Life, Gluten Free

How to Make Fruit Leather

Last Summer we made fruit leather and we are at it again! Fruit leather is simple to make and super fun / easy for kids to help. Sophie loves making fruit leather!

This time we made apple fruit leather with local organic apples. We made one batch with apple and one batch with apple and banana. Sophie prefers the addition of the banana.

There are a couple of ways to make fruit leather, including using your oven. That's not what I do though. We have an excalibur dehydrator. This keeps the oven free for other things and also doesn't heat up the house.

You can use pretty much any type of fruit you want. We've made peach leather and plum leather. I think blueberry fruit leather would be good too, we might have to try that next.

So here's how we do it. We blend fruit with a little lemon juice (helps the fruit not brown) and then spread it onto our dehydrator sheets. We turn our dehydrator on about 105 degrees fahreinheit and it takes about 10 hours. You know when the fruit leather is done because it easily peels up off the sheets and doesn't stick.

Another easy treat to make with your dehydrator is banana chips. Sophie also enjoys helping make those! I think making fruit leather is the perfect activity to transition from Summer to Autumn.

Jolly Llama Dairy-Free Popsicle Giveaway!

Have you heard of Jolly Llama Popsicles? They are gluten-free, dairy-free and free of peanuts and tree nuts. We love them! They are also non-gmo!

Sophie went to horse camp this year and when it was really hot out, the counslers handed out popsicles to the kids. We bought Jolly Llama popsicles so that she could also have a popsicle at the end of the day!

They are creamy and taste great. Sophie's two favorite flavors are pineapple coconut and mango.

Jolly Llama currently offers these 5 flavors: Strawberry, Raspberry, Mango, Pineapple Coconut and Banana Coconut.

We love sharing them with friends and neighbors too.

Want to win a free box of Jolly Llama Popsicles? Head on over to Facebook and "Like" my Life, Gluten Free page. Comment on my post about Jolly Llama to win! What flavor would you choose?

*If you don't have facebook, you can comment on my blog to be entered to win! 

Giveaway is open until Wednesday August 20th. Good luck! :)

Visit Jolly Llama to find your local store that carries them.

Jolly Llama is made in a facility that does NOT process or contain any tree nuts, peanuts, soy, wheat, or eggs.

 

Chocolate Coconut Truffles (dairy-free, nut-free)

Today is World Chocolate Day! Luckily I made these last week just in time to share.

These are simple to make and in no time at all, you'll have made your own chocolate candies for World Chocolate Day.

Chocolate Coconut Truffles

First thing you want to do is make the filling, so grab your food processor!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup coconut butter

1 cup coconut shreds

3 tablespoons maple syrup

Blend in food processor. Roll into rounds and place on a baking sheet covered in wax paper.

Place these in the refrigerator while you are making the chocolate coating.

Ingredients:

1 cup chocolate chips (I use enjoy life)

4 tablespoons coconut milk (I use full-fat organic thai kitchen coconut milk).

Melt in a double-broiler.

Once melted, take out the coconut rounds and dip and roll in the chocolate with a double-fork method. Place them back on the wax paper.

After you are done coating each round in chocolate, put them back in the refrigerator for the chocolate to harden.

You know what to do next. Eat them, share them or keep them all to yourself!

Happy Halloween!

Boy have we been busy! Homeschooling, crafting, and in general enjoying this Autumn season.

Sophie had her annual Halloween party with friends and it was a blast. For the cake, she wanted me to make a 2-layer vanilla bean cake. 

Above, Sophie painted the spooky cat at an art class! We love it.

We've been making pop-ups cards and she made a haunted house pop-up card for a friend.

If you need us, you'll find us at our craft table:

That's where we have been spending most of our days.

This morning we woke up to a small bit of snow, and we spent some time outside.

When we came in, Sophie had her usual post-snow warm coconut milk with cinnamon and maple (sometimes honey). This time there was a spider in it. Not really sure how he got there.

After that we made a fun, last-minute Halloween spider craft!

The spiders are our fingerprints, the web is watercolor resist.

We used dental floss for the spiders to hang from, and black embroidery thread for their little legs.

Happy Halloween! We hope you have a spooktacular day!

Frozen Grape & Lime Slushie

Summer is here and we've been making lots of frozen treats.

We recently tried a new popsicle idea called Zipzicle. They are like push-pops, and you fill them with whatever you want. More on that later!

This grape slushie is easy to make and Sophie really enjoyed the lime. You could also use lemon.

Ingredients:

1 cup organic frozen grapes

1 tablespoon raw honey

1 organic lime

Directons:

Add frozen grapes, honey and juice of 1 lime to a food processor or vitamix. Blend and serve!

Sweet Potato Raisin Cookie Bars

We made these the other week and really loved them. I am a huge fan of sweet potato and raisins.... and coconut! Put them all together and its a great flavor.

These bars do not contain any added sugar, just the natural sweetness of sweet potato and raisins.

They are filling and make a great snack to take on the go!

Sweet Potato Raisin Cookie Bars

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups raisins

1/2 cup shredded coconut 

1/2 cup coconut flour

1 cup sweet potato

2/3 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice

1/4 cup coconut water

3 tablespoons coconut oil [melted]

Directions:

Add the raisins to your food processor and pulse until they are blended into a chunky paste. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until all the ingredients are mixed together.

Before adding the mixture to a rectangular dish, sprinkle a light layer of shredded coconut on the bottom of the dish.

Use a spatula to scrape the mixture into the rectangular dish and add some extra shredded coconut to the top. Cover and refridgerate for a few hours until firm. 

Apple Fries

Yesterday was a rainy, chilly day letting us know that Fall is on the way.

We already have some Halloween Decor out. Wer'e ready!

These apple fries are a perfect treat for any day, especially after coming home from playing at the park.

At least Sophie thinks so! She loved them.

Apple Fries

no: gluten, grains, dairy, soy, tree nuts, sesame, eggs

Ingredients:

Coconut Oil

Apples

Cinnamon (optional)

Directions:

Depending on how many people you are feeding, you can use one apple or five. Or more!

I used organic gala apples for this recipe but I'm sure other varities would work well too.

Chop your apples into slices, similar to french fry size and shape.

Heat about a tablespoon of coconut oil in a stainless steel skillet on medium heat.

Start to cook a batch of fries, not crowding the pan too much.

Flip and cook on both sides when the apples are very lightly browned.

Be sure to not overcook them or they will become mushy.

Add more coconut oil if it becomes necessary (they don't use as much as potato fries do).

Serve on a plate with a dusting of cinnamon or any spice you prefer!

Cake Bars with Plum Icing

Some foods look nearly too good to eat.

Enter these Cake Bars with Plum Icing.

So pink and pretty that you just want to keep taking pictures.

Or maybe that's just me.

Sophie on the other hand, was more than willing to eat them *right away*

Yep. They are that good.

Cake Bars with Plum Icing

makes about 14 bars

no: gluten, grains, dairy, eggs, soy, nuts, sesame

Ingredients:

2 cups finely shredded coconut

3 tablespoons maple syrup

3 tablespoons fresh squeezed orange juice

2 tablespoons coconut cream (directly from jar, not melted)

Icing Ingredients:

2 black plums (the ones with deep red inside, and black skin)

2 tablespoons coconut cream (directly from jar, not melted)

2 tablespoons maple syrup

2 tablespoons fresh squeezed orange juice

Directions:

Gather all the ingredients for the cake bars and add to a food processor.

Process until well mixed.

Using a spatula, transfer the batter into a rectangular stoneware or glass pan (not greased).

Pat the batter down with the spatula, distributing it evenly in the pan.

Allow to chill in the refridgerator (uncovered) while you make the icing.

To make the icing, slice the plums to remove the pits and add all the ingredients to the food processor.

Blend until everything is well mixed - including the coconut cream (there may be a few specks, no worries, it hardens and looks pretty and speckled).

Use a spatula to spread a nice layer of the icing onto your cake bars.

Cover and refridgerate for several hours until chilled and firm (it took about 3 hours for me).

Slice into bars (if too firm, leave out for a few minutes before cutting).

Serve and enjoy!

FAQ: We buy our coconut products from Tropical Traditions and highly recommend their coconut cream concentrate, shredded coconut and coconut oil :)

No-Bake Fruit Pie

I have the perfect no-bake fruit pie for 4th of July! With record breaking temperatures around the country, who wants to turn on the oven unless you have to?

I got the inspiration from Heather at Gluten-Free Cat. She posted a recipe for Raw Mango Banana Pie, but it had an almond crust. I decided to make a few changes to the fruit pie filling and use my coconut nut-free crust recipe.

It came out so well, we loved it!

 

No-Bake Fruit Pie

Ingredients:

Crust:

1/2 cup raisins

1 1/2 cups coconut flakes

1 tablespoon coconut oil

Pie Filling:

1 tablespoon lime juice

3 bananas 

1 mango

1 nectarine

Preparation:

Start by making the pie crust. Add ingredients to a food processor and process until it's a cookie crumb consistency.

Add crust to a pie dish and press down with your fingers and/or a spatula.

Let the crust chill in the fridge for 30 minutes or so, and begin to make the filling.

Add lime juice to a bowl.

Chop banana, mango and nectarine into small chunks.

Add to the lime juice and mix well.

When the crust is chilled, add the fruit filling.

Sprinkle with coconut flakes if desired.

Serve chilled. 

 

 

 

Have a wonderful and safe holiday!

Coconut Lime Popsicles

Spring is here and with it, warmer days! I've been wanting to make something with lime and every time I go to our natural grocers, I see limes and I want to buy them.

And at random times, I have the coconut song stuck in my head by Harry Nilsson.

Doesn't this happen to anyone else?

Put the lime in the coconut and drink 'em both together,
Put the lime in the coconut, and you'll feel better

Thanks to both Harry Nilsson and my urge to buy limes, I came up with this quick popsicle recipe that Sophie has really been enjoying.

Coconut Lime Popsicles

 Makes 6

free of: dairy, soy, gluten, eggs, tree-nuts

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup organic coconut flakes

1 can organic coconut milk (full fat, 13.66 ounces)

7 tablespoons fresh squeezed organic lime juice (about 5 limes)

1/2 cup organic maple syrup

Directions:

Add coconut flakes to high-powered blender and blend briefly until the flakes are very fine shreds (almost a powdery consistency).

Add coconut milk, maple syrup and lime juice.

Blend just enough to mix the ingredients.

Add to popsicle molds, and freeze for 4-6 hours or until frozen completely.

* You can buy finely shredded coconut in place of the coconut flakes, but that's what I had on hand this time. Larger flakes would be good in the popsicle too, but would add a different texture.