Saturday

November 2012

My Allergy Friendly Kitchen

I’m lucky to have a mostly dedicated gluten-free kitchen, thanks to the help of my boyfriend, who isn’t exclusively gluten-free. He’s a kitchen whiz and a fast learner. Sometimes I think he knows how to handle my allergies better than I do. So when we’re at home, this is where the magic happens. I happily spend most of my time in this room. Some readers have been asking about how I keep my kitchen functional and allergy friendly at the same time so I decided to give everyone an inside look at the staples, setup, and equipment that are always in my kitchen.

Left to right: Centrifugal juicer, Sodastream Maker, Black & Decker High Speed Blender

We set up an exclusive beverage station since raw juices, smoothies, seltzer water, and homemade soda are constantly happening in our kitchen. Instead of coffee, we down a large glass of green veggie juice or a fruit and veggie smoothie which I feel is even more energizing than a large cup of joe. The vitamins hit your system immediately and alkalize on the way. What better way to start the day?

A wide variety of spices are always on hand in my kitchen. My parents are big on bold flavors and it definitely rubbed off on me. No matter how simple a dish, you can always spark it to life with a good combination of herbs and spices.

I love that most herbal tea is naturally allergen free and gluten-free. Our tea and bar cabinet is a great addition to keeping things organized. Some of the liquors on the bottom are exclusively Yan’s since we haven’t checked the whiskey for gluten content yet. My staples include a good organic red wine, chamomile, pau D’arco, some Yogi teas, and all Traditional Medicinal teas.

Fridge magnets hold up our Ph balancing chart, which is a basic breakdown between some highly alkaline and highly acidic foods. I believe a slightly alkaline body is a healthy goal to shoot for, so we try to minimize our intake of highly acidic foods. We usually eat meat 1 to 2 times a week and always have vegetables and greens on hand via juices, smoothies, sautes, and more. Low glycemic fruits such as berries and apples are also a staple on the menu.

Some of my favorite flours/gluten-free grains to cook and bake with are quinoa, millet, buckwheat/buckwheat flour, almond Flour, hazelnut flour, brown rice flour, coconut flour, corn meal.

Staples in the pantry: Black rice, brown rice, wild rice, Tinkyada brown rice pasta, canned olives, canned pumpkin, coconut milk, raw nuts and seeds, Terra sweet potato chips, almond milk, xylitol, coconut sugar, agave nectar, coconut oil, olive oil, Namaste foods mixes, King Arthur gluten-free mixes, Enjoy Life snacks and more.

Many meals are happily shared here (but no “Happy Meals” mind you!) If any soy or gluten does make it’s way into the kitchen on occasion, we have dedicated dishes and pans for keeping things segregated.

Our kitchen has lovely natural light that I love utilizing in my photography. At the end of the hallway, it takes a right towards the backdoor which leads out to one of our mini gardens…

And what would a gluten-free, allergy friendly kitchen be without a raw produce section on hand? We call it the farmacy. It’s getting cold out, but our mighty kale is still standing strong. The flavors of fresh produce and herbs is truly incredible and I’m lucky to walk out my door to have my pick. I hope you enjoyed the inside look!

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Saturday

October 2012

Healthy Raw Chocolate Truffle Pie (Vegan and Paleo)

I’m nearly speechless about this recipe, but I’ll do my best to describe it’s deliciousness. Its nothing short of fabulous, silky, chocolatey heaven. With no dairy, sugar, gluten, soy, or eggs, this is the ultimate decadent chocolate dessert. While I used my almond pie crust recipe that I lightly baked, this pie can be made completely raw by using a ground nut and date crust if desired. This is by far my favorite, easiest pie recipe to date and it’s so healthy, you can feel free to give in to the power of the chocolate–guilt free. The main ingredients are surprisingly avocado, coconut/almond milk, and coconut oil; all great sources of healthy monounsaturated fats, key vitamins and nutrients. Topped with crispy toasted coconut flakes, it’s completely over the edge. Enough said.

Healthy Raw Chocolate Truffle Pie (Vegan and Paleo)

This Recipe is free of: Gluten, Grains, Sugar, Soy, Dairy, Eggs, Yeast, & Legumes.

For the Crust(s):

You can choose to make this completely raw, or semi-raw depending on your tastes. In the photos, this is my semi-raw version. Both are completely vegan and paleo.

Raw Nut Crust:

2 cups raw nuts of choice (I love using pecans)
3-4 medjool dates

Combine ingredients in a food processor and process until course. Press into a pie plate and chill in the fridge.

Almond Pie Crust:

1 1/2 cups almond flour
3 tablespoons melted coconut butter (I use Olivio Coconut Spread, Earth Balance also makes a version of this)
2 tablespoons xylitol (birch “sugar”)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Combine ingredients and press evenly into a pie plate using your hands.
Bake for 8-10 minutes or until slightly golden. Let cool.

For the Filling:

(Inspired by this recipe from Tropical Traditions).

2 medium ripe avocados (I used 1 large avocado and 1/2 of another large avocado)
1/2 cup coconut milk or almond milk (I used SO Delicious Original Sugar Free Coconut Milk)
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup raw cacao powder
2/3 cup xylitol (birch “sugar”)
Small dash of salt
Optional: 1 drop orange oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients at room temperate in a high speed blender and process until smooth, pausing to scrape down the sides to make sure everything is well incorporated. It should be a pudding like consistency.
Pour/spoon pudding mixture into your pie crust of choice and smooth evenly with a spoon or spatula.
Chill in the fridge for 2-3 hours or until set.
When ready to enjoy, take the pie out of the fridge about 10 minutes prior to slicing and eating. Top with toasted or un-toasted (for raw) coconut flakes (optional, but I highly recommend this!)

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Thursday

October 2012

Allergen-Free, Gluten-Free Halloween: Safe Candy

I’m way excited about finally living in a place where I’ll have trick-or-treaters without a doubt! For the last four years, I’ve been bouncing around university housing and I’ve just settled into a place in a cozy neighborhood filled with families and small children. This year, I’m handing out completely allergen-free candy (free of the top 8 allergens and gluten). The percentage of kids with food allergies is on the rise, and according to an article by CNN, it could keep increasing. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that the number of kids with food allergies went up 18 percent from 1997 to 2007. Though the cause is still debatable, it doesn’t change the numbers. Since I’m allergic to what my coworkers call “the world and then some”, I totally understand how difficult a time Halloween can be for parents and kids with food allergies–no candy swapping with friends and triple-checking ingredients can be stressful. But with these safe treats, rest assured no one’s going to need the Epipen injection during the party.

Shown Above:

Yummy Earth Organic Gummy Bears — Yummy Earth has many other allergen-free options.
Grape Bat Lollipops by Strawberry Hill — Non-GMO sugar, Free of the top 8, gluten, & corn.
Dark Chocolate Jack-O-Lantern Lollipop by Strawberry Hill
Glee Gum Fruit Flavors — No artificial coloring, flavors, GMOs, or artifical sweeteners & free of the top 8
Creepy Brains Cherry Lollipops by Strawberry Hill
Surf Sweets Spooky Gummy Spiders — Surf Sweets has many other allergen-free options.
Gummi Jack-O-Lanterns by Indie Candy — Indie Candy has other allergen-free options.
Enjoy Life Dark Chocolate Boom-Choco-Boom Bar
Enjoy Life Ricemilk Crunch Chocolate Bar

Other Great Brands:

Gimbals Fine Candies — Allergen-free
Haribo Gold Bears — Allergen-free. Note: Some of their other candy contains allergens.
Jelly Belly Jelly Beans –Allergen-free. (They discontinued the Peanut Butter flavours and do not process any peanuts in their facilities as of 2011).
Annie’s Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks

Popular Candies that are Allergen-free & Gluten-free: For complete allergen-info breakdowns, see last year’s brilliant listing by Sure Foods Living, which I consulted for some of the following.

Sour Patch Kids

Sweedish Fish

Necco Wafers

Original Dots

Welch’s Fruit Snacks

LifeSavers Gummies (Note: the hard canides contain soy oil)

Original Starburst

Original Skittles, Skittles Sour, & Skittles Crazy Core

Wonka: Bottlecaps, Nerds, Everlasting Gobstopper, Runts, Fun Dip, Pixie Stix, Spree Original, Sweet Tarts Original

Note/Disclaimer: It’s always best to check allergen statements with the companies themselves as ingredients can change, as well as manufacturing practices. This listing is meant as a guide only and not medical advice. I am not held liable for any reaction that may occur due to consuming these products.

~Have a safe and allergy friendly Halloween!~

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Tuesday

August 2012

The Perfect Paleo Chocolate Cake (Grain-free, Sugar-free)

This past weekend, we moved into our lovely new condo. It seems like a much needed fresh new start, and I couldn’t be happier about the location–a 5 minute commute to work with minimal traffic. There’s been some big and wonderful changes in my work life as well, which I can talk more about later. I knew I had to whip up something to celebrate the newness of it all. I embarked on taking the kitchen for a test run, which was slightly intimidating due to a little less counter space. But what came out of the oven more than made up for the loss.

I must’ve known somehow subconsiously that a celebratory cake was even more necessary yesterday. As we sat down to taste it, two of our friends/family announced their engagement to us. We were ecstatic to hear the news and immediately paired the cake with a more than appropriate toast of champagne. We send our happy wishes and congratulations to the lovely couple! May you always find happiness in each other.

I also wanted to note here that I’m attempting to cut back on my grain and sugar intake lately. So I decided to opt for an almond flour alternative for the base of this cake with xylitol to sweeten it. I have to admit I was skeptical about what I was throwing together in the mixing bowl at first, but it turned out being one of the easiest from scratch recipes I’ve concocted so far. I never knew paleo could taste so rich and elegant. This is hands down my absolute favorite sweet chocolate cake I’ve ever made, grain-free or not. It has an amazingly moist and fudgy type quality about it that can often be missing from other basic almond flour cakes. Even after indulging in it last evening, I promptly dove into it again for breakfast this morning. The best part is you can indulge guilt free–it’s quite a healthy cake and loaded with protein. This is also the perfect dessert for those on a candida diet or low carb diet.

The Perfect Paleo Chocolate Cake

Grain-free, Gluten-free, Soy-free, Dairy-free, Peanut-free, Legume-free, Yeast-free, Sugar-free, & Low Carb.

2 cups almond flour/meal. I used Bob’s Red Mill Almond flour/meal.
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 raw cacao powder. I love Navitas Naturals brand for this.
1 cup “granulated” xylitol or alternative sweetener of choice. (If it’s a liquid sweetener reduce the other liquids accordingly).
Dash of salt
Optional: Zest of one orange.
4 eggs (I use soy free fed eggs).
3/4 cup coconut milk (unsweetened or pre-sweetened with safe alternative sweetener). I use SO Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk.
1/4 cup olive oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Use butter or coconut spread to grease a 8 or 9 inch round cake pan.
Mix the dry ingredients and combine well. Combine the wet ingredients in a separate bowl and add them to the dry, whisking with a fork. Stir until well combined. There’s no need for an electric mixer here.
Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake for 30-35 minutes. Insert a toothpick into the center to ensure it’s cooked through. It should be a nice fudgy consistency. Let it cool and top it with orange zest or mixed berries. I didn’t think it needed any frosting at all. It’s delicious on it’s own.

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Sunday

June 2012

Gluten Free Italian Flatbread Bruschetta with Basil

It’s been ages since I’ve baked a good hearty bread and I was in the mood for Italiano. The bread I made actually began as an attempt at a Focaccia, but since I wasn’t using yeast, it came out more of a flatbread. That really didn’t matter though. The Bruschetta began to come together and filled the whole apartment with fresh, herby aromas.

While the flatbread was in the oven, I sauteed a quick tomato based chunky sauce and chopped some fresh basil leaves for the topping. Glossy black olives and goat cheese were among the other toppings we used, and it was reminiscent of a deconstructed pizza. The best part about the whole recipe is it only took my 30 minutes total.

Gluten Free Herbed Italian Flatbread Recipe:

(The basic recipe I used was for a Yeastless Focaccia, but I made some deviations and personalized it along the way).

2 cups Namaste Foods Perfect Flour Blend (allergen free)
2 teaspoons baking powder
Dash of salt & pepper to taste (about 1 tsp each)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons dried Italian Herbs mix (Simply Organic makes a nice blend)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 cup water
1 tablespoon olive oil

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Combine dry ingredients, then add the water and olive oil. Mix together with a utensil by hand or use the dough setting on your powered mixer. I mixed it by hand, and then floured a hard surface where I kneaded the ball of dough with lightly oiled hands since the dough was a little sticky at first. Grease a 9×13 inch pan (I use Olivio coconut spread) and press out the dough until it reaches about a 1/2 inch thickness. Mine was just a bit thicker than this. Bake at 425 F for 20 minutes, take out the bread, brush lightly with olive oil, and put back in the oven for an additional 5 minutes.

Bruschetta Topping Recipe:

2 Roma Tomatoes, diced
1/2 large onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt, Pepper, Crushed red pepper to taste.
Olive Oil

Saute all ingredients together over medium heat in a medium sauce pan until the onions are translucent and beginning to caramelize. (About 15 minutes). Remove from heat and top the flatbread with the chunky saute. Top with fresh basil, chopped black olives, and small bits of goat cheese (optional).