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)

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

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!

Christmas Recipes

I am doing this post more for me that anything else. I've spent the last few days collecting recipes to get us through Christmas. Our celebrating starts tonight.

Dinner:
Ham
Broccoli
Glazed Turnips
-2 lbs turnips, peeled and quartered
-4 T. ghee
-1 cup beef stock
-plunge turnips into boiling salted, filtered water fr 3-5 minutes. Drain and pat dry. Saute in ghee until lightly browned. Add stock and boil down until turnips are coated and liquid has almost completely evaporated.

Breakfast Tomorrow (for opening our stockings):

Egg Casserole

• 6 eggs
• 1 c. milk (I'm going to try to sub with 3/4 c. chicken stock)
• 2 Tbsp. ghee, melted
• 1-2 cups chopped spinach
  
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• about 1 c. diced ham
• Cashew Cheese
  1 tsp olive oil or coconut oil
  1/2 cup cashews, soaked for at least 6 hours
  1 1/4 cup water
  
• drain the cashews and put them in blender with the water. Blend until very
  smooth.
  
• In a skillet, add the cashew milk and turn heat to high.
  Stir frequently to prevent sticking and reduce to a low
  simmer as soon as it boils. Keep stirring and cover to
  keep it from splattering. Continue to cook for a few
  more minutes, then remove it from heat.
• preheat oven to 400. Grease 9X9 pan with ghee or coconut oil. With wire whisk, beat eggs, stock, spinach, salt, pepper, and ghee until mixed. Add cashew cheese. Pour into pan. Sprinkle ham evenly over top. Bake 20 min or until set and golden.
• I may leave out the cashew cheese as this will be a test to see if we can tolerate cashew butter and we can't over do it. Most of the other recipes for the day also have cashew butter in them.
  

Cashew Butter Pancakes
Ingredients:
1 C pureed, cooked squash or zuchinni
1 C nut butter (we used cashew butter made from soaking cashew 6 hours then blending)
5 pastured or free-range organic eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 T cinnamon
dash of cloves, nutmeg, and any other "pumpkin pie" type spice

Method:
Separate the eggs, and beat the whites until fluffy (soft peaks are fine). In a large bowl, mix together the 5 egg yolks, the squash, the nut butter, and the salt and spices. Blend thoroughly. Fold the egg whites into this mixture gently, so that the resulting batter is airy and light.

Cook on a well-greased griddle on a somewhat low heat, as they do burn easily. Flip them gently as they do not stay together as well as regular pancakes.

Jesus' Birthday Cupcakes
-1 c. cashew butter (made from soaked cashews)
-1 Tbsp. ghee or unrefined coconut oil
-1/2-1tsp. stevia
-2 pastured or free-range organic eggs seperated
-Mix stevia, butter. ghee and egg yolks together. Beat egg whites until stiff then fold into mixture. Pour into cup cake liners.
-Frosting:
--1/2 c. ghee
--3/4 tsp. stevia
--1-1.5tsp vanilla (alcohol free)
--1/8c. nut butter
Bake at 300 for about 20 min for cupcakes

Christmas Cookies
2 cups almond flour (I get mine at Trader Joe's)
4 T ghee, melted (Coconut oil also works)
1/4 cup honey or 1/4-1/2 tsp. Stevia
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp salt

Optional add-ins: 1/2 cup raisins, 1/4 cup shredded coconut, 1/4 cup chopped nuts
350 degrees

1. Cream together first three ingredients. Add the spices.
2. Fold in optional ingredients, if using.
3. Drop by spoonfuls on parchment-lined cookie sheets.
4. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Halloween when you're sugar free?

I have been racking my brain for weeks now trying to think of what we will do for Halloween when your diet consists of cooked meat and vegetables. I've been searching everywhere on-line for ideas of sweets I can make for the boys that will be somewhat exciting.

We have always celebrated Halloween with the little white lie that "The Great Pumpkin" comes by our house on Halloween night after the boys are asleep. The boys leave their candy (after they've eaten some) on the porch and the great pumpkin comes and leaves them a present. That tradition will help but I still want to be able to give them something as we go trick or treating that they will look forward to.

I have a few ideas listed below that I'm going to try to make. I don't know what to handout to the trick-or-treaters that come to our house. I don't want to hand out candy that our kids can't have but I also can't possibly make enough of our treats to pass out. Any ideas?

Many of you have offered to make us food or help in some way. Here are a list of the "treats" I have found that I am going to try to make. If you would like to attempt any of them I would greatly appreciate any help. I understand that it might be hard given the list of ingredients.

FYI: most call for Stevia (this is a herb that tastes sweet, I've heard you can find it at Schnucks, Dierburgs, and Trader Joe's. I know they have it at Whole Foods and The Natural Way).

MERINGUES
from Pecan Bread

4 egg whites
dash of salt
1/2 tsp Stevia
parchment paper

Make sure your bowl and whipping attachment are dry as one drop of water will ruin your meringues.
Let the eggs sit out on counter until room temperature.
Separate eggs by putting the whites in a bowl and either throwing away the yolk or saving it for a custard.
Whip up the egg whites until they are white and stick to the spoon.
Slowly drizzle the Stevia in and add a dash of salt.
Spoon small dollops onto parchment paper that has been fitted to a cookie sheet. Only use parchment paper, as all others will cause meringues to stick.
Turn oven on to 150.
If your oven does not go that low, turn it to the lowest setting. You can turn your oven off for an hour, then back on for 5 minutes and then back off again for another hour to maintain a very low temp. and do this until cookies are done.

Cookies should be dried out, not baked and this process goes for maybe 2-3 hours.
If the meringues start to turn brown on the edges, your oven is too hot and you should turn off the heat and crack the oven door open.

Your cookies should turn out the color of honey, but a lighter shade, in an all over even color.
You need to monitor this by taking peeks in at them every half hour.
Meringues can be tempermental.

NUT BUTTER CARAMELS
from Pecan Bread

4 tablespoons coconut oil (or ghee)
1 tsp Stevia
4 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup almond butter

In a saucepan, bring oil or ghee, Stevia, vanilla, salt to the simmer stage and cook for 15 minutes. Add almond butter and stir and simmer five minutes.

Pour into a buttered loaf pan and freeze until just till hard enough to slice with a buttered spatula. Cut them in small squares,wrap in pieces of waxed paper cut to size. Store them in the fridge.
Tip: Use an ice cube tray instead of loaf pan to avoid cutting

PUMPKIN PIE FILLING
from Pecan Bread

2 C cooked pumpkin or butternut squash
3/4 tsp to 1 tsp Stevia
1/4 C. melted coconut oil or ghee
4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cloves
2 egg yolks
4 egg whites

1. Puree the squash in the food processor.
2. Mix all ingredients EXCEPT egg whites.
3. Beat egg whites in a separate bowl until stiff.
4. Gently fold egg whites into pumpkin mix.
5. Bake in a pie dish at 350 for ~50 minutes.

PUMPKIN ICE CREAM
from Pecan Bread

6 eggs, separated
1/2 cup cooked, pureed butternut squash or pumpkin
1/4 tsp Stevia or to taste
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. cloves

1. Combine squash, Stevia and spices.
2. Beat yolks with squash mixture.
3. In separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.
4. Fold egg whites into egg yolks.
5. Freeze for 1.5 hrs., mix together to blend and refreeze.

COOKIE-CUTTER COOKIES
adapted from a pie-crust recipe at scdiet.org

3 cups almond flour, firmly packed
1 stick softened ghee: OR Spectrum 100% palm oil organic shortening
1 egg
1/2 - 2/3 tsp Stevia
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Cover a cookie sheet with baking parchment paper. Combine all ingredients thoroughly to make a stiff dough. Chill dough several hours or overnight. Place a ball of dough on the parchment, and cover with another sheet of parchment. Roll out dough between sheets of parchment with a rolling pin, until 3/16" thick. Peel off top sheet of paper.

Using cookie cutters with open centers, cut shapes directly on the parchment-covered cookie sheet. Press firmly. Keep close together as dough does not spread while baking. Bake 5-10 minutes Watch carefully, edges brown quickly. Remove and cool thoroughly to preserve shape before removing from parchment.

Tip: The parchment can be placed on any flat, smooth surface for rolling out the dough, then carefully moved to the cookie sheet either before or after the shapes are cut.

Truffles
from Grain-Free Foodies

Ghee (pastured if possible) or Coconut Oil
Stevia to taste
Cinnamon to taste
Drop of vanilla extract
Almond or Coconut Flour (we are not able to tolerate this yet)

METHOD:

Cream oil with Stevia, then mix in the drop of vanilla and cinnamon to taste. You can add some coconut flour at this point if you want for texture. Without the flour it is a lot like ganache, adding the flour makes it a bit more like cookie dough.

The next step is to roll it into little balls. You may need to refrigerate it for awhile to do this, but it will be tough to do because the heat from your hands will melt the butter a bit. roll the truffles in ground cinnamon.

Put Cinnamon to roll the truffles in into a small bowl. Scoop up a small amount of the butter mixture, briefly roll it in your hands, then drop it into the bowl, and continue rolling it in the bowl. I prefer a ball about 3/4 of an inch across.

Store in the refrigerator when done.

Nut Butter Snow Balls
from Grain-Free Foodies

.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup almond butter
1/2 cup ground almonds
1/4 tsp Stevia
1 tsp vanilla extract
cinnamon, ground cardamom (optional)
pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and mix thoroughly. Test for thickness by forming a ball to see if it holds its shape as desired.

For nut butter balls, pull off a piece of dough and roll into a ball about 1 inch or more across. Roll the ball in chopped almonds and set aside, continue until all the dough is rolled.

These are best stored in the refrigerator.

Almond Butter Muffins
from GAPS Guide

2.5 cups ground almonds
1/4 cup softened fat (ghee, coconut oil, lard)
3 eggs
Stevia to taste

Mix ingredients well. Use more or less ground nuts to achieve porridge-like conisistency. Grease your baking pan. Put mixture in. Bake 300 F for about an hour. When knife comes out clean, the bread is ready.

Coconut Oil Candies
adapted from Kelly the Kitchen Kop

1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 tsp Stevia
1 tsp vanilla
1/2-1tsp sea salt

Soften coconut oil, mix all ingredients together. Spread into shapes on parchment paper or melt mixture and pour into candy molds.

S'Mores

We had a campfire last weekend in our backyard so I wanted to make it as authentic for the boys as possible. I found the following recipe for graham crackers. I substituted Stevia for the honey (we'll be able to do honey later, just not right now). I also left out the baking powder. They turned out pretty good. For marshmallow I beat egg whites until fluffy and added Stevia. For the chocolate I melted coconut oil with vanilla, salt, stevia & cocoa powder (not legal on GAPS but I felt a necessary exception). I was pretty proud of myself. The boys gobbled them up.

Here is the recipe for graham crackers:

Ingredients

3 cups almond flour
1/2 cup honey
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions

1. Blend honey, eggs, spices, & baking soda. Add almond flour and mix well.

2. Take cookie size servings and smash them onto a cookie sheet to a ¼ inch thickness I use a Silicone cookie sheet liner. Leave a little room between crackers as they will puff a little bit and you will need room to maneuver flip them.

3. Bake in 325F oven for about 9 minutes.

4. Turn crackers over, and bake again for about 9 minutes.

5. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Even better if you can stand to wait until the next day to let spices really penetrate.

6. If a really crisp cracker is desired, re-warm cooled crackers in a low oven (150F) or in a dehydrator set on maximum for about 2 hours, then store.

Butternut Squash Ice Cream

Found this at GAPSters

• 1 butternut squash
• stock of your choice
• 3-5 Tblsp ghee
• 3 egg yolks

Boil the squash in the stock. When done (almost falling apart), remove from stock and cool. Add ghee and egg yolks. Blend. At this point you could put the mixture in an ice cream maker or you could put it directly into the freezer and stir it every 30 minutes or so--until it's frozen, but aerated and fluffy.

Orange Popscicles

This recipe is adapted from GAPSters

An all stages snack.

You'll need a popsicle mold.

1 butternut squash, boiled in bone broth and puréed or 2 cups of baby carrots

5 Tblsp ghee

raw egg yolks

2-3 drops of Stevia (optional)

Place butternut squash in a bowl. Add ghee and as many yolks as desired and blend until smooth. Pour or spoon into mold(s) and freeze.

Mint Tea Popscicles

This recipe is from GAPSters

An all stages snack.

Make a batch of mint tea, adding honey to sweeten a tad more than you'd use for hot tea.

Let cool. Pour into popsicle mold(s). Enjoy between meals.

Recipes

If you are cooking one of these recipes for us, please double check the "what we can eat" page to see an updated list of "safe" foods. If you are following GAPS, please note that I categorized the following recipes by Intro Stages myself so there may be some recipes that are not in the right spot. Always gauge by what your body can tolerate.

GAPS Recipes
Intro Phase 1
Bone Stock
soups
Carrot & Ginger Soup
Zucchini Soup
French Beef Stew
Winter Squash Soup
Meatball Soup
Butternut Squash & Fennel Soup
Cream of Vegetable Soup
Crock-Pot Roast
Pea Soup
snacks
Orange-Colored "Jello"
Mint Tea
Mint Tea Popsicles
Sparking Water
Simmer simple meatballs in beef broth (make meatballs with ground beef, onion, garlic, salt, fresh sage).
Pumpkin Ice Cream

Intro Phase 2
breakfast or snack
Soft Boiled Eggs and Egg Salad
Non-nut butter pancakes
casseroles/stews
Beef & Eggplant Casserole
Big Kid's Casserole
Pork Stew
Melt in your Mouth Beef Soup
Mashed "too-tatoes"
Beef & Pumpkin Stew
Veggie Minestrone
I Heart Texas Chili
Veggie Chicken Salad
Cilantro-Lime Chicken Salad
Chicken Nuggets
Rice & Gravy
snacks/desserts
Beets
Butternut Squash Ice Cream
Orange Popsicles
Carrot Coins and "Cheese"
Chicken Pancakes
Pumpkin Pie Filling
Coconut Oil Candies


Intro Phase 3
Hamburger/Hot Dog Buns
Pesto Sauce
Chicken Salad
Non-nut butter pancake sandwiches
Quiche Muffins
Carrot Latkes
snacks/desserts
Nut butter pancakes
Squash Mini Muffins
Veggie Pancakes
Cashew Butter Pancakes
Cashew Butter Cupcakes
Meringues
Nut butter Caramels
Nut butter snow balls
Almond butter muffins
Banana Sunflower Butter Pancakes
Crackers


Intro Phase 4
Almond Bread
Grain-Free Indian Flat Bread
Biscuits
Sloppy Joes
Roasted Red Pepper Soup
Roasted Cabbage
Baked Radish Chips
Breakfast Sausages
Chicken Nuggets
Glazed Turnips
Egg Casserole
desserts
Grain-Free Oatmeal Cookies
Cookie Cutter Cookies
Truffles
Apple Pie
Banana Bread

Moving On these are recipes we can currently do (or we use when we need to make exceptions) but are considered "Full Gaps"
Coconut Milk Jigglers
Banana Walnut Muffins
Graham Crackers/S'mores
Yoda Bars
Pumpkin Muffins with Streusel topping
Morning Smoothie
Yoda Bars

Healthy Fats
Rendering Lard
Ghee (clarified butter)

Condiments
Lacto-Fermented Mayo
Mayo with coconut & olive oil
BBQ Sauce
Ketchup
Taco Seasoning

Fermented Vegetables
Cauliflower Pickles

Non-GAPS recipes
Breakfasts
Dutch Babies
Desserts
Coconut Oil Fudge