P-P-P-Pumpkins!!!

10-23-12

  Wahoo!!!! I successfully made my very first pumpkin pie, completely from scratch! That's right, SCRATCH, no canned pumpkin, no pre-made crust, and only honey as a sweetener! I made it last night and there is only one piece left. I'm currently cooling another crust so I can bake a second pie tonight :-P   It's a "chores around the house" day, so I figured I'd go ahead and post the pie recipe while I'm waiting on the laundry. My wonderful husband was a real gem and helped me every step of the way and I'm pretty well convinced that I'll never buy a pumpkin pie again (homemade is by far better and definitely worth the effort).  

  I'm super excited about all the people that I'm getting to come take a look at my blog and what I'm doing here. I added some pictures to some of my previous posts I hope you all enjoy.  I'm kinda flabbergasted...this morning I decided to weigh myself again (just for giggles) to find out how the last few days of Cinnamon Bun Muffins, Strawberry Sorbet, and Pumpkin Pie had affected me. Sorry to those people thinking I'd most definitely gained a pound or two...nope, I lost a whole pound! 0_o  I find that totally weird and against normal thought, but in fact I've lost yet another pound. I thought for sure I was at a plateau, perhaps I'm wrong. I'm the skinniest I've ever been in my entire life! I'm having a really hard time imagining that there is anything left to loose, but then I loose more weight and I continue to marvel at the oddity. Enough about that, on to the recipe!

Pumpkin Pie

Yield: 1-8"pie+1ramekin filling

Crust:

1-3/4  cup  Almond Flour

1/3    cup  Coconut Oil, melted

2     Tbsp  Honey

1      tsp  Vanilla Extract

1/4    tsp  Baking Soda

1/4    tsp  Ground Cinnamon

1/4    tsp  Ground Ginger

Dash        Salt

Filling:

2   cup  Pumpkin Puree (15oz canned)

1/2 cup  Water

3        Eggs

1   tsp  Vanilla Extract

1   tsp  Salt

1   tsp  Ground Cinnamon

1   tsp  Ground Ginger

1/4 tsp  Ground Clove

1/4 tsp  Ground Cardamom

1/2 tsp  Ground Nutmeg

1/2 tsp  Lemon Zest

1/2 cup  Honey

Crust:

1)  Mix all ingredients until just combined (I suggest mixing dry ingredients first and then adding the wet).

2)  Press dough into greased pie plate, spreading evenly up sides and across bottom of pan.

3)  Bake at 325^F for 10 Minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely.

Filling:

1)  Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl. Combine thoroughly.

2)  Pour into pre-baked pie crust. You will end up with extra filling. Pour this into 1-2 greased ramekin(I used a small Pyrex dish). 

3)  Place pie and ramekins on baking sheet. Bake at 350^F for 30-40 minutes, or until center is slightly jiggly. (If crust edges brown too quickly, put strips of foil around the edges of the pie)

4)  Refrigerate until chilled, then serve.

Original Recipe Link:   http://www.againstallgrain.com/2011/11/22/grain-free-and-dairy-free-pumpkin-pie/

Using What's on Hand...

10-16-12

  One of my favorite things to do is find an ingredient in my kitchen that has just been sitting there, usually because someone is afraid to "eat the last one", or because it's too small of a quantity to use in one of my normal recipes. With this ingredient in mind, I then scour the internet for a recipe that utilizes that food item and anything else I have on hand. 

  Last night I was craving some bread, after eating the delicious squash soup, so I began to look for a recipe that would use the 1, overripe, banana sitting idle in the fruit bowl. It was quite a task, because most bread and cake recipes I found used 2-4 bananas. At long last though I found a recipe that served the purpose and sounded delicious! My Hubby and I worked together and made this dessert. When it came out of the oven, and cooled sufficiently, everyone tried a piece and thought it was super good! I was so glad the guys liked it so well (although I wonder if they were just happy to have a good homemade dessert again), however I didn't like it so well at first. The flavor was good, but the crumble on top was off for me and too dry. This morning I decided to have a piece again, but I drizzled some honey on top after warming it up, and enjoyed it so much more. I'd contemplated trying to alter the recipe the next time I make it, but decided, that with such an easy fix, I'd leave it as it is. 

Always,

Kittydid

Banana Spice Coffee Cake

Batter:

1       Banana, mashed

5       Eggs

1.5 tsp Vanilla Extract

1  Tbsp Honey

1.25cup Almond Flour

1.5 tsp Ground Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Ground Ginger

1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg

1/2 tsp Ground Cloves

1/2 tsp Sea Salt

1/4 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 cup Coconut Oil, melted (plus more for greasing pan)

Topping:

1/2 cup Almond Flour

1   tsp Ground Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Ground Ginger

1/8 tsp Ground Nutmeg

1/8 tsp Ground Cloves

1.5 tsp Coconut Oil

Preheat oven to 350^F

Batter:

1)  In a large bowl mix together mashed banana, eggs, vanilla, and honey until all the wet ingredients are incorporated.

2)  In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, salt, and baking soda.

3)  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until better forms. Stir in melted coconut oil to batter; mix well.

Topping:

4)  In a small bowl, blend together flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and coconut oil. Blend until the mixture forms a crumb-like texture. Add 1/2 tsp more coconut oil if the crumb mixture doesn't form.

5)  Pour batter into greased 8x8 baking dish and sprinkle topping evenly across the top. Bake in preheated oven for 45-50 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

  Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes and then cut into squares and serve.  

Original Recipe Link:  http://www.multiplydelicious.com/thefood/2012/08/banana-spice-coffee-cake/

Apple Cake Mistake

10-4-12

  I'm back and ready to give an account of my first "conversion" recipe. I made a Plum Cake for my client the other day and wanted to see if I might be able to alter the recipe to comply with my diet. The original recipe had said that you could use other fruits in place of plums. I only had apples on hand, so I made apple cake. :-)
  The results of my cake were not what I expected. The cake ended up rather bland, but the sliced apples on top are what made it delicious. After discussing what I found in my alterations with a few people, I decided that I'll need to make another cake to work out the kinks. The next time I make it, I'm planning to add some vanilla extract. Until then I'll post below with the Original and Converted cake recipes. 
  On another note, when I arrived home from work today my husband and his two younger brothers were making another batch of Sorbet, this time it is Peach flavored. They used the same recipe as before, with the strawberries, only they substituted the strawberries with five large peaches. The taste is very delicious once again, however, we found that the textures are altogether different. The peach sorbet is light tasting and fluffy in texture, while the strawberry sorbet was bold and a definite sorbet texture. I'm very proud of the guys and their talents at making delectable frozen desserts. 

God Bless!
Kittydid

Apple Cake (SCD)
  1       Egg
  1   tsp Lemon Juice
  2  Tbsp Butter, melted
 1/4  cup Honey
1-1/2 cup Almond Flour
 1/8  tsp Cinnamon
 1/8  tsp Baking Soda
 1/8  tsp Salt
  2 small Apples, peeled & sliced
 1/4  cup Cinnamon-Honey mix 

1)  Beat egg until lemon-colored.
2)  Add lemon, butter, and honey; mix well.
3)  Sift dry ingredients together and add to egg mixture.
4)  Press batter into greased 8"x8" pan. (If batter is too stiff, add a bit of water--but it works w/o adding any.)
5)  Arrange fruit on batter and drizzle evenly with Cinna-Hony mix.
6)  Bake for 40 min. at 350F.

*note: next time I'm going to add 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract. Will write update when I do, with how it turns out.

Original Plum Cake Recipe
 1       Egg
1/2 tsp  Lemon Extract
 2 Tbsp  Butter, melted
1/8 tsp  Cinnamon
3/4 cup  Flour
2/3 cup  Sugar
1/2 tsp  Baking Powder
1/8 tsp  Salt
Fresh-or-Frozen Italian Prune/Plum halves
1/4 cup  Cinnamon-Sugar mix

1)  Beat egg until lemon-colored.
2)  Add lemon extract and butter, mix well.
3)  Sift dry ingredients together and add to egg mixture.
4)  Press batter into greased 8"x8" pan. (If batter is too stiff, add a bit of milk--bit it works w/o adding any.)
5)  Arrange fruit, cut-side up, on batter. Sprinkle with Cinna-Sugar mix.
6)  Bake for 40 min. at 350F.

Fall: Arriving in Style

10-1-12

  Today I welcomed fall with a wonderfully delicious Cinnamon Bun Muffin recipe. It made the house smell much like fall and the only thing missing was warm apple cider on the stove top. Sadly, the recipe makes only nine muffins, so I'll be making another batch before the evening is done. I've posted my version of the recipe at the bottom of this post. At the bottom of the recipe is a link to the original recipe from Elana's Pantry (http://www.elanaspantry.com/cinnamon-bun-muffins/). I find many of my recipes on her site and a couple of others (this will be very apparent as my posting progresses).

  I had my three month check up with my doctor today. It was probably the best doctor appointment I've ever had! She was very happy with the progress I've made on the diet (as am I) and how good I'm feeling. She was surprised to see how much weight I've lost, but is happy to see how well my body/gut is liking the diet. I went away feeling very confident about how well I'm doing and excited to continue on this journey to healing. 

  Another really neat thing, my father and eldest brother came up with a brine made of honey, salt, and water for smoking fish. I came home from a visit with some very delicious smoked tuna! yummy, yum, yum! I'm so very thankful for all the family and friends that are constantly supporting me in my dietary restrictions and finding ways to fix special things for me that I can have! 

  Happy Harvesting!

God Bless,

Kittydid

Cinnamon Bun Muffin
makes 9 muffins

Cinnamon Topping:
2 Tbsp Honey
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
1 Tbsp Grapeseed Oil

1)  To make cinnamon topping, combine honey, cinnamon and oil in a small bowl
2)  Set mixture aside



Muffin Mixture: 

1  cup  Blanched Almond Flour 

2  Tbsp Coconut Flour

1/2 tsp Baking soda

1/4 tsp Salt 

1/4 cup Grapeseed Oil 

1/4 cup Honey
3       Eggs

1  Tbsp Vanilla Extract

1)  Combine almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl
2)  In a large bowl blend together oil, honey, eggs and vanilla
3)  Blend dry ingredients into wet and scoop a scant 1/4 cup at a time into lined muffin cups
4)  Spoon topping onto muffins
5)  Bake muffins for 8-12 minutes at 350°. Cool on wire wracks.

Original Recipe Link: http://www.elanaspantry.com/cinnamon-bun-muffins/