for now, the only thing we're growing on this farm is kids - not the goat variety

Category: Recipes (Page 1 of 2)

Gluten-Free, Protein Rich Pancakes

Inspired by Kimberly of vogelJoy, the kids and I tried her pancake recipe.  Only a fellow busy mom would think to bake her pancakes in a baking dish.  Really, now…why hadn’t I thought of that before?  So practical and yummy to boot!  You can find the recipe in the first episode of the vogleJoy show.

The next time I made them, I went messing around with the recipe and came up with a runny concoction that was so thin it would take forever to bake in the oven.  I sighed since I’d ruined everything, and proceeded to cook the pancakes one at a time in the skillet – old style.  And you know what?  They were super yummy!  As in, I made them again on purpose.  Even though I had to stand there and flip.every.one.  (I think you’ll like these, Mom.)

Here’s my you-have-to-stand-at-the-stove-and-flip-every-one spin off recipe:

Ingredients:
7 eggs
1 cup yogurt
1/4-1/3 cup butter
1-2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 bananas
1 t soda
1 cup rice flour

Direction:
Put all ingredients in the blender and blend well.  Then cook in a buttered skillet.
Not having maple syrup, we topped ours with fresh raspberries & yogurt.

Sugar Free Flourless Chocolate (Cocoa Powder) Cake

We don’t often eat dessert here but look forward to having something sweet for special occasions and/or when we have company. But with having one that eats gluten free and one that’s eating sugar free, coming up with a company-worthy dessert is a bit of a challenge.

A flourless chocolate cake has been been one of my go-to dessert choices for when we’re having company. It’s so yummy that I don’t feel the need to explain our dietary restrictions when I serve it.

Last week I had planned to make one, and when the time came I realized that I had no unsweetened baking chocolate, just cocoa powder. (The recipe I generally use calls for both.) Since I had a hard time finding a sugar free flourless chocolate cake recipe that only called for using cocoa powder, I’m posting this recipe here for future use. It turned out great and I won’t hesitate to use it again.

This is a super rich, chocolately fudgey, brownie-like dessert. So, I serve small portions, generally with some whipped cream and/or some fresh fruit. It’s also awfully good with ice cream. Another bonus: it’s quick and easy to make. This recipe makes 12 small portions. Eat it slowly and enjoy.

Ingredients:

1 cup cocoa powder

3/4 cup butter

4 eggs

3/4 cup honey

Directions:

Grease 8×8 or 9×9″ pan (or a spring form pan will work). Melt butter. Add cocoa powder, honey and eggs. Whisk well into smooth batter. Bake at 375-400F for 20-25 minutes until center looks firm. Let cool in pan. (I have a gas stove here, and it doesn’t have a temperature control other than a dial to make the flame larger or smaller. There’s no internal thermometer, so I don’t know what temp I’m using, but I think it’s on the high side.)

Lacto-Fermented Carrots

We’ve always eaten a lot of carrots. I mostly served them raw, because they’re good for you, my family likes them that way, and they’re quick and easy. Everyone preferred the sweeter baby carrots, but I seldom purchased those. Mostly we ate the bigger, more bitter carrots.

Upon coming to Chile, we we’ve been amazed at the sweetness of the regular carrots. Even the huge carrots are really sweet. So, we’ve been eating a LOT of carrots!

A few weeks ago, I got a large mesh bag full of carrots at La Vega. The contents of the mesh bag completely filled two wal-mart sized bags. It was a lot of carrots. I didn’t have room in my fridge for them all. Indeed, I only had room for two gallon-sized ziplocks full. The rest sat on the loggia (laundry room) floor, and we started eating carrots at practically every meal. After about a few days, it hit me: I could lacto-ferment these!

I had made carrot relish before with grated carrots. But I really didn’t want to grate all those carrots! I did some digging and found that I could lacto-ferment carrot sticks — the fermentation process would just take longer (about a week.)

I processed 3 jars full, and they were a big hit. So last week, we made more. I experimented with two types: Garlic and Honey Cinnamon.

For both types, I…

Cut carrots into sticks, like I normally would, fit for munching on at the table, except I cut them the same length so that I could pack two layers tightly into jars.

For the Garlic Carrots, add to the jar…

2 cloves garlic, minced

about 1 Tbsp salt for a quart-sized jar

water to cover the carrots

For the Honey Cinnamon Carrots, add to the jar…

1/4 cup of honey, dissolved in 1 cup of water

1 cinnamon stick (pack the carrots around it); another time I used powdered cinnamon

about 1 Tbsp salt for a quart-sized jar

add enough water to cover the carrots

As with all lacto-fermented products, it’s a good idea to leave about 1 inch of air space at the top of the jar. I didn’t leave quite that much and so “burped” the jars every couple of days during the fermenting process.

New (to me) Zucchini Recipes

Two weeks ago I went to La Vega with Andrea again. We were shopping among the trucks. I had a small list, but mainly we were just shopping for deals. If spinach is a great deal, you just plan to eat and/or process lots of spinach for the next couple of weeks. So, we were out hunting for the bargains.

Well, I was at Andrea’s car, trying to find a good spot for the huge bag of carrots I bought, a spot where I wouldn’t crush the lettuce, tomatoes, blueberries, or strawberries, when here came Andrea with a huge grin on her face giving me two thumbs up. A man was walking behind her carrying a box. “$6 for a box of zucchini!” she says. She was really excited. I was too until she opened the box. They were big, big zucchinis. Not the young tender kind. These looked like they’d been on the vine too long. I smiled back anyway; after all she was doing me a huge favor just to take me with her and split bulk items with me.

For perspective, that's a 1 cup measure

For perspective, that is a 1 cup measure

Upon getting home, I was pleasantly surprised by this zucchini. It was tender and was not full of seeds as I had feared. What seeds there were, were small and tender.

I came home with 22 of these large zucchini. We’ve sliced them raw and used the thin rounds as a bread substitute for our sandwiches, grated them into salads, put them into soup, sauteed them… But here are a couple of recipes I found that were big hits. I tweaked them just a bit. These are the tweaked versions.

Zucchini Cornbread

Ingredients:

1 medium zucchini (about 10 ounces) – I used a large
2 cups cornmeal
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs
½ cup buttermilk or yogurt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan or 8x8x2 square pan; set aside.

2. Trim the ends off the zucchini and thinly slice 3 to 5 rounds from one end of the zucchini and reserve for garnish. Shred the remaining zucchini, toss with 2 teaspoons of coarse salt and place in a colander. Allow to drain for 20-30 minutes, then squeeze out any excess water.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter, eggs, honey and buttermilk. Gently stir the zucchini into the butter mixture. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and use a rubber spatula to gently fold together until no traces of flour remain. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and top with the reserved zucchini slices.

4. Bake until the bread is golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 to 65 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn the loaf out onto a wire rack to cool completely. The bread can be stored at room temperature, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 3 days.

Zucchini Pizza

Ingredients:

For the “Crust”:
4 cups shredded zucchini
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 eggs, lightly beaten

For the Toppings:
1 pound ground beef

1 cup chopped green pepper

1 large eggplant, cubed

1 onion, chopped
8oz mushrooms
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
15-oz can tomato sauce
½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Sprinkle the shredded zucchini with the salt and let stand for 10-20 minutes. Drain well and squeeze dry

3. Stir together the zucchini, shredded cheddar and mozzarella cheeses and the eggs. Once combined, spread the mixture onto the bottom of a 9×13-inch pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until set and golden brown in spots.

4. Meanwhile, brown the ground beef along with the onions and pepper until the beef is cooked through and the vegetables are soft. Stir in the mushrooms, garlic powder and dried oregano. Let simmer together for about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the tomato sauce.

5. Spoon the filling onto the prepared zucchini “crust” and top with the shredded mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Return to the oven for an additional 10 to 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Happenings In My Kitchen

Years ago a friend told me about making hummus. And though in theory I like to try new things, I tend to be a stuck-in-a-rut kind of gal, and never got around to trying it.

Years later (recently), I finally made some hummus after buying some tahini and then searching for something to do with it. Hummus was the answer. My first batch was tolerable, but not great. Subsequent batches have gotten better, and we really enjoy it now as a vegetable dip or sandwich spread.

I don’t really follow a recipe. I just mix things in until it seems right. Here’s the basic instructions.

I put the following in a blender, blend, taste, modify and repeat.

  • 1 can garbanzo beans
  • 2-3 Tablespoons tahini
  • about 1/2 cup Daisy sour cream
  • about 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 clove crushed garlic
  • salt to taste
  • about 1/2 teaspoon cumin

This could be healthier if I bought dried garbanzo beans, soaked and cooked them myself. Or…I wonder if this dish would work with sprouted beans. Has anyone tried this?

The other new thing I tried was a recipe using puffed millet I had picked up with the intent of making a healthy version of a Rice Crispy treat. Instead, Sudoku suggested we try a recipe on the back of the bag for Cheesy Dill Squares. I didn’t have dill on hand, so we used basil instead. They were sooo yummy and surprisingly filling (thanks to all the healthy fats). Here’s the recipe (we double it and bake in a 9×13″ pan):

Mix together the following:

  • 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
  • 1 tsp. dried basil
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1/8 tsp. black pepper
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup pastry flour (I used arrowroot powder)
  • 1 egg
  • about 2 tablespoon lemon juice

Then fold in 2 cups puffed millet.

Press into a greased 8″ square pan. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly browned. 20 minutes was just right for my pan and oven.

Other things in the kitchen last week:

  • bone broth soup
  • cheesy corn bread
  • currently trying Carl’s Oregon Trail sourdough
  • corn relish

This post is submitted for Tuesday Twister at GNOWFGLINS. Thanks, Wardeh!

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