How to Roast Your Own Nuts

Roasting (or toasting, whichever is your preference) your own nuts is super easy. I used pecans here, because I had two bags that were in the freezer of my grandparent's house from who-knows-when...Toasting them brings out the true flavor of the nuts.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Put the nuts onto a jelly roll pan (or, if all your pans are dirty, you can use round cake pans, like I did!), and roast for about 10 minutes, or until you can smell their aroma. This is the important part: You don't want them to burn, so when you begin to smell them, that usually means they're ready. If you want, you can stir them and roast for a few more minutes, depending on how dark you want them, but be careful that they don't burn.

Flowers and Chocolate...Need I say more?

This is my attempt at a Happy Valentine's Day post...well, sort of. It's also my excuse to post this really yummy recipe for Chocolate Banana Bread, from Gluten-Free Girl.

How to make basic crepes

Since the Gluten Free Ratio Rally's challenge for this month is Crepes (post to come--first Wednesday of March!), I figured I'd better get cracking...Just like the popovers from last month, I've never tasted a crepe, much less made it. However, making crepes is not that hard. If you can make pancakes, then you can make crepes.

Crepes are basically like thin pancakes, and can actually be made thicker, depending on what your preference is, and what you're putting in your crepes. The ratio for crepes is 2:2:1--2 parts egg, 2 parts liquid, and 1 part flour.

Here is my basic recipes (makes about 6 crepes):

For savory crepes:
4 oz. egg (about 2 eggs)
4 oz. almond milk
2 oz. gf flour
pinch of salt
1/4 t. vanilla (optional)

For sweet crepes:
4 oz. egg (about 2 eggs)
4 oz. coconut milk (add a tad bit more if they turn out too thick)
2 oz. almond flour
1/8 t. salt
1/4 t. vanilla


You can easily change the liquid to whatever suits your fancy--broth, coconut milk, even water. Whisk together ingredients until smooth.

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Let mixture sit for 30 minutes.
Using a greased pan that has a base the same size as your desired crepe size (I use a small omelet pan), pour in a small amount of batter.
Swirl around the batter just until it covers the bottom of the pan.

In a few minutes, the edges will begin to dry, and you can gently lift the crepe with a flat spatula to see if the other side is lightly browned. When it is, flip the crepe over and cook the other side for about a minute. Continue with the rest of the crepes.

 

 

Crepes are very versatile, and you can fill them up with just about anything, from leftover meat to cream cheese or jam. The crepes can also be seasoned with herbs, spices, or anything else that strikes your fancy.

Old-Fashioned Scottish Shortbread - gluten free style

Good Morning! I can't wait to share this post with you!

This yummy shortbread came from this awesome post by Gluten Free Girl for simple shortbread. This recipe comes from an old Scottish shortbread recipe that uses the typical ratio for cookies/shortbread - 1 part sugar: 2 parts fat: 3 parts flour, plus a little extra white rice flour added.

Chai Breakfast Cookies - revised

Yes, I know that I just posted this recipe...but I had to post another.

Mid-Week Stir Fry - Quick and Easy

Simple versions of stir-fry veggies have been my go-to meal for the last week or so. I thought I'd share with you my favorite mixture so far.

Chai Breakfast Cookies

The idea for these came from this post for granola balls by Daily Bites. When I first made the granola balls (I used all raisins at the time because it was all I had), I was talking with a friend about them, and tried to describe them to her. She commented, "So they're like breakfast cookies?" Well, I don't think I've ever had a breakfast cookie, and don't really know what they are, but that sounds great...enter this recipe :)

Basic Popovers for the GF Ratio Rally

It is time again for the cyber-bloggers Gluten Free Ratio Rally (for more about this, see this post). The rally for this month is being hosted by Mrs. R. over at Honey from Flinty Rocks.

This month's challenge: Popovers.

About Life and Healing

Fair warning: this is a lengthy post. I think it would be worth reading. But if you don't want lengthy, then you need not go on from here...or come back when you do have time to read it. :)

Orange Walnut Crumble Cakes - from Daily Bites

I just made 6 dozen of these muffins for a lovely women's gathering at my church this morning (I also made Lemon Poppyseed Muffins). I could probably do an entire post about how much I love the incredible, beautiful women at my church, but at this point, let's just say they are an amazing blessing to me! :)

It's Girl Scout Season again....

...And until yesterday, I didn't think anything of it.

Then, one of my co-workers started going door to door in the office, selling cookies for the troop she oversees. For the first time in my life, I had to say no to Thin Mints. My favorite Girl Scout cookie of all time.

Not 5 seconds later, I decided that I would just make my own.

Moroccan Cuisine....Take 1

The part of me that loves international food is starting to revive again. In this post, I eluded some to my love of Indian food...I also think that I could probably live on Mediterranean and (some) Thai food :)

How to Make Your Own Veggie Broth (a.k.a. Mirepoix)

Say what??...Mere, huh?
Shortly after my first stint at making vegetable broth with celery, carrots, and some leftover onion, I was told that this kind of broth is known to professional chefs (like on those cooking shows) as mirepoix (pronounced meer-pwah). So if you want to sound professional when you're at home cooking your veggie broth, and your family asks, "What are you making?" you can look up from the stove and say, "oh, it's just my mirepoix." That's got to make them impressed, at least for a couple of seconds!

Making veggie broth is extremely simple.
(And, by the way, if you want to make chicken broth, you can do the exact same thing, except use leftover pieces of your rotisserie chicken in pot)
1) Roughly chop leftover vegetables.
2) Put them in a large pot.
3) Cover the veggies with water.
4) Simmer on medium to med-low (depending on your stove), covered, for about an hour.

The veggies I used here were (as mentioned earlier), celery, carrots, and onions. I also added pepper and dried parsley just because.

When it's done, use a slotted spoon to remove the vegetables and discard. Strain the rest of the broth into a heat-proof bowl, and allow broth to cool. Then you can use it for soups or other recipes, or put into containers and freeze for later.

How to Roast Your Own Garlic

Recently I discovered this site to an amazingly easy (and yummy!) way to roast your own garlic, by wrapping it up in aluminum foil. Also I have a book that teaches how to roast garlic a slightly different way, by putting it in a pan with olive oil. . So here I will be illustrating the two ways to roast garlic.

Technique #1 will be on the left, and will be the pan-roasted version.
Technique #2 is on the right, and is the aluminum foil version.

Take the whole bulb of garlic and cut the pointy tops off.

With #1, put in heat-proof pan, and pour 1 teaspoon of olive oil into the bulb.
With #2, wrap in aluminum foil.
Roast in 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.

For #1 (pan-roasted): Use the prongs of a fork or a sharp knife to get the cloves out.

For #2: With this one, you're supposed to be able to squeeze the bulb with your hand, and the cloves come out. This works, except that they become a little more squished (which is fine if you're throwing the garlic into a soup or something anyway). So you can pick your method of choice. Here is one of the recipes I've made with the roasted garlic.

How to Cook Plantains

(I got this idea from this post at Life, Gluten Free. Also, for more on the do's and don't's of cooking plantains, click here.)
Introducing plantains:

What is a plantain, you may ask? They are similar to bananas, but are starchier, and are usually not eaten raw. The peeling of plantains is thicker than a banana's, so it's a little harder to peel. For this recipe, you have to wait till the plantain peeling is black. That's when it's perfect to cook. I tried frying it when it was still green, and it came out tasting like the consistency of french fries--which isn't horrible, but not exactly right when you're looking for caramel-ly sweet richness.

Slice the plantains thinly. (One reason for my "french fry"-like plantains the first time was because I sliced them too thickly) You can do this in rounds or longways.

I like to fry mine in coconut oil. Just put a blob in the skillet on medium high until it melts.

Fry on both sides, or until the slices turn a dark brown, and almost look burnt. That means they're perfect!

(Some people may not cook theirs this long. But my sister has been to Guatemala, and she says that they cook theirs like this--except sliced longways--and they melt in your mouth.)

I can't describe to you exactly what these taste like (maybe crunchy on the outside, sweet, rich fruitness on the inside), but you should definitely try them for yourself!
I would share some with you, but I already ate them all :)

How to Make Dried Cranberries (without added sugar)

Apparently, it is pretty easy to dry your own berries, especially if you don't want the added sugar that always comes in the packaged kind. Today I gave it a whirl. My method is adapted from this post from the Cranberry Moms blog that I found. For this post I will use cranberries as an example, but I've heard that you can do this same thing for almost any berries (blueberries, etc). 


Preheat oven to 150-200 degrees.
Boil 2 cups of water. Turn burner off.
Submerge 1 (12oz) package of cranberries in the water. You will hear something to the effect of "squishhhh....whoosh....pthh..." as the berries will begin to "pop" and split.

In a couple minutes, when the berries have stopped popping, drain the pan and spread the cranberries on a cookie sheet.

Bake at 150-200 degrees overnight (6-8 hours) until berries are completely dried and not sticky.

Yes, I must have that...!

Let me show you this neat book that I recently ordered:

There are numerous books out there that are similar to this, and maybe even better, but this is the one that I settled on. What I like about it is that it is a quick guide to all sorts of fresh fruits, veggies, and other foods--it gives an up-close look at what nutrients are in each food and how they help your body. It also gives tips on foods that may help you boost your immune system, fight disease, and lots of other things.

I finally did it!!! :)

After much trial and error, I have (at least for now) finally mastered my original recipe for gingerbread cookies!!
Yes, I know it's January, and gingerbread is typically a holiday food, but I am pumped about them nonetheless!

Refreshing

I don't know about you, but I drink water on a daily basis. I don't really care for carbonated beverages, but sometimes I do get tired of just plain water. And even in the winter time, we need water. Here's an idea to spruce up your routine for healthy liquid intake. I got this idea from my pastor's wife, who makes the most beautiful fruit water arrangements for several wedding showers that I've been to.

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

I love the weekends, because I have time to cook. Of course, I also run my needed errands, go walk, or just laze around in general. But usually some sort of baking or cooking gets accomplished, in volumes that I can't manage during the week. It's the best time to try new recipes, too.