Heart of Cooking

First off, I apologize again for my absence on my blog.  We now have a contract on a house and are in the midst of all the details before we close.

Also, on a personal note, I am finding that winter time has been urging me towards resting more and being more internal.  I mentioned in one of my New Year’s posts that I am not suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) this season like I have in the past.  What I feel is happening instead is that I am actually enjoying the “yin” energy of the winter.  This is mostly showing up as working less, relaxing more, taking more baths, and not going out as much.  It seems like it started shortly before the massive winter wonderland we received a few weeks ago. To me, this is a real sign that my being is balancing out and becoming more in tune with nature, the way we are supposed to be.

New Changes to my Menu Planners and Website:

At the same time, I am very excited about some upcoming changes to my website.  I am not ready to go into all the details of what is going to change but I feel I want to start talking about them at some level.

These changes are in response to the needs people with multiple food allergies have.  When I started my menu planners, I didn’t really know what I was getting into.  But I did realize that making menu planners for people with food allergies posed some real problems to solve.  The main one being – everyone is allergic to something different.  There are common food allergens, but from there, there are so many other foods that people can be allergic to.  Beyond that, people, especially children, have many preferences of what they like to eat and what they don’t like.

I have been solving this problem by creating menu planners for specific diets.  The response to this has been great and so far I have the following menu planners.  Most of them are for four weeks of menu plans:

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If you’ve been waiting for the GAPS menu planner, it is now available!

I am very happy to be able to offer this menu planner for people who follow Full GAPS, SCD or Paleo diets.  This menu planner is also dairy-free with nut-free options.

It is also a great menu planner as an elimination diet or for people who are on a yeast-free diet.

I have personally found this diet to be extremely helpful in my own life.  I truly can’t believe the changes that have occurred in my life as a result of following a grain, starch, sugar and yeast free diet.

To name just a few major changes, my lifelong mood swings and depression have almost completely vanished.  I have much more energy and the anxiety that I began to experience postpartum has been replaced with a peaceful and happy mind and heart!

I am really full of gratitude for the diet coming into my life!  I have been writing about these changes in my blog, and will be continuing with my post-postpartum experiences very soon.  You can read about my experiences with GAPS here.

Who can benefit from the GAPS diet?  (Find out more here at the official GAPS website)

Anyone with the following symptoms or experiences in life:

• Depression
• Autism
• ADHD
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
• Learning disabilities
• Schizophrenia
• Anxiety
• Nightwakings
• Behavioral problems
• Hyperactivity
• Bipolar disorder
• Ecxema
• Asthma
• Colic
• Failure to Thrive
• Fussy eaters
• IBS – Irritable Bowel Syndrome
• Frequent colds, flu or ear infections
• Dyslexia
• Dyspraxia
• Not breast-fed
• Have had numerous courses of antibiotics
• Chronic cystitis
• Mood swings
• Poor memory
• Difficulties to concentrate
• Underweight
• Crohn’s disease
• Ulcerative colitis
• Any other digestive disorder

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Sometimes when I’m experimenting, something doesn’t turn out how I expected but it does turn out as something that is very delicious.  For this recipe, I was trying to adapt the Devil’s Food Cupcakes from the Valentine’s Menu Planner into an egg free grain-free version.  At first, I thought it was a disaster because it was taking a lot longer to bake and it was bubbling.  It looked like bubbling chocolate hot lava and I really wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out.

I ended up baking it for about 50 minutes and it was still bubbling when I took it out of the oven.  But as it cooled, I had hope that it was still going to be edible.

What it turned into is an awesome batch of grain, egg and gluten free brownies.  Moist, very rich and very yummy.  It was so good that I decided to add the recipe to the Valentine’s Day Menu Planner for Limited Diets.  But I’m also going to give you the recipe here:

Devil’s Food Chocolate or Carob Brownies (Egg, Grain and Gluten-Free)

Dry:

1 2/3 cup almond flour

1/2 cup cocoa or carob powder, sifted

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 Tbsp flax meal mixed with 6 Tbsp. boiling water

Wet:

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup coconut oil or melted butter

1 cup coconut milk

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp lemon juice

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.   Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.  Mix the wet ingredients together in another bowl.  Mix the dry into the wet and mix until it is thick cake batter consistency.  Add a little flour if too runny or add a little milk if too thick.

2.  Grease an 8.5 inch square cake pan with coconut oil or butter.  Pour batter into pan and bake for 45-50 minutes .  Brownies will be soft and bubbling but should be done after 50 minutes.  Let cool for at least an hour or overnight before serving.  They will be very soft and moist.

Note about GAPS: This recipe is not GAPS-legal because it uses chocolate.  Also, carob is also not on the allowed list.  I have to confess I ate WAY more than I intended to, as I am trying to stick to GAPS.  I tested it for the menu planner but didn’t have the will power to just eat a nibble…

I did notice a slight increase in irritability, which is a good sign for me that chocolate doesn’t work for me.  I still don’t know exactly why this is though.  Anyone?

The Valentine’s Menu Planner for Limited Diets is now available! Don’t miss this awesome meal planned specifically for people with multiple food allergies, the GAPS diet and gluten-free diets.

Have a beautiful Valentine’s Day!

I am very excited to announce the new Valentine’s Day Menu Planner for Limited Diets!

Many people like to spend a nice meal with their spouse or significant other on Valentine’s Day.

However, if you or your loved one is on a limited diet, this can be more complicated than making reservations at your favorite restaurant.

What if you were to surprise your loved one with a home cooked, romantic meal?

Maybe there is a menu that your significant other would love to eat at a restaurant but normally contains their food restrictions.

When I had the idea of making a Valentine’s Day Menu Planner, I thought of what kinds of meals that people on limited diets would love to eat – if only they could eat the ingredients!  I also considered food that is known for being “romantic…”

So, I put together a simple but delicious and allergen-friendly menu that I believe almost anyone could enjoy, even if their diet is very limited!

Here is the menu:

Veggie Lasagna (I am including three recipes so that you can use the one that work best for your diet)

• Grain-Free version (made with egg noodles – these taste just like real noodles!)
• Grain and Egg-Free version (made with zucchini noodles)
• Gluten-Free version (made with brown rice noodles)

Strawberry Avocado Salad with Crispy Pecans

Three Desserts to choose from to fit your diet:

• Hazelnut Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Icing (Grain-Free)
  
• Vanilla Cake with Raspberry Sauce and Vanilla Icing (Grain and Chocolate Free)
• Devil Food’s Chocolate Cupcakes (Gluten, Nut and Egg Free)

All dishes are free of the following:

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First of all I have to apologize for my absence and lack of blog posts lately!  Things have been a very busy on the home front between shopping for a home and Elijah being sick.  But I hope to get back into the swing of things soon!

So for today I want to share a very yummy and very simple recipe for gluten free drop biscuits.  The original recipe comes from Elana Amsterdam’s new cookbook, The Almond Flour Gluten Free Cookbook.  I love her recipes and her blog and they are very adaptable to the GAPS and SCD diets.  I simply use honey in place of agave and coconut oil or butter in place of the grape seed oil.

If you’re on GAPS or don’t want to use baking soda, I have found that separating the eggs and then beating the egg whites until stiff helps the bread to rise without baking soda.  You can read more about this here.

For this time, I also used almond meal (also called natural almond flour) because I didn’t have any blanched on hand.  In my experience, almond meal is more like “wheat flour” and blanched almond flour is more like “white flour.” These biscuits were still delicious with the almond meal, but I think they would be a little lighter with blanched almond flour.

So here’s the recipe:
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