A Surprising Hotdog Bun

A few weeks ago we had our first wiener roast.  I used to absolutely love the simplicity of having a wiener roast.  Pick up hotdogs, buns, chips, maybe some watermelon and you're set!  Maybe even throw in a bag of store bought cookies. 

Thankfully I am still able to buy hotdogs (the more natural ones) - but once again I have to reinvent the wheel with the buns.  I was able to find some gluten free ones locally but at over a dollar a bun I had to leave them at the store.  I could have tried making something, but that particular weekend I was played out and had no interest in baking anything - let alone experimenting!   I ended up buying a loaf of gluten free bread that had some pretty questionable ingredients in it.  It worked, but it was expensive and it really didn't taste all that great. 

This past weekend we had another wiener roast and this time we were inviting some wheat eating folks over.  I warned them that if they wanted bread they would have to bring their own.  Near the time they were to come I was starting to feel a little bad that I didn't have more to serve them and this idea popped into my head.

This is not how I cut it for the hotdogs - this picture was taken the first time I made the bread.

What about cheese bread?  My dear friend had told me about this recipe and we had already made it a few times and loved it.  But would it work for hotdogs?  I figured that if it didn't work we would still have some tasty bread to eat on the side.  I make the recipe exactly as it says except for the pinch of cayenne pepper.

Cheesy Bread

• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup packed grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup packed shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 Tb plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup arrowroot flour
• pinch cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Mix all ingredients together with a hand mixer.  Lay on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper.  Make it as flat as possible without holes (it will expand some as it bakes. I find it always looks like more when I take it out of the oven).  Bake 20-22 minutes until lightly brown.

 I love how fast and easy this is.  For the hotdogs I cut the bread in to narrow rectangles.  This bread made enough for 6 hotdogs with a little left over.  It probably could have been stretched to 7 if I'd cut the bread a little smaller.

It was so good!!!!!!

Even my wheat eating guests enjoyed it and asked for the recipe :)

The one downside is that TR can't eat so much cheese, so he wasn't able to eat it.  I'll have to keep looking for a hotdog bun alternative that works for him.  It is also expensive if you're making this in large quantities - but even buying the expensive cheese that I do this is still cheaper (and much tastier!) than buying pre-made buns or bread.   

A Healthy Birthday Cake

Benjamin recently turned 4 and while this is not the first birthday party we've had since we started eating healthier, it is the first one to be wheat - free.  I also find that as time goes on I let go of more "conventional" foods.  For example I have come to have a real aversion to food colouring/dye whereas for previous birthdays I would use it.  I used to think it was cute when my kids tongue turned all colours from what they were eating - the other day someone gave them something that had dye in it and it just turned my stomach.  Dyes or colourings are so terribly toxic and bad and I just couldn't put it on my son's cake.

So how do you have a great birthday cake without wheat?  Without tons of sugar?  Without food dyes?  Without lots of little candies all over the cake like I used to do?

Thankfully, it really wasn't that hard :)  I am so very thankful that I live in the age that I do!  There are so many blogs and books and people who are experimenting with wheat free foods that all the hard work has been done for me!   It wasn't that long ago when people were beginning to pave the way for people like me.  I had already test run a chocolate cake recipe, which I found here.  I made sure to sift the almond flour and use very finely ground coconut flour for a smooth consistency.  I also added more cocoa and a bit of sugar (I could have used more honey, but I added the extra cocoa at the end and didn't want to take the time to soften more honey). 

Benjamin really wanted a football cake - which thankfully was very simple to make and was easy to colour naturally. 

I made the cake in a round pan and when it had cooled I cut a piece out the middle and pushed the two remaining pieces together.  Then I used the icing from the recipe omitting the cocoa for the white icing.  I also added some melted chocolate chips and more cocoa powder to the chocolate - I wanted it to be very chocolatey :)  It turned out perfect!  And Benjamin was very happy with it :)  Of course I threw on a small handful of chocolate chips just for fun :)

And the candles burning on his cake are made from beeswax!  I also have an immense dislike for paraffin candles.  Especially scented paraffin. It feels great that not only was the cake healthy, but so was the air :) 

Chloe of course wants to have a princess cake!  Yikes!  That is a little bit of a taller order!!!!  Princess usually means purple or pink and you can't really use cocoa powder for those!  I'm thinking about trying to powder dried raspberries and add that to white icing, but I'm guessing it'll be a little on the dull side.  So I've got to put my thinking cap on and do some more googling and searching.  I've read about using beets to make a red cake, but not sure how that would work with icing. . .   I'm hoping to find something though, her birthday is not that far away.  

*I'd just like to add that in the link I posted about paraffin candles it mentions using soy candles as an alternative to paraffin.  While this might be okay for some people, I highly recommend beeswax!  Beeswax is about as natural as you can get!  I haven't read too much about soy candles and how they make them, but I just don't get how you can take soy beans and turn them into wax without a ton of processing . . .

Tomato Soup

I have been very uninterested in cooking lately.   But as my family still has to eat, I still have to cook!  The trouble is I want food, I want good food, but I want something different.  It's times like these I'm especially thankful for the variety of foods available to me!  I've read so many pioneer stories where the menu stayed the same all through the winter.  The only variation would come when they ran out of something.  So when I find myself craving a different flavour or texture, I'm thankful for all the options.

Last night I just wanted something but I didn't know what.  I knew all the things I didn't want though!  No chicken, no beef.  Which leaves . . . pretty much nothing in my house.  Then out of the blue I remembered something I haven't eaten in a very long time.  Tomato soup.  Tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches!  I remembered that I even had a can of store bought tomato soup.  I was going to take the easy way out and just make that - how much easier does it get?  But, luckily for me, the canned soup has wheat in it.  

Since the canned soup was out that left making it from scratch myself.  This is how I made it:

- organic crushed tomatoes (from a can)
- chicken broth (homemade)
- dash of thyme
- chopped onion
- tomato powder (I ground up some dried tomatoes in my coffee grinder) - this helps it to thicken

Boil on the stove for a while.  I didn't boil it very long, maybe only 25 minutes.  If I had allowed myself more time I would have started much earlier and let if simmer for longer.  I strained the onions off, but you could blend them in or leave them if you like chunks.  Add a generous amount of cream.  I also added some feta cheese to mine - soooo good!  Enjoy with grilled cheese sandwich :)

I was amazed at how good it tasted!  Absolutely full of flavour!!!!  I'm very thankful that the store bought tomato soup has wheat in it!  The soup I made was full of good ingredients I could feel good about (and good after eating too!).  It had some homemade chicken broth which is also so very healthy.  And while it wasn't 100 % tomatoes from my garden, they were organic tomatoes and the powdered tomatoes were from my garden.  And that feels good to me :)

Bread - Take II

For my second attempt at bread I decided to make two different kinds at once.  I copied a little bit from a recipe I found in a gluten free cookbook - but I've noticed lately that I just can't make it like they say!  So I kept the ratio's roughly the same (amount of liquid/amount of flour).  Here's what I came up with:

#1 - Bread on the left

1 cup water + yogurt (I poured some yogurt into a 1 cup measuring cup and filled the rest up with water
3 tbsp coconut oil
1 small spoon honey
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 eggs

1 cup almond flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup potato starch
2 1/4 tsp yeast
2 tsp xanthum gum
1/2 tsp salt

Warm up all the liquid ingredients to about 110 F.  I warm up everything but the eggs 'cause I am afraid of forgetting about it and cooking them by mistake!
Mix all dry ingredients together.
Add the liquid to the dry and mix using either a hand mixer, food processor or something like it.  I like using  my processor but a stand mixer like a kitchen aid would be perfect.  Grease a pan (on the bottom only) and pour in.  Level off.  Leave in a warm place 30-45 minutes until it has about doubled.  Bake in a 400 F oven fro 25 minutes and then reduce temp. to about 350 F for another 35 or so.  The original recipe called to have it in the 400 F oven the whole time but covering it up with foil halfway through as the top does get dark otherwise.  I don't like to use toxic aluminum foil in a hot oven so I just reduce the temp and leave it in longer and it has worked great!  Remove from oven and allow to cool before taking out of pan.  Using a knife cut along the edges and it should come right out.

Bread #2 - the one on the right

I used the same liquids as above but used these dry ingredients

1 cup brown rice flour

1/4 cup teff flour

3/4 cup sorghum flour

1/4 cup potato starch

 (same amount of yeast and xanthum gum and salt)

So what's the verdict?  The bread # 2 was better.  #1 was very moist and dense and I think I should have cooked it longer (I cooked it less than I suggested above - if you use the time I suggested you should hopefully be left with a fully cooked loaf).  It didn't toast very well and crumbled apart.  When I did manage to toast it, it burned easily without actually toasting.  Bread #2 held together really well.  It is easy to slice, toast and take to work as a sandwich.  TR has been taking it to work and likes it!  Hurray!  I find the texture to be a little gritty, I think it is due to the teff flour.  I'm planning on experimenting with replacing the teff with quinoa or chickpea or millet.  But I have teff in my stash 

and I'd like to use it :) 

 

After baking

The winner of the day - bread # 2 sliced 

p.s. I'm sure it's going to take a while before I have the "perfect" recipe :)  I made it again and lowered the amount of potato starch a bit.  I think it was a little less fluffy but still just as good.  I'd love to reduce the starch and xanthum gum by even a little more.

Overall I'm very happy with how easy it is to make.  It's a lot easier than the whole wheat bread I used to make.  I'm almost out of starch so once I get some more I think I will make several loaves at once and see how it freezes.  If it freezes well then I can make lots at once again. 

1st Bread

I made my first loaf of gluten free bread yesterday!  Technically it is actually my second loaf because I did make one for my mom-in-law - although I didn't eat that so that doesn't count :) It also had a lot of starches in it and I want to make bread without so much starch.

I was aiming at a loaf that would work for toast and sandwiches but didn't contain too many additional starches.  I based the loaf on some pizza dough that we I made last week.  The pizza dough turned out really well and the so did the bread!

The original recipe I found here.

When I made it I changed it to this:
(I doubled the recipe from the one given in the article)

2/3 cup brown rice flour
1/3 cup almond flour (sift it first to remove any large clumps if you ground it yourself)
1/3 cup coconut flour
1/3 cup potato starch
4 tsp xanthum gum
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup warm water
2 tbsp yogurt
1 full spoon honey
1 1/2 tbsp yeast

Mix altogether in a food processor.  Pour into a bread pan (grease only the bottom as it will cling to the sides and rise better in the pan if you don't grease the sides).  Let it rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes.  Bake at 350 about 40 minutes.  Let cool completely before removing from pan.  Use a knife to loosen the sides.  I found that it came out of the pan really well.

I was hoping to make two loaves of bread with this but it actually only made 1!  So I'm going to have to make some changes 'cause 1 1/2 tbsp of yeast for one loaf of bread seems a bit much!  The bread turned out to be a little eggy.  It was dense and moist, and while I found it didn't taste all that amazing toasted and eaten with eggs, it was very good with some jam.  TR took it to work as a sandwich and it held together very well.  He also said that it tasted very good and he would not mind eating that over the wheat bread!  The loaf rose very well, but did sink once it cooled.  So although I would like to tweak the recipe a bit to see if I could get the yeast, xanthum gum and potato starch and salt lower I would consider it a huge success!!!!  It is actually way easier to make than the wheat bread I used to make :)

1st Wheat Filled Meal

I encountered my first wheat filled meal this weekend - and it looks like I was able to come away fed and unscathed! 

We had a sweethearts supper at our Church this weekend and TR and I had not planned on going.  For one thing - and in my mind the biggest thing - is that he might end up working and I sure didn't want to go alone!

Turns out he had the whole weekend off and they had a few tickets left, so very last minute we planned to go.

Being last minute we didn't have a chance to make sure the menu would be agreeable for us.  We were told it would be Parmesan chicken and pasta.  I figured I would be able to have the chicken and surely there would be salad right?

What I forgot is that parmesan chicken is often breaded!  So I had to scrape the bread off the chicken :(  And the salad was a caesar's salad which really isn't all that filling once the croutons are in your husbands bowl :(

But thankfully I am not celiac and I don't have a major sensitivity to wheat.  I was able to scrape the bread off and eat the chicken and still enjoy the meal.

I have to say that it is a bit of an uncomfortable experience to be picking at a meal and appearing to be very picky in front of people that don't know why I'm leaving so much food on my plate, and why I'm putting some of my food on TR's plate.  Some at the table knew that I can't eat wheat anymore, but there were two couples that wouldn't have known.

Oh well . . . at least there was something I could eat and I was able to enjoy a wonderful night out with my sweetheart - our very first celebration of valentines day!  He has always been working in the past, even while we were dating, so this was an exciting first! :)

Bolognsese Sauce

I have been craving something different.  Not sure what exactly, but it just has to be different!  I think it has less to do with being pregnant and more to do with winter.  Where I live winter goes on and on (generally at least 6 months of the year from about Oct-Mar).  And just when you think it is finally Spring . . .Winter returns for one last hurrah.  I have to say that time has been passing quickly this winter and in my mind I know that Spring will be here soon, but in my stomach . . . well, that is another story!  I feel the need for a change in my taste buds!  So I've been trying new recipes lately: here is a new recipe that I tried last night that I really enjoyed :)

I got the recipe from The Gluten Free Table by Jilly Lagasse and Jessie Lagasse Swanson - but I changed it a bit and I'll just tell you how I made it.  If you want the original recipe you could ask me or just order the book from your library :)

Farmers Sausage (I used some spicy moose sausage)
onion (chopped)
Ground Beef
Tomato sauce
Diced tomatoes with juice
Chicken broth
minced garlic
thyme
oregano
cinnamon stick (just a small piece if making a small pot)
peppers (chopped)
Cauliflower (chopped into very fine pieces)

Fry the meet and onions together, and chop into smaller pieces.  I used a very small bit of sausage and mostly ground beef, but you could vary it according to your tastes.
In a separate pot mix together the remaining ingredients and simmer.  Once the meat is done add that to the pot.  Simmer as long as you like or at least until the veggies are soft.  Enjoy on top of whatever you like!  We had it over rice noodles.

You'll notice I didn't give you any amounts and that is because I really didn't measure - so please forgive me if you need amounts!

I'm guessing that the original recipe would've tasted great too, but I didn't have some of it on hand (or I just didn't want to add it).  They also added some red wine, tomato paste, bay leaves, cream, sugar, nutmeg, carrot, celery and bacon, butter and parmesan cheese. 

It really hit the spot for me and it was something different than my usual spaghetti sauce :)  Hurray!  I think the real star of the show was the sausage and for that I thank my brother who made it and shared some with us! 

Easy Chocolate Milk

I've heard it said that drinking chocolate milk is just as healthy as drinking regular milk and that if you can at least get your kids to drink chocolate then that is fine as long as they are drinking milk.  Now that I know so much about conventional milk and what all happens to I am quite certain that you would be healthier without the milk let alone the chocolate milk!  But that is perhaps another story for another time.  If you are at all interested in learning more about milk a really great book on it is The Untold Story of Milk by Ron Schmid.  I may tackle my opinion on consuming grocery store dairy at some point, but not today :)

Today I have a wonderful recipe that I thought I would share with you that I absolutely love and it is super simple.

Chocolate Syrup

Put some milk into a small pot and heat it gently on medium.  

Add cocoa powder (lots and lots - I really can't tell you the amount but you want it to be concentrated)

Add some honey

I never measure and I've never been disappointed.  I usually put in about 1/2-3/4 cup of milk.  4-6 large tbsp of cocoa, and about 1/4 cup of honey or so.  This also works great for making hot chocolate, except then I make it to taste and not concentrated and heat it until hot.

Only heat the milk long enough to melt the honey and whisk it together to be smooth.  Take it off the heat and put it in a jar in the fridge.

When you want a glass of chocolate milk just pour yourself a glass of milk with a liberal splash of cream and then some of the syrup.  So good!  And the best part is that I can feel good about what my children and I are drinking :)  

*I often link books to amazon, but I always get my books from our local library here.*

One More Package Bites the Dust!

I am very happy to say that I no longer need to buy mayonnaise!  Hurray!!

Mayo is something that TR eats on his sandwich nearly everyday he is working.  He eats it with chicken that I've canned myself, but the mayo is still store bought.  It is still full of "spices" and preservatives.  It has been pasteurized and in my unprofessional opinion does not benefit the body at all, but rather harm it.  I've been dreaming for a while of making him some from scratch and even did a few times this past summer.  It tasted awesome, but it was an effort to make it and having it fail one time did not encourage the effort (not that it was terribly difficult, but I found the most success with mixing it by hand with a whisk which does take a bit of time - especially if you need it in a hurry because you forget to make it the night before!).   TR also didn't like the strong taste of extra virgin olive oil.  I went and bought the less healthy version of the olive oil to try but never did get around to trying it. 

I read this blog a few weeks ago that gave me the push I needed to try again.  She describes a method I've never heard of before.  I've always read that you have to mix the oil in verrrrrry slowly and if you go too fast you'll wreck it.  I was a little hesitant to try it, but what did I really have to lose?  She says to use a hand held blender stick and simply mix all the ingredients together and blend.  It takes merely a few seconds and it is done!  And it tastes amazing.   I've made it several times now and I've never messed it up - it's been perfect everytime!

My recipe:
1/2 cup grapeseed oil
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 farm fresh egg yoke
about 1/8 tsp. -1/4 tsp. sea salt
spoonful of mustard
1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (I usually don't like the taste of this, but honestly it tastes great in here)
little splosh of lemon juice (maybe about 1 tsp. or less)
sprinkle of garlic powder


Mix altogether in a bowl and blend with stick blender for a few seconds until it is all emulsified.  Stir in the little bit of oil that stays on top and refrigerate. (she recommends eating it in 5 days)

TR has taken it to work and he likes it!  I am so thankful that it is so simple to make and now I have more control over the ingredients and freshness.  Instead of being harmful and void of nutrients it is full of wonderful fats that our body needs and raw egg yoke which is so healthful to the body.

*a lot of people are afraid of raw eggs - I suggest that you buy your eggs locally from a farm you trust.  Raw eggs (specifically the yoke) have so many health benefits and if you have a good source for them, there is no need to be afraid of eating them :)