Sunday, September 30, 2012

Recipes from Twitter pics

Hello Readers,

As the school year picks up, I may be blogging less, and I apologize in advance for not writing as much.  For those of you who don't follow me on Twitter, I wanted to let you know that I tend to tweet more than I blog - mostly photos of especially good gluten and lactose free foods/meals I eat throughout the week.
If you ever see anything especially intriguing, please send me a tweet or message and I'll be sure to blog the recipe!

Follow tingeroo @nobreadnobutter

Thanks for your support and readership!

Spiru-tein Protein Powder - Strawberry

Gluten and lactose free protein powder - Take 1


I picked this up at a random, hippie natural foods roadside market in Lincoln City, Oregon. We were on a week-long roadtrip, and I was actually hoping to pick up some almond milk "juice boxes" for the road when I saw this. I wondered skeptically, "could this really be good? if it's terrible, i'm committing to 1.2 lbs of this stuff...." I noticed the vanilla flavor was completely sold out, so I thought what the heck - I'll go for it!

Curious? 

IT'S GOOD! well, let me re-phrase - although the directions claim it instantly mixes, no blender required, you really do need at least a blender bottle to get the lumps out. The first couple times I tried it, I simply stirred the powder in, and the lumps were so nasty it practically triggered a gag reflex. No bueno! Now, I use a blender bottle, and mix it with cold almond milk for a super creamy shake post workout. It's a little thick if you follow the ratio they suggest (1 heaping scoop : 8 oz. milk), so I use about 10 oz. of milk per level scoop. Another reason I prefer almond milk is because it is lower in carbs, which is good for my get-fit plan. 

The nutrition facts on this powder are impressive. Per 1 serving scoop: 99 calories, 0 fat, 11 g carbs, 14 g protein. It's not the highest in protein content compared to other powders I've looked at since, but it is the lowest in calories and carbs. Personally, it's sufficient for me because I balance the shakes with high protein meals in other parts of the day. It's also amazingly packed with vitamins - the same as what you would get popping a multivitamin! As with any protein supplement though, be sure to drink plenty of water to combat dehydration and constipation from the mega dose of protein.

Final verdict?

IT'S GOOD!  oh wait, did I say that already?  Ok, and it's tasty too.  In fact, it's so good, I hesitate to try other competitors' products, because most of the other "all natural" gluten and lactose free powders smell downright terrible, and don't have close to the same nutritional stats this one does. I think I will try the chocolate version of this next.......

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Coconut Lemongrass Mussels

After a looooong week, I decided to take a well-deserved night off and cook myself a satisfying meal. Call it an all-you-can-eat mussels extravaganza at home!


Interested?

Ingredients:
- 1 medium-sized red onion, thick large slices
- 4 large cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
- 1 stalk of lemongrass, chopped into smaller lengths a few inches long
- ginger - two thick slices
- 1 can coconut milk
- 2 pounds mussels, rinsed and soaked in cold water
- fish sauce
- white pepper
- basil
- pinch of chicken bouillon powder
- Earth balance vegan butter (or Brummel yogurt butter, or goat butter)

1. Use a large wok or pot that is NOT non-stick (the shells will scratch a nonstick pot)
2. Heat the butter over medium heat. Saute onion, garlic, lemongrass and ginger.
3. Add coconut milk, and about 1/2 a can of water
4. Season with fish sauce, white pepper, basil, and chicken bouillon and simmer until flavors come together.
5. Gently place mussels in pot, stir to coat in sauce. Cover with lid for a few minutes until mussels begin to open.
6. Immediately remove lid, and begin removing mussels from the bottom layer that are cooked (to prevent overcooking)
7. Continue stirring mussels around until they are all cooked.
8. Serve with broth and slurp it all in!


Friday, September 7, 2012

Vegan Gluten-Free Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

In anticipation of a back-to-school party, I decided to try my first made-from-scratch gluten free cookies (I usually just bake for others and have always been intimidated by the thought of gluten free baking). To top it off, I even made it vegan for a friend of mine who would be attending the party! The only dairy in this gluten free recipe calls for 1 egg, and 1 stick of butter. I used 1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce per 1 egg as a substitute, and Earth Balance vegan butter. I also subbed dried cranberries instead of the walnuts.

Verdict?

Amazingly moist and chewy!  A bit on the sweet side, so I may decrease the sugar next time if adding dried fruit, or forgo the fruit and use nuts instead. It helped to squeeze each teaspoonful of dough together before flattening slightly on the cookie sheet. Also, unlike regular cookies, these don't really spread out while baking. This plateful was the result of doubling the recipe to make 2 batches:



This is the recipe I followed from the back of a bag of "Let's Do...Organic" Coconut Flour:

3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp brown rice flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
8 Tbsp butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips
3/4 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped

  1. Preheat oven to 375 F. 
  2. Blend together butter and sugars until fluffy and well mixed.
  3. Beat in egg and vanilla.
  4. In a separate bowl, mix flours and baking soda.
  5. Add dry mix to wet mix and blend until smooth.
  6. Stir in chocolate chips/nuts/dried fruit.
  7. Drop by teaspoonful onto pre-greased cookie sheets.
  8. Bake 8-12 min, or until brown around edges. 
  9. Remove from oven, and allow to cool for at least 2 minutes before removing from cookie sheet.


Thursday, September 6, 2012

Metropolis Baking Company - Sour Rye

Mmmmmm.....delicious, and the combination of artisanal, sour, and rye made this a particularly ting-friendly bread. Yum!

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Gluten free Blueberry Turnovers

Another fabulous-looking recipe from Mrs. L, courtesy of www.livingwithout.com

As always, be mindful that gluten free isn't necessarily fat-free! Substitute a vegan butter such as Earth Balance to make this lactose-free as well.

Gluten-Free Blueberry Turnovers

MAKES 8

Flaky crust holds a delicious mouthful of blueberries. This fruity dessert delivers 5 grams of fiber and 3 grams of protein as it satisfies your sweet tooth. Turnovers are portable and a kid favorite. Double the recipe and keep spares on hand for your child's lunch box or after-school snack.

Pastry

2¼ cups gluten-free high-protein flour blend
    of choice
½ cup sugar or granulated (dry) sugar substitute*
     of choice
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon guar gum or xanthan gum
½ cup (1 stick) butter or palm oil
5 tablespoon cold water
3 tablespoon vegetable oil, palm oil or butter
1. Measure flour blend, sugar, salt and guar gum into a bowl.
2. Cut butter into dry ingredients with a pastry blender or pinch with fingers until blended.
3. Add cold water and oil. Knead dough by folding it over and over until thoroughly mixed.
4. Wrap in plastic wrap and roll into a 12-inch long log. Refrigerate until ready to roll.

Filling

4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (or 3 cups cooked fruit)
2 tablespoons butter
½ cup sugar or granulated (dry) sugar substitute* of choice
⅛ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons arrowroot starch
2 tablespoons cold water
¼ cup coconut flour or gluten-free flour of choice
1. Combine berries, butter and sugar in a saucepan. On medium-low heat, mix gently until a liquid forms at the bottom of the pan. When berries are floating in their own juice, add salt and lemon juice. Mix gently again.
2. In a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons arrowroot with 2 tablespoons cold water. Pour into blueberry mixture and continue to cook over low heat until juice thickens.
3. Add coconut flour and stir until blended.
4. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Filling will be quite thick.
5. Preheat oven to 425° F.
6. Remove dough from the refrigerator and cut or pinch off into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball. (Flour your hands, if necessary.)
7. Cut 8 pieces of parchment paper into 7½-inch squares. Cut 1 additional 7½-inch square to use as top rolling paper.
8. Roll each piece of dough out onto an individual piece of paper using one piece on top. Peel off top paper and place 1 tablespoon blueberry mixture on each piece of flattened dough. (Keep flattened dough on bottom paper.)
9. Slide your hand under one half of each paper and fold dough over, making a half circle of dough with filling inside. Pinch edges to seal and prick a couple times with a fork.
10. Leave filled dough on the paper and transfer each onto a baking sheet, placing evenly on sheet. Trim excess paper if crowded.
11. Place on middle rack in preheated oven and bake 12 to 15 minutes or until top turns golden brown. Check after 10 minutes. If tops start to brown too much, cover with foil and bake an additional 5 minutes.
Each turnover contains 445 calories, 20g total fat, 12g saturated fat, 0g trans fat, 38mg cholesterol, 187mg sodium, 66g total carbohydrate, 5g fiber, 3g protein.
TIP Do not roll out dough thinner than ⅛ inch. If dough is too thin, the crust will burst as it bakes.
*For better results when using sugar substitute, use half sugar and half substitute sugar; cook over a double boiler or pan of water until mixture thickens.
Recipe by Living Without’s test kitchen director Madalene Rhyand.