Baked: Sweet Grain-Free Acorn Squash Muffins

It is essential for me that when someone tries something I make, they simply say, "This is good." I don't want them to say, "This is good...considering it's [grain-free] [healthy] [made with liver] [etc.]." So I'm excited to be experimenting with grain-free treats that are simply yummy ~ not conditionally yummy. ;-) It's also important to me not to use specialty ingredients. Real, old-fashioned ingredients that are no longer generally carried at a regular grocery, such as soup bones and liver from grass-fed animals ~ yes; fancy "gluten-free flour" ~ no.

I've been using this grain-free muffin recipe for years now. And I've honed custards (a mix of egg with liquid, such as cream or milk, soup, pureed veggie or fruit, etc.: looks like a post I need to create!) ~ both sweet and savory ~ to a perfection. So now I'm working with this concept: of eggs with different thickenings, essentially, to come up with all kinds of (mildly) sweet, grain-free baked deliciousness. My way of cooking, mind you, is largely "a little of this, a little of that;" I only use rough measurements. And I encourage you to try this method in your own kitchen as much as you dare. It takes practice and a bit of adventure. But if you start with quality ingredients, even if it's not contest-worthy, it'll most likely still taste good. ;-)

So here's a rough recipe I created this morning that turned out yummy. Especially successful because the toddler asked for seconds and thirds! I hope I have the time to share more of these recipes soon.

Sweet Grain-Free Acorn Squash Muffins

makes 9 small muffins

Preheat oven to 375.

3 eggs ~ from a local farm you know and trust

about 1/3 cup leftover baked acorn squash (butternut or pumpkin would work well, too)

1/4 cup flax seeds, ground in a seed/coffee grinder

1/4 tsp organic butter, melted

3-4 medjool dates, pitted and chopped fine (or chopped in a food processor)

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Extra butter to grease the muffin cups.

Blend all ingredients. I use a hand-held mixer. Pour into well-greased muffin cups. Bake until firm and brown ~ no longer than 30 minutes; probably closer to 20.

These muffins are so moist and satisfying! My 3 year old daughter ate three at one sitting! That's a record-breaker. The flax helps them to stay together and have body, while not being too "flaxy" (read: "crunchy-granola 'healthy'"). And the dates add just enough sweet without creating a sugar high and subsequent crash! These muffins stand on their own, but you know I won't flinch if you melt some butter or cream cheese on top. And I bet a drizzle of raw local honey would be divine!

Involve your children in the process! Kids love to help if we'll let them. And helping ensures they'll like the end product more because they can take pride in it. It might take a few more minutes, and some food might end up on the counter or on the floor. However, an interest in cooking that starts early is a life-skill that is worth the investment. Anjali helped me make these by pouring in the dry ingredients after I measured them. She also quality-checked the dates. ;-)

Baked: Homey Grain-Free Banana Bread

Back before I started keeping this blog, this is the way I kept track of recipes I wanted to remember:

I still like this tactile way of keeping up with cooking, like the way I like hand-written, poetic cookbooks, and don't really find a use for overly scientific, technical cooking directions; cooking is a wholly sensory experience. Writing it down gets even more of your body involved. I also like the cute pictures I always drew to illustrate. ;-)

When I smelled that unmistakable pungent fragrance of very ripe bananas from the bowl on the counter, I felt the rush of a longing: for old-fashioned, classic, comforting banana bread like I ate when I was a kid. I didn't want anything exotic or gourmet; just some moist banana bread with a generous layer of melty gooey cream cheese on top. Of course I would use nutrient-dense ingredients instead of the standard white flour and white sugar, but I wanted my rendition to be as reminiscent as possible to the one I ate on a sunny summer afternoon, spread out on the back porch of Mom's kitchen when I was a kid.

My taste for sweet is so sensitive these days that if you are used to eating Standard American sweetened foods, this might not do it for you. But for me and my family, it was perfect. Moist and just juicy enough, with a delicate texture when warm, and the twang of ripe banana-meets-nutmeg. The thing I also like about this wholesome version is that the egg and butter balance out the sweet-sweet banana so that you (and your children!) don't get the sugar spike and subsequent hangover of a usual sweet treat.

For bioavailability, I soaked the organic almonds overnight beforehand by covering with filtered water with a tablespoon of salt. Then I ground them in a few batches in the spice grinder. There were still some big chunks, but mostly a fine meal.

Homey Grain-Free Banana Bread

preheat oven to 350 and butter a breadloaf baking dish.

2 cups soaked but not toasted almond meal

1/2 cup coconut flakes

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp sea salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

3 pastured eggs from a farm you trust

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup Sucanat/Rapadura

3 overripe bananas, mashed

1/3 cup butter, melted

Mix the first group of ingredients thoroughly. Beat the eggs and mix in the vanilla and Sucanat till combined. Then add the dry to the wet and mix. While stirring, pour the butter in till it's all incorporated. Bake until the center is firm. The outside will get very brown. Let sit for a few minutes before slicing and eat while still warm ~ or toasted ~ with a nice slab of cream cheese on top.

This blog entry is a participant in Food Renegade's Fight Back Friday!

Toddler Favorites: Popsicles!

you can't see as well what she's eating in this photo, but I thought it was cute anyway.

It is HOT here in Sacramento! The only way to get any nourishment into a tiny tummy (or a grown-up one, for that matter!) is to make sure it's something COLD!

The popsicles I've been making are essentially a frozen smoothie. They are so easy, and ~ as always ~ nutrient-dense. A treat for the whole body that mom can feel good about, even if she ends up serving the whole batch in one day. ;-)

a banana popsicle that is not crayola yellow?!

my daughter still loves it.

This is the second batch that I have made with a very jury-rigged popsicle "mold" and handles. I don't want to buy plastic, and I haven't felt the absolute necessity to invest in the stainless steel version. Laugh at its ghetto-fabulousness as I have (no, really ~ go ahead; I'll wait), but: it works for now.

I just:

-pour the blended smoothie into a parchment paper-lined baking dish

-place spoons in line for approximate sizing of pops

-place carefully (and as levelly as possible) in the freezer

-curse internally when all of the spoons shift as the mixture sloshes around and I have to re-place them, then

-wait a few hours.

-Take the whole thing out when properly frozen

-run the pan under warm water for a moment to get the paper away from the dish, and then

-slice with a big (non-oniony!) knife. (Run knife under warm water for extra help.)

-I then put the whole thing back in the freezer (after we help ourselves to a few) for later.

Here are two variations on the idea that have had rave results from child and adult alike.

Melon Monkey Popsicle

1/2 can whole fat coconut milk

3/4 an average-size ripe melon ~ I used Galia

1/2 a ripe banana

2 pastured egg yolks (from a farm you trust)

a pinch of sea salt

2 tbsp melted coconut oil (at these temps, I didn't even have to put it on the stove; it was liquid in the jar!)

Blend all ingredients except coconut oil in the blender. Right before you're done, add the oil while the blender is on. Pour into the popsicle mold of your choosing and freeze to perfection!

Note: I used a 9x13 dish for this one, then decided to use a smaller, square "brownie" pan for the next batch. The second round were thicker, but also, I didn't have quite as much "popsicle batter" to begin with.

Strawberry Cream Popsicle

1/2 can whole fat coconut milk

1/2 cup whole raw milk (from a farm you trust)

1/2 a pint of juicy ripe strawberries

a pinch of sea salt

2 tbsp melted coconut oil

2 tbsp melted grassfed butter

a drizzle (maybe a tsp) of local raw honey

a few more juicy ripe strawberries, chopped small

Blend all ingredients through sea salt, then add the melted fats and honey while the blender's running. Pour the mixture into your desired popsicle mold, and then sprinkle the chopped strawberries around. Freeze to perfection. Devour after playing on a hot day!

Toddler Favorites: Lacto-fermented Apple Butter

End of the season for cellar apples. That means it's time to make more apple butter! I wasn't sure if it was going to happen, shopping at the co-op as opposed to farmers' markets, but it did: discounted apples. I bought two produce bags full of ripe pink lady apples. When I told Anjali what they were for, she wanted to make apple butter immediately! We quartered and cored them, then baked them till soft and dried out a little. I used that handy handheld mixer to blend them. We baked enough to fill a large mixing bowl (even after somebody kept sneaking several apples' worth of pieces throughout the day!). I'll use these guidelines again this year, and hopefully will be able to give you better measurements this time around. Sadly we're on our way back to Kentucky today for the funeral of my "papaw." :-( When we return, the pureed applesauce will be waiting in the fridge for us to ferment into apple butter!
Anjali loves this stuff. To get those good fats into her, and to balance out the sugar, I gently melt a few pats of butter to mix in with hers. She could eat a whole jar in one sitting.

A secret: recently, Anjali has stopped liking the taste of cod liver oil. She used to gulp it down (believe it or not), and I'd have to "cut her off!" I noticed her immune system seemed to be missing the daily dose of this sacred food; she came down with several bugs this cold season, whereas before she had had *maybe* one cold. So I have been giving her CLO in a teaspoon of apple butter ( we use the traditionally-crafted fermented CLO from these guys: http://www.greenpasture.org/public/Home/index.cfm ). I'm not *sneaking* it - she knows it's in there, she just doesn't mind because of the apple butter. If that's all it takes: bring on the apple butter!

Later edition: Well, after a tiny apple fairy nibbled on the apples over the course of a few days while I got around to draining yogurt for whey, I only ended up with enough apple sauce to make a quart and a half of apple butter! So I can't give you any new information on the recipe. But I did use the recipe sited above. I added cinnamon and a couple cloves to each jar. :-)

Using Up the Easter Eggs: Make Your Own Gomasio

This is our favorite way to eat hard-cooked eggs out of hand, as we do regularly on plane trips, and now ~ with the Easter eggs we dyed.

First of all I have to say, to cook pastured eggs so that you get the most out of those gorgeous orange yolks: don't boil the heck out of them.

The way that I was taught was to place the eggs in the pot, covered in water. Bring the water up just barely to a boil. Let it barely-boil for one minute. Then turn off the heat. Cover the pot and let sit for ten minutes. Then cool the eggs with ice and water (or eat). This makes a yolk that is still creamy and a tad soft at the very center. Yum!

On to the Gomasio ~

for one hard-cooked egg

1 tsp+ dulse flakes

1 tsp+ sesame seeds

high quality sea salt

red pepper flakes (optional)

I mix up about half dulse flakes and half sesame seeds. Then a few pinches of sea salt. And, if using red pepper flakes ~ a pinch. When we fly I put some in a ziplock, and tuck it in with the container of hard-cooked eggs. Some sliced raw cheese* and apples = never settle for airline food again!

At home I put gomasio in one bowl, and a generous drizzle of high quality olive oil (the Bariani farm is only a few miles from our house!) in another, and Anjali has fun dipping from olive oil to gomasio (and back again over and over and over).

Dulse is a tasty introduction to seaweeds. I use dulse flakes in place of some sea salt on my own plate (I love it on eggs!!). Anjali relishes whole strips of dulse as a snack. Dulse's deep purple color is an immediate indicator that it is packed with nutrients ~particularly iron. I love this article by Susun Weed about the benefits and uses of seaweeds.

Enjoy!

*sliced for ease of eating, and also: so they won't stop you when you're going through security!

Toddler Favorite: Smoothies

I find it challenging ~ both practically and for my ego ~ to cook for a toddler. Something she devours and asks for seconds and thirds of one day is something she might not have any interest in the next time I prepare it. I try not to take it personally or let it frustrate me; it is what it is. But when she does like something more than once, you know I'm writing it down!

Smoothies are one of those items. Like a milkshake with some extra nourishment tucked in, who doesn't like a smoothie? The fun thing about eating the way we do is, you don't have to fake a smile and pretend it's as tasty as it is good for you ~ it is tasty! For kid and adult alike. And so satisfying.

If you're not used to eating full-fat foods, you could definitely take this smoothie by sips and not gulps; it is dense. Pay no heed to the low-fat propaganda! Feed your growing child (and yourself!) real food and reap the rewards of real health. If dairy is a challenge for you, or you don't have access to raw milk, full-fat coconut milk with a little filtered water works deliciously, too.

Last night Anjali, age 2.5, said as she licked her lips from a second serving of this smoothie, "Smoovie's my favorite!" I took note.

Anjali's Favorite Smoothie

enough for several toddler servings which can be kept in the fridge for a day if necessary

3/4 cup raw whole milk from a farm you trust

1/4 cup plain whole milk yogurt

1 pastured egg yolk

1/3 a ripe banana*

a dash of vanilla

a pinch of sea salt

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon coconut oil

~I don't use measurements, but just eyeball quantities as I place all the ingredients except the fats into a wide-mouth pint jar.

~Then I gently melt the butter and coconut oil on low.

~While that's melting I use my immersion blender to mix the ingredients in the jar. (I use my handheld blender almost daily. I found it for $9 at a thrift store, but knowing I use it this much I would be willing to pay much more for the next one ~ hopefully second-hand, as well! ~ when mine finally wears out.)

~With the blender going, I slowly pour the melted fats in and whip till frothy.

Right now I don't add anything frozen. But I bet as the weather warms some frozen fruit will be a welcome addition. You can let your imagination go for additions and variations on this. Cinnamon, carob powder, other fruit, nut butters made from soaked nuts ~ all are fair game.

Anjali and I share this smoothie. It is too heavy for me in the morning, but in the afternoon it is a nice filling snack for that difficult transition time (for me) from afternoon to evening.

Anjali likes it any time of day or night.

*Organic ripe bananas are a non-local treat I have embraced for my daughter now that we shop at a co-op instead of exclusively at farmers' markets. Best to eat them with some good fat; they are really sugary.

Raisin-Coconut Balls

not too pretty ~ these'll do just fine. ; )

Out of necessity, I've created a variation on the Date Balls with Toasted Coconut recipe. We are simultaneously packing to move to Sacramento, and packing for an extended-family vacation to Maui! We always travel with our own food, to avoid having to eat garbage while in flight. This usually consists of raw cheese, hard-cooked eggs, some hearty bread, and butter, and hopefully something sweet, like fruit or Coconut Dateballs. In an effort to simplify, I decided to skip making snacks for the trip and just buy some. So I stopped in at Cafe Gratitude, right up the street, to get a few of their yummy green energy balls. Sweetened with dried fruits, studded with nuts and seeds, and tinted with spirulina powder, Mommy and Anjali have enjoyed these occasionally as a treat. Well, they stopped carrying them!
So I quickly walked home and searched the cupboard to see what I could come up with in a hurry. Here's what it is:

Raisin Coconut Balls
3 handfuls of raisins
Maybe 10 leftover dried cranberries
1 cup coconut butter, softened by the sun
About 1/2 cup toasted coconut flakes, ground in coffee grinder
1/4 tsp seasalt
A generous sprinkling of sesame seeds
A handful of sunflower seeds
2 tbsp softened butter
1 tsp+ Vitamineral Green* powder

I mixed all ingredients in the food processor at once, scooped them out onto a cookie sheet using a teaspoon measure, and just shaped the blobs enough so that they won't fall apart when picked up. The cookie sheet went into the freezer, and I'll scoop some out into a container as we leave for the airport in the morning!
I have learned that, refreshingly, children do not exhibit that Puritanical determination I have cultivated to eat something "just because it's good for me," even if I don't like it. ; ) So I only added a bit of the green powder - enough to darken the mixture, and a small enough amount that, when tasting it, Anjali asked for more.
It is inspiring for me to have variations that work, as I rarely make something exactly the same twice.

* This is from a vegan company and website. Though I don't recommend a vegan diet, I think this is the best green powder around.

Date Balls with Toasted Coconut

This is my interpretation of my good friend Jessica Prentice's recipe, from her book Full Moon Feast ~ truly one of the most influential books of my life.

These date balls are delicious ~ sweet enough for my sweet-toothed toddler to ask for more, but not too sweet for Mommy to eat, or feel bad about giving to Baby. They are yummy and satisfying ~ the perfect nourishing snack with plenty of good fat. And so simple to make.

The main ingredient is coconut butter, which usually can be found in the Raw section of natural foods stores. When I first discovered this magical substance (similar to almond butter only made out of coconut meat...!), I hid it in the back of the cabinet and ate the whole jar, spoonful-by-spoonful! It is so rich, creamy, and flavorful.

(yes; i label containers. with hearts..)

Date Balls with Toasted Coconut

16 small dates, pitted (maybe 10+ Medjools)

1 cup coconut butter, softened

1/4 tsp sea salt

1.5 tbsp butter and

1.5 tbsp coconut oil, melted

2/3 cup unsweetened coconut flakes, toasted, then ground in a coffee mill

It's easier to use the coconut butter if you first warm it by placing the jar in a pot with a few inches of water and heating it on low for a while. So do that first. Pit dates and pulse in a food processor a few spins. Then add the softened coconut butter and sea salt. Melt the fats and pour them in while the processor is running. Toast the coconut flakes in a dry skillet on low heat, stirring often, till they are golden brown. Then pulse them a few times in a clean coffee/spice grinder. This helps the texture of the date balls. Gradually add toasted flakes to the coconut date mixture until it is well blended and smooth.

I use a teaspoon to measure out the balls ~ this is a perfect toddler-sized portion. I roll them in my hands a few times until they are relatively round, and place them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. I slide this into the freezer for a little bit (maybe an hour) to get them firm, then spatula the date balls off the sheet into a pint jar. Keep them refrigerated, as they will soften if left out (or in a toddler's fist too long).

These are a wholesome treat for all ages.

I won't tell if you don't share any with a toddler. ;-)

Wholesome Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love chocolate chip cookies. And what's more satisfying and comforting than homemade cookies fresh out of the oven? I'm not sure. After I bake a few to eat, I scoop the rest out onto parchment-lined cookie sheets. Then I freeze them, and store the frozen cookie dough blobs in a ziplock bag in the freezer to have just a few at a time whenever I want. Since I haven't eaten sugar in such a long time, it doesn't take much to get my fix. Understandably, Anjali loves cookies, too, so I have been adding the chocolate to individual cookies (for me) right before bake time so that she can have some chocolate-free. Come to think of it, she would probably love the addition of a few raisins in hers! Baking small frozen cookie dough blobs takes hardly any more minutes to bake than room-temperature dough. But, oh! How gratifying!

Here is my more wholesome version of the Joy of Cooking's "Classic Chocolate Chip Cookie" recipe.

Whisk together dry ingredients:

1 cup sprouted spelt flour (or bulgar wheat, freshly ground!)*

1/2 tsp baking soda

Blend till fluffy:

1 stick softened butter

1/2 cup (or more, to taste; remember: I don't like food very sweet) Sucanat or Rapadura sugar**

Add, and blend till well combined:

1 pasture-raised egg

1/2 tsp seasalt

1 tsp vanilla

Add, in increments, dry to wet ingredients.

Drop by the spoonful onto a greased, or parchment lined, cookie sheet.

Press into each cookie dough blob right before baking

(or after a few minutes in the oven, if the cookie dough blobs are frozen):

1/2 square (or more) high quality chocolate per cookie, chopped into pieces ~ right now for cookies I love Alter Eco's Dark Chocolate Velvet, with its "delicate touch of milk"

Bake at 375 until golden ~ soft in the middle and a little crisp around the edges.

Perfect.

Yum!

*Even whole grain flours are not nutritiously sound unless they have been soaked overnight with an acid (like vinegar or whey), sprouted, or soured, as in sourdough. Taking the grain through these processes mimics germination. This activates the seed to release its nutrients and de-activates its anti-nutrients, called phytates. When eaten, phytates can spark or exacerbate digestive problems, reactions and sensitivities, and actually pull nutrients out of the body to process the grain. (Scientific details about that here.)

Sprouted flour is really nice to work with ~ it's light and fluffy, not heavy and sawdusty like some whole grain flours, and works well when converting many regular recipes to healthier versions. It doesn't compromise texture. It can be found online, but is rather pricey (though not bad if used only for the occasional cookie or biscuit recipe; for other things, like breads, just soak non-sprouted flour overnight). I use spelt instead of wheat much of the time for health reasons since it doesn't have as much gluten. For cookies and biscuits it doesn't seem to matter. But fortunately, if you don't already have sprouted flour in your freezer, bulgar wheat ~ used to make tabbouleh ~ is sprouted, too. And you can find it at most natural food stores; grind it at home for this recipe using a good coffee grinder (or grain mill or high-quality blender).

**These sweeteners are cane sugar with the natural minerals left intact (Rapadura is a brand name), making the occasional sweet treat more nutrient dense.

As always, I recommend organic ingredients. If you can buy them from people you know and trust, all the better!

Illustrated

If this goes through: I did it! I emailed a photo to my blog, using my
phone. Crossing fingers before hitting Send...

What We Ate (while you were on a date)

Dear Austin,
I had a craving and made late-night Jali-won't-sleep muffins! And she helped! We had a blast. I threw them together as quickly as possible to ensure I actually got to eat one before Little Person made it obvious that bedtime had come! We finally trotted up to bed (with a second muffin in fist) at 9:45. Whew!

Ingredients: 3/4 cup whole wheat flour (thought it was sprouted, but it's not - oops!), about 1/4 cup leftover, already-cooked steel-cut oats, 3 eggs, 1/4 cup yogurt, 1.5 tsp baking pdr, cinnamon, nutmeg, 1/2 tsp salt, vanilla, sesame seeds (with extra that Jali added when I turned around! Heehee ), and 2 slices chopped up frozen apple, a forkful of honey, oh and a stick of butter! They are tasty. I wanna experiment with using just the leftover oats with eggs.

Jali does quality control before I slide them in the oven.

Lacto-Fermented Apple Butter

Continuing the theme of preserving as many different kinds of produce as I can this year, I made lacto-fermented apple butter. Lacto-fermenting is so easy and delicious! Most every time, I am struck by the simplicity of preparation and yumminess of results! Now, this is different than lacto-fermenting sauerkraut; whereas sauerkraut ferments and mellows for up to six weeks, this apple butter only sat out at room temperature for a few days. I wasn't sure what kind of a fermented *tang* it would have. As of yet - not much. Just a flavorful apple spread that has the benefits of lacto-fermentation for preservation as well as nutrition. I imagine if it lasts long enough in the fridge (which I doubt! - we are devouring it!), it will acquire more of a kick as time passes. I used the recipe in Nourishing Traditions. It calls for dried apples that have been re-hydrated, I think for intensity of flavor compared to water content. However, I baked fresh apples, uncovering them in the end to dry them out so that they are marvelously flavorful. The recipe also calls for more honey, but these apples are so sweet and good as-is, I wanted to add as little as I could get away with. The whole household is pleased with the results.

We got a huge bag of "cosmetically challenged" apples at the farmers' market from the end of the cellar-apple season - there ended up being a lot of Fujis. So I froze some after baking, and made a quart-plus of apple butter with the rest. We wish I'd made more!

Lacto-fermented Apple Butter
- a quart-plus (wish I could tell you how many apples, but you'll
have to figure it out for yourself...)

Bake, covered, at 400:
Apples- quartered and cored - not peeled
Once they are soft, take off the lid and bake another 15 mins, then
turn off the oven and let them sit until their edges are browned and
crisp (this is usually just me forgetting about them...).

Blend cooled apples in a food processor with:
1/4 cup of whey - drained from plain, live-active organic yogurt
1 tbsp seasalt
1.5 tbsp raw honey

Pour into a clean jar and cover with a sterile lid.
Let sit at room temperature for 3 days, then refrigerate.
Will last 2-3 months.
You might as well go ahead and plan to make more than one batch...!