Beach Cookies

This week my 4 year old wanted to make "beach cookies." Sure.  I had been wanting to try a Martha Stewart fossil cookie idea that I had seen so... I dug up some shells and an Urban Poser almond flour sugar cookie recipe and we headed into the kitchen.  

 We tried three different shells and this was definitely the most successful.  Press shell into a ball of dough then gather dough around the shell.

 I was pretty impressed at the amount of detail that the cookies had after baking.  I also tried adding some arrowroot to half of the batch to see if it helped with detail in the shells.  It didn't really make a difference in the appearance of the cookies but we did not like the way that they tasted as much as the ones without it.

 It was a fun project to let this one get her hands into in the kitchen.

note: I used coconut oil to replace the applesauce in the recipe.

Zucchini Carbonara

After a long hiatus I have decided to return to this blog.  My food sensibilities have definitely evolved since I was last posting (Currently I am trying the Primal Diet) but the title still applies so I decided to stick with it.
I am often asked to share a recipe and I have to type it up and send it via email to whoever has requested it.  Instead I am just going to put my recipes and food ideas on this blog and perhaps it will help someone somewhere to decide "what's for dinner?" (or dessert!)

Tonight's dinner comes to you by the fact that organic zucchini was on sale 2lbs for $3.  I bought a big bag full and had to come up with an easy dinner to make use of my bargain. And mushrooms, we always have mushrooms because they are Viola's(the 4 year old) favorite,  I saved the double one to show her.

 I cut half of a package of bacon into small pieces.  I use scissors to cut most meat (chicken, bacon, fish, thin beef) because its easier.  I learned to use my kitchen scissors whenever possible from my sister-in-law.

 I threw in some slightly freezer burned peas.

 I have to admit that I did not measure the cheese.

Zucchini Carbonara

6-7 small zucchini, cut into fork-able pieces
1 8oz package white mushrooms, sliced
6oz bacon cut into small pieces
olive oil
frozen peas
2 eggs
1 cup shredded parmesan
salt and pepper

Fry bacon in pan until cooked.  Add mushrooms and a good glug of olive oil since the mushrooms will probably soak up all of your bacon grease.  Saute until mushrooms are soft.  Add zucchini and cook until desired tenderness is achieved.  While that is cooking lightly beat eggs in a small bowl, add cheese, salt, and pepper.  When vegetables are cooked remove from heat and immediately pour egg mixture over and stir.  
Serve.

I thought it was delicious.  Husband said that he liked it too but chased his Primal (grain free) dinner with two pieces of buttered toast.

Pumpkin Time

Its fall and that means that its time to enjoy pumpkin again.  I found a sugar pie pumpkin and decided to give fresh pumpkin a try.  First I made an attempt at making raw pumpkin cookies but the pumpkin was a little bit bitter and the cookies were too squishy so I ended up baking them in the toaster oven for a few minutes to firm them up.  Hopefully there is a dehydrator in my future so that I can make raw "baked goods" a bit easier.  With the second half of my pumpkin I decided to stay in my comfort zone and bake the cookies.  Since my friend Sarah, who is allergic to wheat,  is coming over to baby sit tonight I made these gluten free.

 

Gluten Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Cookies

2 cups oat flour*

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 egg

1/4 sup light olive oil

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup fresh sugar pie pumpkin (bake at 350 for about 15 minutes)

1/2 cup palm sugar

3 squares Lindt 85% dark chocolate chopped into small chunks

Combine first four ingredients.  In another bowl combine egg through palm sugar.  Then pour into the dry into the wet and mix, then fold in chocolate chunks.  Bake on 350 for 20 minutes. 

*I put rolled oats in my grain grinder to make the oat flour but you can also make oat flour in an electric coffee grinder (wipe out the coffee) or a food processor.

I have developed a love of parchment paper.  No more cookies ripped apart during pan removal, and no need to scrub my cheap rusty cookie sheets.  And you can use it multiple times or even flip it over.

I decided to make some tamari pumpkin seeds with the seeds from my pie pumpkin.  I just tossed the seeds in enough tamari to lightly cover them and baked in my toaster over for about 20 minutes.

They were pretty yummy but after they cooled I thought that they could be a wee bit crunchier so I put them back in the toaster oven.  Then the dreaded "whats that burning" smell hit me.

Blerg.  Maybe next time.

Here's a fun thing.

Some time ago I decided that I was sick of throwing away so many aerosol cans of cooking spray, there had to be a reusable solution.  Enter Misto.  It is a refillable oil sprayer.  No chemicals or propellants added just a little bit of elbow grease.  You put the top on and give it a good 10 pumps to fill the bottle with air and blamo, a mist of oil.  The choice of oil is up to you.  Right now I have Filippo Berilo olive oil in mine.  I buy it in bulk in the pretty yellow can that you see behind my misto.  I use this oil to bake and pretty much anywhere that I don't want to waste my good cold pressed extra virgin.

This is not my mother's spaghetti.

When my mother would make spaghetti it meant ground beef and canned tomatoes simmering for hours with a bay leaf.  And it goes without saying that it was served on top of plain old white flour noodles.  I must say it was never my favorite meal.  But now I'm in charge and it's a different story.

Here we have whole wheat angle hair pasta (with Jerusalem artichoke flour, which is high in potassium, iron, fiber, niacin, thiamine, phosphorus and copper or so says wikipedia).  On top I start with a lovely sauce from Muir Glen (tomato basil).  To that I have added yellow and red onion (both, only because I had half of each in the fridge), red bell pepper, kale, and zucchini; all from my local farmer's market.

I chop up all of my vegetables and lightly saute them in some extra virgin olive oil, then add the sauce and heat until warm.  I try to cook the veggies for as short a time as possible to keep those valuable nutrients intact. 

Here's a little tip: after you dump out the sauce there is always a good amount clinging to the jar.  Pour in some balsamic vinegar, juice, or wine, put the lid back on and give it a good shake.  Dump the resulting mixture in with rest of the sauce.  Voila.  You get your moneys worth out of that jar of sauce.  And less to clean out of the jar before putting it in the recycling.

I always keep pasta and a jar of sauce on hand and there is always some vegetable or other around that I can throw in to make a delicious and nutritious dinner.

I can eat pasta without feeling guilty if it is whole wheat and I have more veggies than noodles.

Bunny in a Bun

When traveling it is not often easy to stick to one's healthy diet so compromises must be made in order to not get so hungry that you pullover at the nearest gas station and load up on moon pies, Doritos, Starburst, and beef jerky. This past weekend found the family on a day trip to the Charleston, SC area and a stop at Jack's Cosmic Dogs, a space themed hot dog stand with giant rockets on the front of the building and a fifties spin.  I was a little concerned that I would be eating a but full of mustard a sauerkraut.  This establishment however catered to my non meet eating sensibilities with this:  The Bunny in a Bun: grilled carrot with blue cheese slaw and sweet potato mustard.

It was served in a white bread bun probably riddled with high fructose corn syrup, and the cole slaw was made with less than desirable mayonnaise.  All of that aside, it was pretty good.  I am now trying to figure out how to translate this into a raw hot dog-ish type treat.  Perhaps I can marinate the carrots and make raw slaw with no mayo.  But what to do for the bun?  Maybe if I ever get a dehydrator a flat-bread will suffice.  I will let you know if I come up with something brilliant.

Fresh Pizza

There is a new pizza chain in town that supplies you with a bake-it-yourself pie.  The praise that I hear is that their toppings are so fresh.  I have tried this pizza, it was alright but it doesn't replace the fresh deliciousness of making my own pizza at home.  It just takes a bit of forethought to get the dough in the bread-maker so that it is ready come dinner time.  

This particular pie really expresses my difference in diet to my husband.  His side has full pepperoni coverage and a sprinkling of veggies while my side replaces the meat with sliced fresh tomatoes and a layering of bell peppers (from my garden) and thin slices of collard greens. I then shredded goat milk mozzarella over the top. It was delicious.  And so was the salad on the side.