Nut Butter Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

There are a lot of transitions going on in our house lately.  Beyond school winding down for the year, I have recently been home on the weekends.  This is a very welcome change, but it's taking some getting used to for everyone.  We have not been home all at the same time for any length of time as a family for a long time.  DH works long hours during the week days and does not get home until the girls are asleep for the night, and I had been working weekends, so DH and I had been flip-flop parenting.  Now the girls are seeing DH and I interact and discuss and negotiate.  Sometimes this upsets Anna and she'll think we are arguing.  We have to explain that this is actually healthy discussion, not arguing, and this is grown-ups do - share our opinions, consider someone else's opinions, and come to an agreement together.  I can see how that would be a little startling to them, as they are not even used to seeing us together a whole lot.  I think it will take a little time to settle in to our new normal, but it's a good normal.  It's fabulous to be together as a family.  In addition to frantically spring cleaning (because now I have the time to do it!), I have been baking more, hooray!  And as soon as school ends I'll be teaching the girls in earnest how to bake, too.

I've been making more treats lately, happy to be home and making something special for breakfast on a Saturday morning.  This treat of a recipe orginally comes from Better Homes and Gardens.  Of course, I have modified it to be "safe" for us (no gluten, casein, eggs, peanuts, etc.).  You can use any nut butter that is "safe" for you (cashew, almond, walnut, pecan, hazelnut, sunbutter, etc.).  Enjoy!

Nut Butter and Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

Streusel Topping
1/4 cup GF flour blend
2 tbsp. packed brown sugar
2 tbsp. nut butter
1 tbsp. Enjoy Life dairy free, soy free margarine
1/4 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips

Coffee Cake
1/4 cup nut butter
2 tbsp. Enjoy Life dairy free, soy free margarine
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup applesauce
1 cup GF flour blend
1 tbsp. flax meal
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup So Delicious coconut milk
1/4 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease one 8x8 inch baking dish, set aside.

For the streusel topping:  Combine the flour and sugar with a fork until well blended.  Cut in the nut butter and margarine with a fork until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Stir in the chocolate chips.  Set aside.

For the coffee cake:  Cream the nut butter and margarine in a large bowl with the back of a large spoon until well blended and airy.  Add the sugar, cream to mix well.  Add the applesauce and combine.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, flax meal, xanthan gum, baking soda and salt.  Add the flour mixter to the nut butter mixture alternately with the coconut milk, blending well after each addition.  Fold in the chocolate ships.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish.  Scatter the streusel evenly over the top of the batter.  Bake about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack.  Serve warm.

Silly Food

 

It's a Friday night.  The cottonwood pollen floating through the air has kicked my butt the past two weeks.  I'm tired, temporarily and utterly dependent on antihistamines and a little slap-happy.   So without thinking, I made these silly faces for dinner tonight (meatballs, polenta and green pepper strips).  The girls laughed and said I do great food art.  Oh no, my dears, I am not an artist and this is definitely not food art.  But it made them smile and tonight, that is all that matters.

 

Pan Fried "Cheese" Crisps

 

(Fried "Cheese" - crispy, melty deliciousness of a treat!)

Today for your consideration I present pan fried "cheese" crisps.  I was sadly remembering crispy parmesan to a friend and she said well, you can do that with Daiya!  She made some right then and there, I was so excited!  Here's what to do:  heat a cast iron pan over medium heat.  Drop Daiya shredded cheese (your choice, but we like Cheddar) by tablespoons into the hot skillet.  Cook until bottoms are firm and lightly browned, flip and cook another minute more.  Remove to a plate and serve hot.  Enjoy plain or topped with a little bit of salsa.  Yum!

Easy Waffles (Gluten Free & Vegan)

 (The waffles are vegan but the bacon is not.  For vegan bacon, check out these very interesting recipes - 

one for bean and buckwheat vegan bacon and another for raw vegan bacon!)

The other day it occured to me that I have not made waffles in a really long time. Like years.  So long that the girls  had no memory of them - "what are waffles?", they asked.  I had to remedy that and fast.  I waited so long mistakenly thinking that good waffles cannot be made without eggs.  Silly me.  These gluten free and vegan waffles (based on this recipe here) are simply fabulous - light and fluffy and crispy around the edges.  DH and the kids raved about these waffles over dinner tonight.  Mommy scores again!

1 1/2 cups GF flour blend (I used Bob's Red Mill)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

3/4 cup apple juice
1/4 cup applesauce
1 tbsp. melted coconut oil
1 tbsp. maple syrup
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat your waffle maker.  In a large bowl, sift together the flour through the cinnamon.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the apple juice through the vanilla.  Add the wet mixture all at once to the dry mixture and stir until combined - the batter will be a little lumpy, this is fine.  Let the batter rest for a couple of minutes.  Pour the batter onto the waffle maker according to package directions and cook until golden brown.  Repeat.  Serve hot with fresh fruit.  Makes 4 belgian waffles.

Gluten Free, Dairy Free - Turkey (or Chicken!) Pie with Biscuit Crust

Yesterday it was 82 degrees.  This morning it was 42 degrees.  Our garden is really confused, but I love another chance to enjoy a rainy, chilly day.  All the sun-loving natives down here hate the rain and call it depressing.  I love the rain and think it's peaceful and relaxing.  To each their own, I suppose.  Today is a perfect day to enjoy soup or a pot pie type of meal.  Here's a very good recipe for a turkey or chicken pie I've adapted to be gluten and dairy free (original recipe here).  It's best using leftover brined turkey or chicken, if possible.  The biscuit crust can also be biscuits that stand on their own.  And now without further ado, this most excellent recipe for a cold and rainy day.

First, prepare the filling.

Turkey (or Chicken) & Apple Filling

2 tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 tsp. dried parsely
1/2 tsp. rubbed sage
1/4 tsp. salt if your poultry is brined, 1/2 tsp. salt if it is not
1/4 tsp. black pepper
2 tart apples, peeled, cored and chopped
leftover chopped turkey or chicken, about 4 cups
1/4 cup apple cider or apple juice
2 cups turkey or chicken stock
3 tbsp. arrowroot flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease the bottom and sides of a 9x13 inch baking dish, set aside.  

In a heavy saucepan, cook the  onion and celery over medium-low heat until soft.  Season with parsley, sage, salt and pepper.  Add the chopped apple, turkey and cider or juice.  Cook until the apple is only just soft, about 7 minutes.  Transfer to the prepared baking dish.

In a medium pot, heat the turkey or chicken broth over medium-low heat until hot.  Whisk in the arrowroot starch, keep whisking until thickened.  Turn off the heat.  Season with salt and pepper if desired.  Pour over the filling in the baking dish.  The filling should be thick, not soupy.

Next, prepare the biscuit crust.

Biscuit Crust

2 cups GF flour blend (I used this one)
1 tsp. xanthan gum
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup Earth Balance margarine (or bacon fat)
2 tsp. dried parsley
1 cup non-dairy milk

Whisk together the flour through the salt.  Cut in the margarine until the mixture resembles fine meal, then toss in the parsley.  Add 3/4 cup of the milk and mix well - if the mixture is too dry, add up to another 1/4 cup milk.  The dough should not be sticky - cut into the dough with the side of your mixing spoon to mix just until all the dry ingredients have been incorporated.  You should be able to handle the dough without it sticking to your hands - it should feel smooth and malleable.*

Place the dough onto a piece of floured wax paper a little bigger than the baking dish.  With floured hands, pat the dough evenly into a rectangle that will cover the filling in the baking dish.  Carefully run one hand underneath the wax paper and with the other pick up one edge; flip the dough onto the prepared filling in the baking dish.  Trim the sides of the dough as necessary so that nothing overhands the baking dish.  Press the biscuit dough to the edges of the baking dish with the tines of a fork.  Then with the tines of the fork, press holes into the crust to let steam escape while baking.

Bake in hot oven about 40 minutes, until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbly.  Remove from the oven and let cool about 10 minutes before serving.

*To just make the biscuits by themselves, turn the dough onto a floured piece of wax paper.  With floured hands, pat the dough into a square 1/2 inch high.  Cut into nine squares with a floured butter knife.  Slide a thin metal spatula under each square and transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake 10 - 12 minutes or until the bisuits are golden brown.  Remove from oven, let cool a few minutes, and then serve hot.

New England Style Clam Chowder (Gluten Free & Dairy Free)

My grandfather passed away two weeks ago.  It happened quickly and none of the family was quite prepared for it, even though his health had been deteriorating steadily for some time.  He was buried this past weekend.  For several reasons, I chose to remain at home and instead, go back "home" this summer, when the girls are out of school.  That way, I can turn going home into a vacation for them - we can visit family and friends and galavant around the northeast for a whole month.  They will love it.  I will be able to spend much more time with my mom than I otherwise would have by just going home for a funeral, and that is very important to me.  I will take the girls home where I grew up, we will spend time with my mom, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  We will look at old family pictures and talk about family history.  We will take a Sunday drive and visit Grandpa's old haunts, where he grew up, where he fished with his father.  We will go to the ocean and stick our toes in the sand, and go clamming, and smell the salty air and listen to the waves lap the beach.  I will go and sit by Grandpa's grave and say goodbye, and tell him how grateful I am, and cry.  I know he would understand all of this, all the reasons I chose to wait to say goodbye.  I know, because nothing was more important to him than his family.  And as I try to do my best for my family, I have him in mind - selfless and loving.  I really believe there really is no better way to live.

I grew up with Grandpa.  It was not always easy, being a teenager with opinions and living with equally opinionated grandparents.  But we always had a home.  And that home always smelled good.  Grandpa liked food and he liked to eat.  He was always cooking something.  He taught me a lot and he shared stories while doing it.  He showed me the "right way" to fry an egg (heat bacon fat till very hot, crack egg into skillet, fry until set on the bottom, then tip the pan and very quickly spoon the hot fat over the egg yolk until a thin skin forms over the yolk - this has to be very fast or the fat will not be hot enough!).  He waxed eloquent over his mother's pancakes.  He talked about not having enough to eat growing up during the Depression.  He ate everything I made - even if it was terrible, he always said it was great.  

One of Grandpa's specialties was clam chowder.  Often it would take a couple of days to make, and it was different every time.  Sometimes the broth was clear and sometimes it was cream based.  It always had a lot of butter and it never contained tomatoes.  He often thew oysters into it too, consternating the rest of the family and turning it more into a fisherman's smorgasboard than a true clam chowder.  But that's what made his cooking interesting -  he used what was available.  Most of the time, everyone but Grandpa felt his chowder was a heart-attack-in-a-bowl with all that cream and butter and bacon, but boy his soup tasted good.  Every time I think of clam chowder, I think of Grandpa.  So tonight I made a pot of it in his memory.  Although I enjoy a clear chowder, I am partial to cream based.  I have not had clam chowder since going dairy-free four years ago, and tonight I really enjoyed real New England clam chowder (goodness knows the only way I'll get it is to make it myself!).  Here's my version - definitely not a heart-attack-in-a-bowl.  But it looks like Grandpa's chowder and it reminds me of him, and that's the best part.

New England Style Clam Chowder

3 slices bacon
1 small onion, diced
3 tbsp. dry white wine
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
coconut cream from 1 can coconut milk
1 bottle clam juice
2 cans chopped clams with juice
2 small russet potatoes, diced
1 tbsp. arrowroot starch

Cook the bacon in a skillet until crisp.  Drain bacon on a paper towel, then chop and set aside.

Pour the bacon fat into a medium pot, add the diced onion and cook over medium-low heat until beginning to soften.  Add the white wine, bay leaf, black pepper and thyme.  Cook until the wine reduces by half.  Add the coconut cream (skimmed from 1 can of full-fat coconut milk), stir until melted.  Add the bottle of clam juice and the juice from the 2 cans of chopped clams, reserving the clams.  Bring to a simmer.  Add the potatoes and simmer until the potatoes are soft.

Remove 1 cup of the broth to a small bowl, then whisk in the arrowroot until smooth.  Add this to the soup pot and simmer until the soup has thickened slightly.  Turn off the heat and add the chopped clams.  Ladle the soup into bowls.   Add a tablespoon of chopped bacon to each bowl and serve hot.

Leftover Turkey (or Chicken) Fricassee

It is springtime.  The weather is warming, the flowers are blooming, the trees are budding, the robbins are hopping around the yard, and all that good stuff.  And I still have a pile of recipes left to post from fall and winter.  Here is one for Turkey Fricassee.

Although I love turkey and look forward to roasting one for the holidays every year, I never did buy one for the holidays this year - I wanted a natural one (no additives, minimally processed, etc.) but was unwilling to spend a lot to get one.  Last year I was able to buy one for .99/lb on sale, but this year the sale prices only went down to $2.49/lb.  I know they are worth it, it's just that our budget won't allow it.  Sadly, I roasted a chicken instead.  So imagine my excitement when right before the new year, I managed to score a 10 pound natural turkey for .49/lb! Costco apparently had a surplus and wanted to get rid of them. I happily helped them do that.  

I always brine turkeys before roasting them, and sometimes chickens if I have the time.  It keeps the meat moist, gravy made from the drippings is out of this world and  the leftovers taste fabulous.  Unsurprisingly, a fricasee made from leftover brined turkey is delicious.  This is the fricassee I remember my Nanny making from leftover chicken (modified a bit of course).  Serve it over rice, pasta, mashed potatoes, quinoa, toast - whatever your heart desires.  I served ours over millet pilaf.  DH was honestly enthusiastic about leftover Leftover Turkey Fricassee for lunch the next day- honestly, sometimes the best meals are simple and frugal!

leftover turkey (or chicken) meat, chopped - at least a couple of cups
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 large clove garlic, mined
1/4 cup white wine
1 tbsp. arrowroot starch
dash of pepper
1 1/2 cups turkey (or chicken) broth, divided
1/2 cup coconut cream (skimmed from one can of full-fat coconut milk)
splash of lemon juice
shake of parsely
pinch of thyme

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet.  Add the turkey and brown, then remove to a bowl and set aside.  To the skillet add the onion and cook until soft.  Add the garlic and cook one minute more.  Add the wine and stir, scraping the bottom of the pan.  Add 1 cup of chicken broth to the pan.  Into the reserved 1/2 cup of chicken broth, whisk in the tablespoon of arrowroot until smooth.  Add to the pan and stir until thick.  Add the coconut cream, lemon juice, parsely and thyme.  Bring just to a simmer.  Add the turkey and heat through.  Taste and adjust seasonings as desired.  Serve hot.

The other day made an even simpler fricassee.  I roasted a brined chicken.  I saved the drippings along with some leftover meat.  The next day, I threw the drippings in a cast-iron skillet, whisked in a tablespoon of arrowroot flour, added a little chicken broth to thin, threw in some chopped chicken, heated through and added some frozen peas.  It didn't need any seasoning at all, and it was delicious. 

Second Grade Crush

Last month I was at the girls' school, sitting with Megan and her second grade class at carpool.  I like sitting and chatting with them - they are charming and engaging, and they are not yet too cool to want to talk with me.  I was talking with Megan when I heard one of the boys trying to get my attention.  "Ummmm...", he said.  "I don't know how to tell you this.  But....ummmm....my friend here wants to be your son-in-law".  Startled, I turned to give him my attention.  Must take the child seriously, my mind screamed.  His friend was sitting beside him, ears red and not looking at me.  I thought maybe he was enamoured with the cupcakes I had recently brought to school.  "Okay..." I said.  The student who addressed me turned to his red-eared friend and said "Dude, it didn't work".  My hand clapped over my mouth.  Must remain serious.  Then he said "Okay....my friend here hearts Megan".

OH.  I'm dealing with a second grade crush, and not necessarily the allure of my cupcakes.  I turned to Megan, who was doing a good job of pretending not to have heard what was just said.  "Well, Megan", I said, "do you heart your classmate"?  I couldn't help it.  To not stir this pot was too much.  Megan gave a small nod, looking at the ground and smiling.  Her friend piped up - "She does!  She hearts him!".  I asked Megan if her classmate knew the feelings were mutual.  She shook her head vigorously.  "Maybe you should let him know, to make him feel better", I told her, looking at his poor red ears.  She shook her head frantically.  I turned to her friend - time for a little social skills lesson on the fly.  "You know, it's your job as Megan's friend to let him know she likes him!"  Now it was Megan's friend frantically shaking her head.  "That's what friends do, you know, " I insisted, but I could tell this was going to go nowhere.  And that was perfectly fine.  Maybe I embarrassed her admirer so much that he'd drop it.

But tonight, Megan mentioned over dinner that her friend was crazy at recess today.  Assuming this was because of the transition from Spring Break to school, I asked her why.  She said "because she wanted me to hug (the boy who likes me)!".  Oh dear.  From wanting to be my son-in-law to hugging on the playground...I am not quite ready for this. And then she pulled out a scrap of paper she'd been hiding and told me he wrote her a note.  My hand went to my mouth to pull my smile back into a line.  Megan asked me to read the note to her as she could not make out what it said.  So I opened it.  There were three large hearts at the top, and some writing.  It said "Fo Megan We you mereme".  For a minute I could not decipher it.  And then it hit me, and I started laughing and laughing.  I couldn't help it.  To Megan's credit, she did not get upset with me.  I told her, inbetween giggles, that it said "For Megan, Will you marry me".  Again that sly smile of hers.  I begged her to let me take a picture of it, but she would not - she wanted to keep it a secret.  I promised I would not take a picture.  But I had to write about it.  I had to.  She scurried off with the note to put it in her diary.  I put the girls to bed. And then I wrote this.  Too bad you can't see a picture of the note, it's way cute.

Blueberry Buckwheat Pancakes

Lately Anna has been doing almost nothing but eating and sleeping.  Every couple of hours she is ravenous, she's tired by 8pm every night, and my normal 5:30am early-riser been sleeping in until 7am.  Uh-oh, here comes a growth spurt!  Yesterday I made these blueberry pancakes and she took down four of them.  Both the girls practically inhaled them with exclamations of "yu-u-um!" and "these are awesome!" and "can I have another?".  They might really be that awesome, or their need for caloric intake might lend them to thinking everything is extraordinarily delicious...except for maybe beets.  I still can't get them to eat beets.  I've always wanted to make beet cake....hmmm...

Blueberry Buckwheat Pancakes

1 cup buckwheat flour
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup apple juice
1/4 cup applesauce
2 tbsp. grapeseed oil or melted coconut oil
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 cup - 1 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed

In a large bowl, sift together the buckwheat flour through the salt, set aside.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the apple juice through the vanilla extract.  Add all at once to the dry ingredients, stirring till just moistened.  Fold in the blueberries.  Pour by 1/3 cupfuls onto a hot greased griddle (I use cast iron).  Cook until the edges are dry and golden and the tops have little popped bubbles in them.  Flip and cook a couple of minutes more.  Serve hot with maple syrup or your favorite topping.  Makes about 8 pancakes.

Chocolate Avocado Mousse

The April issue of Eating Well has a series of recipes featuring avocado.  Their recipe for Chocolate Avocado Shake caught my eye.   The girls love the Chocolate Avocado Pudding I make, and a shake sounded very appealing.  So I made it with a few small changes.  Surprisingly, it turned out less like than a shake and more like a mousse, which I love!  I'm happy enough with this to not ever turn it into a shake.  The girls were very happy with it too, they didn't even mind the fact that I put avocado in it.  Serve this cold with chocolate chips, fresh berries, or whipped "cream" of your choice for a light dessert.

1 large ripe avocado, flesh scooped out of the skin
1 (14.5oz) can coconut milk (full-fat, not lite)
3 generous tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 cup maple syrup
3 tbsp. Enjoy Life chocolate chips, melted*
2 tsp. vanilla extract
12 ice cubes

To a blender add the avocado flesh, coconut milk, cocoa powder, maple syrup, melted chocolate chips and vanilla.  Puree until smooth, scraping down the sides as necessary.  Taste and add maple syrup to your taste, if it needs a little sweetening.  Add the ice cubes and puree until thick and light.  Spoon into serving dishes and serve with a topping of your choice.

*To melt chocolate chips in a microwave:  microwave on high 30 seconds, then stir until all the chips are melted and smooth.  To melt chocolate chips on the stove:  Heat chocolate chips in a small saucepan over low heat until the chips look soft, remove from  heat and stir until melted and smooth.

Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

There is not enough time in a week. There is not enough time in a day.  There is not enough time in an hour.  There is just not enough time.  It's hard to live with no sense of time,  with so much ambition that invariably gets shackled by the clock.  I can get lost for hours inside my head by the memory of a smile.  Or by the chorus of a favorite song.  It really makes time management difficult.  But tonight I made time to make cookies.  And behold, they are awesome.  Nutty, chocolately, crispy and chewy.  The inspiration this time was a jar of Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter that was too dry, not easy to spread onto bread for sandwiches.  When life gives you dry nut butter...go forth and make cookies!

3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup palm shortening or dairy-free, soy-free margarine
1/2 cup chocolate nut butter
1/4 cup applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/3 cup natural cocoa powder (not dutch)
1 cup GF flour blend (I used this one)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift together the cocoa powder through the salt, set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the brown sugar, shortening, nut butter, applesauce and vanilla until smooth.  Stir in the flour blend.  Drop by teaspoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheet, 2 inches apart to allow for spreading.  Bake 10 - 12 minutes until the edges are firm and the house smells fabulous.  Remove from oven, let cool on the baking sheet for a minute before removing to a wire rack to cool.

*These cookies are more subtle than sweet, which I like.  If you like your cookies sweeter, add 2 - 3 more tablespoons of brown sugar.  If you like your cookies puffier and softer instead of flatter and crispier, add 2 - 3 tablespoons more flour.  Nice additions would be chocolate chips or chopped nuts or shredded coconut...let your imagination run wild.

Reminiscence

Yesterday it was frigid.  Spring has been flirting with us lately, but yesterday it was winter.  This morning heavy rain and thunderstorms rolled through, sunshine and fog in their wake.  I was watching the languid, wispy fog drift over the ground and roll along rooftops in a way I have not seen since being on the beach in New Hampshire on a July morning.  The nights and mornings there are chilly, by the water often foggy before the summer sun burns the fog away.  I was already in a dreamy, reminiscent place this morning, watching the fog.

Busyness pulled me out of reminiscence as the day wore on, until someone asked me if I ever used to feel disconnected from Anna.  The question, very personal, startled me into remembering.  I was not back in that time in thought, but in feeling.  I said yes, I used to feel disconnected from Anna.  And that it was hard.  I did not say it was one of the hardest things ever, because I did not want in that moment to acknowledge that lonely, fearful place.  The place of a mom with nowhere to go, no one who understood the desperation of loving your child with a fierceness that wants to scream, and not having the freedom to scream, to rant, to rave, to rail against the misunderstandings that bind one to fear.  I was told she was smart, too smart to have autism.  I was told to wait.  She was my first child.  Implicit in this was that I was overreacting.  I didn't know better.  I didn't know my own child.  But I did know.  Disconnected, I knew something was wrong.  That this was not normal.

Then I said, it gets better.  I watched Anna, who became aware of me watching her.  She looked at me and smiled.  She is beautiful, I was told.  Yes she is, I said.  Smart and beautiful, connected and mine.  She is herself, and she is mine, and always will be.

My Favorite Millet Pilaf

I have recently made a millet pilaf that I really like - my favorite by far.  I'm throwing up the recipe now before I forget what I did!

1 cup millet
2 cups water
1/2 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup diced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
fresh chopped parsley, if desired
1/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth

First, heat a dry skillet (preferably cast iron) over medium-low heat.  Add the millet and toast, stirring often to prevent burning, until fragrant - about 5 minutes.  Add the water and salt, stir, and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat, cover and simmer about 15 minutes or until all the liquid is aborbed.  Turn off the heat.

 

While the millet is cooking, heat the olive oil in a separate skillet.  Add the onion through the celery and cook until soft, stirring often.  Add the salt, pepper, and thyme and cook until fragrant.  Turn off the heat.

 

When the millet is cooked, add it to the onion mixture and stir to combine.  Add parsely if desired.  Stir in the chicken or vegetable broth, mixing well.  Adjust seasonings as desired.  Serve warm.

My Friend's Favorite Quinoa Pilaf

Weekends are usually busy for us, but every once in awhile we get a chance to have dinner with friends.  This past weekend found us at old friends' house for dinner (the friends are not old, we've just known them for a long time).  One of the dishes on the menu was a quinoa pilaf.  It was light and refreshing and I had to have the recipe.  Usually I get "well I threw in a little of this and a little of that" but this time, the basic framework was hastily written on a dry erase board.  We snapped a picture - there you go!  Cooking by the seat of your pants at its best!  This pilaf included toasted quinoa (toasting is a must), carrot, celery and rainbow chard stems (stems only, what a great way to use chard stems!).

SK's Go - To Quinoa Pilaf

Toast 2 cups rinsed quinoa (a mix of regular and red is nice) in a dry skillet for several minutes until fragrant, stirring often to prevent the quinoa from burning.  While the quinoa is toasting, bring 4 cups of water to a boil.  When the quinoa is done toasting, add the quinoa to the boiling water.  Cover and cook about 15 minutes or until the quinoa has absorbed all the water (uncover and cook a few minutes more if needed to make sure the water has all been absorbed or evaporated).  Remove from heat to a large bowl, stirring from time to time to release heat.

Prepare the vegetables by dicing.  Exact quantities and types are not too important, go for a mix of colors and flavors (my basic ratios are 2 parts celery, 2 parts carrot, one part onion and 1 - 4 parts other veggies) - ratio to grain is flexible.  Add chopped fresh parsley.  Last, mix the dressing ingredients  - 3 tbsp. olive oil plus 2 tbsp. cider vinegar (double if needed) separately and add the all at once to the quinoa mixture, toss to coat well.  Serve at room temperature.  Enjoy!

Gluten Free Alamo

For your consideration today is a gluten free Alamo replica for Anna's fourth grade history class.  Everything we used is gluten and casein free - Kinnikinnick's Smorables, Snyder's Gluten Free Pretzels, Yummy Earth Lollipops, Skittles, Whole Foods Gourmet Gumdrops and Mock Buttercream Frosting.  Granted, there is soy lethicin in the Smorables and the pretzels, but for a gluten free Alamo, I think we did pretty okay!  We modeled Anna's Alamo as it looked after the battle, using the picture found on The Alamo Society's website as our guide. I was in charge of the infrastructure and Anna was in charge of decorating (hence the Skittles).  This project was as fun as Anna's Hot Dog Airplane in second grade!