’d give it a shot. They wouldn’t be flaky in the traditional sense, but I’d try my best to make something edible and resembling a croissant.

And so I got started. I made a stiff dough and chilled it. I pounded out butter and chilled it too. I then read through the instructions posted on the Daring Bakers challenge, and in the spirit of how Julia Child makes her croissants, I folded over the dough multiple times, rolled it out, and eventually (very carefully) rolled up my croissants.

How did they come out? Well, like I said, not flaky in the traditional sense. However, they were edible. Tender even. I would have liked them a touch sweeter, actually, but overall, I was surprised that they came out. They’d definitely be tasty to dip into a sauce at dinner. It’s definitely a recipe worth investigating further.

I’ll consider this a win for me!

Grain-Free, Dairy-Free Croissants

1 c almond flour

1/2 c coconut flour

1/2 t baking soda

1 t salt

2 eggs

1/4 c non-dairy milk (I used So Delicious unsweetened coconut beverage)

1/4 c vegan butter*

1 egg white, for brushing

1 t turbinado sugar

Whisk together the almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs until frothy and add the non-dairy milk and whisk in. Add the wet ingredients to dry and stir to incorporate. The dough should be barely sticky; add additional almond flour as needed. On a large sheet of parchment paper, pat out dough to about 1/2 inch thick. Place another sheet of parchment paper on top and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, take another sheet of parchment paper and stick the butter on it. Place another sheet of parchment paper on top, and using a roller pin, pound out the butter until it’s about 1/8 inch thick. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and sprinkle with a bit of almond flour and roll out into 1/4 – 1/8 inch thick rectangle between the two sheets of parchment (if you’re having difficulty with the parchment sticking to the dough, sprinkle with a bit more almond flour. With some care, you ought to be able to peel away the parchment and leave the dough in one piece). Scrape butter from the paper and spread out onto the top two-thirds of the dough.

spreading out butter on my not-so-rectangular rectangle of dough

Fold the bottom third up. Fold the top third over the bottom third.

dough folded into thirds

Turn the dough 90 degrees, and roll out again to 1/4-1/8 inches.

turning dough 90 degrees

Repeat the process of folding in thirds and rolling out 4 times. After it’s rolled out for the final time, cover with parchment and stick in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Remove the dough from refrigerator and cut into about 9 squares with a pizza cutter. Cut each square in half diagonally to make two triangles out of each square.

cutting dough into triangles

Carefully roll up each triangle into a croissant shape, and place on a lined baking sheet. Curve the ends.

rolling up croissants

Brush each croissant with the egg white, and sprinkle a bit of turbinado sugar over each.

Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

 *vegan butter such as Earth Balance isn’t entirely grain-free, as it has ingredients derived from corn and soy, but you could possibly substitute shortening for the vegan butter. I’d be interested to see how it turns out.

This post is linked to Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays over at Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free.

posted on Tuesday, September 27th, 2011 by altawrites Posted in Baked goods,Dairy-Free,Gluten-Free,Kid-Friendly,Side Dishes 11 Comments

Where have I been? It’s been over a week since my last post. Did you miss me?

Well, hubby and I took a little vacation. I had high hopes for stopping long enough to post something here, but alas, I didn’t. I hope you don’t mind that I didn’t worry too much about it, but you see, that’s what vacations are supposed to be about – not worrying about much of anything. I think we did a pretty good job of that.

Where did we go? We left Saturday morning for a road trip to Ruidoso, New Mexico. It’s about 10 1/2 hours from Dallas – a long drive across the prairies and deserts of Central and West Texas and Eastern New Mexico. Truthfully, the drive wasn’t so bad, especially once we got into New Mexico, as the terrain changed quite a bit. But once we got into the mountains, we quickly started to realize just how beautiful New Mexico could be.

near Bonito, in the Lincoln National Forest

As we drew nearer to Ruidoso, it became clear the reason this little ski town was so popular. Even in the summer, it’s gorgeous. We spent the next few days shopping, eating, horseback riding, taking in the sights, and visiting White Sands National Monument. It was a great place to get away, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

deer would come right up to our back porch

view from the top of Apache Mountain

sledding down the dunes at White Sands

White Sands

woodpecker outside our back porch

Of course, I did find time to cook while we were there. We stayed in a little cabin in town, so we had a fully equipped kitchen at our disposal, as well as a grill. The night we arrived, we visited a local grocery store and picked up some things to get us through the next few days. During our stay, we enjoyed the following meals:

posted on Friday, September 16th, 2011 by altawrites Posted in Baked goods,Dairy-Free,Desserts,Gluten-Free,Vegetarian 14 Comments

Where have the menu plans gone? You might be asking. They haven’t been posted on my blog for a few weeks now. Well, long story short, I was on vacation for 2 weeks. While I had vague ideas of what I planned on cooking, I was in the midst of testing so many recipes for my upcoming book, and our schedule was so lax, that I didn’t have an actual “plan.” (In fact, there were evenings where, after hours of cooking and testing recipes, my husband asked what was for dinner, and my only plan was something like “There are brownies, a cake, crackers, bread, some tomato jam, and I’m working on a meatloaf. Would you like any of that?”  I had tons of food around, but often, there wasn’t a cohesive meal in sight.) Last week, I was still in post-vacation recovery mode, and a lot of the meals were last-minute compilations of what we needed to use up. Finally, this week, we’re back into the swing of things.

One of the recipes I was testing during my time off was a recipe I debuted last year, albeit in a slightly different form, as an appetizer for a crowd of guests (gluten and dairy eaters) that were visiting. Originally it was called an “appetizer square”, and was made with zucchini and crumbled pork sausage, rather than summer squash and chicken. It obviously went over well, as the pieces were gobbled down fairly quickly. When I came across it again, I remembered the abundance of squash in the refrigerator, and decided to make a different version. It turned out to be even better than the first, in my opinion.

What’s lovely about a recipe like this is that it’s versatile. Zucchini or summer squash can be used – and this time of year, most of us have more of both of these veggies than we’d like, so it’s a great way to use it up! Any leftover cooked meat can be used – or even beana (I could imagine black beans tasting scrumptious here!). Spice it how you’d like. Serve it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or as an appetizer. The sky is the limit here.

Summer Squash Chicken Frittata (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)

½ c olive oil, divided

½ c diced onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 t minced fresh sage

½ lb diced cooked chicken

½ t ground cumin

1 t herbs de Provence

1 t chile powder

4 whole eggs

½ c almond flour

¼ c coconut flour

1 T baking powder

3 c grated summer squash or zucchini

½ c Daiya cheese (or other non-dairy cheese)

1 T nutritional yeast flakes

½ t salt

¼ t ground black pepper

Heat a skillet to medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add onions to skillet and sauté for 3-4 minutes. Add garlic, sage, and chicken and sauté for another minute. Remove and allow to cool while you prepare the rest of the dish.

Grease a 13X9 baking dish and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk eggs until blended, and add the rest of the oil and whisk. Add in the flours, baking powder, onion-garlic-chicken mix, grated squash and remaining ingredients. Spread into prepared baking dish and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until browned on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool for 5 minutes and cut into squares. Makes 16 appetizer servings.

And now, for the menu for this week!

Monday

Breakfast: Healthy chocolate zucchini muffin, scrambled egg whites with spinach and tomato

Lunch: Roasted turkey breast, leftover veggies from Sunday dinner (grilled asparagus, green beans)

Dinner: Chicken with mole sauce, steamed brown rice, steamed broccoli

Tuesday

Breakfast: Smoothie with strawberries, spinach, protein powder, almond milk and chia seeds, scrambled egg whites with Daiya cheese

Lunch: Roasted turkey breast with baby carrots and steamed spinach, unless there are leftovers from dinner

Dinner: Garden salad, Meatballs

Wednesday

Breakfast: Healthy chocolate zucchini muffin, scrambled egg whites with spinach and tomatoes

Lunch: Garden salad with roasted turkey breast or tuna

Dinner: Brined pork chops, roasted sweet potatoes, steamed cauliflower and spinach

Thursday

Breakfast: Smoothie with acai berry, protein powder, banana, spinach, and chia seeds, scrambled egg whites

Lunch: Tuna, shredded carrots, and spinach in a brown rice tortilla wrap

Dinner: Grilled salmon, okra and tomatoes, grilled potatoes

Friday

Breakfast: Healthy chocolate zucchini muffin, scrambled egg whites with spinach and tomatoes

Lunch: Creamy tomato tofu soup, gluten-free crackers

Dinner: Fried brown rice with shrimp, green beans

Snacks this week will include fresh peaches, black bean dip on brown rice cakes, and apples with peanut or almond butter. I also have Tanka bars on hand if I need a bit of protein.

Want more great menu ideas? Check out Celiacs In The House and the Gluten-Free Menu Swap!

This post is linked to Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays at Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free.

posted on Monday, June 27th, 2011 by altawrites Posted in Appetizers,breakfast,Budget-Friendly,Chicken, Turkey, and other Poultry,Dairy-Free,Eggs,Gluten-Free,Healthy Meals,Main Dishes,Meal Plans,Quick and Easy,Vegetables 6 Comments

Do you remember squash casserole? If you’re from the South, it’s likely you’ve had it before (or quite often) – a cheesy, buttery, creamy casserole filled with squash that has been cooked within an inch of its life, topped with buttery crumbs. I didn’t grow up eating such a casserole (my parents aren’t from the South), but I definitely enjoyed it a time or two, typically in local diners that also served other Southern favorites, such as fried okra, chicken-fried steak, collard greens (with lots of ham or bacon), grits, and lots of biscuits and gravy. While tasty, it’s definitely not something that is friendly on the waistline or to those of us with gluten and dairy issues.

I’d forgotten about squash casserole, truth be told, until Sunday evening, when I was staring down some fresh yellow squash I’d picked up at the farmer’s market. I had unimaginative plans for it as a side dish for roasted chicken, figuring I’d saute it just until tender, season with a bit of salt and pepper, and call it good. But then, out of nowhere, squash casserole popped into my head. Also faced with an overabundance of swiss chard from my garden, the wheels started turning. I could make a squash casserole that would be tasty, but not a guilty pleasure. Something that could still be considered a vegetable. It could be possible to make something gluten-free, casein-free, and even low FODMAP-friendly.

And so this dish was born. It was still creamy from the Daiya cheese I used to top it, but not overly so. The vegetables were tender, but not overcooked. There was still a buttery flavor from the “crumb” topping. The chipotle chile powder added a lovely boost of flavor, so you really felt like you had a treat without a bunch of heaviness. I even enjoyed some leftovers for breakfast. As squash season hasn’t even really begun yet, I’m sure this won’t be the last time this dish graces our dinner table.

Squash and Chard Casserole (Gluten-Free, Casein-Free)

1 bunch swiss chard

2 T olive oil

3 c sliced yellow squash

½ t chipotle chile powder

Salt and pepper to taste

½ c Daiya cheddar cheese (or other vegan cheese alternative)

1 T ghee or olive oil (if you can’t tolerate ghee or prefer to make this vegan)

¼ c almond flour

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a medium-sized casserole dish (mine was an oval one about 9″X6″) and set aside.

Cut the swiss chard leaves from the stalks. Thinly slice the stalks and set aside, and chop the leaves.

Heat a skillet to medium heat. Add olive oil and swirl to coat. Saute yellow squash and the swiss chard stalks for about 8-10 minutes, or until softened. Add swiss chard leaves and sauté until wilted, another 2-3 minutes. Season with chipotle chile powder, salt and pepper to taste. Using a paper towel, squeeze the excess juice from the vegetables (otherwise, you’ll end up with a wetter casserole than you desire.) Transfer the vegetables to the casserole dish. Top with Daiya cheese.

Melt the ghee in a small microwaveable bowl for 30-45 seconds. Combine ghee and almond flour along with a pinch of salt in a bowl. Blend together with a spoon until crumbly. Spread over the Daiya evenly.

Bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes.

This post is linked to Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays over at Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free.

posted on Wednesday, May 18th, 2011 by altawrites Posted in Dairy-Free,Gluten-Free,Healthy Meals,Side Dishes,Vegetables,Vegetarian 17 Comments

This month for Adopt a Gluten-Free Blogger, I adopted a good blogger friend of mine, Carrie from Ginger Lemon Girl. I identify with Carrie quite a bit - we’re both gluten and dairy-free,  love baking, and we both juggle full-time jobs, family life, and a blog. And yet, for all of our similarities, I love that we venture into different areas in the kitchen! This makes this whole “adopting” thing that much more fun. While I have not spent much time worrying about gluten-free pizza crusts or bread in my kitchen (while I miss it a great deal, pizza has become something I only eat once in a great while – same with bread), Carrie has perfected some amazing recipes. I tried two – her vegan crusty bread, and her almond flour pizza crust.

Both were quite lovely. I was concerned that I’d ruined the bread recipe – I am not all that successful in the bread-making department, gluten-free or otherwise. Her dough was wetter than I’m accustomed to, and given my previous bread attempts (which have often turned out gummy in the middle), I was sure I’d messed it up. And while my boules did not raise very high, the texture was amazing. Lots of nice little holes in the bread that just begged for a schmear of vegan buttery spread or jam, and an oh-so-delicious crusty exterior. To date, it was the best bread to come out of my oven.

The pizza was also delicious. The crust is not chewy like a gluten-y crust, but it was very light and flavorful from the addition of herbs. I topped mine with a bit of pizza sauce (homemade – I didn’t really follow a recipe, just added some spices to tomato sauce), a touch of Daiya, and sauteed mushrooms, spinach, and a few sundried tomatoes. Divine. It was also good leftover for lunch the following day, in case you made enough to have leftovers.

Carrie has many more recipes I’m dying to try – vegan chocolate cake, for example. (hmm, maybe I could make that right now…) Or good ol’ chocolate chip cookies, egg-free. Or one of my favorites – Almond Joy impossible pie.

If you’re not yet familiar with Ginger Lemon Girl, I strongly encourage you to check out Carrie’s blog!

posted on Tuesday, February 1st, 2011 by altawrites Posted in Baked goods,Dairy-Free,Gluten-Free,Healthy Meals,Main Dishes,Vegetarian 6 Comments