Pumpkin Spice Latte (Dairy Free)

With fall here everyone is talking about Pumpkin Spice Lattes and other yummy fall drinks. Of course I can't just go to the local coffee shop and order one since I am dairy and soy free. Last night a friend shared a recipe for a dairy free version and it is yummy... so to not be selfish I will share it as well...

Pumpkin Spice Latte
(this makes 2 - easily halved for one)

2 cups almond milk
2 Tbsp canned pumpkin
2 Tbsp coconut palm sugar
2 tsps vanilla extract
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1-2 shots of espresso

Combine milk, pumpkin and sugar in saucepan and heat on medium. Remove from heat and
add pumpkin pie spice and vanilla. Add espresso and enjoy!
There is a Peppermint Mocha one as well but I think I wrote it down wrong so I will clarify and then post it as well.

More Changes

My life is evolving .... It is interesting to look back over this blog and see the changes I have made over the last several years. In the last 6 months my life has once again drastically changed. To date I have lost 44 pounds on EET Fitness Plan (70 pounds all together since March 2010) Once again I have changed my eating and exercise routines with fabulous results. To see a brief update on my story and learn a little more about EET (Eating and Exercise Timing) check out this link!
So.... this is a disclaimer. This blog is a progression (EETer's will appreciate that word) It started with my down home comfort cooking and has evolved into my allergen friendly lifestyle and now into my eating and exercise life style. Fortunatley, because of this great plan I can still eat my down home comfort cooking (within my allergy perimeters) at the right time. That is what is so great about this plan - I eat the foods I love and still loose weight (and keep it off!)

Banana Flax Muffins

I wrote a recommendation for The Allergen Free Bakers Handbook on this post on my sister's and my gluten free blog. I am posting another recipe from it that we really enjoy at the request of a couple people. The recipe for the Basic Gluten Free Flour Mix that the recipe calls for can be found here.

Banana Flax Muffins

1/4 cup canola oil (I use coconut oil)
1 cup light agave nectar
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup golden flaxseed meal
2 1/2 cups Basic Gluten Free Flour Mix
3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup raisins (I use mini chocolate chips :-) )

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin pan with 12 muffin liners. (also makes nice mini muffins)
2. Mix together oil and agave, mixing on medium speed for about 20 seconds.
3. Add the mashed banana, lemon juice, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and mix for 20 seconds. Add the flax meal and mix until combined.
4. In a separate bowl, combine flour mix, xantham gum, baking soda, and salt.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix on low until just combined, about 20 seconds.
6. Fold in the raisins (or chocolate chips :-) )
7. Fill the liners to the rim with batter. They will be heaping.
8 Bake in the center of the oven for 25 minutes, or until lovely golden brown on top, rotating the pan halfway through.

Cherry Oat Scones - Gluten Free/Egg Free

Scones! I have been craving them lately but had not found a recipe that was both gluten free and egg free. The other day I was at a grocery store and saw a book that caught my attention. I came home and looked it up on Amazon - (it was $9 cheaper) The book is The Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook by Cybele Pascal She has a basic flour mix that she uses for most of her recipes. I will give you the basic flour mix and the recipe for these scones.

Basic Gluten Free Flour Mix

4 cups brown rice flour (she says you need super fine but I used Bob's Red Mill and it worked fine)
1 1/3 cups potato starch (not potato flour)
2/3 cup tapioca flour (also called tapioca starch)

1. To measure flour use a large spoon to scoop flour into a measuring cup, then level it off with the back of a knife or straighedge. Don't scoop it with the measuring cup as this will compact the flour and you will have to much for the recipe.

2. Combine all the ingredients in a gallon size ziploc. Shake until blended. Store in refrigerator.


The book is allergen free so besided gluten and egg free there is no dairy, soy, nuts or sesame. She says not to substitute but I did and it turned out fine.
****Update****
I made these again and substituted palm sugar for the granulated sugar and butter for the shortening and I believe they were better. My sister made them as well and thought they were a little dry still so thought she would add a couple Tbsp of coconut oil next time.

Cherry Oat Scones
1 cup plus 2 Tbsps rice milk (I used regular milk)
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
2 cups Basic Gluten-free flour mix (see above)
3/4 tsp xanthan gum (if you live in pdx area buy bulk at Bob's Red Mill - much cheaper)
2 Tbsps double acting baking powder
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 1/4 cup gluten free old fashioned oats
1/3 cup dairy free, soy free vegetable shortening (I used regular shortening)
1/2 cup dried cherries (I used cranberries)
Sanding sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
Whisk together 1 cup of the milk and the cider vinegar. Set aside.
In a large bowl whisk together flour mixture, xantham gum, baking powder, granulated sugar, salt and cinnamon.
Add oats and toss. Add the shortening in pieces, and work in with pastry blender or two knives until you have pea-sized crumbs.
Add the cherries, tossing until combined.
Add the rice milk mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until combined but still clumpy.
Flour a work surface lightly with a little gf flour mixture, and turn out the dough. Lightly flour your hand. Sprinkle the dough with a little flour mix.
Divide the dough in half. The dough will be sticky. Shape into two 6-inch disks. Cut the disks into 6 pie shaped wedges. I put the dough on to the parchment paper before I patted it out and cut it. Brush with remaining 2 tablespoons rice milk, then sprinkle with sanding sugar.
Bake in the center of the oven for 17 minutes, or until lightly golden.
Serve warm from oven :-)

If there is anything that I don't like about gluten free baking is things are usually drier than baking with flour and eggs. These are little dry but with a nice cup of tea they are great. Troy and Anna both ate one and enjoyed it :-)

Peanut Butter Granola Balls

I found this little snack in a magazine and thought it would be a good snack for all of us - but lo and behold when checking out ingredients - rice krispies are NOT gluten free! They have barley malt and barley has gluten. Looks like some of the health food brands might have one that is gluten free - will have to research this a little further. Anyway, even though they are not gluten free they make a great snack for the kids - and they love them! If you find a gf rice krispie cereal you can easily make them gluten free by using gf oats as well.

****Update****
I did find gluten free rice krispies and made these and they were yummy

Peanut Butter Granola Balls

1/3 cup honey (I use local, raw honey)

1/4 cup natural peanut butter (I use Adams)

2 Tablespoons butter

1 cup crisp rice cereal

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick-cooking) and if you are making it gluten free be sure and use gluten free oats

1/4 cup dried fruit (I use cranberries)

Place rice cereal, rolled oats and dried fruit in a medium bowl and set aside.

In a small saucepan over medium, heat honey, peanut butter, and butter. Stir until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat and pour over cereal mixture.

Drop mixture by tablespoon (I use my smallest pampered chef scoop) into mini cupcake liners placed in a mini muffin pan. Refrigerate about 15 minutes until set. To store, refrigerate in an airtight container up to 1 week (if they last that long)

Makes about 24

Homemade Lara*Bars and other Healthy Snacks

In my attempt to cut out all "white" sugar from my diet I looked for a healthy, gluten free bar that I could grab when I needed something to tide me over or something to grab before I go walking in the morning or when I don't have time to make my breakfast first thing. The bar that I found and love is the Lara*bar. It is made totally of fruit and nuts - there is nothing else added except the occasional spice like cinnamon in the Apple Pie version.
Last time my sister was visiting I offered her one and she told me she had bought an e-book on a blog that had 14 recipes for variations of the bar. I immediately looked it up and bought the ebook. It was only $6.95 and worth every penny to me as the bars in the store can add up quite quickly. The ebook is available at Kitchen Stewardship . Right now there is a link near the top of her page but the link can always be found in the right hand column. There are also many other healthy recipes and some of them are gluten free. All are well marked and she gives suggestions on how to make some of the non-gluten free ones, gluten free. She also has another book about real food for camping that looks like a great book for any serious campers that still want to eat healthy away from home.
Some of the ingredients that are called for are dates, peanuts, cashews, raisins and chocolate :-). Not all of these are in the same bars but these are the kind of ingredients that are used. Buying all the ingredients can be a little spendy to start with but most will do several batches of the bars. Each batch makes about 5 bars. She gives different ideas for forming them but the way I have found and really like is to put regular cupcake liners in a cupcake pan, roll the dough into 5 even balls and then press them into the liner. After they are formed I take them out and wrap each one individually in plastic wrap and put each kind in a separate bag with the name and ingredients listed on the outside and then refrigerate. If I am making more than one kind or double batches I reuse the same liners over again.
I got a Kindle for my birthday and I was able to email the PDF to my Kindle so I have it right there with me in the kitchen in a handy form and don't have to worry about printing it out. (I keep my kindle in a quart size ziploc bag when I have it in the kitchen to protect it)

Soooo - bottom line - if you are looking for some frugal, healthy snacks I highly recommend this e-book!

Flourless Pumpkin Pecan Cookies - Fruit Sweetened

I am so excited about this blog, Daily Bites, my sister found recently. Today they posted this recipe for Flourless Pumpkin Pecan Cookies. We just made them during our break from school and they are soooo yummy. I did put the chocolate chips in instead of the raisins so mine are not totally fruit sweetened but still very good for you. I found the quinoa flakes at Fred Meyer in the gluten free section. You can order them online as well. I was thinking about my wonderful pumkin gingerbread recipe that I will miss so much this year but these make up for it and are almost just as tasty! Enjoy!
**** Update ***** I was not to thrilled with the quinoa flakes - they tend to make it a little bitter so I used gluten free oats the next time I made them and they were really good! Even my non gluten free friends liked them :-)