Eggless Gluten-Free Meatballs

So, as I stated at the beginning of this thing I'm not much of a vegetarian. I just really enjoy diversity in my diet and I like the gluten-free options and corn-free and dairy-free options of vegetarian and vegan cooking. Plus, I have a friend who has egg allergies but also likes meat. So things that are egg-free regardless of meat content are good news.

1/2 llb ground beef/turkey/lamb/whatever you like
1 cup quinoa flakes
2 tbsp chopped parsley
Salt, pepper and other italian herbs to taste
3 tbsp ground flax meal

In a small bowl mix 3 tbsp water with 1 tbsp flax meal. Let sit for five minutes.

In a separate bowl, mix quinoa and Italian spices. When flax is ready add ground meat and flax, mixing throughly . Form into balls the size of your choice. I like them smaller so I feel less guilty about eating more of them.

Brown the meatballs in a sauté pan. Then turn the heat to medium and cover, letting them cook through.

There you have it, the easy edition to gluten free pasta. . . that's equally tasty.

Product Review: Soy Yogurt

Soy yogurt was something that I used to find myself unable to tolerate. It was soupy. Grainy. Flavorless. It was just not tasty. And it certainly didn't taste like yogurt.

I had switched to goat yogurt - which I still find to be a delicious alternative to dairy if you can handle goat products. But recently because of the high pollen count this year I had to seriously think about giving soy another go. So I did.

I am not quite sure what changed, but something did. It's tasty. The texture is right. The flavors are good. And it's a nice healthy alternative to dairy if you can't have it. Besides, when I eat key lime flavored yogurt its almost like desert. So, if you can't have dairy treat yourself to this!

As far as brands go, you'll have to give the ones near you a try. For a long while we only had Silk, and now we have silk and stonyfield and that's about it. If you find one you like better, I'd love to hear about it.

Product Review: Hemp Milk

Living Harvest Hempmilk is a girl's best friend. No, really, it is. See, being a long time allergy sufferer I learned that milk is pretty much off limits in the Summer. Or Spring. Or pretty much any time the pollen/dust/mold count was too high. It tends to make the mucus linings thicker and therefor exacerbate any congestion I might have.


So, sometime in high school while working for Starbucks I started to switch to soy milk. And it was tasty and wonderful....except with all the other tasty and wonderful soy products I was consuming I was consuming way too much excess estrogen. This really isn't something you have to worry about if you happen to be a guy, or if you're not on some sort of hormone based prescription or if your body naturally has a lower amount of estrogen. I, alas, am none of those things. So I began to branch out and explore other non-dairy options.

I found that I only liked rice milk over cereal (which soon became an issue when I stopped consuming most cereal due to the gluten/corn content). It's really thin and watery to me, and tastes overly sweet. But I was thankful that my college carried it for the days the dining hall was out of soy. It's always nice to have more than one option available to you.

After the rice milk I tried Almond and Hazelnut milk. I will say right off that Hazelnut milk was not for me. I just couldn't deal with the taste. I am not even sure to this day what I would describe that taste as other than "off". Almond milk, on the other hand, I find quite delicious. Of course this doesn't really work for anyone with a nut allergy. And evidently anyone who has cold sores. (Are we seeing a theme with food and medical anomalies and me?) Pretty soon after I started drinking Almond milk full time I started getting a plethora of cold sores. Which meant that I needed to start looking at other options.



One day whilst browsing in whole foods I stumbled upon the hemp milk, which I had never seen before. And the two brands they carried were on sale. So we picked up a carton of each and brought them home to try. I can't say I even remember what the second brand was, other than it paled in comparison to Living Harvest. It was the first time I remember having a milk-alternative product that didn't scream "wow, this is NOT milk" at me. That isn't to say that it tastes like dairy, because it doesn't. However it does have a smooth, rich texture without being grainy, chalk like or leaving an after taste. And it comes in chocolate and vanilla as well. I like having flavor options for things like protein shakes and hot cocoa and baking.

I also really like that Living Harvest ensures that their product is gluten free. It's good to know for people with serious allergies and medical issues that they're insuring the quality of their product. I would recommend people who like milk alternatives to give it a try as it's tasty and full of healthy protein and omega-3 and omega-6 fats.

Happy drinking!

Black Bean Leftovers

Those of you keeping track will remember that a weekend or two ago I made black bean vegan burgers. Well, the recipe made four filling burgers and I only had two people to feed. Needless to say, there were leftovers. I contemplated what it was I might do with these leftovers. They needed to get eaten, and besides nothing else was really thawed or ready to go.

So, I decided to make one of my favorite breakfast-for-dinner dishes, vegetarian style. Instead of Corned Beef Hash, I made Black Bean and Sweet Potato Hash.

1 non-stick skillet
2 sweet potatoes
1/2 red onion
2 black bean burgers (see other recipe)

Peel and slice sweet potatoes in half. Place in dish with 1/4 inch of water, cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 5 minutes. This will make them good and ready to brown up in the hash.

In the skillet, heat the oil and sauté the onions on medium heat until the potatoes are done. When the potatoes finish cooking, chop them (carefully, they're hot!) into cubes and have them join the onions. Begin to brown them up.

When potatoes are about halfway browned, chunk up the burgers and add them to it, letting them brown up as well.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

You know they're done when they're brown/crispy enough for you. The beauty of hash is that everything is pre-cooked so it can be as "done" as you want it to be.

good eating!

Vegan No Bake Blackberry Cream Pie

One of my other hobbies (besides slaving away to my baser desires in the kitchen) is knitting. I knit a lot. And with knitting comes Open Knit Night, which is every Wednesday. One of the things I love about knitting night besides the camaraderies and (obviously) knitting is the wine and food and talking that everyone shares together. Often we find ourselves wandering to the local Brown Cow Ice Cream Parlor which has homemade creations ready to be devoured.

Despite my love of Brown Cow, I still love to share homemade goodies. One week it was sugar cookies that looked like yarn balls. The next time it was my vegan chocolate cupcakes with the experimental icing. This time it's going to be a no-bake pie. Well, almost no bake.

My recipe inspiration actually came from a Better Homes and Gardens email that was filled with summer recipes. They had this one here, for Black Raspberry Pie. However, It clearly needed to be altered. When feeding my friend baked goods I've learned to think "vegan", and then of course like me he also has to be gluten-free and corn-free. So I went about thinking of what I could do.

Whipped cream substitutes are a no go because they all seem to contain corn. Or a minute amount of dairy. Or at least the ones available by me do. If you know of a better one, I'd love to hear about it.

So anyway, the cream cheese portion was covered. I changed the whipped cream to vegan sour cream to make it a little less dense and used Blackberry Jam instead of Black Raspberry or some such thing.

The pie crust itself was a bit of a challenge. . . Initially I was going to make a "graham cracker" type of crust out of gluten-free vegan cookies. . . Until I realized the ones I had selected had almonds in them. D'oh. Can't use almonds.

Luckily for me, I had just bought Fabe's Gluten-Free Vegan Macaroons. One box was supposed to be for me and one box was supposed to be for knitting for everyone to eat and enjoy. Macaroons are always popular.

Inspired by the presence of these squishy cookies, I decided to try and press them into my pie dish to see if I could form them into a crust of sorts. Sure enough, they smoothed right together to form a crust. I then coated the inside of the crust with agave nectar and baked it for 10 minutes at 350 F just to firm it up a bit.

Recipe As Follows:

Jam-of-Your-Choice Vegan Cream Pie with Vegan/Gluten-Free Macaroon Crust

1 9 inch pie dish (you can make smaller pies if you choose, which might make the crust cost less)
2 Packages Fabe's Mini Macaroons
Agave Nectar
1 10 oz jar of your favorite jam or jelly
1 8oz container of Vegan Cream Cheese
1/2 cup Vegan Sour Cream
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 350. Smash macaroon cookies into bottom of pie plate evenly and then up the sides. Lightly coat the inside of the pie shell with agave nectar (use a basting brush). Place in oven and bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly browned. The crust will still be slightly soft when you take it out of the oven, so let it cool while you prepare the rest.

In a large mixing bowl, whip the 8 oz of cream cheese with the 1/2 tsp of cream of tartar on high. Add the 1/2 cup of vegan sour cream slowly and continue to whip on high. When combined, add the 10 oz jar of jam (I choose blackberry) and mix on low until evenly distributed. Slowly pour into pie crust and let set for 10 minutes.

Cover pie (carefully) and freeze overnight. Slice into even portions while frozen and top with fresh berries (to go with jam of your choice). Garnish with lemon zest or mint or anything else suitable. Enjoy!

Vegan Black Bean Burgers (that are also gluten-free)

I was browsing allrecipes.com earlier today and happened to stumble upon a recipe for black bean veggie burgers. I've had a craving for black beans all week, so this seemed to fit the bill quite nicely. The recipe that inspired my version can be found here. I, of course, chose to make a few adjustments to it.

Vegan Black Bean Burgers

Makes 4

1 16 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed (I purchase the low sodium kind)
1/2 onion, minced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup quinoa flakes
1 Tbsp ground flax meal & 3 Tbsp water (Or 1 large egg)
chili powder, cumin, tumeric, ginger, salt, pepper to taste
Juice of half a lime.


Mash beans up in a large bowl. I used a pastry blender. A mashed potato masher or a fork will work nicely as well. In a small bowl combine the flax meal with the water and let sit until mixture becomes thick. (This will take about a minute or so). In the bowl add the quinoa flakes (my gluten-free and tasty alternative to breadcrumbs), onion and garlic.

In the flax bowl add the lime juice and seasonings, stirring. Add this mixture to the main bowl and knead to combine. When mixture is evenly combined, form into four patties and cook on medium-high heat. A total of eight minutes on both sides of the burger.

After these beauties were done I topped them with chopped avocado and creme fresh (substitute vegan sour cream if you so desire) and served them with rice that had a salsa-like tomato dressing (we were out of actual salsa). It was both delicious and filling - Definitely something I'll be having again.

Recipe Alterations:
I am not really a fan of mixing textures so I didn't feel inclined to keep the peppers or the thai chili sauce. I wanted something more Mexican-esque. Next time I think I'll add cilantro and possible a cheese of some sort baked right in the middle.

I replaced the 1 egg with ground flax meal to use as a binding substance. I didn't really have to replace the egg but I wanted to for a couple of reasons. For one, flax meal is loaded with healthy fats like omega-3 and omega-6 instead of cholesterol. Two, with no raw components I didn't have to worry if the middle of the bean burger was only slightly warm. The beans were cooked and sound. Also, without the egg the extra two patties will stay longer in the fridge.

New Cook Book!

I got my new cook book in the mail today and I am tres excited. It's this lovely little thing by this lovely blogger. I can't wait to start going through it for recipes.

Product Review: Stevia

Stevia Natural Sweetener

I discovered this wonder through reading Skinny Bitch. I had never heard of it before. I am not usually one for "no calorie" sweeteners of any sort. Lets face it aspartame is scary stuff that, amongst other things, causes cancer in white lab rats. Splenda is equally, if not more so, scary. I remember reading an article (I wish for the life of me I knew where it was so I could link to it) about the "Science Behind Splenda" describing how people had concocted this miracle sweetener. I then remember how wide my eyes got when they announced, with a weird sense of pride, that it was made through combining part of the sugar molecule with part of the chlorine molecule. Wait.... chlorine? The stuff that if the pool had too much of I wasn't allowed to go in? Yeah.... I stopped consuming it right then and there. Which was really too bad because I quite liked the taste.

So I was a bit hesitant, needless to say, with the idea of even an "all natural" zero calorie sweetener. But I did my research on this new found wonder and decided to invest in some to see if I even liked it.

I bought the packets originally at Whole Foods (my usually stop for alternative foods and such as it is within walking distance of where I live). I found that for my sense of what is "sweet" a half packet was more than enough for a 16 oz glass of iced tea. Other people may think that's not sweet enough, or entirely too sweet still. But I will say one thing, when they say Stevia is an herb 300 times more sweet than sugar, they're not pulling your leg.

I then experimented with the liquid version of the same while baking. It just combines better with baked goods than the powdered stuff. Plus it was quite a bit easier to figure out how much to add to the mixture to make it "sweet enough" and since I was making frosting, this was quite important. I found that it had a bit of an aftertaste at first, however this was quickly countered with my use of vanilla extract.

All in all, if you're looking for a low calorie, low carb solution to sweeten your life, I think that Stevia (being an all natural herb) is your best bet.

Vegitarian Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd's Pie is quite possibly the first thing that certified my love for all things English. Either that or tea. I don't remember which came first. I do remember being about 8 or 9 years old and spending a summer's day at Epcot with my family. It was always my favorite theme park because it had all the different countries of the world that I so desperately wanted (and still want) to travel to. We stopped at the "English Pub" for lunch and I had tea and shepherd's pie. And it was delicious. all of it.

However, I wanted to try something new that would allow a little more legumes into my diet. I took my inspiration from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch and their recipe for Lentil Shepherd's Pie and then improvised along the way. I find a lot of the time when I'm working with recipes for cooking (less so with the baking) that I tend to improvise as I go, seeking improvements. I'll think of different ways I could have prepared it or could have served it to make the whole process better and then write them down and try them out later. I have a pen-and-paper recipe journal for that so I don't forget what I did the first time and what I wanted to do differently after that.

This attempt, though a first try, was a successful one. Everything was gooey and delicious and just as heavy and satisfying as any shepherd's pie that I've had before. And for those who care, no meat. It did use cheese however, so it wasn't really designed to be vegan though it would be easy to substitute soy cheese or leave it out all together.

The batch I made was quite large and could have easily served 8 people a hearty meal. However, I have pared down the quantity here to make it a bit more reasonable for the average home chef. If you're anything like me, you're usually not cooking for more than 2-4 people total and not everyone has room in the fridge or freezer for left overs. (Though my left overs are going straight into smaller portions in the freezer for easy microwave dinners!)

I'm not going to post the actual recipe yet, as it still needs some perfecting. Plus, I recently discovered a friend of mine can't eat lentils so I'd like to be able to post a with lentils and a without lentils version.

More to come soon!

Interesting Dinners

More often than not, I find myself in a dinner-rut. I can only take so much white rice. I can only take so many nights of chicken or rice or steamed vegetables. Occasionally I'll make a bowl of gluten-free pasta, but it usually leaves me wanting. I've found a better brand than what I used to eat, but still there really is only so much pasta one can eat before it all tastes the same.

One day while shopping at whole foods I noticed that their ground lamb is actually very reasonably priced, and decided that I should make something with lamb. It's not my favorite meat but I really do enjoy a bit from time to time.

And so my Lamb Stuffed Peppers recipe was born.


Lamb Stuffed Peppers:

Serves 4

2 cups white rice
1 cup ground lamb
1 cup spinach
1 cup feta cheese
1 cup fontanelle or mozzarella cheese
1 clove garlic

Pre-heat your oven to 350 F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or tin foil.
Put rice in pot and/or rice cooker and steam until done.

Clean two bell peppers (I prefer the yellow or orange peppers but you can use any color) and cut in half length wise (from top to bottom) and remove all seeds.

Place the four pepper halves evenly spaced on the cookie sheet.

While the rice is cooking, heat up a fry pan and add high-heat olive oil (or other cooking oil of your choice) and sauté the garlic on medium heat. Add ground lamb and seasonings, stirring until cooked all the way through. Right before the lamb finishes cooking, add washed spinach to the pan and cook until just wilted. When both the lamb and spinach are finished, removed from heat and put in a medium sized bowl.

Crumble the 1 cup of feta into the bowl over the lamb and spinach. Mix until evenly distributed and add salt and pepper to taste.

Fill each pepper 1/3 to 1/2 of the way with the ground lamb mixture. fill the remaining half of the pepper with the white rice.

Top each pepper with shredded fontenelle cheese and cover with tinfoil tent (as to not stick to the cheese)

Place in oven and bake for 20 - 25 minutes until pepper is cooked. Do not over cook as the cheese will first brown and then burn.

Serve and enjoy!

Search for the Perfect Frosting: Part 5

So, I know I promised pictures but that was before I realized that the camera was AWOL. Anyway, I finally came up with a solution for my frosting and it was a tasty one at that!

Of course, afterwards I found this product, which I will be ordering in the near future.

So, my corn-free vegan white frosting recipe:

1 cup vegan cream cheese (with the ingredients closely checked for allergens)
1 cup Jungle Vegan Shortening (be careful keeping this at room temp if you don't have AC, it melts quickly)
2 cups arrowroot or tapioca starch, sifted
6 tbsp Agave Nectar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 tsp Stevia liquid extract (this can be found in the vitamin area at whole foods)
1 tsp other flavoring to taste (mint, coffee, lemon, orange, almond, you name it
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

I made this with a kitchen aide mixer, however a hand mixer will work too. You can mix by hand but it will be less fluffy and more dense.

In the bowl, blend cream cheese and shortening until mixed, soft and pliable (basically until they are spreading themselves around the side of the bowl).

Add 3 tbsp of agave nectar, mix.

Add 1 cup starch by sifting, mix until combined as well as possible

Add Vanilla and other flavoring and Stevia. Mix

Add remaining cup of starch by sifting and combine as well as possible (it will be dry at this point)

Add remaining 3 tbsp of agave nectar and combine.

If frosting is still dry at this point, add 1 tbsp of water and mix. If still dry add a second tbsp. Taste for sweetness. If you desire it to be sweeter, add more stevia to taste a tsp at a time. If you desire any flavor to be stronger, at a 1/2 tsp at a time, mixing together each time you add something. Make sure to continually scrape down the sides of the bowl as well.

Mix on high for five minutes. Add cream of tartar (gives it a little bit of body) and mix on high for another three minutes

Now go decorate your baked good!

Search for the Perfect Frosting: Part 4

Bwahah! I have stumbled upon something quite successful.

So my miniature test run of making frosting with the starch first and sweetener second has been successful. However, I added really really dark cocoa and I can't seem to get rid of that little bit of dark chocolate sour. So I think when I make my "real" batch I am going to sweeten it first, and then add in cocoa. Or maybe I'll just make almond frosting. Who knows.

More later updates to come later as the project progresses.

Search for the Perfect Frosting: Part 3

Well, making my own powdered sugar was a failure. I just do not have the grinding power to make the sugar into small enough granules as to have it actually combine properly into the frosting. What I succeeded in making was very gritty, albeit tasty, chocolate frosting.

So my initial failure has had me thinking about how I could fix this texture problem without compromising taste.

Since the frosting has to be egg free and corn free, Italian Butter Creme and most Glazes are out of the question. I am not really a fan of glazes anyway for anything other than a pound cake.

However, it occurred to me that the essential component that the powdered sugar provides to the frosting is less the sweetness and more the fluffy texture when binding with the oil (butter, shortening, etc) in question. And that it can be sweetened post mixing, if i can aquire the proper texture. Much like one adds flavoring such as vanilla or almond.

So right now I am letting my shortening soften (it had to go in the fridge as our pantry gets too hot to get it from melting) so I can attempt this alternate route to frosting creation. I am making a very small sample batch. If it comes out well, I plan on trying a larger batch and ditching my grainy mess.

I look forward to taking these cupcakes to knitting night if they come out well. And, if you're lucky I'll post pictures!

Muffins Galore

So, if you haven't noticed yet, I like muffins. I think I'm attracted to them as a single-serving source of deliciousness. I like that I can put a bunch in the freezer for later (my freezer has the butternut squash-date muffins waiting for me right now) and I like that if I take a single serving nothing dries out or goes stale. And of course, it makes it that much easier to share with anyone who might want some.

Banana-Raisin Muffins

Makes 12 Muffins

2 tbsp Flax Meal
1 1/2 banana, mashed into pulp
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup sugar (your choice of what kind, but solid only - not liquid)
1/4 cup coconut oil (this is more soild than liquid, so shortening or butter could be substituted)
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup quinoa flour
1/2 cup teff flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp xanthan gum
2 tbsp hot (not quite boiling) water
dash of nutmeg
dash of cinnamon

Take 2 tbsp of flax meal and put in a small bowl with 6 tbsp room temperature water. Let sit for approx two minutes, until thick and goey.

In large bowl, add banana mash, sugar and coconut oil and mash together until evenly mixed. When thickened, add flax meal mixture and stir until evenly combined with banana mixture.

Add xanthan gum, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix until combined for a approx 3 minutes. Add flours and mix until evenly combined.

Stir in raisins

After mixture is evenly combined add the 2 tbsp hot water and stir for a about a minute until it is evenly mixed.

Evenly distribute the batter into 12 paper lined muffin cups.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Let cool in pan for 20 minutes, and then on wire rack until completely cool. Enjoy!

Note: You might want to consider refrigerating these as gluten-free products tend to have a shorter shelf life than regular baked goods.

Search for the Perfect Frosting: Part 2

So I've been doing some research and I came across this lovely recipe for homemade powdered sugar. Which, essentially is perfect for my cause.

So, instead of using the corn starch the recipe calls for I plan on substituting arrowroot starch.

I am still searching for what kind of frosting I want to make. I'm debating between a tradition "buttercream" or a chocolate "cream cheese" frosting. Maybe I'll make both - who knows.

I will keep you posted as to how the frosting turns out taste and texture wise. Wish me luck on my powdered sugar endeavor!

Search For the Perfect Frosting

So, I've run into a bit of a problem here. I made cupcakes, but how do I go about frosting them? The issue at hand is this:

Not only does the frosting have to be Vegan (for the dietary needs of other people eating the cupcakes) but it has to be corn-free (for me). And all powdered sugar has corn starch in it. A LOT of corn starch. And much of the "good" vegan shortening or butter has corn in it (in some form on the ingredient label). So I'm in search of a corn-free vegan frosting solution.

I am going to have to think long and hard about this one. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd really appreciate it.

Product Review: Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

As any American would, there are times that I like my food (and my baked goods) easy. In other words: from a box. Today I decided to try out Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix. There were a couple of reasons I decided on this particular cake mix. 1) I like Bob's products. They're consistently good quality as far as taste, texture and appearance. 2) They included a vegan egg-free option on the back of the package. 3) Wednesday is knitting night (one of my other hobbies) and there is an individual at knitting who has an enormous amount of food allergies and is having a hard time adjusting to his new diet, therefore I decided that I would bake treats that were both tasty and available for everyone to eat. It's no fun being left out of the cup-cake party after all.

So, for this particular endeavor I substituted chocolate hemp milk (since its a chocolate cake) for the milk, safflower oil for the butter and milled flax seed + water for the eggs. As eggs are a really hard ingredient to substitute, I was unsure how this was going to work. Nevertheless, when I popped those cupcake pans in the oven the batter puffed right up like a regular cake and smelled delicious the whole time.

The other interesting thing was that right before I finished mixing the batter, the instructions had me add 1/3 cup of hot (110 degrees F) water to the mix. I was thinking on why this might be
and concluded that it must be to activate the baking powder. For those who are unaware, baking powder does not activate until it is heated. I think I can attribute this factor to the fluffy texture and supreme rising power of the batter. I will have to try adding a little hot water to other recipes in the future.

After they cooled I had one of the not-so-large ones and it was very, very tasty. I have to say I was impressed that the cake was light (so many gluten-free items are super dense) and moist and tasted like a chocolate cake should!

Zuchinni-Banana Muffins: An Experiment

So I find in the world of gluten-free baking that I end up not liking a whole lot of the available recipes. Which usually means I end up making my own, or using a base recipe as something to build off of. Sometimes it turns out on the first try, but that's a rarity. As with any recipe you create yourself, baking or otherwise, there are usually many revisions before you figure out exactly what's going to work.

And of course there are some recipes you just scrap and never attempt again.

Today I decided I needed a non pumpkin/squash based muffin. So I attempted to adapt my current (very successful) gluten-free muffin recipe to fit new ingredients. My first batch just got out of the oven and I can say without a doubt that they were too moist. They sunk in the middle. However, we'll have to see how the flavor turns out when they cool. I have a good idea of how I want to deal with the excess moisture.

Stay tuned for baking progress!

Homemade Granola For The Win

It took my a while to realize that I really should be eating breakfast every day. It's just plain good for you, not to mention tasty. In college this realization came in a less-than-healthy package of croissant with a large glass of OJ. While delicious, this was way too sugary and fattening for one single meal. At least for me anyway.

For a while I was eating yogurt and fresh fruit (sometimes together, sometimes apart) and the occasional bowl of cereal.

But when you can't have wheat and you can't have corn cereal gets really boring really fast. There are about five rice cereal options that I actually like and that don't contain corn. But when everything you eat tastes like rice, it starts to be less than appetizing. I began to long for flavor.

I wanted museli or granola. Something with texture and crunch. Something that didn't taste like more white rice in a different shape. Of course since most true celiacs can't have oats (whether this be from oat sensativity or bad manufacturing practices) cereal makers don't even try to make granola or museli gluten free. What's more, granola often contains other things I can't eat. Such as corn syrup or other corn stuffs, for example. Or, the worst offense, the granola is overly hard and bland. Bland is not what I am looking for.

Needless to say, when I opened my copy of Skinny Bitch in the Kitch I was delighted to find a recipe for granola. It had never occurred to me before that it might just be easier to make my own. And it was.

The best part of this homemade creation is that I can control what goes in and in what proportion. The recipe itself is more of a guideline to make sure everything turns out. But all said and done there are endless possibilities for what you can put into the granola from coconut to dried fruit, nuts and seeds. If you can't have oats, just substitute something else. I personally am a big fan of quinoa flakes. And if you don't want to use flakes of any kind, just use things like pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds. There are endless healthy options to help you customize your morning crunch.

Homemade Granola

Approx 6 Cups of Granola

2 Cups Rolled Oats
1 1/4 Cup Sliced Almonds
3/4 Cup Coconut Flakes (unsweetened)
1/4 Cup Pumpkin Seeds
1 Cup Chopped Dried Apricot
1 Cup Chopped Sugared Dates (my treat to myself)
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tbl brown rice syrup
2 tbl safflower oil (also grease the baking sheet with this when it's time)

Preheat the oven to 300 F

Arrange oats evenly on large baking sheet with a lip around the edge (jelly roll pans work nicely). Toast them in the oven lightly, stiring the oats every five minutes for 15 minutes.

While the oats are toasting mix the almonds, coconut, salt and dried fruit in a large bowl (I threw in the extra crasins from the pantry just to finish off the package).

In a small bowl combine the maple syrup, rice syrup and safflower oil.

Stir the toasted oats into the large bowl. Then add syrup mixture until consistency is sticky and all the pieces are loosely clumping. If you need more "sticky" factor, add a little more of the maple syrup and brown rice syrup. You want the mixture to just bind loosely - not quite as sticky as a rice krispy treat for example.

Grease the baking sheet and then spread the mixture on the sheet evenly. Put in the oven for 15 minutes, taking out to stir the mixture with a spatula. Then return the sheet to the oven for another 10 minutes.

When finished, place the baking sheet on a wire rack until completely cool to the touch. Break granola apart into chunks and put into a storage container.

It's delicious!

Gluten-Free Baking

I don't have diagnosed food allergies. However, I do have a crap-ton of other allergies. And approximately two years ago I discovered just how much food influenced my other allergies. The only thing to do was make a drastic (but not permanent) change. I had to go gluten-free, dairy-free, pork-free, fried food-free, limited soy and a few other odds and ends for a minimum of 6 months. And I had to change overnight.

This, to say the least, was a challenge. But I managed for six months to eat the most boring diet I have ever managed to have. Ever. Mostly because of how under-educated I was on the subject of alternative diets. Needless to say, because of this I learned to research and seek out new and different and tasty things. My diet worked, I felt 100% healthier.

Anymore, I'm not as strict as those 9 months (how long I was on the über diet). I don't stay entirely gluten free all year, but I am about 80% gluten free in the summer (when my allergies are at their worst). I don't consume cow-milk products any more if I can avoid it at all. But I do consume a lot of goat-milk products.

However, when I do have to limit my gluten intake my biggest complaint is that gluten free baking sucks! Store-bought items taste horrible. And this year I've discovered I'm corn sensitive so buying in store gluten-free is harder than ever. Thus, I resort to baking.

My first ever successful gluten-free baked good were these muffins, which are an adaption of a gluten recipe off of Jaime At Home by Jaime Oliver (aka The Naked Chef).

Pumpkin Coconut Spice Muffins

Makes 24 Muffins

15 oz Pumpkin Puree (alternately, butternut squash)
2 1/4 Cups Brown Sugar (alternately, sucanat or agave nectar)
4 Large eggs
1 Cup Almond Meal
1 Cup Sorghum Flour
1/2 Cup All-Purpose Gluten Free Flour
3/4 Cup Oil (olive, palm, veggie, whatever you like best)
1 Cup shredded coconut (approximate) (alternately, dates, almonds or other nuts, dried fruit, etc)
2 tsp Baking Powder (if you need it to be gluten free, make sure that this item qualifies!)
2 tsp Xanthum Gum (alternately guar gum)
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
Pinch of Sea Salt

Blend Pumpkin, eggs and oil. Blend dry ingredients in separate bowl. Mix in dry ingredients slowly until incorporated (do not over mix). Put into paper-lined cupcake pans and bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 F

Salads for Summertime

I'm the first to admit that I'm not much of a salad person. I know they're good for you. I even like how they taste most of the time. But salad, by and large, is something I have to be in the mood for. However, my desire for something cool, green and refreshing rises proportionately with the thermostat. With the recent 80 degree weather here in Chicago, you can imagine that it's become somewhat of a craving.

The only problem I have with salads, however, is that they often don't fill me up. I find that about 30 minutes later (much like Chinese food) I'm hungry again. The only thing that seemed to somewhat sate me were Chipotle's massive salads with beans and meat on the top. Not being a vegan or vegetarian myself, I will often indulge in a nice salad with black beans and carnitas.

However, tonight's dinner was not only composed of two (yes two!) separate salads, both of them were vegan and gluten-free. I have to say that not only am I satisfied three hours later, I'm not hungry for a snack (I had a small snack - but that's a side effect of baking. You always want to try what comes out of the oven).


So I bring you two (slightly altered) salads from my new cookbook, Skinny Bitch In The Kitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin.

Tabouleh

Approx 6 servings

2 Cups Cooked Quinoa Grain (follow directions on package)
1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Tomato, cut into tiny diced bits
1/2 Cucumber, cut into tiny diced bits
1/2 Red Onion, cut into tiny diced bits
1/3 cup chopped Mint
1/3 cup chopped Parsley
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Juice of 1 Lemon

While the quinoa is cooking, chop the tomato, cucumber and onion. Combine in bowl. Chop parsley and mint. Combine with vegitables. In a small bowl whisk olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

When quinoa is cooked combine with vegetables, add dressing and mix. Then let sit in fridge until chilled. Alternately, cook the quinoa in advance and put into refrigerator. Add chilled quinoa to vegetables, mix with dressing and serve.

4 Bean Salad

Approx 8 Servings

Dressing:
2 table spoons stone ground mustard
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Salad:
1 can unsalted black beans
1 can unsalted garbanzo beans
1 can unsalted kidney beans
1 cup (thawed if frozen) shelled edamame
2 shallots chopped
1/2 cucumber chopped

Rinse beans in water until clear, combine in large bowl. Add chopped cucumber and shallots. In a small bowl combine ingredients for dressing. Pour on top of bean mixture and toss lightly. Season with more salt, pepper and basil to taste.

Welcome and Introductions

I'm nothing if not a foodie. I love good food. I love tasty food. I love both expensive and cheap food. And occasionally I even love junk food. Sometime between home-life and college I learned how to cook and bake, and then I decided I needed to actually use these life skills.

I decided to start this blog because I think cooking and baking are represented as challenges in our modern world, rather than fun activities. I know not everyone is going to love to cook like I do. But, if I can get the most timid person out there to attempt this domestic act then I've done my job.

I think that more people should have fun with cooking, baking and all thing cuisine related. We shouldn't settle for take out just because everything else seems too difficult or like it will come out tasteless. Ramen is not a food group and Rachel Ray is not the only one who can make 30 minute meals. So, I've decided to have fun with this and see where it takes me.

Onto the introductions:

I'm 23 and single. I currently reside in a suburb just outside the city of Chicago. I spent my college career in Washington, DC which lead to the discovery of many a fine dining establishment.

I started cooking in college for myself. I started cooking well when I cooked for other people. This began with cooking for the Jewish holidays (about 80% of my college friends were Jewish, though I myself am not). Then when we moved off campus it turned into a full time stress-reliever. When I needed to escape from my thesis work, it was often to the kitchen to fix dinner. Some meals were more adventurous than others and some meals were even take out or pizza.

Eventually I had to move out on my own and my cooking exploration began anew. This was aided by the fact that I've discovered seasonal food sensitivities. I have seasonal allergies, and sometimes certain foods just make them worse. My first adventure into the world that is alternative-diets was a mild nightmare filled with bland stuffs that never quite satisfied the pallet. Since then I've done research and reading and recipe hunting to find actual alternatives to eating the "normal" American diet.

I named this blog "Vite Cooking" for a couple of reasons. First and foremost - I'm a nerd and I took latin in college. Secondly "Life Cooking" didn't sound as fun. But that's what this blog is, Life Cooking. Cooking that's fun. Cooking that's tasty. Cooking that you just have to share with friends.

In this blog you'll find a combination of recipes. Everyday fare, gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan and the like will all be included. Some are original and some are adapted from other sources. I will be sure to cite any materials I use.

So good eating everyone, and I hope you find my recipes, tidbits and tips helpful :)