Protein Biscotti

Sometimes I just go to the store with absolutely no planning involved. Well, I PLAN to go to the store but I am, on occasion, shopping on a whim. Yesterday was one of those days. I had been reading about protein bars and how to make them, comparing ingredients in power bars, kashi bars and thinking about my gluten free life and seeing how I could put that all together. I guess it would be similar to when I am drawing or doing a creative writing project. The food items are the canvas and tools and it is up to them to come together to be something--I just hope it is something palatable!

In the organic whole food section of the store I purchased dates, almonds, dried coconut, dried cranberries, and more gluten free oats. At home I knew I had this protein powder in the pantry that was really unfriendly in most of the recipes I had tried with it. I guess I am not a banana creme lover after all--don't tell the monkeys.

So, back at home I go--ingredients in the car and ideas in my head. First I knew I wanted to soak the almonds, oats and dates. The oats to remove some sort of acid a friendly blogger mentioned to me--what acid it was--no idea (details escape my ADHD brain). Perhaps she will be kind enough to chime in to remind me! I had to soak the dates to make them easier to use as a paste and the almonds were to be soaked to make them less flavorful--ok, just kidding, I soaked the nuts because it is the thing to do! ( I forgot why)

I am super glad I did soak all of them because the results were a benefit to the end results. The oats with the dates made a fantastic paste that just blended so well together. The soaked almonds added a different texture to the end result that made it feel more earth like and natural, more wholesome. I liked it! I soaked them all for 30 minutes, however, the dates were soaked in hot water, nuts and oats in cold water.

After the soaking and draining, I removed the pits from the dates and added those along with the soaked oats to the hand blender blender. (Dear Santa if you can see this, please may I have a food processor for the holidays?)The oats were really in no need of draining as they plumped right up and absorbed more water than I thought they even would! Once these were fully blended into a paste I added that paste to the stand mixer. I tossed in some dried cranberries, some dried unsweetened coconut and an egg and let that blend together.

While that was mixing I took out my handy dandy coffee grinder (which has never seen a coffee bean) and ground up those soaked almonds into a chucky meal of sorts. You can see how there are still considerable chunks in the grinder along with tiny little almond fragments. I added this right into the stand mixer as well. Then I threw in the protein powder and some cinnamon then watched as it made the dough. I was apprehensive and curious--like a mad scientist waiting to see if the creature would live. I thought about short circuiting the outlet to give the bowl a charge but thought better of it. I then remembered to add some xanthan gum to the batch to make sure once it was baked it would still all be as one versus a bunch of weird lumps of granola or something.

I lightly greased a pie pan ( do not use a pie pan, use a 9x9 pan) I dumped my new creation into the pan. You can click the image of the blob to see what it looks like. Very, um, blob like with lumps of goodies poking out. I then wet my hands (if you cook gluten free you should know this trick) and began smoothing out the dough with my wet hands. Wet hands do not get the dough stuck to them. Nifty, right?

I then took the pan and placed it in the oven and laughed maniacally while rubbing my hands together. I was alone in the house so this was OK behavior. I baked this for 35 minutes, until the edges were brown and the top golden. When I sliced this up and took some out I thought--hey these look like Biscotti! So, I plated some and took some pictures and then threw them onto a non-stick pan and placed them back in the oven to toast them up.

You could certainly serve these after the first baking, they smelled so wonderful and had great texture--chewy and crunchy. I just wanted to see what they would do if I baked them again. I left them in for 25 minutes with the oven still on 350 degrees and checked them for burning while they cooked.

I was very pleased with the end result, as were the kids and the hubby. This is a keeper for sure and I will be making these in batches to freeze for breakfast bars. These will now be a part of a healthy breakfast in our New Hampshire home!

Biscotti Protein Bars
serves 9
13 whole dates
1 cup oats
1 1/2 cups protein powder
1 cup raw almonds
Zest of 1/2 a lemon
1 cup dried unsweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 large egg
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 TBL cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla

Calories Per 2 cookies-360
Fat- 14 grams
Carbohydrates- 30 grams
Fiber- 7 grams
Protein - 32 grams

Be a part of Real Food Wednesday! Bring back FOOD!

Gluten Free Apple Cinnamon Buns

In the winter I love to bake things that warm the house, create an atmosphere with the aroma and of course won't cause the waistline to increase like Jolly Ol' St. Nicks. Granted it is not winter in New Hampshire yet--she is working her cold way here! This past weekend I had all the kids home while my husband was out hunting and I thought--wow cinnamon buns would be so good right now. So I dug through the pantry to see what I could workout. I had some Red Mills bread mix--gluten free whole grain. I had ordered some a while ago to try out but did not like the denseness of the bread in loaf form. I figured I would give it a whirl as a baked pastry and was very happy with the results! You of course do not need to use a prepackaged bread mix--any of your favorite gluten free bread recipes will work!

Gluten Free Apple Cinnamon Buns
serves 12
1 batch of raw GF bread dough + 1 tsp cinnamon added to the dough & 2 tsp vanilla
2 apples washed and chopped
2 tsp vanilla
1 tbls Agave Nectar
1 tsp salt
Topping- 8 ounces Greek yogurt I used no fat vanilla.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees slightly grease a baking dish--I used butter as really it is a scant amount but does add a flavor to the finished product. Add diced apples, cinnamon,vanilla, agave nectar, salt and cinnamon to a bowl and mix. The salt really allows the apples to "sweat it out" and adds a unique twist to the bun when finished. Since this is a lower in fat (naturally) as well as low in sugar recipe--the salt balances out what your taste buds may otherwise feel is missing.Set apples aside. Fill a 1/4 measuring cup about 2/3 full with the bread dough and place in your baking pan--repeat to make sure you have 12 even sized raw lumps of dough.

Next wet a wooden spoon and press out a center for the apples to be placed in the buns. The wet spoon prevents the batter from adhering to the spoon and smooths the dough out perfectly.








After the bread "bowl" is created you want to fill it with the apple mix. After filling all 12 buns you want to cover this and set in a warm area and allow to rise till about double in size--this takes about 45 minutes. I just cover mine and set them on the stove top while the oven preheats. Of course since it takes so long to rise--feel free to toss some potatoes into the oven to bake for your meals later in the day!

You can see here how much the dough has risen--air pockets can be seen and the dough has a "puffy" look to it. Perfect! Go ahead now and place these in the oven and bake for 50 minutes or until they are golden brown on the tops and edges.




These were served with warm so the vanilla yogurt really just melted and filled all the crevices. The apples were caramel like in texture and really flavor filled!

Calories Per Bun- 170
Carbohydrates- 36
Fiber-6 grams
Fat-6 grams
Protein- 2 grams

Other Good Ideas:
--bake large batches for bake sales and to bring to holiday events
--double the batch and freeze half of them so you can pop them in the oven without waiting for all the work to be done.
--try pumpkin filling instead of apples

Just for kicks there are 309 calories in a traditional cinnamon bun with 13 grams of fat, 42 grams of carbs with 2 grams fiber, and 5 grams protein. So we just about halved the calories and added in some more fiber and less fat and carbohydrates.

The Garden’s Not Dead Yet!

Well not really, we had our first big snowstorm at the beginning of October but I’m still gathering yummies from the garden. I am still able to go dig taters, carrots and onions. I was just tickled to find all this goodness and happy to say the mule deer haven’t figured out how to pull the carrots out of the ground--they got the tops but not the roots.

I wanted to make something by using what I had in the pantry and freezer. I hadn’t had edamame in a while so it turned up in an easy salad.


Edamame corn salad
1 c Organic frozen corn- cook by following directions on bag and let cool
1 c Organic edamame- cook just like the corn and let cool
½ c diced carrots
1 T soy sauce
4 drops sesame oil
1 T flax or olive oil
1 T toasted sesame seeds
2 T rice wine vinegar
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Combine everything together in a small bowl and enjoy.

Other ideas: onion, scallions or bell peppers would be great in here.

Cheers,

Jamie

This recipe is part of Real Food Wednesday--check out more real food tips and ideas by visiting the blog carnival!

You put WHAT in the meatloaf?!?

Have you seen those Chef Boyardee commercials where the father is reading the can on the counter while the mother is washing the dishes and their son is eating a bowl of heated canned pasta? The father starts to ask his wife if she knows that the can o' noodles has hidden inside a whole serving of vegetables and the wife quickly hushes his astonished declaration as she averts her eyes to her son--who is too busy devouring the pasta to even hear a bomb being dropped let alone the father stating he is eating vegetables. I hate that ad. I hate the implication that there is nutrition rammed inside this $.89 can of junk food and that parents should be encouraged to purchase such a wholesome meal for their kids. Remember that sage expression "If it seems to good to be true it probably is?" Well, count that when you are purchasing a small canned pasta "dish" that claims is has a whole serving of vegetables and protein in it. That is called, playing with words. However, that did get me thinking about how much you could hide in a meal--nutrition wise. Of course Squeaky Gourmet is all about comfort foods with nutrition packed inside of it--real whole foods that you can buy in the store and create at home--not packed into a bar or soup can or frozen dinner. Well--this recipe is one of my favorite ones because in this meatloaf that serves 8 I have 1lb of mushrooms, 2 bell peppers, 1 whole tomato and 1 onion and of course a whole avocado. Yeah--I slammed a damn garden in this dish and your kids will ask for seconds!

Garden Meatloaf
serves 8 (or 4 hungry individuals!)
16 ounces ground turkey breast
16 ounces whole mushrooms
1 large avocado seeded and chopped
1 1/2 cups sweet bell peppers diced fine
1 large red tomato sliced thin
1/2 cup onion chopped fine
1/2 cup raw oatmeal ground into oat flour
1 large egg

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large colander wash the mushrooms. You want to use your hands to wipe these mushrooms off as you gently run water on them--these are like sponges so do not soak them in water. The longer the water runs on them the soggier they will become in the meatloaf itself.


Next you want to add these mushrooms to a large bowl and using your hand blender--kill them all. Smash these little vegetables that are loaded with nutrients from earth into a messy dirty pulp like mixture. It will look and smell like wet earth--which is a very good thing. (Take that Martha!)

Add to the 'mashedrooms' your oat flour, avocado, peppers, onions and egg and blend well. Look how full the bowl is before we even add the meat! Next you of course want to add the turkey meat, have your kids wash their hands and allow them to fully blend this miracle into the raw meatloaf.


Then using a non stick pan of your choice--we like to use the angel food cake pan for our load--add half the mixture to the pan and half the tomato neatly to the top, cover with the remaining meat mixture and add a final covering of the tomato.


Bake at 350 degrees for about 35-45 minutes. We served this with sesame roasted Brussels sprouts because--vegetables do not come from a can! We did not even use any added spices because this dish is really loaded with such good flavor and really, even if your kids did know how much you are hiding in this they won't care--they will love it!

Calories Per Serving- 187
Fat- 5 grams
Carbohydrates- 11 grams
Fiber- 4 grams
Protein- 21 grams

Coconut Chicken Soup with Crusty Gluten free Bread

You cannot reinvent the wheel--the basic principles will always be the same for it. However, you can invent millions of different variations of the wheel to try and direct it to more specific needs and tastes. Chicken soup is really the same thing--constantly reinvented to be more appeasing to the chef or the diners. I love chicken soup, all of the versions I have made and tried I find to be pleasing. last night I wanted to try something with coconut milk and thought--SOUP! Coconut milk has lost the bad rap it had help previously because of the fat content it has--much like avocado this fruit hold a lot of health benefits in it's flesh. Bone building, immune boosting, weight loss producing benefits all wrapped into the flesh of the coconut make this a revival ingredient for a lot of health food lovers.

I loved the taste of the broth, it was not heavy with tropical sunscreen taste at all, in fact the exact coconut flavor has no distinct act in this play. More that it adds a soft feeling in the mouth and a rich creamy blend to the broth--leaves you fuller longer, too! We like that!

I paired the soup with a delightful gluten free crusty bread that actually stays soft even when left out over night--I know, shocking!

Coconut Chicken Soup
serves 6
6 complete chicken legs
8 ounces coconut milk
2 cups gluten free chicken broth
1 onion
1 medium winter squash
2 cloves garlic diced
2 tsp cumin
2 bay leaves

Heat a large saute pan on medium high heat. Skin the chicken legs and remove all visible fat then using a sharp knife separate the thigh from the drum stick. Place the chicken legs in the hot pan while you prepare the rest of the ingredients, make sure to not over lap the chicken pieces. Peel and slice your onion and add to the cooking chicken. Slowly pour in the 2 cups or broth, once the broth has been added you can slowly pour the coconut milk in. Stir the soup to blend the milk with the broth and coat all the the chicken pieces. Next add the diced garlic, cumin and bay leaves.


Peel your squash, remove the seeds and chunk it up, add this to the cooking chicken. Cover and and lower heat to just below medium and simmer for 40 minutes.

Serve hot with a nice crusty bread.
Calories Per Serving: 260
Carbohydrates- 1 gram
Protein-26 grams
Fat-16 grams

Other Good Ideas:
--add in all the vegetables you want
-- add some chili powder to make this hotter on the inside

Now bread has the same approach as the soup--bread was invented and now can be modified a million times and still be interesting and really a comfort food to many. With my daughter having an allergy to gluten we have been trying different brands of gluten free bread as well as making our own. It is like finding the holy grail for us! Well, I was looking over the book, The Gluten Connection that was lent to me by a friend and decided to modify the Basic White Bread recipe the author has. The result was surprising and pleasing! You can see, if you click the image of the bread how airy and light it looks--it was not dry at all and had a great feel in the mouth as well as a traditional "yeast bread" flavor to it. The crust reminded me of the stone baked breads you can get in real bakeries. Winner winner--yeah exactly--chicken dinner!

Gluten Free Crusty Bread
serves the masses
3 large eggs
1/4 coconut oil
1 1/3 cup water
2 tbls Agave nectar
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup Brown Rice Flour
1 cup Tapioca Flour
1 cup Arrowroot Flour
2 tsp xanthan gum
2/3 powdered milk
2 packets yeast

In a stand mixer place the liquid ingredients and set on the low. In a separate bowl blend the dry ingredients and mix well to ensure the xanthan gum is well blended.

Add the flour mixture a 1/2 cup at a time to the liquid mix--be sure to stop and scrape down the sides so that all the flour mixture is incorporated.

Mix the batter for about 7 minutes on low speed to really convince this dough it wants to get along really well and will become the bread you know it can become--think positive right now, this is gluten free bread in the making!
Once it is fully blended it will look like cake batter, not the traditional bread dough you are use to creating. It will be gooey and sticky and that is OK--better than OK it is what we want!






Place this mess into a slightly greased bowl and set in a warm place for an hour to allow it to double in size. I always put mine in the oven on the lowest temp which is 170 degrees. I am not a professional baker--but this has always allowed the yeast to survive and thrive.
Then beat the dough back down and tell it who the real boss of the kitchen is--place back in the warm place and allow to rise again. Look at all the air and activity it had from the second rise! (seriously click the image of the side view and be amazed!)

Now, I left mine in this bowl to bake as well--thank you Pyrex for your miracle glass! I baked it on 375 degrees for 35 minutes.

I wanted to snap a picture of the finished bread but my family was too hungry to wait for me to get my camera. So they sliced it while I was camera hunting.
However, you can just see how great this bread came out--it did not even remotely hint at being a gluten free product at all!


This post is part of Real Food Wednesday! Check out More REAL FOOD ideas and stories!