Paleo Pumpkin Bars!!!

This recipe represents me getting over two irrational fears- well not fears exactly, just a couple things I have been avoiding, I don't know why.  Typically any recipe using almond butter as the base has always scared me away.  Call me crazy, but almond butter is not really my fave!  That's why another GREAT nut butter to work with for this would be cashew or pecan butter.  But if you don't have any- use almond butter.  It will not taste overwhelmingly almond butterish.  I have also never ever ever used coconut cream concentrate!  I know!  I am crazy!  That sh*t is incredible.  What was I thinking?  It's like the thickest whipped cream you could imagine, but sugar and dairy free and so gosh darn good for you!  The frosting for this recipe, which I highly recommend, is not much more than a little CCC, some pumpkin pie spice, and sweetener.  Get some.  TJ's now has it canned folks.

Paleo Pumpkin Bars
1 cup mild nut butter (almond, cashew, or pecan)
1 cup organic pumpkin puree
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp maple extract (optional)
1 tbsp organic pumpkin pie spice
2/3 cup liquid sweetener (like SF syrup, maple syrup, honey, coconut nectar, etc)
pinch of salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Frosting:
5-6 tbsp CCC
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, plus a bit more for sprinkling
3 tbsp liquid sweetener

In a large bowl, mix up ALL your ingredients.  One bowl peeps, can't complain about that!  Save yourself some trouble though, and make sure your nut butter has no lumps in it before adding it to the bowl.  For instance, if you've had it for awhile and it has dried out a little.  Mix it all well and transfer to a parchment lined 9x9.  Bake at 350 until a knife comes out just clean.  25-30 minutes ish.  Let it cool while you mix the frosting.  If it is warm when frosting, you'll melt the CCC.  If you are in a rush, don't worry, because it will firm up in the fridge.  When finished, refrigerate and enjoy!  This could even be enjoyed for breakfast!

Grain-Free, Sugar-Free Lemon Bars

I'm not quite sure why, but lately I've really had a craving for lemon bars.  I used to love them but for the life of me don't think I've had one in many many years.  I guess when chocolates around that's usually my go to.  But I kept thinking, it really shouldn't be too difficult to come up with a sugar free lemon bar recipe.  And it wasn't!  I still want to tinker with the recipe more, because it was incredibly tart, but it was much easier than I expected.  It was also an opportunity to play with two new sugar-alternatives.  I was nervous about them and not sure how our tummies would handle it, but no problems whatsoever.  I used a mixture of Zsweet (from WF) and Xylitol, or birch sugar, which I picked up at Vitamin Shoppe.  A lot of the online references I found regarding these sugar alcohols recommend that you pulse them in the cuisi first.  This not only helps stop them from recrystallizing once your baked good has cooled, but I guess it also breaks them down further so you don't have that strange "cooling" mouth feel.  For instance, when you are chewing sugar free gum and your whole mouth feels cold and it hurts to drink cold water?  That is the "cooling" mouth feel, because incidentally most sugar free gums now are made with Xylitol.  Erythritol (the main ingredient in Zsweet), on the other hand, supposedly doesn't cause much tummy upset but is better used in wet applications, making it perfect for a lemon bar/custard, I thought.

Are these lemon bars exactly like the lemon bars you are picturing?  No.  I could have made them a little bit more like traditional lemon bars by grinding some xylitol in the cuisinart to make faux powdered sugar to sprinkle on top, but I was lazy.  But they are really good, and have no weird fake sugar aftertastes or anything like that- no weird consistency issues or strange textures.  They are a great alternative! 

Grain-Free, Sugar-Free Lemon Bars
2 cups almond flour
5 tbsp butter, melted
1 or 2 packets of stevia or your preferred sweetener
4 eggs
juice of 3 lemons
zest of one lemon
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp coconut flour
3/4 cup sweetener (or more if you aren't a fan of tart desserts.  I used just a 1/2 cup total of a combination of half Zsweet and half xylitol and it was super super tart.)

Line an 8x8 with parchment and preheat your oven to 350.  In a medium mixing bowl combine your almond flour, softened butter, and sweetener.  You want the mixture to be crumbly, kind of like a graham cracker crust.  Press the crust into your 8x8 so that it's evenly distributed and reaches all sides.  Bake for about 15 minutes or until it's just starting to turn golden.  While it's baking you'll make the filling, which couldn't be easier.  Throw your lemon juice, baking powder, zest, eggs, coconut flour, and sweeteners into a blender and blend until it starts to thicken and the yolks lighten.  Pour the mixture over the crust and bake for another 25 minutes or so or until the center is just beginning to firm up.  You'll want to let it cool for at least an hour before serving. 

Everyone has their own opinions on sugar alternatives, which ones are best and which ones should be avoided.  I'm not really sure how I feel about any of them to be honest, except my feelings on which ones are superior taste-wise.  The best option would certainly be to live your life without desserts and treats like a true paleo.  Get used to tasting things in their natural state and appreciate the natural flavors without adding a bunch of enhancers.  Appreciate the inherent sweetness in things and don't use a bunch of junk to make it sweeter.  I sort of look at all these sweeteners the same as I'd look at a smoker who's trying to quit and using nicotine gum.  It's better than a cigarette, but you still haven't kicked the addiction.  You're just using a modified version of the drug.  Hopefully someday I'll have the motivation and willpower to say no to sweet stuff, but even if I do, I can't expect the rest of the world to do the same, and it would be nice to know how to make a few things that both myself, and others can enjoy without quite as much guilt.  Right now there are a thousand sugar-free challenges going on- and I have almost zero inclination to try any of them, although I would be wise to!  Have you had success with any sugar-free challenges?  Did giving up all sweeteners, even the low-carb low-cal ones have any appreciable effects?  And most of all, did it lessen your cravings for sweet treats?  Let me know!  Maybe your experiences will inspire me!

Easy Grain-Free, Sugar-Free Strawberry Cream Cheese Bars

A jar of sugar free or no sugar added preserves or jam can be a big help if you need a quick dessert.  So can some cream cheese, or neufchatel if you're so inclined.  This entire recipe from start to finish took about 35 minutes, including bake time.  Try it next time you're in a pinch!  Best of all, you can jazz it up any way you like- different jams, dried fruit, chocolate, dried coconut, whatever!  They remind of when I was little and those lucky days I'd get a strawberry and cream cheese sandwich, yum!!!!!!!!

Grain-Free, Sugar-Free Strawberry Cream Cheese Bars
1 jar no sugar added fruit preserves or jam.  I mixed cherry and strawberry together so I could use up the cherry.  Microwaved for one minute.
1 egg
1 1/2 cups almond flour
2 tsp oil
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 packets of sweetener, like Purevia or whatever you like (optional)
3 tbsp cream cheese, microwaved for 30 seconds or so

Line a 9x9 baking dish with parchment and preheat your oven to 350.  In a bowl, mix your almond flour, baking soda, salt, and sweetener.  Mix your oil and egg together, then add to almond flour mixture.  Press your crust into the baking dish and push with your fingers until it's reached all the sides.  Now pour your melted jam over the crust, and then your cream cheese, or neufchatel.  Using a fork or spatula, spread the jam and cream cheese around until it covers the crust completely.  This would be the time to add chopped nuts, dried fruit, chocolate chips, what have you.  Bake for 25-30 minutes and then let cool for a few hours before serving.

Bitter Chocolate, Cherry, and Sea Salt Coconut Bars

I am always looking for ways to incorporate more coconut into my diet.  I love the almost instant metabolism boost I seem to get from it and all those awesome medium-chain saturated fats.  Plus, I can get huge bags of unsweetened coconut powder (really just shredded coconut but a bit finer) at the Indian market for next to nothing.  I was a little skeptical about how these coconut bars would turn out, I had intended for them to be cookies but the mixture was so dry I decided to go for a bar instead.  What a happy accident it turned out to be!  With only a few ingredients and totally ridiculously yummy, you have got to get in the kitchen and try these out asap!

Bitter Chocolate, Dried Cherry, and Sea Salt Coconut Bars 
2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
1 whole egg and 1 egg white
1/4 cup sweetener, like Stevia in the Raw
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 cup dried unsweetened cherries
1/3 cup unsweetened chocolate chunks, or dark chocolate chunks if you can tolerate a little sugar, or sugar free chocolate chips if you can find them
Optional- 1/3 cup white chocolate chips if you can have a little sugar, chopped pecans or walnuts, or other dried fruit
Sea Salt, for finishing

Preheat your oven to 350.  Grease a 9x9 pan.  In a large bowl, combine coconut, egg, vanilla, oil, and sweetener and mix well.  Add in cherries and chocolate and whatever else you're using.  Transfer to 9x9 and press down firmly to distribute in an even layer.  The mixture will be on the drier side but that's ok- the egg will pull it together.  Sprinkle sea salt over the top and bake for 25 minutes or so or until the top is golden brown.  Another idea would be to spread sugar free preserves over the top.  These bars easily fulfill all my requirements for the perfect homemade dessert.  One bowl, a handful of ingredients, hardly any clean-up, and soooooo yummy.  Do not omit the sea salt- that clean salty taste you get when you first bite into it is the best part!  I personally used 72% dark chocolate chunks but if you want to go sugar free all the way- use chopped unsweetened chocolate or sugar free chocolate chips, or even better, cocao nibs.  Enjoy!!

Spaghetti (Squash) and Meatballs, Apple Crumble Bars

Living GF has its ups and downs.  I would say, 98% ups.  The 2% downs mostly are due to my regularly occurring baking disasters.  Thursday night was the latest in a long string of these unfortunate wastes of perfectly good ingredients.  At this point, I have tried at least 4 different grain-free brownie recipes and it seems, it really is not going to happen.  I am done trying to create a yummy, chocolatey, fudgy brownie.  My favorite dessert, ever.  No matter what, it's either too dry, too cakey, too bland, too bitter, or too nutty tasting due to all the nutbutters.  This final and last attempt involved using "date-paste" as the sweetener and needless to say, turned out horribly.  I really am so upset about this.  But cocoa powder alone cannot create the consistency I'm looking for and an almond flour brownie just sounds wrong.  I had intended to bring said brownies over to our friends for dinner Friday night- and instead had to show up empty-handed, although that certainly was better than the alternative!

Anyways- I am happy to report that I redeemed myself today with two successful GFG approved creations.

Go get yourself a spaghetti squash and make this NOW!  I have to say I never cared much for pasta but I absolutely love marinara, every single kind of it- so this was a great opportunity to use quite a bit.  I was skeptical about the taste of squash and marinara together, and the texture too.  I was soooooooo pleasantly surprised.  This dish was incredibly easy and did not dissappoint in any way. Seriously- try it!

Spaghetti (Squash) and Meatballs
1 squash, halved lengthwise, seeded, and drizzled with EVOO and S&P
1 jar of your fave (homemade, store-bought, whatev) marinara
Prepared meatballs (click here for my Giada-inspired Meatballs)

Preheat oven to 350.  On a foil lined baking sheet, place both halves of squash cut side up.  Drizzle with olive oil and sea salt and pepper generously.  Bake for 1 1/2 hours.  Once it's finished, let it sit for 10-20 minutes so it can cool enough to handle.  Into a bowl, use a fork to scrape out all the "noodles."  If you want, sprinkle with some parm, EVOO, more S&P.  At this point, I dumped the warmed marinara and meatballs into the bowl and tossed everything together.  These days, there are great frozen, pre-cooked turkey meatballs at the store.  I got some from TJ's that I really liked, and they are a great quick protein for S.  Dinner was a breeze.  Of course, if you are planning on making meatballs anyways- why not make a double batch and freeze a bunch?!  Same goes for sauce.  It freezes great.  If a nice big plate of pasta and sauce sounds good to you, seriously try this.  It was hearty, filling, and a fun new take on spaghetti.

We had a few too many apples lying around so I decided to make a quick crumble.  Thanks to my new convection oven I was able to roast the squash, bake the crumble, and roast pumpkin seeds at the same time.  Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!  The recipe for the crumble originated at Chocolate-Covered Katie.  I changed it significantly and while I'm sure it pales in comparison to hers (which uses flour, brown sugar, and maple syrup) this version is really not bad at all!  I also recently made an Apple and Cherry Crumble that was quite good too.
 
Apple Crumble Bars (Vegan, grain-free, sugar-free)
1 1/2 cups almond flour
2 tbsp nut milk
3 tbsp vegan butter, like earth balance
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup stevia in the raw
2 cups chopped apple
15 drops Vanilla Creme Stevia
3 tbsp Orange Juice

Grease a 4x7 baking dish or casserole.  Combine flour, nut milk, cold vegan butter, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, and stevia in a bowl.  Spread 2/3 of the mixture on the bottom of the dish.  In another bowl, toss apples with OJ (or just more nut milk) and Vanilla Creme Stevia.  Pour apples into the dish and then sprinkle remaining crumble mixture over the apples.  Bake 45-50 minutes until the top is golden.  No question- the addition of brown sugar and maple syrup is going to have a superior "crumble" taste.  The almond flour I can promise though, is a welcome addition.  I personally never bake with sugar anymore so wouldn't even try it- but for those of you watching your sugars, this is a fabulous approximation!  Hope you all had a wonderful weekend, and have a fantastic Halloween tomorrow! XoXoGFG

Grain-Free, Sugar-Free Raspberry Cookie Bars!

Totally switching gears- we had plans last night to go to dinner with two other couples and then head back to casa GFG for drinks/dessert.  Yes GFG has a drink once in awhile and no it's not the end of the world, though I do usually regret it the next day.  Oh well.  Anyways- we had to schelp S along with us to dinner and we probably should have guessed how it was going to turn out.  She is teething pretty bad and at this point we know better than to make her wait even a minute passed 6:30pm to eat dinner.  Combine the two and it's a recipe for a meltdown.  Soooooooooo MKG ended up taking her home while I stayed and hung out with our friends!  Don't ask me how that ended up happening!  Anyways- I wanted to have a few choices for dessert and made one regular dessert and one GFG-approved dessert. 


Grain-Free, Sugar-Free Raspberry Cookie Bars
1 cup almond meal/flour
2 egg whites
2 tbsp butter
1 can coconut milk
10 drops vanilla creme stevia
3/4 cup raspberry just fruit spread (or strawberry, or whatever you have)
3/4 cup chopped pecans, or walnuts, or hazelnuts etc
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
3/4 cup chopped sugar free chocolate covered almonds (they sell these at TJ's)

Preheat oven to 350.  Line a 9x9 with parchment.  Combine almond meal with egg whites and butter and then spread mixture evenly on parchment to make a very thin crust.  Bake for 10-12 minutes until it starts to turn golden.  While it's in the oven, pour your coconut milk into a pot and add stevia.  Cook for 25-30 minutes until it's realllllly thick and condensed.  Once you've removed the crust and let it cool for a minute, sprinkle coconut, chopped nuts, fruit spread, and chocolate covered almonds liberally.  Pour condensed milk over toppings, then sprinkle a bit more coconut over the top.  Bake for about 30 minutes.  The cookie bars are killer!  Really delicious with a thick cookie crust.  I personally really liked the strange combo.  This would be awesome too with apricot spread, dried cherries, and chopped almonds.  If you are lucky enough to have sugar free choc chips on hand, throw those in too!  Or some peanuts and blobs of PB.  Go crazy! 

Egg Muffins and Grain-Free Choc. Chip Blondies

Whew!  Whirlwind weekend for us!  Because we had so much going on I feel like I barely got to spend any time with S.  She is really walking up a storm and much more comfortable on two feet.  Still crawling quite a bit but it's clear she prefers standing to sitting.

Since we are still on two naps I did have some spare time yesterday to try a few things I'd had in mind.  If you're familiar with Kalyn's Kitchen you've no doubt seen her Egg Muffins.  She is big into the South Beach Diet so she created egg muffins as a quick, easy, make-ahead breakfast or snack.  It is so simple that no recipe is needed.  I sprayed a muffin pan with non-stick spray and then sprinkled some colby jack and sliced green onions into each cup.  In a large bowl I cracked 12 eggs and then mixed in 2 tsp of seasoned salt, use whatever brand you like.  Mix the eggs up really well or else you'll have gross streaks of egg white in the muffins.  Pour egg mixture into each cup about 3/4 of the way and bake at 375 for about 35 minutes.  Mine puffed up considerably, but then fell when I took them out of the oven.  They aren't that pretty but they are delish, and make a great lunch for S too.  I let them cool for a bit before putting them in a ziploc bag.  Take a peek at Kalyn's website and check out all her variations.  You can put any veg/meat/cheese you like in them!  Bacon, tomatoes, cheddar, broccoli, whatev!  Herbs would be great too.

Edited:  I've now been making egg muffins once a week for a few months and have some new input.  First- get yourself some silicone muffin cups, makes clean-up much easier.  Second, I no longer crack a bunch of eggs into a bowl and mix everything up.  I just put whatever add-ins (cheese, green onions, mushrooms, bacon etc) into the little silicone cup, which is inside the muffin tin, and then crack an egg into the cup.  Way easier, and more fun to eat I think.  Sprinkle some S&P over the top and bake. 

I think we all go through different phases of what we're in the mood for.  For awhile, I couldn't get enough of the raw bites with dates and walnuts.  Thinking about it now, ew.  Then it was freezer fudge.  Then coconut flour breads.  Now I'm on to blondies.  These came out AWESOME!


Grain-Free Blondies
1 3/4 cup almond flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon (you know me and cinnamon!)
1 egg
1/4 cup oil (grapeseed, coconut, melted vegan butter etc)
35 drops of Vanilla Creme Stevia
1/4 cup nutmilk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk) and perhaps another tbsp or two depending on how wet your mixture is
1/2 to 3/4 cup choc. chips (or chopped walnuts, dried fruit, whatever!)

Preheat oven to 350 and line an 8x8 with parchment.  Mix flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda together.  In a separate bowl, beat egg and add in oil, nutmilk, and stevia.  This does not make a sweet blondie so if you want it really sweet add a bit more stevia.  Pour wet over dry and incorporate, then adding in choc. chips or nuts.  I used semi-sweet choc chips from TJ's and I realize this makes the recipe not totally sugar-free.  If you wanted to make it totally sugar free then use nuts, or leave out the choc. chips altogether.  If you realllllllllllly want some chocolate, I'll post my suggestion below.  Once the mixture is well-combined, pour into your 8x8 and spread out evenly.  Bake 35 minutes or so or until the top is starting to turn golden.  You want to underbake these a bit so they stay chewy!

So- I have given this a lot of thought.  After scouring the internet and g-stores and coming up empty-handed, I have a few chocolate options for those of us who want to stay 100% sugar free.  The first option of course would be to just chop up some unsweetened baking chocolate.  There is also malitol-sweetened choc bars at TJ's that aren't bad, but they do have a somewhat grainy consistency.  If you don't have any of those- try this.  Melt two squares of baking chocolate in the microwave with some cream, milk, or coconut milk.  Add in your sugar substitute slowly and to taste, depending on how sweet you want it.  This will create a quasi-ganache.  After you've baked the blondie, you can pour the ganache over the top so they'll have a chocolate coating.  Or you could cut up into individual bars and dip the whole thing in the ganache!  Not bad right?  I have made this ganache a few times and it's pretty good- just beware that it will be slightly gritty as nothing dissolves in chocolate quite like sugar.

What did you guys make over the weekend?  I'd love to take a peek!  Put links in the comments so we can all look!  XoXoGFG

Today's experiments

I feel pretty successful about my two coconutty creations!  And I had fun doing them!


First, I tried Vegan Freezer Fudge!  YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I posted about it earlier in the week.  OMG how easy and delish!  Love it!

2 tablespoons coconut butter
2 tablespoons organic all natural peanut butter (no additives, peanuts only!)
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 ripe banana, although mine wasn't too terribly ripe and it was more like 3/4 of a banana, baby S ate the first 1/4!
1/2 teaspoon sugar substitute
1/16th teaspoon salt

Blend everything until smooth in blender, then transfer to square tupperware and press until evenly layered, and freeze!  It is delish.  Seriously.  I'd like to try a vanilla version with no cocoa or PB and some vanilla extract.  Yum!  Easy and fun.  And no baking for me to screw up!

Later on while S was napping I tried my hand at Pumpkin Spice Bread, adapted from like twelve different pumpkin break recipes I found.  All of them call for an enormous amount of eggs and I just can't do it.  It just seems gross to me.  So I finally settled on the following:

3/4 cup coconut flour, sifted
1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
2 eggs
2 flax eggs (2 T ground flax meal with 6 T water, blended well and then let sit for five minutes)
1/4 cup liquified coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar substitute
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

Preheat oven to 350.  Blend flax eggs and combine with real eggs.  Pour in vanilla, coconut oil, and pumpkin puree, sugar substitute and stir.  Sift coconut flour, salt, baking soda, and spices in separate bowl and combine.  Pour in wet mixture, add walnuts, and stir, then transfer to greased loaf pan.  Bake 45-50 minutes. 

The end result is good, not sweet at all, but still getting used to the mousse-iness of coconut flour baked goods.  I wonder if anything can be done about that?  And also, I wish it would rise more.  I wonder if a bit more baking soda would help?  I think only further experimentation with more/less eggs and liquid will tell.  I have seen other blogs add chocolate chunks to pumpkin bread, but I remember last thanksgiving my aunt made a chocolate pumpkin cheesecake and the flavor combos did NOT sit right with me, or anyone else really, so I'm kind eh about trying that out.

This week, I'll be trying a few more items, like this one from Spunky Coconut that I'm excited about, with quite a few tweaks, of course. 

Chocolate Raspberry Cookie Bars:

Add to bowl:

3/4 cup coconut flour

1/3 cup almond meal flour

1/3 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

4 tbsp coconut oil, liquified

Combine and pour into lightly greased square baking dish.

Spread evenly.

Melt over lowest heat:

1/4 cup coconut milk (or other non-dairy milk)

1/4 cup cocoa powder

2 tbsp sugar substitute

Combine and immediately remove from heat (so the chocolate doesn't burn).

Add to measuring cup:

3/4 cup coconut milk + 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 2 tbsp sugar sub

Pour over crust.

Drop chocolate mixture (or chips if substituting) on top of crust and coconut milk.

Drop 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp sugar-free raspberry jam like this:

Top with 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

and 1/2 cup chopped nuts.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Refrigerate about 8 hours.

It solidifies from chilling.

We'll see how it goes with my many tweaks and substitutions!  Yikes!  The orig recipe calls for Quinoa flakes and stevia and ghee- no thanks!

Here are two other Grain-Free entrees I'll be trying this week:

Spicy Turkey Sausage with Flageolets and Cauliflower
1 lb spicy turkey sausage or kielbasa
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1 can rinsed and drained Flageolet
1 head cauliflower, chopped into florets and blanched
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
salt and pepper to taste

Saute cut up turkey sausage, browning evenly.  Remove from pan and transfer to plate.  In same pan, adding coconut oil, saute onions for a few minutes until transparent, then add spices, then beans.  Cook for two minutes.  Add blanched cauliflower florets and cook 5-7 minutes.  When browned and cooked through, add turkey sausage to warm through.  Serve with arugula and lemon vinaigrette!

Coconut Flour Chicken Curry

• 1 whole chicken cut into 6-8 piece
• 3 Tablespoons coconut oil 
• 2 Tablespoons coconut flour 
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 
• 1 teaspoon ginger powder
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon curry powder 
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1/4 cup water 

Sauté garlic, onion, ginger, with coconut oil. Add the cut-up chicken, slightly brown the chicken. Add chicken stock, simmer for 15 minutes. Add salt, black pepper and curry powder. Cover the pan. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes. Dissolve coconut flour in 1/4 cup of water. Stir it into the pan. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes.

What else?  Well I'm excited that baby S is finally really embracing solid foods!  This morning she ate 1/4 of a banana with her oatmeal, and then at lunch ate cut up fruit pieces from a fruit cup!  So that is really great.  She is also way into cottage cheese, which is awesome.  And while I am not a fan of edamame or soy products in general due to their phytoestrogens (which flaxseed has as well?), she did enjoy some edamame last night at Oakwood.  Yay!  Next I want to try cooked broccoli and cauliflower.  

Have I mentioned my shortcut muesli yet?  It was pretty simple, although the flaxseed gives a somewhat odd smell and texture.  Now that I make flax eggs in baking all the time, the snot-like texture that flax gets when mixed with water is grossing me out, alas, I ate it!

This is sort of in-line with CCK's volume oatmeal, just in that I stole her trick of adding tons and tons of water.  

Lazy-ass Muesli

1/4 cup irish steel cut oats

2 tablespoons flax

2 1/2 cups water

pinch of salt

Combine ingredients in bowl and put in refridge for 2 days.  Oats will increase in volume 250%!  I ate mine with 6 ounces of yogurt.  Adding some nuts would make it more nutritious, or some sliced berries.  Yes I am aware oats are a grain and no I will not be making a habit of this- but I felt like the extra protein, fiber, and good fats from this particular combination were worthwhile.  This is, I believe, gluten-free, just not grain-free.  The cool thing about my Lazy-ass Muesli is that because the oats grow so much, you can actually end up eating half of a serving and feeling like you just ate a ton, so the muesli itself ends up being only about 100 calories.  All that water it absorbs makes it quite filling!  

Ok S is tearing up the room and needs a bath, until next time grain-free groupies!