Weekly Menu (7/1/12-7/7/12)

This week in our Bountiful Basket (which we share with my awesome brother and his wife) we got:

• cantaloupe 
• grapes 
• cherries
• cherry tomatoes 
• green bell peppers 
• onions
• romaine lettuce 
• butternut squash 

I also have some watermelon, canary melon, bananas, corn on the cob, potatoes, carrots, grey squash, baby kale, and broccoli sprouts to supplement the basket. Also, I've frozen down some blueberries and watermelon puree for easy addition to smoothies and water kefir.  I'm still picking about 1-2 cups of strawberries every other day from our strawberry patch, and I just ate the first of our raspberries today, so we'll start getting those this week, as well.

Also, one of the sitters at our daycare gave me a start of water kefir grains....I'm so excited!  I've been enjoying water kefir for a few days now and love it!


This week for breakfast: Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins, fresh fruit, and cereal for the kids, and baked oatmeal, smoothies (blueberries, bananas, baby kale, cherries), water kefir with watermelon puree ice cubes (my favorite), or fresh fruit for me.

This week for lunches: The boys are taken care of at their sitters'. I'll be eating leftovers, and of course, I bring fruit with my everyday. For the days I don't have leftovers, I'm planning on having my black bean and corn quinoa stuffed in bell peppers.

This week for dinner:

Sunday:

• Teriyaki chicken and tuna (I eat the fish, the rest of the family prefers chicken) 
• sauteed bell peppers, grey squash, and onions
• basmati rice 
• corn on the cob 
• Fruit Salad

Monday: 

• Chicken Nuggets
• Oven Fries
• Veggies (Carrots, Bell Peppers, Cherry Tomatoes) and Hummus
• Fruit Salad

Tuesday:

• Tacos 
• Fruit Salad
• Green Salad (lettuce, tomatoes, broccoli sprouts, and whatever else I throw in there) 

Wednesday: Happy Independence Day!

• Hamburgers on Udi's Buns
• Potato Salad of some sort (haven't decided what yet)
• Fruit Salad
• Veggies and Hummus

Thursday:

• Waffles with Fresh Honey/Cherry Syrup I got at the Farmer's Market today (yay!)
• Bacon
• Fruit
• Hashbrowns

Friday:

• Pizza (I'll be putting whatever veggies we have left on mine...the rest of the family prefers pepperoni) 
• Fruit Salad
• Green Salad

Saturday:

• Navajo Tacos
• We top ours with refried beans, ground beef, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, cheese (daiya for us dairy-free folk), etc. 
• Fruit Salad

It's My Birthday!

Today is my birthday, and if you know me, you know I go all out on birthday cakes. So, of course, I had to make one for me.  This one is a basic tiered cake with chocolate cake on the bottom and carrot cake on the top. Even though the carrot cake has non-refined sugar in it...the rest of the cake uses white sugar, just so you know.  I use this recipe for my fondant, and it's super easy.

Have a great day everyone! I know I will. :)

Cherry Berry Mango Smoothie

I love fruit and I love smoothies.  This week in our basket we got cherries, blueberries, and mangos (and a lot more)...so I thought I'd combine them in a smoothie.  I am not exaggerating when I say this is the best smoothie I've had in a long time, and I make smoothies all the time. 

My boys aren't huge smoothie drinkers, they'll take a sip and try it, but hardly ever have more...and I couldn't even get my little one away from my glass long enough this morning to take a picture...hence the picture of him drinking it.

Cherry Berry Mango Smoothie
1/2-3/4 cup apple juice (I used Simply Apple)
1/4 cup cherries (pitted, of course)
1/4 cup blueberries
1 mango, roughly chopped
4 ice cubes

Directions
Add ingredients together in a blender, and blend until smooth.  This makes own large smoothie for me (shared with my little one).

Carrot Cake with Coconut Butter Frosting (Refined Sugar-Free)

My birthday is this week, and my son told me that I can only make chocolate cake...which promptly made me crave carrot cake.  Funny how that works.  I decided to make a tiered cake, with one layer chocolate and one carrot cake, so everyone is happy. But, I needed to figure out a good carrot cake recipe first.  So...here it is. 

I'm trying to use less refined sugars in my cooking...it's going to be a slow process, but I feel better when I'm not eating white sugar, so we are going to definitely transition away from the white sugar. This recipe is free of refined sugars.  It was easy to convert the cake to being refined sugar-free, but when the time came to make frosting, I had no idea where to start.  So, originally, I said to heck with it I'll make my usual buttercream frosting, with a little pumpkin spice added, which are the pictures of cupcakes with the white frosting. 

But, it was still bugging me that I didn't know how to make a frosting without powdered white sugar...I finally came up with this one, and it's good!



By the way, isn't this cutting board the cupcake are on fantastic?  I got it at our farmer's market on Saturday as an early birthday present to myself. :)

This post is featured on Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays and Allergy Friendly Wednesdays.

Carrot Cake

4 eggs

1/2 cup applesauce

3/4 cup canola oil

1 cup coconut sugar*

1/2 cup agave nectar*

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups gluten-free flour blend

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

3 large carrots, grated (about 3 cups)

1 cup chopped pecans, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease two 9 inch round cake pans or line muffin tins with liners and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, coconut sugar, agave, and vanilla.  In a separate bowl combine the flour blend, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and mix well. Stir in carrots, then fold in the pecans. Pour into prepared pan or scoop into muffin cups.

Bake at 350F for ~30 minutes for 9" cakes or ~20 minutes for cupcakes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Let the cakes cool for a few minutes in the pan then turn them out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

*You could use 2 cups of white sugar in the place of the coconut sugar and agave nectar.

Coconut Butter Frosting

3 tablespoons gluten-free flour blend

1/2 cup non-dairy milk (like So Delicious Coconut Milk)

1/4 cup coconut butter**

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup coconut sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

Whisk together flour blend and milk in a small saucepan, and heat over medium heat, stirring continously, until it starts to thicken.  Cook the mixture until it have the consistency of a thick pudding or paste.

Put the mixture in the fridge and let it cool completely...it can be cold for the next step.

Using a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, mix together the coconut butter, coconut oil, and sugar until combined well, about 1-2 minutes.  Then while beating, add in the thickened milk mixture and the vanilla.  Beat for 7-8 minutes, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture resembling frosting.

**To make coconut butter, place unsweetened shredded coconut in a blender and blend until it turns into a butter.

Weekly Menu (6/24/12-6/30/12)

This week in our Bountiful Basket (which we share with my awesome brother and his wife) we got the regular basket plus 12 clam shells of blueberries and a Mexican pack add-on:   

• bananas
• nectarines
• cherries
• mangoes
• tomatoes
• onions
• potatoes
• blueberries

In the Mexican pack we got:

• avocados
• Anaheim peppers
• jalapenos
• grey squash
• green onions
• limes

I also have some water chestnuts, carrots, watermelon, cantalope, canary melon, grapes, lettuce, plums, baby kale, and broccoli sprouts to supplement the basket. And I'm picking about 1-2 cups of strawberries a day from our strawberry patch, so we will have plenty of those again this week.


This week for breakfast: Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins, fresh fruit, and cereal for the kids, and baked oatmeal, smoothies (blueberries, bananas, nectarines, mangoes, strawberries, and the baby kale are going to be used), or fresh fruit for me.

This week for lunches: The boys are taken care of at their sitters'. I'll be eating leftovers, and of course, I bring fruit with my everyday.

This week for dinner:

Sunday:

• barbecue chicken
• baked potatoes 
• steamed corn 
• Fruit Salad
• Cherry Crisp (later that evening when we aren't so stuffed)

Monday: 

• Gorditas
• Homemade Salsa 
• Gaucamole 
• Fruit Salad

Tuesday:

• Pork Tamales
• Nachos 
• Fruit Salad
• Carrots and Hummus 

Wednesday:

• Sandwiches (mine will be with my homemade multigrain seeded bread, topped with hummus and tons of veggies.)
• Fruit Salad
• Carrots and Hummus

Thursday:

• One-eyed Sandwiches 
• Fruit
• Hashbrowns  

Friday:   (It's my birthday!)

• We are going to go out as a family to El Toro Veijo, because I realized my boys haven't gone out for Mexican food before...and they love it, so they should!
• birthday cake (of course)

Saturday: My awesome brother (the one that shares the bountiful basket with me) invited us over for dinner. :)

• My bro's amazing ribs
• Bacon wrapped potato wedges or potato salad...depending on how hot I am that day
• Fruit Salad
• Dessert...I haven't decided what to bring yet, it may depend on what fruit we have that day from the basket.

 

Restaurants

Just to let you know, I've added a tab above that is for restaurants that I've eaten at and have had success at.  I'll keep updating it, but it was to a point I could actually publish it.  Obviously, it's going to be mostly restaurants around my area, but I as I travel, I'll add those restaurants as well.  I hope it's helpful! 

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili with Avocados and Avocados from Mexico

I love avocados and am always looking for an excuse to add it to my food.  So, more often than not I'm google 'avocado recipes' and looking for new sites that have ideas.

The folks at Avocados From Mexico have just launched a new recipes section on their site "Recipes From Avocado Lovers" to give foodies (like me) who love avocados, the opportunity to upload their favorite avocado recipes, download ringtones, wallpapers and other fun items to show their avocado love and discover other fan favorite avocado recipes.




So, not only can you look for recipes, you can add your own, which I did with the recipe below. Here is the link to add your recipe, too:
Submit a recipe to the Recipes From Avocado Lovers website from Avocados From Mexico

Now on to my recipe.  My family absolutely loves The Pioneer Woman's chili, but I've been wanted to make a veggie chili for awhile, so I set about to do just that.  You can definitely change up the veggies in this recipe, instead of sweet potatoes have zucchini and mushroom, etc.  And you can change the beans, as well.  But this is one good chili, and the avocados definitely help add creaminess and tone done the heat.  So, don't think this is an optional topping...avocados add a lot to this dish!

This post is featured on Slightly Indulgent Tuesday.

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili with Avocados
2T oil
1 small onion, diced
1 medium red bell pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups chopped sweet potatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground oregano
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 14-16 oz can tomato sauce
1 can Rotel tomatoes with peppers
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup masa flour
1/2 cup warm water
1-2 avocados, diced

Directions
Heat oil over medium high heat in a large saucepan.  Add the onion and bell pepper and cook for 3-5 minutes, until softened.  Add in garlic and cook 1-2 more minutes.  Stir in the sweet potatoes and cook for another few minutes. 

Add in the salt, oregano, cumin, chili powder, tomato sacue and rotel and mix well.  Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and cook for 30 minutes.  Add in black beans and cook for at least another 30 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are fork tender. 

In a small bowl mix together the masa flour and the warm water, and the flour mixture to the chili and cook until thickened.

Top each serving of chili with avocado.

This sponsorship is brought to you by Recipes from Avocados From Mexico who we have partnered with for this promotion.

Weekly Menu (6/17/12-6/23/12)

This week in our Bountiful Basket (which we share with my awesome brother and his wife) we got the regular basket plus 12 clam shells of blueberries:   

• apricots
• plums
• bananas
• green grapes
• watermelon
• spaghetti squash
• cucumber
• russet potatoes
• mushrooms
• lettuce

I also have some water chestnuts, acorn squash, bok choy, napa cabbage, bananas, apples, carrots corn on the cob, cantaloupe, avocados and sweet potatoes to supplement the basket. And I'm picking about 2 cups of strawberries a day from our strawberry patch, so we will have plenty of those again this week.

This week for breakfast: Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins, fresh fruit, and cereal for the kids, and baked oatmeal, smoothies (that where a good chunk of the blueberries will go, along with the apricots and our homegrown strawberries), or fresh fruit for me.

This week for lunches: The boys are taken care of at their sitters'. I'll be eating leftovers, and of course, I bring fruit with my everyday, so that's where the all of the plums will definitely go.

This week for dinner:

Sunday: (Happy Father's Day!)

• Steak for my Hubby and Grilled Sea Bass for me...the boys can choose between the two
• Baked Potatoes 
• Corn on the Cob
• maple acorn squash
• Fruit Salad (Watermelon, cantaloupe, blueberries, grapes, and strawberries)
• Apple Crisp (later that evening when we aren't so stuffed)

Monday: 

• Pork Tamales
• Nachos  (we use daiya cheese)
• Fruit Salad
• Salad (topped with cucumbers, mushrooms, and avocados) 

Tuesday:

• Sweet Pork with corn tortillas
• Basmati Rice 
• Fruit Salad 
• Carrots and Almond Butter 

Wednesday:

• Sandwiches (mine will be a wrap with a corn tortilla and will be piled high with lettuce, mushrooms, cucumbers and avocados) 
• Fruit Salad
• Carrots and Almond Butter

Thursday:

• Blueberry pancakes using my pancake recipe
• Fruit 
• Hashbrowns
• Eggs

Friday: 

• Chili Dogs
• Oven Fries
• Sliced Strawberries
• Carrots and Almond Butter

Saturday:

• Spaghetti with pasta and/or spaghetti squash
• Breadsticks
• Salad
• Fruit Salad

Asian Burgers

Saturdays and Sundays I spend prepping food for the week or even coming weeks.  It's when I typically make muffins for the freezer, a batch of yogurt, and any part of the meals in the coming week that can be prepped beforehand.  This Sunday, I prepped my potstickers and had some of the pork filling left over, so I thought I would try grilling it up like a hamburger...it was amazing!  This would work with about any meat, I would think, not just pork, chicken or turkey would be fantastic, too. I ate mine on an Udi's bun and topped it with grilled pineapple, napa cabbage and a sesame oil/mayonnaise mixture.

Asian Burgers
For burger patties:
4 oz Napa Cabbage, shredded (2-3 cups)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 pound lean ground pork (or lean ground chicken or turkey)
2 tablespoons finely chopped green onions
1 1/2 teaspoons chicken stock or water
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
dash white pepper

toppings:
grilled pineapple
napa cabbage
1 teaspoon sesame oil mixed with 1/4 cup mayonnaise

Directions:

Salt the cabbage with 1 teaspoon of salt and set aside for at least 5 minutes.  Squeeze out the excess moisture. In a large bowl, combine the patty ingredients and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Form into patties and grill over medium-high/high heat, until done.

Top with toppings and enjoy.

This post is featured on Allergy Friendly Friday.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

I love fruit crisps, apple, peach, raspberry peach, well, basically any type of fruit that can be cooked, I've probably put in a crisp.  They are easy and definitely a comfort food.  I already have a recipe on the blog for raspberry peach crisp and I use that basic recipe for all of my fruit crisps by changing up the fruit.  I've decided to post the crisp recipe again, with a strawberry rhubarb mixture this time.  I did add some additional sugar to the fruit mixture (which I don't usually do with crisps, but between the rhubarb and my strawberries, which weren't quite ripe, I decided I needed to sweeten it a little), also if you don't want the crisp runny when it's hot out of the oven add a couple of tablespoons of cornstarch to the fruit prior to topping it with the crisp.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

3 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and halved (if large)  
2 cups rhubarb, cut into 1/2-1 inch pieces
1 1/4 cups sugar, separated
1/2 cup gf oat flour (or brown rice flour, if you don't have oat flour)
1/4 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup gf rolled oats
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup dairy free margarine

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.Arrange fruit in 8 x 8-inch baking dish and toss with 1/4 cup sugar.
2. Combine the remaining sugar, flours, oats, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl; mix well.  Cut in margarine until crumbly.
3. Sprinkle crumbs over fruit. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until fruit is tender.

This post is featured on Gluten-Free Wednesdays and Allergy-Free Wednesday and Ingredient Challenge Monday.



Oh Henry Bars

I've had this treat since I was little, and I'm not sure why we called it Oh Henry Bars, because they aren't really like the candy bar (I haven't had the candy bar in ages, maybe it does have similar flavors, I don't remember). Other people call these scotcheroos, so whatever you call them, it's a fantastic way to make rice crispy treats.

Oh Henry Bars
1 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup peanut butter
6 cups gluten free crisp rice cereal
1 1/2 cups dairy-free chocolate chips

Directions:

Grease a 9X13 pan and set aside. Place corn syrup and sugar into large saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until sugar dissolves and mixture begins to boil. Boil one minute. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter. Mix well. Add cereal. Stir until well coated. Press mixture into pan. Set aside.

Melt chocolate over a double boiler and spread evenly over the cereal mixture. Let the chocolate cool and firm up before cutting.

Weekly Menu (6/10/12-6/16/12)

This week in our Bountiful Basket (which we share with my awesome brother and his wife) we got the regular basket plus an Asain pack add-on:

• napa cabbage 
• bok choy
• water chestnuts
• snow peas
• green onions
• basil
• corn on the cob (which we will eat tonight, for sure)
• kale (which I've already made kale chips out of) :)
• tomatoes
• celery
• acorn squash
• mango
• peaches
• plums
• apples
• bananas

We also went to the farmer's market today and picked up some broccoli sprouts (I'm in love with these), rhubarb, honey, and some organic hummis (which is absolutely fantastic)

I also have bell peppers, bananas, lettuce, potatoes, baby carrots, a pineapple and oranges left from last week, and I'm picked about 1-2 cups of strawberries a day from our strawberry patch, so we will have plenty of those this week, too.

  

This week for breakfast: Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins, and cereal for the kids, and Homemade Yogurt  with Udi's granola or baked oatmeal for me.

This week for lunches: The boys are taken care of at their sitters'.  I'll be eating leftovers, unless by some strange reason we have none, then I'll be making myself hummus wraps (corn tortillas, hummus, sprouts, tomatoes, peppers, and lettuce...it's my new favorite lunch).  And of course, I bring fruit with my everyday, so that's where the plums, apples, and bananas will go.

This week for dinner: 

Sunday:

• grilled shrimp
• roasted red potatoes
• maple acorn squash
• Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp

Monday:  

• Chili
• Cornbread (with the fresh honey we got from the farmer's market)
• Baked Potatoes
• Salad 

Tuesday:

• Tamales
• Nachos 
• sliced pineapple 
• Basmati rice and black beans

Wednesday:

• Black bean tacos (we just mix a can of rinsed black beans with a can of Rotel tomatoes)
• Green Salad
• pineapple and peaches

Thursday:

• Crepes/Chocolate Crepes 
• Chocolate Gravy
• bananas and strawberries
• Eggs and Ham

Friday: 

• Stir Fried Veggies (napa cabbage, bok choy, water chestnuts, snow peas, carrots, celery, etc)
• Rice or Asain rice noodles
• Pot Stickers
• Sliced Strawberries

Saturday:

• English Battered Fish
• Oven Fries
• Salad
• Fruit Salad

Baked Oatmeal

I love my overnight oats, but I have been ready to change up my morning routine, so I decided to try out baked oatmeal.  Typically, baked oatmeal is a mixture between an oatmeal bar and oatmeal.  It usually has eggs in to help bind, but I made mine without (using 'flax' eggs, instead) and it turned out exactly how I wanted it to.  It also typically has quite a bit of sugar and butter, I've changed that up as well, to make it healthier and yet, still really tasty.

I also made my oatmeal in individual sizes that I could then freeze them and pull out what I want for my breakfasts, this way also gives you flexibility in what you can mix-in to the oatmeal. But, you can also make this in a 9X13 pan and have it for a brunch dish.

This batch of oatmeal I used applesauce, maple syrup, with Sunbutter, and mix-ins of peaches, apples, pecans, macademia nuts, pistachios and chocolate chips...really the possibilities are endless when making this oatmeal.

You can eat it straight up or how I eat it...I place it in a bowl and pour a little bit of nondairy milk in with it and drizzle it with maple syrup or honey and eat it with a spoon....it is definitely comfort food when eaten this way!

This post is featured on Allergy Friendly Fridays.

Baked Oatmeal

2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
6 tablespoons warm water
3 cups gluten-free rolled oats
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (or mashed bananas, pumpkin puree, etc)
1/4 cup maple syrup (or agave nectar or honey)
1/2 cup nut butter (peanut, almond, sunbutter, etc)
1 cup nondairy milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-2 cups mix-ins, such as nuts, berries, chopped apples, bananas, chocolate chips, etc.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. If making individual portions, line muffin tins with cupcake liners or grease very well.  If making a large family dish, grease a 9X13 baking dish and set aside.

Place the ground flax seed in a small bowl and add water to it.  Mix it together and let it sit until it thickens and gets goopy (like egg whites).

In a medium sized mixing bowl, mix together oats, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl combine all the liquid ingredients, including the flax egg, and then add the mixture to the oats and stir well.

If you are making a large family-sized dish, you can add you mix-ins now, if you are making individual ones with different mix-ins wait until after you place them in the muffin tins before you add the mix-ins.

Pour the oat mixture into the baking pan or muffin tins (I used just over a 1/4 cup per tin).  Add the mix-ins to the individual portions (I pushed the fruit in, and sprinkled the nuts on top). 

Bake at 350F for 20 minutes for individual portions or 40 minutes for a large pan or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Allow the oatmeal to cool for a few minutes removing from the muffin tins and serving.  You can freeze these by cooling completely then placing in a ziploc bag and freezing them (much like freezing muffins).

Weekly Menu (6/3/12-6/9/12)

This week in our Bountiful Basket we got:

• lettuce
• potatoes
• cherry tomatoes
• avocados
• pineapple
• peaches
• bananas
• strawberries
• oranges

I also have tomatoes, potatoes, baby carrots and lettuce left from last week.

This week for breakfast: Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins, and Cereal for the kids, and Homemade Yogurt  with Udi's granola or baked oatmeal (I'm working on a recipe for the blog) for me.

This week for school lunch: School's out for summer, so I won't be posting lunches for the summer.  My wonderful sitter feeds my boys during the day, so we are set for the summer. Some of the lunches she does: peanut butter sandwiches, turkey sandwiches, pasta with cheese sauce (dairy-free for my younger son), chicken nuggets, corn dogs, hot dogs, etc.  She always has fruits and veggies for sides, so it's a well rounded meal.  I help her where needed in prepping the food.

This week for dinner: 

Sunday:

We are going out of town to visit family that day, so dinnertime we'll be at my Mother-in-law's, I told her not to make anything fancy for us, since it's just the boys and me, but we'll see.

Monday:   

• Grilled Cheese
• Tomato Soup
• Carrot sticks and Almond Butter
• Sliced fruit

Tuesday:

• Chili
• Fritos
• Baked Potatoes 
• Salad
• Fruit Salad

Wednesday:

stir fried veggies with chickpeas

rice

pineapple

Thursday:

• Muffins 
• Eggs
• Sausage
• Mixed berries

Friday: 

• Pizza
• Salad
• Carrot and celery sticks with almond butter

Saturday:

• Asian Noodles (I haven't decided for sure what, maybe Thai drunken noodles)
• Potstickers
• Salad
• Fruit Salad

Soft Pretzels

I have been wanting to make these for awhile. I've attempted before, and had some issues that needed to be worked out, so when I got off of work early today, I sent the boys outside to play, while I played in the kitchen.  We enjoyed our pretzels with Lexie's Raw Nacho Cheese Sauce (I just got a blendtec and have been loving it!)

A warning, just like anything that is gluten-free, these can easily fall apart while you are shaping, and especially when you put it in the baking soda bath.  I found the best way to keep the pretzel shape was to transfer the shaped pretzel dough on a large spatula (or two) and keep it on the spatula in the baking soda bath...it's just less likely to fall apart that way, then if you were to drop it in the water.

Soft Pretzels

1 cup warm water
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
2 cups GF flour blend
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon gelatin (half a packet of Knox Gelatine)
2 tablespoons melted dairy-free margarine
1-2 tablespoons canola oil
8 cups hot water
1/2 cup baking soda
1 egg, beaten
pretzel salt

Directions:

In a small bowl mix together water, vinegar, yeast, and sugar. Let sit for~5 minutes to proof. In a medium bowl (I used my stand mixer for this), stir together flour blend, salt, and gelatin. Add the yeast mixture and mix on low speed until combined, then add in the margarine.  Mix on medium to high until dough comes together and is smooth.  It should form a ball, but be a bit sticky when you touch it.

Remove the dough from the bowl and grease the bowl, then replace the dough and cover it.  Set it in a warm place to rise for about an hour, or until it doubles in size.

Preheat the oven to 450F.  Grease two large cookie sheets and set aside.

Bring the 8 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in a large saucepan, then remove from heat.

In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a large piece of parchment sheet and divde the dough into 6 equal pieces. Wet hands and roll out each piece of dough into an 18-24 inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place the shaped dough onto one of the greased cookie sheets, and cover while you form the rest of the pretzels.

Once the pretzels are shaped, dip the pretzels into the baking soda bath, by using a large spatula (or two regular sized ones) to transfer it to the bath and to remove it from the bath.  Place the pretzels onto the other greased pan.  Repeat with each of the pretzels.

Bake pretzels at 450F for 12 minutes, or until golden brown.

This post is featured on Allergy Friendly Fridays and Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays.