Wednesday "Word"... Jar

http://www.pinterest.com/savorthethyme/food-in-a-jar/

http://www.pinterest.com/mom_md/food-in-a-jar/ 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/25/meals-in-a-jar_n_1699545.html 

     I use a lot of jars to store my food in, in an effort to use less plastic. Some are Mason Jars and some are just jars that I've cleaned out after the peanut butter, salsa, jelly is gone.  I also like to use them to carry my snack or a meal when I am going out. The links above gives you lots of ideas for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even gifts that can be made and stored in a jar.

      Its about trying new ideas, experimenting with new ways to "play" with your food. Let it be fun and exciting and as always, if it this doesn't work for you... take what you like and leave the rest. But try one or two recipes and see what you think. This would be a fun project to do with some friends or your kids. Or plan your family and friends birthday gift - in a jar!

Tuesday "Try"... Non-Meat Product

 

 http://eatneat.com/

     "Neat" is a product I've tried before and I wanted to share it with you. On the website there is a location page to find where it is sold in your area,  a story how this product came to be as well as recipes, and a contest http://eatneat.com/blog/the-neat-challenge-ii/ . They have an Original, Italian, Mexican, Breakfast mix and a neategg replacer. I am not a vegan or vegetarian, I only strive to eat healthier and love to explore options that are new and different. 

      We made a taco ring this past week, and this is the original recipe where the idea came from http://www.food.com/recipe/taco-ring-from-pampered-chef-81160, but I have altered it over the years and experimented with different crusts to make it dairy/gluten free. I have found a pie crust is the best alternative and it's still not the greatest but it works. So this time I altered it again and used the "Mexican Neat" mix and could not tell the difference. We enjoyed it and will definitely do that again. We have made meatballs with the "Italian Neat" and with the sauce and cheese it was yummy. The only thing I would do different having cooked with this before is add more water then they suggest. I find it drys out a little more when cooking with it.

      The general ingredients in all are, pecans, garbanzo beans, gluten free oats, organic gluten free grains, corn meal, garlic and onion and spices. Cornmeal is not in the Italian or the Breakfast mix ( there is maple syrup in this). I have not gotten a chance to try the breakfast mix but I'm hoping to be able to locate a place to purchase it. I hope if you're feel adventurous you might give this a try.

Monday "Mention".. Soy Free Eggs

I have been looking for soy free eggs for awhile and I finally found some at Davidson farmers market http://www.davidsonfarmersmarket.org/ and the farm is also local to where I live ( you can make an appointment to pick up at the farm). Since my daughter was little, she always had trouble with eggs and never wanted me to make them for breakfast if she had to go to school or somewhere because it bothered her stomach. But since eating the soy free eggs she can eat eggs as often as she wants. Most eggs come from places that feed there chickens with soy because it's cheaper. Soy free eggs are a little more expensive 5.00 a dozen instead of 4.00 ( These are fed some non-GMO corn).
So if you are local to Lake Norman, North Carolina and your looking for soy free eggs, here is your source http://eastofedenfarm.cmail2.com/t/ViewEmail/j/DA255D0DEC697570. Check out all the other goodies they offer and visit them on facebook and see the pictures of how the chicken and animals are raised.
Even if you don't need to eat soy free it is nice to pick some up occasionally to cut down on soy in your diet. You could use the soy free eggs for making scrambled eggs etc. and use the regular soy eggs for mixes.

Smoothie... with a warning!

Almond Joy Smoothie...

WARNING!

This too could happen to you... After you make one you can't stop thinking about the next one!

My daughter is working at a place that makes smoothies and juices and so I get try a lot of different ones. But I have to say the one I am slightly obsessed with is called, Almond Joy. Here is a link from one that is similar http://www.edibleperspective.com/home/2013/3/28/almond-joy-smoothie-milkshake.html. One of my favorite combinations of sweet favors is peanut butter and chocolate. Oh how I've missed my Resses since going dairy free. There are times when I just grab a spoon of peanut butter and put a pile of chocolate chips ( dairy free ) on top and eat! So this smoothie works wonders for me. It has become my go to breakfast smoothie. I use sugar free almond butter in so it's full of protein and it keeps me full still lunch. Smoothies are great, because you can add in all kinds of stuff. Sometime I add in flaxseed and/or avocado for extra filling. Here is my version of Almond Joy smoothie ...

1 cup unsweetened almond milk or 1/2 cup almond milk and 1/2 cup coconut milk

1 Tb of cocoa powder

1 frozen banana pieces - really ripe ( keep cut up in freezer )

2 Tb of unsweetened almond butter

2 Tb cacao nibs

1 Tb chocolate chips

( makes one serving)

* you can add: 

toasted coconut

avocado 

more chocolate chips

Peanut Butter chips ( if not dairy free)

flaxseed/chia seed

Peanut butter

any other kind of non dairy milk

Chocolate non dairy milk

dairy milk ( if not dairy free)

The ingredients in my Almond Joy, keeps the sugar very low - The only sugar I have is one tablespoon of chocolate chips and natural sweetness from the banana. My measurements are not exact, so use your best judgement and taste before you pour incase you think it needs more of something.

Tuesday "Try"... Homemade Cereal

Vanilla Almond Cereal Puffs

http://www.runningtothekitchen.com/2014/01/vanilla-almond-cereal-puffs/

This is my version of the Vanilla Almond Cereal Puffs. And for those who know me best, know that I use whatever I have on hand and what works for my family. I love taking an idea and playing.

I mixed together, the almond flour, gluten free all purpose flour ( which I didn't have, so I used part potato starch and part tapioca starch), rice flour, vanilla ( extra because I'm not fond of almond extract), half of the amount of maple syrup ( used for the other half of the liquid was coconut milk), a little honey, plain coconut yogurt and coconut oil.

You just put all in the food processor and mix. It seemed a bit wet so I just added a very small amount of coconut flour ( but any flour would do) and blended again - Perfect!

Then you roll them into little balls. I would make them even smaller then I did next time. You bake them for about 12-15 min. 

Magic... You have cereal! It was fun and easy to make, well except for all the rolling. I wish I had known about this recipe when my children were little. They make a great little snack too.

Had a few with some almond milk.

This recipe sparked my interest in seeing what other cereal I can make ( besides my homemade granola). I LOVE making my own food. So keep coming back, because you never know what I will be making next!

My Version of - Vanilla Almond Cereal Puffs

1/2 c almond flour

1/4 c potato starch

1/4 c tapioca starch

1/4c rice flour

2 tsp. vanilla

1/8 c maple syrup

1/8 c coconut milk

honey ( about 1/8 cup or less)

1 Tb. coconut yogurt

1/2 Tb. coconut oil

Blended all in food processor and rolled in small balls. I put them on parchment paper on a cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven for 12-15 min.

You can follow me on https://www.facebook.com/WholeFoodLiving

and visit http://wholefood-living.com/index.html to see how I can help you on your way to a healthier you!

Tuesday "Try" Remake Baked Cinnamon Breakfast bites...

 Cinnamon Baked Breakfast Bites

http://ohmysugarhigh.com/scrumptious-baked-cinnamon-breakfast-bites-recipe/

Here is all the ingredients I used for my version of the Scrumptious Baked Cinnamon Breakfast Bites I posted on facebook for "Syrupy" Sunday. I wanted to try these but I needed them to be Gluten and Dairy Free.

I used:

potato starch

tapioca starch

 brown rice flour

 organic sugar

organic shortening

earth balance

almond milk

brown rice cakes

The recipe called for 1 1/3 cup of all purpose flour so I used a combination of potato, tapioca and brown rice flour to equal 1 1/3 flour. I added in the baking powder and some xanthan gum ( about 1/4 tsp) because when your baking with gluten free flour it helps hold it together. 

I used part shortening and part earth balance because I didn't have buttered flavored shortening as the recipe suggested. I worked it in until it resembled crumbs.

Then the recipe called for crisp rice cereal which I did not have on hand so I used some rice cakes, put them in the food processor and ground it up.

Here is what they looked like. Just like crispy rice cereal!

Next I put the flour mix, rice cakes ground up, 2 Tb. sugar and incorporated them all...

Added in 1/2 cup of almond milk, and stirred until a fairly stiff dough formed.

I took the dough and shaped them into about 1 inch balls. I melted 1/4 cup of earth balance instead of butter and mixed the 1/2 cup of sugar with cinnamon. I dipped each ball into the earth balance and then the cinnamon sugar mix. 

Put them into a glass pie pan and baked on 325 degrees for about 12-15 min.

The finally results - GOOD!

What I would do different next time would be use a little less cereal and use all earth balance instead of half shortening half earth balance. And probable no rice flour because the cereal is rice based. It's fun playing with recipes. 

......If you need help with your recipes

You can follow me on https://www.facebook.com/WholeFoodLiving

and visit http://wholefood-living.com/index.html to see how I can help you on your way to a healthier you!