Carrot Cake Balls -- GF, CF, sugar-free, faux-cream cheese

IT's NATIONAL DIET MONTH!!!     Today I'm looking for something that will be delicious and yet not bust apart my 21 day diet. (because I'm not up to starting over.)  

This might work!  







Cream cheese cake balls that are dairy-free, sugarless, gluten-free, grain-free, healthy, raw and delicious?

And about which the 14 year old says,  "Okay Mom, they are not terrible."  Woot!  High praise indeed.

The impossible dream?  
Well, maybe. 
It's all true, except for the cream cheese.  

There is none of that in the recipe, but I made these and asked the guys what they  reminded them of and they came up with the name.  

Actually they said they tasted pumpkin too, but I thought that was really stretching it.  

Who knew dates are the secret ingredient? 

None of the guys and they will not!  

3/4 cup carrots, peeled, diced (2 or 3 full sized)
4 dates (pitted and diced)
1 teaspoon minced ginger root (I use the stuff from the jar in the fridge)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon orange extract
1/2 cup pecans

I have a good food processor, so I did it all together using my processor blade, but try chopping the carrots first then remove and do the rest and add the carrots to thoroughly combine into a dough.  I used my handy-dandy melon baller and then rolled them in coconut.  

This is the birthday cake ball recipe that my dear friend Pam researched and fed to me for my September birthday.  It's taken a month to get it replicated.  I hope you love it as much as I do.    

Reality Bite:  And for the record, I still do not like dates... alone. (hee,hee.)

Last posted 10-29-13

Easy GF Coconut Macaroons

Today's Holiday G-F Cookie Recipe is a

Salted Caramel Macaroon.  A creamy, salty caramel switch up on an old Holiday favorite:

After baking the standard mararoon cookie recipe, (below), while still warm, press a spoon in the centers for an indentation.  Fill the dip with caramel filling and wait to cool.  Sprinkle coarse sea salt atop.

 Caramel filling:      Use one or two of the Christmas caramels you can't stop making or a Kraft rip-off.  Microwave them for a moment to soften, then add a teaspoon of milk or cream to thin slightly.  Spoon a drop into the centers and cool.  After these cool, sprinkle coarse sea salt atop.




First posted 1-12-11 and again in 2012
Happy Valentines Day!!   Fast, easy and delicious 

Easy Coconut Macaroons

Great Grandma Bezzant made these for me for the holiday buffet. I love people who don't have this nasty disease, but still want me to feel loved.  My husband's 93 year old grandmother, even though she suffers from macro-degeneration and is legally blind, still makes the effort to study up on gluten-free and bakes these for me.

If  I ever grow up, I want to be just like her.

EASY COCONUT MACAROONS

2 (8 oz.) pkgs. flaked coconut 1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk 2 tsp. vanilla Mix all ingredients together and drop onto greased cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cookies set before removing from cookie sheet. I halved the batch and it still makes a lot, (Particularly when you are the only coconut lover in the house.) Dipped in chocolate, these would make a delicious "Mounds" bar for Valentines. ...whatever am i going to do with a half can of sweetened condensed milk?

Peanut Butter Cookies

LAST POSTED 6-08-08

Here is the best peanut butter cookie recipe brought to our GF Holiday Celiac Potluck from 2008. Sorry, I don't have the contributor's name, but she is brilliant and her recipe  is delicious!

EGG FREE OPTIONS

I have modified this standard recipe before with an egg substitute for a friend who has multiple dietary allergies. I used 1/4 cup flax meal as an egg substitute (Made by blending or boiling 1 heaping tablespoon ground flax with 4 Tablespoons water--then cool and add to the recipe as an egg.)

STANDARD COOKIE RECIPE

1/2 cup shortening (or butter)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg (or egg substitute)
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Blend these ingredients until light and fluffy.
Add dry ingredient mixture:

3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 teaspoon xanthan or guar gum

1 1/4 cup sorghum
2 Tbs. cornstarch
1/4 cup bean flour (I used garfava)  OR,    OR,   OR

Just use  1 2/3 cup of gluten-free flour (I used my wholegrain mix.)

Blend together adding just enough of the flour to make the dough gently pull away from the edges of the blending bowl.  Make balls, (I use a melon baller)  place on cookie sheet, press with fork.

Bake 10 minutes at 375. Cool before moving to rack.

This recipe doubles fine. Today, when I doubled it for another party... I KNOW! I need intervention for party goers...!

 But this time I used 2 cups sorghum and about one cup of my healthier  wholegrain mix.

Gluten Free Easy Chicken Enchiladas

This is a story of a college newlywed trying to cook for guests tonight while her GF Muse (read: Mom) is "busy." Lots of reality bites in this one, but it still turned out great.

Filling: (ie put this stuff with the chicken inside the tortillas)

can of green chiles
can of corn
can of black beans
can of tomatoes

  Reality Bite: shouldn't have blended the corn and beans into the sauce. Lumpy sauce is awkward for guests. Perfect for children who don't think they like veggies, though (evil laugh*). 

Oh, and the chicken.

Reality Bite: forgot to put the chicken in the crockpot eight hours ago. Well, if I put it on high that should half the cooking time... right...? 6 lbs of raw chicken in the crockpot for four hours on high with 1/2 c water and a couple teaspoons of salt and pepper, I'll just have to come back later and finish... yikes. 

And Sour Cream, which I have none of. ...1 part plain yogurt to 3 parts mayo makes a great substitute?

Reality Bite: Moommmmmyyyy! 

Sauce: (ie put this stuff in the pot, then the blender, and then spoon it over and under the rolled tortillas)

can of tomatoes
onion
olive oil
cilantro, red pepper/chili pepper (what's the difference, anyway?!), salt and pepper, cumin, lime? Sure.

Reality Bite:  have 16 oz of cumin and absolutely no cilantro in the house. Ugh. Borrow some from neighbors...  

Put some sauce in the casserole pan and start frying and filling the tortillas. The sauce helps them stick so they don't unroll. When your pan is full of filled, rolled tortillas, put on a few more spoonfuls of sauce and cover the whole thing in cheese. Mmmm.

Pretty forgiving recipe, turns out. 

Pumpkin Curry Soup

Mass Soup Rave--people at the latest party really loved this one again. It is a keeper.  

Go acquire the real curry from the India store.  The hot one.  It's worth the extra work to get the good stuff.   


Last posted 10-11-11

One of my bff's brought curried soup to the India fest birthday and here is her recipe for all those who loved, loved, loved it!

Mr. Darcey loved it because he prefers a savory soup and this one really hits the delicious spot.

Saute in

2 Tablespoons butter (or olive oil)

1 cup onion diced

1/2 cup apple diced (I used granny smith)

1 cup celery diced

Cook about three-four minutes, just until everything is translucent. (It's the job of the fat to take on flavors and carry them throughout the soup to the tastebuds.)

Add 2 teaspoons curry powder (use your favorite--she used spicy.)

Saute just a couple minutes more.

Add 1 cup chicken broth (make sure it's GF, and dairy-free if you need)

Blend this mixture in your blender (I used a hand-held immersion blender) until smooth.

Return soup to your pot and add

2 more cups of chicken broth

1 3/4 cups of solid pumpkin (or a 15 oz can)

Reality Bite: (I added the 29 oz can and then had to remake the second bath of the entire soup and there was soup, soup, everywhere... plenty to freeze for next week and the week after...)

Anyway...

Add 1/4 teaspoon salt

1 bay leaf

1/3 cup heavy cream (or coconut cream, if you're dairy-free)

2-3 Tablespoons honey or maple syrup

Stir and heat to a simmer-- about another 5-10 minutes. Remove bay leaf before serving.

Delicious served with a dollop of sour cream and chives.

Reality Bite: And if you accidentally blend the second batch with the bay leaf, it's still good, just green flecked.

Gluten-free Corn Quesadillas

Just three ingredients:

1. corn tortillas 
2. refried beans (canned like me, or fresh if you know how to do that)
3. cheese (sliced or shredded)

Corn tortillas taste like pasty cardboard COLD. Warmed in the microwave, they advance to a state similar to soggy cardboard. Save yourself the misery and pull out a flat grill or frying pan. The minuscule extra labor is well worth the bettered taste and texture.

Modify as you wish: 

 add guacamole, nix the cheese, add sour cream, lose the beans, use mozzarella and marinara to make mini pizzas, switch out the insides for pb&j, add chicken or beef, slice tofu thinly and sandwich it with a peanut sauce, use shredded tilapia or snapper and make fish tacos... The world is your oyster. Ooo, Oyster Tacos?

Less than 10 minutes, less than 2 dollars.

Gluten Free Grape Poppy Coleslaw Salad

A gluten-free, sweet and savory potluck summer salad that doesn't weigh heavy on the pocketbook nor the stomach.

1 head of cabbage sliced thinly
2 cups red/purple seedless grapes sliced in half
1 cup sliced almonds (optional)

Dressing

1 cup sugar  (I used 1/4 cup of agave syrup and 1/4 cup honey instead)
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

One 4 oz. bottle of red pimentos (optional)

Mix up dressing and pour over greens.  Allow to marinate in the refrigerator a couple hours or overnight.

Reality Bite:  I used the Grand Island Salad Dressing from Great grandma Bezzants veggie salad and it turned out really delicious.  Sweet and yet savory.

Green Chili Chicken Soup

Served most recently last night.  I halved the batch and it still made mucho leftovers.
First posted Jan 10, 2011

Once upon a time, my husband ate a delicious soup in an airport in Albuquerque. He purchased the recipe and brought home a tiny bag of ingredients. We loved it and served it up to friends, until the bag was empty. One day I pulled out the recipe, looked at the enclosed ingredients and concluded that the bag was ... chicken bouillon.

And we've mixed it up ourselves since then. It's perfect for this season. Enjoy!

2 cups cooked chicken meat

2 cans chopped green chilis  (wow, spicy hot)

3 cups chopped canned tomatoes

1/4 cup chicken base (2-3 T. condensed GF chicken bouillon) (if you want it dairy free, look for one both GF and CF--OR just make your own)

1 tablespoon garlic (I used minced)

6 potatoes with skins (red or yukon gold) diced

2 quarts water

I bring all ingredients to boil and simmer until potatoes are soft. I serve it with cheese, chips, guacamole and sour cream/plain yogurt.

Mucho Caliente? I make it with one can of chilis and add on from there. Leave off the sour cream and cheese if you're dairy free as well. 

Basic Muffin Mix

Mix up the following and stick it in a ziplock to make muffins later. We eat some version of them daily it seems.

1 1/2 cups of a gf flour mix (I use my wholegrain flour mix) Remember, the more diversified the flours, the merrier.
1 Tbs. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. xanthum gum (or guar gum)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
chocolate chips

Then I add the wet ingredients

A scoop of pumpkin, applesauce, or a smashed banana (maybe 1/3 to 1/2 cup)
1 egg or an egg substitute
1/4 cup oil
1 tsp. vanilla
and with enough milk to equal 2 cups (non-dairy creamer) (or use your favorite dairy free milk substitute)

Add some part buttermilk if you have it.

Stir together til smooth. Bake in small muffin tins 15 minutes or less. 350 degree

I add chocolate chips, dried cranberries, frozen blueberries, walnuts, whatever I want today. It's all delicious.

Egg Free/ Dairy Free Miracle Muffins

These are GF/CF Miracle Muffins, because I still can't understand how they work without milk and eggs.

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1/4 cup canola oil
3 bananas
1 tbs. Ener-g egg replacer
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp dough enhancer (optional as a lifter and preservative)

Mix everything together, place in greased muffin tins or paper muffin cups. Bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes until tops darken and a fork poked in comes out clean. These are said to freeze nicely, but I eat them all instead.

May bake five to seven minutes more in moister climates and I never add any of the water at all.