Apple Pie

I have been avoiding cooking for a while now. I cook what I have to to get us by but I have been making the same few meals and have not baked anything for the kids. ("not cooking" is a very relative term...I use it to compare to the 2-6 hours a day I was spending). Thankfully I have an incredible church community that has rallied around our family to get us through this GAPS protocol. We have one more year to go.

I found a new blog that has inspired me to get back into cooking more and providing more healthy variety for the kids. Comfybelly.com She follows the SCD diet which is very similar to the GAPS protocol. Almost all her recipes are make with almond flour. I learned from her today that there is a difference in almond flours. I have been using Trader Joe's Almond Meal which is much cheaper then the Bob's Red Mill that Whole Foods carries. She recommends baking with blanched almond flour because the finer texture allows for more rise and a fluffier texture. She give many recommendations for where to buy more economical almond flour. I just bought 5lbs at $6 a pound at honeyvillegrain.com. Much cheeper than my choice at Whole Foods but still more than my current TJ's brand. Its worth it to me right now as I am hoping to make a baked good Tyler is excited about.

So today I made my first apple pie...ever. I used my Trader Joe's Almond meal and it worked fine. I'm excited to try it with the blanched almond flour to see if it makes a difference. We ate it for dessert tonight and even Brian loved it. (Annabelle had just the filling to avoid the eggs in the crust). I followed the recipe from Comfybelly. I used clarified butter instead of butter to make it dairy free. I also forgot to peel the apples. When I realized it I decided just leave the peels. That is the only part of the pie we didn't like. This may be obvious to everyone, (but since I have such little experience with cooking it was not to me) you really need to peel the apples.

To anyone following the GAPS protocol or suffering from any Inflammatory Bowel Disease, you will find Comfybelly a gold mine. For everyone else, I would encourage you to consider trying out some almond flour. Its easy to digest, lowers cholesterol, provides more vitamins and minerals than wheat flour, is high in protein, and a good source of fiber. The almond meal from Trader Joe's is very economical and states on the package you can substitute it for up to 50% of all-purpose flour in any recipe.

Happy Alternative Baking!