Tigernut Flour Apple Crisp (grain-free, nut-free, paleo, vegan)

I'm excited to be sharing this amazing apple crisp recipe with you today. It's made with prebiotic-rich tigernut flour, which is a grain-free, nut-free, healthy gluten-free flour. Going on an elimination diet can be challenging sometimes, especially during the holidays and family gatherings where food plays such an integral role in the celebration. Having alternatives that are just as tasty as your old favorites can make it much easier to stick to your new diet.

Have you tried an Elimination Diet yet? Usually within 2 to 4 weeks of removing foods like gluten, dairy, and sugar from your diet, skin conditions clear up, back and joint pain goes away, chronic fatigue disappears, and intestinal issues calm down. On top of that, most people lose around 7 to 10 pounds of unwanted weight.

Why? Because food can be the most common source of irritation to your immune system. How will you know if foods are causing your brain fog, fatigue, pain, or skin issues? Do an Elimination Diet and find out. It's really an enlightening process. I wrote about the process last year in my Green Kale Detox Soup post.

This Elimination Diet apple crisp recipe can be enjoyed by your whole family. My children really love it! In fact, one of my 10-year old twin boys made a double batch of this recipe the other night, using part blueberries and part apples in the filling. It was so good! I posted some photos on my Instagram account of the process, as well as of the finished product that you can view here.

Tigernut flour can sometimes be tricky to find in your local health food store. I suggest ordering it online here. You can also learn more about Tiger Nuts here if you are interested!

Harvest Green Smoothie

It is harvest time and we are working on ways to not only preserve the harvest but also to use up nature's bounty while it is nice and fresh. Green smoothies are a great way to use up fresh produce. Plus, they are the perfect vehicle to deliver raw, digestible green vegetables to your children! We began giving green smoothies to our children when they were around nine months old. We always made them without lemon until they were at least twelve months old because citrus can sometimes be harsh on a baby's digestive system.

Offering smoothies when they are young primes their taste buds and other sensory organs, such as the eyes, to like and beg for these drinks. Children who don't get them when they are very young sometimes have a harder time adapting to drinking something bright green when first introduced. Our 3 year old twins love green smoothies. You can watch them help prepare a smoothie with Tom in this video when they were two years old. The other day, I told them that I was going to make a green smoothie but I was still busy in the kitchen with another project. One of my twins said...."mommy when are you going to make the green moothie......momMY, PLEASE make the moothie NOW!" After I made it they each gulped down about 12 ounces. If your child isn't fond of green smoothies, try making them with mostly fruit and maybe only one kale leaf, then, over the days and weeks that you make them, slowly add more greens to let your child's taste buds adapt. Keep trying! Sometimes it takes 15 times of tasting something new for your child to accept it. A straw can also make smoothie time fun! I don't buy plastic straws, but if I were ever to buy some I would purchase either stainless steel or glass drinking straws.

Deep Dish Apple Pie ~ Gluten-Free & Vegan

Before I get into describing this luscious apple pie, I wanted to mention that our blog has a whole new look. I've added an About Us page and the ever-important Recipe Index! Now you'll easily be able to find the recipe you are looking for. Thank you everyone for your feedback through emails and comments over the last two years!

And now onto this nutritious gluten-free, vegan Apple Pie! I first created this crust for a potato-pea samosa recipe. Everyone loved it so I decided to create it into an apple pie. The dough isn't your normal pastry dough because I don't use a saturated fat. Instead I use a mix of grapeseed oil, applesauce, ground chia seeds, and baking soda to create the flakiness. This dough only requires two flours, one of which is Superfine Sorghum Flour. You'll want to purchase this flour, don't be tempted to use a regular sorghum flour. The end result will be very grainy. The Gluten-Free Mall sells this flour. It isn't sold anywhere here in Bellingham that I know of so I have to order it.

Raw Caramel Dip for Apples

Happy Autumnal Equinox! As the evenings become as crisp as the apples, darkness begins to triumph over light. Today we celebrate the closure of summer, the dying of the light, and prepare ourselves for a new season. Autumn. As the trees shed their leaves and the plants die back, shedding old beliefs or thought patterns and going inward to feel our roots, our connection with the earth, can be quite powerful at this time.

Last night I was part of an equinox celebration (albeit a day early). The night was crisp and the sky crystal clear with the moon almost full. A warm fire, songs, and good food shared amongst friends composed most of our celebration. One friend brought a delectable raw caramel dip and sliced fresh apples. It was so tasty that I tried to recreate it today. Success! It tastes very close to her version (thanks Janet). Enjoy!

How to Make and Can Applesauce

Today I wanted to share with you one of our family's most treasured fall projects: making homemade applesauce and canning it. I use applesauce quite a bit in my vegan, gluten-free baking recipes (which I will be sharing more of this fall) so I thought it would be fitting to demonstrate how to make it with step-by-step photos.

You will save a LOT of money by making your own applesauce, especially if you pick all of the apples yourself like we do. Just the other day the kids and I walked around the neighborhood and picked about 70 pounds of apples, Asian pears, and pears! I always find it amazing how much abundance there is and that people are more than willing to share their fruit. Thank goodness for double baby joggers!

In this recipe we will be making homemade apple-plum sauce though any fruit combination works. Think apple-blueberry sauce, or apple-peach sauce, or just plain apple sauce flavored with cinnamon. I don't have any of the fancy canning equipment so I thought it would be fun to show how to make applesauce with your everyday kitchen equipment.


First, take an 8-quart pot and fill it up with cored, chopped apples. Use sweet apples like honeycrisp, rome, fuji, gala, or red delicious. You can leave the skins on. I use about 3/4 apples to 1/4 other fruit. In this recipe I used pitted Italian plums. Place the pot on the stove, uncovered and simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

The above photo was taken at just about an hour of simmering. Make sure you stir the sauce with a long spoon to keep everything cooking evenly. Cook for about 2 hours total or until the fruit is well-cooked and mashes easily. You can add honey or agave to the sauce if desired. Sometimes I add a little lemon juice to help preserve the colors but it is not necessary.

Place a large colander over another pot or bowl (or use a food mill). Pour the sauce in batches into the colander to remove the skins. This is the fun part where the children can really get in there and help. Use a large spoon and stir the sauce to push it through the colander. The skins will remain in the colander.

After the applesauce is though the colander, dump out the skins and pour in more sauce from the pot. Continue to do this until all of the skins are removed. Place pot back on the stove to keep the applesauce warm until your jars are ready to be filled. While this is happening (assuming your child is doing the work) get your jars and lids ready by boiling them in a large pot to sterilize. I boil mine for about 15 minutes.

Place your empty jars (I use wide mouth pint jars) onto a towel on the counter and slowly pour in the sauce leaving about 1/4 inch of space at the top. Wipe the rim of each jar with a thin, damp dishtowel. This is a very important step! If any sauce remains on the rim you won't get a good seal. Then take the lids from the boiling water bath, using tongs, and carefully place onto each jar. Cap and seal.

Place jars into the boiling water bath. I use an 8-quart pot with a pasta strainer basket. Make sure your water is boiling first, before you put the jars in. I can only fit 3 jars at a time. Boil for 15 to 25 minutes, depending on your altitude (see below). Use tongs (I use stainless salad tongs for this) to remove each jar. Place on the counter to cool. Repeat with remaining jars.

Boil your applesauce pint jars for 15 minutes at sea level to 1,000 feet, 20 minutes for 1,000 to 6,000 feet, and above 6,000 feet boil them for 25 minutes.

After about 24 hours, test each lid by pushing your thumb into the middle. If it pops up the lid didn't seal. This rarely happens but it is important to test. If it does you can just use that jar right away and store it in the refrigerator. Label and date your applesauce jars and store in the pantry! Enjoy! :)

If you are interested in learning more about canning I recommend checking out an excellent blog, Food in Jars.

Applesauce can be used in:
Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

Carrot Raisin Buckwheat Muffins

Honey-Kissed Peach Muffins

Teff Breakfast Muffins

Subscribe to this Blog via Email

Follow us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Coconut Sugar Apple Crisp

We really are not just about sweets here. Really we're not! But this week it seems we are, huh. Hope some of you enjoyed the White Nectarine Ice Cream I posted last weekend. More main dish recipes to come next week I promise!

Since I will be going out of town for four days I thought it was high time for another delicious giveaway. This awesome giveaway is for 2 pounds of coconut sugar! I used coconut sugar from Essential Living Foods to make this fabulous gluten-free apple crisp.

What is Coconut Sugar?

Coconut sugar is a low glycemic granulated sweetener with a glycemic index of 35. Compare that to honey of 75, agave nectar of 30, pure maple syrup of 54, or sugar (sucrose) of 95. Coconut sugar or coconut palm sugar as it is also called is made from the dried sap of the coconut palm blossom. Sounds lovely doesn't it? But what does it taste like?

I find the taste mild with slight molasses undertones, possibly even a little like maple syrup. The flavors marry well with spices, which will be quite perfect for your autumn baking needs. Coconut sugar can be substituted 1 for 1 in baking. Use it where you would use brown sugar, Sucanat, or white sugar. I used it in my apple crisp recipe with absolutely delicious results! I have used it before in cookies and muffins and it works great. I have also used it to proof yeast with great results as well. Those with cane sugar allergies will find this sugar suitable for their needs.

To be entered in this drawing, leave a comment below with your name or initials and a brief note if you would like. It is always fun to hear from you! The giveaway will be open until 11:59pm PST on Monday the 28th of September, 2009. I will announce the winner in my next post. So please keep an eye out for your name sometime early next week! Enter twice for more chances to win. Either add a link to this post on your blog or share this on Facebook or Twitter. Have fun! :) Please note, this drawing is now closed.

Gluten-Free, Vegan Apple Crisp Recipe

I am a big fan of just about any type of cooked apple dessert. This is a great recipe to add to a weeknight meal because of the ease of prep time involved. You also do not need to have much experience in the kitchen to make this. So go ahead and enjoy! My favorite variety of apple to use here is Granny Smith though the Gingergold variety works great too!

Filling:
3 to 4 baking apples, peeled, cored, and sliced thin (⅛-inch thick)
2 to 4 tablespoons honey, maple syrup, or agave nectar
1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Topping:
1 ½ cups rolled gluten-free oats
½ cup sweet rice flour
½ to ¾ cup coconut sugar*
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon sea salt
½ cup melted virgin coconut oil (or butter)*
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place all ingredients for the filling into a 7 x 11-inch baking pan. Gently stir together with a large spoon. A good gauge for sufficient fruit is to fill your pan almost to the top with sliced fruit. It will cook down quite a bit. See the photo below.

In a small mixing bowl stir together the oats, rice flour, sugar, cinnamon, and sea salt. Add oil and vanilla and stir together with a fork. Using your hands, crumble the topping evenly over the filling.

Bake for about 40 minutes or until the juices are bubbling up and the topping is lightly browned.

*Notes: Use organic brown sugar, Sucanat, or maple sugar in the topping instead of coconut sugar if desired. Sometimes I add 1 to 2 tablespoons more oil to the topping if the mixture seems to need it.

Lemon Juice can be omitted if you are sensitive to citrus.

Italian Plum Variation: Use 4 to 5 cups pitted, halved plums in place of the apples or a combination of the two. Toss with 3 to 4 tablespoons arrowroot; increase liquid sweetener to 4 tablespoons; omit lemon juice. Source: www.nourishingmeals.com

Other recipes where coconut sugar would work:

Spiced Teff Cookie Bars

Pumpkin Spice Cake

Chocolate Chip Teff Banana Bread

Subscribe to this Blog via Email

Follow us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Quick and Healthy Gluten-Free Breakfasts

When I was younger my parents made a well-rounded breakfast nearly every morning. Back then this consisted of scrambled eggs, toast, and fruit or pancakes, sausages, and fresh fruit. French Toast with maple syrup was a regular favorite too. Maybe even waffles made in a Mickey Mouse waffle iron. Remember those?

Of course some mornings we were all running late and had cold breakfast cereal with milk but I don't remember those mornings so much.

These days, times have changed but the well-rounded breakfast still rings true. What can you feed your family that is wholesome and if you are avoiding gluten, then gluten-free too? And what about those of you who also avoid dairy, soy, and eggs? The list of options seems to now have grown smaller, or so it may seem.

Yesterday morning I awoke and was not at all in the mood for making breakfast. We have the time, the kids are on winter break this week so no need to rush off to school, though I just wasn't up for it.

I had a pot of cooked quinoa still on the stove from the previous day. (Note: do not do this if you live in a warm climate because your quinoa will spoil quickly!) I decided to add a few tablespoons of water to the pot and put it over medium-low heat, covered, to warm up. Plain quinoa can be rather boring so I decided to spice it up by sauteing a few sliced apples with cinnamon and honey to top our bowlfuls of steaming hot quinoa. I added a few tablespoons of ground raw almonds which add a bit of "staying power" for me. The result was a delicious and nutritious gluten-free breakfast!

Quick Quinoa Breakfast with Warm Cinnamon Apples

Try making a double batch of the apples (use a larger pan) and save some in the fridge for the next few breakfasts. You can also add fresh or frozen cranberries to the apples or dried fruit such as raisins or currants. Try using other fruit in place of the apples such as fresh or frozen peaches or plums. We make large pots of quinoa but you can make a small pot like I do in this recipe.

How to Make a Pot of Quinoa:

1 cup quinoa

1 3/4 cups water

pinch sea salt

Rinse and drain the quinoa in a fine mesh strainer to remove the bitter saponin coating. Place rinsed quinoa in a small pot and add water and salt. Cover and bring to a boil, then turn heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes. Remove pot from heat and let stand for about 10 minutes before serving.

Cinnamon Apple Topping:.

1 to 2 tablespoons virgin coconut oil

3 apples (I used Granny Smith), peeled, cored, and sliced thin

1/4 cup honey or maple syrup

1/4 cup water or apple juice

2 to 3 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

pinch sea salt

Heat a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add coconut oil. Once the oil is melted add your apples and saute far a few minutes, stirring frequently. Then add the honey, water, spices and salt. Stir and let simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes or until apples are cooked as desired.

Top each bowl of quinoa with apples and chopped or ground nuts.

Other Ideas for a Healthy Gluten-Free Breakfast:

• A bowl of cooked quinoa and cooked lentils topped with a sprinkling of Herbamare. Sliced apples on the side. (our kids love this - it is a favorite)


• Finely diced potatoes sauteed with chopped onions and cumin then rolled in a rice tortilla with black beans and salsa.


• Leftover cooked rice and cooked garbanzo beans topped with a little Herbamare, green smoothie on the side.


• Sweet Rice Cereal (recipe in our cookbook) topped with pure Grade B maple syrup and chopped nuts.
  
• Buckwheat Pancakes (recipe in our cookbook) topped with fresh fruit and pure Grade B maple syrup.
• Teff Breakfast Muffin with a tall glass of Green Smoothie.

These are just a few ideas that don't involve gluten, dairy, eggs, corn, or soy, some of the top foods that can elicit a host of health-related issues.

What are your ideas for a healthy (and usually quick) breakfast?