A season for everything

I am closing up this blog. It has been forever since I've written anything anyway and mostly because coming back to this blog feels like a life long past.

I do enjoy the process of writing and keeping memories so I will be starting a new blog at TheNewHippieFamily.blogspot.com

At this new blog I hope to share more of the daily mundane but incredible moments that I embrace and hope to remember.

Thanks for being along for the ride in this season.

Banana Bread

I actually made this recipe up myself. That is an unheard of feat for me. When I was in high school I was making a batch of brownies from a box and after I read "mix by hand" I actually stuck my hand in the batter and stirred it around.

That is my cooking background.

Yes, I've come a long way.

This recipe calls from 1 tsp of honey but I think it would be fine without it as long as your bananas are very, very ripe. It is made without eggs.

Banana Bread

Ingredients

2 cups blanched almond flour

1/4 cup coconut flour

5 very ripe bananas

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. honey

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 cup coconut oil (soft) or ghee (soft)

1 tsp. cinnamon

Method

whisk all dry ingredients together

blend all wet ingredients together

blend dry ingredients into wet

Pour into loaf pan greased with ghee or coconut oil

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes

then turn down to 300 and cook until mostly firm in the middle (it never firms up completely)

Almond Crackers

I realized today that many of the recipes we use as staples in our house are not listed on my blog. This one we could not live without. We could also not live without Katie Kemper who makes us a huge batch every month that we keep in the freezer. Thank you Katie!!!!!

Almond Crackers
from Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride's GAPS book

2 Tbsp of butter (or ghee, coconut oil or lard)
2 cups ground nuts (almonds, hazels, walnuts, etc) (we use Trader Joe's Almond Meal)
2-3 Tbsp of water

You can improvise by adding to this mixture herbs, cinnamon, paprika, cayenne pepper, black pepper, salt, grated cheddar cheese (if tolerated) or peanut butter.

Mix the ingredients well. Roll out thinly on a board, sprinkled with some ground nuts. Cut into squares or any other shapes. Sprinkle some coarse salt, poppy seeds, caraway seeds or coriander seeds on top.

Bake in the oven on well-greased baking paper at 300F for 10-15 min.

These have a hard time staying together but do a little better if you keep them in the freezer.

Carrot Latkes

Snow day today!!!! I LOVE snow days. I love waking up and telling Tyler he can stay home from school. I love the laziness of a day that is also magical. I took advantage of the extra time and made some carrot latkes for breakfast this morning. They really don't take that much time and they're very worth it. They have the taste of hashbrowns with a touch of sweetness from the carrots.

Carrot Scallion Latkes
Ingredients
3 cups shredded carrots
3 scallions, finely chopped (I've also done 1/2 medium onion)
3 eggs, whisked
1-2 teaspoon celtic sea salt
½ teaspoon coconut flour
olive oil or bacon fat for frying
Method
In a large bowl combine carrots, scallions and eggs
Stir salt and coconut flour into carrot mixture
In a large skillet heat oil
Scoop large tablespoonfuls of batter onto skillet
Fry patties on each side over medium heat until browned and crispy
Transfer latkes to a paper towel lined plate
Repeat process until all of the batter is used up

Pumpkin Muffins with Streusel Topping

I know I am horrible at keeping up with this blog. It still works as a great place for organizing my stuff. So at least its working for me :-).

I've actually created some of my own recipes lately. Which is pretty amazing if you knew me. This is one I just made adaptations to a few recipes from other blogs. I served it last night to friends and, except for the fact that I over cooked them, they were a hit. This is a great treat for any one on or off GAPS. By using almond flour instead of traditional flour this treat is full of protein instead of just adding to our already starch filled diet.

The main idea is from Elana's pantry and the struesel topping comes from the Nourishing Gourmet. I'm sure this could easily be adapted to muffins.

Pumpkin Bars
1 cup pumpkin (acorn, butternut or other squash) puree
½-1 cup honey
4 eggs
2 cup blanched almond flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cloves

Streusel Topping
3 tablespoons of arrowroot powder, (not GAPS legal)
3 tablespoons of coconut crystals
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
dash of salt
3 tablespoons of cold coconut oil
1/3 cup of chopped walnuts

1. In a food processor, combine pumpkin, honey and eggs and pulse for 2 minutes
2. Pulse dry ingredients into wet for a full minute, until well combined
3. Pour batter into a greased 8 X 8 (greased with ghee or coconut oil)
4. Mix together first four Streusel ingredients. Then cut in coconut oil with a fork until small clumps are formed. Then stir in chopped walnuts.
5. Pour topping on top of bars
6. Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes