Butter and Herb Roasted Whole Chicken

Even though we all eat chicken all the time, there is something special, but comforting, about a whole roasted chicken.  The way it fills your entire house with the most delicious smell, knowing you can make an awesome chicken stock afterwards, and most likely having plenty of leftovers make it such a fun dish. 

This time I bought a fresh, all-natural, organic chicken from WF and I don't think I have to tell you that the taste and texture was far superior to a frozen, hormone-filled chicken.  This particular birdy was a bit shy of 4lbs.  I let it sit out on the counter for probably an hour or two before cooking, so it could come to room temp.  I did not wash it.  People have differing opinions on washing your bird first.  I don't do it- do you?  I don't want to get raw chicken juice all over the place personally.

I also did not use a roasting rack- rather I tossed a bunch of sliced onions and baby carrots over a foil-lined baking sheet, and placed the chicken on top of the carrots to keep the bottom of the chicken off of the baking sheet so the hot air could circulate underneath it.  I didn't bother greasing the foil. 

The picture doesn't do this guy justice.  It may look burnt, but that's just the herbs.  It was not burnt at all.  In fact, it was the juiciest, moistest chicken I've ever had!

Butter and Herb Roasted Whole Chicken
1 whole chicken, giblets removed (mine was almost 4lbs) and totally DRY
One container poultry herbs (several sprigs of rosemary and thyme, plus a handful of sage leaves, FRESH)
4 tbsp all natural butter, like Kerrygold (I prefer to use unsalted) room temp
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
handful of baby carrots
half an onion, chopped

Place your baby carrots and sliced onions on your foil-lined baking sheet, then place chicken on top of the carrots.  Salt and pepper the inside of the bird generously, and if you have extra herbs or onions, throw them in too.  Tie the legs together with twine (I only had hemp, it worked fine!) and tuck the wings under the bird so they don't burn.  Finely chop all your herbs and then throw them in a small dish.  Add your room temp butter, garlic, and salt and pepper.  Mix it up well.  Then, with clean hands, take a glob of butter and smoosh it around under the chicken skin.  Try to get it as far down as you can.  Smear the remaining butter mixture all over the skin and don't skimp on the legs, thighs, wings, etc!  Roast in your preheated oven at 425 for about an hour and 20 minutes.  I used my convection feature and it only took one hour, so if you have a convection oven go for it!  You must must MUST let the bird rest for 20 minutes at least.  If you are unsure whether it's done or not- take a peek at the juices running out.  Are they clear?  If so, it's dunzo.  You can absolutely eat the carrots, they are ridiculously insanely good.  Best of all- keep the carcass and use it for the best stock ever!

I did a lot of googling before I decided to use butter.  I had never ever used butter before to roast anything.  EVOO all the way.  But the milk solids in the butter create a fabulous crispy and browned skin that EVOO just can't.  I've also seen a lot of recipes that call for Mayo- which I also think is a great idea, but was worried about trying it for the first time on company.  But I'm all for it next time.  On their Thanksgiving special, I noticed the Voltaggio (sp?) bros used mayo to roast something.  I also am not thrilled with the mayo I have on hand.  I need a really good quality organic mayo. 

Make this chicken.  It's awesome.  Super easy.  Pretty to look at.  Who doesn't love a roast chicken.  With butter.  Duh. 

More Veggie Pancakes

Another pancake post.  This time, savory.  I've got veg latkes, or pancakes, down at this point.  I've now discovered what an easy way this is to get everyone to eat their veggies.  How could you not when they're in pancake form?  I tried them again for Chanukah dinner with M's grandma.  With the addition of crunchy shredded carrots, this batch was colorful and full of your daily beta carotene!

Carrot Zucchini Pancakes (Latkes)
2 small zucchini, grated, water squeezed out
half a bag of pre-shredded carrots (about a cup to 1 1/2 cups)
1 whole egg, 1 egg white
1/2 tsp paprika
4 tbsp chickpea flour (besan)
S&P to taste
3 green onions, sliced finely
1/2 tsp minced garlic

Into a large mixing bowl throw your grated/shredded veggies, then egg, flour, garlic, onions, and seasoning.  Mix well.  Try not to let it sit as the salt will draw out a lot of water and make the mixture soupy.  Heat up a tsp or two of oil in a frying pan and get it sizzling hot.  Using a tablespoon, drop batter onto hot pan and cook about 3 min per side.  These are better crispy.  They have a natural kick to them as the chickpea flour has a bit of spice to it.  I like them plain but they are great with sour cream, applesauce, or even hummus!  I served this with a simply roasted chicken (recipe coming soon) and a salad.  A nice meal to serve to company, no muss no fuss!  Best of all, for all the non GFG's out there, this feels like you are getting a nice starchy carby dish even though it's just veggies!  No one misses out.  Now, if you're expecting a crunchy, super crispy pancake like potato pancakes can be, you may be disappointed.  These don't get crunchy.  A zucchini is delicious and a great substitute, but hello, it's not a potato.  M asked me, why aren't these crunchy?  Well, zucchini's are full of water, and potatoes are full of starch.  Water won't crisp up on you, sorry folks.  But I don't miss those carbohydrate-bombs, and neither should you.  I can't wait to try these with spinach and maybe some red peppers!  Yum!

Protein-Packed Strawberries and Cream Pancakes

Even though we don't celebrate Christmas, I wanted to make a special breakfast for M and S.  It ended up being lunch because we went to the JCC this morning and then over to see our friends new house, but it was festive and very special all the same.  Experimenting with coconut flour is definitely a trial and error endeavor but it very reliably will make a GREAT pancake.  Here is what we had today!


Protein-Packed Strawberries and Cream Pancakes (serves 4)
1/4 cup coconut flour
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup cottage cheese
2 tbsp sugar-free vanilla syrup, or liquid sweetener of choice
3 eggs
1/3 cup strawberries, sliced
3 or 4 tbsp (nut)milk, or even water

In a large mixing bowl, stir flour, salt, and baking soda together.  Add in three eggs, syrup, and cottage cheese, and mix well.  You want your batter to be wet, and pourable, so add 2 tbsp of water or milk and see where you're at.  If it's not the right consistency yet, add another tbsp of liquid and see what you got.  Lastly, mix in your berries.  Drop by the tablespoonful onto a sizzling hot frying pan.  These are great on their own, with some jam, apple butter, whatever!  I think S ate half of them, no joke.  When we finally made her stop eating she was very unhappy.  Not sure if that's good or bad.  Anyways- these are a nutritional powerhouse.  With the naturally higher fiber and protein content of the coconut flour, plus the eggs AND cottage cheese, these are a fantastic vehicle for a yummy high-protein breakfast.  Very filling and very satisfying.  I think I got about 10 large pancakes out of it.  They are a little more custardy than your average pancake, from the cottage cheese, but quite good.  I hope you try it!

CCK-Inspired Double Chocolate Almond Cookies and Walnut Apricot Biscotti

Chocolate-Covered Katie is a great resource for "healthier" dessert recipes, and they are all vegan.  Usually the recipes call for spelt or whole wheat flour and I don't normally try to GFG-adapt them, but every once in awhile she does have a grain-free recipe.  This recipe in particular looked really great because she only used dates as the sweetener.  That is a rare find! 

Before I talk about the recipe, I want to go back to the word "healthier" in quotes.  What is healthy, or healthier?  Five years ago, even two years ago, I would have had a totally different answer for you.  And who knows, a year from now, I may say something else.  I know I used to characterize healthy as primarily something that was low-fat.  Funny how now my nutrition is made up of mostly protein, and fat!  Browsing recipes on Pinterest, I'm always struck by how many people use the word "healthy" to describe something that is anything but.  Sugar-filled pastries that use veg oil instead of butter, a high-carb pasta dish with some vegetables thrown in, or something with a reduced number of eggs, etc.  I always want to comment and be like, "what makes this healthy?"  which of course would be incredibly rude, judgmental, and condescending.  But all the same, it makes me think about what my definition of healthy is.  I'm still in the process of defining it.  But what does a "healthy" diet mean to you?  Has your opinion of healthy foods changed?  Do you have foods you eat now that used to be off-limits?  I know I do.  Fat used to terrify me.  Meat used to be something I only seldom indulged in.  It's just so interesting to experience such a marked shift in food perception.  Tell me about how your perceptions have changed?  What are some food myths you used to believe that you have now "unlearned"?

On to the recipe.  Here it is in its original form.  The post is actually a good read because the commenters get into a discussion about gluten-free as a fad or food trend.  A lot of folks on the thread start getting pretty preachy and judgy, talking about their opinions on whether it is truly a fad or not, making some assumptions and generalizations, and so on.  I am not about to chime in over there- but will say that while I do believe that gluten-free is becoming something of a more popular choice, I don't think you can call it a trend, or that I am following a trend by adopting a grain-free, and thereby gluten-free lifestyle.  There are some theories that I wholeheartedly believe to be true.  I believe that for many many people, maybe even all people, gluten is a toxin.  I believe that over time, many people will probably develop an intolerance to it, depending on how much of it you consume and what your genetic predispositions are.  I believe that the effects of your intolerance will aggregate over time and eventually it becomes systemic.  I believe that the ways it shows itself outwardly can be hard to pinpoint.  Maybe its GI issues, maybe its migraines, rashes, erratic blood sugar, and so on.  I believe that due to genetically modified crops in the US, that the amount of gluten in our grains has skyrocketed, which contributes to the huge rise in celiac disease we are seeing.  European countries that have been eating grain-filled diets for much longer than us have even higher rates of celiac disease- take a look at Italy, and Denmark, for example.  But they are theories, and they are my beliefs, not fact necessarily, and even if they were, we are all entitled to think whatever we want.  I just hope we can refrain from looking down on people who don't share the same belief system as ourselves, and that goes for all things, not just food! 

I got off on a tangent.  It just irks me when people make sweeping generalizations.  So to end on a lighter note this holiday weekend, make these.  I made them with sugar-free chocolate chips and grapeseed oil (does anyone else's coconut oil smell/taste kind of spoiled?  I think from now on I'm going to use refined coconut oil.) making them 100% sugar free.  I also decided to round out my sugar free baking with a few new ingredients, xylitol, erythritol, and some sugar-free vanilla syrup which I'll occasionally use in recipes that call for agave.  I already used it in a sugar-free, grain-free biscotti (recipe below), and some yummy protein-packed strawberry pancakes.  Recipes coming soon!  The xylitol I'm a little nervous about, but the reviews on amazon and iherb make it sound like the greatest thing since sliced (grain-free) bread!

Sugar-Free, Grain-Free, Vegan Walnut Apricot Biscotti

1 1/4 cups almond flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup sugar-free vanilla syrup, or your liquid sweetener of choice
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup (or more) chopped apricot
1 tbsp arrowroot (or 1 1/2 tbsp corn starch if it doesn't bother you, but check to make sure it's gluten free)


In your cuisi, pulse almond flour, salt, and baking soda just a few times, then add in your syrup.  Process until it forms a ball.  Depending on what liquid you use, it may be wetter or drier.  Transfer to a bowl and add in your nuts and fruit.  Form into a big ovally looking log on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 350 for 15 minutes.  Take it out and let it cool for at least 20 minutes.  Reduce heat to 300 and cut log on diagonal into strips.  Bake for another 20 minutes or so until it's browned and starting to crisp up.  Et voila!  Yummy sugar free biscotti!

Thai Shrimp and Snowpeas

Are you an "eyeballer?"  Or do you measure everything meticulously?  Do you read the directions on a recipe before you start or do you just jump in without preparing?  Yeah.  I am both an eyeballer and a jumper.  I rarely measure when cooking and never read through the directions fully.  That's what I love about cooking as opposed to baking.  I can get away with both.

I had pinned a shrimp recipe awhile back and after finally picking up some Thai Red Curry Paste last weekend I was ready to give it a shot.  I am not going to post a recipe because it was so dang easy.  Takes 10 minutes to prepare.

Thai Shrimp and Snowpeas- Saute four sliced scallions in a little oil and add some minced garlic and salt, let cook for a few minutes.  Then add a tbsp of thai red curry paste and cook for another minute.  Add your shrimp and cook for three minutes.  Pour in coconut milk, between half and one cup, and a few liberal dashes of fish sauce.  Stir and cook for a minute, then throw in your snowpeas.  Cook until veg are heated through and shrimp is done.  Super easy, super fast.  M and I ate ours with chili garlic sauce to give it some heat, but S scarfed hers down happily without it. 

I need to get some recipes together for this weekend.  We aren't all that into hannukah and we have no family in town so this weekend is going to be long and pretty uneventful.  Lots of cooking, hanging out, and family time, just the three of us.  I'm just kind of sick of baked goods.  Sick of almond flour, coconut flour, flour in general.  Maybe it's time to play with my ice cream maker again.

I hope you all have wonderful, fun, and happy plans for this holiday weekend and for New Years as well.  However you spend your time, and whoever it's with, may it be pleasant, joyful, healthy, and happy.  Much love to you all and your grain-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, whatever-free families! XoXo GFG

No Sugar, Grain-Free Flour-Free Peanut Butter Cookies

I am having a slight sugar issue.  Everywhere I turn there are sugary treats, candy, and chocolate, and it's slowly making me crazy!  Cookies and pastries and snacks I don't have much trouble ignoring, but chocolate, that is my weak spot.  I have the hardest time turning down chocolate.  And I always find myself justifying it in some way.  I've had enough though!  I need to cut it out NOW.  It's making me feel tired, sluggish, and gross.  I really need to amp up my protein and fat intake and cut out the crap.  Well, crap to me anyways.  That leads me to my next point.  The blogosphere is swimming with posts about sugar substitutes, sugar swaps, unrefined this and refined that, maple syrup vs. honey vs. molasses vs. sorghum, you name it.  And people get into crazy heated arguments.  Stevia is a natural zero calorie sweetener!  No it's POISON!  Splenda gives you cancer and is made of Chlorine!  Agave will shut down your pancreas!  Ahhhhhhhhh!  It's really insane.  I personally used to bake with splenda and quite liked the taste, but have since moved on to stevia, which I'll admit, can taste bitter and have a strange aftertaste.  I haven't tried erythritol, not because I have some moral opposition to it, but because it really only works in wet applications and that just seems like a pain to me.  And then the other natural sweeteners, no matter their glycemic load whether its coconut sugar or date syrup, agave or honey, I just won't do.  It's still sugar, and I'm still not interested.  I felt like making something completely free of any added sugar or sugar substitutes today.  The result was a somewhat cakey cookie and very very subtly sweet, barely a hint of sweet at all actually, and if I hadn't been having so much chocolate lately I probably would have appreciated it much more. 

I don't eat bananas anymore but I still hoard them for baking.  A nice brown banana is like gold to me.  If for no other reason than I love to make banana bread as hostess gifts.  So today, while contemplating how much stevia I'd need for these PB cookies, I decided, what the hell, lets try it with just a banana.


No Sugar, Grain-Free Flour-Free Peanut Butter Banana Cookies
1 cup all natural PB preferably unsalted, or try Sunbutter if PB is a problem
1 egg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
sprinkle of cinnamon
1 overripe banana, mashed

Combine mashed banana with egg and vanilla, then stir in PB, cinnamon, and baking soda.  Drop by the teaspoon-full onto parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 350 for 20min or until browned.  Usually these recipes call for 1 cup of sugar instead of a banana, which in turn yields a much drier, more crumbly cookie.  I would have definitely preferred a crunchy crumbly cookie but using a cup of stevia in the raw would have been disgusting and there really is nothing like real white sugar for getting that chewy but still crumbly texture.  If you want a very subtly sweet cookie and like PB and banana together this will be a really nice treat to have around.  Best of all, it's got folate, potassium, protein, and good fats.  I could give one to S with breakfast and not feel guilty about it.  Is it the best cookie ever?  No.  Will it satisfy your after-dinner snack-tooth?  Yes.  And maybe it will help me pass up a piece of sugar-laden chocolate too. 

How do you feel about sugar substitutes?  Do you use them?  I've read that using erythritol and stevia together is a good combo.  Have you baked with agave?  Coconut crystals, or nectar?  I'd love to hear what you guys use, what you like, what you don't like.  It seems that different brands of stevia can taste totally different too.  I've heard NuNaturals is good, and then there are those that like Truvia, and others still who say it's the devil.  People get really nutty about sugar.

No Recipe Recipe for a Protein Packed Yogurt Dessert

Kalyns Kitchen is a great blog for anyone following South Beach Diet or Atkins or whatever, which in some ways can be closely related to the GFG diet.  She has tons of low carb dishes.  One recipe caught my eye last week and I was excited to give it a try.  MKG isn't the biggest fan of chocolate and sometimes I get tired of baked goods.  He loves fruity desserts and this looked simple enough.  I am not even going to bother with a recipe, it would be too ridiculous.  Go to Kalyn's blog and check it out if you need to!

This dessert is so easy, S could probably do it.  And packed with protein.

Here are instructions for this Protein-Packed Yogurt Fruit Pie.

Combine two small packages of sugar free lemon jello with one 32 oz container of 0% fat plain Greek yogurt.  Zest one lemon and add zest to bowl.  Stir well to incorporate everything.  Microwave for about 90 seconds, and then stir.  Microwave another minute or two, and stir again.  Pour the heated mixture into a greased pie dish and let set for about 4 hours.  Before serving, top with sliced berries.  How easy is that?  And so yummy.  This is a dessert you really do not need to feel guilty about.  Kalyn suggests serving with whipped cream or topping, but honestly, why bother?  It's awesome just like this!

Edited:  I've also done this with strawberry SF jello and a container of ricotta- has a cheesecake-ish texture to it!