Grain-Free Coconut-Almond-Flax Bread

Now that I have my trusty oven thermometer, I decided to bake something that I've been wanting to try for a little while now.  I developed this bread dough based on my grain-free biscuits, and baked it in a small glass loaf pan per Elana's recommendations for her almond flour and flax meal loaves.  Elana has learned by trial-and-error how to bake with almond flour plus flax meal, and I suspected that even though my recipe contains coconut flour too,  this dough would behave in a somewhat similar fashion.

Yes, it did, and wow....the bread turned out to be delicious!

If I do say so myself! ;)

Grain-Free Coconut-Almond-Flax Bread

Ingredients:

4 eggs
1/4 C coconut oil, melted
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 C coconut flour
1/4 C almond flour**
1 1/2 T flax meal
1 tsp baking powder
2 T coconut or agave nectar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Lightly oil, or spray with non-stick spray, a small loaf pan (NOTE: I used a 6.5" x 4" glass loaf pan, which is an odd size....a bit smaller than most, so adjust your cooking time accordingly if you use a slightly larger one).

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, coconut or agave nectar, and coconut oil thoroughly. Combine the salt, coconut and almond flours, flax meal and baking powder in a separate bowl, then stir into the egg-oil mixture, blending well.

Spoon the batter into the small loaf pan, and smooth the top with the back of the spoon.  Bake for approximately 30 - 40 minutes, until a knife inserted into the loaf comes out clean and the top is a dark golden brown.

**NOTE: I am following Elana Amsterdam's suggestion and using ONLY finely ground blanched almond flour. Some almond flours on the market simply are not fine enough to give a good texture to baked goods. For example, Bob's Red Mill Almond Flour just doesn't work. The flour that I'm currently using is Honeyville's Blanched Almond Flour.

My oven temperature stabilized close to 325 degrees, maybe a tad less.  I ended up baking the loaf for approximately 40 minutes.  I tested it for done-ness as one tests a pumpkin pie...by inserting a regular butter knife into the loaf to see if it came out fairly clean.

This loaf of bread stored well (covered) for 3 days on my kitchen counter; it stayed moist and flavorful and pliable.  I ate it plain, and with lemon curd.  I haven't tried toasting it yet, but since the slices are so small, I will probably use the broiler rather than the toaster.

This is a great alternative to the high-carb gluten free breads available in the stores; this bread is very nutrient-dense, high in fiber and relatively low in carbohydrates.  It is made with low-glycemic-index ingredients, so is shouldn't spike your blood sugar like most baked goods will.

Enjoy!

Oven temperature inaccuracies!!

I've recently discovered that the oven in our new house is NOT at all accurate.  Which causes big problems for me (and potentially for you, if you are trying any of my recipes!).  The oven seems to be running about 50 or more degrees cooler than I set it too.  

I have now purchased an oven thermometer and plan to make the fruit crumble again soon, so that I can determine exactly how long to cook it and at what temperature.  Since it took about 35 minutes in my oven, which was probably NOT at 350 but rather around 300 degrees, it may cook MUCH faster in yours if you set it to 350.  Please keep an eye on it and test the fruit for doneness after 20 minutes or so.

Fortunately we have only lived here since July, so any of the recipes older than July 2010 should be fine.

Comfort food for fall - Mixed Fruit Crumble - CORRECTED!!

Dear readers, I don't know about you, but I LOVE fall!  I love that it's cool, even chilly, but that the raw, sharp winds of winter have not yet arrived.  Here in California the weather is fickle and there can still be a few warm days even in October. 

Naturally fall brings to mind some of my family's favorite comfort foods, and very high on that list are fruit pies, crumbles and crisps.  Fortunately the physical problems I was complaining about in the last post (nausea and food aversion) have subsided for the most part, and I've been able to eat a bit....which means that I've been able to cook a bit, too!

The other night I was looking at the fruit we had in the house....pears and apples in the bowl on the counter, blueberries and raspberries in the fridge. I wanted to create something warm and comforting.  It helped that I had been reading a number of gluten free food blogs recently (including Karina's and Elana's)....I was inspired to bake a mixed fruit crumble, using all of those fruits that we had plus a new all natural sweetener I'm trying out: coconut nectar.

Coconut nectar is advertised as being more nutritious than agave nectar, and is simply the raw sap of the coconut tree.  It's very sweet, similar to, although not quite as sweet as agave nectar, and has a very low glycemic index.  It is also MUCH lower in fructose than agave nectar.

NOTE: you may use all apples or all pears and/or any berries you prefer...I just used what I had, and it turned out to be SCRUMPTIOUS!

Triple-Coconut Berry-Apple-Pear Crumble (CORRECTED)
("triple" because I use coconut flour, coconut nectar, and coconut oil!)

Ingredients

Topping:

1 C almond flour

1/2 C coconut flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
pinch or two of nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon

1/3 C of coconut nectar (or 1/4 C agave nectar)

1/3 C melted coconut oil (or melted butter)

Filling:

4 large pears, peeled and sliced (OR 2 pears and 2 medium apples, THINLY sliced)

1 1/2 - 2 C fresh or frozen berries (I used fresh blueberries and raspberries)

1/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
2 tsp cornstarch or arrowroot
2-3 T coconut nectar (or honey or agave)

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and lightly oil the bottom of an 8 or 9 inch pie plate.

Mix together the dry ingredients for the topping, then add the coconut oil and coconut nectar.  Blend well; it should be stiff and somewhat crumbly, of course.

Toss the fruit together with the other ingredients for the filling.  Sprinkle a small amount of the crumble topping on the the bottom of the pie plate, then spread the filling in the pan.  Use your fingers to crumble the remaining topping over the fruit filling.

Bake at 325 F for 30 - 40 minutes.  After approximately 30 minutes test with a sharp knife, skewer or toothpick; if the apple/pear slices are very tender, and the topping is a deep golden brown, remove from oven.  Serve warm as is, or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, if desired.

By the way, I think it's great that several other gluten free food bloggers have discovered that mixing coconut and almond flours really works!  The first time I mixed them (for my grain free garlic cheese and grain free classic drop biscuits), I had never seen any other recipes that combined those two flours. But now there are others posting recipes on their blogs using mixtures of those two flours!  How cool is that!

What to eat when you're too sick to eat

I'm having some very weird symptoms lately....weird for me anyway: severe acid reflux, nausea, and food aversion.

Food aversion is actually fairly common for people with Lyme disease, from what I hear. And of course nausea/loss of appetite is a problem that many chronically ill people deal with on a regular basis.

This will be GREAT for weight loss, of course, but the problem is that I have a lot of medication to take and much of it needs to be taken with food. One antibiotic, Mepron, is supposed to be taken after a fatty meal (approximately 20 grams of fat per tsp of Mepron enhances absorption of the medicine)! Fatty food sounds so revolting to me right now!! So what to do?

Several kind people suggested making smoothies and sipping them slowly, and one person actually gave me her recipe, so I will share it with you, in case anyone else besides me is having this problem with food aversion....

Ann Marie's Berry Smoothie

Ingredients:

1/4 C Greek-style yogurt, plain (I use Trader Joe's)
1/4 C almond flour or almond meal (make sure it's certified gluten free!)
frozen/fresh fruit (blueberries, strawberries - nothing too sweet)
a dash of aloe juice to soothe the stomach
a dash of water with lime

Directions:

Whip everything up in your blender or magic bullet, and voila!

According to the nutrition info, there should be exactly 20 grams of fat in this, and I can assure you that it does not seem fatty when it's going down. Yay for almond meal!

I have to stay on a fairly low carb diet now (just found out that I'm pre-diabetic, oh joy!). The nice thing about this smoothie is that the carb content is not bad (< 10 grams?) and if it needs to be sweeter I can add a trace of stevia without adding to the carbs.

Dusting off the Crockpot again

Decided to do a cooking post tonight....I'm sure everyone's had enough of my health issues for a while!

And it's definitely getting to be the right time of year for Crockpot cooking...Autumn is just around the corner and the college football season has already started. Hubby was in the front room this evening as I was putting the finishing touches on dinner in the kitchen; he was almost jumping up and down with joy as the Boise State Broncos managed to win (very narrowly) against Virginia State. Well, I was happy too, let's face it; my daughter Robin just graduated from Boise State last June and we've all adopted that University as our own in this house, at least where football is concerned!! :)

So tonight I made another wonderful Indian curry recipe from the Crockpot Lady's blog; I had tried a couple of curries from her site before, both of which were good, but this one was over the top GREAT! I loved it, and my five year old cleaned his plate! My husband is not a big curry fan but admitted that it was good and that he enjoyed it. Which is good because I made a LOT! LOL!!

Yeah, I know that curry and football don't really go together as far as most people are concerned, but I really wanted some curry tonight! :)

The recipe I used is Crockpot Chicken Makhani, aka Indian Butter Chicken...I made my own slight modifications. Stephanie's recipe is here; she got it from a fellow blogger, Kindra, and modified it to suit herself. Kindra's recipe is here.

Crockpot Chicken Makhani

Ingredients

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs (can be frozen)
1 med onion, sliced
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 stick butter, cut into chunks
15 cardamom pods (sewn together or tied in cheesecloth)
2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 T garam masala
approx 1 inch grated fresh ginger root
1 can coconut milk (13.5 oz)
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
2 T lemon or lime juice
1 C plain yogurt
1 tsp salt (more or less to taste)

NOTE: If you don't have cardamom pods, you can use 1/2 tsp ground cardamom, maybe a bit more. You can always add salt, more spices, to taste. Always feel free to modify it to suit your own taste buds!

Directions

Use a 5 quart or larger crockpot. You can either sew together the cardamom pods using a needle and thread or you can tie them in a little cheese cloth bundle instead, if you have cheesecloth in the house. Put some sliced onion in the bottom of the crockpot, then place chicken on top. Scatter rest of onion and garlic over chicken. Combine dry spices, grated ginger, tomato paste, lemon or lime juice, and coconut milk in a medium sized bowl and pour the resulting mixture over the chicken and vegetables in the pot. Drop chunks of butter randomly over the top.


Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4 (I doubled the recipe and cooked it on high for 2 and low for 4). The chicken will shred easily when fully cooked.

Stir in the plain yogurt 15 minutes before serving.


Discard cardamom pods. Salt to taste, serve with white or brown basmati rice. Enjoy!!

A painful lesson in frugality - a blessing in disguise!

I recently learned something the hard way: my family can (almost) get along on MUCH less income than I thought....the "hard way" because I experienced a sudden, unexpected and scary drop in income. "Almost" because there are some medical bills I couldn't pay, but I suspect that I might figure out a way to pay them if our financial problems persist much longer!

For those who don't know, I've been working part-time since April 5th of this year; my employers have been incredibly kind and generous, allowing me to work 100% from home over the Internet. They've even accepted the fact that I've moved 200 miles away to the cooler, cloudier climate of the Central Coast of California, where my lupus flares have been less frequent and even my Lyme disease symptoms seem to be more controlled.

My work hours have dropped from 40 to 24 per week, but the state disability checks make up for that, paying me for all of the hours that I'm no longer working.

Just a side comment here....it's really great to know that a program that I've been paying into for all these years actually WORKS the way it's supposed to! I remember looking at those SDI deductions on my paycheck stubs in the past, resenting the fact that my hard-earned money was being taken away, but now I'm incredibly grateful that they did take that money and put it away for me!

OK, anyway.....in mid-July suddenly my disability checks stopped! They sent me my "final" check with a letter that explained that if I was still disabled, I needed another statement from my doctor so that my benefits might be extended. So I gave a copy of the physician's statement form to one of my doctors....should be a straightforward process to fill it out and send it off, right? Doctors do this all the time, after all!

Well, unbeknownst to me, this particular doctor happened to be moving to a new office right around the time I gave him the form. And apparently the form was LOST during the packing process!

I was patiently waiting and waiting (well, perhaps IMPATIENTLY waiting and waiting) for some indication that my benefits had been extended....I called the SDI office from time to time to see if they had received the paperwork, but the answer was always "no". So after a couple of weeks I called the doctor's office and asked for a copy of the form that they sent off to SDI. This was how I found out that it had disappeared during their office move....they had no copy in my chart, no evidence of the SDI form anywhere.

At that point (after I calmed down) I gave copies of the SDI physician's statement to TWO of my doctors, because I wasn't going to put all of my eggs in one basket again! Then I waited another two weeks, since it can take up to 10 business days for SDI to "process" the doctor's statements.

FINALLY, yesterday I was told that, yes, they DID receive one of the forms, and that I needed to submit all of my timecards from 7/14 onward so that SDI can send me my missing checks!! I've been extended to December! Hallelujah!!

Needless to say I filled out and faxed off those timesheets first thing this morning! :)

However, during this time that our income was so severely reduced, I was absolutely AMAZED to see that somehow I was able to pay our regular monthly bills AND still buy groceries, prescriptions, diapers, etc. As I mentioned, there were a couple of large medical bills (over $100) that have to wait until I get my retroactive disability payments, but I've paid the rent, I've paid the utilities, I've paid my student loan payment.....I would never have believed that I could do this on less than 2/3 of my regular pay!

Yes, we did have to tighten our belts and pay less than I would have liked to pay on various credit cards (I like to pay a LOT more than the minimum whenever possible). We also ate a lot of simple, inexpensive meals such as scrambled eggs, bacon and my homemade almond-and-coconut flour biscuits, chili, baked beans and gluten free franks....well, you get the picture.

Also, as a Christian, I have to point out that the Almighty must have been at work here, stretching our funds. :)

But it was such an eye-opener, such a revelation, to discover that we could actually make it on so little money. I think I needed to know this now, because if I go on full-time disability my income would drop to 60% of my regular full-time pay. This proved to me that we could do it....and we could even do it comfortably if we found a cheaper place to live!

My aunt June once told me that the one economic factor that makes the biggest difference in your budget is something that YOU can control: housing costs. You can choose to live in a less expensive home. You have no real control over grocery prices, gas prices, utility rates, etc., and you can only economize so much on those items. But it is possible to economize significantly on rent or on a mortgage by simply choosing NOT to live in the most expensive place you can afford.

Yes, this time of reduced income has been really, really tough. But it was worth it to learn that we can survive if I go on full-time disability! I hope I never have to do that, but it's still an option that's on the table.

Move is over...now to unpack!

OK, we've been here for a month, and I DO have the kitchen unpacked and (somewhat) organized. Last night I actually made chili! I know that many of you are living in areas with sweltering temperatures but we are now on the Central Coast of California and it's COOL here! In more ways than one, actually! :)

In the picture above, at the beginning of this post, you can see what it looks like from our front porch on a sunny day....the marine layer is hanging over the ocean but has rolled back far enough to allow some sunshine.

In the picture below, the beach on a cloudy day:


The hottest it's been so far this summer is 77 F, at least since we've been here. I know that it CAN get hotter, but I think it's rare.

Of course, this was one of the main reasons we moved here....the cooler, cloudier climate seems to help control my lupus and Lyme disease symptom flares.

We're still in the process of settling in, and it will take some time to finish unpacking everything. At least I'm able to start cooking my own gluten free foods at home again. Soon there will be time to experiment with new recipes and to update my blogs as well!

I hope that all of you are enjoying your summers, and staying gluten free, wherever you are!