Life, Gluten Free

Pumpkin Spice Cake

Moist. Irresistible. Sweet.

Three words that best describe this gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free treat. Who'd have guessed there are so many missing ingredients? I'm not sure even the most hardcore "foodie" would know. It would be hard to detect what it doesn't have in it. 

I am thrilled to present this recipe to you because if you are like me, and not only have to be gluten-free but also have to be egg-free, then you must try this seasonal dessert. It even makes a great breakfast with a nice cup of Roobios tea or Coffee for your lovers of java. 

Recipe:

1 cup sorghum flour

1/3 cup potato starch

1/3 cup tapioca flour

1 teaspoon xantham gum

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 cup raisins

Wet Ingredients:

1/2 cup canned pumpkin (or fresh!)

1/2 cup of raw honey

1/2 cup organic cane sugar (although not wet, you will combine it with these)

2 tablespoons organic molasses

1/3 cup of grapeseed oil / coconut oil (I did half grapeseed and half coconut oil, for a total of 1/3 cup)

Egg replacing ingredients:

6 tablespoons apple sauce

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp egg replacer

(or use 2 eggs)

Preparation:

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Rub a 8 by 8 glass baking pan with coconut oil.

Combine pumpkin, honey, sugar, molasses, oil, and egg replacer ingredients in a large bowl. Mix together well.

Add remaining ingredients (except for the raisins) to the wet mixture. Mix with a hand mixer. Stir in raisins.

Transfer batter to the greased baking pan and bake approximately 40 minutes or until a tooth pick is inserted and comes out clean. Cool before slicing.

Fall is in the air and it has an effect on people. At least those that pay enough attention to feel it. I think this may very well be my favorite season. But don't worry Winter and Spring, I love you too. But Summer, I really could do with less heat and more cool breezy days. 

Try this bread, even if you normally bake with gluten and eggs. You'll be pleasantly surprised. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.

In fact, I wish I could develop some device to whisk you all a free sample. But that would require atoms to disappear and re-materialize, which might get tricky.

And to broaden your horizons even further, I have a fun fact. Did you know that Pumpkin is high in Vitamin A and C? So strengthen your eyes and boost your immune system with a slice of Pumpkin Spice Bread! How's that for inspiration. 

Enjoy.

Chebe Gluten-Free Mixes Giveaway

Chébé has graciously given six (one each) of their gluten-free dry mixes to give away. There will be two winners, each will get three mixes. The mixes are made of manioc (tapioca), which is a starch. Cassava is another term for manioc.

The random winners are Kristan and Angie. Congratulations! The winners have 4 days to respond, otherwise new ones will be drawn. Thanks to everyone for entering. Please keep checking back, this certainly won't be the last giveaway.

The first prize:

Pizza Crust mix

All-Purpose Bread Mix

Cinnamon Roll-up Mix

The second prize:

Foccacia Bread Mix

Garlic-Onion Breadstick Mix

Original Bread Mix (contains dry milk)

All Chébé mixes are free of all grains, soy, potato, yeast, GMO's, and MSG. They are made in a dedicated gluten-free facility.

We made Samosas with the All-Purpose Bread Mix. The Pizza Crust mix also makes a great pizza.

Chébé also has a recipe section with lots of great ideas!

How to enter:

1) Visit the Chébé web site and see what mix(es) you like best.

2) Enter a comment here telling me which mix(es) you are most interested in and what you might do with them.

3) Be sure to leave a way for me to contact you if you win.

Comments not meeting the above requirements will be deleted.

Please be sure to state in your post whether or not you want to be entered for the first prize or both (if you are on a casein-free diet, note that the Original Bread Mix has dry milk, but the other mixes are lactose and casein free.

The contest will end Tuesday, September 23rd at 7:00pm MST.

-heather

Raw Dill Cucumbers

Making dill pickles from cucumbers that you get from your local organic farmer's market is a great thing indeed. The guy I bought them from said they are called Oriental Pickling Cucumbers.

They were so good, I could have just eaten slices of them raw by themselves. But instead, I decided to make pickles.

The above picture is of the pickles basking in their salt bath, which is the first step in making the pickles.

4 - 6 organic pickling cucumbers 

Slice thinly and add to a glass container.

Layer the slices, lightly sprinkling celtic salt on each layer

Let sit for a couple of hours

Drain the water that collected. 

Add:

1/4 cup diced onion

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp. brown mustard seed

1 tbs. dill

Pinch of dill seed

Mix together. You can keep it in a glass container or transfer to a glass jar. Let sit overnight for optimal flavor. 

Since the cucumbers are raw, you will need to eat them within a week or two. Enjoy!

-heather

Red Lentil Coconut Soup

I got the idea for this soup from the Holistic Chef. I used her recipe and changed it a bit to suit my tastes. 

Ingredients:

Coconut oil for sauteing 

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

2 medium yellow carrots, chopped (you can use orange ones)

3 stems of scallions, chopped

1 3/4 cups red lentils, rinsed well

4 cups of water (or vegetable stock if you prefer)

1 can of coconut milk

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Salt to taste

In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium low heat. Add onion and carrot. Saute until onions are soft.

Add lentils, water, coconut milk and salt to the pot. Stir well.

Bring to a boil, stir, reduce heat and cover. Cook for about 30 minutes or until lentils are soft and done. Remove from heat once the lentils are done.

Serve in a bowl with gluten-free biscuits. We made some pumpkin biscuits with Bob's Red Mill GF biscuit mix, adding our own pureed pumpkin. We had this on Labor Day. It was good, and the day was perfect for it too. It was a taste of Fall.

Next up will be my cucumbers that I promised in an earlier post. I am going to be starting another giveaway soon, this time for a gluten-free product. So check back!

-heather

Chocolate Pie with a Seed Crust

After we found out about my daughter's allergy to nuts, I would often think about the raw pies that I would make with a wonderful nut crust (usually cashews and pine nuts). I thought to myself, there must be a way to make a crust without nuts. I could probably use sunflower and pumpkin seeds. But would it be good?

On the notion that it would probably not be very palatable, I kept putting off the idea of making one. The idea came to me again, and I seized the moment of inspiration. I soaked 1 cup of sunflower seeds, 1 cup of pumpkin seeds and two dates overnight. I would have to make something of out them.

What I made was more than palatable, my husband loved it. I have to say, this pie rocks. Please try it and let me know what you think. All you need besides the ingredients, is a food processor to prepare it.

I do have to say though, that this pie cannot be classified as really being "raw" since I used cocoa powder. But, I did not have any raw cacao. Feel free to substitute. 

Crust Recipe:

Overnight, soak 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds and 1/2 cup of pumpkin seeds along with 1 date

Rinse seeds the following morning. If you don't plan to make the crust in the morning, cover and refrigerate the seeds. I would not recommend leaving the seeds another day, as they could become moldy.

Add to food processor:

1/2 cup of soaked sunflower seeds

1/2 cup of soaked pumpkin seeds

1 soaked date

1 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 tablespoon raw honey

Blend well. Stir and keep blending until all the seeds are fully blended.

Add to a pie dish and mold into its contours.

Pie filling:

2 avocados

1/2 cup of liquified coconut oil

1/4 cup of cocoa powder

3 tablespoons of raw honey

Blend until smooth.

Pour into pie dish and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. The coconut oil becomes firm, and in turn the pie becomes firm. It was even great the next day.

Since I originally soaked 1 cup of each of the seeds, I ended up making two pie crusts. I decided to split the recipe for my blog since not everyone needs to make two pie crusts at once.

I got the idea to use the liquified coconut oil in the pie from Kelly at the Spunky Coconut. You can find her blog link on my blog roll. She has some really great recipes. And the coconut oil worked great, my pie was smooth and firm and delicious. I can't wait to make another.

-heather