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My Attempt At Gluten Free Brownies

10/22/2014

After my semi-flop with my attempt at trying to make Quinoa Cinnamon Bread I decided to try another recipe after dinner....this one for Quinoa Brownies. Just like the bread recipe, I found this one online and printed off to save until the time that I had all of the ingredients to try it out. I'm determined to make something that is healthier for us and succeed at it!

After taking all of the ingredients I will need out of the pantry I begin following the recipe....melting the unsweetened chocolate and everything! When you make buy a brownie mix and make out of the package, it's very thick. This brownie batter was pretty thin and as I poured it into the baking dish I realized these brownies weren't going to be nearly as thick as the box mix brownies. They did smell good, though, despite the fact that it had a half cup of quinoa flour in it. Then, to up the chances that we would like it enough to keep trying, I add a couple teaspoons of mini chocolate chips to it, and then I sprinkled chopped walnuts on top of half the batter.

While it was baking, it did smell similar to regular box mix brownies so I had a good feeling about what these would taste like. When the timer went off, I took them out of the oven and was a little surprised at how they looked. They didn't rais at all like box mix brownies and the top looked very different than I was use to. But hey, they were chocolate and for dessert, so not such a big deal! When they cooled enough I cut them up into 16 pieces (from a 9x9 pan) and served them up. Surprisingly, they were a pretty big hit! Don like them, but Amanda said they were just ok. Brandon, on the other hand, ate quite a few. What did I think? They were not too bad. They are more cake like than fudgy, but they do have a good chocolate flavor. Of course, the quinoa flour adds a bit of a different tast that I may be able to change with a different flour blend. The thing that surprises me the most is today, a day later, they are still pretty soft.

Would I make them again? I think I will. I'm not sure I can do anything different to tweak the recipe other than using a different flour blend, but to be able to bake something from scratch that my family can enjoy is a great feeling!

Do you have any healthier versions of brownie recipes you'd like to share? We would love to try them!

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My First Attempt At Making A Gluten Free Bread

10/22/2014

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I've been stocking up on different flours over the last several weeks so that I can start attempting to do a little baking before fall turns into the holidays. I would love to put some healthier fare on the table this Thanksgiving season so that we can all enjoy it as a family, but finding good replacement recipes when you don't really understand how the different flours work is nearly impossible. As I see a recipe I think would be worth trying I've been printing them off to put in my recipe binder, so today I realized I had all of the ingredients to make a Quinoa Cinnamon Bread recipe that I found.

When I was little, my mom use to make all kinds of fresh breads and rolls that made the house smell amazing. That was during the days when white flour was in everything, so that was what I was use to eating. Now that I found out I have a gluten sensitivity, white and wheat flour are not something I can use so I need to find good alternatives. One thing I've learned over the last few years is that you can't expect to make substitutions and have recipes come out tasting exactly as the original. The quicker you understand that, the less dissapointed you will be. The goal is really to find healthier foods that you will enjoy, not to make exact copies of what you are use to. I'm not saying it can't happen, but the majority of time it may not so better to understand that up front.

So today, I pulled out my recipe for Quinoa Cinnamon Bread, along with all of the ingredients and started following the directions. As I'm measuring out the ingredients in the bowl, I'm noticing for the first time how different quinoa flour smells from the white flour I am accustomed to. Is it going to recognizably change how the bread tastes? Only time will tell. I put in the vanilla and cinnamon and decide that maybe a little more of those ingredients than the recipe calls for will help balance out the smell and taste of the quinoa flour, but I won't know that either for a little while. When I get to the end of the recipe it calls for the remainder of the water that has been measured out, and that the batter should look more like a cake batter. After adding all of the water, the batter looks to thick to be a cake batter consistency, so I decide to add a little additional water until I get the results the recipe is calling for, but wondering if this is going to change how the recipe turns out in the end. Once I'm finished mixing everything together, I put it into a loaf pan, cover it for 30 minutes to let it rise a bit, then put it in the over to bake. It smells pretty good at this point.

The timer finally dings and I anxiously open the oven door, wondering what it will look like. After grabbing the oven mitts, I open the oven door and see a beautiful loaf of bread that has risen well over the top of the pan, and it smells wonderful! So, I take it out of the oven and put the pan on a cooling rack on the counter, admiring my work, and decide to take a picture. During the time it took for me to grab my camera and get set up, I realize my beautiful loaf of cinnamon bread is starting to deflate! I decide to take the bread out of the pan and let it finish cooling on the rack, and continue to watch it deflate a bit more. It still smelled good, though, so when it was still warm I decided to slice a piece off the end and toast it to see how it tasted. The results? I would say it was just ok....not the best, but not the worst thing I've ever made, either. So, what now? Maybe I'll use it for bread pudding.

Well, maybe I shouldn't have put that extra water in, and maybe I'll use a little bit different mix of flour, but I will definitely try the recipe again to see if I can get better results. When I find something that works I'll post it in the recipe section, but for now, if you have a recipe that works well I would love to see it!

Do you have any recipe disasters that you've been able to tweak to make them successes? Please share!

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What To Do About Breakfast?

10/9/2014

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I love breakfast foods! There's nothing like pancakes smothered in butter and maple syrup, bacon, sausage, hash browns, biscuits, eggs.....you name it. I could eat breakfast foods any time of the day or night. Then, I found out I had allergies or sensitivities to just about every breakfast food I love. My first thoughts were....what on earth do I eat for breakfast, then? How do you get use to eating things that would normally be considered lunch or dinner items, when each day of your life has started with some kind of breakfast food?

I am not one to usually give up easily and to be completely honest, the thought of eating a salad, or some lean turkey on a piece of gluten free bread for breakfast was less than appetizing to me. When I went shopping I looked at a lot of cereal box labels to figure out if there would be any cereal I could eat, at least for the time being until I could find recipes that I could make for myself. Unfortunately, almost every cereal in the store had, at the absolute minimum, corn syrup and corn is one of those foods I have a sensitivity to. I realized then that this was going to be a very long process.

One day I was doing some research and looking for breakfast recipes and I noticed that alot of them contained oats. Knowing that there are different varieties available, I decided to focus more on that one ingredient to find out if it would be ok for me. Even now the verdict is out, but I have been able to determine that if I'm going to eat a cereal grain, steel cut oats would have the least impact on my blood sugar so I decided to give it a try.

Now, if you've never had steel cut oats before, there is a learning curve to adjust to. Unlike quick cooking oats that cook up pretty mushy, steel cut oats are not flat and they have to cook for a bit longer to get them to an edible texture. When cooked they have a little bit of a firmer, nuttier texture. The great thing is that the steel cut oats leave you much more satisfied than the mushy kind.

Since I'm able to get around a bit more after my foot/ankle surgery, I decided to make breakfast for myself this morning so I made a batch of steel cut oatmeal with fruit and walnuts. The brand I'm using has the basic recipe on the package and it makes enough for 4 servings, which will give me enough breakfast for 3 more days. The great thing is, although the recipe on the package is just a basic recipe, you can dress it up just about any way you want to. For me, about 5 minutes into the simmering process I added a half cup of chopped walnuts, a half cup of dried cranberries, a whole apple chopped into smallish pieces, and then about 5 minutes before it was done on the stove I drizzled about a half tablespoon of local raw honey over the top, as well as about a half cup of chia seeds......mixed it all together, let it simmer a few minutes more, and voila! A healthy breakfast for 4 days. I like to add milk to it to help cool it down a bit, so I added a little bit of vanilla flavored unsweetened coconut milk to it. Yum!! Not only did I make something healthy to enjoy, but I didn't have to give up my need for something other than lunch and dinner foods.

If you like oatmeal, but haven't had steel cut oats before, try it. Even if you don't have to change your diet like me, making healthier choices may help you avoid health related issues down the line, and you'll feel better knowing you're doing something good for yourself.

Do you have any breakfast recipes that you rely on? If so, I would love it if you would share below......

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Organizing My New Recipes

10/8/2014

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Heather made me a recipe binder and gave it to me for Christmas a couple years back, along with some treats that she had found that were missing all of the ingredients I was allergic or sensitive to. At the time she made the binder for me, it was right after I got the news, and I was very overwhelmed by all of the decisions I had to start making about the foods I was putting into my body. Over the months I would search for recipes I could make for my family that would satisfy my needs, but finding recipes that included foods I was familiar with was hard! My brain kept telling me that I should be able to find recipes that look similar to what I'm use to, but not so different that I'm afraid to try them. That whole process was and is one of the most difficult parts of learning to eat healthier, especially when you have health issues. With internet the way it is now, you would think you would get overwhelmed by finding too many recipes, but I haven't found that to be the case. Then, you might find one or two recipes that you like from one source, but you may end up needing to go to many different sources just to get some basics. Ugh!

Maybe I just don't know where to look, but it shouldn't be that hard. I've been wanting to experiment with ingredients for a while, but with an extremely picky eater in our household and a need to fix meals that I can get everyone to the dinner table for, it doesn't leave much room for an imagination. I've definitely gotten into a rut in the kitchen that I am excited to find a way out of! So, as I've been able to find tips and tricks, and recipes that I would like to try and think my family may even enjoy, I've printed them off to put in my new recipe binder. I even took the time this past weekend to organize them all and put them in order in the binder so I can start using them.

As I find more recipes that I want to try, I will print them off and add them to my binder. One day, I'm hoping to have several binders worth, but at least at the moment I feel like I have somewhere to start.

What do you struggle with in trying to eat healthier? What tips and tricks, or recipes, can you share that we can try? Share below.....

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My Quest To Eat Healthier

10/8/2014

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It's been about almost two years since I found out that at least some of my health issues are related to some of the foods I have eaten since I was a child. The first food allergy I ever developed was to apples when I was in elementary school. I LOVED apples, and still do. I love the smell, the taste, and maybe more than anything it's a reminder to me of fall....my favorite time of year. In the fall up north, my dad would take my brother and I to different fall festivals and they almost always included the smell and taste of all things apple. My favorite thing was to get a cup of hot apple cider made fresh from a local vendor at whatever festival we happened to be at, or even at a local farmer's market close to home. Thankfully, around the time I found out about my allergy to apples, I also found out that as long as the apples were cooked or pressed for cider I could partake in my favorite fall treat.

It wasn't long after that apple allergy discovery that I found out there were many other fruits I couldn't eat any longer, as long as they were fresh, but thankfully as long as they were cooked I was fine. Someone asked me recently if the allergy extended to organic fruits and I automatically responded yes, but in all honestly, after thinking about it I'm not entirely sure. I might have to start trying them to be sure, but I can at least take comfort that if I organic still results in the allergy, I just need to find healthy recipes that will allow me to enjoy the flavors I really enjoy.

Others foods in my life aren't as easy to manuever. Early on I also found I had a pretty severe allergy to Almonds, while other nuts I can eat without any problem, or in modest amounts without any problem. Then came some test results almost two years ago that really surprised me. Although not as severe as my almond or fruit allergies, my body was having trouble processing several other common foods and since I had been eating them my whole life I didn't really realize the affect they were having on me. Ever since I have been on a quest to eat healthier and to find substitutions around these common ingredients, but to be honest, it's been a hard challenge for me to overcome. Not because I don't want to feel better, but because the foods and ingredients that I have sensitivites to aside from the ones I listed above are in almost everything!

At the beginning I thought that it couldn't possibly be that hard. I mean, if you stick to the produce and fresh meat sections, how hard could it possibly be, right? Wrong. I don't know anyone that wants to eat unseasoned meats and produce on an ongoing basis. It's fine to start with, but pretty soon you want to add more to your food repertoire. So, I started reading labels, and quickly got discouraged. Then after thinking about what I could do to try to jumpstart the process I decided to try searching online for different recipes that could help me find somewhere to start. Wrong again. Oh, don't get me wrong. There are plenty of recipes out there to choose from, but so many of them featured ingredients that I had never heard of and quite frankly, wasn't willing to spend the money on if it was just going to end up in the trash. So, about a year ago I decided that I would go about it a bit more slowly. I know my doctors would have liked it if I could find a way to do it more quickly, but for me, at least I know this way I would have time to find the things that truly work for me and my family, because let's face it. I don't know a mom out there that would go to all the trouble of learning how to eat healthier and not include her family in it, right?

Recently, I came across a website that is dedicated to healthier eating, and they issued a challenge that I couldn't resist. It's called "October Unprocessed" and it's a challenge to inspire you to read labels and find ways to help you to live a healthier life. It's not a challenge to make you feel bad about the food choices you make, but only to encourage and inspire you to start somewhere if this is something you want to start in your life. The website offers all kinds of wonderful advice, tips, tricks, recipes, etc....but if you go to the "October Unprocessed" facebook page, you will find others that have been doing it for a while, and many others that are new to it, too, for a myriad of reasons.....some have health issues that are looking for ways to help themselves all the way to some that are just wanting to eat foods that are healthier for them. I've seen all kinds of recipes, ways of subsituting one ingredient for another, help in reading labels, help in identifying what an ingredient on a label is, etc....just about anything you could have questions about. The best part for me is that alot of the recipes people are trying are using ingredients I am already familiar with.

If you are like I was a couple of years ago.....needing to find a way to start, but not having a clue.....join me as I embark on this journey of finding family friendly recipes that will hopefully open up a whole new world to me and you. If you come across a recipe that you think I might like or you think others may want to try, post it here! Healthier me......here I come!!!

https://eatingrules.com/the-rules/

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Healthy Eating Journey

My Attempt At Gluten Free Brownies

My First Attempt At Making A Gluten Free Bread

What To Do About Breakfast?

Organizing My New Recipes

My Quest To Eat Healthier

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